What is this.. a Post?

Yes Larry has decided to post after a while. (and Wordpress and its Epic Fail is why I'm here.)

But the crisis in Georgia has given me a motive to post.

I have talked to people and said the future of the world was a rebirth of the pre-WWI era.

That new age has started today. If we let the Georgians die the war of the Sphere's of influences will occur.

The Level -1 Sphere of Influence of the US is now going to be challenged (and some times assisted) by some of these other Spheres of influence

Your Level 2's in China and Russia

your level 3 in Europe as the EU

Your level 4 with India, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Chile, Japan, France, U.K., and Australia

and your level 5 with countries like Cuba, Venezuala, Turkey, Egypt, and Iran

These sphere's of influence will start to spread out and form alliances and patterns of alliances in the world.

if Georgia falls because the US and the EU won't stand up it means states like Georgia will start to gather other major States with them to form alliances and divide the world.

We may not be lucky to have a new Central powers or alliance. It may be more fissures and divisions in the world.

I blame George W. Bush and Bill Clinton for this

Yeah I know I closed buisness down here

But wordpress was not letting me on for some reason. Since I got my new roomie my internet connection is whack

Why I am Not voting for John McCain Part I:

Why I am Not voting for John McCain:
Part I:
By Larry Bernard

I am first going to put a caveat out there I like to call the John Kerry-Katherine Harris clause. While I hate to say this but if Hillary proves to be as Harris and Kerry were completely out of her mind and a danger to the public good I may swallow my statement and vote against Hillary and by process of elimination electing McCain. But I first want to spell out why I am not going to vote for John McCain

I ) Your party should earn your vote, not be entitled to your vote. and the Moral Hazard problem is key to why your party doesn't have an entitlement to your vote

Moral hazard is the prospect that a party insulated from risk may behave differently from the way it would behave if it were fully exposed to the risk. Moral hazard arises because an individual or institution does not bear the full consequences of its actions, and therefore has a tendency to act less carefully than it otherwise would, leaving another party to bear some responsibility for the consequences of those actions. For example, an individual with insurance against automobile theft may be less vigilant about locking his car, because the negative consequences of automobile theft are (partially) borne by the insurance company.

When we live in a country where our national political system makes incumbents basically protected from the consequences of their actions (a few exceptions exist but it is the rule) The Moral Hazard should be an important principle we keep in mind when we vote. Is this party/Candidate giving me something to vote for or something to vote against. And if the case is the latter it should only be done in the most extreme of cases. FDR transformed the electorate by saying to African American voters (primarily in the south) "What has the republican party done for you lately."

The answer lead to a calcification of Democrat voting in the south which lead to some of the worst of the Jim Crowe years. If we vote for a party just because we will not get our interests met at best, or at worse we can be like those who suffered during segregation empowering those who oppress us. And as the Republicans in the 20s and 30s expected the Party of Lincoln to maintain those votes they did nothing to keep them and so they deserved to lose. And if we keep voting for bad outcomes we will keep getting bad results.

II ) Trust:
When you vote for a Political figure they may have a record, they may have campaign promises but we live in a Representative Republic and by handing them your small power of citizenship your saying "I trust you to, for the most part, get done what I want done in Washington/Your state capital here." Most candidates do this by establishing an Identity.In this Presidential Primary of the candidates left over Mike Huckabee established himself as "The Hip Pastor". Huck plays the base and is concerned with the kind of issues the hip young pastor at your church would be into. Mitt has (to varying degrees of success) tried to sell himself as "Turnaround CEO Mitt." Hillary Clinton established a brand and Identity for herself that just is "Hillary" and Obama has established himself as the hope of a new Generation. But none of these is as bought into as "Maverick" John McCain.

mav·er·ick (mvr-k, mvrk)
n.
1. An unbranded range animal, especially a calf that has become separated from its mother, traditionally considered the property of the first person who brands it.
2. One that refuses to abide by the dictates of or resists adherence to a group; a dissenter.
adj. Being independent in thought and action or exhibiting such independence: maverick politicians; a maverick decision

But has John McCain went against the popular culture and its beliefs or has he went against the popular culture of the Republican party and its beliefs. One shows courage because it presents potential risk, whereas the other gets you political attention. Furthermore as an incumbent republican senator the weight of the party establishment would back him just as much as it would back Lincoln Chafee and Arlen Specter. And Democrats would be disinclined to run against him because he breaks with the Republican party to support their issues. So in being Maverick John McCain until today has put forward no risk and thus he is not being independent but he is being a follower of social norms dictated by popular culture. The closest he has come to rocking the boat is in his support for the Iraq war, but he has also talked about us torturing and brutalizing people (something which the evidence on is weak or lacking) and made it part of a central critique of attacking the Bush management of the War in Iraq and the Department of Defense. So even when he broke from his going with popular opinion he did so in a way that popular opinion could support him. When people have been concerned about violent video games, John McCain was there. When people have been concerned about Steroids in Sports John McCain was there. if John McCain could get himself a piece of popular discontent he does, and he does in a way that shows a lack of political principle or guiding Ideology. So John McCain isn't what he says he is and Isn't what people think of him as.

III ) Lack of political courage.
During the run up on the McCain-Kennedy amnesty package John McCain and his proxies made derogatory comments to those who disagreed with his bill. His proxies (including proxies for the president) went so far as to call those who disagree with the John McCain Bigots and promote fear of Hispanics voting for Democrats over Republicans if we don't do this. Their are good reasons, and noble reasons to oppose the plan Senator McCain championed. but the fact Senator McCain went forward with this shows a lack of political courage that has happened throughout his career. When Soldiers and sailors needed help with Agent Orange John McCain did not take the courage of fighting for them as a member of Congress fresh out of the DoD until he knew it would pass. When running in 2000 their was a controversy over Bob Jones University, the position of political courage in that race was taken by Alan Keyes who told them their positions restricting Inter racial dating was immoral and unchristian. John McCain could have made that speech but he didn't. After losing the 2000 election and seeing his key staffers not getting Bush White house jobs according to many Democrat sources John McCain considered Jumping parties. John McCain was even talked to about joining the Democratic party ticket in 2004. John McCain stood up for the Vietnamese government against the State Department (with John Kerry) enabling them to get a free trade agreement when they were abusive of human rights. He called people Frauds and con artists for advocating that POW's still remained in Vietnam without any evidence of such wrongdoing. When people disagree with him he either shrugs from political courage or makes derogatory comments about them. John McCain has used Bob Dole's war experience to insulate Bob Dole's criticism of attacks on him from the kind of scrutiny and debate they deserve.

I want to spell out first and foremost that these reasons are non-ideological. While I don't believe John McCain fits the mold of American political Conservatism even if John McCain fit that mold and Ideology we would still have problems.He is still promoting ignoring the Moral Hazard of identifying in party over beliefs. He still isn't trustworthy because he relies on a false identity as some one who rocks the boat when he has a political career of going with the flow. Its about character and Character matters a whole lot to me now when I look at who I select for President. I could go into other aspects of his general character that while they don't fit into this rubric they are none the less concerning. John McCain rails against those who are unduly influenced by money in politics yet if you ask the Senator to name names he cannot name one. If you look at the Senators legislative pursuits and you will find a wish list from his own major donors. He married a wife which helped him further his political career and left his sick wife who stood by him during the worst of the worst.

When we look at these character flaws however we will see them manifest in his policy and his ideological breaks from the republican party

We Have Moved

The Blog is over here now

Need a new home and a new sense of direction.

Hey Singapore, Ireland, and Hong Kong

I am going to be writing a research paper on you guys... I expect in the future as I put stuff up here to see more of you guys looking at my blog

and now a moment of Zen

I get It

I get my burn out now over politics. It all makes sense to me in a way I didn't have it before. While I am feeling a burn out over school right now, I especially get now Why I am having a burn out over politics. I have since I started blogging and started going into political sims and the like (to a lesser extent paying attention to issues of media bias) Started taking a more active focus on these things. Its a combination of my feeling Burned out but it is also now more about me having seen it all before and having said it all before

Been about a month and something pushed me to blog

Last thing to make me blog was the Stupid Gay Snickers commercials.... Today is something else stupid.

Captain America is Dead...AGAIN

(Note the death referenced in Wikipedia is what happened in the storyline summary while his death was faked to get the cure)

the stupid part is bolded

Captain America killed!

Marvel comic book hero cut down by sniper

Captain America is dead. The Marvel Entertainment superhero, created in 1941 as a patriotic adversary for the Nazis, is killed off in Captain America #25, which hits the stands today.

As Captain America emerges from a courthouse building, he is struck by a sniper's bullet in the shoulder and then hit again in the stomach, blood seeping out of his star-spangled costume.

His death is sure to ignite controversy in the comic book world - still reeling from Superman's death in 1993 and resurrection the following year - and even political pundits, who may see Captain America's demise as an allegory for the United States.

"It's a hell of a time for him to go. We really need him now," said co-creator Joe Simon, 93, after being informed of his brainchild's death.

Simon and artist Jack Kirby came up with the character in 1941 as an adversary for Adolf Hitler, who was more evil than any villain the pair could dream up. Since then, the patriotic hero has appeared in an estimated 210 million copies sold in 75 countries.

Not bad for an imaginary sickly kid from the lower East Side named Steve Rogers, who volunteered to be injected with Super Soldier serum during World War II.

Part of Captain America's allure was that he had no true superpowers; the serum made him an example of a human being at his utmost potential.

He could bench-press 1,100 pounds, run a mile in about a minute and outsmart any spy.

Series writer Ed Brubaker - who grew up reading Captain America comics while his father, a naval intelligence officer, was stationed on Guantanamo Bay, Cuba - said it wasn't easy to kill off the character. The 40-year-old, however, wanted to explore what the hero meant to the country in these polarized times.

"What I found is that all the really hard-core left-wing fans want Cap to be standing out on and giving speeches on the streetcorner against the Bush administration, and all the really right-wing [fans] all want him to be over in the streets of Baghdad, punching out Saddam," Brubaker said.

Comic book deaths, however, are rarely final. Marvel's archrival, DC Comics, provoked a media frenzy when it killed off Superman in 1993, only to reanimate its prize creation a year later.

Joe Quesada, 43, Marvel Entertainment's editor in chief, said he wouldn't rule out the shield-throwing champion's eventual return. But for now, the Captain's fans are in mourning.

"I was shocked. I was not expecting it," said Gerry Gladston, co-owner of Midtown Comics in Manhattan. "I'd rather they didn't kill him - but it's going to mean great sales."

'LIFE' OF AN AMERICAN HERO

Created: March 1941

True Identity: Steve Rogers

Born: July 4, 1917

Birthplace: Lower East Side

Current Home: Red Hook, Brooklyn

Superpowers: None (Super Soldier serum makes him a "nearly perfect human being")

Weapon: His red,white and blue discus-like shield

Archenemy: Red Skull

Pop Culture Moment, Film: Easy Rider, Peter Fonda's character is nicknamed Captain America.

Pop Culture Moments, Music: The Kinks' song, Catch Me Now, I'm Falling, has this lyric: "This is Captain America calling." Guns N' Roses' Paradise City: "Captain America's been torn apart, now he's a court jester with a broken heart."

Originally published on March 7, 2007

The thing is last time... in you know the polarized 90s that stuff played out.... so how about oh I don't know a good storyline.

Captain America is part of the whole Marvel Civil War plotline I hate with firey passion. But what would have made a great story, a story consistent with Captain America is that he faked his own death and found the people who created the events that started the Civil war. That the whole thing was orchestrated to destroy the Superhuman community and have them fight each other until no one was left.

When he finds them the Patriot Captain America is comes out of hiding and lays it all out and the healing begins

You know you can get the stupid polarization angles out AND then you have a coming together

but as I have seen synopsis of the assassination story, I know nothing that well thought out is coming I hate marvel comics so much

Wow...

I've been in Blogger lethargy for a while but lets me roll something out here. What I am posting may soon be yanked from Youtube but I will have commentary later. This was so stupid it made me come out of semi-retirement

(H/T to Ace)









Ok I want to ask something.......

How does two men kissing and then having a "quick lets not act gay" moment sell candy?

can anyone explain that to me

here are some reactions from NFL players





(with Marvin Harrison enjoying these a bit to much)

More Youtube while you wait

Still have blogger lethargy so have some Youtube

And this is the first anime I watch since I learned Japanese

I do hope this hits the states

W0rd

An editorial which gets to the heart of things in Iraq

The Bush administration disputes the "civil war" moniker. And it's not a semantic argument. Just Tuesday, The New York Times reported that "the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah had been training members of the Mahdi Army, the Iraqi Shiite militias led by Moktada al-Sadr." It's not the only outside influence.


Such a proxy war is not a civil war. Neither is it unreasonable or naive to believe that sans those proxies, Iraq might not be the hellhole it now is. Nonetheless, this remains a matter for the Iraqis to settle.

And yet we want IRAN to help us stop the conflict

and here is another

Such advice is worse than wrong-headed, it is a denial of reality. Iran and Syria have one primary interest — U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and ultimately out of the entire Middle East. So much is clear from the daily pronouncements of the Terhran Mullahs, led by the Iranian strongman Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the long-standing refusal of the Baathist regime controlling Syria to stop expediting the inflow of foreign fighters to Iraq to kill Americans and foment civil unrest between Iraq’s Sunni minority and the Shiite majority. The only stability Iran seeks in Iraq is the kind made possible by the sort of puppet regime Ahmadinejad wants in Baghdad. This is why Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei told Iraq’s President Jalal Talibani yesterday that Iran will send troops if requested to do so by Iraq.

There is another crucially important denial of reality akin to the “managing defeat” syndrome. Evidence is rapidly accumulating that major Western media organizations are being had on a daily basis by the propaganda efforts of the Jihadist insurgency. A frequently appearing source in Iraq stories from AP, Reuters and other mainline news organizations is “Capt. Jemil Hussein” of the Iraqi police. Hussein was the main source in the Nov. 24 story claiming six Iraqi civilians were burned alive by insurgents outside a mosque. Hussein is one of 14 questionable sources with Middle Eastern names identified by the U.S. military in news stories from Baghdad reporting growing chaos and allegations of U.S. atrocities.

and we expect Iran and Syria to help us.

And some folks expect media accuracy

So will Bush sell out the Iraqi people?

Jim Webb.... Classy Guy

Jim Webb shows that saying every southerner has dropped the N bomb,Make Derogatory comments about Women, maligning rape victimes, advocate being for the Scot-Irish people over non Scot-Irish people, and talking about little kids penis' in the mouths was not the height of his class.

The Hill is there

At a private reception held at the White House with newly elected lawmakers shortly after the election, Bush asked Webb how his son, a Marine lance corporal serving in Iraq, was doing.

Webb responded that he really wanted to see his son brought back home, said a person who heard about the exchange from Webb.

“I didn’t ask you that, I asked how he’s doing,” Bush retorted, according to the source.

Webb confessed that he was so angered by this that he was tempted to slug the commander-in-chief, reported the source, but of course didn’t. It’s safe to say, however, that Bush and Webb won’t be taking any overseas trips together anytime soon.

Forget politics for a moment. Webb is an Ass.

Bush was being polite and showing a legitimate intrest in his son. Webb first used his son as a political prop.... Which to my mind shows a lack of class, but when Bush tries to do the right thing -again- Webb wants to hit him.

And seriously.... Its a question who was the bigger deuchbag Webb or Allen. I think Webb just made that clear to me

More Stupidity from Europe Dept.

BRITISH criminal psychologists are putting together a list of the 100 most dangerous murderers and rapists before they have committed any such crimes, The Times has reported.

Experts from London's Metropolitan Police's Homicide Prevention Unit are creating psychological profiles, compiled through statements from previous partners, information from mental health workers, and details of past complaints.

"My vision is that we know across London who the top 100 people are," Homicide Prevention Unit senior criminal psychologist Laura Richard said.

read the rest

Now I want to ask anyone out there who says that we should be more like Europe to PLEASE STFU~!
Now I want to ask anyone out there who says "O Noes Bush is the debil and stealing my civil rights..." to please STFU~!

Governments all over the world want more power.... its their thing, its why governments exist.

People need to stop government from doing stupid stuff like this

end of story

From the YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS UP Dept.

Instead, it was the on-air unveiling of an official Raiders broadcast sponsor, as noted by PBP man Papa: "The two-minute warning is brought to you by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation".

The sponsorship is a win-win for the Raiders. The club collects the advertising revenue and with the two-minute headstart, is able to keep its season ticket base largely intact.

WOW

Character matters.... really

The L. A. Slimes actually does a good job talking about why character matters when it comes to Senator John McCain

The first clue to McCain's philosophy lies in two seemingly irrelevant items of gossip: His father was a drunk, and his second wife battled addiction to pain pills. Neither would be worth mentioning except for the fact that McCain's books and speeches are shot through with the language and sentiment of 12-step recovery, especially Steps 1 (admitting the problem) and 2 (investing faith in a "Power greater than ourselves").

Like many alcoholics who haven't quite made it to Step 6 (becoming "entirely ready" to have these defects removed), McCain is disarmingly talented at admitting his narcissistic flaws. In his 2002 book "Worth the Fighting For," the senator is constantly confessing his problems of "selfishness," "immaturity," "ambition" and especially "temper," though he also makes clear that his outbreaks of anger can be justifiable and even laudable when channeled into "a cause greater than self-interest."

"A rebel without a cause is just a punk," he explains. "Whatever you're called — rebel, unorthodox, nonconformist, radical — it's all self-indulgence without a good cause to give your life meaning."

What is this higher power that ennobles McCain's crankiness? Just as it is for many soldiers, it's the belief that Americans "were meant to transform history" and that sublimating the individual in the service of that "common national cause" is the wellspring of honor and purpose. (But unlike most soldiers, McCain has been in a position to prod and even compel civilians to join his cause.)

George Bush's history of substance abuse is extremely formative on his thinking process. It lead him to his christian faith and his views on god-centered and faith-centered life. This leads him to the sense of calling he has had on National Security issues. Bill Clinton's life was formed by an alcoholic father in the analysis of Dick Morris (which I agreed with) his ability to have an almost elastic ability to be all things to all people. These are negatives which these men turned into positives. What did Senator John McCain do with a similar negative to Clintons? He surrendered himself to a higher and transformational power (the government) because of his background as a military man.

You could also say that John McCain's being in the Hanoi Hilton has also put him firmly at the alter of government power. Whereas many organizations (which he was later as a member of congress and the senate antagonistic towards) put pressure on the government to do right by folks like John McCain his mind still in that cell in Hanoi views the government as the source of his salvation.

Looking at Bill Clinton we see a similar negative trait which haunts his political destiny. Bill never served so he didn't have the spine to put boot on the ground in a war he might lose. Somalia early in his presidency assured him that his instincts are correct.

We have a man who formatively is cloaked in the tounge of the addict, and a man who still deep in his mind is formed and tested in a torture cage in vietnam. are these formative experiences a help or a hinderance to his views on the future?

"Our greatness," he wrote in "Worth the Fighting For," "depends upon our patriotism, and our patriotism is hardly encouraged when we cannot take pride in the highest public institutions." So, because steroids might be damaging the faith of young baseball fans, drug testing becomes a "transcendent issue," requiring threats of federal intervention unless pro sports leagues shape up. Hollywood's voluntary movie-rating system? A "smoke screen to provide cover for immoral and unconscionable business practices." Ultimate Fighting on Indian reservations? "Barbaric" and worthy of government pressure on cable TV companies. Negative political ads by citizen groups? They "do little to further beneficial debate and healthy political dialogue" and so must be banned for 60 days before an election if they mention a candidate by name.

and I think I will just end it as the L.A Times did... talking about my favorite Arizona political figure

Goldwater, a man who seemed to emanate from Arizona's dust, was the paragon of limited government, believing to his core that the feds shouldn't tell you how to run a business or whom you can sleep with. McCain, on the other hand, is a third-generation D.C. insider who carpetbagged his way into office, believing to his core that "national pride will not survive the people's contempt for government."

Passing the International Test?

We here a lot of folks saying we need more International support for our actions in Iraq. Well Al-Reuters shows us why that might not be such a good idea

Nov 26 (Reuters) - NATO commanders in Afghanistan say the battle against Taliban insurgents is being held back by restrictions placed by alliance nations on what their troops can do on the ground........

GEOGRAPHICAL CAVEATS - Germany, Italy, Spain and others declined calls in September by NATO to move troops based in calm areas to the violent south to help with fighting. Berlin has insisted the parliamentary mandate covering its 2,900 troops stipulates they remain in the north, apart from one-off forays.

Another example concerns troops based in districts around the capital Kabul. Alliance sources complain that some refuse to go outside their assigned patches, reducing ISAF's ability to respond to incidents on the ground.

CONSULTATIONS - Most national forces can only do certain tasks after consultation with their capitals -- a process that slows down reaction times. At least one government insists on being consulted before its troops are despatched to within one km (half a mile) of the restive border with Pakistan.

OPERATIONAL RESTRICTIONS - National contingents may refuse to carry out operations above a specified altitude because they are not properly equipped: some helicopters, for example, cannot be used above a certain height; another's troops have limits on what tasks they can perform at night; one NATO source said some south European nations unused to tough Afghan winter conditions have a caveat against fighting in snow, while others ban theirs from riot control operations.

FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS - Nations have deployed aircraft to help NATO operations but in reality keep a tight grip on how such valuable assets are used, allied sources complain. An ally may pledge to allot a given number of hours per month to ISAF operations "subject to availability"; when alliance commanders seek to draw on that resource, they are all too frequently told the aircraft are not available, runs the complaint. At least one nation will not let troops from other nations travel in its aircraft, according to another alliance source.

Now next time you hear that we are on the cusp of losing afghanistan... here is part of the problem. And when you skim through old Iraq stories I want you to ask yourself this question: How, if NATO a unified organization can't operate security in Afghanistan could a lack of organization, a coalition of the willing, do it in Iraq without common organizational backbone.

I might go dig some of the posts and news articles I saw pointing to the problems of our allies. But I think in this age our country may stand alone at the gate.... though truthfully I am not certain we won't run either

I am Thankful

Yes another irregular blog posting out of me.

I figured giving the holiday I'd put out what I am thankful about.

I am thankful for my Mother;

She and I have had difficult times in our relationship, I am thankful that since I have started going to USF and really struggling she has been there for me to the best of her ability (some times more then I thought she should have)

I am thankful for my Father;

After his marriage to his new wife a lot of things went sour between my Dad and I. But again now that I am living on my own and talking to him things have just seemed to have moved forward in my relationship with him.

I am thankful for my roomate Kevin;

If kevin hadn't moved down here going to USF would have been tougher for me and I'd probably been laboring and driving back and forth from Sarasota. It wouldn't have been good on my little car or on my pocket book.

I am thankful for Bonnie (Kevin's girlfriend);

Really while I have many loose friends up here I am thankful she is some one who has been in the closer orbit of friendship.

I am thankful for the Job I had(and will have again) at 7-11;

My first year up here my savings and student loan money got blown through real quick. The 7-11 provided me some money that slowed down that process this time. It made this year in some respects financially easier (though educationally a bit rougher)

I am thankful for Myspace (yes I said it);

I have found a whole lot of friends from my high school time on Myspace.... I am very thankful to have found and caught up with these people.

I am thankful for being in School;

I really am. As much as I just want this to be over, I am thankful that I am moving forward with my life

This is a cool Story for the Hebrews out there

The following morning I entered his chambers. He was a gentleman who greeted everyone who came to see him. He bowed to me and offered me a seat. My words poured forth, as I told him that I saw truth and meaning in his religion and that I decided to adopt it if he would accept me.

"Where are you from," he asked me.

"Israel."

He looked at me. "Are you Jewish?"

"Yes," I replied.

His reaction surprised me. His expression turned from friendly to puzzled -- with even a tinge of anger. He told me that he did not understand my decision, and that he would not permit me to carry it out.

I was stunned. What did he mean?

"All religions are an imitation of Judaism," he stated. "I am sure that when you lived in Israel, your eyes were closed. Please take the first plane back to Israel and open your eyes. Why settle for an imitation when you can have the real thing?"

His words spun around in my head the whole day. I thought to myself: I am a Jew and an Israeli, but I know nothing about my own religion. Did I have to search and wander the whole world only to be told that I was blind and that the answers I was seeking were to be found on my own doorstep?

But this story has a double down even odder element to it

"You are quite right, but in this case I am not the matchmaker," she replied simply.

"What do you mean?"

"I'll tell you. Anat came to me and showed me a piece of paper with a name in it. She asked me to introduce her to the person whose name was written there. She knew nothing at all about that person, but said that she had been given his name by someone she trusts completely... It was your name."

After the engagement party, Anat and I went for a walk.

"Tell me," I said, "how did this shidduch come about? I want to know who gave you my name, so that I can pay him."

Anat smiled. "You will have to travel to India to pay him."
Before I had a chance to react, she continued, "I haven't told you yet that at the end of my wandering, I went to the Dalai Lama. I was very impressed by him and all he embodied and I decided to join his religion. When I told him he said, 'Anat, since you are Jewish you should not settle for silver if you can have gold.' He told me to return to my roots and then in a whisper, he asked one of his assistants to bring him a piece of paper. The Dalai Lama then copied the name that was there onto another piece of paper, and handed it to me. 'This is your soul mate,' he told me.

"When I returned to Israel, I joined a religious seminary. And you know the rest. You know, at first it was because of the Dalai Lama, and only later the much stronger light of Judaism that attracted me. And only after a year had gone by did I begin to search for you. I approached many shadchanim, matchmakers, but no one was able to discover you in the various yeshivas for ba'alei teshuvah. Finally someone contacted your yeshiva, and -- I found you!

"From the very first date I knew that the Dalai Lama was right."

Read the whole story here