Israel had hoped that Jordan would not join the Arab forces against them in 1967. It was not to be; their artillery opened fire on Israel. Israeli paratroopers fought with small arms in the Old City. They were ordered to use no artilley, which could damage Holy Shrines.
Although Israeli Jews and Christians were barred from both the Wall and Church of the Holy Sepulchre for the twenty years of Jordanian rule, Israel immediately opened access to all. Administrative control of the Temple Mount, upon which sits the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque, were immediately given to the Jordanian Waqf (Islamic Trust).
The Wailing Wall is the Western Wall of the Mount, which is considered the closest and only remnant of the Second Jewish Temple, and is the holiest site in Judaism. No matter where in the world, all Jews have always prayed facing Jerusalem and the Wall.reprinted from April 2010
Yesterday's news was a juxtaposition between Allentown's hopes and it's reality. While Mayor Pawlowski and other dignitaries were attending yet another ceremony at the Arena Hole, the police department was expending numerous rounds to down a machete wielder, only a couple blocks away. Back at the Hole, one dignitary after another saw the arena as a Transformation of Allentown. If Allentown is to transform, it will be through the Reillyville Office Complex. The arena itself, silent and dormant every day, with only 120 nights of use anticipated, will make no change. The adjacent hotel, repeatedly mentioned by The Morning Call, will be another apartment house. Let us hope that the tenants don't have machetes.
I've been bothered by the shooting of Saturnino Perez De La Rosa. It's easy to dismiss him as a machete wielder, as I did earlier today. In reality, he was a father, and a man with mental problems, whose family tried to get him help this week. I'm reluctant to second guess the police who responded to a situation. I will say that for a family trying to get help for a loved one, it must be difficult to accept his death, one day later, by 13 bullets. This aspect of the story, and the picture of the man, was presented this evening by Colin McEvoy, of The Express Times.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued its final report on the PSA Airlines CRJ-200 runway overrun at Charleston, WV, in January of this year. The aircraft (registration N246PS) overran a runway at Yeager Airport (CRW), Charleston, WV, following a rejected takeoff. The NTSB report attributes the incident to the flight crew's "unprofessional behavior."
A large explosion rocked the international arrivals hall at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport (DME) earlier today, January 24, 2011. Local officials say that the blast, which was caused by a suicide bomber, killed at least 35 people and left more than 100 injured.
I listened to president Obama's State of the Union address, and believe he's right on the money to suggest that both parties need to work together to restore the middle class. But i'm just a bottom-feeding blogger. Here's what LV Congressman Matt Cartwright has to say:
I'm unhappy with the way Mike Schlossberg left his position on Allentown City Council, where he mostly served as a bobble head to Mayor Edwin Pawlowski. An opportunist, he ran for Jenn Mann's seat the second it became available, even though he had just been re-elected. Then he resigned well before he had to, leaving an undemocratic City Council full of appointees as opposed to people actually chosen by the voters. But his early legislative proposals as a State Rpresentative are impressive. 
We all know Pope Benedict is calling it a day, and will retire to doing reality TV shows on the Catholic Channel. Who will succeed him? It could be J.B. Reilly. He's already putting on all the Pope bling. The Morning Call got the ball rolling on Sunday, with a 457,000-word profile. 