February 22, 2022: The Numerology Guide and Synchronicity

Al Musawar magazine, 1981, on the Solar Video project

I have been thinking about the date 2/22/22. This multiple of 2s falls on a Tuesday.

That's a lot of 2s. And a Tuesday thrown in for anyone who didn't notice the first roll of the dice. What, if anything, does this mean?

I am not in any way a fanatic about numbers, planets, fate, ancient origins of words, or any of that stuff. I look at these topics as interesting, a side dish to my life rather than the entree.

Me, center, with film star Nadia Lutfi on my left in the Cairo museum

But I couldn't pass up an opportunity to look at this singular date on the calendar and wonder, what if it does mean something?

Numerology says this about the number 2: "The Numerology number 2 is known to numerologists as a supremely feminine force, one that represents both grace and power. It is cooperative, always aiming to bring peace and balance back to a relationship or situation. This Numerology number is also very sensitive -- of all the numbers, it has the strongest intuition. It is able to sense currents and feelings instinctively, then use these clues to connect with others emphatically.

At its very core the 2 in Numerology represents partnerships -- the coming together or balancing of two individual people, concepts, or things. While it holds great power over any situation, it wields it with such diplomacy and tact that the result is not control and authority, but harmony and teamwork. It is a mediator, able to see two sides of a situation in an unbiased way and guide others down the middle road."

As a twin, I grew up with "oh, there's two of you!"

My mom, Julia Elizabeth Strauss Combier Taschereau (see her wedding announcement, New York Times, June 2, 1948, above) collected books on everything - Mysticism, Rosicrucianism, Buddhism, Christianity, the metaphysical value of life and being, etc - as any intellectual would who was raised by parents who were German Jews with a lot of money and time to contemplate about things. Her father, my grandfather Samuel Strauss was a journalist and newspaperman. Her birthday was February 14, or 2/14, and I and my twin were born on 7/11. My mom volunteered for 49 years at a church in Manhattan, and every Sunday after services she took a cup of water to Central Park, only a block away, where four-leaf clovers jumped up and she put them into her cup so they wouldn't shrivel up before she was able to press them in plastic sheets when she got home. I found some too. Four leaves meant something, three leaves not so much. I think that the information that my paternal grandmother was from Ireland is irrelevant (or is it?). 

So numbers have always been interesting, just as "coincidences" are. When I was at Northwestern University, I majored in Child Psychology but minored in synchronicity (actually, English literature) because so many events seemed to be happening which altered my life in meaningful ways, yet could not be rationally linked. I always make note of cues that say "stop" what you are doing, look at this. I'm suggesting that you do too.

A belief in synchronicity must be accompanied by a certain amount of faith in knowing that you are presented with information for which there may be no factual reason and that you are being challenged to find one, or not. We human beings are always trying to find the basis for something happening in order to unravel the chaos around us and make some kind of sense of it all. Sometimes it is useful to do this, other times, not. Maybe more time should be spent on saying to yourself, "ok, this happened. Now, what do I do about it, if anything?" We each can and should give an event its' meaning but not look for "the" reason given to you by someone else. It gets complicated. Just do not accept anyone else's definition of the reason for something happening. Sure, it is fun to look at why or how, but I believe in going to "what do I do now"? "What meaning does this have for me"?

Everything we do is based upon a certain amount of faith. When we cross a busy street at a green light, we must have faith that we will not be run over by a car. When we reach the stairs and prepare to walk down them, we must have faith that we can walk without tumbling and hurting ourselves. You stop thinking about faith, but it is always there, as are the bad things that happen to good people but not for the lack of faith. I believe we just need to try to see the road less traveled on which we are being asked/compelled/directed to embark. As you can see in the NY Times' article above, the best man at my mom's wedding was NY Supreme Court Judge David W. Peck. His son, M. Scott Peck, wrote the book  "The Road Less Traveled", a book that suggests that "living a life of spiritual growth requires a loving nature and being open to new perspectives, including the helpful and mysterious force of grace. Taking the road less traveled isn't easy – it takes effort, will, and a strong sense of self-discipline."

I believe that, except I would argue that taking that road is easy. Staying on it, much harder. This book has been my guide throughout my life.

The quote below is on my Facebook page and at the top of a page on my website Parentadvocates.org:

"FAITH When we walk to the edge of all the light we have and take the step into the darkness of the unknown, we must believe that one of two things will happen. There will be something solid for us to stand on or we will be taught to fly." Patrick Overton

Christopher Wren

For instance, after I read about Basaisa, a solar village in Egypt's Nile Delta area in the NY Times on June 11, 1978, by Christopher Wren, I tore the entire page out and put it in my desk, hoping sometime to get to this little village in Egypt to see the solar TV, a wonderful invention, and to meet Dr. Salah Arafa at the American University in Cairo. I was lucky to meet Mr. Wren and thank him in the mid-1980s.

 
At the time I was a producer of TV video programs with ABC. Every year members of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ("NATAS")  were invited on a trip to a part of the world where a visit would be made to the television station headquarters. In November 1978 where was the trip scheduled to go?

Egypt. I "knew" I had to be on that trip.

A few minutes after taking my seat on the charter flight, I heard "Betsy, what are you doing on this plane?" I looked behind me, and there was Jimmy, my cameraman from the days when I produced the show "Cue on J", and a friend. I could not believe the coincidence, and he told me that if he had a free day during the week in Egypt, he would be glad to accompany me to the little village with his cameras, and we could do a little mini-documentary.

We got off of the plane, went to our hotel, the Mena House, across the street from the Pyramids. Quite a wonderful place.

 While everyone in my group went to the Cairo Museum, I got into a taxi and paid 25 cents to go to the American University to find Dr. Arafa. When I found his office, I took a seat and waited for him. He finally entered the room and changed my life. He spoke about setting up the solar-powered TV so that he could tell the villagers in Basaisa all about helping themselves by working together. 

Of course, his free day was Thursday, which was the exact and only free day I and Jimmy had, and we all went to Basaisa. I saw the kids watching an Egyptian program on the TV and asked Dr. Afara if he thought the solar panel on the roof of the little room could be used to power a video playback machine. I could borrow cameras from the networks. The purpose was to assist the people in producing their own programs using solar video equipment. Salah liked the idea and did not think I was crazy. He did a voice-over for my short piece on the solar TV which NBC news grabbed up when I returned to New York City. Salah remains a mentor for me.

What are the odds of going on a trip to Egypt a few weeks after reading the story of the solar village in the NY Times, having a friend on my plane with his camera equipment want to help me with a story out in the middle of nowhere in Egypt's Delta area, meeting Salah, getting the idea for a solar video project, and having such a widely-respected physics teacher at AUC believe in this far-out idea of the solar video? I don't know, zero to 100% I guess. 

I returned to NY and told my mom that I was moving to Cairo, and I did just that. I  set up a system where villagers produced videos, and we passed these on to various members of the Egyptian government who were ready and willing to allocate funding to appropriate technologies desired by the villagers themselves, with the details stated in their own voices.  I became friends with everyone in the Egyptian government after a film star, Nadia Lutfi, told me I was moving into her duplex in Garden City, Cairo because my friend Abdel Rahman Ali asked her to take care of me while he received cancer treatment in London. I would only leave my small flat near AUC if she agreed to take my two puppies rescued by me after I found them sitting under a car outside my apartment. Paula (Nadia's real name) agreed, so I moved to Garden City with the two little pups.

I was at the time enrolled in a Master's Program at NY University, the Interactive Telecommunications Masters Program, or ITP, and fortunately, Director Red Burns was interested enough to allow me to write reports on my Egyptian solar video project to complete my coursework. I wrote my Master's thesis on the application of solar video to agricultural projects in rural Egypt and received my MPS in 1984, when I left Egypt and put the self-sustaining solar video project in the capable hands of people at the American University in Cairo. The ABC Network office in London transcribed the Egyptian PAL System tapes to NTSC for free so I could play them in the US. I still have copies of these tapes. 

People say if you are open to the idea of synchronicity, a holographic universe, instances of deja vu, and similar instances of mystical occurrences, you will notice things that happen to you and choose to examine the event, person or thing a little more carefully. You may see a new path that you had never considered, or you may want to make changes to your career or life and believe that you should/could/will succeed.

Tuesday, February 22, 2022. Think about it.

Betsy Combier

betsy.combier@gmail.com

Editor, ADVOCATZ.com

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NYC Department of Education Radicalizes 5-Year Olds as 'Restorative Justice'

 

Students at PS 321 — which teaches kids from kindergarten through fifth grade — in Brooklyn’s Park Slope were handed the woke coloring book last week as part of a Black History Month lesson.                          Paul Martinka

My dad was Assistant Attorney General for the State of New York for more than 20 years. His boss: Louis Lefkowitz, who my dad held in high esteem, was an amazing jurist. The building in downtown Manhattan, 80 Centre Street, has his name above the door. (I always say hi when I use the law library there or go to a Judge's Courtroom).

One of my family's closest friends (and my dad's best man at his wedding, see my parents' wedding announcement above) as I grew up was David Peck, a stellar jurist as well, who was appointed Presiding Justice of the First Department, Appellate Division, in 1947. When appointed, he was 44 years old, the youngest judge to serve as presiding justice of the First Department. Scott Peck, his son, wrote one of my favorite books "The Road Less Traveled". See my article on Synchronicity. That's me. Who are you? Do you know?

Ok, now you are asking, "Why am I boring you with all of this?"

Because in my opinion, the militant "Restorative Justice" stuff is wrong. Yes, black lives matter, and so do white lives, Asian lives, Hispanic lives, etc. Humans matter - and it isn't important what race, religion, gender, or any other sub-category every human subscribes to during their lifetime, as long as they do not deliberately harm a person or animal or force someone to subscribe to a belief or action against their will which may be contrary to accepted social norms. 

That is why I believe no person or group should decide for one individual who or what to believe. Every person should make that decision for him or herself. Certainly, public schools should not teach radicalism but guide children in critical thinking and creativity. Not conclusions. Kids need to write their own stories and discover who they are. Children should be taught how to socialize, have empathy, be kind, and value every human being as another individual, a unique and equal soul, traveling on the same road through life as we - you - are. Everyone is equal in being human. I didn't teach my kids empathy, but I told them often what I believed, and they had the right to reject my spirituality and love, or not. They did not reject it, but I certainly did not force anything on them. 

Then, when they were 2,5,7, and 9 years of age, I brought them in as volunteers at the Ronald McDonald House for kids with cancer, where I was a volunteer helping to run the program. Empathy and love for all humans happened.

But life happens, and school is mandatory. In school, we should learn how to read, do complex math problems, and enjoy the many adventures of scientific research and history. And we need to teach kids how to write and express themselves through art and music. Two of my children started singing Opera professionally at Lincoln Center, aged 5 and 9. They wanted to sing, so I gave them the opportunity to use their talents on a big stage by getting them both auditions. After that, they were on their own. I spent more than 11 years getting them out of school early so we could get to Lincoln Center on time for rehearsals and performances because that's what they wanted. I planned my time according to their schedules, to support them.

I have four children, now amazingly wonderful adults. We survived the NYC public school system- in one case, barely - but their visions drove their path. 

Notice in my background above I didn't say anything about race. That's because I never heard the word in my apartment while growing up. My dad and the various politicians and television/Broadway stars who came to dinner (my mom was a Broadway angel and trustee of the Neighborhood Playhouse) talked politics, rights, due process, and the law. It's in my bones. My mom was the daughter of German Jews, my dad's family were Christians from France, and I grew up going to a Presbyterian Church every Sunday, where my mom ran the music program as a volunteer for 49 years. I moved to Cairo, Egypt, for 5 years, etc., etc. See my article on Synchronicity. That's me. 

Who are you? 

Do you know?

Do not let others decide for you.

Betsy Combier

betsy.combier@gmail.com

Editor, ADVOCATZ.com

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Editor, NYC Rubber Room Reporter
Editor, Parentadvocates.org
Editor, New York Court Corruption
Editor, National Public Voice
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BLM movement’s social justice politics and ‘queer, trans-affirming’ lessons delivered to kids as young as 5 in NYC school

By Aneeta Bhole, Susan Edelman and Emily Crane

A New York City elementary school is giving kids as young as 5 a woke Black Lives Matter coloring book that focuses on “queer and transgender affirming” lessons, revolutionary politics and demands to “fund counselors not cops” to teach them about Black History Month.

Students at PS 321 in Brooklyn’s Park Slope — which teaches children from kindergarten through fifth grade — were handed the “What We Believe: A Black Lives Matter Principles Activity Book” coloring book last week as part of a Black History Month lesson.

The book, which is based on the 13 “guiding principles” of the national Black Lives Matter at School curriculum, was reportedly assigned as coursework for the young kids. It includes dedicated pages with headlines like “transgender affirming” and “queer affirming.”

“When a person is born, their grown-ups generally decide whether to call them a girl or a boy. Sometimes that decision doesn’t match who the person really is, and that person is transgender,” a description on the trans page reads.

The book also lists off a slew of the BLM’s national demands and ways children can support the movement — including a push to “have counsellors in schools instead of police.” “use restorative justice” and “teach black history and ethnic studies.”

Some parents, however, insisted the coloring book didn’t actually teach their kids about black history and instead presented controversial ideas “as fact.”

“It’s not necessarily true. It’s not like every black person believes in these principles,” the mom of a fourth grader told The Free Press, which first reported on the woke coloring book Thursday.

She added the book doesn’t go “into enough detail and there is no mention of specific people. It just feels very vague.”

Other parents expressed outrage over the movement’s guiding principles, which are splashed across the website for Black Lives Matter at School, the Seattle-based group behind the coloring book. The woke org offers resources for schools across the country, including for “early childhood” lessons.

Under the “Transgender Affirming” section of the Black Lives Matter at School site, for example, the group spells out that “we are self-reflexive and consistently do the work required to dismantle cisgender privilege.”

Some parents at the school also took issue with a section titled Empathy and its use of the word “comrades” — with some interpreting it as a political term and push to promote communist propaganda.

“Using the word comrades comes from communist times,” the mom of the fourth grader, whose grandparents fled China for the US, told The Free Press. “They are using words that I don’t think are appropriate for elementary school.”

PS 321, with 1,217 students, has a reputation as one of the best elementary schools in the city. It also has one of the highest portions of white kids — 67%. Only 3% of students are black, city records show.

While parents acknowledged that some of the lessons from the coloring book — and wider BLM curriculum — appeared harmless, such as the importance of forgiveness, they argued that others were rooted in revolutionary politics.

The “Black Villages” principle, for example, describes disrupting “the narrow Western prescribed nuclear family structure requirement.” And the “Intergenerational” section calls for a “communal network free from ageism and adultism.”

Robert Pondiscio, a teaching expert and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, weighed in on the backlash, saying he wasn’t convinced the book was an attempt to indoctrinate kids.

“But the poor judgment and lack of common sense among educators in selecting material is sometimes jaw-dropping and inexcusable,” the ex-Big Apple teacher wrote on X.

Meanwhile, Phil Wong, a parent and former president of Community Education Council 24 in Queens, ripped the racial justice element associated with the coloring book.

“If schools really want to teach racial justice, then the materials should be about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Frederick Douglas or Harriet Tubman. Recent movements have erased these names from history classes,” Wong told The Post.

It wasn’t immediately clear how many PS 321 students were given the coloring book last week. One mom said she only learned of its existence when students were sent home for remote learning due to a winter storm last week.

Park Slope parents seemed in short supply in the neighborhood on Thursday, with schools closed for midwinter break. The kids who were out and about were mostly accompanied by nannies.

PS 321 on Thursday refused to comment on the distribution of the BLM coloring book until school resumes.

The city’s Department of Education confirmed the existence of the book, but declined to answer questions about whether officials knew of its dissemination – or if it was being taught in any other Big Apple public schools.

Instead, a DOE spokesperson only said: “Anytime parents have a concern about resources used in school, we encourage them to share their concerns to the school principal or district superintendent.”

Additional reporting by Georgett Roberts