Ilhan Omar – Laughing At Terrorism Against America

It’s time to stop defending this anti-American hate-monger who sits in the esteemed House of Representatives.

Omar’s words: 

When I was in college, I took at terrorism class….we learned the ideology…Every time the professor said Al Qaeda, his shoulder went back {in intensity/fear}…We are laughing his name.

Watch her video here mocking Americans about terrorists, Al Qaeda–the same who killed 3,000 people on 9/11.

This is just one of many instances of her extreme callousness, like where she recently said casually about 9/11, “Some people did something“–that something which was a mass murder terror attack on American soil. 

As we contemplate the hate-mongering of Ilhan Omar, we should think about what Luthern pastor, Martin Niemoller once cautioned: 

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

This isn’t about left and right, but about hatred, bigotry, and racism at the highest levels, and we need to stand together against it. 😉

(Source Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)

Words Have Meaning

People can be so careless and callous with their words. 

They say stupid and hurtful things. 

Sometimes, they may try to couch or sugarcoat what they are saying, so you need to put 2 and 2 together. 

Yes, that’s four…bang!

Whether it’s transparent or hiding behind a veil of political correctness or mischievousness, you get the messaging. 

Everyone has an angle, as they say in Hollywood. 

Is it benevolent or malevolent or perhaps just dopey does. 

Either way, words are very important.

It’s called communications and you send out messages verbally and non-verbally. 

Rule of thumb:

“Clarity, conciseness, and coherence.”

Often, the messaging can be confused…like the old game of telephone or just in-coherency of words or thinking. 

So which it it–there is no return policy to speak of or there are no returns allowed.

Tell me damn it! 

Why can’t the English learn to speak english? 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Wiping The Smug

How you ever seen someone with that unbelievable smug look on their face? 

They are almost glowing in hubris and elitism.

They have gotten away with something and they know it and think they are above earth and Heaven.

Feeling better, smarter, and mightier than everyone else around them. 

They have built a fortress of minions, money, and power. 

And nothing, they think, can bring them back to Earth. 

Through deals, cunning, intimidation, and even elimination of their rivals, they survive and thrive growing stronger with every kill. 

High and mighty, but G-d sees all. 

Arrogant and corrupt, but G-d forgets none. 

All humankind is connected and one.

As one sits in the dust of the feet of another. 

The wheel of life turns, and the roles reverse. 

The next person has the chance to act different and better.

To mend their soul and humbly influence others for the good. 

No one should be smug, because everyone serves. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

What’s Your Vice?

So no one is perfect.

And no matter how outwardly pious the person, everyone inwardly has some hidden (or not so) vice or excess that they must learn to tame.

Here’s a top 23 list:

Substance Abuse

1) Cigarettes

2) Alcohol

3) Drugs

Greed

4) Food

5) Money (e.g. gambling, hoarding)

6) Materialism (e.g. homes, cars, boats, planes, jewels, clothes, etc.)

Obsessive Compulsive

7) Work

8) Sex

9) Popularity (e.g. talking, partying)

10) Religion 

11) Sport

12) Control

Anger

13) Violence

14) Abuse (e.g. verbal, emotional, physical)

15) Rape 

Callous

16) Indifference

17) Tardiness

18) Laziness

Egotistical

19) Selfish

20) Boastful

Crooked

21) Lying

22) Cheating

23) Stealing

Think about the people you know–love ’em or hate ’em–and is there anyone that doesn’t have one of these to some extent or another?

And for those of you wondering, my vice is, of course, pizza! 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Terrorism Knows No Boundaries

Another stabbing in Jerusalem–right in the back of the head!

So far 18 terror stabbings in Israel in less than 10 days.

You never know when it’s coming until the blade sears through the air and into the head, neck, chest, or back of the victim.

In an apartment, at a shopping center, riding a bus, on the way to prayer–no one is safe!

Today, one 13-year old boy is in critical condition after being stabbed nearly a dozen times while riding his bicycle in Jerusalem.

The stabbing attacks are coming on top of shootings, stonings, bombings, molotov cocktails, and vehicular hit and runs.

The call for a third Intifada to terrorize and kill Jews in Israel is underway.

This on top of last year’s Gaza War when thousands of rockets where fired targeting Israeli cities and critical infrastructure as well as terror tunnels coming under the border to murder and abduct Israelis.

But Israel is not alone in fighting a wave of global terror–it is engulfing the Middle East and farther–from Libya to Syria, Yemen to Turkey, Iraq to Afghanistan–and hundreds of thousands of refugees are streaming to Europe.

Bombing of markets, weddings, funerals, houses of worship, and even peace rallies.

Chemical weapons, beheadings, hacking off limbs, crucifixions, burning victims alive, abductions of women and children, slavery, and gang rape, are now virtually accepted items in the International news, and on a daily basis. 

Next in the mix–maybe some suitcase or missile-tipped nukes delivered by impassioned Jihadists?

For now, we are watching from our perch of safety and security here and in Europe, but what when what we witness happening “over there” eventually comes over here…

Have we become so used to and callous to all the terrorism that we barely even blink an eye anymore when we read, hear, or see it?

While terrorism knows no physical boundaries, perhaps with an ever-increasing tempo of sickeningly outrageous and barbaric terrorist acts, it knows no boundaries to our soul anymore either.  😉

(Source Photo: Facebook via Documenting Anti-Semitism)

Who Will Help?

This is an awesome video that has gone viral.

A social experiment with hidden camera filming of a homeless child freezing on the streets of Manhattan…

See the people just walking on by–completely ignoring or plain unaffected by the suffering taking place literally right next to them. 

Where is the compassion of the people?

Many are just rushing by, chatting away, and/or carrying fancy filled bags from nearby shopping excursions.

The bystanders walk past and practically over this boy’s shivering body lying in ragged shirt, without a coat, and lying half inside a big black garbage bag on the street. 

I imagined G-d looking down on this extreme callousness of his creations ignoring the suffering of this boy and being quite upset. 

Perhaps, there are unfortunately so many people now homeless , hungry, and begging in the streets that our minds and hearts have simply learned to “tune it out.”

The ending is really amazing…when the one person who comes over to care for the poor boy is a black homeless man–who ends up taking off his own coat and gives it to the child. 

May G-d open our eyes to the pain of our brethren and grant us compassionate hearts to sincerely care one for each other. 😉

Treat People Nice

On a recent college visit, I saw this sign hanging on a door.

The quote is by Maya Angelou and it is very powerful:

“People will forget what you said,
People will forget what you did,
But people will never forget how you made them feel.”

As human beings in this world, we come and go.

Our time here is finite.

We will be replaced by others.

What is truly memorable about us is our relationships and how we treat others.

When we show kindness to people or when we are cruel to others–these things are never forgotten.

Our interactions are the mark of who we are inside–do we sincerely care about others and the bigger picture or are we just plain selfish?

How about you–can you remember:

• how that parent who loved you made you feel?
• how that teacher who taught you made you feel?
• how that friend who played with you made you feel?
• how that boss who mentored you made you feel?
• how that clergy who inspired you made you feel?
• how that spouse who was your companion made you feel?
• how those children who looked up to you made you feel?
• how those colleagues who supported your work made you feel?

I’m sure you can also remember times when people made you feel not so good–perhaps, you scowled or even cursed them under your breath.

Getting results in life is not enough–we can’t do it by stepping on other people and really being successful that way.

Empathy and kindness or a hard heart and cruelty–you will be remembered one way or another. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

News You Can’t Count On

This is one of those unbelievable stories that you have to pinch yourself to see if you are dreaming or is it real.

An intern over at the National Transportation Safety Board provided KTVU a list of pilot names for the Asiana plane that crashed in San Francisco last week.

Only…the pilot names weren’t real but a spoof making fun of the airline pilots, their race, and the crash.

With three people dead (including two 16-year old girls) and 200 wounded (with 2 still in critical condition) this really isn’t a laughing matter.

But the gall of this intern to pass these names off to the news, and then the TV stations blind acceptance of these as fact, plus the newscaster reading them aloud and still apparently not realizing what she was saying…is completely crazy!

Don’t believe everything…look closely, listen carefully–is it a joke, an agenda, brainwashing, or maybe at times, some genuine facts you can actually count on. 😉

What Did The Cereal Box Say To The BMW?

This family had just come out of Costco loaded with groceries.

They are heading to the garage to pack it into their car.

A BMW comes racing through the garage and runs over one of these mega Costco cereal boxes.

The car keeps going with the cereal box being dragged underneath.

The family runs through the garage and cuts off the BMW waving and yelling for him to stop.

He skids across the double-yellow line and stops blocking both sides of the road.

The man who lost his cereal bends under the front of the BMW to try to extricate the cereal.

The box is so Costco big, it barely can come out.

The man’s family looks on from the side.

Finally, he wiggles the box this way and that and gets the cereal box out from under the BMW.

The driver is standing there sort of bewildered by the whole thing.

If the cereal box could talk, I think it’d beg for a better ending than this.

Too often, as we go through life, we mow other people down who are in our way.

Thank G-d, this was just a box of cereal and not the man’s child or wife that had been run over and dragged.

I wondered how degrading it must have felt for this poor guy to be bending down in the street to get the box out, while the driver simply looks on in an uncaring disdain.

I almost thought for a moment, the driver was going to either just keep going or when he got out wallop the other guy for hassling him to get his cereal.

People can be strange that way and you never know what is going to happen next.

It is good that other people can be around with smartphone cameras and video, so that people don’t feel that they can just behave indiscriminately and obscurely.

In the end, no one should think they are all that–and have the right to uncaringly run over others’ persons or things.

We are all frail humans and G-d is always there with a very big, high megapixel smartphone recording it all for judgement day. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Let The Handicapped In

We can build “the bomb” and sequence human DNA, but we still are challenged in caring for and accommodating the handicapped.

Some of the major legislative protections to the disabled are afforded under:
–  The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 that prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in federal programs, and
–  The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, which covers things like employment, public programs (state and local) and transportation, public accommodations (housing) and commercial facilities, and telecommunications.

Despite these protections, our world still remains a harsh place for many disabled people–and we see it with older facilities that have not been retrofitted, broken elevators in the Metro, managers being obstinate to providing reasonable accommodations, and people not getting up from seats designated or not, for the disabled.

In yet more extreme cases, some people can show their worst and be just plain cruel toward the disabled:

On the Metro recently, there was a near fight between two young male passengers squeezing onto the train; when one tried walking away, deeper into the belly of the car, the other guy pursues him, and literally jumped over a guy in a wheelchair–hitting him with his shoe in the back of his head.

On yet another occasion, also on the Metro, there was a wheelchair with it’s back to the train doors (I think he couldn’t turn around because of the crowding). A couple gets on the train, apparently coming from the airport, and puts their luggage behind the wheelchair.  At the next station or so, when the wheelchair tries to back out to get off the train, the couple refuses to move their luggage out of the way. The guy in wheelchair really had guts and pushed his chair over and past the luggage, so he could get off.

To me these stories demonstrate just an inkling of not only the harsh reality that handicapped face out there, but also the shameful way people still act to them.

Today, the Wall Street Journal (17 August 2012) had an editorial by Mr. Fay Vincent, a former CEO for Columbia Pictures and commissioner of Major League Baseball, and he wrote an impassioned piece about how difficult it has been for him to get around in a wheelchair in everywhere from bathrooms at prominent men’s clubs, through narrow front office doors at a medical facility for x-rays, and even having to navigate “tight 90-degree turns” at an orthopedic hospital!

Vincent writes: “Even well-intentioned legislation cannot specify what is needed to accomodate those of us who are made to feel subhuman by unintentionalfailures to provide suitable facilities.”

Mr. Vincent seems almost too kind and understanding here as he goes on to describe a hotel shower/bath that was too difficult for him to “climb into or out” and when he asked the CEO of a major hotel chain why there wasn’t better accommodation for the disabled, the reply was “there are not many people like you visiting the top-level hotels, so it does not make business sense to cater to the handicapped.”

Wow–read that last piece again about not making business sense catering to the handicapped–is this really only about dollar and cents or can decency and compassion play any role here?

Yes, as Mr. Vincent points out, “modern medicine is keeping us all older for longer,” and many more people will require these basic and humane accommodations for getting around, bathing, going to the toilet, and more.  Let’s make this a national, no a global priority–every one deserves these basic dignities.

I am not clear on the loopholes, exemptions, deficiencies in guidelines, or insufficiencies of enforcement that are enabling people to still be so callous, cruel, and just plain stupid, but it time to change not only what’s written on paper, but to change people’s hearts too.

(Source Photo: here)