Firstly Happy New years. I hope and pray that in this year will bring you blessings and fullfillment. Recently I have been reading about the conflict between Israel and Hamas. I don't feel that I know enough about the issues to develop an educated opinion all though my sentiments are favoring the retaliatory actions of Jacob's lot. That being said what ever I believe to be justified military actions- at my gut I wish all this violence and crap would end. enough is enough. The middle east conflict reminds me of the Bill Murray movie "Groundhog Day". In the movie Murray's character, whose life is self centered, pleasuring seeking and lonely, finds that he has to relive the same day over and over again. He is aware of this looped existence but the people in his life and surroundings are not. At first he attempts to manipulate the situation to fulfill his corrupt desires but Soon he falls in love with a women who rejects his advances. This goes on day after day. He wakes up to the same day and his old tricks of deception and manipulation continually fail him in gaining the love of this woman. Finally he tells her of his problem and she suggests that he uses the knowledge about people learned from reliving the same day to improve their and his lives. In short- he takes her advice, help improve other's lives and he gains her love which ends the cycle. I, as probably many of you, can relate to the frustrating experience of trying the same old thing and getting the same results. I once heard insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Fortunately for most of us our personal moments of insanity don't result in the death of 400 some odd people. (as in the recent Hamas/Israel conflict) This belief that all we have to do is kill more people and sooner or later our enemies will break and we will have peace is more than insane. I'm unaware of a single word fit to adequately describe its horribleness. Israel and Palestine and the Western and Arabic World are caught in an awful Groundhog day loop. It is my opinion that the fuel for of this destructive burning cycle is the vast unequal distribution of economic resources which causes poverty. People born in poverty are hopeless, vulnerable, easily influenced, and manipulated by the agendas of religious extremists and violent men. My fear is that we, unlike Murray's character, won't realize this fact and we will continue to attempt to extinguish the fire ot terrorism with gun powder and we will wake up to the next same awful morning. It is time for an end to Groundhog day. | 
