Earlier today my son asked me to explain to him what war is like and why people kill each other. It is a hell of a question and one that he has asked before. I am not a soldier. I haven't been to war.
I have been in a number of hairy situations. I have seen the after effects of a bombing and have been in the E.R. when they have brought in shooting victims. I have been in a number of fist fights, been hit with brooms, rocks and a chain, but never shot. Not that I am complaining, I am not.
I can't say that I believe that you have to be a vet to explain why people go to war either. I can offer descriptions of what war is like based upon things I have read or heard, but fortunately do not have any first hand experience. The closest thing I have got is what I have seen in films.
If push comes to shove I'll tell you that I believe that sometimes you have to fight and that there are wars that are necessary. I am not a peacenik, by any means. But when it comes to discussing this with the kids I am cautious.
Today is the 64th anniversary of D-Day. I wrote a post that covered some of the history in more detail than here. If you are interested you can find it here. We are indebted to those men.
Anyway, be it coincidence or otherwise today is the day that he hammered me with questions about war and why people kill each other. He is all of 7.5 so I wrestled with how much to tell him, how sophisticated I should be in my response.
He has lost so much of his innocence about the world. He knows that bad people sometimes do things to children and that not every marriage lasts. He knows that some people steal and that life doesn't always have a happy ending. So providing him with some information is not going to be the straw that broke the camel's back either.
I did my best to explain that sometimes people just can't get along and that sometimes they fight in a way that isn't nice. I told him that I thought that war should be a last resort and that you should try and avoid it.
But I also told him that if you have to fight to defend yourself you have an obligation to do so in a manner that takes care of the situation, short term band aids are a poor solution.
He nodded his head and told me that he thought he understood. He explained that one of his classmates parents had split up. I asked him what he meant and he gave me a perfectly suitable description of a couple who have divorced.
I nodded my head and asked him to continue. He explained that Tommy's parents couldn't get along any more and that they had decided to live in different houses. And then he told me that Tommy said that he was much happier because his folks didn't fight anymore, that they were friends now.
Just as I thought I had skated by and managed to avoid spending the evening discussing war he came back to it. He wanted to know how his grandfathers had managed not to be killed. I reassured him that going to war wasn't a death sentence, but that you really didn't want to have to go unless you had to.
He sighed and told me that he was happy to hear that. And then he asked me to promise that I wouldn't get killed fighting a war either. I smiled and told him that they didn't like making guys my age soldiers.
Confession: I have no interest in being a soldier, but I hated saying "guys my age" as if we are all that old. We're not. Compared to so many others I am just a babe in the woods.
Oy, I don't like 39 all that much. Sure it is better than the alternative, but...
Cleveland Schools- A Fine "educaiton"
One more reason to be happy that I didn't grow up in the land of the burning river.
WESTLAKE, Ohio - A Cleveland-area principal says he's embarrassed his students got proof of their "educaiton" on their high school diplomas.
Friday Afternoon Music Mix and Thoughts
Been a busy afternoon, far too much going on to spend any time blogging. Can you imagine that, work getting in the way of blogging. Got to straighten out my priorities. ;)
So I have been trying to add to the latest Fragments of Fiction. I have a title called Promises Made, Promises Broken that I think I might use. The old iTunes shuffle gave me an idea that I think I might use, courtesy of The Offspring's song Gone Away. Here are the lyrics:
Annie´s Song- John Denver
You´ll never find Another love like mine-Lou Rawls
We're All Alone- Rita Coolidge
I Can't Say Goodbye To You- Helen Reddy
The Most Beautiful Girl- Charlie Rich
"Picture"-Kid Rock Featuring Sheryl Crow
Junebug- The B52s
Summertime - Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
So I have been trying to add to the latest Fragments of Fiction. I have a title called Promises Made, Promises Broken that I think I might use. The old iTunes shuffle gave me an idea that I think I might use, courtesy of The Offspring's song Gone Away. Here are the lyrics:
"Maybe in another lifePerhaps I'll share some more thoughts about that later. For now here is a quick list of some of what played on my iTunes this afternoon.
I could find you there
Pulled away before your time
I can’t deal it’s so unfair
And it feels
And it feels like
Heaven’s so far away
And it feels
Yeah it feels like
The world has grown cold
Now that you’ve gone away
Leaving flowers on your grave
Show that I still care
But black roses and hail mary’s
Can’t bring back what’s taken from me
I reach to the sky
And call out your name
And if I could trade
I would
And it feels
And it feels like
Heaven’s so far away
And it stings
Yeah it stings now
The world is so cold
Now that you’ve gone away."
Annie´s Song- John Denver
You´ll never find Another love like mine-Lou Rawls
We're All Alone- Rita Coolidge
I Can't Say Goodbye To You- Helen Reddy
The Most Beautiful Girl- Charlie Rich
"Picture"-Kid Rock Featuring Sheryl Crow
Junebug- The B52s
Summertime - Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
A Few From The Archives
Can't quite fall asleep, but too tired to write new stuff. Here are a few old posts that might tickle your fancy.
What Is Your Favorite Blog Name?
Jack And The Missionary
How I Write
What Are Your Favorite Song Lyrics?
Caught My Eye- Why Public Schools are In Trouble
Want to Make Your Students Love you. Try this:Or you could try thisDuring the alleged incident, which police said was videotaped by other students with cellphones, students said Heckstall suddenly "started acting crazy," telling the class to "shut the [expletive] up."
Heckstall allegedly directed his anger toward the male student, telling him he would "rip your eyeballs out," urinate on him and "kill your family," according to the police report. Heckstall then spat on the floor and began to apologize, police said.
Polk Teacher accused of having sex with four studentsMore discipline
LAKELAND, FL -- A Polk County school teacher has been charged with sexually assaulting four students in a series of incidents that have been going on since last summer.
Stambaugh Middle School science teacher Danielle Jones was arrested this morning. Jones has taught at Stambaugh for seven years. The 32-year-old teacher was led to a sheriff's squad car to go to jail shortly before 1:00 this afternoon.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said today, "It's painfully obvious to us that she's a pedophile."
Judd says two of the victims are former students of Jones. The others are a friend and a cousin of the student victims. They ranged in age between 14 and 16 years old at the time of the alleged sexual contact.
Teacher taped student to chairOAKRIDGE, Ore. -- A teacher in the Oakridge School District has been placed on paid administrative leave after allegedly taping a student to a chair because he wouldn't sit down.
Superintendent Don Kordosky declined to identify the teacher Tuesday, but confirmed she was removed from her Oakridge Elementary School classroom last week after the mother of a 9-year-old boy reported the May 28 incident.
The boy's mother, Becky Faile, does not have a listed phone number and could not be reached for comment Tuesday night. In interviews with local television stations, she said the teacher taped her son from his knees to his chest after he refused requests to sit down.
Faile said her son's poor behavior was not a strong enough reason for him to be humiliated in front of his peers. Faile said she has contacted a lawyer.
Under Oregon law, "a teacher may use reasonable physical force upon a student when and to the extent the teacher reasonably believes it is necessary to maintain order in the school or classroom."
It's unclear if masking tape is considered reasonable.
The Lakers & The Celtics- Shmata Queen and More
My father is not particularly interested in sports. That is not to say that he was uninterested. He paid enough attention to the big three pro sports to know who was doing what and he could always tell you what was going on at UCLA, but he wasn't tied to the television set to see most games.
I have been trying to figure out how old I was when I first became a fan of the Lakers. Went to my first Dodger game somewhere around '73 or '74. It was against the Padres. I suppose that it must have been around July 4th because there were fireworks.
It seems to me that in those days athletes made more personal appearances than they do now. I can't say for certain if that is true or not, just my perception. But I can say that dad was pretty good about taking me to see the guys. We'd head over to whatever store they were appearing at and stand in line so that I could get an autograph and shake their hand.
Truth is that until I was around eight I probably didn't care all that much about Wilt Chamberlain, Theotis Brown, Rosey Grier or whomever it was that I met. It was just cool to hang out with my dad.
What I know for certain is that my love for the Lakers really coincided with Magic's rookie
season. If you are an NBA fan and you were fortunate enough to be around during the 80's you got a chance to witness some epic battles between my Lakers and the hated celtics.
And let me clear, I hated those guys. Larry Bird made me tear out my hair. I lived and died a thousand deaths during the 1984 championship series.
I have a million memories from 1985. The Lakers beat the hated ones. It was brilliant. It was outstanding and it stands out for a million reasons, not the least of which was an exchange I had in Israel with a group of kids from Boston.
The 80s were dominated by these two teams. Every single year one of the two was in the championship. I suppose that if you are not a fan of either team you might consider that to be dull, but I assure you that it was not.
The kooky Shmata Queen intentionally roots for whatever team I am not. She takes pleasure in trying to irritate me, but we all know that its because cleveland hasn't had a successful team since before the river would spontaneously burst into flame. I do have to give it to the dying city, the burning river saves a lot of money that would be spent on pyrotechnics and then passed on to the fans by increasing ticket prices.
Anyhoo, it is hard to believe that so much time has passed. Back in '88 the Lakers won their second championship in a row, the Dodgers won the World Series and I had one hell of a good time. In fact, if I had to relive a year of my life I do believe that 1988 would be in the top five.
Back to the present. The boys missed too many free throws and just didn't convert in the fourth quarter. That is not a recipe for success and consequently they lost to the hated ones. The good news is that they didn't lose by much. There are still six games and I never expected them to sweep.
My son asked me why I don't play for the Lakers and I had to smile. I took out a tape measure and showed him just how much taller the guys are than I am. His eyes got pretty wide.
That reminds me of a guy I used to see around my old office building. He must have been close to seven feet tall. I was introduced to him in the bathroom. I had gone into one of the stalls to take care of my business and noticed that I could see a head poking over the wall.
He wasn't looking at me. He was using the urinal and facing straight ahead. For a moment I couldn't figure out why he would need to stand on a stool and then suddenly I realized he wasn't. I looked down and saw a pair of dress shoes that could have been used as snow shoes.
You get the point, he was tall.
On a slightly different tack but of interest to me are Ed McMahon and Latrell Sprewell. Now you are probably wondering what the connection is and why they caught my eye. Well the answer my friends is simple, these two men have severe financial issues.
Finances here at the Shack are a bit tough at the moment. There are a couple of small challenges that I am working on, but I'll get through. The two celebrities that I mentioned make my challenge look like a small hiccup.
Just a few years ago Sprewell turned down a $21 million contract and of course my boy Ed is having a small issue with his house.
Now I don't wish either of them ill, but it is hard for me to have real sympathy for them. When I look at how much cash they made, well...
Whatever. We all do what we do and then deal with the consequences.
I have been trying to figure out how old I was when I first became a fan of the Lakers. Went to my first Dodger game somewhere around '73 or '74. It was against the Padres. I suppose that it must have been around July 4th because there were fireworks.
It seems to me that in those days athletes made more personal appearances than they do now. I can't say for certain if that is true or not, just my perception. But I can say that dad was pretty good about taking me to see the guys. We'd head over to whatever store they were appearing at and stand in line so that I could get an autograph and shake their hand.
Truth is that until I was around eight I probably didn't care all that much about Wilt Chamberlain, Theotis Brown, Rosey Grier or whomever it was that I met. It was just cool to hang out with my dad.
What I know for certain is that my love for the Lakers really coincided with Magic's rookie
season. If you are an NBA fan and you were fortunate enough to be around during the 80's you got a chance to witness some epic battles between my Lakers and the hated celtics.And let me clear, I hated those guys. Larry Bird made me tear out my hair. I lived and died a thousand deaths during the 1984 championship series.
I have a million memories from 1985. The Lakers beat the hated ones. It was brilliant. It was outstanding and it stands out for a million reasons, not the least of which was an exchange I had in Israel with a group of kids from Boston.
The 80s were dominated by these two teams. Every single year one of the two was in the championship. I suppose that if you are not a fan of either team you might consider that to be dull, but I assure you that it was not.
The kooky Shmata Queen intentionally roots for whatever team I am not. She takes pleasure in trying to irritate me, but we all know that its because cleveland hasn't had a successful team since before the river would spontaneously burst into flame. I do have to give it to the dying city, the burning river saves a lot of money that would be spent on pyrotechnics and then passed on to the fans by increasing ticket prices.
Anyhoo, it is hard to believe that so much time has passed. Back in '88 the Lakers won their second championship in a row, the Dodgers won the World Series and I had one hell of a good time. In fact, if I had to relive a year of my life I do believe that 1988 would be in the top five.
Back to the present. The boys missed too many free throws and just didn't convert in the fourth quarter. That is not a recipe for success and consequently they lost to the hated ones. The good news is that they didn't lose by much. There are still six games and I never expected them to sweep.
My son asked me why I don't play for the Lakers and I had to smile. I took out a tape measure and showed him just how much taller the guys are than I am. His eyes got pretty wide.
That reminds me of a guy I used to see around my old office building. He must have been close to seven feet tall. I was introduced to him in the bathroom. I had gone into one of the stalls to take care of my business and noticed that I could see a head poking over the wall.
He wasn't looking at me. He was using the urinal and facing straight ahead. For a moment I couldn't figure out why he would need to stand on a stool and then suddenly I realized he wasn't. I looked down and saw a pair of dress shoes that could have been used as snow shoes.
You get the point, he was tall.
On a slightly different tack but of interest to me are Ed McMahon and Latrell Sprewell. Now you are probably wondering what the connection is and why they caught my eye. Well the answer my friends is simple, these two men have severe financial issues.
Finances here at the Shack are a bit tough at the moment. There are a couple of small challenges that I am working on, but I'll get through. The two celebrities that I mentioned make my challenge look like a small hiccup.
Just a few years ago Sprewell turned down a $21 million contract and of course my boy Ed is having a small issue with his house.
Now I don't wish either of them ill, but it is hard for me to have real sympathy for them. When I look at how much cash they made, well...
Whatever. We all do what we do and then deal with the consequences.
A Few Notes About Haveil Havalim
Brevity is not my strong suit. The link below takes you to a breathy recording of me thanking all of the people who have been participating in Haveil Havalim.
It also includes a request for new hosts and a reminder that we request that bloggers not submit more than three posts. We're trying hard to include posts from all over the Jewish/Israeli blogosphere and frankly it gets to be a little much when so many bloggers submit ten posts a piece.
Love the participation, just don't have the time to get them all in.
It also includes a request for new hosts and a reminder that we request that bloggers not submit more than three posts. We're trying hard to include posts from all over the Jewish/Israeli blogosphere and frankly it gets to be a little much when so many bloggers submit ten posts a piece.
Love the participation, just don't have the time to get them all in.
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