#Jordan :D look at my picture! who should I draw next?

[queddadraw]

[obviousartist]

So no one asked for this but here it is

this is so random gosh

@luxet​

Questions in bold

Spotify, SoundCloud, or Pandora?

Spotify ‘till the end!

Is your room messy or clean?

It would probably surprise people, but it’s so dang messy.

What color are your eyes?

Brown.

Do you like your name? Why?

I don’t know, I feel like it’s kind of overused because I know a ton of people with the same name.

What is your relationship status?

Single pringle! Although some people are trying to set me up. So far, no progress, which is fine by me.

Describe your personality in 3 words or less.

Dude, I died.

I know that’s not a real description, but I’m a HUGE pessimist, and I use that sentence too much, I should probably stop, but dude, I actually died, though.

What color hair do you have?

Brown.

What kind of car do you drive? Color?

Non car = non couleur

Where do you shop?

Where DO I shop? When was the last time I went shopping?

Edit: okay so I went shopping today. At Harris Teeter. Is this asking where I like food shop or where I clothes shop?

How would you describe your style?

Dude, I don’t have a style. I am soooooooooo style-less. I don’t know, though, because Buzzfeed (not an accurate source) always says I’m a hipster. Although, it also says I’m 50, which I can assure you, I am not.

Favorite social media account.

TUMBLRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What size bed do you have?

Twin. But I should really get a new one.

Any siblings?

One annoying as f**k brother.

If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? Why?

Great Britain. Lots of culture, and they speak English too. Or NYC. Also much culture and BROADWAY, GUYS. BROADWAY!

Favorite Snapchat filter?

Non Snapchat = non filter

Favorite makeup brand(s)

I wear makeup like twice a year, okay? IDK.

How many times a week do you shower?

Usually every day, but I only wash my hair three/four times a week.

Favorite TV show?

I mean, Ellen is great, right?

Shoe size?

You can’t laugh. It’s a 4/4.5 women’s.

How tall are you?

We are now 5’2”. I know, shorty here.

Sandals or sneakers?

Sneakers. My nails look like trash.

Do you go to the gym?

Sometimes. Not usually, though, because I do many other physical activities already, so it’s not really helpful to wear myself out if I have to dance the next day or something.

Describe your dream date.

Ok. As a forever single pringle, I don’t really know (as of now). But. I will say that a serious creative something would be actually really nice. Not like painting class. But like reading. Performances. Things like that. Even movies (although the book is probably better).

How much money do you have in your wallet at the moment?

Kid, I’m broke. Haha. #liveswithparents

What color socks are you wearing?

I am currently barefoot, as I like it.

How many pillows do you sleep with?

Two. Deux. Dos. Due. Duo.

Do you have a job? What do you do?

No job here.

How many friends do you have?

I don’t know. I have my best friends and then I have my friends and then I have my kind of friends and then I have my acquaintances. I know a lot of people. I don’t like a lot of them.

What’s the worst thing you have ever done?

I don’t know. Not for me to judge.

What’s your favorite candle scent?

Vanilla.

3 favorite boy names

Alex, Jordan, and Eden.

3 favorite girl names

Alex, Elizabeth, and Jordan. Big fan of unisex names.

Favorite actor?

I don’t knowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. Why did I start this, this is very hard?

Favorite actress?

Emma Watson. That one’s easy.

Who is your celebrity crush?

We’re still sorting that out; hold on. ONE ETERNITY LATER . . .

Favorite movie?

The Parent Trap? The Sound of Music? IDEK ok?

Do you read a lot? What’s your favorite book?

Of course I read a lot. STOP ASKING ME TO CHOOSE MY FAVORITE CHILD. THERE IS NONE.

Money or brains?

I have neither, but if I got to choose money or brains, I would definitely choose brains.

Do you have a nickname? What is it?

No nickname. I guess I’m just not that kind of person.

How many times have you been to the hospital?

I regret to say a few.

Top 10 favorite songs

You’re really in for it, guys. I’m Not Famous - AJR Me Too - Meghan Trainor Uma Thurman - Fall Out Boy Nightmare - Halsey Boy With Luv - BTS If I Can’t Have You - Shawn Mendes I Don’t Care - Ed Sheeran SOS - Avicii Summer on You - PRETTYMUCH Kiss and Make Up - Dua Lipa Summer - Calvin Harris

Others include:

Bloom - Troye Sivan

You Need To Calm Down - Taylor Swift

Do you take any medications daily?

I take vitamin D/calcium supplements. Not medication, but okay.

What is your skin type? (oily, dry, etc)

A what what a what what what? I’m guessing oily?

What is your biggest fear?

Scaredy cat here, so I’ve got a lot of fears. I fear failure and being unwanted, though.

How many kids do you want?

Two. Deux. Dos. Duo.

What’s your go to hair style?

Ponytail.

What type of house do you live in? (big, small, etc)

Medium, I guess?

Who is your role model?

Emma Watson. Misty Copeland. Our female leaders leading change in the world.

What was the last compliment you received?

Uhm. I have no idea, man. I don’t even remember when it was.

What was the last text you sent?

No texting, but I do Skype. “Look kid idk but u said bye so ur loss”

How old were you when you found out Santa wasn’t real?

I had had my suspicions. But I don’t know who it actually was, and it is driving me kind of mad. I can assume it was my parents.

What is your dream car?

Honda Civic. Very sleek, not overly expensive.

I feel so boring.

Opinion on smoking?

DON’T FREAKING DO IT! I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU SMOKE. DON’T DO IT!

Do you go to college?

One day, my friends. One day.

What is your dream job?

Photographer? Editor? I don’t even know, okay?

Would you rather live in rural areas or the suburbs?

Suburbs. You don’t have to drive really far to get somewhere, but it’s still kind of calm.

Do you take shampoo and conditioner bottles from hotels?

Yes. Always.

Do you have freckles?

Nope. Zero. Nada.

Do you smile for pictures?

Sometimes.

How many pictures do you have on your phone?

No phone, but I have a crap ton on my computer.

Have you ever peed in the woods?

Yeah. It was awful.

Do you still watch cartoons?

Non, merci.

Do you prefer chicken nuggets from Wendy’s or McDonalds?

Can I not eat either?

Favorite dipping sauce?

Soy sauce. Or sesame oil, depending on what food it is.

I’ll settle for ranch for some vegetables.

What do you wear to bed?

Sweatpants/shorts and a T-Shirt/cami.

Have you ever won a spelling bee?

No, I wish.

What are your hobbies?

I play piano and I dance. I also die, but we don’t talk about that.

Can you draw?

I’m decent, I guess. No. I’m awful.

Do you play an instrument?

Piano and viola. DON’T @ ME ABOUT PLAYING THE VIOLA.

What was the last concert you saw?

My school orchestra concert.

Tea or coffee?

Water. Orange juice. Neither.

Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts?

Starbucks.

Do you want to get married?

Oui oui.

What is your crush’s first and last initial?

Uhm. Okay. So. SD.

Are you going to change your last name when you get married?

I don’t know. Depends on their last name.

What color looks best on you?

Black/navy blue.

Do you miss anyone right now?

My mom went somewhere (not disclosing) and my friends from school because it’s summer.

Do you sleep with your door open or closed?

Shut. Always. I have a brother. And a cat.

Do you believe in ghosts?

Non.

What is your biggest pet peeve?

People chewing with their mouths open. Ew.

Jeez I have so many, we’ll just say that for now.

Last person you called?

My mom.

Favorite ice cream flavor?

Vanilla. I promise I’m not boring.

Regular Oreos or golden Oreos?

GOLDEN!!!!

Chocolate or rainbow sprinkles?

Rainbow.

What shirt are you wearing?

An old Battle of the Books T-shirt from school.

What is your phone background?

No phone, but my computer background is an image of the Slytherin common room.

Are you outgoing or shy?

I am selectively outgoing.

Do you like it when people play with your hair?

I don’t know because no one touches it.

Do you like your neighbors?

I don’t know my neighbors. There’s this family that moved in and I’ve seen like two kids. Once on the day they got here. Another time when one of them was mowing the lawn. I don’t know them.

Do you wash your face? At night? In the morning?

At night.

Have you ever been high?

Non, merci.

Have you ever been drunk?

Non, merci.

Last thing you ate?

Peaches and apples.

Favorite lyrics right now.

STOP MAKING ME CHOOSE MY FAVORITE CHILD.

But: “Shade never made anyone less gay,” Taylor Swift - You Need To Calm Down

Summer or winter?

Summer.

Day or night?

Night. It’s currently 10:48 PM over here.

Dark, milk, or white chocolate?

White chocolate all the way.

Favorite month?

August.

What is your zodiac sign?

Leo.

Who was the last person you cried in front of?

I don’t know, okay? Probably my mom, though, knowing me.

I’m so boring.

Thank you so much for reading all of the sh*t I wrote up there.

[tessatechaitea]

Black Condor #2

The Sky Pirate is definitely an incel.

I don't want to shit on incels because people who can't get laid aren't the only jerks who turn into monsters when they can't get their way. I also don't want to make it seem like not getting laid is the worst thing that can happen to a person but have you ever not gotten laid when you really, really wanted to fuck? It's the worst! Now think about not being able to get laid for thirty to forty years. Do you think you're going to give one shit about climate change?! Of course not! That's why Sky Pirate is carbon emitting all over the fucking place on the cover! Sky Pirate doesn't need Black Condor to punch him in the face; he needs him to suck his balls. On the other hand, getting laid isn't that great, I bet.

I don't know why the guy isn't coming in his pants too.

Back in 1992, we didn't have incels. We just had guys who understood they were never going to get laid so they memorized all the stats of Fiend Folio monsters no Dungeon Master would ever use, like the achaierai or the umpleby or the tween or the snyad or the twill or the tabaxi or the qullan or the mantari or the gryph. Those are actual monsters but I probably could have just made up a bunch of nonsense words and nobody would have fucking noticed. Fiend Folio had a lot of shitty monsters. You know who wouldn't know that? Somebody who was getting laid in 1992! Something else somebody getting laid in 1992 wouldn't understand? Jerking off to the caryatid column!

I had to steal this image from the Internet because I've packed away all of my D&D manuals.

We really need legalized prostitution in this country. Also, we need to remove any negative stigma for going to a prostitute. Also we need male prostitutes that are good at sex so that women don't have to hook up with random guys who are probably terrible at sex when they want to bust whatever the female version of nuts are. Inside nuts? It's got to be tough being an incel in that even if you think you might finally get the chance to get laid, you know you're going to be awful at it and probably ruin a second chance of getting laid. Because who wants to fuck a guy whose underwear looks like the aftermath of a visit from your friendly neighborhood Spider-man when you go to pull his dick out? True story (I have to preface this story that way so that people actually think it's true even though they should realize I'm an unreliable narrator): when I finally met a woman who wanted desperately to fuck me, I obviously wasn't going to be any good at sex. I had learned to jerk off quickly in the quiet moments nobody was in the house (often to the scene in Return of the Living Dead (on VHS tape) when the punk girl dances naked on the crypt). So when this lovely and accommodating woman pulled my cock out and began kissing and sucking it, I wanted to explode immediately. But I knew I couldn't do that! I had to hold out! So I held out for like ten or fifteen seconds and, in my head, I thought, "That's good enough, right?!" Then I blew my load in her face and she was all, "Whoa. Um. Hey. What the fuck?" Actually, she wanted to fuck me so badly that she didn't care that I was almost certainly going to prematurely ejaculate every time we fucked until I finally decided I wanted to spend more time replaying Ultima IV than fucking poorly. Our sex actually did get better over time (and by "our," I obviously mean "my") but that was only because I'd come in her almost immediately and then, through pure will force rivaling that of Hal Jordan himself, I would just get hard again while trying not to let my flaccid member slip out of her. Luckily she could orgasm through penetration only because just imagine how bad I was at oral sex too! Um, that wasn't really a true story! I just have a great imagination! But then, you knew that because of all the times I mentioned being a virgin. Which was totally a lie too! I've been laid lots! And I was always great at it. Black Condor's grandfather can't get over his grandson not wanting to be a part of his old man secret society so he's sending an army of "shock troopers" out to capture him.

Has nobody told him about airplanes?

I can't stop staring at the look of pure joy on the woman's face in the panel where Black Condor is rescuing the campers. I'm actually fucking jealous of a fictional character in a drawing because how the fuck does she get to be so fucking happy?! Nearly the entire first half of this issue is dedicated to the origin of The Sky Pirate. My guess that he's an incel wasn't too far off the mark. He was a nerdy college kid working in hypersonic flight who desperately wanted to be part of the free love movement. He was eventually let in on the condition that he do all the work and earn them all the money, like how Brian was only allowed to be part of The Breakfast Club if he wrote everybody else's essays while they all hooked up. In the end, he made them all rich while he was a fugitive from the government. They did the thing all of the fucking asshole Boomers did: they gave up their ideals and convictions for wealth beyond measure at the expense of everybody else. So, twenty years later, he's returned to destroy them.

So this guy's a hero! Why is Black Condor trying to stop him on the cover?!

Black Condor is a good guy so I bet he winds up teaming up with Sky Pirate after the initial Marvel misunderstanding. I'm almost positive he does because I purchased the third issue and there's no way I would have kept reading this series if my president The Sky Pirate was beaten and tossed in jail. Even as a randy twenty-one year old spending nearly every night of the week pretending I was a grey elf named Paladine Greystoke, I was completely sympathetic to the underdogs of our fucked up capitalist society. Sky Pirate plans on stealing as much money from The Merry Men (what the asshole Boomers called themselves because they're so unimaginative they had to steal Kesey's groups' name) as he can. But to do so, he needs to use his hypersonic weapons. Black Condor's new senses are so powerful that every time Sky Pirate uses one of his gadgets, Black Condor is overwhelmed by pain. That must be why he needs to beat the shit out of Sky Pirate. It's less about justice and more about getting him to shut the fuck up. I get it! I once had a neighbor who hung up industrial sized wind chimes outside my bedroom window. And every time I snuck over to take them down, the assholes would just put them back up. They're lucky I didn't go Black Condor all over their asses and swoop in with a flurry of uppercuts! Instead I just cut out off the clapper and made the chimes impotent. Black Condor shows up and asks Sky Pirate what he's doing. Sky Pirate is all, "Fuck you. I don't have to answer to you, you nipple exposing weirdo!" And then he flies off. But Black Condor won't let it drop, albeit reluctantly! He flies after him because he's a nosy jerk. Can't he just let it drop? The noise only happened the one time. I get how terrible noises can be; I'm pretty sensitive to a lot of sounds myself (fuck every guy with an acoustic guitar, by the way). But maybe wait to see if it happens again before really confronting this guy. Also, I'm sure he has a reason for blowing a hole in a building! He told Black Condor it was personal business and it's not like Black Condor has been deputized by anybody except maybe Park Ranger Ned. I'm totally on Sky Pirate's side right now! Judging by the cover of Issue #3, Sky Pirate is going to blast Black Condor with more hypersonics and Black Condor is going to plunge into the river in a scary cliffhanger where the reader thinks Black Condor may have drowned.

Okay, I'm torn. I like Sky Pirates revenge on capitalistic Boomer shitheads. But I also empathize with Black Conder's sensitivity to noise!

Since this issue is definitely going to end how I predicted since, as I said, I'm looking at the cover of Issue #3 right now where Black Condor is emerging from the river, I bet Issue #3 sees Sky Pirate and Black Condor quickly finding common ground and working together to defeat the Merry Men. Also, I hope Sky Pirate becomes an occasional Black Condor teammate. Maybe he'll take up residence with Ned and Eileen in the Pine Barrens! And then the issue ends with Black Condor plummeting into the river. But it also ends with possibly my favorite "Next Issue Blurb" of all time!

No wonder I bought issue #3! I had to see if the sun imploded! Spoiler alert: it didn't.

Black Condor #2 Rating: A-! Holy shit! A comic book with a better than average passing grade! I must really be feeling charitable seeing as how it's my 48th birthday. Yes, that's right, assholes. I'm fucking old! But I'm still cool, right? And totally sexually active, like a mythic beast! Oh, before I go, here's the back cover because, yeesh. Put on some make-up, dudes.

I loved my Grandmother with all my heart. She was possibly the most perfect human being to ever walk this planet. She was Catholic but I'm fairly certain she practiced birth control based on the differences in age of her two (only two!) children. Her wedding picture was of her in a beautiful non-wedding dress and my grandfather in a suit standing on some spiral steps at the courthouse (not a church! She also had a church wedding photograph but mostly due to the pressure of social politics and religion (I like to believe, anyway!)). She distanced herself from the Catholic church because of the way church members treated and talked terribly about Jewish people. She was the greatest. But the only time she ever disappointed me was when Gene Simmons was on Donahue and she said, "My, that's a handsome man!"

[the-record-columns]

May 1, 2019: Columns

Children and food revisited...

By KEN WELBORN

Record Publisher

This past weekend, as you all know, was MerleFest time.

Well, for me, the very best part of the weekend was getting to see and visit with my children — my daughter, Jordan, son, Sam, his wife, Mary Ellen, their daughter, Carter Grace, and my youngest daughter, Cary — who have always enjoyed the event. I make sure to adjust my schedule so I can be with them as much as possible.

I especially enjoy any time we can have a meal together.

One of those meals was last Sunday’s lunch with Cary, and her boyfriend, John McLean, who were both in from Wilmington. For whatever reason, I didn’t have a huge appetite, and there was some food left on my plate.

This being unusual for me, Cary made a comment about it, to which I replied, “…but I ate all the money stuff.”

Cary smiled, remembering that expression from childhood and reminded me of a story.

Some time ago I wrote a piece about children and restaurants, and, for lack of a better way to put it, wasting food.

One part concerned trips I used to take to Myrtle Beach with my children and our favorite eatery called Steer's, where the feature was a 50-foot all you can eat food bar. My admonition to the kids was to stick to the last four feet of the bar where the crab legs and shrimp resided, reminding them in no uncertain terms that I could find Jell-O and macaroni and cheese at home—for far less than $20 a head (and this was years ago).

I would also mention to them how many times my daddy, The Preacher reminded me to not “...let your eyes get bigger than your stomach,” when I was a kid, because I would surely clean my plate before leaving the table.

Well, that column must have been read by many folks with kids, because it sure seemed to resonate with many—all with their own story. Several people saw me out to eat and asked me if I had eaten all the “money stuff” on my plate, a reference to my way of making sure if something got left on the plate, at least it wasn't the steak or shrimp or—well, you get the idea.

Another thing that reminded me a bit of myself was told to me by several parents who said they would make it clear to their children they were at the beach with sand and surf, and that the hotel's swimming pool was virtually off limits.

One guy said he told them “There is a swimming pool at the YMCA and the Country Club and several other places at home. No ocean, however.”

I always loved any opportunity to play in the sand and hauled enough shovels and hoes to the coast to build a sand castle realtors would envy. As the day wound down, we would all often stand on the balcony and watch the inevitable destruction of our work by the tide, vowing to beat it the next day.

In general it was a fun column to write and a fun one to talk about. My favorite conversation was on a Saturday at what was then Woodhaven Restaurant on D Street in North Wilkesboro. There was a couple there I would see virtually every Saturday morning, and, when I sat down we began to talk about the column.

The lady spoke about babysitting her grandchildren and how their eyes sometimes did get bigger than their stomach, but, being a grandma, I got the feeling she was pretty easy on them. I got particularly amused when she said she sat down to eat with them and one of the boys wouldn't eat a bite—claiming he had a blister in his lip. I told her that kid should be glad he was with grandma; if my Pa had been there, the blister might have been on my bottom.

But the most memorable story came from her husband. We had talked back and forth about everything from our parents dealing with hard times, to children just being children. As our conversation was ending, he told how his own mother dealt with the not cleaning ones plate issue. His mother cooked on a wood stove and, like most women of her day, was a wonderful cook. A kid being a kid, however, sometimes he didn't want to eat everything he had put on his plate.

This was apparently no big deal to his mother—she would take his plate without a word, carefully placing it in the warming closet atop the wood stove—and faithfully bring it back out at the next meal. That's right, he finished that meal before he got the next one.

Way to go, momma!

Another wonderful lesson learned.

O (possum), baby!

By HEATHER DEAN

Record Reporter

They say everything happens for a reason.

There have been times we read about extraordinary events happened, and people being spared injury, or worse, because they couldn’t find their car keys or overslept etcetera, which made them late, and in turn they avoided being involved in an accident.

Well, I’ve never been in that situation that I know of — at least, I’ve never been spared the diatribe of a less than happy boss at my tardiness. But I digress.

During MerleFest, I help run the VFW Post 1142 campground office. Saturday night I was to attend a birthday party of a friend after my shift was over at 8 p.m. I left later than expected, since the Saturday night dance at the Post was well underway, and I was still selling ice and taking pictures of dancers to put in this weeks edition of The Record. I made promises to Commander Blackburn and Christy Sherwood — who was gracious enough to work the raffle table while her husband drove the shuttle bus — that I would be back to take pictures of the raffle drawing winner at 10 p.m.

Well, about 20 minutes later, after missing the exit I was to turn on, then traversing down a back road because I was miffed at myself for missing said exit and was just too stubborn to get back on the highway, I found myself in the middle of the road, after dark, with two baby opossums, tails wrapped around my fingers, and heading down into a drainage ditch to find another that I could hear crying, but couldn’t see. I know what you’re thinking. ���Heather! Really??”

Really.

So what had happened was….

I saw an opossum coming into the road from the field, and just knew the car in front of me was going to hit it. In fact, they swerved to hit it on purpose. I was far enough behind them to see the atrocity, and then panic when I saw the asphalt come alive. Or at least it seemed to. There were babies all over the place. I put on my flashers, stopped the car and started scooping up babies by the tail. Sadly, three of them were killed on impact with the mother. One was in the middle of the road, one was going back into the field, and one had rolled into the steep ditch on the other side of the road.

No, I don’t have any idea how to raise baby opossums. No, I didn’t stop to think about calling the vet first, and no, I was not thinking about how I was going to transport them in my car. After all, babies in the road is an emergency, I can deal with the rest later.

As it happened, I had my VFW Campground tote bag in the passengers seat, and with thee baby opossums now in hand, I slung the contents out in a frenzy (I still can’t find my favorite ChapStick) and gently deposited the babes into it.

I walked into the party with the bag clutched at my side, hoping someone would give me a pointer how to keep them alive until the morning.

I sent messages to vet techs, and made a Facebook post. Almost immediately my friends came to my rescue on social media.

As it happens, the birthday boy and his wife knew a lady who was involved with those who recue opossums. They called and she was there within the hour.  And I was glad to recognize her too, because I wasn’t just letting this precious cargo go home with just anyone. Besides, they had gotten cozy in the tote bag that I now had tucked under my shirt to keep the wee marsupials warm. Meanwhile, I had texted Christy and told her of the situation, and asked if she would be kind enough to take pictures of the raffle winners, as I was otherwise engaged.

I got sad looking at their sweet little faces, wondering what would have happened if I hadn’t been there when I was. And even sadder still, knowing that they are so misunderstood that people want to run over them on purpose. They eat ticks, which carry Lyme disease, so that makes them keepers in my book.

Here are some links to read about these amazing- and smart- animals.

www.littlethings.com/possum-facts/

www.caryinstitute.org/discover-ecology/podcasts/why-you-should-brake-opossums

https://www.care2.com/greenliving/10-reasons-to-love-opossums.html

Trading territory for terror

By EARL COX

Special to The Record

In the United States the term “settlement” generally refers to an agreement, an arrangement, a resolution or an understanding of one sort or another.  In Israel, the word “settlement” means something quite different and is a hot button for those who are anti-Israel.  

By definition, “settlements” are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens who are mostly Jewish. When the liberal, anti-Israel media presents a story about one of these areas, they intentionally create the image of a “settlement” as being an illegal encampment on land owned by the Palestinians.  This causes the uninformed to believe that Israel stole land belonging to the Palestinians.  Now let’s look at the true facts in a nutshell.

An excerpt from The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel says, “The land of Israel is the birthplace of the Jewish people.  Here their spiritual, religious and political identity were shaped, and it was here where they created cultural values of national and universal significance and gave to the world the eternal Book of Books.” 

Throughout the Diaspora (Jewish exile from the land of Israel), Jews maintained physical, cultural and religious ties to the land.  They kept their faith and never ceased to pray and hope for their return to their national homeland which was deeded to them by God Himself. Following the horrors of World War II and Hitler’s concentration camps where millions of Jews were tortured and murdered, the problem of Jewish homelessness became a matter of urgency. On November 29, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution calling for the establishment of a Jewish state in the land of Israel and proclaimed it irrevocable.   

On the very day Israel became a nation on May 14, 1948, this tiny, fledgling country with no organized army and very few weapons was attacked by five surrounding and well-armed Arab nations.  The fighting continued into 1949.  Although at a great disadvantage, Israel was not defeated.  Armistice lines were drawn up between Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, Transjordan and Syria. These armistice lines held up until 1967 when Israel was again attacked by Egypt, Jordan and Syria.  The outcome of this war significantly changed the map of most of the Middle East and served as the catalyst for the geopolitical issues which we read about almost every day.  Israel’s attackers had well-trained armies and ample stockpiles of munitions and hardware.  During this fighting which became known as the Six Day War, Israel learned that Egypt was planning a major air offensive.  The IDF (Israel Defense Force) launched a preemptive air strike which crushed the air forces of Egypt and her allies.  Israel then launched a successful ground operation which resulted in the capture of the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, the Golan Heights from Syria and the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza strip from Egypt.

In a war Israel fought in self-defense which resulted in the capture of land from her hostile Arab neighbors, Israel began to rightfully and lawfully establish villages, towns and cities.  These communities are located in the areas many of us know as Judea and Samaria or the West Bank and Gaza strip.  But Israelis are not newcomers to this land.  For thousands of years Jewish “settlements” and communities have flourished in these areas.  The Jews made the deserts bloom.  

Today the world is pointing an accusing finger at Israel claiming that the “settlements” are illegal.  Legal opinion states that a country acting in self-defense may seize and occupy territory when necessary to protect itself and its citizens.  Should the occupying power elect to withdraw, it has every right to require assurance that it will not be harassed or attacked again from that territory.  

Time and time again Israel has held out the olive branch to the Palestinians and her other Arab neighbors only to have it rejected and trampled upon.  Israel has a right to defensible borders, and this is why the issue of “settlements” is so important.  In 2005 Israel’s then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon unilaterally withdrew from Gaza hoping for peace, but peace never came. What Israel received, and continues to receive, from Hamas and the Palestinians in Gaza, is more rocket attacks and more terrorism.  In other words, Israel traded territory for terror.  By Israel giving up Gaza, terrorists did not stop terrorizing they only moved their bases of operation closer to Israel’s population centers.

Soon the people of North Carolina will have an opportunity to hear personally from the mayor of Ma’ale Adumim which is a suburb of Israel’s capital, Jerusalem. This beautiful and peaceful city is located less than three miles from Jerusalem’s city limits.  Ma’ale Adumim was established in 1975 by 23 families on a hilltop 1500 feet above sea level overlooking the Judean Desert. Today this “settlement” is a thriving municipality and the largest Jewish city within the “territories.” Ma’ale Adumim is vital to Israel’s security and is a place where Jews and Palestinians work side by side in peace and harmony.