Magdaleno

A week or so ago I was in the Catholic Cathedral looking for Jesus…it was at this service that one of the ushers an elderly Filipino gave me a fist bump when we were supposed to be giving each other the sign of peace (normally a handshake).. Now that was super cool.

I go to a variety of places of worship hoping to find God. I often think I see him/her on the streets begging for money… or perhaps it is the woman helping those with some incurable disease. Or perhaps it is a truck driver taking another load of hope down the highway. Or an immigrant farm worker…I am told to be ready for God and that he/she might just be whom you least suspect.

Once a few years ago when I was Peace Corps Country Director in Paraguay that I had to admit that I thought that I WAS GOD…..(when I told this to my sister Roberta .she said
WHEN DID YOU STOP TAKING YOUR MEDICINE? And I had to laugh) Now there I was in Paraguay having my weekend coffee and eggs when my house keeper who had just came from answering the bell that was at the gate to the residence interrupted my peace and quiet,

SENOR, Irma my housekeeper urged, THERE ARE TWO MORMON BOYS HERE AND THEY WANT TO TALK TO YOU

WELL TELL THEM I AM NOT HERE.. And I returned to my coffee

BUT I TOLD THEM THAT YOU WERE HERE AND THAT YOU SPEAK ENGLISH AND THEY GOT VERY EXCITED… SO PLEASE GO TALK TO THEM.

The Mormon Church has one of the best language programs and trains it missionaries to go to any part of the world with the proper language. And then they send off these youth on door to door excursions to convert the unsaved. When the CIA and FBI were looking for language trained agents many a Mormon was hired…

I went to the gate…Grumpy… nothing worse than a grumpy Mexican who is pulled away from his breakfast.

Yep there they were standing just the other side of the rust colored gate and fence..
GOOD MORNING …WHAT ARE DOING HERE TODAY? I asked… there they were in their white shirts with ties in the early morning heat.

They said their names and said they were with the Mormon Church…

BUT WHY TODAY? WHY DID YOU COME TODAY?? I continued to question

WELL TODAY IT WAS ON OUR SCHEDULE FOR THIS NEIGHBORHOOD the lead missionary said.

WELL… I MUST TELL YOU THAT THIS MORNING I WOKE UP AND DISCOVERED I WAS GOD… YES GOD! I BET YOU ALWAYS WONDERED WHAT GOD WOULD LOOK LIKE… WELL THIS IS HOW HE LOOKS TODAY…

They were in shock…they didn’t know what to say …

AND OH BY THE WAY… IN MY BOOK YOU WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO ARRIVE HERE UNTIL TUESDAY…SO PLEASE COME BACK ON THE PROPER DAY…

As I turned to go in… I said

AND BY THE WAY I GIVE YOU MY BLESSING. As I said these words I held up both hands in the air over my head sort of bent in their direction and fought the temptation to make the sign of the cross.

I am sure that they had a most interesting story to give their supervisor at the end of the day. But I do hope that God looks better than me .. Wouldn’t it be funny if there were places of worship that had my or your picture all over the walls? And that people worshipped us.

LMAO (whatever that means)

NOW FOR MY VIEW OF THE NEWS

a. Israeli commandos
b. Exodus ship 1947
c. Boycott is growing
d. Memorial day whom do we honor

ISRAELI COMMANDOS BOARD A FLOTILLA OF SHIPS CARRYING HUMANITARIAN AIDE AND ACTIVIST HEADED FOR PALESTINE

This is a huge story and needs to be followed closely…it is absurd that the Israelis’ think that they can board a ship in international waters and shoot people…none of the violence would have happened if they had not boarded these ships commando style.. More details will be coming out and none of it will be good for Israel. International pressure is needed and a UN investigation needs to begin now and the Red Cross needs to be visiting all being held by the Israeli government.
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May 31, 2010, 2:48 pm

Echoes of Raid on ‘Exodus’ Ship in 1947

By ROBERT MACKEY

The New York Times The “Exodus 1947 ,” a ship filled with Jewish Holocaust survivors who wanted to immigrate to Palestine, after it was seized by the British Navy in a deadly struggle at sea and brought to Haifa in July, 1947.

Updated | 8:51 p.m. To some Israeli observers, it was impossible to miss the parallels between Monday’s killing of pro-Palestinian activists by Israel’s military in international waters, as commandos intercepted a flotilla of ships trying to break the Israeli naval blockade on Gaza, and a seminal event in the Jewish struggle for an independent homeland.

Noam Sheizaf, an Israeli journalist who is rounding up reports and commentary on the attack on his blog, “Promised Land,” points to a post in Hebrew by Rafi Man of the Israel Democracy Institute which asks: “Will This Be the Palestinian Exodus?”

Mr. Man was referring to the story of the “Exodus 1947,” a ship filled with Jewish Holocaust survivors who wanted to immigrate to Palestine in July 1947. That month, the British Navy intercepted the ship to enforce a ban on Jewish immigration to the territory, which was then under British control.

As my colleague Margalit Fox wrote in December — in an obituary for Yitzhak Ahronovitch, the captain of the Exodus 1947 — the violent way the British Navy seized that ship and deported the refugees backfired, creating global sympathy for the plight of stateless Jews. Ms. Fox explained:

The refugees had no legal authority to enter Palestine, and the British were determined to block the ship. In the battle that ensued, three Jews aboard the Exodus were killed. The ship’s passengers — more than 4,500 men, women and children — were ultimately deported to Germany.

The attack and its aftermath, which focused attention on the plight of many European Jews after the war, made headlines worldwide and helped marshal support for an Israeli state. [...]
Captain Ahronovitch was 23 when he took the helm of the Exodus. On July 11, 1947, he picked up the refugees at Sète, in southern France. On July 18, as the ship neared the coast of Palestine, the British Navy intercepted it. Captain Ahronovitch tried to break through, but two British destroyers rammed the ship.

Several hours of fighting followed, with the ship’s passengers spraying fuel oil and throwing smoke bombs, life rafts and whatever else came to hand, down on the British sailors trying to board, The Times reported at the time. Soon the British opened fire. Two immigrants and a crewman on the Exodus were killed; scores more were wounded, many seriously. The ship was towed to Haifa, and from there its passengers were deported, first to France and eventually to Germany, where they were placed in camps near Lübeck.

According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, when refugees from the Exodus 1947 were forced into displaced persons camps in Germany by the British military:

Large protests erupted on both sides of the Atlantic. The ensuing public embarrassment for Britain played a significant role in the diplomatic swing of sympathy toward the Jews and the eventual recognition of a Jewish state in 1948.

THE BOYCOTT IS STILL GROWING AND BECOMING STRONGER

Alfredo Gutierrez now in his mid-60’s a former legislator is now the lead person in Arizona for the boycott. In interviews he has said that the marches are great but not all of the answer. He reminds us that we have to do voter registration, voter turnout and pressuring of everyone to boycott Arizona. I met Alfredo in 1984 when we were part of a delegation to the middle east and even then I was impressed by his political knowledge.

The recent gathering of activist culminated in about 20,000 marching in the streets of phoenix while across town in Tempe the BUYcott movement of Minutemen, Tea Baggers and others held their rally in DIABLO STADIUM.. yep Diablo means Devil.. so I think they chose a good place with an appropriate name for their rally.

While tens of thousands bused and flew into Arizona for the BOYCOTT demonstrations .. the pro SB 1070 could only draw a very much smaller crowd of locals who came to vent about the immigrants. Some say that his BUYcott rally was organized by the Tea Party of Texas and did draw some folks from Missouri and California. But the BUYcott event was dwarfed by the BOYCOTT march and rally. Later many of the local BUYcotters would go home to their manicured lawns, clean homes and cooked meals all done by undocumented immigrants.

The BUYcott team has a most uphill battle trying to convince many new conventions and meetings to come to Arizona… these meetings and conferences are planned years in advance and cannot be changed and moved so easily. So while the BUYcott sounds good, it is more smoke and mirrors than a reality. I am sure that today many business people are praying that a law suit prevails that puts this law into legal limbo.

Businesses in Arizona like in most states have suffered during this economic recession and there are still many small operations closing down as more people continue to lose their homes. Now a boycott makes it even more difficult for marginal tourists businesses to survive.

Even the big hotel and restaurant chains will begin complaining. Their boards want a profit and will demand that the governor and legislature stop this foolishness. And soon they will begin to hear from the Airlines who are losing money as well as the auto rental companies. At first these businesses will complain within closed meeting rooms but soon after that they will make their pleas public. Everyone will lose economically including the farmers and farm workers. But the rich love their profit line more than they hate undocumented workers. And if they have to choose they will chose profit over silly laws.
So my plea is that you help to continue to expand the boycott and in addition send in teams of folks to do voter registration. Arizona is our Mississippi.

MEMORIAL DAY WHOM SHOULD WE HONOR????

I honor the heroes and sheroes of our country… I include not just those who served our country in uniform but that those who also fought for peace and were demonized for raising the questions about senseless wars.

Many buried in government coffins and graves were cannon fodder for the politicians of the moment who wanted to raise their sabers in the air and then stay home and let others go to war.

We have Memorial Day, Veterans Day, the 4th of July and many more where we celebrate battles and those who fought them. And this does not include the many statues and monuments in honor of war. And we don’t even give lip service to Peace.

We need to have a DEPARTMENT OF PEACE, a National Day of Peace and monuments to all those voices of reason…to all the peace makers.

So this Memorial Day I honored all the heroes and sheroes.. Just remember that dying with a uniform on does not automatically make you a hero.. I know many a hero and sheroes who never wore a uniform and did the most amazing acts of humanity. Recognizing them all will give us a better future
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My best
leno