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Good Morning Friends,
.today is June 4, 2009
.Friends, I am not just talking about the weather here. It was really a warm day in Vancouver yesterday, almost unbearable actually. But, I survived as you can see - and without air conditioning in the work unit. My title of Things are heating up....is meant to remind you that the famous Six Day War was heating up and would start tomorrow on June 5, but a June 5 in 1967, that is. So, that is why I am talking about heat in this way. There was quite a bit of friction and military buildup going on in the region in the summer of 1967 and Israel was about to have a war with its Arab neighbours. If you watch some of the videos concerning this event you get the impression that Israel and its citizens were about to experience a second Holocaust of sorts. There was a great deal of angst about the idea of the Arab states ganging up on Israel and annihilating it. Tension had been building for some time and there were border and air squirmishes. The Cold War was still in progress and the Soviet Union was backing the Arab states. The U.S. although a staunch ally of Israel was fully involved in the Vietnam War. This was also the period of the attack on the American vessel the USS Liberty which you may have heard about as well. Israel would end up attacking this American ship and killing 34 Americans during its war against its neighbours. But, this event was to be covered up.
At any rate, to make a long story short, Israel attacked first and destroyed all of the air power of its Arab neighbours. Then it engaged in a tank battle and gained territory which it holds to this very day. This is when it acquired the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, and the West Bank. There is constant war in this area and this Six Day War was only one of a series of conflicts between Israel and her neighbours.
Just google the Six Day War and you will come up with any number of videos showing how Israel beat its neighbours and what a glorious battle this was for the state. You will also uncover one that expresses the idea that God was on the side of Israel on that day. But, do some more investigating and you will uncover even more things. Things like who the real provacateur was and why Israel resorts to war in the first place. Friends, Israel lives in a hostile environment and is constantly on guard against its Arab neighbours. It is not afraid to act pre-emptively to maintain its dominance in the region. That is the real lesson the Six Day War. And this idea will be re-created when Israel knocks out Iraqi nuclear facilites later on, and in fact, when Iraq is totally destroyed a state in 2003. Understanding these kinds of things will also help you to understand why Israel is so belligerent against Iran as well. Israel does not want any competition in the region and that is the best way to understand the actions of the state.
So, when I say that things are heating up, well, they really are. Netanyahu, the current Prime Minister is a hawk and he is not afraid to talk about war or even conduct war if it is in the best interests of Israel. He is also very determined to keep Israel settlements intact. These are illegal settlements that are built on Palestinian lands, lands that were captured in the 1967 War. So, as you can see dear friends this war is still basically in progress. And, now President Barack Obama has to step in and try to and maintain ' peace ' in the region. So, hopefully when you think of hot weather and the beginning of June, then you will think about events in Israel as well. That is what I do at any rate. So, thanks for reading and have a nice day.
Here is the video of the day for you. You may recall that I told you that things were going to change after the death of Kennedy in 1963, well, they did and it involves more war, especially the Vietnam War under President Johnston. He was president in 1967. On the top of the charts in 1966 was
The Ballad Of The Green Berets, Sgt. Barry Sadler, so you can see that there is a real war sentiment going on here. And, on the other side of the coin are the hippies and the drug culture and peace and love-ins, etc. San Francisco was the cultural centre of this new hippy and drug phenomenon. There was even a hippy and counter culture presence in Vancouver as well. The Kitsalino area, particularly West 4th Avenue exemplified the same kinds of hippie themes as found in San Francisco. As a matter of fact I drove down West 4th Avenue on the job yesterday and checked things out. The beach was packed with cars and people were laying and resting in the hot sun. The women strolling about here and in the downtown core looked particulaly attractive I thought, dressed in their summer gear of course. ....I did not actually like acid rock and psychedelic music and I was even critical of this hippie culture at the beginning. Remember, at seventeen and eighteen, I would still be a reactionary youth, not fulling understanding what this culture meant and what its origins were. ...Here is a song by Scott McKenzie, namely, Going to San Francisco, or just San Francisco which was a big hit in 1967. This would represent a compromise of sorts for me, listening to this kind of music. But, in the main, I thought that music had become sadder now that the wars were going on. You just cannot put a spin on reality I do not think.
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"San Francisco" by Scott McKenzie ...
1967
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