Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Hopalong Harry

Some time when I was at Pessach seder (19/4/08), Harry managed to fracture his shoulder. The doctors cannot figure out why almost a month later, Harry is still limping around, refusing to use his right front arm/leg.

I know why. My eldest feline Harry has become what is known in medical terms as a "Malingerer", a faker vying for sympathy and attention. I have observed the following behaviours: when I am with him and clearly watching him, he gets a sad expression in his eyes and limps along, hoppity hop. When he does not know that I am watching him, he uses all four legs, and has only a mild limp, which I notice because I am a Chiropractor.

The fracture was small, and I believe that by next week I will feel confident enough to allow him to go outside again, which thankfully will relieve me of litter box duty.

My brother laughs at this story, saying that it has nothing to do with feline or human, except for the fact that Harry is a man, and knows how to work the woman in his life.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Olmert's Arrogance

"I will resign from the post of Prime Minister if they manage to indict me on THIS [emphasis added] charge of accepting bribes and violating campaign law."

Which somehow implies that Olmert would never consider resigning with five other previous criminal investigations open against him.

Which somehow implies that he has no thought or consideration for the good name and honor of the country he represents, nor for his own reputation.

Which somehow implies that he has no itention of getting indicted on this or any of the other charges pending against him.

Olmert is already pointing the finger at two of his aides, saying that they were the ones who handled the money, and that if the money somehow ended up in his personal pocket, he was not an active conspirator. Once again, Olmert's staff will fall on his ever bloody sword, with the bizarre sense of loyalty that I would prefer to call political S and M.

He also had no problem speaking on Yom HaZikaron, comforting the families who have lost sons and daughters in battle, when his own children fled the country rather than serve in the army. With three of our most recent MIAs still not returned home, dead or alive, Olmert could look these families in the face with no shame, and play at being popular.

When George Bush visits this week, Olmert plans on plowing through public opinion and his low approval rating in order to give away more land to terrorists who will only use our weakness to their advantage.

How sad for Olmert that he does not have the balls to leave already, and how sad for us that Israelis have such a disheveled and dis-honorable state of leadership.

To end with a quote from Uzi Benziman, in his op-ed piece in Haaretz today entitled, He Cannot Continue:

"This judgment relates to his practical ability to continue as prime minister, ignoring for the purposes of this discussion the moral dimension of his behaviour...Olmert has the right to a fair trial. But the prime minister must realize that he has lost his ability to continue leading the State."

Thursday, May 1, 2008

When the Siren Went Off

This morning I woke up before my alarm clock, checked on Harry, my cat with the broken shoulder, and then checked my email. Went to the post office to pay some taxes, and then to the pool to swim.

When the two minute siren went off for Yom HaShoah, I was standing in the shower, dripping wet with shampoo still in my hair, after my swim. Two minutes is a long time, it gives you enough time to really get inside yourself and realize how lucky you are; lucky that your family did not have too many murdered relatives in World War II, lucky that there is a State of Israel, and extremely happy to be living in that State of the Jews in 2008, a country which de facto protects all Jews all over the globe.

I could barely hear the siren over the loud hum of the fan.

I remember several years ago, I was standing on line at the bank when the siren sounded. Most of us stood at solemn attention, and one woman continued to talk on her cellphone, oblivious and totally disrespectful to the time dedicated to the Jews who died in the Holocaust. At first, all of us gave her dirty looks, to no avail. Finally we all started yelling at her, "What, don't you have any respect for those who died? Can't this conversation wait two minutes?"

She took offense - though thankfully shut off her phone - and as soon as the two minutes of silence ended, she called her friend right back, and proceeded to tell her friend how rude we had been, cutting off her conversation.

Life goes on, but isn't that the point?

I spent two minutes remembering the victims of the Shoah, and then returned to the shower, and went to work. We are a normal people living in a normal State on the Planet Earth, and while we have suffered terribly throughout history, and continue to suffer under the constant threats of terrorism within our borders, we are here.

We are here to stay.