Views from Point Breeze

First of all, the carnage going on in the Middle East between Israel and the Hamas organization in the Gaza Strip is unbelievable.  Secondly, it seems like many people are of the opinion that Israel is an aggressor that should not be doing what it is doing in this occurrence of a familiar war.  I have some friends on Facebook who feel that Israel could be bought up on war crimes.  As an observer, who lives in a community that is sometimes beset by gun violence, I feel that Israel is within its rights to defend itself from constant missile attacks from an enemy that is fighting from a heavily populated area. I had to complete research on Israel to better understand the origins of its right to exist.  Israel was formed on May 12th, 1948 when David Ben Gurion declared the establishment of a Jewish state.  It is the world's only Jewish majority state.  The country is bordered on the north by Lebanon, on the east by Jordan, on the northeast by Syria and on th...

Many of us were surprised to hear about the downing of a Malaysia Airlines flight.  The remains of Flight 370 have still not been found.  The disappearance of this flight left many of us bewildered as to how a passenger jet can disappear without a trace.  Someone is working on a movie as we speak.  Lawyers tried to sue Malaysia Airlines in the U.S. but the suits were thrown out.  This most recent tragedy is sad for the 80 children that perished when the plane was shot down.  Also, it involves an unfolding civil war and the tacit approval of a world superpower. For many Families, this is a time for vacations and a break from the work routine.  It is a blessing to be able to have your children explore new places and see new things.  This flight also was carrying a number of leading AIDS researchers who were headed to a conference.  We hear less about HIV and AIDS in the United States but the disease still ravages many families in Africa, Asi...

I have been neglectful of my blog lately.  The World Cup Game is boring so I figured I would work on publishing more than five posts this month.  I am going through another period of unemployment.  Maybe it is just me but when I worked in affordable housing for 16 years, it was a career full of promotions and upward mobility.  As I prepare myself for the next job opportunity. reading and reflecting is a major source of hope for me. I have always loved ancient history.  Egyptian and Roman ruins and the stories behind them are a source of inspiration.  When I first stumbled on this novel by Ben Kane I thought it was by the same author as Fire Waker by Ben Pastor.  Fire Waker was based on a person being raised from the dead during Roman times.  As I learned from reading this novel, Jupiter was a major Roman god as well as Mars.  The Christian faith and non-adherence to Roman gods was a cause for death. In this novel, a priestess by the name...

The national anthems are being sung as I write.  I know the terrible history of the Germans and what they did to Jewish people under Adolph Hitler.  I also understand that it is a country that has been bitterly divided among East and West for many years.  The symbolic destruction of the Berlin Wall in 1989 reunited families that had been separated for years.  In spite of the history, the reason I will pull for Germany is that they were in the Group of Death with the United States, Ghana and Portugal to start out the World Cup. Ghana beat the Germans and the German team dropped a 4 - 0 shellacking on Portugal.  We played Portugal and Ronaldo tough up until extra time.  We gained a point with the tie and helped our cause of advancing to the Round of 16.  There is no other historical basis for my choice.  Go Germany and we will wee you again in four years.  Sorry for the lack of success of Brazil as it fizzled out in the Championship Round....

Governor Tom Corbett had a reputation for signing budgets on time since his election.  He made a promise to his constituents not to drag out financial matters and to be prompt.  He promised no new taxes.  He also let the fracking industry run roughshod over any environmental policies that he had in check.  This is not the article to discuss his lack of education funding but his 20 point deficit in the polls to Tom Wolf might make him think twice about that. Political pundits indicate that this is the first time in twenty years that a governor has performed a line item veto on a budget.  Everyone, myself included, thought that Governor Corbett would just go ahead and sign the budget as presented.  The need to be re-elected would supersede any other political interest.  Apparently we all were mistaken.  Governor Corbett indicates that our pension obligations need to be addressed sooner rather than later.  With one of the largest legislatures...