Thursday, October 15, 2009

The Mirror

I look in the mirror
And what do I see?
A strange looking person
That cannot be me.

For I am much younger
And not nearly so fat
As that face in the mirror
I am looking at.

Oh, where are the mirrors
That I used to know
Like the ones which were made
Thirty years ago?

Now all things have changed
And I'm sure you'll agree
Mirrors are not as good
As they used to be.

So never be concerned
If the wrinkles appear
For one thing I've learned
Which is very clear:

Should your complexion
Be less than perfection,
It is really the mirror
That needs correction.

Auther unknown

Thursday, August 20, 2009

TOUGH TO ARGUE WITH THIS ONE

Indian Chief 'Two Eagles' was asked by a white government official, You have observed the white man for 90 years.You've seen his wars and his technological advances. You've seen his progress, and the damage he's done.

The Chief nodded in agreement.

The official continued, Considering all these events, in your opinion, where did the white man go wrong?

The Chief stared at the government official for over a minute and then calmly replied:

When white man find land, Indians running it, no taxes, no debt, plenty buffalo, plenty beaver, clean water.
Women did all the work, Medicine man free. Indian man spend all day hunting and fishing; all night having sex.

Then the chief leaned back and smiled... "Only white man dumb enough to think he could improve system like that."

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Many suffer from foot in mouth disease

"By 1975 sexual feelings and marriage will have nothing to do with each other." - John Langdon, British Anthropologist, Journalist and Author of A Short History of the Future, 1936

"The concept is interesting and well formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C.' the idea must be feasible." - A Yale University Management Professor (in response to Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. Smith is the founder of Federal Express Corp.

"Everything that can be invented has been invented." - Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, US Office of Patents, 1899.

"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." - Ken Olson, President , Chairman and Founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977

"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons." - Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." - Thomas Watson, Chairman of IBM 1943.

"I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won't last out the year." - The Editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957

"The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?" - David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urging for investment in the radio 1930

"Television won't matter a bit in your lifetime or mine." - Rex Lambert, The Listener 1936

"This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication, The device is inherently of no value to us." - Western Union internal memo, 1876

"Man will never reach the moon regardless of all future scientific advances." - Dr. Lee De Forest, inventor of the Audion Tube, New York Times February 26, 1957

Sunday, December 28, 2008

“Operation Cast Lead”

This past Friday, just 24 hours before the launching of “Operation Cast Lead”, (in Hebrew cast lead is part of a Hanukah song about a lead dreidel) Ben Caspit of Ma’ariv wrote a piece, that in my humble opinion, says it all. I am quoting part of that article to you, because its story is an inspiration to us all in these very challenging times. It begins:

“Blue eyes- pale as can be, gray hair, a fine face, blue number tattooed on her arm. Her name is Ita.”

Ita is about 80 years old. Yesterday she stood in the remains of what was left of her granddaughter’s home in Moshav Tekuma on the Gaza Strip. She has seen worse. Much worse. She saw Joseph Mengele standing in front of her during “selection”. He sentenced the frightened, scrawny, young girl to death. But Ita did not want to die. She ran away, and managed to escape Mengele’s sentence by climbing over barbed wire. Ita was imprisoned in both Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. By virtue of an unbelievable combination of wonders and miracles (usually identified with Hanuka) she survived.

She then was able to make her way to Israel. Upon her arrival, Ita was captured by the British and sent to a detention camp in Cyprus. She eventually arrived in Israel once more. Soon after, Ita met Tzvi, who had a similar story. The two fell in love, formed a family and realized their Zionist dream. In their struggle to rise up from under the ashes, they formed a moshav in the western Negev called “Tekuma” which means: resurrection, revival; resistance, toughness, survivability. There they were joined by other holocaust survivors and together they built this beautiful moshav.

The State of Israel was established one year later. Tekuma, located two minutes from Netivot in the land of the Kassams, has been a target for the past seven years. This has not frightened Ita and Tzvi away, who have raised their children, grandchildren and now great-grandchildren in this moshav.

The day after a long range missile landed in her family’s home, Ita participated in a ceremony in which her grandson was awarded his official Israeli Air Force Fighter Pilot Wings. Under other circumstances, this could have been a victory for Ita, who said: “what a pity that there was no Israel Air Force in Europe years ago, that could have come and bombed the concentration camps. How important they are today.”

Yesterday, Ita lit her Hanukah candles surrounded by her children and grandchildren. She knew, that after seven years of a living hell, the government of Israel was now actively involved in assuring their safety, with decisive steps to eliminate the constant shower of rockets which had besieged them.

No country in the world would have allowed this situation to go on for seven years. The State of Israel, with its history and compassion, sought to exhaust every other possibility before sending Ita’s grandson, and his fellow pilots on their mission, to protect his grandparents and the people of Israel.


"ה' עז לעמו ייתן ה' יברך את עמו בשלום "
"May God give strength to his people May God bless his people with peace".


This was sent to me by Yossi Tanuri, Director General United Israel Appeal of Canada

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Interesting Human Body Facts

The largest cell in the human body is the female egg and the smallest is the male sperm.

A full bladder is roughly the size of a soft ball.

It takes the food seven seconds to get from your mouth to your stomach.

One human hair can support 3 kg (6 lb).

Human thighbones are stronger than concrete.

The attachment of human muscles to skin is what causes dimples.

The average man's penis is three times the length of his thumb.

A woman's heart beats faster than a man's.

If the average male never shaved, his beard would be 13 feet long when he died.

Men with hairless chests are more likely to get cirrhosis of the liver than men with hair.

There are about one trillion bacteria on each of your feet.

Side by side, 2000 cells from the human body could cover about one square inch.

Women blink twice as often as men.

The average person's skin weighs twice as much as the brain.

When you are looking at someone you love, your pupils dilate. . . . they do the same when you are looking at someone you hate!

Your ears secrete more earwax when you are afraid than when you aren't.

Your body uses 300 muscles to balance itself when you are standing still.

If saliva cannot dissolve something, you cannot taste it.

The average woman is five inches shorter than the average man.


. . . . . . Still looking at your thumb, aren't you?

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Sderot

Dear Friends, Family and Colleagues,

Numerous articles have been (and will be) written on what is happening in Sderot. Just the other Friday my wife and I went shopping in Sderot, a small personal act of solidarity, of joint fate. Probably an insignificant heart warming act by itself but then we were not alone. Tens of thousands of people from all over Israel have done the same turning this in to a powerful show of support and strength of spirit.

But … Since then things have only gotten worse, and the situation only continues to deteriorate day by day.

It is obvious that we should not let this situation continue (as obvious as it was for the last 7 YEARS!!), I have many thoughts and ideas on how and what we should do, it is so easy to say and write on the subject sitting at the safety of my home as if this is an intellectual challenge. So rather than sharing with you my own thoughts on the subject, I would like to share with you the following letter that was written and later sent to our Prime Minister by Yossi Haimov, a 10 year-old kid, of Sderot, who was injured recently by a Kassam missile.

And the letter goes something like this (Translation from Hebrew) …………

"Mr. Prime Minister:

I want you to know that I am afraid. I am afraid of the Kassam missiles. I am afraid of dying. All I think about is how I lay on the ground after I was injured. I thought that my hand had been severed. I held it so it wouldn’t fall off. People tell me I experienced a miracle. They say I could have died. I’m happy I didn’t die. But I’m very scared.

I am asking you, Mr. Prime Minister, to stop the Kassam missiles. Build something that will stop the missiles. I don’t know what; I’m just a child. Make them go through what they’re making us go through. I want all the Arabs who are throwing these missiles at us to die. I don’t want them to live. They are bad to us. What is happening to us, I want to happen to them.


I was born in Sderot. I remember the first Kassam missile that I ever saw. It was before the “color red” warnings. I was in nursery school. I went with my mother to take my sister to the park. I heard a loud “boom” and the entire street was shattered. The entire park was destroyed. I hate that there are Kassam missiles. Everyone starts crying and screaming and my parents’ faces are sad.


Sometimes I am jealous of children who live in other cities. I would also like to live somewhere quiet; somewhere where I could buy ice cream with my family and have picnics. Now, it’s impossible because there is always a “color red.” Our whole family has to sleep together in one room because we’re afraid of a Kassam attack. I want to be a soccer player when I grow up, but we can’t even play soccer these days. We can’t go outside; it isn’t allowed.

Very soon I will be released from the hospital and I will return home. I will tell my father that I want to move. I don’t care if they say I’m not brave. I want to live.

-Yossi Haimov"

Reading this as a father of three kids of my own, I find Yossi’s words particularly heartbreaking. No child should ever have to experience what Yossi is going through – not in Sderot, not in Israel and not anywhere else on the globe. All I can do is share this and promise to continue and support Sderot as best I can, I will walk your streets, visit your shops, and dine at your restaurants and meet a friend at your coffee places.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Happy New Year 2008

SOooooo what should I wish us all for the coming year?

May your hair, your teeth, your face-lift, your abs, and your stocks not fall; and may your blood pressure, your cholesterol, your white blood count and your mortgage interest not rise.

May you get a clean bill of health from your dentist, your cardiologist, your gastroenterologist, your urologist, your proctologist, your psychiatrist, your plumber, and the IRS.

May you find a way to travel from anywhere to everywhere during rush hour in less than an hour, and when you get there may you find a parking space.

May the holidays, find you seated around the dinner table, together with your beloved family and cherished friends.

May what you see in the mirror delight you and what others see in you delight them.

May the telemarketers wait to make their sales calls until you finish dinner, may your checkbook and your budget balance, and may they include generous amounts for charity.

May you remember to say "I love you" at least once a day to your partner, your child, and your parent(s). but don’t forget that if you say it to your secretary, your nurse, your butcher, your photographer, your masseuse, your seamstress, your hairdresser or your gym instructor, to say it without a "twinkle" in your eye.

May this year be peaceful but interesting.

Bless us all.