Oceans, Thanks for the reply. Always nice talking with you.

Today is a Maltese holiday which means no work for us too. Therefore, I
am going to step slowly from the keyboard and enjoy some time on the
beach, away from life's stresses for the day. Take care Jerry

Jerry, you cannot possibly be suggesting that JSH is akin to work, can
you???

Have a great time at the beach. I still have that image of my boat
gliding into your harbor....



Oceans

Harry, Alex, Andrea, Kat!!! Good morning, friends.

Double espresso for me. Anyone else?



Oceans

hoi oceans!!

well i am happy to join you for a coffee....

i have fresh stroop waffels ! still hot...would you like
one?

Good morning Alex!

Many thanks for your comments on my last big post (17:50, 5:50 pm
Wednesday.

I do think that helping people understand factually what has happened is
helpful. There has been a sea-change in how Israel is viewed in the
United States over the last decade or, and this is beginning to be
reflected in the policies of our government. The Bush Administration
fell under the control of the neocons -- whose number one goal is to
serve Israel -- and so this tends to hide the deeper trend toward a more
balanced policy in the Middle East.

Here in Washington, the neocons have lost their credibility; people now
realize that the neocon position was based on

1) a Cold War superpower model of the world,

2) a primary allegiance to Israel (I am talking about neocons like Paul
Wolfowitz, Douglad Feith, David Wurmser, Michael Ledeen, Bill Kristol,
Charles Krauthammar, John Bolton, etc.)

3) and astonishing set of lies, known to be lies at the time they were
stated by the neocons and by Vice President Cheney. I do think that
Bush was manipulated by these people and, rhetorical exaggeration aside,
that Bush really believes the things he says.

So education is working, that and the arrogance that the Israelis
themselves are showing in their way of treating the Palestinians, the
Occupation, their attacks on neighbors, their black operations that have
come to light, etc.

Of course, the sloooooowwwwww education of Americans doesn't in the
meantime help those who are suffering under the Israeli regime, I know
that.

Alex, I do think that Americans generally are a well-meaning
people...but there is something in the way we think that lacks rigor and
is prone to extreme views. Most of our people do not spend any time at
libraries, or in serious conversation about international relations. We
are prone to propaganda and one-note causes. Religious fundamentalism
was on the rise this last 20-30 years, though I think it crested some
years ago, if I remember the numbers correctly.

When the US is confronted with a massive threat, all this permits us to
respond effectively, e.g. World War II.

When we are confronted with more complex situations or concerted
propaganda attacks, we flounder. We like simplistic models of the world
and of good and evil. When the way the world manifests itself is more
complicated, the bulk of our people have a hard time understanding
things.

We are seeing this reflected here in these threads. It is a big and in
many ways unwieldy country. You see how difficult even internal policy
is: the immigration bill, the tax code, public health, environmental
regulation, energy policy, family law, addictions treatment, the drug
epidemic, etc. etc.

And because we have such immense international impact this confusion and
unwieldiness affects other peoples and countries, often negatively and
harmfully. It is not fair, it is not just, and to many Americans it is a
deep embarrassment.

So we struggle, which is both the good and the bad news.

It is, in my opinion, a 'good' country, but without the mechanisms to
coherently and consistently manifest that goodness either internally or
externally.

I look forward to the 'gazillian questions', and will do my best with
them.



Oceans

Good morning,. Alex! A stroop waffel? It sounds delicious! yes
please!

Does it take a syrup? I just brought back some Maine syrup with me --
some of the best in the world.


Oceans

Alex, that was a wonderful compliment from Kat, this morning. Well
deserved and it came with a lot of insight on her part!

I second it....

And thank Kat for her wise insight and generosity of spirit.


Oceans

lol...
it is a flat and caramelized wafer about the size of a saucer, and
filled with hot 'stroop' which is a kind of caramel and has a unique
flavor of something and a hint of cinnamon...goooooooey and
sweet....nice with espresso...


and so...sigh...

we are pretty much on the same page...so i see the media and marketing
and these things that have been seriously programmed into the american
mind set as soooooo natural and correct...to be also a huge mistake....

why has america become as you describe? what engineered the apathy?
what became the fix , sweeter than reality that drugged the population
to be glued to their remote controls and computers???

how to return minds back to their owners?? when the invented belief
systems offer such delicious destractions....

i am in a heavy mood Lawrence...

i look at things from many angles and even in here i see my microcosm of
my macrocosm.... i am brought to my knees with a sense of surrender ,
like when one is drowning....


i most likely need to talk about alot of things , but only to the wind.

my perspectives are so personal, at an intimate level of my life , and i
am not willing to throw them all around to prove this or that...i know
the questions i have , have difficult answers....even no answer...

it's ok...

i'll just wing it

Oh, Alex...

I think you are getting at the heart of the matter. I'll think a bit
about this and try a response later. These things need thinking
through!

I think it may have to do with the relationship between Freedom and
Complexity.

I wish we really were sitting around a cafe -- definitely a better
environment for these kinds of talks, no?

Ummm the waffle is wonderful.... May I have a second one? And more
coffee?

The day is shaping up well. Lots of work, lots of quick deadlines coming
up, sunshine....



Oceans

We have got to get Jess in one this conversation, and others like Jerry
and JJ and Andrea. Barbie, too. Agman from the Old Country. And
others....

Let's pull up some more chairs and let the coffee small lure them in....
lol

if you have skype we can sit at the table together....i can walk my
laptop to the balcony and you can see the towers and the canal and the
gardens

and hear the birds...and share my sunshine....anytime you like....
just add me as alexandrakathleen


ok!!! another coffee and we will solve the problems of the world on a
sunny thursday afternoon!!!

I am getting skype set up and will call you when it works. I have to go
get a cable to make it work and then I think I am ready.

Great idea. Now all we need is a waffel delivery cable.



Oceans

you would have an allout brawl if you tried to get to the truth in a
coffee shop with a bunch of people who do not agree and beleive there
perception is right.people get an uninterupted chance at haveing their
say in these forums and ya cant get ya head punched in if you are an
impudent radical and no one likes ya point of view.

Alex, I think one of our biggest problem is the media, it creeps into
our homes in so many different disguises, and why would one go and seek
proof when he can sit in front of his television, with beer and popcorn
not too far away?
Why would one doubt the news he gets on the internet on his homepage?
It is so much easier to take things at face value, without the bother to
think for yourself.

Oh, and Alex, do you have poffertjes too?

yes!!!! i have poffertjes too!!!!!

LMAO!!!! KariZ oh oh oh oh oh !!!! really huh!??

I'm off to work, everyone....

Have a super day and I'll jump back in later.




Oceans

do your poffertjes have holes in them Alex ?hi Andrea
2

Good morning everybody! Oceans, kisses.
Cloning catalog?? I must be very stupid this morning. It went over my
head.
I am planning on just reading here. I tend to get over my head in these
things. I'll just do some learning today.
Snickerdoodles anyone? Love'em in coffee.mmmmmmmm mmmmmmmm mmm.
Kat

Hi, Kat!

Snickerdoodles? Stroop waffels? Proffjtes????

Is there a secret language that I don't know? Well, you
collective sweetnesses...you excite the taste buds.

Alas, back to the salt mines for me.



Oceans

Not all snickerdoodles are created equal. Mine is a very buttery, made
with powdered sugar instead of granulated, sooooo crisy and then
sprinkled with cinnamon/sugar. Stays lightly crisp when dunked in hot
coffee. Awesome, yet so simple.
Kat