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David Mitchell

And I am excited to explain that Sara's second book in the "Graciella" romance series comes out in December. I don't know the title yet. And she is already working on another series.

She has worked so hard for years at various writer's conferences and published many small time (and small money) essays in various publications. 

Here is a funny footnote about Sara's writing history. Sara was almost a Cum Laude Graduate in English LIt. at John Carroll. So I knew she could write. We both found the following incident a bit surprising. Later in graduate school at a Cal. State branch in South Pasadena, (while getting her California teaching certificate and teaching in an inner city L.A. grade school - pretty rough hispanic neighborhood) she wrote a story about one of my helicopter stories in the Delta.

(Mind you, I have been somewhat guarded in what I have told my kids - but this one I considerd "safe").

This was a somewhat unusual episode about how we hunted the VC during the rainy season when the rice paddies were bare of vegitation and nothing more than empty black puddles of water - as far as you could see. We would hover down to about two feet - on the correct side of the sun's refection so we could see beneath the surface - and slowly move along the VC's "fishing lines" - strings of white line (always a very visible white) that were strung through these bare paddies with sticks stuck into the bottom of the paddy every 10 feet or so, to wrap the line (and hooks) around and thus suspend it about 12 inches above the bottom mud of the wet empty paddies. The VC survived off what little fish they could catch at this time of year. These strings would go on for 30 or 40 feet and appeared in rice paddy after rice paddy. 

We had done this many times without results and I had gotten a bit callous about any potential results. Following a fishing line one day, I suddenly came on a single VC soldier, lying flat on his back in the water, breathing through a reed to enable him to say submerged a few inches beneath the surface. We were right on top of him, and for a moment our eyes met with a mutual sense of panic.  Here was a guy in black pajamas, lying in a black background, rendering his face the only visible feature I could see.  With a sudden splash he jumped up and held his AK up above his head with both arms - signaling "Chu Hoi" (surrender).  

It happend so suddenly I just about loaded my pants right there in the cockpit. We were both frightened to death! He couldn't have been much over 18 (I was 20). I could see the fear on his face and that frightened me even more. We got our C&C ship (the Huey at 500 feet directing the misson each day) to hover down while we two Scouts ships had our Observers train their guns on him. They were able to get him on board the Huey and handcuff him and attach him to a floor hook in the back seat, to be flown back to our base where he would be turned over to ground troops and secured for interrogation.  

I thought it was a somewhat interesting story and Sara had been fascinated by it. So she submitted the paper and waited for her results. She called me to tell me what happened. She got the paper back with a low grade and a comment written in the margin. "This is ridiculous! This could never have happened."

When she called to tell me I was livid!  Sara said, "Dad, don't you call anybody out here. I'll take care of this myself".    

David Mitchell

Joe,

I have gone straight thru Indy a number of times (but it has been years). I found the direct route thru I-70 to be faster and simpler than the south outerbelt. Not the norhtern outerbelt. 

Mark Schweickart

Dave – Congratulations to your daughter. (Sarah is your daughter, isn't she? You simply refer to her as "my Sara," so I think that is what you mean.) Speaking as someone who has never even been able to land an agent, let alone a publisher, I know how fightfully hard it is to actually see one's work in print (aside from self-publishing on Amazon, but that doesn't really count, now does it). And that was nice of you to pose for the book cover. That is you as the sexy rancher, isn't it? Seriously though, congratulations.

Speaking of our kids making us proud. I am happy to report that the film my son has been working ridiculous hours on for the last year and a half, hit the theaters this week, Ang Lee's Gemini Man starring Will Smith. It is released in various formats, Standard, 3D-HFR (high frame rate), Imax. If you have a chance, and like an action movie in the James Bond sort of tradition,  I recommend you see it at a theater that has the Dolby 3D projection system.  Among his many post-production duties (I think his screen credit read "3D Supervisor") Derek oversaw the creation of at least 20 different release versions (different formats, different frame rates, different subtitles for overseas markets, etc.) The end result is stunning visually, and the thing that could have been an embarrassing gimmick, the computer-generated version of Will Smith as a 23 year old, was instead completely successful – amazingly realistic. I never noticed anything that didn't look as if this were a real person on the screen. I was prepared to be less than impressed with the story-line, since I generally do not go to these sort of fantasy-action movies, but I was pleasantly surprised. The story turned out to be  compelling, and even had a sweetness to the father-son (loosley speaking) theme played with in the film. I was completely engaged. The 3D work is subtle, they never throw things at you, it just provides an increased sense of reality, further augmented by the high frame rate that adds further clarity to the image. If you are at all inclined to this sort of movie, you won't be disappointed.

Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

Requesting prayers today for Toni Cardi.  She had to be admitted to the hospital at Riverside yesterday for what was determined to be kidney failure due to a blocked kidney.  She underwent emergency surgery last night.  Mary Kay texted me this morning that Toni's brother had let her know that Toni made it through the surgery ok and that when he knows more, he will provide Mary Kay with an update.  It sounds as though she will be hospitalized for awhile.     

David Mitchell

Mary Margaret, 

Thanks for the info on Tony. This makes me feel espeially annoyed at myself since I had been meaning to call her for weeks and kept forgetting. 

----------------

Mark,

Yes, Sara Ohlin (Mitchell) is my oldest daughter, and no, that is NOT me on the book cover. I narrowly missed the "cut" by the "40-40" rule.

(40 pounds and 40 years) 

now I have another movie to see on my list.

Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

Mary Kay's update on Toni: The operation was a success, but Toni is in pretty bad shape. She was placed on a ventilator after the surgery, from which they are now trying to wean her.  Her rehabilitation will depend on her cooperation and determination.  I am sure cards of encouragement would be most welcome.  Cards can be sent to either Mary Kay DiNovo 125 E.N. Broadway Cols. 43214 or Mary Margaret Schultheis 191 E.Weber Rd. Cols. 43202 as MK is not sure what room or for how long she will be hospitalized.

Joseph D. McCarthy

When I was in training to be an Instructor (Not a teacher, just an Instructor) one of the most important lessons I learned is:

   Those Who Can, Do

    Those Who Can't, Teach  (to which I added)

     The Rest of Us WISH We Were Teachers

In my previous message I meant to mention a few things of interest that we passed on our first day:

The town that all of us automotive drivers can be thankful for, they changed the name of the town to reflect it's greatest invention:  CarLock, IL.  Without Carlock we could put a sign on our vehicles "Come Steal Me I'm Unlocked".

The second item, especially for those who have never driven through Illinois and Iowa, when I said Quad Cities I was referring to the locations near I-74, I-280, and I-80.  Four cities that abut each other like Grandview and Arlingon.  They are Rock Island, IL,  Moline, IL,  Bettendorf, IA,  and Davenport, IA.  I'm  not sure if Davenport gave it's name to the Davenport (sofa) in our homes while growing up  - Teachers, a little help.  Quad cities is also surrounded by the Mississippi River and a subsidiary the Rock River.  When we passed by it in September the river was still near flood levels.  In the past we drove through water on the Outerbelt (I-280) which is the low point.

Unfortunately, later there will be more about the trip.

Joseph D. McCarthy

On Sept. 14th, we departed Omaha for a short jaunt to Cheyenne, WY, leaving approximately at 7:55 A.M. (Local time).  The road is mostly level and a decent drive.  Cheyenne is at the Intersection of I-80 and I-25.  I-25 of course runs North and South.  Taking I25 to the South you eventually near a world famous Doctor from Watterson; thats after you drive through Denver.  But enough, back to Cheyenne.

We arrived at our hotel in Cheyeene at approxiately 4:15 P.M. (Local time - One hour time zone change), after about 495.7 miles.  After checking in we decided to locate a restaurant, other than Outback which was within walking distance, nor the old neighborhood restaurant we had gone to for years.  We also decided to forego the Little America where we've eaten before (more on Little America later.  So we asked for a list at the fron desk.  After reiewing the list my Navigator (err wife) said why don't we go to this place called Texas Roadhouse, and are they a chain.  So seven miles later on a Saturday evening we pulled into a packed parking lot.  My wife asked at the front how long, she figured we might wait a half hour, they told us it would be a five - ten minute wait.  Food was very good, so was the service, I had the Catfish dinner.  After, on the way back to the hotel my wife asked why we've never eaten at Texas Roadhouse before,  I kept quiet, we had and she didn't like the one, now closed, just off Fishinger near I-270.

Cheyenne is a great place to visit.  An Old style Downtown, a park with a Magnificent Steam Locomotive that you can climb on, and a fantastic old train station are among the many sites to see.

More later, aren't you thrilled? 

But I'm still waiting for trouble..........

David Mitchell

Joe,

Thanks for confirming my memory. You are the only other person I know who is familar with the "Quad Cities". Even most people who have been there can't remember Bettendorf.  Very exciting place!

p.s. you live a wild and crazy life, man.

Jodelle Sims

Peggy and I went to see Toni today.  She is off the ventilator and regaining strength.  I brought her an Ohio State sweater for tonight, but her TV doesn't have the Big 10 network. She is not happy about that, Toni loves her football, especially Ohio State.

Joseph D. McCarthy

A friend just sent me an e-mail about the 1880 Census of 15 year old Catharine Cudney of Orion, Wisconsin.

Catharine's occupation would be normal for teens today.  Occupation is listed as " Does as she pleases".

David Mitchell

Jodelle,

Thanks for the update on Toni.

James Hamilton, M. D.

History from the Medical Viewpoint Quiz #2

Joe just mentioned some census history from the 1800's, so it seems appropriate to delve into some treatments that were used in the pre-antibiotic era for this quiz.

Salts of some heavy metals have been used to treat various conditions and diseases for many centuries and, in some cases, still are today. These include magnesium, zinc, iron, gold, silver, copper, bismuth, lithium and others. Some radioactive isotopes are also used in diagnostic scans and cancer treatments. Most of these metals can cause toxicity if consumed, absorbed or administered in excessive amounts.

Before antibiotics were found to be effective in treating bacterial infections, some metals were thought to help cure certain and common infections. Syphilis was a very common disease in those days and there seems to be a resurgence of it in the past few years, even as the incidence of gonorrhea is decreasing.

Which metal was frequently used to treat Syphilis (Treponemia pallidum) in the pre-antibiotic era?

     A. Cadmium

     B. Gold

     C. Mercury

     D. Platinum

     E. Zinc

Bonus Questions:

1. There was a common and somewhat comical saying about syphilis regarding how a man contracted syphilis and it's treatment. What was that quip?

2. How was this metal given to the patient?

         A. Orally in liquid form

         B. Rectally in suppository form

         C. Topically as a ointment

         D. Subcutaneously by scarification (like smallpox vaccinations we got as kids)

         E. Orally in pill form       

Good Luck!

Jim

Joseph D. McCarthy

I just received an E-mail from a friend in Columbus concerning The TAT Ristorante Di Famiglia (commonaly referred to simply as The TAT).

The TAT is celebrating it's 90th year in business this month.  To celebrate, October 22nd through the 25th, they are having specials.  Dine in:  Homemade Spaghetti fro $9.00 (normally $18.95 which includes Spaghetti, salad, and bread.  Carryout:  LIMIT 4 per order, Poor Boy Sandwiches ( 6 inches) for $0.90.

Reservations or carryoput:  (614)  382-8879.

I only wish i could be there for the spaghetti.

Mark Schweickart

JIm -- In regards to your quiz, here are my guesses:

Question 1 -- answer Mercury

Syphilis quip -- no idea, but here's one for us children of the convent. A man enters a convent that is known for caring for the sick, and says, "Sisters, sorry to interrupt your dinner, but I have a friend outside who has a case of syphilis." The Mother Superior looks up, finishes taking a sip of wine, and replies, "Well, by all means, show him in, I think tonight was our last bottle of Chablis. How much does he want for it?"

Question 2 - answer-- topically as an ointment

And speaking of historical syphilis info, here is a scene from my script Liberty Rising about Fréderic Auguste Bartholdi and the making of the Statue of Liberty. Bartholdi's older brother Charles went quite insane as a young man in his 30's, and Bartholdi found a rather progressive asylum to care for him. So Jim,being the medical historian that you are, let me know if you spot any obvious errors in what is said here.

EXT. MAISON DE SANTE A VANVES (ASYLUM) - DAY
BARTHOLDI walks with DR. FALRET, The Asylum's director.i
BARTHOLDI: Tell me, does madness tend to run within families?
DR. FALRET: Heriditary-wise, I would doubt you have anything to fear. However, I cannot say the same for your chosen rather than your biological family. Artists can be more than a little crazy.
BARTHOLDI: Ha! True enough, true enough....But seriously Doctor... how should I say this...? About Charles....
DR. FALRET:Yes, what is it?
BARTHOLDI: Well, I was wondering. I mean... I know he frequented brothels in Paris, might this be... you know...?
DR. FALRET: Ah, the French Disease, as it is called. Is that what you mean, syphilis?  
BARTHOLDI: It does end in madness does it not?
DR. FALRET: Sometimes.... But fear not, I examined Charles thoroughly. Syphilis first manifests itself with ulcerations on and around the genitals, then often spreads to other parts of the body. Even if it goes into remission, it leaves physical scars. Charles has no tell-tale signs of anything like that on his body.   
BARTHOLDI: Well, that is good news... I suppose.
DR. FALRET: Indeed it is. I assure you, Charles will be treated with respect and affection. It has been my life’s work to humanize the individuals who come to me for care, so Charles will be....
BARTHOLDI (interrupting): Is there hope for a cure.
DR. FALRET:Of course, I would not have persisted in this profession if I never had success. However, I must be forthright with you, cures are the exception rather than the rule. The mind is quite the unpredictable labyrinth so....
BARTHOLDI:So?
DR. FALRET: It will take time to see how Charles fares.
BARTHOLDI: Ah, yes, of course, of course.... And thank you for relieving me of my fears about... you know...
DR. FALRET: The French Disease?
BARTHOLDI: Why do they call it that anyway? It is not as if people in other nations do not have...
DR. FALRET: Sexual activity?
BARTHOLDI: Right?
DR. FALRET: Your modesty becomes you, Monsieur Bartholdi, but I am a doctor, so please know you can speak freely.
BARTHOLDI: Yes, yes. Sorry. I suppose I am a bit awkward.
DR. FALRET: It is called the French Disease because the first major outbreak of syphilis occurred back in the 15th century when French forces captured Naples. In the rioting and debauchery that followed, this new disease erupted ferociously. But, as to what one calls it, this depends on where you are.
BARTHOLDI: Where you are?
DR. FALRET: For example, the Russians call it the Polish disease, and Turks call it the Christian disease, and Persians call it the Turkish disease, and the Tahitians call it the British disease.  You see my point?
BARTHOLDI: That is rather comical. If a hideous thing like that can be comical.
DR. FALRET: However since the first big outbreak of the disease happened in Naples among the French troops, many, including ourselves, call it the French disease.
BARTHOLDI: It seems as if we French should call it the Italian disease.
DR. FALRET: Indeed. However, the more interesting question to my mind is: why is it called “syphilis”?
BARTHOLDI: It almost sounds like that fellow from Greek mythology continuously rolling the stone up the hill.
DR. FALRET: Ha! No, no, That was Sisyphus, not Syphilis. You are quite amusing Monsieur. Good for you. It is nice to see your spirits brightening.... But you are not far off. There was an Italian poet writing soon after that fall of Naples I just mentioned, who wrote a poem in the style of a greek myth about a shepherd named...
BARTHOLDI: Let me guess. Syphilis?
DR. FALRET: Exactly.
BARTHOLDI: He did not, perhaps, just misspell “Sisyphus”?
DR. FALRET: Sisyphus was not a shepherd.
BARTHOLDI: Oh, right. He was some sort of king, I think.
DR. FALRET: Correct.... The Syphilis story goes like this. One day our shepherd friend, frustrated by a drought, made the mistake of cursing the sun-god, which got him rewarded with... can you guess correctly again?
BARTHOLDI: I would venture it was not the much-needed rain.
DR. FALRET: Right again. No, instead, he and all of his people were afflicted with this horrifying new disease. And our Italian friend, detailed all of this in his poem that he entitled: Syphilis, or the French Disease.
BARTHOLDI: So he was the one that started that French labelling? How dare he? To me it sounds as if it were all those Neapolitan whores who started the epidemic.
DR. FALRET: That may be. We will never know.
BARTHOLDI: I still think we should call it the Italian disease.

James Hamilton, M. D.

Mark,

I will reveal the answers to the three quiz questions tomorrow in case others respond.

Your writing seems on target to me. I do not claim to be an expert on medical history but have a strong interest in it. From my readings in the past, the discussion between your two characters is quite correct. There are several theories on the beginnings of, spread of and outbreaks of syphilis as to the "whos, whens and wheres". Your Naples comment reflects one of them.

From a microbiologist's viewpoint, bacteria evolve much like all life does except on a much faster time scale. The generation time of a bacterium is about 20 minutes, not 20 years as in humans, so a genetic shift can be passed on quickly. That is one reason these little buggers become resistant to some antibiotics often and quickly. Thus new (and expensive) antibiotics keep flooding the market. Strangely enough, penicillin still works in most cases of syphilis. Just when the Treponema  genus evolved the pallidum species is up for debate but is probably in the thousands of years ago.

As a side tidbit, Treponema are spirochete bacteria (sort of corkscrew shaped) which are similar to the Borrelia genus spirochetes - of which B. burgdorferi is the etiologic agent of Lyme Disease. Interestingly both syphilis and Lyme have "late" stages that can affect the neurological system which may show up years after the initial infection, if untreated by appropriate antibiotics. Ain't nature fascinating??!!

Jim

David Mitchell

This is really weird !

Bonnie,

Did you have a post tonight (Sunday) on Facebook about the statue that shows Israeli soldiers on a stairway to to Heaven?

I have a very different take on that concept and I added four comments to your post. As I was going back to make a correction, I got a funny screen saying they were having trouble finalizing my correction. Then I lost the entire comment, and right after that, I lost all four comments. Finally, when I went back again I could not even find your origianl post.

Is your origianl post still there? 

I think I will try to re-create my comments here later tomorrow. I would not bother, but It really concerns me that my remarks would be erased. They are little known historical fact, and they are in sharp contrast to the sentiments of the statue - much of it, nearly lost in our history books - and also very unpopular with many American Conservatives - of which I am - - sorta.

Michael McLeod

Nice dialogue, mark. Just technically, from a writing standpoint - the doctor can speak to science; I'm talking  verisimilitude. 

James Hamilton, M. D.

Quiz Answers

Mark was correct. The answers were C. Mercury   and   C. Topically as an ointment.

The saying was "One night with Venus, a lifetime with Mercury."

The next quiz will go back even further in history to something with which we all have some knowledge.

Jim

David Mitchell

Discalimer: I do not, nor ever have had a single "anti-semitic" bone in my body. Although not not presently, I have counted among some very dear friends, several Jewish buddies in my earlier life.

As I mentioned earlier, this might never have come up, but for some strange circumstances on Facebook last night.

A post on one of our classmate's pages with a photo and comments about a new statue showing a long line of Israeli soldiers climbing a "stairway to heaven". It is a memorial to Israel's fallen soldiers, and I believe, just recently unveiled in Israel.

Dear Bonnie, Please do not take this as a personal criticism. I simply feel this needs to be answered with some differing information. And I could not get it to stay on your facebook page.

My sympathies towards Israeli soldiers (and some aspects of the current state of affairs in Israel) is quite at odds with our current "Western" sentiment.

This touches on a topic that I have strong feelings about, since I first read about it as a teenager. My oldest sister brought home a date from Ohio State who was a Palestinian Christian and it gave my dad an opportunity to give me chapter and verse about what I am about to say.

It has grown out of my frustration with America's great ignorance of the history of Israeli terrorist gangs of the time around the formation of the new State of Israel - mostly from the "20s to late '40s. And carries over into some of today's activities. This bit of history is almost (but not quite) wiped from the memory of Americans. And as almost half of our news and publishing media is owned by various members of the four main Jewish-American lobbies, it never gets any public attention, least of all in our children's history books - and, most certainly not from either of our noble political parties.   

IN FACT:

There were numerous Jewish Zionist terrorist gangs, perhaps most famous, the Irgun (led by David Ben-Gurion (father of modern Israel), the Haganah, and most sinister of all, the Famous "Stern Gang", also known as the Lehi, founded by Avraham Stern. (spelling corrected later)

The Irgun was the group claiming responsibiblity for the famous 1946 bombing of the King David Hotel, home to Britain's military command offices in Jerusalem. About 90 innocent members of British Command offices were killed in the bombing. Members of the Irgun tried to exhonerate themselves later by saying that they had placed a phone call to the building about an hour before the bombing. (how sporting of them!)  

The Stern Gang committed hundreds of murders and dozens of small massacres over a number of years. They regularly sent out small gangs to go into the Catholic and Muslim neighborhoods of East Jerusalem to toss fire bombs into residences while families slept.

Their most famous "mission" was the raid to punish the village of Deir Yassin in 1948. A village of 600 poeple were attacked by about 100 Lehi "soldiers" and estimates of villagers killed range from about 100, to (nearly) all of the residents. Lehi soldiers killed women and children - over 100 bodies were found in one well. Some were shot in the head, some were stabbed.

A few years ago, Members of my own rather conservative and shall I say "semi-evangelical" old Anglican church returned from a tour of the Holy Land and two of my older (and super-consevative) friends were appalled at how poorly the Israeli border guards treated the Palestinians (Catholics and Muslims) who have to cross through the check points from East Jerusalem to the West part of the city for work each day. Their tour guide on the East side was a Syrian-born Christian, who explained (something I already had heard) that his famiy had been displaced twice from their West Bank homes, by the Israeli government - without compensation!  This pracitce has gone on for years as they bulldoze whole villages to make room for new (and totaly illegal) Kibutzes for new Israeli residents. This practice has gone on for years.  

Also the practice of bulldozing the 2,000 year-old olive trees belonging to the farmers of the East Bank. (*** I meant West Bank - sorry) 

If you don't beleive this stuff, check with Father Mike DeTemple. He is familiar with some of this travesty.

Two of the most amazing videos I have seen on this in current day events are a couple of videos from a British Christian TV station;

One is the story of a daily walk to school of little Catholic grade-schoolers - who have to go through a nearby Kibutz on their way to school. They are "escorted" by one Israeli soldier at each end of the line, but who offer no protection to the kids being stoned (and ocassioanly hit in the face) as they march to the nearby school building.  

The other is a bizarre video of the arrival of the annual European "Harvest Tourists". They come every year to help Palestinians to harvest their grapes, olives, dates, and whatever else they grow. The scenes I watched were of these Europenas getting off of buses and being rifle butted into lines by "brave" young Israeli soldiers.

I think Americans - especially Conservative Republicans need dig a wee bit deeper into their history than just our Junior Year texts books. The four American-Jewish lobbies - AIPAC, Christians United for Israel, B'nai B'rith, and - - (I forget the last one)  - -  are powerfull and well funded. They put out a massive amount of information - some of it rather incomplete - all of it one-sided. 

David Mitchell

We forget this about Zionism;

After the second sacking of Jerusalem by the Romans, (about 80 or 90 A.D.) a large portion of the native Hebrew population of Israel left the area - for good. I beleive it is known as "The Great Diaspera". They emmigrated to Eastern and Western Europe, Southern Russia, and even a few to North Africa.

And they never went back. The idea of Zionism is that they had a biblical right to the Holy Land.

Maybe, but they left, and millions of other people had long since migrated into this land. When England occupied, and later divided the "Ottoman Empire" after WW1, many other people had been there for almost 2,000 years. Then, as WW2 and the Holocaust ended in Germany, and the Zionist movement regained much strength, much of biblical Israel was already settled by residents of many generations. I am among those who believe that simply handing the land back over to a new wave of Jewish immigrants was a rather hurried solution to the problem.   

David Mitchell

A late Birthday shout out to Colleen. Not someone I am very close to, but through the magic (or is it madness?) of Facebook, I enjoy some of the funniest posts and most interesting social comments of all the people out there. 

Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

http://www.jewfaq.org/israel.htm

David Mitchell

Thanks Mary Margaret

Your article presents a fairly accurate - though rather sanitized - overview of a concise history. But, like like most pro-Israelli history, it is remarkably free of any mention of the Jewish para-military groups of the '20s, '30s, and '40s, and their many (many!) missions to kill non-Jewish residents of Jerusalem. The article would have us believe that "Arabs" were their only target. Not so. They murdered many Christians (mosty Catholic in that part of the world) in their effort to control parts of the territory.

*And I would have brought up the complications resulting from the Balfour Declaration but my post was getting long. That document set off a flury of entanglements, and added greatly to the conflict.

(interestingly - from what I can discover, Chritisan and Arabs have lived somewhat peacefully in the region for much (not all) of the 2000 years since the time of Christ. There is a remarkable photo in a National Geographic article from - maybe 20 years ago - depicting Muslims and Catholics worhsipping side by side at the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist (whom both religions revere) in Damascus, Syria (prior to our invasion of Iraq). The caption indicated that this was a common occurance. 

But that last paragraph under the heading Israel Today is highly questionable according to a group of Messianic Jews who conducted a "Christian Cedar" servie at our church. The group I refer to conducts a Christian outreach mission in Jerusalem and their observation is that today's Israeli Jews are far more devided on the topic of Zionism than that paragraph suggests. They also were adament in pointing out that we in the West, get a very one-sided form of news coverage about internal politics in Israel.                        (duh, never heard of such a problem before!)

There is obvoiusly much to be argued by both sides here. The British blockage of the ship Exodus at the port of Haifa, the large interment camps on Cypress, etc. - but dumping hundreds of thousands of refugees on a  tiny country and it's residents - WHO WERE ALREADY LIVING THERE FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS -  and our complete compicity regarding the Jewish terrorist gangs still registers with me as completely wrong.

But perhaps our utter silence on this part of the history is worse.

Regarding our totally one-sided loyalty to the state of Israel, I am not a fan.

A few off topic additions:

- In Jerusalem, Christian or Messianic Jews who live in, or enter certain parts of the city inhabbited by Orthodox Jew (who refuse to work, or fight in the Israeli Army - but rather, live on welfare) are treated with intense hostility and frequent confrontation. Messianic Jews in these sections live in fear of constant reprisals against themselves and their homes.  

- According to a Christian group known as "Exodus Cry",  Tel Aviv is now the world's leading city for Human Trafficing and Sex Trafficking.  (mostly flown in from Russia and Africa)

- Only this past January, did the male-dominated Knesset (after years of failed efforts from the few female members) pass a rather weak law agaisnt prostitution in Israel.

Daniel Cody

Dave:  Thanks for the concise and dare I say accurate summary of Zionist activity since the collapse of the Ottaman Empire would make the late OSU Professor Fisher proud. There are too many who equate criticism of Zionism or Israeli politics with anti semitism. Questioning actions by Israeli politics have been labeled as anti Judaism for far too long.