Famille Du Pentium

I imagine some of my regular readers are wondering why I have not yet commented on the current violence in the Middle East.  Let me make it ubundantly clear now that this is not due to any misgivings about Israel's actions in the last three weeks.  Rather, I had hoped to see a quick resolution to the current crisis.  The only thing I can fault Israel for is not being prepared to dispense with Hezbolla terrorists more quickly. 

Today, however, Shimon Peres made public statements regarding Israel's intentions at a press conference in Manhattan.  Deputy PM Peres is now 83 years old, and was my age when he saw the creation of Israel in his own homeland (then the British Mandate of Palastine).   He has been involved in the defense of Israel since there was an Israel to defend.  He was personally appointed by the first Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion, to help defend Israel .  And today, Vice PM Peres spoke about the conditions for acheiving real peace in the middle east:

• Any solution must ensure that Hezbollah will never return 
  to the Israeli-Lebanese border;
• obtain the release of two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah guerrillas July 12;
• stop Hezbollah from shooting missiles and rockets into Israel;
• prevent the Lebanon-based militant group from rearming with missiles and rockets from Syria and Iran; and
• free Lebanon from Hezbollah's control.

He also addressed the terrible massacre that took place in Qana recently, sparking outrage from the international community:

"In war, you have a lot of mistakes. The greatest mistake is the war itself. Anyone who wants to prevent mistakes must stop the war."

As far as Israel unilaterally stopping the war, Peres points out that terrorists continue to fire 100 rockets into Israel every day.  It is inconceivable to me how Israel can be expected to just stop defending herself, in the face of continued attacks that will not stop.  Peres has this to say:

"We shall fight because we were attacked," he said. "We didn't initiate the fight, nor can we ignore it.""

Posted by Michael Humphries-Dolnick at 05:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

"I'll post my thoughts here during the week"

Well I guess I won't post my thoughts here during the week.

OSCON 2006 this year was great; but the bandwidth and connectivity seriously sucked this year.  I did not get one chance to post any of my thoughts.  But I did collect them, and eventually I will post them here.

Eventually, because now I'm packing for our family's summer trip to  PA which starts early this coming week.

Posted by Michael Humphries-Dolnick at 03:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'll be in Portland, Oregon from July 24-28 to attend O'Reilly's OSCON 2006.  This is my second year at OSCON.  It's a great networking opportunity, but also a place to meet experts and learn what they know.  I'm most interested in improving my Perl-fu but it's also interesting to learn new technologies, like Ruby on Rails and Ajax.  Then, maybe I'll drop by the Expo and see what Schwag is available.

I'll post my thoughts here during the week. 

Posted by Michael Humphries-Dolnick at 03:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell,
blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?
And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?
How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have we found? The same old fears.
Wish you were here.

-- Wish You Were Here, 1975 

Posted by Michael Humphries-Dolnick at 06:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I had an epiphany this week.  I was calculating the cost of our upcoming trip to Harrisburg and Philadelphia later this summer and it came to me.  Out of roughly $2800 in expenses, the absolute lowest cost, by far, will be gas.  Add $0.25 to the cost of gas between now and then?  About another $20.  We could be bumped out of one of our hotels, and have to stay overnight at an expensive one, and that would dwarf the cost of even a steep rise in gas prices.

So why is the media on a feeding frenzy about the impact of gas prices?

Well, there is one valid point.  Your average Joe, who can't afford to take a trip to Sesame Place, much less to his place of employment.  That's a problem.

But there's a bigger one.  Because regardless of the trip we take, and how much we pay for gas, our prices for food and goods keep going up with the prices of gas.

But we don't care.  It's summer, and I think most Americans (besides Joe of course) are just plain tired of the world right now.  We want a vacation.  Let George and Condi sweat through the summer with Iran and North Korea.  Tell us how things turn out.  We'll be in Door County if you need us. 

Posted by Michael Humphries-Dolnick at 06:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Here are a few more details of our trip, for those of you just thirsting for more info about our upcoming road trip:

 Chicago to Boardman, OH

Boardman, OH to Trevose, PA

Trevose, PA to Langhorne, PA

Trevose, PA to Harrisburg, PA

Harrisburg, PA to Independence, OH

Independence, OH to Chicago, IL

The Whole Route, more or less

Posted by Michael Humphries-Dolnick at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

OK, so as outlined in my previous post, we're going to Harrisburg for a party during the first week of August.  But that description really only scratches the surface... having successfully carried out a road trip to Disney two years ago, we're now ready to venture into the really, really aggressive roadtrips.  So here's what we're planning:

• Day 1: Leave Skokie, drive 422 miles to Boardman, Ohio.  This is just an intermediate overnight stop to break up the road trip to Harrisburg into two days.
• Day 2: Leave Boardman, Ohio and head east to Trevose, PA 364 miles away.  This is in Bucks County, PA where Sesame Place is located. 
  
• Day 3: Travel 15 minutes from Trevose, PA to Langhorne, PA and spend the day at Sesame Place.
• Day 4: Leave Trevose and head toward Harrisburg, PA some 117 miles and 2 hours away.
  
• Day 5: Spevakow Family events in Harrisburg
• Day 6: Spevakow Family events in Harrisburg
• Day 7: Check out, leave Harrisburg toward Independence, OH, 320 miles away.  Check out Cuyahoga National Park.
• Day 8: Travel from Independence, OH to Skokie, IL, 357 miles away.

Posted by Michael Humphries-Dolnick at 07:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It's been too long since I posted a blog entry, so here's a quick catch-me-up that'll explain why we're being our usual anti-social this summer.

Well, anti-social isn't the best word for it, it's more "too busy to say boo".

• Aaron's in summer camp, the "Summer Crafts  and Creations" class
• Spent 4th of July weekend "up north" with the Andersons and Kiesels
• Mike going to Portland, OR at end of July
• Family going to Harrisburg PA and Sesame Place (near Philadelphia), 1st week of August
• School starts late August
• Soccer starts early September (Mike's back to coaching)

Posted by Michael Humphries-Dolnick at 04:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)