Day 1–Yafo, the Hagana and Etzal Museums It turns out that June 1st is a very appropriate day to visit the Hagana and Etzal museums and originally the Irgun was to have been disbanded on June 1st. The first item on the day’s menu though (literally) was breakfast. Which we enjoyed at Benedict’s. It’s won the best breakfast in Tel Aviv for 5 years running. Not only does the food look beautiful, it tastes beautiful! The eggs Florentine were fantastic, as was the salad, breads and the Cafe. Ha Fouk required two cups. Just to be sure it was as wonderful as it seemed. It was.
HaHagana Museum
From there we just walked a few buildings up to the Hagana Museum. This is an awesome museum! As it turns out, they have a monthly pass deal which we bought! It covers not only the Hagana museum but the Etzal museum and if I need to go back to double check something? No problem! We were met outside the Hagana museum by the very pleasant security man. I liked. Him despite the fact he wouldn’t let me have the ginger tabby that was hanging around outside the museum. It reminded me so much of Macabee. He said no doubt the cat would love to go with me, but it was the museum’s cat. The first floor of the building had the part that originally been the Hagana commanders home set up as it had been at the time. I loved looking at the furniture, the wallpaper and ceilings, all of it was intact as it had been. The museum was wonderful, and I felt like I learned alot! The next stop for the day was the Etzal museum by Yafo, and it was at that point I realized that Sheila in Israel without a writing pad was never going to work well. Lucky for me that Deb had a small notebook in her purse and I cabagged a couple pages for notes. Memo to self, acquire steno pad STAT!!! From there we had a very pleasant walk up the beach of the Medeterrainian to Yafo. Have I mentioned I adore Yafo? I adore Yafo!!!! We prowled the old streets of Yafo, did some shopping and then had dinner at Dr Shakshuka’s. Have I mentioned I adore Dr. Shakshuka’s? I do. The very nice waiter treated us to dessert with our kafe after dinner.
Dr Shakshuka
And, the age old question of potatoes in shakshuka or no? YES!
Potatoes clearly belong in shakshuka
From there we kind of wandered around trying to find a bus home. We finally ended up walking home to Tel Aviv. It was a beautiful night for a walk, and it gave me a chance to get a photo of this tower. If you want the story behind that, you can read about it when I get it up for The Zelman Partisans. All in all? A fabulous first day back!
The deeper a Christian’s faith, the deeper it’s roots will run in Judaism. ~~From my class notes.
Yep, in my advanced years I have decided to go back to college. I didn’t really intend to. I was just going to take a couple classes. I was going to take Introduction of Jewish Roots and Jewish Culture I (which I believe covers the Second Temple period). The program I’m in offers you the chance to just take the classes for audit, or you can go for a Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree. I got to looking at what was going to be offered as classes. Hmmm, Women of the Bible, Bedouins, Apocalyptic literature, The Bible and the West Bank, Israel Today, Biblical Feast days and The Holy Days of Israel. Then I checked what was required for the Bachelor’s. Well, there are the required courses and you need 33 electives. I looked at the list. Without much thought I found 29 that I wanted to take just for the knowledge, like the ones I just listed. That means that if I take just 4 more classes than the ones I already want I would have a Bachelor’s Degree in Middle East Studies. WOWZA! It fits. It suits, and I want to do it. I signed up to take the classes for credit.
One of the things that came up during my first night at class was that Jesus was a Jew, the Bible was written by Jews. The early church was Jewish. In my lifetime I’ve been a Southern Baptist, a Presbyterian, I attended a Methodist Church for awhile, a member of a Evangelical Church and Orthodox Cowboy. The Bible was written in the Middle East, I’ve lived in the midwest all of my life. It was written over 2,000 years ago. I am NOT that old! I said advanced years, not relic. So the Bible, which I believe to be G-d’s inspired word to us was written by a culture I am unfamiliar with, by a people who’s beliefs I’ve not been that familiar with in a long ago age.
So what you ask?
Well, I was visiting with my boss about this the other day. I asked him if he would be mildly offended if I said to him “You seem very gay today!” He only startled a little (why yes, I have worked there a while, why do you ask?) when he replied “Knowing you, no, I really wouldn’t”. I told him I remembered it as a line from a text book 154 years ago when I was in first grade. Then I told him a line from a Campfire girl pledge I had to learn.
As faggots are brought from the forest Firmly held by the sinews which bind them, So cleave to these others, your sisters, Whenever, wherever you find them. Be strong as the faggots are sturdy; Be true to your…
I told him that just conjured up a mental image I didn’t even want to think about.
My point? You know there is one. Look at how much things have changed in just the last 145 years since I was in Campfire Girls. I feel to really understand the Bible more fully I need to understand more about Israel and Judaism, more about the Hebrew thought process.
I’ve also come to realize how inadequate my knowledge is of the Old Testament. I’m tired of getting into discussions about things in the Old Testament and getting my butt kicked (not literally).
Which brings up another really good point. Why do we call it the Old Testament? The point was made in class while some think that the New Testament supersedes the Old, especially those that think incorrectly that the Christian Church has replaced the Jewish people that G-d chose as his, it doesn’t. Suggestions made were “First Testament” “Original Testament” “Older Testament”, but for me, my choice, I think I shall stick with calling it the Tanakh. The Tanakh is the “Old Testament”, if you choose to call it that, and Tanakh (תַּנַ“ךְ) is a acronym for the first Hebrew letters of Torah (first 5 books, the books of Moses) Nevi’im (Prophets) and Ketuvim (Writings).
I’m grafted into to a fabulous Olive Tree root, wow, how awesome is that? But to know what Olives do and how Olives think, I believe that a bit more education could aid me on my journey. Someone described the Bible as a Hyphen between Heaven and Earth, between G-d and his people. I choose to walk on and in that hyphen, and hopefully in the process will move closer to what G-d hopes for me, what he has planned for me.
G-d has put me on an amazing path, one that nothing in my life has qualified me to be on. President of a Second Amendment Organization, Member of a Board of Directors for a State Organization, Director of Public Relations for JPFO, and now one of the people behind the formation of The Zelman Partisans, a Jewish Second Amendment rights group. I assure you, nothing has prepared me for any of it. But I suit up and I show up. And I bless G-d for the chances he has given me, and I will do my best to be an asset. And perhaps more important, to move closer to who he created me to be.
My patient boss asked me what I was going to do with my degree. Well, we’re talking 12-20 years from now, but I told him a saying my Dad used to have “That and a dollar will get me a cup of coffee”. But, what would be a dream? Watch for me on the news. I’ll be on a panel with Moshe Feiglin, Danny Danon and Yehuda Glick. We will be explaining the events that led to Jews and Christians now being allowed back on the Temple Mount to pray, whenever they want, however long they want and however they want, without fear of attack by people intolerant of those two religions. I’ll be the one with the sparkly barrette and the fabulous earrings from Yafo.
Not content to just weigh in on American Politics, I have decided to foray into Israeli Politics. Not claiming to be an expert, but I do love learning about the topic. It’s over at The Zelman Partisans, and there are a couple of really good videos to go along with it. You should watch them both, they are Crackerjacks!
I know, I know, I keep saying I’m going to get something up just for Sybil, but she has had a lot of balls in the air to juggle lately. This would work better if she actually KNEW HOW to juggle gracefully at all. But, it IS the Maccabee time of the year. And if you are a Christian and think that Hanukkah is just a “Jewish thing” or the Jewish version of Christmas you are sorely mistaken. Now, more than ever Christians need to know about Hanukkah, they need to know the lessons it gives, and I think we should be celebrating it as well. I LOVE the Maccabees.
So, I’m going to send you over to the Zelman Partisans to read the column on the Maccabees. To entice you to do so I will post a picture of my most handsome ginger cat Maccabee hy”d. I still miss this handsome boy, every single day. He was really something.
Life has been a little “cray-cray” lately. Between family excitement and getting to cover a few extra shifts at my “real job”, I’ve not had much time to write. And I really, really hate that! It’s taken me since Monday to get to finish this column I’ve wanted to do for The Zelman Partisans since last week. Since before the horrific attack at the Har Nof Synagogue. My heart is just broken over the massacre.
My team mate Y.B. Ben Avraham did an excellent column on the massacre at Har Nof, you can read it here
My latest is “Follow The Leader“. It’s loooong, so grab a big cup of coffee. There are a lot of links in it, so you can check out what I’ve stated. The one with Yehuda Glick getting arrested with his goat is pretty funny. The one about 8th graders in California decideding the Holocaust was a hoax for political and financial gain is sickening, as is the information about what common core is bringing.
Imagine you lived in a country where the ability to worship G-d was being outlawed, where your language and culture was disappearing. Where Preachers were jailed or killed for preaching the Bible or Tanakh? You think I’m talking about America, now? Maybe. Because football players are made to remove Crosses from their helmets, because for a time the Navy was told to remove the little Gideon Bibles from the rooms of their guest lodges? Because courts rule a Cross or the 10 commandments can’t be displayed? Maybe. But it’s not the first time in history. Let’s take a little trip back to Ireland.
Yep, Ireland, no I don’t have the wrong “I” country. We’re stopping off in Ireland on the way. In Ireland in the late 1600-till the later part of the 1700 there were a set of laws called “The Penal Laws”. The final bits were repealed in 1920. They affected Catholics and other dissidents. They entailed things like:
Exclusion of Catholics from most public offices (since 1607), Presbyterians were also barred from public office from 1707.
Ban on intermarriage with Protestants.
Presbyterian marriages were not legally recognized by the state
Catholics barred from owing firearms or serving in the armed forces.
Prohibition on Catholics owning a horse valued at over £5
‘No person of the Catholic religion shall publicly or in private houses teach school, or instruct youth in learning within this realm’ upon pain of twenty pounds fine and three months in prison for every such offense.
And this is only part of them. But here’s a couple questions for you to mull over. WHY did they want to prohibit the Catholics from owning weapons? Who got to determine what the horse was worth?
The harsh rules gave rise to the hedgerow schools. Parents who were determined to save their children from being indoctrinated with beliefs other than what they held, and what they wanted their children to learn began to form and utilize “Hedgerow Schools”. This was forbidden because England wanted all the children to be taught the way they wanted them to be taught and what they wanted them to be taught. The Hedgerow Schools thrived. They were sometimes held in barns, homes but often in Hedgerows, with one child acting as a lookout. And they needed a lookout. If they were caught there were fines and imprisonment for all. There was a lot to lose. But the parents wanted their children to learn, the teachers wanted to teach and would travel around conducting these early forms of “home schooling” in defiance of the state mandated education.
Their language, culture and faith were under attack, and this is what they had to do to preserve it. They did it.
Now let’s go even further back in time. Achshav Annachnu b’Ysrael. NOW we are in Israel.
The women’s Bible study group is doing Daniel. Let’s go back to the time of Antiochus, he liked to be called Epiphanes, although the Jews often called him Epimanes, the mad one. While Antiochus reigned Jews were forbidden to practice their religion, own a Torah, let alone read it, or observe festivals,or even the Sabbath. The people could not even admit they were Jewish. 40,000 were killed and 40,000 sold into slavery when Jerusalem was sacked and the temple was defiled. Animals that were forbidden to Jews were sacrificed on it’s alter. Now, during this time there were observant Jews and Hellanized Jews. Meaning Jews that were fine with what Antiochus was doing. Mainly urban upper crust, they wanted to dispense with Jewish law and adopt the Greek lifestyle. As I understand it for political and economic reasons.
And into this hot mess comes The Maccabees. I adore the Maccabees! It all started when Jews were ordered to offer sacrifices to Greek idols. A rural Jew know as Mattathias Maccabee refused. Not only did he refuse, but he killed the Hellenized Jew that stepped forward to offer a sacrifice to the idol in his name. Mattathias REFUSED to allow his name to be put on the offer of a sacrifice to an idol. From there the Maccabees took flight to the Judean wilderness. After Mattathias’ death about one year later in 166 BC, his son Judah Maccabee led an army of Jewish dissidents to victory over the Seleucid dynasty in guerrilla warfare, which at first was directed against Hellenizing Jews, of whom there were many. Judah Maccabee is noted as one of the greatest warriors in Jewish History, alongside David, Gideon and Joshua! So that’s how the Maccabean Revolt began. The Maccabees retook the city of Jerusalem. Judah ordered the Temple to be cleansed, a new altar to be built in place of the polluted one and new holy vessels to be made. According to the Talmud, unadulterated and undefiled pure olive oil with the seal of the kohen gadol (high priest) was needed for the menorah in the Temple, which was required to burn throughout the night every night. The story goes that one flask was found with only enough oil to burn for one day, yet it burned for eight days, the time needed to prepare a fresh supply of kosher oil for the menorah. A great miracle, nachon?
Which brings us to this, a Dreidel/Savivon. Remember the Hedgerow Schools of Ireland? Well, while Jews were forbidden to study their Bible/Tanakh, forbidden to pass their faith onto their children they would go up into caves and hide. They would begin to teach the children, and they themselves would study. When they heard the Greek soldiers approaching they would put their Torah away and whip out the Savivon/Dreidel and begin to play. It could be a childrens game, or a gambling game. So it would appear to to the soldiers they were merely hiding and gambling. This is what they had to do to hold on to their faith, to pass it on to their children. To retain their culture and customs, they were willing to hide in caves, risk being caught by the soldiers and pay the penalty, death. Like the Irish, they found a way, and they did it.
Which brings us to the Savivon/Dreidel itself. Let’s look at the markings on the sides of the Dreidel, first is the Nun,נ and it stand for the word Nes, which means Miracle. Then we have the letter Gimmel, ג which stands for Gadol, which means Great. Next is Hey, ה for Hayah which means Happened. Now, this is where it gets quite interesting. In Israel, the next letter if Pei, פ for Poh which means Here. In every other country the letter will be Shin, ש for the word Sham. So, putting it together you have Nes Gadol Hayah Poh, or Nes Gadol Hayah Sham. A great miracle happened here or there, depending on if you are in Israel or not. After the State of Israel was founded in 1948 the Hebrew letters were changed for dreidels used in Israel.
If you look at what lengths the Irish and Jews went to back then to ensure the survival of their culture and religion it seems pretty sad now that some voices can be shut down by screeches of “racism” or “intolerance” or “hater”, simply for wanting to discuss an issue, preach from the Bible or Tanakh doesn’t it?
I personally carry a Dreidel/Savivon in my purse. All the time. It reminds me to be vigilant and committed to doing everything I can to ensure freedom.
And since we are in the midst of Sukkot, I will point you to an excellent article on Sukkot over at The Zelman Partisans, you have subscribed haven’t you?
This coming Sunday is going to be the Second Annual “A Taste of Israel”! The Israel Spirit Committee is bring a bit of Israel to Lone Jack, MO. to Open Range Fellowship. And that should be a good time! It certainly was last year. You can find us at 204 E. Casey Rd. in Lone Jack MO from 11:30-1600 (4 PM) on Sunday the 21st. Admission is FREE, so we are hoping for a great crowd!
We will again have the very popular section on “Hebrew-God’s Language”. In addition to that will will have a class on Dreidel/Savivon. I’m pretty excited about that since I’m teaching it! It will be my first time to teach a class for Israel Spirit. If you don’t realize the Savivon has political overtones, well it’s because you haven’t sat through my class!
We will also have fabulous food! So, if you didn’t make it to the Ethnic Enrichment Festival and are craving the best Felafel, Hummus and Israeli Salad, not to mention stuffed Dates? Well then, you have another chance! A combination plate with Felafel, pita bread, hummus, Israeli salad and a pickle slice will only set you back $4.00, a hummus plate is $3.00 and stuffed dates for dessert? $1.00……that’s some good bargain on great food!
We will also have the Tikvah team that will be demonstrating Israeli folk dancing and then most happily for me, there will be community dancing! And I have it on VERY good authority (thank you Sue-Ellen) that we will be doing the “Goat Dance” Tayish.
We may have a story telling section too, and of course we will have a history section.
I’ve got a slide show that can run through the whole day. Well, alright, it might have to repeat a few times, but it’s well over an hour long.
In the hall we will have a “passport” area, where you will be issued a passport upon your arrival. Since your name won’t be in it yet, we have a very nice gentleman who will write your name in it, in Hebrew! We will have an archeology dig for the kids, and Jerusalem Stone in KC is donating some stone and tiles to make the beautiful mosaics that everyone loved last year.
You can peruse the “Did you Know” cards and see how much you did or didn’t know about Israel. But no matter what, you will know more when you are done!
It should be a fun filled day for the whole family. Food, Fellowship and Fun. Does it get any better? Come join us!
Well, I AM having a blast! Despite the fact it rained on Friday, which we were so busy I didn’t really notice as the crowd just kept coming. Good friends came by to say “Hi”, and they brought their most adorable “Vikings in Training”. I chopped cucumbers for the Israeli salad. In retrospect, I might have been a bad choice. I had been frustrated earlier in the day and by the time Erin came to check on me she just kind of stared at the cucumber minces. “Um, are we doing them extra fine this year?” “No, are they too small? I’m really enjoying this!” “Um, well, they are pretty small”. I kind of think she was deciding if they discernible as cucumber. So I started chopping them bigger and it does go much quicker. From there I proceeded to do food plate prep. Now this is a ton of fun for me. The team member standing out front who does a super job of pulling in the crowd is the “Force of Nature”. The “Force of Nature” greatly enjoys yelling at me and asking “Why is this not ready, they have been waiting too long”. The first year this routine started I had to ask another Israeli what I could yell back at him. Things have progressed nicely and having worked on learning Hebrew I now have more than one choice of things I can yell back at him. Why yes, I do greatly enjoy myself! Besides, I really do like to make the plates of food look pretty. Which is probably why I so enjoyed decorating the craft booth. Bless her heart, Deb trusted me to decorate the craft booth, she supplied me with some awesome decorations, a ladder, some awesome nylon string rope, and turned me loose. I think it came out pretty!
The Israel Spirit Banner for the craft booth
The very pretty Seven Species streamer in place.
Can you see the pretty silver and blue Star of David fountain?
So today was the Parade of Flags. I am VERY excited. I get to be one of the two people from the Israeli group and Jeannie and I will be in the Parade. I get to carry the Israeli Flag! I am almost beside myself with excitement. The morning starts out with Deb and I replacing the white table clothes on the work tables, and then we need to get one under the now non-functional Frozen coffee machine. That sucker is HEAVY! We decide to put the folded up cloth under one leg at a time. And that’s when the train came off the tracks. I inadvertently hit the dispenser arm, and it dispensed some of the left over coffee we couldn’t get drained out. On me, and my white Israel Spirit committee t-shirt. We persevered. And I managed to lay open a part of my palm. It would NOT quit bleeding. I knew it hurt, I didn’t know I was cut till I looked down and there was a fair amount of blood. I just couldn’t get it to quit with pressure. Deb finally called the EMT squad that resides at the festival. They show up, greeeeaaaat. It’s the EMT I was joking with in the kitchen the day before. He came in for trash bags and was probably looking at my JPFO baseball cap. I jokingly said “Oh, you’re too early, I’ve only been chopping for 3 minutes”. So at this point I’m refusing medical attention, I don’t need it, I’m fine. Except it won’t quit bleeding and Deb can’t spare me to do non-food things. It HAS to quit for me to be of any use. They clean it up and put super glue on it as I’ve flat refused stitches. I ADORE durabond. That stuff lasted all day, I changed gloves many time, chopped more cucumbers, fried felafel, and pretty much did anything needed and I was just fine. Durabond rocks. But don’t break the dispenser pen till just as you are ready to apply it. By the time the Parade of Flags has rolled around Deb & I have traded T-shirts because no one including me wants me representing Israel looking like the coffee monster wearing it instead of drinking it. I follow Jeannie’s lead, she is a veteran of the Parade of flags, and she generously allows me to carry the flag, she carries the banner identifying us as Israel. We get our flag and get in the alphabetical line up. Israel comes behind Ireland! I’m so excited, I ask the darling fellow representing Ireland if he will take a picture of me, Jeannie and the flag. He obliges with two.
Jeannie and Sybil with the proudly flying Israeli Flag.
We then had the most interesting discussion on Ireland and Israel. He was a bit impressed I had traveled in Ireland alone during “the troubles”. He said he sure wouldn’t want to go to Israel now, I said I’d go back in a heartbeat under the right circumstances. He seems astonished so many Americans don’t understand Israel is defending herself, nor do the know that Christians as well as Jews and even other Muslims are being slaughtered by a group the state department has not declared terrorists. Probably too busy looking for conservative gun owners I guess. The parade finally commences. The feeling of carrying the Israeli flag is unbelievable and indescribable. I don’t know if it’s because I was there not long ago, the emotional tie, or what. But I almost cried. That doesn’t happen. Then each group gets up on stage and welcomes the crowd. Jeannie did the honors so beautifully. I was just so happy to hold the flag. I had been concerned, as had others that there could be trouble for us. That was originally part of the reason I asked Deb to let me go with Jeannie. Jeannie is a very nice lady, I like her a lot. If there was trouble, I’m not. But to my great delight the crowd applauded loudly and long for Israel. I finished up the day by chopping more cucumbers and eating a felafel sandwich. I know, it’s kind of astonishing they still trust me with sharp implements isn’t it?
What a fabulous day! And one more to go! Tomorrow the Tikvah dancers preform and they end their performance with community dancing!! Yippeee ki yayyy! I’m really lousy at it, they let me anyway! And I love them for it!!
Yes indeedy! Ethnic Enrichment Festival is upon us! I spent Tuesday learning to make Felafel. Yes, I had a blast. This is a team of people I’ve worked with for some time. My friend Deb for six years has managed to put up with me helping in the kitchen at the Jewish Community Center. Today was Hummus day, which is how I originally got involved. I wanted to learn to make hummus. What is mildly amusing about this is several times I am probably the worst cook in the kitchen. Now, don’t get me wrong, no one has ever died from eating anything I’ve made. And somethings I make very, very beautifully. But when I’m sharing the kitchen with people like Deb, Nissim and Leah the reason I’m good is I do exactly as they tell me, all the time. I hope none of them just fell out of their chair laughing. OH I DO TOO, now stop it! You’re going to hurt yourselves if you keep it up.
After Deb and I finished up in the kitchen we headed out the park to scope out our booth for food and our half booth for crafts. Guess who gets to decorate that one? Yepper! I do have a few ideas. I wish I had a stuffed parrot! While swilling sweet tea great plans came together, and later today I get to implement them.
So, come on out and share in the adventure of traveling the world via Swope Park. This is the 35th Anniversary of the Ethnic Enrichment Festival, when you come through the round about on Meyer Blvd. and enter the park you will see the tents on your left, parking is in the field. You’ll see the cars.
The parade of Flags is at 1600, 4 PM on Saturday. I know the people carrying the Israeli Flag very well.
So, what to eat? Well, felafel is a little round ball, deep fried. This stuff is fabulous. I couldn’t get enough of it in Israel. Ours is wonderful, which is what happens when you have people like we do in the kitchen making it. They know what it’s suppose to be and how to get it there. If you like kind of spicy sausage you will like this. There is no meat in it, so vegetarians can enjoy it as well. Hummus is a paste I suppose you could say. It is made from chickpeas and tahini, with vegetables and spices blended in. I am convinced well made hummus is a gift from G-d. I really like hummus, and ours is that good. We will also have tahini sauce to put on top of the felafel and the plates are always very pretty. Ok, I might have something to do with that. We have dill pickles on a stick, GIANT macaroons that may sold out by Saturday, they have been before. Actually, they’ve been sold out by Friday night before.
This year for the first time we will have Isracinno. This project has been in the works for a year. If you can get Henry to stop dancing or playing music you can ask him. We even had coffee taste offs to get it just right. Coffee taste offs are a total blast. Ours will be like no one else’s, and ours will be better.
באח Betach!
Tikvah will take the stage at 1630, 4:30 on Sunday and they end with community dancing. Which means wear your dancin’ shoes! Anyone can join in the last dance! I’ve been known to in the past, not well, but they put up with me anyway. And how I love them for it. All of them. Atem Havareem sheli. They are my friends.
Come on out to Ethnic Festival, they’ll become your friends too!
Fair warning, there will be graphic pictures posted, and actual farm life will be discussed.
I was having a discussion the other day about an incident that happened at home Friday. I was on the way to the barn to do chores. I’m more happy about that than you can imagine. Since I was on the way to the barn it meant I had on cowgirl boots and had a revolver strapped on my hip. Since I almost stepped on two snakes last week on the way to the chicken house I’ve resumed doing chores fully dressed (as in armed, stop it). I was very glad of that when I stepped off the back step and had taken about 5 steps towards the barn. Some movement or something to my right caught my eye. I froze and looked over. A little black head was sticking up out of the grass, it’s forked tongue flicking in and out. My first concern of course was little Marlowe. 1) I don’t want him to go after the snake, I don’t know for sure what kind it is. 2) I don’t want him in my line of fire, because I AM going to shoot this thing. I shoot it, twice. I want to make sure, and it’s moving too much for comfort. I don’t want it to crawl under the back steps, die and stink. By the same token I don’t want it alive anywhere. After two shots I go get a hoe to cut it’s head off. To do this your hoe has to have an edge. Mine doesn’t, and mostly I beat the snake snot out of it. Grandma is probably looking down from Heaven and very ashamed of me. Sorry Grandma, I did the best I could with what I had, and well, it IS dead.
I was asked if I knew what kind of snake it was. My answer of “dead” did not seem to be what they were looking for. People have tried telling me the black snake is the farmer’s friend. Yeah, tell me that when my egg production is dropping off, I go to gather the eggs and find a big black snake coiled up in the laying boxes with an egg shaped lump in it. People, people! They are not eating the mice that run, they are eating the eggs that just lay there.
This little story ended up being told later. Now, what was interesting is we were discussing the terrorist attacks on Israel. My question had been on how to deal with them? 40,000 reserves have been called up, send in troops? Boots on the ground? The answer was no, it would be too expensive in terms of Israeli casualties. Ok, I accept that is a bad plan. What then? I get a well thought out answer, a very well thought out answer. Basically utilizing the Israeli Air Force you watch for any signs of terrorist activity. Vigilance. When they spot the start of terrorist activity, eliminate the threat. At once. Each and every time. Eventually the terrorists will be decreased, or will decide attacking Israel isn’t as much fun as they thought it would be.
I explain that is the black snake theory of terrorist management. The very long pause tells me perhaps more explanation is needed. If I find ANY predator around my chicken house, I WILL kill it. As my friend Deb says, everything wants to kill chickens. I asked her if it is because people keep saying everything tastes like chicken. Rattlesnake? Tastes like chicken. Rhino? Tastes like chicken. Wildebeest? Tastes like chicken. Squirrel? Tastes like Squirrel, I know better. If there are predators in the vicinity of my chicken house, I can be pretty sure they do not have my little feathered darlings best interests at heart, and I will eliminate the threat. That is my JOB. The animals have no choice where they ended up, I chose to have them. I believe I should be prepared to do that in the safest, surest most efficient way I can. I view black snakes as a sort of illegal immigrant. Liberals tell me they are just coming here for a better life, they do the jobs Americans won’t do. Right, just like the black snake is the farmer’s friend, they eat the eggs, and don’t chip in a penny on chicken feed and upset the girls. I lose all the way around.
This must just be my weekend for it. Saturday night I go to do chores, ponies are eating and I walk down to shut up the chickens. I walk in and stop dead in my tracks. There is a skunk in the chicken house. This is bad, very bad for a lot of reasons. One, I’m suppose to be leaving to go sit with my Aunt in hospice as soon as I get done. Getting sprayed is really going to put a crimp in that. Two, skunks will kill chickens, they rip their heads off. A little chicken armed only with it’s beak doesn’t stand much of a chance. Three, I’m armed only for snakes. A .22 with rat shot is not going to get this job done without some serious collateral damage. Probably to me. I need a different tool for this job. I fly to the house for back up. This is a job for a .20 ga shotgun. I jog back down hoping I’m in time. Skunk is still investigating, I don’t see any feathered bodies on the floor, good! Flashlight to left hand, should arms, fire, ratchet new shell in, fire. Yes, I do like to be very sure. I check, it’s dead. Quite dead. The girls are safe, but think a couple may need counseling, they were scared of the skunk. The next morning I scoop up the remains in a “predator body bag”, others may call them trash bags, and dispose of it.
Now, you ask, what does this have to do with “All the Worlds a Chicken House”? Stick with me.
One, I am more willing and prepared to defend my animals than some parents are their children. Don’t understand it, and feel sorry for the kids. I always knew both my parents loved me enough they would be prepared to defend me and probably live to tell about it.
Two, this came up during the discussion on terrorists infiltrating Israel. There is a video of terrorist attempting to enter Israel via sea. Doesn’t pan out well for them. It did pan out well for the Israeli citizens though. As opposed to what American citizens are fixin’ to face thanks to our President and do nothing Congress.
As Americans face a flood of illegal immigrants coming across the border this country is going to be “fundamentally changed” as promised by barry and voted for by liberals.
American taxpayers, not people living on governmental assistance, but taxpayers are shelling out $250-$1000 a DAY per bed for these children. They will get free housing, free school and free healthcare. Well, free to them, not free to taxpayers. No, I’m sure this won’t raise our taxes anymore than obamacare did. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jul/10/obama-seeks-brisk-passage-of-border-children-fundi/
Border Patrol agents are asking why people are bothering to pay coyotes to smuggle the kids in, the US government, supported by our tax dollars is doing it for free. Border patrol catches the unaccompanied minors and then we pay to have them delivered to family in the US. We, the taxpayer will also be paying for their legal representation. http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2014/07/11/Border-Patrol-Agent-US-Govt-Completing-the-Smuggling-Cycle
Let’s just chat for a moment about those unaccompanied minor “children”. The processing center at Nogales AZ is being used as a recruitment center for the violent MS-13 gang. Yes, indeedy. Some of those innocent “children” are members of a violent gang. Some of them have admitted to torture and murder in the countries they came from. The Red Cross has helpfully set up a phone bank for them in Nogales so they can contact other gang members in the US and back home. Well, I’m more a fan of the Salvation Army than Red Cross. Goes back to WWII. Some of the other children in the processing center have complained of attempts to get them to join and MS-13 gang grafetti has been found in the bathrooms at the Nogales center. Quite the value your getting for your tax dollars.
So, we know some of the children coming across are gang members, that we’re paying $250-$1000 a day per “child”, we’re paying for the government to act as coyotes and deliver them, we will be paying for their schooling, lawyers, housing, food and transport. Probably obamaphones too.
So, what do we get in return? Quite a lot actually!
“There were several of us who wanted to talk about the camps, but the agents made it clear we would be arrested,” a psychiatric counselor told me. “We were under orders not to say anything.”
The sources said workers were guarded by a security force from the BCFS, which the Department of Health and Human Services hired to run the Lackland Camp.
The sources say security forces called themselves the “Brown Shirts.”“It was a very submissive atmosphere,” the counselor said. “Once you stepped onto the grounds, you abided by their laws – the Brown Shirt laws.”She said the workers were stripped of their cellphones and other communication devices. Anyone caught with a phone was immediately fired.
“Everyone was paranoid,” she said. “The children had more rights than the workers.”
But Carrera told reporters: “Obama didn’t ask Congress for any special power for the expedited repatriation of unaccompanied children, and that’s because we are still in discussions.”
The foreign minister estimated the talks could take two to four weeks.
He said the Central American countries are aiming to ensure minors are given “due process, with adequate legal defense,” to determine if they should be allowed to stay with relatives already in the United States.
The foreign ministers of Honduras and El Salvador, alongside Carrera, struck the deal during a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry, during a visit to Washington last week, Carrera said at the press conference.
Now remember, I recently flew to Israel and back. I can tell you how much fun I had going through the TSA check points. The new illegals? The ones with diseases? They are being transported and allowed to fly on commercial planes WITHOUT valid ID. Using only their notice to appear in court to board planes. The notice is on plain copier paper. Naw, no terrorist would ever think of making one of those on a computer and using it to board a plane. Oh, and the info on them? It’s what the illegal immigrant says is the truth about them. There are no checks being done. Look over and smile at the passenger next to you. But don’t let them breath on you. I’m sure the reason their hair is so full and moving is just the air circulating in the plane. Prolly not lice. And of course, taxpayers are paying for it. http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Texas/2014/07/11/Exclusive-TSA-Allowing-Illegals-to-Fly-Without-Verifiable-ID-Says-Border-Patrol-Union
Unemployment already made horribly worse by the passage of obamacare is not going to be made any better by the huge influx of people into the country.
And these are people from countries that do not have a Constitution like ours, they do not understand the Second Amendment, and will not be supportive of it. Their party, the one meeting them at the border with lollipops, that would be the Dems, will tell them not to.
The strain on a medical system already infected by obamacare is going to be unbelievable. They will be going to school soon, too.
So, do I have no heart and no compassion for these poor children fleeing their crime and poverty ridden countries? Of course I do! But you know who I have much more compassion for? The American Taxpayer who has tried their best to play by the rules, go to work, be self supporting, raise their family to do the right thing. Their kids will now be going to school and the learning process already damaged by Common Core will be further degraded. The cost for paying for all this for these future Dem voters is very likely going to be the tipping point for Cloward and Piven that barrys been trying to bring about. We have no idea how many and who the terrorists are that have come in with the flood. Nor any idea of where they will strike, or how. All brought to you by liberals who voted for barry to “fundamentally change America”.
When snakes come into a chicken house, they hatch more snakes who will then come into your chicken house. Same with skunks, if they find a easy buffet, that location is passed on to their little skunks. Soon I have no eggs because of the snakes, no chickens because of the skunks and I’ve paid for the chickens, the water, the feed and my time in raising them. In return I am left with nothing if I do not act.
I explain to my friend both situations stink, the flood of illegals and my dead skunk. Both are going to be a horrible mess to clean up.
That video I mentioned of terrorists trying to infilatrate Israel?
Dead Predators.
A Stinkin’ Mess
A Slitherin’ Mess
I’m wondering if Bibi ever raised any chickens perhaps. He seems to understand the solutions that work.
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