Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Another child dies from cybernet bullying NEED to bring back appropriate VALUES into education

B'H
We need to understand that technology has outstripped emotional intelligence and that children need to be equipped with deal with things such as cyber bullying. Having been a victim of people who have published untruths and frankly disturbing things on the net about me, as an adult I found it hurtful enough. Goodness knows how we can expect vulnerable teens to deal with it. Teenagers and even younger kids are very much growing and developing their self image and they need positive self appraisal from their peers and their teachers and their parents to fight the negativity of comments made in 'fun' or malice on a public website like facebook. This is something we need to deal with in schools and at home and the general public perception MUST be that negative hurtful comments are NOT SMART, they are DANGEROUS.
Sympathies to the family of this poor child and also the bullies should take care. One day you may be the victim and your own medicine will be dealt to you. Kindness and compassion is much more worthwhile to nurture in yourself. What does bullying get you? A few momentary cheap thills at the expense of some other person and that may end up destroying a person's life. Bullying does not have to be violent and brutal screaming or shouting or even smacking someone. It can be the acid of negative comments dropped on someone day after day, eroding that person's self respect and positive self image. We humans are social animals and we need the approval and support of others. Whether we are the cleaner or the head honcho of an organisation we need to know we are doing ok in life.
Catherine RIP we should try to ensure that others do not follow you in your path of despair and ensure that kids are supportive of one another and not ripping each other down.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/save-our-kids-from-bullying/story-fn7x8me2-1226285571779

Monday, February 27, 2012

Reflections on Archbishop Hickey, Dr Kerryn Phelps and Political Futures

B'H

Just watched a very interesting clip from Sunrise which must have been in the last few days. Apparently Archbishop Hickey from Western Australia has come out and stated that children deserve to be raised in a conventional family situation and they have the right to a lifestyle that is the norm rather than the alternative such as a same sex family situation.

Sunrise interviewed Dr Kerryn Phelps (yes, the high profile doctor who came out as gay many years ago) and a gentleman in Canberra from the Australian Christian Lobby. The man spoke a lot of sense about how the gay lobby is demonising people like Margaret Court and the Archbishop who 'dare' to speak out against the aggressive stance of the gay and lesbian lobby group for same sex marriage. You have to realise that those of the gay and lesbian lobby who do speak out and even if they are highly intelligent and intellectual people, they have an agenda, which is to legitimise same sex or gay marriage. However they are afraid, very afraid because they know ultimately deep down within themselves, their life style is not normal and it is not ideal for children to be raised with two people of the same sex in the sort of physical relationship that normally happens between a man and a woman within the bounds of a legally sanctioned marriage relationship. Most of us are tolerant and accepting of people and people's differences, but what we do not like is the aggressive and angry push by the gay and lesbian groups to make us feel that somehow a man and a woman in a relationship is 'not ideal'.  This is what the good Dr Phelps implies, when she starts talking about all the woes of children being in foster care which is as she states 'only from heterosexual relationships gone wrong. It does not happen in gay relationships? Has any research been carried out here? She does not have an ideal record either and how is her relationship with her children been? Is she a good role model of a mother figure, I do wonder?
Her conclusions, or the conclusions she invites us rather forcefully to arrive at,  are erronous because her whole premise is based on both a manipulation of statistics and assumption after assumption. She wilefully ignores the fact that there are many wonderful and happy marriages with children being raised by heterosexual couples who are enjoying good childhoods. I resent the gay lobby pushing the same sex marriage barrow on the premise that it is the 'ideal' which is what they would have us believe, and they do belittle and scream down anyone who believes that same sex marriage is not ideal. It is enough already. Most of us are tolerant and accepting of gay people but do not believe that gay or same sex marriage is appropriate. We do not want to be bullied into having to accept something that we do not believe in or believe is right, but by the same token, we can be accepting of the relationships of gay men and women who are together, the same way we can accept that there are de facto heterosexual unions. Marriage requires certain things apart from commitment and to be honest one of the prime requisites will always be that it involves two people of oppposite genders, not the same genders.
Well Julia has been reaffirmed as leader and I believe that Kev is on the back benches but not gone. They will lose the next election big time but the face off with the Liberals may not be between Julia and Tony but between Julia and Malcolm Turnbull and he is most likely to win and win decisively. Even if Tony Abbot faces off against Julia, he will win.  The ALP have done too much damage.
The least that either party can do is put money back into two sectors of the country 'EDUCATION and HEALTH the two sectors which Jeff Kennett merrily decimated in his term as Victorian Premier all those years back.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Most of US are born different to the majority

B'H

We are all individuals when it boils down to it. We are all born different and I would hazard a guess that there is not many people who are clones of others in this world although some people do try to create clones of themselves through their children or grandchildren or people who are close to them through work or a friendship circle. They feel powerful if they can influence and control the thinking and actions of others. They feel some how justified in being if others will follow their way of thinking. I actually like people who stand up for what they believe in and while tolerant of others beliefs as we all must be, they do not seek to destroy another because of their beliefs.
I believe very strongly that the Creator of us all put each and every one of us here in this existence with a mission in mind to make this a better world for us all. We have to find our particular mission and the medium through which we can best express it's message. Hopefully it is a positive message of growth, personal development and giving.
When we come across someone different, we must try to take the time to understand that person and not stick labels on them that later are hard to remove from our mind. I love getting to the inner core of individuals I meet and understanding who they are and watching those people develop over time into great people. They start out as great little human beings and so I should say, greater people.
Some people who you would expect to cope with difference cannot cope. Then others who you would least expect to cope, show kindness and compassion that you did not even suspect lay within their emotional range. Some times you have to try to be a catalyst for change for that person. It can be painful and it cannot always work. You may lose a friend. It may mean that you have gone in different directions and that is still OK.
It has to be. In this egocentric generation there are a lot of very me centred individuals. I guess there had to be after a generation that was all give, give, give away style and this new generation - the baby boomers (which Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard are born into) grandchildren who are in high school now may balance it all out and be the pragmatists of the new leadership in the future. What do they think, I wonder, to see these leadership battles of an elected government ripping into each other and behaving in a less than honourable fashion on both sides I might add.
I like balance and I hope one day I can be a philanthropist and support a few of my favourite causes. The main one is education of equal opportunity for all. I would one day love to see a couple of public boarding schools for children who have awkward home lives. That is rich you might say, coming from someone who spent six years in boarding schools and loathed every moment of it.  I would have rather completed my education at home. I envied day pupils. However I can see for some kids it could be a blessing.
I would love to see a boarding school in the other reaches of say Kilmore or Sheperton for Indigenous kids and have it run by an indigenous Education co-operative with a structured curriculum that would give indigenous kids and not just the indigenous kids but non-indigenous kids who wanted to learn about the indigenous cultures a true education into the indigenous approach to learning and life. Maybe it is already happening. I hope so. The way to value differences in people and cultures is through one thing - education and a correct education and depth of learning breeds understanding and tolerance we would hope.
Think of how very many different people have enriched the world. We were not meant to all be clones or clowns. Only through loving ourselves do we love others and can appreciate and value the differences in indviduals and their talents what ever they may be.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

A busy Sunday

B'H

Son and friend taken to the pool for a dip as it is the third day in a row that temperatures have been about 35 C. They had a great time. Two little boys 'just wanna have fun'. Got them out after an hour and a half.  There is one thing about being in a pool, you feel so much cooler after you get out. It cools the whole body down.
Now both boys are are chilling out together at the friend's place and I have some time to myself which is well needed. Both this kid and Nir get on so well as they should and they are both around the same age. It makes me so glad that he has a friend to visit around his age and it will be good for both kids. I hope some of this kid's maturity rubs off on Nir. His English is good and he is a smart little boy. He has a couple of conversations with me at the pool and I found him very mature in the way he talked about the length of the pool and the depth and how he had to be careful how to dive and at what depth and how some one dived from a 30 metres up into 12 cm of water etc etc. His measurements might have been a bit off but he was a good conversationalist. I did not want to imagine what might have happened to someone who dived from 30 metres up into 12 cm of water. Both boys had a great time and hopefully are still having a good time and letting his mother focus on her work.
A friend's neighbour's husband passed away yesterday and it is very sad. This intense heat is hard on older people and he was a holocaust survivor. I feel very saddened. I was going to go to the leveya but do not want to leave Nir with someone but will go to be 'menachem ovel' during the shiva.

The country's leaders are tearing themselves apart. So what else is new? That was a long time in the offing. When Julia Gillard replaced or deposed Rudd, any fool with half a brain could see what was going to happen there. He was out for revenge right from the word go. A very ambitious and nasty man is our Kevin 07. The worst mistake she made as a leader was to allow him into any position in cabinet or any portfolio what so ever. If she had relegated him to the back benches for evermore he might have written a spiteful book like Mark Latham and looked an idiot after it was seen for what it was and resigned and lived on his parliamentary pension. People like Rudd needed to be completely crushed out of political life or they come back at you like a snake with many heads. You don't give them a chance to cause more mayhem. The ego clashes in the government are astounding. These people were elected to do a job, not rip the country apart.
I for one thnk we need more selfless people in public office. Malcolm Turnbull will be our next Prime Minister perhaps. I certainly hope so. He does not appear to have half the ego of these two fools.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Bits and Pieces from around the traps

B'H
Bad news first.
So some gutless atheist has thrown his kid off the story bridge and himself as well. I read this with growing anger. A little baby boy for crying out aloud, your own kid - your flesh and blood, you throw him off a bridge. To be brutally honest, I could not see myself throwing any child off a bridge, no matter how annoying they were. They are kids and you are the adult. A normal adult is fiercely protective of a child.
This self centred egotistical piece of crap mascarading as a father taught at one of Brisbane top boys' school (how do I know because I had two brothers ( I think we had the same mother and father a half a century ago) who were sent to that 'exclusive' boys's school.
Don't ask me to feel all warm and fuzzy sad about a person who commits such a sick act of murder on a hapless toddler and then kills himself. What was this moron thinking? He had a child living with him and obviously did not appreciate his child to the degree that he should have. Anyway the police better turn up some good reason for this loser to do what he did. He has only my contempt and absolute abhorance. I cannot feel any level of sadness except for the baby who had his life so mercilessly cut short. I feel anger and sick to think that a man could do this to his own child. He must have been insane to even think about doing it to any child. When you are a parent, you cannot afford to be a loser. You fight and you fight to the end, the bitter end for your child and you to survive.
http://www.theage.com.au/queensland/churchie-mourns-loss-of-teacher-in-story-bridge-plunge-20120220-1thu6.html

Now this Mikeybear, he's a real sad case. He gets overly obsessive about people he believes are 'anti-gay' or against him and the rest of the Gay Lesbian Lobbyists. Rabbi Shimon Cowen is still in the sights of this morally deficient, ill educated, emotionally retarded, deluded wannabe Oscar Wilde of the 21st century. Troubled and all as he was, Oscar Wilde I am refering to, not MB, Oscar was a funny guy with a real sharp eye for detail and social mannerisms and furthermore he could write.

Mikeybear can only rant, rant, rant and rave, rant and rave and frothe at the mouth. It is almost as if he has swallowed a five litre tub of green dishwashing liquid. It would probably take more than that to clean him up.
http://mikeybear.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/rabbi-dr-shimon-cowen-monash-university-alumnus/
 Honestly, I have to say, the fact that this guy sets himself up as a self styled saviour of 'gay youth' concerns me no end. People like him are really dangerous around vulnerable youth and people like him are those who confuse already confused young people even further. He appears extremely manipulative and quite honestly I would not want him talking to young people about 'gay' issues. We are making too much of this anyway. People need to be left alone to get along with their lives. Do we really need people like him steering already vulnerable kids into directions that they would not have otherwise taken. I have decided to do one of the AEU workshops in this issue because I want to investigate just what angle these people are taking in talking to vulnerable kids. There is a whole lot of workshops on it through the AEU this year.Kids do not need to be told that they are gay or not gay. Most kids do work it out themselves, believe it or not. Most of us have to remember we are not psychologists and I have found myself not agreeing entirely with them either. It is all so subjective and we have thrown out clear thinking skills to our loss.

Presenting a gay lifestyle as the attractive and avant garde of the 21 st century is not what we should be allowing. Yes there are gay people and they are a fact of life but we are not into creating a wider gay community for whatever reasons. Gay people exist and we treat them like other human beings, respectfully one would hope. However, what happens when those individuals, some of them, treat others with complete disrespect and slander them? These people should be treated like any other person who breaks the law.
Mikeybear has become an embarrassment unto himself and those around him.
Who will be next in the sights of this pro gay rights crusader on his tired white neddy nag carrying his broken sword, wearing tattered leggings and with an untidy sprogget of hair sticking out from under his mishapen helmet, his battered and dented shield banging against his leg as he sits astride a worn saddle with horse hair poking out from the seat and broken stirrups? He faces off with a dragon that can singe his breathe with a whisper of sound and who will incinerate him with a half supressed yawn.
Only fools do not know when they are beaten and when to give up. Mikeybear, you are a fool and a dangerous irrational one at that. Take a chill pill and for goodness sake get some counselling. Please do not attempt to counsel others about that which you know nought. Leave it to the able professionals.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

This guy is amazing. What he says has so much truth

B"H

I am a fan, devotee call it what you will of many different people, philosophers and thinkers in this world and I have to say, the more I read and listen to this guy, the more I like what he says. A gentle and holy message of hope in a rather vicious and heartless world. Manis Freidman - a very old soul and together in his thinking, wise.

http://howtoraisehealthychildren.com/part1.html

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Le havdil beyin kodesh ve hol


B’H

Le havdil beyin kodesh ve hol

‘To separate between the holy and the mundane or every day’.



At the end of Shabbat, we say these words to separate the holiness of the Shabbat and the mundane weekdays in Havdala - in Hebrew the holy lashon the word Havdala means to divide or to separate. To make something special one sets it apart from that which would taint or detract from its holiness or specialness. Shabbat – our holy day of rest is different from the other days of the week in that our focus is on spirituality, connecting with Hashem and refinement of character in many ways. We reflect and study holy texts and pray as a congregation and a family.

While saying Havdala tonight, I had this flash of inspirational thought. I often do have these amazing insights into life and issues while studying Torah or texts and even while praying. It is kind of hard when you have these marvellous insights on Shabbat and can’t write them down for future reference.

When we are giving so much attention to the gay lobby groups about their push for ‘same sex marriage rites’ to be acknowledged as legal marriages, we are ignoring some really obvious facts. First marriage is when two people enter an institution of holiness and they consecrate each to the other and this can only happen if one of the pair happens to be one sex and the other the other sex. Adam was created first and Eve or Hava was made from the substance of his rib, from his essence to stand opposite him, to be his help mate.  She is the other half of his soul, both apart from him, yet of him, the same way when we have a week of seven days and one is set apart as holy – a day of rest. People are married for a reason and usually with G-D ‘s help to be married for the term of their time on this earth. Yes it happens that sometimes there are divorces but in a stable society, they are few because children of the generations after are bought up wisely and to listen to the counsel of their parents in choosing a partner in life or if the parent is not well versed in matching, someone like a shadhan or matchmaker is found to do it for the parents.

Choosing a life partner is too important a task to be left up to the children to manage on their own.  Marriage – real marriage is not about love.  It is about commitment to a lifelong contractual arrangement between a man and a woman and their families ultimately. The love and affection is developed over time and through the commitment of the two people. It has a spiritual dimension to it that most people in Western societies ignore or are unaware of this dimension. Most marriages in Western countries are based on purely physical attraction - lust based or the idea that one can marry into a family for material comfort and wealth. In the latter case, some find themselves unhappy but the rewards of staying are greater than going and many opt to stay.

A union between two men or two women cannot equal or be viewed in the light of that of a man and a woman for the obvious reasons as regards procreation, but also in the terms of light and darkness, maturity and personal growth of the individuals concerned. Yes we can respect their rights to enjoying a happy and fulfilled relationship even though we do not necessarily agree with the nature of their union, our society is supportive of their right to have that union recognised and that should be enough. Frankly they are often like the child who wants to go to court to fight to have the driving age brought down to 12 years . Most states determine that eighteen is the age of maturity as regards driving a car. At eighteen years of age, the majority of people do have some maturity of judgement that enables them to drive safely, one would hope, but at times such is not the case. They have to develop it over time and with experience.

A good man of letters and a Rabbi is maligned again and again on the internet by a person who is a self styled crusader for ‘Gay Rights’ and frankly I just want to say ‘Oh for GOODNESS SAKE grow up!’ His immature sniping and whining resonates again and again. If we were to judge all gay people by this person, then I believe there would be a lot more prejudice against gay people because of the way this person behaves. He attacks people, slanders people and misrepresents their life situation and publishes it all over the internet. It is truly attention seeking behaviour of a rather unsavoury nature.

Now this Rabbi, along with many others, is being blamed for young gay people suiciding and quite frankly it is not about their weaknesses as there are weak heterosexuals as well, but it is about the personal flaws and personality of some that may have led to their journey into this dim world. Gay people are often gay because their is some weakness or link in their psyches, not because of ill treatment or worst. It remains to be seen whether parliament will continue to waste their time on this.  Maybe there are supposed 'gay' youth who do suicide because of people like this crusader for gay rights Mikeybear. Just imagine a young vulnerable person having a bit of a gender identity crisis and maybe because of personality clashes in their family they are suffering a bit of depression and anxiety.
Along comes Mikeybear. 'Oh, dear, the problem is that you are gay and misunderstood'. The kid may not be gay but just experiencing a normal adolescent stage in development on the way to forming a healthy heterosexual identity. So now this child feels pressured into having a 'gay' experience by the more experienced homosexual person who is indulging in quite predatory sexual behaviour.
Now imagine after having such an experience, this young person may feel deep down that something is not right. They may want to extricate themselves from the experience and the person who has led them down this path of sexual experimentation into deviant behaviour, but they become caught up in the gay culture and social milieu and they feel pressure to be 'gay' and they feel not right about being homosexual.
I have seen such a thing happen. Many many years ago in the 1980's when I returned from Israel I saw a friend who had just such pressure put on her by the gay community and I tried to help her. I remember when she decided to leave a relationship with another gay woman and live by herself. She had subtle, but constant harrassment and pressure. She told me that she felt she was not really gay but it was a stage she had to go through. I could only be supportive as a heterosexual friend. I was glad that at some stage she entered a relationship with a man, who unfortunately was not Jewish, but that was better than being in a series of relationships with gay women mostly not Jewish who were all very dysfunctional and actually quite strange. Later I met her last lesbian partner in a video store who informed me that she too was not gay, but now experiencing 'straight' life and I wondered just what was it that led these women into this dysfunctional and strange lifestyle.
I think for some people this would lead to their suicides rather than pressure from the outside of the normal heterosexual community. These people may feel immense shame and anguish and feel that they cannot have a normal sexual relationship with a spouse because  for them, intimacy is associated with disgust and shame. It is recorded that often boys at British boarding schools do experiment and later go on to lead normal heterosexual lives with their wives and often a mistress or two. Many people in the normal mainstream society are very understanding and sensitive to the emotional needs of homosexual people for love and acceptance. Truly gay people that is.

We have to separate between the holy and sacred elements of living and those that are not so kosher. In doing so, we must be honest. We cannot allow deviant behaviour to be called normal or become accepted as normal, because honestly it is not. We can always be sensitive to and accepting of gay people as human beings and be supportive of their social rights, but we must not allow them as a vocal and aggressive minority hi jack society and social values. That is why any push for same sex marriages to be legalised and on par with the institution of marriage between a man and a woman must fail.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Defamation and Slander - What is the difference and thoughts on Same Sex Marriage yet again.

B'H
There is very little real difference between slander and defamation on some counts. Those who would use either methods against a rival or another person seek to damage or injure the person and their reputation or social standing by the misrepresentation of facts or events.
When you speak truth or honestly about a topic, be it same sex marriage or the conflict in the Middle East or even about raising children with the right attitudes, there will be those who speak against you with a vehemence that is unparalleled. They have something to protect with their very lives because they live in a deluded universe where lies hold prominent place in their perspectives on all things. They seek to impose this on others and will do so with the anger of a spoilt and wilful child.

I remember arguing as a child with my mother re Hitler (may he and all his ilk be erased from the earth). I was seven years old and I had been reading holocaust literature. My mother would state to me, 'Nonsense, you are a silly little girl who does not know anything. These Jews were naughty, naughty people. Hitler did many good things. We went to youth camps and they gave us picnics and good food, we sang songs and we had a lovely time. Hitler gave us back our self-respect.'
And I remember saying to her,'Mummy it is wrong to kill people. So many people and what about the Jewish children? Didn't they want camps and picnics too? It was horrible what the Nazis(may they be erased forever)  did. They were bad, not the Jews. The Jews - many of them did nothing wrong at all.' She insisted that I was a stupid, stupid child and could not know anything. That was when I understood that adults can live in a universe that is quite twisted and truth is not always visible.
The sad part is that many Jews in the beginnning supported Hitler until they realised that it was not going to save them, by pretending not to be Jewish or distancing themselves from their Jewish heritage. You cannot down play the role of Hitler any more than you can downplay the role of the same sex marriage supporters. One sought to destroy Jews and Jewish life, the other seeks to destroy something that is at the basis of civilisation and also the basis of family life - real family life.
Rabbi Dr Shimon Cowen is a learned and well educated man. There will be many who despise his views because they are based on intrinsic truths about being and unfortunately there are many intelligent people who are being played around with and emotionally black mailed by the gay lobby groups.
Oh yes, there are famous actresses and people in the entertainment world who are gay and of course they will support same sex marriage in the majority. Oh yes, they have followings and flocks and flocks of little sheep who will baa on command when the wolf tells them to do so, but the fact remains, while these people are intelligent and often very lovely people, they are misguided and while it is inappropriate to name such here, one should be careful to support youngsters who believe they are gay but not become emotionally involved in their fantasies. It is dangerous for them and for yourselves. It is often a stage that many young people go through as a part of growing up and often these people are ashamed of their deviant feelings later on as they mature. Very few people are gay, really gay, definitely not one in ten as some actress so foolishly quoted and she can be gay, gay, gay, gay or bent, bent and more bent all she wants, but it does not change facts. Most of us are straight, straight, straight, straight and straighter than an arrow.
Why do they want marriage? Life is a often a struggle between the yetzer ra and the yetzer tov. Most of us want to to do good things. Usually. However the yetzer ra gets us at our weakest points and where we most want to be strong. We all have our weaknesses. Mine is things like chocolate, a temper and being impatient at times with others, among other things. To allow same sex marriage is like rewarding people for giving in to their worst impulses and their most depraved appetites of a sexual nature. It is just pathetic. Then after same sex marriage, we can bring back child brides can we? It is really about a Sodom and Gomorroh mentality. If the bed does not fit the person we make the person fit the bed. Most of us are straight and some individuals have yetzer ra in some areas of sexuality that needs controlling and the energy channelled into positive things. It is very important for a person to have a husband or wife - if they can  find another person that they can tolerate and get on with in their lives and live in relative peace and harmony it is a good thing. You have children and that is a great thing and makes marriage most worthwhile. It develops the character if both people fully understand what marriage is all about and what needs to be achieved. Selfish people find marriage very hard because you have to share trials and tribulations as well as joys. Sometimes people want to give all the trials to their spouse and just keep the joys to themselves and have complete freedom to do as they please.
The program for 'same sex marriage' is based on selfishness and not love for another person. It is based on giving in to selfish and hedonistic desires that have nothing to do with love, caring and sharing, personal growth and maturity of a spiritual and emotional nature. There I have probably upset many people and while I am sorry in some respects, I am not sorry. I stand by my words and hopefully this nonsense about same sex marriage will pass. Surely the government and parliament have better and more important things to debate like the running of this country and proper resourcing of education and health services and more. At present they are being hijacked by a vocal and selfish minority whose agenda is suspect. Very suspect.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Valentine's Day - What is it?

B'H
But another day for the retailers to get more money out of the foolish. Even if I could afford chocolates and flowers I cannot think of anyone I would send them to on this day. What is it really celebrating?
Forgive me if I am a tad cynical, but in this day and age, does it really mean anything? I mean you meet someone for several seconds (many people) and you are 'in love' so you think. So two people like the look of one another they shake hands and do other things best not mentioned here. This is a family blog after all. Then a hour or two later they break up and the cycle starts up again.  Please. I am not a person for romance but hard solid commitment, in friendships and and marriages. That is why I was a failure in marriage I guess. I am a better friend than a wife. I demand too much I guess.  Many men do not like commitment or it just bores them or scares them.
My son has a hard time but I guess he also is not an easy little person. He maybe needs a mother like me.
What do the chocolates of Valentines Day really mean? Apart from the fact it is a Christian saints day which I do not observe, (any of them) it annoys me exceedingly that we copy American customs slavishly. I like my chagim to have meaning and essence.
St Valentines Day has nothing for me.
Plus by the way, if another person wants to post a tribute to Whitney Houston or Facebook, I think I will scream. ENOUGH ALREADY. The woman might have been a good singer ONCE, but she became a wack job, unfortunately. Too many drugs, too much alcohol and just plain confused as all hell. Then, she got the doctors to prescribe drugs to her. The worst kind, the legal drug pushers. It shows how just out of control she was and lacking in commonsense.
What is sad is that she was a good little gospel singer from where ever in USA and she ran into the big bad city boy Bobbi Brown. It destroyed her. Because she allowed it. You have to be strong to play with those sorts of fellows and not let them make a 'ho' out of you. Keep away from the drugs and alcohol and to live a clean life, even if they ain't. Whitney was weak. Really weak and foolish, a bit immature for a 48 year old. She lacked commonsense, hence the early death. Some talented people have death wishes and she was one of them.
SAD. At least she is not suffering any more.

Monday, February 13, 2012

An excellent article by Rabbi Shimon Cowen

B'H

An excellent article and I draw your attention to the following text from the article with a foot note of my own. I have posted the link here along with this extract but the whole article is well worth reading. He makes the point very well and in far greater depth than I could manage at the moment as he has obviously researched the topic in some depth and has a wealth of knowledge and learning to draw on.
This is a quote which I have added my own footnote.

"However, the homosexual anti-bullying program, having violated this methodological principle, goes on to create circumstances of actual harm. By calling on children to identify themselves sexually at young age (to lock themselves into a sexual identity in early or pre-adolescence), they seize upon an as yet fluid and unformed sexual identity. There are cases where peer groups have labelled a child as homosexual, and the child has taken on the identity, only later to cast it off later amidst much suffering and much bad experience, when the child finally socializes into a normative heterosexual role. However, here it is not peers but social workers and academics who are working to freeze a child into a sexual identity – an explicitly homosexual identity at a young age. The New York Times, with its program of adolescents “coming out”, publicizes the manifestos of young children about their supposed homosexuality. The active acculturation of children – in an extremely fluid stage of their personal identity – into homosexuality is a profoundly disreputable professional practice."

I went to a single sex boarding school and it was quite common for younger girls in years 7,8 and sometimes more immature year 9's to have crushes on senior students. That was par for course, and they grew out of such crushes which usually lasted a year or two at the very most. These girls were not gay, they were simply hero worshipping an older more mature girl who they looked on as a model for the women they would become one day. It is all a part of normal adolescent behaviour and a stage in normal human development. When this normal emotional development is arrested for some reason, then you can have confusion and a gender identity crisis.
Lovely piece of writing from Rabbi Cowen as it is so clearly set out and logical.

http://www.family.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=442

Saturday, February 11, 2012

What should we show high school students in the way off films?

B'H

It is just my personal opinion, but I think film makers have started to use film as an extremely voyeuristic media to shock, titillate and to unsettle viewer audiences. I was searching for a film to show an audience of students ranging in age from 16 to 18 last week and thus took out two films from the school film library which turned out to be so unsuitable, I felt for young impressionable minds and even for my mind.
In fact, one film, The Kite Runner, I had to turn it off and return it immediately to the library. It had a scene depicting the anal rape of a young boy who is close to the age of my son. My hands were shaking when I took the DVD out. I felt nauseated and sick. I did not watch the rest of the film. I have read the book. It was that in the book that disturbed me plus the treatment of this boy's own son who turns out to be the narrator's half brother many years later in the novel.
I know novel and film texts need to be realistic but is this showing what an ugly and actually quite sick world we have become. Do we need to show this to young impressionable students and should we? Indeed should we? There is a rising incidence they say, of pornography in the world and the incidences of child pornography is epidemic and is that connected to what we are showing and exposing children to at an early age?
Innocence is to be treasured in children. They need to have a childhood that is free from sexual abuse and other forms of abuse. There is something quite sick and perverse about a lot of things shown on screen and on TV. Hence I do not have TV. Too much violence and sexualisation of women and men. I want my child to focus on other things - being a good person, someone who contributes positively to society on many levels and is never bored so that he or she doesn't have to take drugs, drink alcohol or car or train surf for entertainment. They have much more positive things to do and do not have time for such nonsense.
There are old people to visit in homes, helping activities as well and much more to do that all give one a better sense of being that mindless entertainment so often depicted in the media as 'what young people do these days.'
I shudder every time I see someone like Britany Spears with her mammary glands fully exposed along with her belly and butt, jiggling to techno music like some young heifer on amphetamines  or these plastic women with fake smiles, all there assets exposed no mystery there, just stating to the world, 'all I am about is good animal sex', no mind involved, I like you, you like me, let's do it and blow the consequences, who cares if you are married or not.' It sickens me.
The whole of society is sick and we need a return to better manners and interests and contributing to society in ways other than offering sexuality to everyone and every thing. I am not a prude by any means. I have lived long enough to understand the difference between what was and what is now.
Society has lost its moral compass in many ways.
Why can't we show films to inspire and evoke students and not horrify them and not desensitise them to acts of violence on others that no one wants to witness or should have to witness? Education is not about the grubby sordid sexualisation of the young mind, it is about inspiration, creation of people of morals and high standards. The more we accept the grubby and gutter behaviour of some, the more we desensitise kids to real morality and allow the seamy elements of society to pretend that their behaviour is normal and acceptable.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

The illogical decisions of some of those with the power to be



1.       In Israel last month, Magen David Adom (the Israel equivalent  of the Red Cross and is an ambulance service) signed an agreement with the Red Cross which is an international organisation that goes to many places in the world to give aid and medical services to the sick and injured. This agreement is to get the Magen David Adom service not to go behind the so – called Green Line in Israel.  Two things are shocking about this, more shocking than the whole political manipulation and the absolute malice that is behind this agreement is unbelievable.

a)      This service is meant to be about saving lives, healing the sick and injured and INDEED transporting them to a hospital, NOT POLITICS. There are some things beyond politics and that is saving lives, Pekua Nefesh.  The Red Cross is nowadays about politics. I guess that is how come they can allow their ambulances to be a cover for some terrorist organisations and how have the Magen David Adom gotten themselves mixed up with this corruption is beyond me.

b)      Magen David Adom also serves the Arab communities in the villages that are in the Israeli territories – so if an Arab woman is giving birth and in trouble or there has been an accident, they are not supposed to go as much as to Kirayat Araba or any of the Jewish villages and towns?

The whole exercise is purely to delegitimize the state of Israel and they are using the Shomron and other areas as a test case because if they can get the Israeli government to undermine its own existence, hey, who needs enemies (?)  when you can have a ‘friend’ like this who will willing encourage you to perform a slow torturous form of suicide on yourself, cutting off limb after limb and finally getting you to rip your heart out to demonstrate how noble and good you are. Suicide is not an option for a Jewish person and we need to trust in G-D and have some common sense. Tell them to go to hell and fight back. The whole thing is totally illogical and off the scale for silliness.


 
2.       There are huge floods in Queensland. The South Western Queensland town of St George is swimming under nearly fourteen metres of water, but hey, get this piece of Australian idiocy. Last year the administration and town council lobbied for funds from the federal and state governments to build a levy bank because they have had floods for several years running. The commonsense thing to do was to build a levy bank to minimise the flooding and protect houses in the town and business from the flood waters. After all the grand staging and Anna Bligh’s ‘emotional speeches’ and of course, Julia Gillard’s trotting around and little crocodile tears at the corner of her beady eyes, you would think that they would dig into the coffers and give the town a million or so to build a good levy bank to protect it and save the residents some yearly distress.

No way, HOSEA. They were refused. Why? WHY?? This is a disgrace and now these people are displaced from their homes and businesses and their kids are out of school because we have a stupid government run by even more stupid representatives. I bet Barneby Joyce is fuming at the idiocy of these governments. You would want to put Julia and Anna in stocks (for at least a week) and let the residents pour some raw sewerage water over their heads. It would be fitting justice.  Where has commonsense gone lately? All the time your plans, if you have commonsense, are derailed by the politicians or those who are self seeking and when they can do something so totally illogical and stupid, like an instant blanket ban on live Beef exports, on my G-D do they hurry!! It is almost like a competition to be the most stupid government that we have ever had.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

A dark story with darker implications

B'H

A Post for little John Ashfield who died on August 4th 1993. My son was born on the 10th anniversary of his death.

I am not usually an advocate for the death penalty but I really do think that there are some crimes that a death penalty is needed to protect the vulnerable and weaker members of society.  Actually I do not like the death penalty at all but in some cases, you do think, society needs to be protected from people such as these.

Here is the first article and it is not for the weak stomached. When you read of the wickedness of these people, you wonder how someone could treat a child in such a manner, any child, not just a child you borne. What happened to her protective maternal instinct? It is beyond belief what this woman did.  I love children and while I do believe the occasional smack at times is warranted (delivered as a firm pat on the bottom and once only without anger) and firm boundaries, the actions of these two people is beyond all my comprehension. They systematically abused this child until he died and involved the other children in their abuse. One wonders if they were drunk, on drugs or just simply evil, twisted and exceptionally malicious people.


When you read what they did to this little boy and the ‘reason’ for which they believed he needed punishment, one cannot help but wonder at the deranged madness of this pair of monsters. How have they damaged the other children who had to witness the beating of their little brother? G-D only knows. A six year old boy supposed to have touched his three year old sister inappropriately? They must be mad and have they had psychiatric evaluations done on this pair? They were projecting their own filth and anger onto a gorgeous normal little lad and when you see the pictures of this child, you cannot stop the tears. Vile, vile beings and why are we letting people like this back out into the community? How do we stop this witch from having contact with children under 16? She will probably be in a relationship with someone within weeks of getting out. That man could very well have grown children and they may have children who will be his grandchildren. There is an insanity happening in the court system that beggars belief. They are relying on people who have committed the ultimate crimes to keep to rules of normal social behaviour.

We get to Austin Allen Hughes and there is a woman out there who I hope is thanking G-D for her alert and protective sister and mother. Thank goodness, that these people were alert and aware to what this man was about.


When you read how he integrated himself into the family, it gives you the cold shivers.


http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/sydney-nsw/google-hunt-found-brutal-truth-behind-killer-austin-allan-hughes-name-change/story-e6freuzi-1226263196608

And the daughter Melissa, John’s little sister, one of the hidden victims whose life has been shattered by this pair’s barbaric act of insanity.


In conclusion, it shows us just how vulnerable we are as single parents. There is nothing to be said but that it is best for society when we raise our children to be balanced and good human beings and to marry once and be in a strong and stable relationship with the one person. I look with some envy at friends who are married and in strong relationships of twenty or thirty years standing. It shows that marriage is meant to be between men and women to endure and to refine and develop the character of people and to be an example for the next generation.

I swore to myself when I first held my sleeping baby son that I would never ever enter into a ‘relationship or partnership’ with anyone because I was ‘lonely’ or because ‘he needed a father’ and that I would put his safety and needs for security first at all times.  It does not matter to me that I may never get married again. I have a duty to my child and we all need to recognise that we have a duty to our children to put their needs first and ours second. We are adults and they are the vulnerable and the weak that need our protection. The rest is up to G-D and all we can do is our best and pray.

The little people like John Ashfield who left this life too soon and in the most horrific manner, are becoming far too numerous and we must do something to protect them. May his killers rot in prison for the rest of their lives or be struck by some natural disaster. G-D a bolt of lightning for both of them, but then considering the way that tiny little child suffered, it is too swift a death for them.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Melbourne swelters in the heat, Queensland and NSW flooded

B'H

While Melbourne swelters in a mini heat wave, up north most people are getting more rain and floods. At least it is not as bad as last year and I did ring the home in Charleville where my mother is to see that she is safe. This leads me to my next gripe of the new week.
Because of the massive flooding in Charleville Qld my 90 year old mother has been moved with other residents from their facility in Charleville to a hospital in Brisbane.What annoys the hell out of me is trying to find numbers from Telstra in this day and age. When you ring the directory you get this muffled voice on the other end of the line and in answer to my query are 'Are you in India or what?' the guy replied 'No, I am in the Philippines.' Great! I HATE the outsourcing of jobs like this from Australia into some third world country. Can't we answer our own phones any more? The guy asked me how to spell 'Charleville'. I had to spell it twice. WHY? WHY?
The problem is not them. It is us and we are crueling our own society by allowing these jobs to go overseas.
My son plays Cricket this morning and we have a Chabad festival for kids between 12 and 4 this afternoon. So a full day is planned by all.
I am continuing to think about what to do re work and worried about my mother although she probably hardly ever gives me a thought. Interesting how much I am literally hated by my siblings to the extent that I am never contacted even to see if I am alright and it is put around that 'I have mental problems.'

I find the 'mental problems' tag highly offensive and ridiculous. It is quite funny in a way. It was always me ringing to see if they were ok and that was a source of malicious amusement for them so I stopped ringing. Not once did anyone ever ring me in the past twenty odd years to see if I was ok. Except for my dear departed father that is. He was the only person in the family who rang me. I was in Israel for 6 nearly 7 years and my mother did not ring me once the whole time I was there. She did not even speak to me while I was there. I only spoke to my father and when I asked for her, he told me she was busy. She did not want to come to the phone. Sick of being lied to and the rubbish spread about me that came back through other relatives is astounding. Still she is my mother. I have to.....
I may be financially stretched to the limit which has a lot to do with the effects of my bullying in NSW and not working for five years but a lot of other people would have crumpled under the pressure. I have just keep on with my daily life and tried to get on top of things financially.

Anyway enough of that and here is a picture of the levee banks in Charleville Qld where I grew up on  property nearby about 100 miles away from the town.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-04/charelville-residents-wait-to-see-if-levee-holds/3811932

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Some old photos

In Tel Aviv many years ago with Bobi Dog

My mother in 1958

My mother in 2006
Me in 1958 with my piece of blanket I used to carry around.

My brother in 1958 at two years of age helping with the washing.

Tessa my mother's dog which was a gift from my father to her on their first or second wedding aniversary as a pup.