The relentless war
You can’t call it the Middle East conflict yet. Or in this case not yet. But soon it will be one. This morning I read that the US blames Hamas for the violence, the European governments are not pointing fingers as easily – after all we are a bit closer to the conflict and not only geographically. This region has a long history of violence. The Jewish state essentially ended in 63 BCE* (Pompey invasion of Jerusalem and Judea becomes a province of the Roman Empire). Then there were failed uprisings – kind of similar to what is happening with Palestinians – people with limited resources trying to remove a yoke of a giant and regain what they lost. I’m not saying that either side has a greater right to the place. Both nations have lived in the area for thousands of years. Israelites have a better documented history dating back to 2nd millennium BCE and the Palestinians are mentioned by the Greek historian Herodotus in middle of 5th century BCE. I am not saying that one side is more to blame then the other – they share the burden equally. One side believes that fighting and harming the other will win them what they want and the other that retaliation will force the other to stop. And at this point you can pick which side is which – the sentence will be valid regardless where you put Israel and Palestine**. The growing problem is the general feeling of injustice that the situation promotes. It is no longer becoming Israel contra Hamas, my fear (and probably I am not alone here) is that it will soon become all sorts of Arab freedom fighters versus Israel. When you have over 300 dead and 900 wounded Palestinians to 5 dead Israelis, it is easy to associate with one side more than the other. And now, with the accusations that the strikes are related to upcoming elections in Israel, it all starts to resemble Wag the Dog... This war is unlikely to end anytime soon, it is, however, very likely to escalate. People from all over the globe are voicing their concerns over the Israeli aggression. The worst thing is the overwhelming feeling of powerlessness in the face of suffering of those people. Unlike natural disasters, wars are solely the making of people. Let’s just hope that vowing “long weeks of action” are just a campaign slogan and won’t become a reality. *BCE - for the non-historians Before Common Era ** By Palestine I mean all and any freedom fighters not the Palestine government or people. However, after the recent attacks it might be more appropriate to refer to the autonomy as a whole. Song of the day:
Mozart - Requiem
Now that’s a statement you don’t hear every day. A call has been put out to go back to 
There is another earthquake happening – well more like tremors of a volcano waiting to explode –
So after the movie, four ladies went downtown for a dinner and a fireworks show. Originally, we wanted to sit by the stage and listen to the music (concert started at noon and went all day until the fireworks finished close to 10 pm), but it was so crowded we gave up on the idea. We ended up by the Woodland Bridge. Not only we had a great view for the fireworks (minus the music that went with it), but also we avoided all the smoke that comes with it. The wind blew it all at the nice folks right by the stage… It was so smokey that I couldn't see the very well lit Batman building. But it was a very nice show. If you are in Nashville on July 4th, do check it out. In the meantime, you can check out the video of the event form someone who was apparently in my vicinity. 
There is a very interesting read from 
bezpodstawne. Ale nie jest to nienormalne, bo każdy naród tak ma. Tyle, że my mamy tak dużą dozę polityki wmieszaną w te aspiracje, że czasami zastanawiam się, o co tak naprawdę tutaj chodzi. PZPN się miota – członkowie nie potrafią przyjąć wspólnego frontu, a drużyna… No cóż – chłopcy nie grają ze sobą spójnie. Nie ma jednolitości w drużynie, zawodnicy miotają się po boisku jakby zastanawiając się czy na innych graczach można polegać. Wiele razy w trakcie meczów widziałam jak „zapominają”, na jakiej pozycji grają. Mamy świetnych zawodników. Każdy z osobna jest super, ale jak się ich złoży do kupy, to nie mamy szans na sukces. Dodajmy do tego trenera, który choć na ogół dobry (w końcu dotarliśmy do mistrzostw, nie?) to momentami podejmuje błędne decyzje. Bo jak inaczej można nazwać trzymanie Smolarka na ławce 
podczas ostatniego meczu? 
Don't be surprised, the smell of food in the lobby has a powerful impact on students. It's like a magnet that holds them and keeps them around even if they might have had other plans. Apparently nothing attracts MBAs more then free food. As en example, last Thursday the The Office 
of Development and Alumni Relations put on cocktails and hors d’oeuvres Mardi Gras style. The lobby was full of hungry students. I admit, I was on my way home when the smell of fried chicken hit my nostrils and it didn't take long for me to have a hurricane in my hand. I am sure that some of the students came in with the single idea in mind - interact with alums. However, I am convinced that Owen staff is well aware how free food affects students and they take full advantage of it.
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