Israel

Well, I wish I was posting under better conditions. An Arab left a construction site on a bulldozer today in downtown Jerusalem and overturned cars and tried to crush civilians. He was shot and killed, but not until after there were at least 2 civilian deaths and unknown number hurt.

The mood on the bus was tense. Many of these participants have never closely followed Israeli news and thus, don't know what happens or what kind of reaction to expect. The Israeli soldiers joined us yesterday for the remainder of the trip. I think this was good so the Americans could see their reactions and discuss with them after the attack.

The trip so far has been quiet and nothing major to write about. Tiberius was neat and due to schedule changes we could only spend a few hours in Safed. Eilat today was beautiful and the beaches and snorkleing were great, but damn it's hot!! The guys from Brooklyn are melting. :) We also hiked Masada pre-dawn to see the sunrise over the Dead Sea, swam in it and in Eilat swam in the Red Sea. It was weird to swim were you could easily cross over into Jordan with a small fishing boat.

We are heading to Tel Aviv tomorrow and then on to Jerusalem. Shabbos at the Kotel should be amazing and I'm really looking forward to it.

Ok, I've got carpel tunnel from tapping this out on my blackberry so I'm signing off.

From your favorite Jewish Redneck, smack dab in the middle of the Negev desert.

Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to Israel I go…

Yes, the redneck is headed to Eretz Israel (Land of Israel). My friend Regan called me this past weekend and the first question was, “You have lots of vacation, right?” That is usually a loaded question; however, this time it was great news. The male counselor dropped from the trip she was leading and needed a last minute (8 days notice) fill-in. How lucky am I that I answered the phone?!?

So, all I have to do is get to NYC (not as pricey as you’d think) and the rest is free courtesy of Birthright Israel! So, a quick call to book a flight and BAM!, I’m going to Israel virtually free. Airfare, hotels, activities and most meals. My luck really has turned around!

I’m working double-time this week to get things set at work so I can be gone for almost two weeks. I leave July, 15th and come back on the 27th. While I’m there I will be able to check e-mail at my yahoo address and facebook (what did we do before Black Berries?). If you don’t have these, odds are I don’t want to hear from you. If you think this is a mistake, give me a call.

I also plan on trying to drop a few updates on here while I'm there to keep everyone in the know. I look forward to some great insights to share.

Ok, off to get things in order.

Happy 4th of July?

Happy birthday America! Wow, you sure look a young 230-something. You know, they say the 230s are really the new 220s. So rock out with your cock out this birthday.

Since patriotism is the natural topic of the day, let me share a little something with you. Now when people talk about civil liberties and freedoms the mind instantly focuses on the war in Iraq/ Afghanistan and the prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Let’s leave that alone this 4th of July and focus instead on something closer to home.

I, your humble Jewish redneck blogger, am considered a terror threat by the TSA and the U.S. government. I am a second class citizen when it comes to travel or large loan amounts. Many of you know of my Kafkaesque experiences when purchasing and wire transferring money for the purchase of my two homes over the years, but as I draw within 24 hours of once again boarding a plane for a simple jog down to Austin for a long weekend, I once again am faced with the accusations of an unknown, faceless complainant. I’ve pursued the available actions for recourse with the end result being, I’m still in the “no-fly” list and the government continues to deny to inform me why. When asked, the response comes back, “The U.S. government doesn’t have to give out that kind of information.” And they don’t.

You’ve heard of babies being on the list, Nelson Mandela and his entire African National Congress (the governing body of South Africa), and of course, Ted Kennedy. Seriously, were they afraid he’d drink them dry of gin and send the entire city of Washington, D.C. into a panic if he got on a plane back from Vegas? Well, now you can say you actually know someone on the list.

Yes, this American born, tax paying, voting, working citizen, Jewish 30-something is on the terror watch list. Why? I have no idea. What I do know is I get extra special attention at the airport, I can’t check-in on-line or even at the airport kiosks, and I’m sick and tired of it.

How can we claim to be fighting for the freedom of others when we continue to deny even basic due process to our own citizens? How can we let OUR government continue to flip their nose up at the 4th, 5th and 6th Amendments to OUR precious Constitution? Will we continue to offer up our freedoms and liberties in an effort to protect ourselves from those we claim are coming to steal it?

"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniencies attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it." Thomas Jefferson, December 23, 1791.

This holiday weekend, think long and hard what being an American means to you. Then, consider what the reality of being an American in this day and age really means.

Have a safe 4th of July weekend.

And you thought you were screwed up

In the March issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry, Dr. Jerald J. Block, M.D. proposes that “Internet Addiction” be added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the official field guide for mental disorders. http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/165/3/306

For all the statistics and details read the short article, but what I want to focus on is the whole idea from the 50,000 foot level. I mean, really, is there anything in this f’ed up world we CAN’T turn into an addiction? Why can’t we just call a spade a spade and say: “Hey, that is f’ed up and you need to take some personal responsibility and control your damn self!” Instead we hand out mental illness badges like the cub scouts hand out the art merit badge: if you can’t get one, seriously, time to reevaluate if being the fry cook might be aiming a little too high for you.

Have we really “advanced” so far in the last 30 years that “Internet Addiction” is really something we need to actively diagnose? For as “addicted” as I am to my blackberry, laptop, the internet, etc. as I am, give me a chance to turn it all off and I’m in heaven. A few years ago I spent 3 weeks backpacking through Peru. Besides the amazing views the greatest part was knowing I wouldn’t hear a cell phone ring in the middle of the Amazon, or that no of keyboards would be heard 14,000 feet above sea level in the middle of the Andes. Is it truly a mental illness if someone doesn’t have enough personal control to put the mouse down and take 5 from playing Halo3? If that’s the case, I must have suffered terribly from “Homework Avoidance Addiction” and never should have been put in the horrible situation where I was asked to actually do homework.

When I was growing up this type of “addiction” was immediately remedied by a parental unit. If you were an adult and suffered from a similar “addiction” it was remedied by a spouse, the bill collector or you were simply dubbed, the lazy a$$hole who couldn’t hold a job. Pretty cut and dry to me.

So despite my ramblings, I come to offer two points. The first point is that by calling such things “mental disorders” simply demeans and trivializes those who truly do suffer from mental illness. As a society, we have already stigmatized mental illness. Until you see someone you care for deal with not only the pressure of the illness, but also the societal stigma surrounding it, I don’t believe you can truly understand how helpless you are to aide them. There are real and powerful illnesses out there that merit the research and treatment dedicated to mental illness and we must avoid trivializing them by adding in slackers and losers. It’s time to draw a line.

Secondly, we once again have given an out to the lazy, lethargic and slothful among us. Our political correctness will be one of the sledge hammers that undo the pillars of society we current reside on.

Stand up, grow up and take accountability for yourself and hold other accountable for themselves.