BLOG POSTS FROM THE COMMUNITY

I'm not a huge fan of Slate, mostly because it's usually a
lot more left-leaning than I am (even while I proudly self-identify as
a liberal New York Republican or a conservative New York Democrat). But
this article I
came across earlier says exactly what I've been thinking in this most
recent election cycle - we don't need to be talking so much about
Israel.

 

Look, Israel (as tied in with "foreign policy")
is one of the top three issues for me when deciding who to vote for. I
want to know what the candidates think about Israel. But when you talk
about Israel in relation to most foreign policy issues in the Middle
East, then you make Israel look like the little cog in the machine
that's making it all run the way its running now.

 

I've
been primarily considering all this Israel-speak as it relates to...

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Here's an essay I wrote 5 Yom Kippurs ago (http://www.animalwritings.com/2005/10/for-yom-kippur-atone-to-animals.asp):

A day of atonement is of little value if the very next day you resume behaviors that ruin lives.

With rare exceptions, every time you eat an animal, you're consciously and unnecessarily contributing to the suffering of another creature. Often the suffering is prolonged and severe. Jews, of all people, should strenuously avoid causing other beings to suffer. Animals should not be the exception.

There is little doubt that animals have the capacity to suffer deeply. Factory farm hens live their entire lives in a space smaller then the computer screen on which you're reading this. They cannot even raise one wing. Is that not suffering? Their male chicks are taken away from them and crushed or suffocated, when one day old. Mothers -- is that not suffering? Who...

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Originally published on Arjewtino.com.

Fasting on Yom Kippur should never be this confusing.

For years, the rules of what you are NOT supposed to do on the Day
of Atonement just made sense, like a list of bullets you follow to the
letter:

No eating or drinking No bathing No applying oils or lotions to the skin (including deodorant) No sex No wearing leather

But this year, for some reason, I started questioning whether the “no drinking” edict was one I even had to follow.

What Yom Kippur really feels likeIt started over the weekend at the home of a Conservative Jewish
couple I know when the subject of fasting strategy came up...

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After hemming and hawing over it, John McCain finally found his testicles and decided to join his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin in attacking Obama on his involvement with the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac debacle that tax payers are now having a gun held to our heads by the Democrats to pay for their stupidity.

From Michelle Malkin:

Our current economic crisis is a good case in point. What was his actual record in the years before the great economic crisis of our lifetimes?

This crisis started in our housing market in the form of subprime loans that were pushed on people who could not afford them. Bad mortgages were being backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and it was only a matter of time before a contagion of unsustainable debt began to spread. This corruption was...

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The RNC has opened up it’s files on Barack Obama’s relationship with unrepentent terrorist William Ayers and it’s looking pretty cozy between the two and not just a happenstance meeting of the two as falsely claimed by Obama.

From GOP.COM:

 

The Relationship Between Barack Obama And Bill Ayers Is Much More Extensive Than Obama’s Campaign Is Willing To Admit

Obama’s Top Campaign Staff Have Attempted To Downplay The Relationship Between Obama And Bill Ayers:

Obama Spokesman Robert Gibbs Said That Obama And Ayers Weren’t Close And That Obama Was Only 8 Years Old When Ayers Was Bombing Buildings. Robert Gibbs: “If you read the article … it says these two men weren’t close, this man isn’t involved in our campaign. Bill Ayers is somebody that Barack Obama said his actions were despicable and these happened when Barack Obama was 8 years old.” (FOX News’ “FOX & Friends,” 10/6/08)

Gibbs...

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NBC out of fear of retaliation from Obama’s Puppetmaster George Soros sent the online video of this skit down the memory hole, but alas, fear not another copy has shown up online courtesy of Pat Dollard who chanllanges opponents of free speech to “Yank this bitches”!

CLICK HERE to view the video.

Michelle Malkin has the entire transcript of the skit posted on her website and has additional comment HERE.

A big thank you to those who kept this video alive and...

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I read it in that interview with Woody Allen in the latest issue of New York, the one I’ve been raving about – “My old neighborhood became Hasidic. Which is, for me, the kiss of death.”

I thought about it afterwards, and figured that I agreed with what he was saying, because as much as I respect orthodoxy and Hassidism, I can’t help but feel that it also represents an insularism that separates Jews from understanding, and more importantly, contributing to the greater society. All those Jewish Nobel prize laureates, those writers and philosophers and artists that have made Jews, in proportion to their numbers, the biggest contributors to the world’s knowledge and culture than any other group, they weren’t orthodox or Hassidic. They were secular Jews, either those who bucked against the religiosity of their immediate elders or those who were several generations removed from that religiosity. Like Allen, I figured...

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I'm not one to rave about magazines or books or shows or music
because I find it kind of pretentious to be writing about how good/bad
something is when I'm not even out there creating anything of worth
myself. That said, I know I'm kind of a hypocrite and love to rate
movies, but I allow myself this one indiscretion, particularly because
I think I'm pretty even-handed and I respect even movies I find
unwatchable because, hey, someone go their shit together and made a
movie.

 

But I have to break with convention to highly
recommend that you pic up the latest issue of New York Mag. It's a 40th
Anniversary issue and it covers NY over the last 40 years - where it's
been, where it is, and where it's going. There's a great article about
Rudy Giuliani, who, love him or hate him, you have to admit cleaned the
hell out of this place. There's a great article about the New York Jew
and how he has...

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Talk TV Diva and huge supporter of Barack Obama, Oprah Winfey who’s mother ran up $155,547.31 in credit card purchases is being sued by a department store for not paying her bill and she is now taking on the irresponsible mentality of entitlement and is saying she shouldn’t have to pay her bill, that the store should have never extended her credit and apparently her daughter Oprah is way to busy helping Obama overthrow the United States Constitution to help her momma.

From Michelle Malkin:

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Cross-posted at VeryHotJews.com 

In a few hours I'll be heading over to my parents' place for our traditionally non-religious celebration of Rosh Hashanah. My brilliant nephews (including recently Bar Mitzvah'd Jonah) will recapitulate the meaning of the holiday. There will be much talk of the election (in my house, the day's political news may as well be on an ancient scroll). Apples will be dipped in honey as we wish each other sweetness at the beginning of a calendar we don't observe. That's how we secular types roll, so L'shana tovah, whatever that means.

But just because I'm not versed in Hebrew and have no metaphysical beliefs doesn't mean I'm not aware of and reflecting on the tradition....

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Following the September 11th attacks on the United States, many members of the Jewish community, increasingly concerned with the threats (real and imagined) posed by radical Islam to the security of the United States and Israel took a sharp turn to the political right. Some switched party affiliations, declaring themselves "9/11 Republicans," and subsequently went on the offensive against their predominantly liberal and progressive coreligionists, whom they have accused (as Caroline Glick did in a Jerusalem Post op-ed last week) of placing concern for liberal issues, such as a woman's right to choose, over preserving the physical safety of their fellow Jews.

Shockingly, as...

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IF you're 'doin it well’ - Judaism is telling you that at this time of year it's a good idea to pray for forgiveness, well to pray full stop.

But the inherent problem with the symbolism of prayer itself is that it appears to be quite dualistic in its very nature. The individual praying to an invisible and external force called God that exists somewhere 'out there' outside of the universe, on some other plane of existence where he's looking down at us.

On Rosh, the people that do go to synagogue just repeat phrases that say 'God is King!'. Which is very nice, but does God really need us to tell Him? What's going on?

Simply speaking within ourselves we do have access to God, it is not out there, but rather 'in here' - (i point to my self) When we call God 'King' - we should be calling out within ourselves to that point of the divine within which transcends good and bad.

When we ask for forgiveness, we are really asking that pure, simple and innocent...

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Maybe it's the comfortable vagueness of British etiquette, perhaps it is as a result of a confusing and long history of culture?

One might argue that, it's because we don't say what we mean and mean what we say, that it's just a way of playing politics and being polite, but frankly Europeans are just a lot less likely to think they have a right to know everything and be right.
And we don't have the absolute audacity to think that we have the 'greatest country in the world' - because one of our fellow Europeans made that mistake already and they were very wrong.

Look i lived in NY for a few years so that doesn't give me the right to slam dunk the freaking lot of you single-celled binary dualists 'Americans'.

But really - there must be something seriously wrong with your whole system.
Is there anyone apart from communists within America that culturally critiques the society as a whole?

...

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I am editing an eBook anthology of Chanukah erotica. If you are a fabulous
writer -- whether living under a rock or more conspicuously positioned
-- and would like to contribute a short story (4,000-5,000 words), deadline: October 26th, please
read the Call for Submissions here:

http://ellaregina.blogspot.com/2008/09/chanukah-erotica-anthology.html

...

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First, I was totally devastated to see that Paul Newman died. My phone
rings in the morning, just a text message from a friend telling me he
can't go for a run. Not devastating. Then I immediately check the news,
because that's what I do as soon as I'm up, and I find out that Newman
passed away from cancer. Devastating. It really hit me, and I can't say
that I know exactly why. It's just sad when someone so talented is out
of the picture, kind of what I felt when Heath Ledger passed away. I
was also more angry then, because it infuriated me to think that this
great actor was gone so early in his career, just as he was beginning
to show what he was capable of. With Newman its more that I'll miss not
seeing him anymore because he was almost always excellent. On some
level it also makes me feel kind of old, because I remember when he
wasn't yet the 83 year-old man that he became. Paul Newman died? For
some reason,...

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They are bitter, they cling to their lattes and their socialists beliefs.  It's a serious look at the so called diversity and open mindedness of Liberal Democrats in America and their views of Conservative Republicans.  

I can tell you honestly that the same behavior would never happen in a Conservative District.

Here is a peek into the Progressive World of "Change" that Liberals want us to live in.

From The Peoples Cube:

 

...

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72 virgins.......DENIED 

PRICELESS!  For everything else, there's Mullah Card! 

...

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I’m already being labled a racist simply because I refuse to vote for Barack Obama.  I’ve heard what he has to say, I’ve seen what little he’s done as far as a leader or a legislator, and I know his track record for liberalism and his Marxist Ideals.  I simply don’t like what he stands for and I don’t like the direction he plans on taking this country.

I could give a shit less that he’s black, er excuse me, African-American.  I have friends who are African American.  I’ve gone hunting, fishing, and drinking with them.  Their race means nothing to me.  It’s not the color of their skin it’s the content of their hearts and souls.

It seems the only people...

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If you get an e-mail with “Nude Photos of Sarah Palin” in the subject
line, do not open it. It might contain a virus.

If you get an e-mail with “Nude Photos of Michelle Obama,” do not open it. It might contain nude photos of Michelle Obama.

...

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Can a Muslim get a table dance?

The daughter of a Islamic Cleric Omar Bakri,  that has issued death threats against Paul McCartney and threats of 9/11 type attacks against England has a daughter who likes to spend her time as a Stripper who enjoys the art of Pole Dancing.

From The Daily Mail:

For the busty blonde 26-year-old has been uncovered as a...

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Wannabe Thug in Chief Barack Obama is now recruiting the Local Law Enforcement Establishment in Missouri to beef up the ranks of his Facist Brown Shirt squad of Thugs to intimidate anyone who dares speak out against him and his campaign of “Change”

From Michelle Malkin:

 

September 26, 2008 – Barack Obama is now using local law enforcement officials to carry out his campaign...

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Netzavim – Refocusing

        The body may look stationary, yet on a micro level it is constantly moving and changing. We appear stationary in each moment and you can take a picture of that but that is to the simple view of our eyes. On further examination especially when we use the proper tools we can see an infinite amount of movements in each second.

 

Such is our life. When we stop for a moment to take stock of where we are and to get our bearings, we feel lost, as we are not accustomed to doing it. Our time seem so full that we do not have time. Maybe we just do not know that we have a tool to find our bearings.

 

At the same time the world is going through a transition that affects every individual. It is imperative that we observe what is happening as we refocus. You are standing today (Deut. 29:9)...

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Two weekends ago a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to come out to this Q&A session on Iran. It was supposed to be some guy making a video of young people's impressions about the current situation, so I thought it would be something cool to do, particularly because of how relevant all this stuff is and how important I think it is for people to understand that this is a serious situation for the entire world, not just for Jewish people or people living in Israel.

I came into it thinking it was going to be a town hall sort of meeting, people chiming in randomly. But turns out it was a one-on-one thing, where you go into a room and this guy just tapes your answers to questions. I sat around for a good 2 hours before I finally got in, and by that time, since we were already behind schedule, I was told to keep my answers very short and to just cut to the chase. I took a couple of minutes getting warmed up but I think my last answer, out of the 3 or 4 I gave, was probably...

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No, this is not a post about the Messiah, I mean Obama. It's about me (of course) and how earlier today, as I'm was making a Jewcy.com profile on the suggestion of a co-worker, I found myself facing the question of what I'm "currently watching." Nothing really. I don't have cable, I haven't had cable, in almost two years. There's something awesomely amazing I find in this. I actually go out of my way to tell people that I don't have it, that I don't watch any of their damn shows and I'm proud of it. So I write "I'm an elitist who gets great satisfaction in telling people he doesn't have cable." And it's true! When I tell you I don't have cable, that's actually me thinking that I'm better than you because you're too weak not to have cable. You need to know that the electronic pacifier is nearby in case you want to suckle at the teet of pop culture. There's something comforting, soothing about it, if even to just keep on in the background so that you hear human voices...

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The cult sensation Barack Obama is about to become a Character of a Musical Play in London.

From Telegraph.co.uk

Having set alight the race for the White House, Senator Barack Obama is about to work his magic on the London stage.

Written and produced by the Ohio-born Teddy Hayes, The Obama Musical focuses on the personalities behind the Democratic candidate’s campaign.

Songs in the show, due to receive its premiere at Barons Court Theatre next month, include Obama and Me, which is sung by an obsessive member of his team and includes the lyric: “We are a pair/like chocolate and éclair”.

Hayes said: “I’ve done a bit of work for the Obama campaign and this is a send-up of what happens behind the scenes.”

I can picture this musical being alot...

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It turns out that we have some bits and peices of the 19 Islamodouchebags that hijacked 4 planes and killed 3000 American citizens on September 11, 2001 and the government is wondering whatever we should do with them.

From the New York Times:

 

Seven years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, the remains of 13 of the 19 men responsible have been identified and are in the custody of the F.B.I. and the New York City medical examiner’s office.

But no one has formally requested the remains in order to bury them.

“Politically, one can understand...

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As I sit here nursing my "beauty mark" which I managed to, yet again, clip while shaving, I'm reminded of a discussion I had this weekend about Enrique's beauty mark. I wrote a post back in June, 2007 about my reaction at finding out that he had it removed. I felt totally slighted, because I interpreted it as an affront to the beauty mark/mole community. You don't just go and remove it, it doesn't work that way. Yes, sometimes it can be annoying - like mine right now which will likely be bleeding for the rest of the night - but there's a little something in that annoyance that also makes it special. I mean, it's like in the middle of my face, its become a part of what I look like, maybe even a little bit tied to my character. How do you just turn around one day and have it taken off? There was some satisfaction I got when I realized that Enrique's career has gone nowhere since the mark disappeared. What's...

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They may have found the capital of the Khazars.  Very cool.  As a fair, blue-eyed Jew of Austrian and Ukrainian descent, (with some Spain and Safat mixed in around 1000 years ago) I have long suspected my ancestry includes some folk from this kingdom.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080920/ap_on_re_eu/russia_lost_capital

...

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Situated in the northern Israeli town of Migdal Ha’Emeq, a few miles west of Nazareth, Kvutsat Yovel is one of four urban communal groups across the country established by graduates of Diaspora youth movement Habonim Dror. Since my interview with Yovel’s Anton Marks appeared in Zeek last year, both the kvutza itself and the wider communal movement of which it’s a part have changed almost beyond recognition. Yovel itself has seen the birth of its first baby and the addition of several new members to the original group, including one other family, and has externally been engaged the larger process of radical change transforming the local communal scene. The following is a short (and largely random) extract from one of the numerous interviews Anton’s given me over the last couple of months about recent developments at Yovel:

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