MH17, Gaza, ISIS, and Passions

I discuss the fatal flight of MH17, the conflict between Gaza and Israel, a small bit on ISIS and talk about a series on finding my passion. Leave a comment and see me on Twitter, Facebook, G+ and Spotify.

MH17

     Since Thursday, a large pile of information has been gathered on flight Malaysia Airlines flight 17 Amsterdam - Kuala Lumper after it crashed in a field close to the Ukraine's eastern border with the Ukraine. Aerospace regulations were restricted in certain areas because of the conflict in the Ukraine, however flight MH17 was in the commercial lane of flight at 33,000 feet.

     Surface-to-air missiles can not be fired at a plane above 31,000 feet, therefore the missile that was fired must have come from a sophisticated system that requires high training. That the plane was targeted by radar, locked-on by the missile guidance system, then fired upon, is believed to be the process undergone deliberatly by pro-Russian separatists.

     As said in the video linked below, not many have been following the conflict in the Ukraine. Now, this horrific act on civilians brings the conflict into the international community's eyes. The video is graphic. There are bodies laying about the wreckage and along the fields and grass.

NSWF Exclusive VICE News Footage of MH17 Aftermath: Russian Roulette (Dispatch 60)

A woman describes the event. "They [the bodies] were flying towards me. That is my house over there (points in the distance). Then they flipped over above me and started falling."

It makes me feel pretty sick in the stomach when people involved in combat drag others into their fighting. Hell, it makes me feel sick when combat is taking place! It seems to me provocation of war is the main goal for this terrorist attack. It remains to be seen what the U.S. will do in response once the international investigation takes place.

GAZA

     Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system was working over time this week. Following 10 days of air strikes, Israel finally moved ground troops into Gaza. The death toll is now above 300. The growing concern is the continued inclusion of civilians in the fighting, where full families have been killed by rockets.

The terrorist organization, Hamas, was founded to liberate Palestine from Israeli occupation and to establish an Islamic state in the area that is now Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip according to the 1988 Hamas Charter. The origin of the conflict is something covered extensively by Noam Chomsky in his book http://www.amazon.com/Middle-East-Illusions-Reflections-Nationhood/dp/0742529770. Summed up almost too succinctly, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been an issue since the late 1960s over the borders in Israel and who lays claim to the land.

"US President Barack Obama spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday, underlining his support for Israel's right to defend itself against Palestinian militants but warning against escalation in Gaza.

President Obama said "no nation should accept rockets being fired into its borders" but called on Israel's military to conduct its operation "in a way that minimises civilian casualties."

Mr Netanyahu has warned of a "significant expansion" of the offensive but Hamas, the Palestinian group that controls Gaza, said Israel would "pay a high price" for the invasion."

     Hamas created a tunnel system across the Gaza border into Israeli in order to kidnap and attack Israelis. The ground offensive began on Thursday by Israeli Defense Forces is said to close the tunnels and stop the rocket fire into Israel.

ISIS

    As you can see from the map above, ISIS, or Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, dominate many towns throughout northern Iraq. ISIS moved into Iraq earlier this year with a goal to capture Mosul, a larger city holding the largest oil refinery in the country. 

     This article discusses the Iraqi Christian population, which is surprisingly larger than I thought. More on ISIS later. We're still waiting to see where they will attempt to push next.

Passions

     I was reading an article earlier this week that was discussing something that has been on my mind fairly often. We are told that we need to find our passion and focus on making our career out of it. Well, what about those of us that have more difficulty than most? It is impossible to write down a list of every interest or hobby one has, stare at the page, and extract the idea of your passion and career off the page.

     Here is a better way of going about the passion search that I will be testing in the coming year: I created a list of things I would like to try. Before the end of this year, I commit to scheduling, attempting, researching and making moves towards each of the things on my list. I am hoping that all of them give me that spidey-sense of interest and spark a passion that I can turn into a career, but I will be happy if just one causes a reaction. I'll be documenting my activities and attempts in a series of posts here for you. Stay tuned for that. As a teaser here are a few of those things: welding, flying an aeroplane, personal trainer / wellness coach, Big Brothers Big Sisters, guitar, and I might even plug in my keyboard for some practice.

The following is a daily posting by Leon Calafiore from the Facebook group Big Book Of Magic.

Leon Calafiore

Saturday, 19 July 2014 at 10:11

e Moon, Al Thurayya/Alzoraya, good for career support, general good luck, and to help or hinder judicial matters, moving the 4th Mansion of the Moon, Al Deberan / Aldeberan, good for playing the margins, shaking things up, around 9:00 P.M.

Hours of the Day begin with Saturn at 5:40 A.M., and last 73.5 minutes. Planetary Hours of the Night commence with Mercury at 8:23 P.M., lasting 46.5 minutes, Sun in Cancer, Mercury in Planetary Cancer, Venus in Cancer, Mars in Libra, Jupiter in Leo, Saturn retrograde Scorpio.

With the Sun square Mars today, it’s much easier to focus on oneself rather than others. While there might not be much soul-searching involved, there is a whole lot of what makes me happy, without a concern for others. This is enforced by the Moon then squaring Jupiter. As the early evening has the Moon sextile to Venus, Neptune and Mercury, not only with there be this eruption of self-concrn, it will seem to many that the whole universe revolves around their whims. I expect this will all get a bit tedious (expect for the individual concerned). I can already hear the arguments. You may wake up tomorrow and wonder why you made that big ticket purchase today. It’s easy to fall in love with a house, car, boat, or some such extravagance. For heaven’s sake, stay away from Cartiers. Magickally, people should be feeling pretty lucky, with this wind of self-importance at one’s back, and so, you may be able to have some unexpected (but certainly deserved) fortune drawn your way.