Popeye Would Be Ashamed

I'm looking through the headlines the other day when I come across the following headline on CNN:

Toddler may have eaten bad spinach before he died

This is no laughing matter. It's hard to get kids to eat spinach at the best of time, now who's gonna touch their vegetables?

Billy: Hey Suzy, did you hear about Timmy? His mom made him eat spinach and it killed him!

Now that I've sealed my place in hell for making light of the death of a child, I want to share with you a paragraph from the same website, essentially buying me a VIP ticket on the first elevator down.

Of those infected in the outbreak, 88 have been hospitalized, including a Wisconsin woman who died. Two other deaths have been reported in suspected cases -- a child in Idaho and an elderly woman in Maryland -- but those cases are still being investigated.(Watch grieving parents search for answers -- :32)

Notice the blue link. Watch grieving parents search for answers?!? What, it's not bad enough that this poor couple's child was killed by spinach, CNN now goes and makes a reality show where we can watch the grieving parents search for answers? What has the media in America come to? People are suffering and anyone can just tune in to the net and watch them. And it's all brought to you by our moral friends over at Time Warner.

Happy (Jewish) New Year

Well it's that time again. The time of year when us Jews celebrate the new year. Looking back at last year's post, I find that I still feel very much the same way. That doesn't mean I haven't grown a lot, simply that I still don't have the answers to the questions I was, and still am, asking.

This is the time of year when I get bummed because I usually feel like I haven't accomplished anything big or important in the past year. This year I'm not going to bother with looking back at things I haven't accomplished. Life is too short to live in the past and it's time to start living for the moment and enjoying everyone one of them.

Shana Tova and Happy New Year to everyone!

Pentagonal Powwow

Monday I was invited to the Israeli equivalent of the American Pentagon for a meeting. It's a really nice base. They actually have grass! I had been there once already, about a half a year ago, to use their laser shooting range (see post) but was never inside the main building. I was excited to see signs in the elevator directing you the Ramatcal's (Chief of General Staff) office. This was a very important meeting, but it was hardly about national security, and Danny didn't attend. My meeting shared its topic with many of my posts- Birthright.

Being an alumnus (technically twice over) of Birthright, I along with about ten other soldiers, was invited to meet with the woman in charge of the Mifgash for all of birthright. She asked us many questions about our experience, what we learned, ways to improve the program, and things we particularly liked about the program. I was very vocal (read: didn't shut up) as I feel very strongly about this program.

Sidenote: If you don't know what birthright is, head on over to their website and read about it. If you do know what it is, registration for this winter's trip is already open so head over to the registration page and get registered if you are eligible. I highly recommend Shorashim [official site] as the world's best trip organizer, but I am biased.

Anyway, the meeting was interesting and it was good to reminisce about my trip(s). An added bonus was that one of the guys from my second trips was also at the meeting so I got to sit and chill in his office with him for a while, afterwards.

After the meeting, in true jobnik spirit, I went with Ilan H. across the street to Azrieli Mall and got lunch. Mmmm, fried cheese sandwich.

Vengeance Stings

I saw this headline and proved that I may be a heartless person, as my first reaction was to burst into uncontrollable laughter.

Headline: Stingray mutilations prompt Irwin vengeance fears.

Common, that's a little funny. Aussies are taking vengeance on all stingrays because one killed the only famous Australian. Actually there are a few famous Australians (some friends and I came up with a few the other day). Kylie Minogue is Australian. So is the guy who played Crocodile Dundee. I think we came up with some more famous people but they seem to be forgettable.

I'm not going to lie, I don't think I had heard of this guy before he died, and now his death is getting avenged. Up to 11 innocent stingrays have been murdered in cold blood and mutilated. I'm surprised the UN isn't trying to pin some "crimes against ray-manity" charges on the Aussies. This is a hate crime, after all. If we don't do something, we could be telling our children about "The Great Stingray Genocide of '06". I feel very strongly about this. I think I'm going to protest. Maybe I'll go on a hunger strike. No, I like to eat; I'm going to boycott surfing and shell necklaces.

Damn, what will I wear to and do at the beach now.

Cruise By The Beach

Well I'm on sick leave again. Since I joined the army over 2 years ago, I seem to be sick much more often, usually with a throat or eye infection. I happen to have both now.

[COMPLAINING]

I ended up guarding on Monday (Sep 11th) because a friend called me up at 6:30am horribly sick. When I woke up on Tuesday after guarding the previous night my eyes were horribly sore so I decided to go to infirmary to get some eye drops. The doc not only found an eye infection but when I told her about my sore throat and ear, I landed myself on a week of antibiotics.

This had the potential to be such a perfect leave. If I didn't have to work this weekend and I had seen the doc in the morning, I would have been home from Tuesday morning until Sunday morning- a hell of a vacation. Unfortunately I only got home late Tuesday afternoon and had to go in this afternoon for a few hours for an important meeting with the district head (a little nerve racking). At least I didn't have to guard today because my friend who's place I took on Monday, is covering for me until tomorrow.

[/COMPLAINING]

I drove to base today for the first time. I had the car at home and wasn't about to spend three hours on a bus for a one hour meeting. It worked out really well. It only took me about half an hour each way and that was with the scenic route. On the way there I decided to drive along the Tel Aviv beach front instead of taking the highway the whole way there. I don't often drive along the beach during the day, it's usually night time when I pass on the way to a bar. It was really nice to see the waves crashing on the beach. I forget how close I live to such a gorgeous beach. It's something I'm going to miss in NYC.

United 93

Last night I went to see United 93 with Katz and Gross and I thought it was a great movie. In the past few weeks I've seen ads for the movie on bus stops and when I asked people what it was they told me it was a movie about one of the September 11th flights. A little more inquiring a learned it was about the fourth plane, the one that didn't hit its target because the passengers fought back against the terrorists. I decided it was a movie I would like to see and with September 11th tomorrow, I decided it was a fitting time to see it.

Before leaving the house I read the review and was a little wary when it described the movie as a Docu-Drama. I didn't really want to pay money to go see a documentary, but decided I wanted to see the movie anyway.

Upon leaving the movie, I wasn't disappointed. While some people I have spoken with thought it was very documentary-ish. I think it had just the right amount of documentary-ness in it. The movie kept you glued to your seat in anticipation, even though you knew what was going to happen. I thought the film was shot very well and you really got the feeling you were there, whether there was on the plane or in the tower on the ground.

One thing I thought was interesting is that you don't get any back story. The story starts with the terrorist preparing to leave for the airport and end with the plane crash. You don't learn who the terrorists are or who the heroic passengers are. You don't get into anyone's head. Most of the characters in the movie remain nameless. The star of the movie is the situation, no one person stands out.

I left the movie in a rather somber mood, declining to go to the pool hall for some late night billiards. While I went into the movie knowing the story was true, it wasn't till after I left the movie that it finally hit me- THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED. Those people really died. They actually took a stand and saved countless lives. The thought was depressing and thought provoking. What would I do in that situation? When will someone next be put in that situation?

On the eve of this historic date, I solute the brave souls that lost their lives five years ago.

PAAAARTY!

Well, I haven't had a chance to write in the past few weeks cause life has been busy.

[EXCUSES]

As of three weeks ago I've taken on a position with more responsibilities and overall work, which includes dealing with certain systems and programs I haven't really dealt with in the past and delegating jobs to other soldiers on the team.

The other thing, other than laziness, is that Katz, Nadiv and I have spent this past week planning a crazy birthday party for Gross. It's been a while (over two years) since the three of us planned a party but Thursday night at the beach we finally got back in the game. The music was rocking and the bubbly was flowing. Actually the only bubbly we had was coke and sprite but the punch I made was killer and it went quickly. Pouring it straight down people's throats didn't exactly do much for conserving the it, but it was worth it. We got about 50 people which was about twice the the low side of what I was expecting. There were a few hitches along the way but in the end, everything came together and there was one hell of a party.

We still have quite a few drinks as we planned to have upwards of 100 people so with a little luck we'll be planning another party in a few weeks time.

[/EXCUSES]