Runner's Heights: Take Back Sol Invictus and the Pagan Yule Tree

Cumulative miles: 16
The jury is still out on foot strike during running. There's a new fad that advocates going back to the age-old way of foot strike with the balls of your feet. This takes a little bit of practice if you are a heel striker. One of articles, and I can't recall which one, also recommends striking the ground with the balls of your feet especially if you have low-to-no arch. I have a complicated situation here - my left foot has no arch at all whereas my right foot has a medium arch. So, it's going to be hard to consciously switch the strike (from heel to ball) for the respective feet. Good luck if you are trying out heel strike vs. ball strike. I believe that the body and the feet will adapt to whatever is most efficient for the surface on which we are running.

It's December again in the U.S. and country seems to take a holiday from secularism. Public places - malls, stores, restaurants, and streets -- are rife with Christmas carols and paraphernalia. The sensitive and cunning businesses disguise it as "Holiday Fare" and "Happy Holidays" while trying little to acknowledge the other religious occasions that usually occur in December - Bodhi Day, Ashura, Kwanzaa, and Sol Invictus. Yes, let's talk about Sol Invictus. This is the pagan festival of the "Victory of the Sun" and by numerous historical records, celebrated on Dec. 25th. There are many accounts that note that early Christians appropriated this date to commemorate Jesus Christ's birth. It's time to take back Sol Invictus and reinstate the Pagan Yule tree, the original tree from which the Christmas tree was derived.

Here's Jon Stewart's take the preponderance of the Christmas tree in public places and the man who is protected by the enormity and severity of his ignorance, Bill O'Reilly.
Jon Stewart: War on Christmas Where Christmas is the Aggressor

Runner's Heights: Are You Jew Enough?

Cumulative Miles: 13

As we get older in age, muscular stiffness is probably one of the prevalent conditions that most of us experience during or after any physical exertion. And a lot us, including yours truly, will probably try to deny the onset of this condition for as long as we can because it might be hard to accept the fact that our muscles may not be up to the task that they were just a few years ago. It is here that yoga comes into the picture. A lot of stretching exercises overlap with yoga, but yoga, in my opinion goes one step further because some of the poses such as, the warrior pose, incorporate stretching and strengthening, when done in the correct method. The long-term effect of yoga on an injury-free running regimen is indeed substantial. Just try it.

In recent times, Israel's Ministry of Immigrant Absorption had devised a campaign in the U.S. to urge Israeli expats to the homeland. The campaign ran a series of video advertisements and billboard implying that the expats lost touch with their Jewish identity and had to be rehabilitated into the Jewish creed. The ads questioning the Jewish-ness of American Jews was found "offensive", "insulting", and "outrageous" by several American Jewish organizations. The Ministry pulled the campaign this week in the wake of public outcry against the ads.
Link to the BBC article