tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21001963.post115181142763380373..comments2023-10-26T20:05:14.669+07:00Comments on intrepid flame: Ability To AnalyzeJabizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15060918134697370964noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21001963.post-1151942381309201922006-07-03T22:59:00.000+07:002006-07-03T22:59:00.000+07:00Still waiting...Still waiting...Intrepidflamehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16185093331334990403noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21001963.post-1151935315989185482006-07-03T21:01:00.000+07:002006-07-03T21:01:00.000+07:00did you all have your baby?did you all have your baby?billiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16206096509976316141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21001963.post-1151859972596489062006-07-03T00:06:00.000+07:002006-07-03T00:06:00.000+07:00I meant Sovereign, not soereing. Masters degree i...I meant Sovereign, not soereing. Masters degree in fine art, not spelling. Sorry.DivaJoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02534571327558009753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21001963.post-1151859840990612972006-07-03T00:04:00.000+07:002006-07-03T00:04:00.000+07:00"If I were to pick a side, I would pick the Palest..."If I were to pick a side, I would pick the Palestinian, but is alignment helping to bring peace to the very people I wish peace for?"<BR/><BR/>BZ, I truly admire your thoughtful approach. I believe that your desire to be open minded is an essential quality that most people don't share. <BR/><BR/>I'm 57, and as I look at my thoughts vs. my actions, I realize that in many areas of thinking I am NOT open minded. I am open-hearted, which is different. My thinking is fraught with opinions and judgments. It simply is. My actions lead me to be of service to others despite my thinking. <BR/><BR/>My thinking requires me to comment on your statement quoted above. My thinking tells me that you haven't really studied the history of this conflict, and that you also believe that the Israelis (and Jews) don't want peace with the Palestinians. Israel wants peace. <BR/><BR/>Many of us who are strongly pro-Israel know that for this region to truly flourish, there MUST be peace, and that Palestinians must be full citizens of Israel. Has to happen, has to, or this region will eventually blow itself to smithereens.<BR/><BR/>There is no right or wrong in this conflict. It is a blood conflict, it is ugly. Both sides have valid issues. And so one more time I will say someone go first. <BR/><BR/>This leads me to the spiritual principal of "You go first." Bill Wilson, in the 12 Steps and 12 Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous, wrote: "It is a spiritual axiom that every time we are disturbed, no matter what the cause, there is something wrong with us." He goes on to talk about "justifiable anger" being the luxury of others. <BR/><BR/>So. Israel and the Palestinians have "justifiable" reasons to fight with each other. Because both sides are completely attached to their reasons, they are both wrong. My thinking tells me that the Palestinians are "more" wrong than Israel; my heart tells me it makes no difference at this point, and someone must go to the table and lay down their weapons. <BR/><BR/>The Palestinians who recruit their young men to become suicide bombers prey on the heightened dissatisfaction and despair that all teens have. In the case of the Palestinian youth, it is worse as there appears to be no way out. There is a way out.<BR/><BR/>An incredible film, "Paradise Now", visits this condition. Made by Palestinian filmmakers, it makes me aware that they also have their own anti-war movement going on. In Israel, Shalom Akshav (Peace Now) is a strong anti-war voice. <BR/><BR/>But here, in the US, the gut reaction among the left is to "side with the Palestinians." That limits your options. I personally, as a leftist, and as a Jew, side with the Shalom Akshav movement which includes a sovereing state of Israel and full citizenship for Palestinians.DivaJoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02534571327558009753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21001963.post-1151845031222567442006-07-02T19:57:00.000+07:002006-07-02T19:57:00.000+07:00i am working on a post that looks at cheney, rumsf...i am working on a post that looks at cheney, rumsfeld, and wolfowitz as the architects of their own doctrine. it is my belief that bush does not have much say in what is going on.billiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16206096509976316141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21001963.post-1151844036192878592006-07-02T19:40:00.000+07:002006-07-02T19:40:00.000+07:00i have been striving for open mindedness and i try...i have been striving for open mindedness and i try to be balanced but it isn't easy. i welcome debate but i think that my opinions are formed out of facts- so i generally try to be right before i make them. i lean left of center because i don't care for what the right stands for- and at this point i feel that we are in a fight for our lives and way of life- not because it is a political thing. i don't know if i think solidly right or wrong- i think maybe i do- but i don't hold it against entire populations. the illegal immigrants for example- i think that they should be here legally but i also see that big corporations bus them over the border to work- so there is that subtlety to problems- that complexity that i think that most people see and choose to ignore. come by anytime you want- and i will add you to my list. thanks alot! :)billiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16206096509976316141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21001963.post-1151843388567425542006-07-02T19:29:00.000+07:002006-07-02T19:29:00.000+07:00This is one of the best posts I've read in a long ...This is one of the best posts I've read in a long time...It's what I've been thinking, but not able to express it words as descriptive and elequont (please spell that for me, please)..as you have.<BR/><BR/>thanks!Nohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09929187212992920070noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21001963.post-1151814583508139532006-07-02T11:29:00.000+07:002006-07-02T11:29:00.000+07:00Someone with your sophistication has to lead, not ...Someone with your sophistication has to lead, not follow or pander. Understand where your opponent comes from, but don't be him. <BR/><BR/>I hope that this comment goes without saying. I think one danger we face, or I should say I face, becoming this new “lite” version of myself, is to say that I am giving up and pandering. That is not my case at all. I am simply trying to approach these debates in a new way, at least for myself. <BR/><BR/>I hope I didn’t come across as saying I was validating the actions of my opponents. That was not my intention.Intrepidflamehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16185093331334990403noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21001963.post-1151813531646811712006-07-02T11:12:00.000+07:002006-07-02T11:12:00.000+07:00Understanding another view is one thing, validatin...Understanding another view is one thing, validating it is another. I think we'd be better off as a society, debating polemics like Hitchens vs Galloway.<BR/><BR/>Someone with your sophistication has to lead, not follow or pander. Understand where your opponent comes from, but don't be him.Frank Partisanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03536211653082893030noreply@blogger.com