Comments for midthought

Comment on Comments from readers by Amazing Alex

Amazing Alex — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 21:12:38 +0000

Yayyy!!!! I needed some new reading material! Lol, and I love the title! Oh, and by the way, how is that one other book you were thinking about writing during the summer, “Pi in the Sky” coming?

Comment on Contact by Christopher Rushlau

Christopher Rushlau — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 02:59:03 +0000

I’m reading a book, “Autumn Bridge”, which is a sequel to “Cloud of Sparrows”, both by Takashi Mitsuoka, in the same way the “Kill Bill” movies were two though it was one story.
My suggestion is that if someone there knows someone in the entertainment business, they should read the books with my assurance that the Oriental philosophy seemingly touted is fully conversant with Thomism (Aristotelianism) so that the story, “Samurai” one and two as they were published in, I guess, Indonesian, will feel as right to a Western Hemisphere audience as an Eastern Hemisphere audience. The ringing phrase in the second book (so far), “So what is most real is what we choose to consider real” (at page 76 in the hardcover edition), climaxing a conversation between two people who lived five hundred years apart, could be expressed in Aristotelianism as “It is impossible to have a complete delusion, since the object in the delusion not only has reality as a thought but is drawn from some sensual experience, so the person knows the delusion is not an escape from reality but rather a reminder of reality, no matter how much the person wishes it were not so.”

Comment on This One's for the Ladies by Happy International Women’s Day! | midthought

Happy International Women’s Day! | midthought — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 15:28:36 +0000

[...] other dedication goes to the same women as last year: the brave and empowered Bedouin women of the Naqab who, in the face of home demolitions and [...]

Comment on The Power of Water by K Farber

K Farber — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:25:41 +0000

Trying again: “Well said/shot A&A! An interesting lens through which to spark some discussion about water in the ME (excuse the pun) and in culture.”

Comment on The Power of Water by K Farber

K Farber — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:24:51 +0000

Well said/shot A&A! An interesting lens through which to spark some discussion water in the ME (excuse the pun) and in culture.

Comment on New discriminatory law: Marriage and Family Reunification by Audrey

Audrey — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 04:07:12 +0000

Hey! Water rights are super intense … I actually was at a demonstration last winter whose central issue was access to a freshwater spring (settlement was cutting the village off from their historic access). Actually all resource access issues fall along the same conflict lines. Interesting stuff! This is good I needed something else to write about

Comment on New discriminatory law: Marriage and Family Reunification by Peter Brice

Peter Brice — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:14:18 +0000

Hey Audrey! So this response is over a month late, but if it means anything I haven’t had a chance to go back up to WP since we did a few runs in the terrain park! Spending break back near Philly though was excellent…and I’ve heard you just got a ton of snow!! …and someone died in an avalanche..??..
Glad to see the blog is still going…and I’m sure you have some good followers. You ever look into water issues and rights between Israel and Palestine?? Besides that my knowledge of the place is very insignificant…

Comment on New discriminatory law: Marriage and Family Reunification by Abe

Abe — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 13:30:58 +0000

This has been in place since 2003 as “emergency law” and is only now in the books in its current form. No changes or surprises.

Comment on A National Ad Campaign by Luke

Luke — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 09:45:15 +0000

I think your post raises a very interesting dilemma that faces the Israeli Government- the preservation of their culture/heritage (or even bloodlines) vs the the dispersion of their people from the homeland. A motive of the Israeli Ministry that you did not mention that is probably valid, is their fight against the assimilation of the Israeli people into the American ‘melting pot’ of culture through intermarriage. America is known for its watering down of cultures that have immigrated to its shores (Italians, Asians, you name it) … but the argument can be made that these cultures are in a sense ‘stronger’ because they have been passed on to more people. However, through each generation, homeland nationalism diminishes at an exponential rate. So which is better? Dispersion or preservation? The problem with the later, is that it infringes upon individual freedom which nobody likes. So I think Israel’s idea is that if you convince the American-Israelis to come home, they don’t really have a choice. Instead of the Israeli Ministry’s purpose in this ad campaign being, as you say, “You may only be Israeli in Israel, Only there, will people understand you,” its probably more like, “You may only be Israeli in Israel, Only there, will you meet people who are also Israeli who you should marry.”
I would be interested to know where you stand on this issue as a 2nd generation Israeli- American. I agree with you that, yes, Israel should definitely look around and fix itself and it’s relations with the world around it (thats a whole nother problem of course) before asking its emigrants to return. But if you see the Ministry of the Interior’s campaign as less “ethno-nationalistic” and more preservationist, is it really bad what they’re doing? Would you marry an Israeli person to preserve your culture? Or does your individual freedom matter more? (thats really personal, sorry) It is problem that I think does not just face Israel, but the whole world as globalization nears completion. Your post gets at the heart of a proud people fighting to keep their bloodline and their culture pure.

Comment on Comments from readers by Google rocks

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