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January 5, 2018

Fatah Central Committee Member: PA Will Continue to Fund Terrorists

A Fatah Central Committee member reiterated on Thursday that the Palestinian Authority (PA) will continue its policy of funding terrorists despite President Trump’s threat to end funding to the PA.

The committee member, Azzam Al-Ahmad, said the following:

Al-Ahmad’s declaration comes after Trump tweeted on Tuesday that he would end funding to the PA if they refused to engage in the peace process:

According to Palestinian Media Watch, Al-Ahmad has served on the Fatah Central Committee since 2009. Back in October, Al-Ahmad called the Balfour Declaration “a historical mistake.”

“The Palestinian people, which is standing firm in the occupied homeland and outside of it, expects you to stand alongside it in its ongoing struggle – since the Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration) from British Foreign Secretary [Arthur Balfour] 100 years ago – for its freedom and the achievement of its national rights like the rest of the peoples of the world,” said Al-Ahmad. “We hope that Britain will correct its historical mistake against our people.”

Al-Ahmad has also called for violence against Israel in October.

“It is the Palestinian people’s right to wage the struggle against the occupation using all the methods, but there should be a consensus on its form,” said Al-Ahmad. “We have not eliminated any method from our considerations, nor from our principles since the [Fatah] Launch [in 1965] until today: Popular resistance, armed struggle, and negotiations. If violence breaks out again, Israel will be responsible for it.”

The PA paid terrorists and their families $355 million, providing a major financial incentive for Palestinians to commit acts of violence against Jews. At the beginning of December, the House of Representatives passed the Taylor Force Act, which states that funding to the PA will end if they continue to fund terrorists. The White House has signaled that the president will sign the legislation if it reaches his desk.

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Deputy DNC Chair Donor Called for the Bombing of Israelis

A new report from the Washington Free Beacon highlights the virulent anti-Israel statements made by a donor to Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), the deputy chair to the Democratic National Committee (DNC), which included advocating for the bombing of Israelis.

The donor, American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) associate director of outreach and grassroots organizing Taher Herzallah, declared at a 2014 AMP conference, “Israelis have to be bombed, they are a threat to the legitimacy of Palestine, and it is wrong to maintain the State of Israel. It is an illegitimate creation born from colonialism and racism.”

Here are some other statements given by Herzallah against Israel, as compiled by the Free Beacon and Canary Mission:

· “What if as Muslims we wanted to establish an Islamic State? What if as Muslims we wanted to use violent means to resist occupation? Is that wrong?”

· “Israel and ISIS causing massive refugee crisis in Arab world #JSIL #JSILisISIL”

· “We cannot envisage a future, a beautiful bright future for the Palestinian people as long as Zionism exists… the only language that the state of Israel understands is that of resistance.”

· “Many of us do not limit our discourse on a future Palestine based on the 1967 lines. Many of us are still talking about to this day, I fully free Palestine. A free historic Palestine.”

Herzallah has also been active in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and was convicted for disrupting Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren’s speech at UC Irvine in 2010.

According to the Free Beacon, documents show that Herzallah gave $2,500 to Ellison in March 2017.

Ellison has been previously criticized for his involvement in Louis Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam as well as being one of the few congressmen to vote against funding for Israel’s Iron Dome. Longtime liberal Democrat Alan Dershowitz threatened to leave the Democrat Party in February if the DNC elected Ellison as their chairman.

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A Moment in Time: Reaching for the Fruit in the Garden of Eden

Dear all,

A piece of fruit in hand. A slot machine behind me.

Was I Zach in Vegas or Adam in the Garden of Eden?

In the Torah, God commanded Adam, “The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil – you shall not eat from it.” (Genesis Chapter 2). I thought of this as I ate my fruit. Had I been warned in a similar way, “Do not go near those machines?” (Mom, Chapter 1).

It really made me think.

Human instinct compels our desire to reach beyond boundaries:

When a baby crawls.
When an adolescent defies.
When a young adult dreams.
When an entrepreneur invents.
When a grandparent ignores a parent’s rule and gives us cake for dinner….

Each day, opportunities will confront us, embrace us, and challenge us, enlighten us. It’s our right to feed that desire.

But human wisdom is understanding we have a responsibility to accept the consequences that come with it.

So chase after the moment in time to exceed boundaries. But make sure you also have the presence of soul to recognize the moment in time when you have gone too far. And spend your life finding the balance!

(And for bonus points – respond to this email with a one word answer: What kind of fruit did Adam and Eve eat in the Garden of Eden?)

With love and Shalom,

Rabbi Zach Shapiro

 

A change in perspective can shift the focus of our day – and even our lives.  We have an opportunity to harness “a moment in time,” allowing our souls to be both grounded and lifted.  This blog shows how the simplest of daily experiences can become the most meaningful of life’s blessings.  All it takes is a moment in time.
Rabbi Zach Shapiro is the Spiritual Leader of Temple Akiba, a Reform Jewish Congregation in Culver City, CA.  He earned his B.A. in Spanish from Colby College in 1992, and his M.A.H.L. from HUC-JIR in 1996.  He was ordained from HUC-JIR – Cincinnati, in 1997. www.rabbizachshapiro.com

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We Said Go Travel is read in 222 countries

Who is read in 222 countries? We Said Go Travel! Dec 2017 News

December 2017 NEWS: WSGT is GLOBAL!

We Said GO Travel is read in 222 countries

 

 

We Said Go Travel has been read in 222 countries this year since January 1, 2017 as reported by Google Analytics. Please see the full list of locations at the bottom.

Lisa Niver is a Travel ExpertThank you for all of your support! It has been an exciting year with my first travel segment on KTLA TV and being the Adventure Correspondent for The Jet Set TV. I have published many articles on fantastic publications like Smithsonian, Saturday Evening Post, Delta Sky Magazine, Luxury Magazine, Sierra Club Magazine, POPSUGAR, Trivago, Ski Utah and I am in progress on two exciting articles for two major publications I have not written for before! Find all the article links on my LisaNiver website!

My social media following is now over 80,000 and I am verified on both Twitter and Facebook. My travel videos have been viewed over 1.5 million times!

In 2017, I was accepted to be part of Bixel Exchange Startup LAunch. I am learning from my new mentors and advisors as well as all the other tech entrepreneurs. Thank you to Travel Massive and Digital Nomad Mastery for the recent interviews.

I completed my project of doing 50 new and adventurous things before I turned 50. Thank you for all of your great ideas and suggestions. See my videos below for many of the challenges I undertook!

Lisa Niver is an artistThank you for your interest in my art! I was part of the Holiday Show at the Clayhouse in Santa Monica. My ceramics has its own Instagram and Facebook page.

My recently published video about the National Ability Center is one of my favorite projects. I was able to write about the ski lessons for Ski Utah, Sierra Magazine and USA Today 10best.

WHERE CAN YOU FIND MY 762 TRAVEL VIDEOS?

Here are links to my video channels on YouTubeAmazon Fire Tv, and Roku Player. I hope you enjoy my “This is What it is Like” Episodes! I now have 762 videos, 671,516 views, 1526 subscribers on YouTube AND my total video views across all platforms is now over 1,527,028+ (1.5M)! ! Thank you for your support!

Recent videos:

Ski Utah Making Magic On The MountainVideo #755: Sky Diving for my birthday with GoJump Oceanside!

Video #759: Will You Love the Kia Stinger?

Watch me in SPANISH! Kia Stinger 2018 – los periodistas opinan

Video #762: How Do You Create Freedom On The Mountain?

TRAVEL WRITING AWARD: 

Thank you to everyone who has participated in our We Said Go Travel Competitions! Find the winners for the 2017 Inspiration Award here. The entries from the 2017 Summer Independence Award have been published and the winners have been announced.  We hope you will participate in our 2018 Writing Awards.

TRAVEL PHOTO AWARD:

Our first ever Travel Photo Award is now closed! Thank you to our judges, Gary Arndt from Everything Everywhere and Jeana from Surf and Sunshine. We hope you will submit a photo in our next award. We will begin sharing the entries in 2018.

Want to make your own video? Use code WESAIDGO10 for 10% on your project. Lisa loves working with EpicMakers and they were a sponsor for our first Travel Photo Award.

My fortune cookies said “Make Happiness Happen.” and “A bold and dashing adventure is in your future.  I hope that your Holiday celebrations brought you gratitude and gifts that help you make your dreams come true!

Thank you for your support. Lisa

Thank you for your ongoing support of both We Said Go Travel and me! I was so honored to share about Napa Valley for KTLA TV in Los Angeles. Did you see my segment? CLICK HERE to watch it now!

Discover more on my social media accounts:  InstagramFacebookTwitterPinterestYouTube, and at LisaNiver.com

 

Where is We Said Go Travel read? Since January 1, 2017, in these 222 countries as reported by Google Analytics:

Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
American Samoa
Andorra
Angola
Anguilla
Antigua & Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Aruba
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Bermuda
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
British Virgin Islands
Brunei
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Cape Verde
Caribbean Netherlands
Cayman Islands
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Colombia
Congo – Brazzaville
Congo – Kinshasa
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Côte d’Ivoire
Croatia
Cuba
Curaçao
Curaçao
Cyprus
Czechia
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Ethiopia
Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)
Fiji
Finland
France
French Guiana
French Polynesia
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Gibraltar
Greece
Greenland
Grenada
Guam
Guatemala
Guernsey
Guinea
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jersey
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Kosovo
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macau
Macedonia (FYROM)
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Malta
Marshall Islands
Martinique
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mayotte
Mexico
Micronesia
Moldova
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar (Burma)
Namibia
Nepal
Netherlands
New Caledonia
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Norfolk Island
Northern Mariana Islands
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
Palestine
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Qatar
Réunion
Romania
Russia
Rwanda
Samoa
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Sint Maarten
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
South Korea
South Sudan
Spain
Sri Lanka
St. Barthélemy
St. Helena
St. Kitts & Nevis
St. Lucia
St. Martin
St. Vincent & Grenadines
Sudan
Suriname
Svalbard & Jan Mayen
Swaziland
Sweden
Switzerland
Syria
Taiwan
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Timor-Leste
Togo
Tonga
Trinidad & Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Turks & Caicos Islands
U.S. Virgin Islands
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United States
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe

Where to Wander? Watch Lisa Niver on KTLA 5

Find out more about Lisa Niver at We Said Go Travel!

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Bless This in Moderation - A Poem for Haftarah Shemot by Rick Lupert

Bless This in Moderation – A Poem for Haftarah Shemot by Rick Lupert

For a people whose rituals
invariably revolve around the
consumption of wine

Isaiah surely takes us to task
for drinking too much of it.
We end up in a

valley of fatness, crushed
by wine. We err because of wine.
We stray because of wine.

We become corrupt
because of wine. But look ahead
to Passover, or Purim

or any Shabbat and
we’re not doing it correct if
wine is not involved.

Our sweet and sickly wine
snubbed by anyone who knows
better about wine

our forever ritual punishment
for the too strong liquid which
sent our fore-tribes

before the quill of Isaiah,
the ultimate scolder. The
constant reminder of

who’s in charge.
The man who could use a
good cup of wine.

Use the nice glasses.
We’re taking the grapes back.
The fruit of the vine…


God Wrestler: a poem for every Torah Portion by Rick LupertLos Angeles poet Rick Lupert created the Poetry Super Highway (an online publication and resource for poets), and hosted the Cobalt Cafe weekly poetry reading for almost 21 years. He’s authored 21 collections of poetry, including “God Wrestler: A Poem for Every Torah Portion“, “I’m a Jew, Are You” (Jewish themed poems) and “Feeding Holy Cats” (Poetry written while a staff member on the first Birthright Israel trip), and most recently “Donut Famine” (Rothco Press, December 2016) and edited the anthologies “A Poet’s Siddur: Shabbat Evening“,  “Ekphrastia Gone Wild”, “A Poet’s Haggadah”, and “The Night Goes on All Night.” He writes the daily web comic “Cat and Banana” with fellow Los Angeles poet Brendan Constantine. He’s widely published and reads his poetry wherever they let him.

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Torah Talk: Parashat Shemot with Rabbi Sharon Sobel

Rabbi Sharon L. Sobel is the rabbi of Temple Beth Am in Framingham, Massachusetts. Her career has extended from leading congregations to leading national organizations. She served as Executive Director of the Union for Reform Judaism’s Canadian Council for Reform Judaism and ARZA Canada for over 9 years. Later, as Judaic Consultant for the York Region of the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, Rabbi Sobel was responsible for developing and enhancing spiritual life in the York region, the fastest growing Jewish population in all of North America.

This week’s Torah Portion – Parashat Shemot (Exodus 1:1-6:1) – features the beginning of the epic story of Moses and the exodus from Egypt. The portion features a description of the oppression of the people of Israel by Pharaoh, the birth of Moses, his flee to Midian and Moses’ return to Egypt. The burning bush is the focus of our conversation.

 

 

On this parsha we also had  Torah Talks with:

Rabbi Amy Eilberg

Rabbi Nina Mandel

Rabbi Sybil Sheridan

Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin

 

 

 

 

 

 

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How David Michigan Turned his Passion for Fitness Into a Social Media Magnet

Very few people can crack the code of life, and David Michigan is one of them, boasting more than 4 million followers combined on his social media accounts like Instagram. This guy has truly taken success to a whole new level.

This is not to say that David Michigan, worldwide actor, gained his fame by simply participating on social media platforms because Michigan earned this fame a little differently.

The Power of Motivation

 

Michigan has always been a believer in people. Perhaps this is the reason his passion for fitness translated so easily into his conversations. These pep talks started as nothing more than that but soon gave way to speeches that he has shared with thousands of people.

This social media giant started talking about his own experience as a fitness enthusiast. Most professional speakers would admit that the best way to talk to others is to draw from personal experience. Michigan has always loved fitness and embraced all steps that could lead one to his or her personal fitness goals. He understood that it was the power of four basic techniques that allowed him to reach his own fitness goals, which is part of the reason this motivator wanted to teach others.

The basic techniques include visualization, relaxation, affirmation, and modeling. At first, this was something he used for himself, but it did not take long for Michigan to realize that people could benefit from his wisdom. Some of the posted images on Instagram shine a light on these techniques, which is probably why many have flocked to his social media page.

His Teachings are Infectious

 

The four pillars of Michigan’s teachings mentioned earlier are a big reason many have found the motivation needed to reach their fitness goals. People love that and share his posts all the time.

It should be noted that Michigan does not only focus on his techniques because he also shares his knowledge on nutrition, which is a big part of any fitness plan. Many people are now aware of how important nutrition is to health, so they are open to this motivator’s dietary suggestions, but he takes it a bit further.

This Instagram fitness enthusiast not only tells his fans what is good about nutrition but shows them its power through various photographs. Many can see that Michigan’s own physique is quite impressive. He shows his positive attitude through his social media interaction, proving that food can lift the spirits. Many stories shared on social media platforms detail how active he is, proving that nutrition can give people that extra boost of energy to do the things they’ve always wanted to do.

The techniques that Michigan teachers through seminars and media platforms start with the listener’s goal. A person attempting to reach a fitness goal has to commit that goal to memory, which does not seem like a significant step, but it is. The next thing this enthusiast insists on is relaxing. Making sure that those hoping to reach their fitness goals starts with a clear mind, which helps nurture patience and perseverance.

Michigan instructs his followers to relax with their eyes shut, which leads to a form of deep relaxation. This type of relaxation puts people in a state that leaves the mind open to Michigan’s favorite step: affirmation.

Here, the person is meant to repeat that fitness goal that seems so distant, and it needs to be repeated a number of times. This is a form of self-hypnosis, and it allows the trainees to truly commit to their fitness goals on a subconscious level. Michigan is a big believer in the power of the mind, evident all over his social media accounts.

Waking from this self-hypnosis session is as easy as counting from one to five slowly while taking deep breaths. The exercise needs to be done once a day in order to be as effective as it can be.

There is no doubt that Michigan’s motivational speeches and his passion for fitness have gotten him far in the social media world, but his fame has reached beyond the Internet. For example, he probably would not be the worldwide model and actor he is now if it was not for some of his theories on people’s innate power to reach their fitness goals.

To add to his success, he was interviewed by Muscle & Fitness and Men’s Fitness. Michigan has also been given the opportunity to be a special guest at Miss Tattoo France and Miss Tattoo World. Both of these are prestigious events that are quite excited to have Michigan’s help to promote positive body image and acceptance. It is easy to see why Instagram’s users have found Michigan’s page and character irresistible.

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