That was such a nice thing to do. I know and love pavlovas…but I have not tried Lamingtons before. Re: the fruit…it's very hard to find passionfruit here in the States (at least in my experience.)

No…but there is an intense fear of failure among many… that's what I'm getting at. There is a lack of intellectual curiosity, when people only take classes that are required of their major…and don't venture out, especially if they might not get a good mark. There is such high pressure on college admissions today….pressure to be perfect to get in, or the perception that one needs to be…and that limits intellectual curiosity, trying new things, etc. There is also a different attitude of parents pressuring teachers for grades which didn't exist when I was a kid. If you got a bad grade, tough luck…it's your fault. I know many teachers and college professors who say that parents call them up…or students come to their office…demanding a better grade. There has been a documented issue with regards to both cheating at Harvard as well as grade inflation. That, IMHO, is all part of the fear of failure. 2012 Harvard Cheating Scandal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Harvard_cheating_scandal Grade inflation http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/12/20/why-grade-inflation-even-at-harvard-is-a-big-problem/

I grew up in an Ivy League feeder school, and know many in the Asian Muslim and Hindu communities which put high emphasis on academics…and I do have to agree with the fear of failure that can exist. I also know many physicians today who are physicians solely because that was told what they were going to do. They went to Harvard, MIT, Princeton, an Interflex program, whatever….became a doctor…made Mommy and Daddy happy….and hate their lives. I have no idea if that is part of the high rate of suicides among physicians, but it might be. Are all like that? Nope…but I can't deny that I knew and know many.

I can understand that. And I can bet you that if you do a poll in one week, one month, three months, whenever…that 90% of Americans will still believe that Hamas kidnapped and killed the three teens, which is part of the problem.

I have no idea, but DD's pediatrician recommended she take Zyrtec daily for allergies.

OK…now they're saying that Hamas did not kidnap the three teens. And what…800+ people have died over that? http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/07/hamas-didnt-kidnap-the-israeli-teens-after-all.html "Repeated inconsistencies in Israeli descriptions of the situation have sparked debate over whether Israel wanted to provoke Hamas into a confrontation. Israeli intelligence is also said to have known that the boys were dead shortly after they disappeared, but to have maintained public optimism about their safe return to beef up support from the Jewish diaspora."

Interesting article on the BBC site…sorry if somebody already posted it. http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-28492894 "The author of Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to Meaningful Life, writes: "Our system of elite education manufactures young people who are smart and talented and driven, yes, but also anxious, timid and lost, with little intellectual curiosity and a stunted sense of purpose: trapped in a bubble of privilege, heading meekly in the same direction, great at what they're doing but with no idea why they're doing it." "

I used to go to high end salons…and would pay $45+ for a hair cut….and this was 10-15 years ago. I would tip about $12-15…so say, give her $60.00. Then one day I tried Hair Cuttery, and I was hooked. I pay about $18-20 for mine. I usually tip $5.00. For a $64.00 cut, I'd probably tip about $10-15.00.

Trader Joe's has the best price on grass-fed ground beef in our area. It's frozen, though. Publix (local super market) is a few dollars more. I think I paid close to $8.00 today for one pound. OK…actually, it's the buying club…then TJ's….but you have to buy 10 pounds from the buying club. (Annie's).

They do have gluten-free frozen pizza, which I haven't tried. They also sell ginormous loafs of Udi's for like $6 and change. I think it's the whole grain kind (greenish label). Some stores carry Namaste GF flour blend. Some stores carry almond flour. Ours also has Quinoa pasta.

We buy the three pack of 1-1/3 pound "organic" hamburger…which was $15, but now is closer to $17.00. You can buy non-organic six one-pound frozen packages for about the same. One good thing about Costco, even normal meat, is that they check their ground beef for e-coli. We used to get two large organic chickens for about $18/19, too. Haven't bought them in awhile, though. The organic buffalo is about the same price as the organic ground beef, but I think it's only 2 pounds, maybe 3 pounds. (2 packages vs. 3)

Right now, we're about 10%. Two years ago, salary was much lower, and it was around 33%….and we had WIC too to supplement.

There's also the issue that should a Palestinian state exist, would Israeli Arabs have to move there (be expelled from Israel)? Would they want to? Granted it's a focus group of three, but I have some Israeli Arab friends and they have said that they think it would be so many years before the Palestinians got a functioning country….that why should they leave? Yes, they don't have the same rights as Jewish Israelis, but in general, the schools, infrastructure, life, opportunities would be better in Israel than they would be in Palestine for many many years to come. Palestine would be a very poor country with all of its issues….and all the issues of a new country. I've heard a lot more talk about a one state solution recently. I can see it having benefits and disadvantages for both sides.

Actually Carol, you do see that. You just don't see that publicized in the U.S. https://www.facebook.com/JewishVoiceforPeace/posts/10153022141289992 "The website “Walla!†published talkback comments on an article about the four children killed on the Gaza beach. Shani Moyal: “I couldn’t care less that Arab children were killed, too bad it wasn’t more. Well done to the IDF.†Stav Sabah: “Really, these are great pictures. They make me so happy, I want to look at them again and again.†Sharon Avishi: “Only four? Too bad. We hoped for more.†Daniela Turgeman: “Great. We need to kill all the children.†Chaya Hatnovich: “There isn’t a more beautiful picture than those of dead Arab children.†Orna Peretz: “Why only four?†Rachel Cohen: “I’m not for children dying in Gaza. I’m for everyone burning.†Tami Mashan: “As many children as possible should die.â€" As for your statement on Arab countries, can you provide references, because I can. 1967….Egypt's Nasser accepted Israel's right to exist with UN Security Council Resolution 242 1979 Israeli/Egypt peace treaty 1988… Yasser Arafat of PLO recognized Isreal's right to exist in a "Financial Times' article 1993…letter between Arafat and Rabin " "the PLO affirms that those articles of the Palestinian Covenant which deny Israel's right to exist, and the provisions of the Covenant which are inconsistent with the commitments of this letter are now inoperative and no longer valid." All above from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_exist 1994…Israeli-Jordan peace treaty http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel–Jordan_relations ***1994…also important to note that the Vatican did not enter diplomatic relations w/Israel until 1994 2002…Arab League pushed for recognition of Israel as part of a peace deal Palestinians do not, however, accept that Israel should be an exclusively Jewish state…perhaps because there are Palestinian Christian and Muslims who live there….but they do accept its right to exist. ​Israel and Syria have had a truce since 1974…but now…no idea what that holds. As many of said, Israel should fear ISIS far more than Hamas. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_recognition_of_Israel "Following Israel's recognition of and entering into negotiations with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) many African, Asian and even Arab countries restored diplomatic relations with Israel. The Vatican entered into diplomatic relations with Israel in 1994. Some countries broke or suspended relations as a result of the 2006 Israeli-Lebanese War and the blockade of the Gaza Strip. At present, a total of 32 United Nations member states do not recognise the State of Israel: 18 of the 22 members of the Arab League: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen; a further 11 members of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brunei, Chad, Guinea, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Mali, Niger, and Pakistan. Other countries which do not recognise Israel include Bhutan, Cuba, and North Korea.[13] in 2002, the Arab League proposed the recognition of Israel by Arab countries as part of the resolution of the Palestine-Israel conflict in the Arab Peace Initiative." This is a really, good article on what recognizing Israel's right to exist means in a Palestinian context. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0202/p09s02-coop.html ""Recognizing Israel's right to exist," the actual demand being made of Hamas and Palestinians, is in an entirely different league. This formulation does not address diplomatic formalities or a simple acceptance of present realities. It calls for a moral judgment. There is an enormous difference between "recognizing Israel's existence" and "recognizing Israel's right to exist." From a Palestinian perspective, the difference is in the same league as the difference between asking a Jew to acknowledge that the Holocaust happened and asking him to concede that the Holocaust was morally justified. For Palestinians to acknowledge the occurrence of the Nakba – the expulsion of the great majority of Palestinians from their homeland between 1947 and 1949 – is one thing. For them to publicly concede that it was "right" for the Nakba to have happened would be something else entirely. For the Jewish and Palestinian peoples, the Holocaust and the Nakba, respectively, represent catastrophes and injustices on an unimaginable scale that can neither be forgotten nor forgiven. To demand that Palestinians recognize "Israel's right to exist" is to demand that a people who have been treated as subhumans unworthy of basic human rights publicly proclaim that they are subhumans. It would imply Palestinians' acceptance that they deserve what has been done and continues to be done to them. Even 19th-century US governments did not require the surviving native Americans to publicly proclaim the "rightness" of their ethnic cleansing by European colonists as a condition precedent to even discussing what sort of land reservation they might receive. Nor did native Americans have to live under economic blockade and threat of starvation until they shed whatever pride they had left and conceded the point."

I think there's hope. I actually read a good article yesterday on how twitter/facebook is changing the narrative. I think that more people becoming aware on both sides is good. http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/israel-has-discovered-that-its-no-longer-so-easy-to-get-away-with-murder-in-the-age-of-social-media-9621379.html IMHO, for there to be peace, Americans (more so than Israelis…because I see a lot more nuanced opinions from Israelis I meet) need to value each Palestinian child as much as each Israeli child. We need to be as horrified by each Palestinian death and injustice. Then maybe…just maybe…we'll stop using our security council veto on everything which remotely criticizes Israel. Unfortunately, Americans view Palestinians as Muslims…and Arabs…and thus, they get saddled with the negative stereotypes that we hold towards those two groups. People forget that there are Christian Palestinians….and probably the Palestinian Lobby (if there is one) should publicize that fact more. http://electronicintifada.net/content/christianity-palestine-misrepresentation-and-dispossession/6280 Do I ever see the Palestinians getting the right to return? No. Do I ever see the Palestinians getting reparations for the land and stuff that was taken? Yes…as a long term aid /development agreement after peace. Do I see the Palestinians getting what they were promised in 1947 when Israel was created? Nope…but I think 1967 borders are possible. A connected Palestinian state is possible. Do I see the Palestinians getting any portion of Jerusalem? Probably not. I'd like to say they would get East Jerusalem or it would be an International City, but I'm really pessimistic about that. I hope I'm wrong. The Palestinian Papers (their own wikileaks) were really interesting on just what the Palestinians have offered up for peace in negotiations. It's far more than I would have thought. It saddens me that even with that, it didn't work….but I haven't given up hope. http://www.aljazeera.com/palestinepapers/ I really think the solution is getting rid of the politicians and going straight to a popular vote.

Today when I saw this thread, I thought it said Mexican Cake. Then I thought…why are they torturing me???? :)

This was the norm when I was working….and when I interviewed. Usually, you'd have 6 or so interviews over the course of the day. Then we would meet and discuss each candidate, what we liked, didn't like, etc.

I don't negate what you're saying Kate. I could go into the whole Fatah/Hamas thing…but I don't think I know enough to do it justice. From my understanding (which may be flawed)…. the Gazans elected Hamas in 2006, because Fatah had been viewed as very corrupt. They haven't been given a chance to elect anybody else since then, as far as I know. The US refused to recognize the election, which of course made our whole "we love democracy" thing look tainted…and probably was part of the reason why we recognized Morsi in Egypt. Fatah controls the West Bank (means the West Bank of the Jordan River)…. and the West in general likes dealing with Abu Mazen (President). You don't hear a lot about problems there… they don't try and attack Israelis as far as I know. They seem to work together more. But when it comes to Israel, the Palestinians are trying to be more united. They went to the UN to be recognized, which pissed off the US and Israel, and caused us to cut a lot of aid to the Palestinians. They also reached some sort of agreement recently between Hamas and Fatah, which annoyed the US and Israel more…but in reality, would be necessary for any sort of peace deal to be reached. Fatah used to be known by the PLO. Arafat was extremely corrupt, and a lot of Palestinians (and others) do not like the fact that his widow and daughter live very well in Paris. But, in general, Abu Mazen is viewed as a good leader…or at least better than the alternative. From my standpoint, Hamas loses out big time if there is peace. The West (and others) prefer Abu Mazen and Fatah…so they would lose power in peace. Of course, they're not all terrorists….they're a minor political party….so I'm sure some of the bureaucrats would keep jobs, and some would be elected to the Palestinian Parliament (or whatever they call it.) So, I actually think the agreement between Hamas and Fatah was a good one, because while Fatah seems to be working towards peace, I'm not so sure about Hamas. (But then again, if I was basically imprisoned, couldn't get in goods or send out goods like I wanted….affected medical care…. I saw children and elderly killed and beaten up or imprisoned regularly by Israel…I probably wouldn't be so nice and kind. The Mom of the Tampa boy who was beaten so severely by the Israeli police said something along the lines of, "I now understand why the Palestinians hate Israel." ) Oh…and to be fair, Palestinians are not only treated like crap by Israel and Hamas. They're treated like crap by other Arab countries too. Jordan is probably the best. Most have citizenship there. In Lebanon, "Until 2005, Palestinians were forbidden to work in over 70 jobs because they do not have Lebanese citizenship, but this was later reduced to around 20 as of 2007 after liberalization laws.[53] In 2010, Palestinians were granted the same rights to work as other foreigners in the country.[55]" Lebanon also forcibly expelled Palestinian Syrian refugees fleeing war there. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27292499 Nobody really wants them. That's part of the reason why they need their own land. I'm also not sure how well a new country of Palestine could handle it if all of their refugees returned.

WHen the UN did it, it meant that nobody "owned" Jerusalem. It was neither Palestinian nor Jewish. Ideally, one would assume that UN peacekeepers or some UN force would manage the city…people of all faiths would have access… there would be no favoritism in issuing building permits to either Jews or Arabs…or no dismantling of their homes, etc. because of their nationality. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpus_separatum_(Jerusalem) "With its many holy places and its association with three world religions, Jerusalem had international importance. The United Nations wanted to preserve this status after termination of the British Mandate and guarantee its accessibility. Therefore, the General Assembly proposed a corpus separatum, as described in Resolution 181. It was to be "under a special international regime and shall be administered by the United Nations". The administering body would be the United Nations Trusteeship Council, one of the five UN "Charter" organs. (see Resolution 181, Part III (A))) The corpus separatum covered a rather wide area. The Arabs actually wanted to restore the former status as an open city under Arab sovereignty, but eventually supported the corpus separatum.[3] Israel rejected the plan and supported merely a limited international regime.[4][5] In May 1948, Israel told the Security Council that it regarded Jerusalem outside its territory,[6] but now it claimed sovereignty over Jerusalem except the Holy Places."

double post ….so I'll ramble some more. One of the biggest obstacles to peace is the United States. We always veto anything that is at all critical of Israel. The Israelis have done a great job in getting out that anti-Israel means anti-Semitic (which isn't true.) Jon Stewart did a great bit on this. http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/7wnfel/we-need-to-talk-about-israel Because of this, Israel has no motives to be more careful in dealing with Gaza. They have no incentives really for peace. They can keep building International settlements…which increases the likelihood should there ever be a peace deal, they'll get even more land in terms of swaps. AIPAC has bought our Congress. Both parties kowtow at the AIPAC convention. It is weird how much influence a foreign country has on our government and foreign policy. Heck, there was even a spying scandal with them that was swept under the rug. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Israel_Public_Affairs_Committee Do I think we need to protect Israel in that we ensure it survives? Yes. But I think we need to offer some tough love in an effort for peace. We should have not censured the Goldstone Report. I mean, he investigated the Rwandan genocide…He's a respected Jewish South African judge, etc. But we did. We lose all credibility as a negotiator for peace. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Fact_Finding_Mission_on_the_Gaza_Conflict

I hope not. I take great comfort from the fact that I never thought there would be peace in Northern Ireland. I honestly believe that if they got rid of the politicians (who have their own reasons on both sides for keeping the status quo)…and had 50 Israeli Moms and 50 Palestinian Moms negotiate a peace deal, there would be peace. I believe if they put a popular vote tomorrow saying…are you willing to go back to 1967 borders for peace….a majority of both sides would agree. Not sure about Jerusalem…but it would be a start.

In looking at who was there first, you should also look at the history of the aliyahs…migrations to Israel. They were all relatively recent…started in the late 1800s. Prior to that, other than Jerusalem, the area was very much Arab/Palestinian. So, we're talking 50 or so years before the partition, Jews starting showing up (with just cause…such as the pogroms). Even then, you can look at the population at the time of division…and that's why the divisions were made…they tried to keep mainly Arab areas…Arab…mainly Jewish areas..Jewish….with Jerusalem an International City. http://www.reformjudaism.org/history-jewish-immigration-israel-aliyah "The first wave, known as the “First Aliyah,†took place prior to political Zionism, in the late 1800s. Most of these new immigrants came from Russia and Yemen, and set up towns including Petah Tikvah, Rishon LeZion and Zikhron Ya’akov. The Second Aliyah , prior to World War I, was almost exclusively made up of Russian Jews, following pogroms and anti-Semitism in their country. Inspired by Socialism and Jewish nationalism, this group started the first kibbutz and revived the Hebrew language…." Population info http://www.ifamericansknew.org/history/maps.html

Best I can tell. Hamas has tunnels which they use to smuggle in goods to get by the embargo imposed upon Israel. They usually smuggle goods from Egypt. The Egyptians don't like this either because they lose revenue…plus the current government (El Sisi) hates the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. (Remember, they kicked out MB President (and first guy democratically elected in Egyptian history) Morsi. He's still in jail.) BIgger problem for Israel is not the goods like cars, air conditioning, food, whatever. They can use this for rockets. ALso, they've used tunnels into Israel to attack IDF forces. (Not a lot as far as I can tell, but one can assume this would increase.) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28430298 So…three Israeli teens were killed about a month ago. Israel said Hamas did it. Did they? THey said no. Israel killed a bunch of people trying to get back for the deaths. Some Jewish folks burned a Palesitnian teen boy alive in retribution. His cousin (an American from Tampa) was beaten quite severely by Israeli police. Lot of unrest over both deaths, although both families met, and promoted peace. Israel decided that this was a good excuse for attacking Gaza. Partly to get back at Hamas (historically, they do this.) Partly to go after tunnels. It has escalated and escalated into a ground offensive. Unlike the Gaza war of a few years ago, not only are Palestinians dying, but roughly 30 Israelis have died (although they are almost all IDF, and three were killed by friendly fire.) Hamas doesn't want a cease fire until the blockade is lifted and they can trade freely. Understandable, because in the past Israel not only will restrict stuff to help them rebuild, but really bizarre stuff too like potato chips, etc. Israel is unlikely to ever let that happen. Of course the Israelis do not like having rockets fired at them…even though Iron Dome does a good job and they have bomb shelters for their civilians. Nobody can blame them for not wanting to be shelled. Public opinion of Israel is not good in the rest of the world because of all the civilian deaths. American vetoes any objections, so Israel doesn't care. Numerous Nobel Prize winners have spoken out about this. http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.606228 Bishop Desmond Tutu and other SOuth Africans (including Mandala) call the Israeli treatment of the Palestinians an Apartheid situation. Israel rejects this…but hey, maybe the South Africans know something? ""I go and I visit the Holy Land and I see things that are a mirror image of the sort of things that I experienced under the apartheid," Tutu told HuffPost Live host Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani. "How can you stop me from the right to describe as I feel. You go anywhere in the world and if I see things that mirror the kind of experience that I know first-hand, I think it's cheek in a way for someone else to tell you, 'no, you are wrong in feeling as you feel about what you have seen.'" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/30/desmond-tutu-john-kerry-apartheid_n_5236786.html Israel says Hamas uses their civilians as shields…but reality is it's 1.4 million or so people, in a 25 mile by 7 mile space, imprisoned. They have no where to go…not even the sea (blockade). The UN Human Rights folks has criticized Israel for using Palestinians as human shields. http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.530993 Reality is both treat the Palestinian civilians like crap. Hamas puts their rockets and tunnels in civilian buildings because 1) they have no other options…it's the most densely populated place on earth… and 2) it makes Israel look bad when they kill civilians. Israel could do a better job in not killing civilians. Hams could do a better job in how they treat their own civilians. All goes back to the British partition plan for Israel which gave the Israelis 53%, and Palestinians 47% of the land of current Israel. Right now, the Palestinians are begging for 22%. They do not have a continuous state even, due to illegal settlements. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/middle_east/03/v3_israel_palestinians/maps/html/default.stm Americans like to say, well the Arabs/Palestinians should have said yes to the plan…but come on… if the UN said we have to give back half of the US to the Native Americans, would we? We haven't been here even as long as the Palestinians have. The Palesitians date back to Biblical times. Historically, they were there. Palestine is the same as Philistine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_people What rubs salt in the wound is that it's not just Mizrahi Jews who have Israel…it's Jews from all over the world. How would you feel if the Native AMericans which now control land and homes that have been in your family for hundreds of years (and that you were never given retribution for…or the right of return for…as the original UN mandate said)… gave these things to aboriginal people from Australia….New Zealand…wherever. The Palestinians were not responsible for the Holocaust. Perhaps if a portion of Germany had been given to create the Jewish state it would have made more sense. Oh…and this is all based on the Bible…which BTW, some say gives Israel from the Nile to the Euphrates (which bothers the other Arab countries)…. and in the Bible it also says that it is given to the decedents of Abraham. Never forget he had two sons….Ishmael and Isaac. Father of Arabs…Father of Jews. Perhaps God always intended them to share the land?

Oh one other thing to check is to see if you have a large Seventh Day Adventist community near you. When I lived in Orlando 20+ years ago, they had a wonderful co-op with great prices on organic veggies, fruits, and stuff. Granted, they're vegetarian, but still, they beat the normal health food store by leaps and bounds. :) We also have an organic fruit/veggie buying club here called Annies. They also do grass fed beef, pastured eggs, etc. Maybe you have something similar? http://www.anniesbuyingclub.com

We have memberships to both…so here is how they differ (as far as I can tell.) Costco has "organic" beef, but our Sam's carried organic feed, cage free eggs. Our Costco doesn't. Both carry some Organic fresh produce. Costco has organic frozen veggies, my Sam's does not. Both have insanely good frozen de-pitted cherries. Both (in our area) carry Organic milk, almond milk, coconut milk, etc. Both (in our area) carry kosher chickens (whole). Our Costco carries 'organic" chicken. Costco also carries Buffalo meat (ground). Costco sometimes carries (depending on area) Namaste Gluten-Free flour blend and Honeyville ground almond meal. (They carry the Honeyville on their website, but stores vary.) Both carry bulk nuts, bulk basmatic rice, bulk beans, etc. Our Costco carries almond butter and I believe sunbutter as well. I'm not sure about Sam's. I like both. Costco is more expensive, but I also know that their employees make a more "living" wage.