Passover

Here I am in Florida with my wife and her family, all part of a kosher for passover group. I look around and see the elderly, most of them Holocaust survivors, wounded souls, impossible to ever be 'normal' after what has happened to them. And they still pray to an invisible, silent God, an entity that has watched as 250 generations of Jews have been slaughtered, tortured, humiliated,despised,villified, add whatever negatives you can think of. And yet they, the Jews, continue, we exist while all the other ancient peoples have left the stage. I am an atheist, a religious Jewish atheist. Try and figure that one out. If God exists and I ever meet Him(Her), I will have the audacity and indignation to interview Him as regards His absence in Auschwitz and Treblinka and for that matter, Darfur and Sudan. I wonder why He gave oil to the Arabs and sand to his Chosen.

It's been a while

I haven't posted for a long time. My buddy, my pal, my old friend of 14 years, my animal companion, my canine critter, Basia, died 7 weeks ago. We euthanized her and it tore me apart to ct to let her go. But we did it for her and not us. Her quality of life was going going.. gone. She was a stray, a 7 month old puppy living in the woods of upstate NY, when she decided to make us a part of her life. Basia was a yellow lab, very smart, full of personality, how she loved to play and wrestle. The more I knocked her around the more she loved it and came back for more, giving as well as she got. emaker, She never ever hurt anyone, except a burglar who came halfway into the house and whose other half scrambled away fast. Her face had a 'smile,' weighing, plotting, conniving. She hated raised voices, angry ones, and was a peace maker putting herself between the 2 screaming humans.
I love this lovely animal. always will. God bless you, friend to the end.

Back from Europe

I just came back from a tour of eastern Europe - Slovenia, Serbia, Hungary, Bulgaria,Rumania. It was an interesting experience taking a river cruise down the Danube and stopping at several cities. My main impressions are the following: the ethnic hatreds still endure , especially in Serbia. They despise the Turks and are so suspicious of Islam. I believe they have good cause for those feelings. I never realized how deep into Europe the Turks had been and how repressive they were towards Christianity. Islam is an aggressive religion and it seems the attitude of Islam today is to retake what they think was theirs up to a century and a half ago. These countries don't want Turkey in the European Union . Entry will give Turks free passage in all these nations and freedom to immigrate to EU countries. With the minus zero birthrate of the Europeans and the high birthrate of Muslims Europe may become an Islamic continent in 50 years - not a good situation.
These countries are in denial about their role in fascism in Europe. They blame Germany for all that happened in WW2 and dont face up to the participation of many residents of these countries. It's easier to point fingers at Germany and ignore one's own role.
The Jews of these countries are essentially extinct, most slaughtered in the concentration camps and the few remaining choosing to leave for Israel or keep a low profile in these nations. The few synagogues are closed most of the time and Jews are regarded as a relic of what once was. There are 100,000 Jews in Hungary but most are either living unaffiliated lives as Jews, or are intermarried. They are afraid of being branded as Jews because of prejudice from the larger community.
These peoples are poor and much of the cities and villages are bleak from communist domination. They are uncomfortable with capitalism and are suspicious of government. The old communists are the billionaires here because they had so much control, especially of real estate. There is alot of corruption.
I wasnt comfortable in any of these countries and am grateful to be back in the USA.

I have two dogs, Basia and Amber, rescue dogs we took in from the streets of Queens,NY. Basia is 13 1/2, Amber is 10 1/2. We walk them 2-3 miles a day. Poor basia has arthritis and hearing loss but she is a feisty creature with a mind of her own - kind of defiant, if the truth be told. Amber is a mush - all love, except when there is a squirrel nearby. Then her coon hound genes kick in and she is beauty in motion as she moves in on the squirrel. They are a funny pair, great friends, better than people friends. No BS, they are what they are, although Basia can be a handful. Lately she is digging in our bedroom carpet. If she goes near the Turkish rugs I will go ballistic on her. I read up about why dogs dig and her MO doesn't fit. It's only at night. I thought she became dark phobic and put on night lights but it did little change in her behavior. Anyone with a theory? Please give suggestions. Oh, and she pants when she digs. It's annoying for me in the middle of the night. Right now my wife Rosanne is walking Amber. I am waiting for Fed Ex to deliver an international phone for our trip starting tomorrow. We are going on a river cruise down the Danube, hitting 6 countries. heh heh Is anyone interested in this stuff? So long for now.