Letter to bin Laden ~

Originally posted on January 1, 2005

this essay anticipates by almost 2 years

our current endeavors to "talk to our enemies"

On New Year's Day, to wish people a year of happiness is cynical and naive. Like all the years we have already lived, this one too will undoubtedly be replete with a diversity of feeling and experience. What we should really try to do, is enkindle in each other a fervent desire to establish the reality of peace. Toward that end I have addressed an open letter to Osama bin Laden, in whose hands the prospects for peace in our time may conceivably dwell ~

To Osama bin Laden:

Although your hands and ours are stained with blood, you may be the catalyst who can bring peace to the world.

Perhaps, as you revisit the Koran, you should do so with a clearer mind. Nowhere in it does Allah authorize the killing of innocent men, women and children. It must be Satan’s deceptive voice that has been sounding that diabolical message. God rarely uses words to communicate with us, but His actions always speak with unambiguous and resounding eloquence. The tsunamis, the floods, the quakes and all the other disasters which wreak such undescribable havoc, must be a sign of His wrath and His diminishing concern about our fate. And if that is so, why is He angry? Why is He turning away from us? Have we broken our covenant with Him? Is God revolted by the heinously unforgivable things we all keep doing to each other?

Is this not then a propitious moment for Islam to stop the Jihad and begin to join the West, as it once so gloriously did, in a united and compassionate effort to bring comfort, healing and vital physical assistance to all of humanity? You have an army of zealous followers. They look to you for direction and inspiration. Would it not please Allah to see them joining their foes in rendering help and offering kindness to all of our fellow creatures? Should we not cease inflaming Iraqis, Afghans, Palestinians, Israelis and so many other hostility prone people around the world?

Under the dark and fearful clouds of war, everyone is a victim. In the wake of warfare there is only carnage, ruin and despair. But under the broad umbrella of Peace, good will has a chance to flourish. And when people feel inspired to work together, shoulder to shoulder, and heart beside heart, God's will is done. And when God is pleased, everything is possible.

Osama, I would like to believe that the Archangel Gabriel, whose name my family proudly bears, is now offering you similar counsel.

Comment:mailto:domgab1914@comcast.net

Happy birthday, Jesus ~

Brrrr !

Illustration: Courtesy of skytonight.com

The Earth revolves on an axis that is tilted 23.5 degrees from the plane of its orbit around the Sun. Thus, as it travels over its elliptical orbit, the angle our Equator makes with the Sun oscillates between 23.5 degrees north and 23.5 degrees south. It is this tilt of the Earth on its axis that produces our four seasons, not our distance from the Sun.

Today, at 7:22 p.m., EST, the Sun shone directly over the Tropic of Capricorn, the latitude that is 23.5 degrees south of the Equator. In the northern hemisphere, this shortest day and longest night of the year marked the beginning of our Winter. The reverse was the case in the southern hemisphere. On this day, the North Pole was sunless for 24 hours and the South Pole had 24 hours of continuous daylight.

From today on, the declination of the Sun in relation to our planet will begin to move northward and on March 21 it will be over the Equator, for the Equinox. On that date, day and night will be exactly equal in duration. Then on June 21, as shown in the picture on the right, the Sun will arrive at the Tropic of Cancer, 23.5 degrees north of the Equator. That will mark the first day of our summer. At that point, the Sun’s declination begins to move southward.

The illustration on the left shows that during Winter, the inclination of our planet’s axis keeps our hemisphere turned away from the Sun. And thus, with shorter days and longer nights, we receive substantially less solar heat than during the summer, when the days are longer.

Now allow yourself to speculate. If the tilt of our planet's axis were several degrees greater or less than 23.5 degrees, what would be the consequences?

Comment:mailto:domgab1914@comcast.net

Be careful ~ !!

Above photo downloaded from Answers.com

To my fellow Elderlies:

Following upon publishing my post, Lux Veritas, November 10, 2006, I discussed the question of sun glare with Dr. Michael L. Cohen of MKMG in Mt Kisco, New York.

He took issue with what I had opined, namely that perhaps as we age, we lose some of our ability to constrict our pupils in bright light. He is inclined to believe that cataracts of the lens would be a more plausible clinical reason for our increased sensitivity to sunlight. We did agree that during winter solstice time (at our latitude) sunlight is substantially brighter than during other seasons of the year. Having to travel through more atmosphere during most of the day, sunlight is magnified and more intense.

We who are now relatively more advanced in years owe it to ourselves and everyone else on the road, to take every possible precaution. Elderlies are a very hazardous group of drivers. It would therefore not be remiss for us to plan an early visit to our ophthalmologists for a checkup and advice.

Comment:mailto:domgab1914@comcast.net

David and Goliath ~

Dear Op-Ed Editor:
I was three when I began reading The Times and I will soon turn ninety-three. Yet in all of these past ninety years, dear Editor(s), you have published nothing I have ever written you, letters or essays. Nolo contendere! The fault must lie with me and not the old gray lady. In any case, I am now re-submitting this Op-Ed essay. It relates to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and in its present form, it is particularly timely. DJG

Shades of David and Goliath . . .

>> Left click on map to enlarge it <<

Iraq and Iran aside! The tragedy that started in Canaan more than 3,000 years ago and now plays before the whole world is the apocalyptic struggle between Palestine and Israel. But why do we focus with such sharply polarized intensity upon this conflict? What is there about this very minute region of the Middle East that makes it so disproportionately huge as an area of our concern? Do we have a vital stake in its outcome? And why has God seemed not to care? Does He leave it to humanity to solve its own problems, as He once told Job? Whither, the answers?

How much longer can they continue to inflict horror and devastation upon each other? Has the time not come for Palestine and Israel to seek a modus vivendi (peace without a capital P)? Palestine cannot remain suspended forever in stateless animation, and Israel cannot be deprived of its right to exist. But would it not help for both sides to recall that neither has ever had a certified deed to the Holy Land. The Palestinians (Philistines) emigrated to Canaan from Crete and the Israelis were escorted there from Egypt, by Moses. The aboriginals they both de-occupied, were the Canaanites.

But if eventually, there is to be a two state division of the Holy Land, forgive me my temerity to suggest a tentative first step. Palestine should consider ceding to Israel all of the Gaza Strip and that part of the West Bank which includes and lies south of Jerusalem. Then, in return, Israel would cede approximately equal acreage to Palestine, the bulk of it to lie north and east of a line between the city of Nazareth and Jerusalem. Instead of the now totally devastated Gaza Strip, Palestine would have a habitable coast, north of Haifa. Nearly equal in length to Gaza, it would be contiguous with its newly created State. Implicit in this redistribution of land and people would be the elimination of Israel's borders with Lebanon and Syria and an end to the Golan conflict.

Then, with good will and inspired acumen, Israel and Palestine could endeavor to address the intricately complex problem of Jerusalem. With encouragement and generous assistance, the Holy Land might at last have an opportunity to breathe easily and face the future with restored confidence not only in itself, but perhaps even in God. >I<

Mailed to The NY Times 8 days ago; it remains unpublished.

Comment:mailto:domgab1914@comcast.net

He stoned me while I wasn't looking ~ Goliath

I was only trying to get his attention ~ David

Hi ~ Perhaps we have met online, but more probably you don't know me from Adam. I monitor blogs for SamsonBlinded, and came across yours. I welcome you to look at Obadiah Shoher's blog. He is an anonymous Israeli politician who writes extremely controversial articles about Israel, the Middle East politics, and terrorism. Shoher is equally critical of Jewish and Muslim myths, and he advocates political rationalism instead of moralizing. Google banned our site from the AdWords and Yahoo blocked most of its pages. Amazon deleted all reviews of Obadiah's book, Samson Blinded: A Machiavellian Perspective on the Middle East Conflict. Nevertheless, 170,000 people from 78 countries read the book. Internet providers ban us periodically. This www.samsonblinded.com/ currently works. Please help us to spread Obadiah's message, and mention the blog in one of your posts. I would greatly appreciate your comments. Best wishes ~ Eugene Gershin

Thank you for stopping by. I checked out your site. I was impressed by what I read about Obadiah Shoher's book and the comments made by other readers. There is no disputing that the Israel/Palestine conflict is a loaded enigma of unmeasurable worldly importance ~ Dom Gabriele

This is a very erudite article. It opens the way for discussion between fair-minded people. But Jerusalem will remain an insoluble problem unless the antagonists realize that neither has an exclusive right to it ~ A. Correoso