well, of course it does. don't worry, i am in various kinds of therapy. meanwhile, having heard this track since i was little (when they used to record on black vinyl), it has always been one of my favourites. today, however, was the first time in my memory (since i did see the movie 'let's make love' at least once, but in the days before i was aware of my interest in the sexuality of women) that i saw the film that goes with it. i rather enjoyed it. hope you do too (and thanks to pandagon for posting it!).
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Friday, November 10, 2006
the next country about which to worry: china
thanks again to the week of generosity from the ny times, i am able to read the columns of the lovely mr. thomas friedman (he is a sweetie to talk to anyway). he is visiting china, and i present the following concluding paragraph from today's presentation:
"China, in other words, is inevitably going to move back to the center of U.S. politics, because it crystallizes the economic challenges faced by U.S. workers in the 21st century. The big question for me is, how will President Bush and the Democratic Congress use China: as a scapegoat or a Sputnik?
Will they use it as an excuse to avoid doing the hard things, because it’s all just China’s fault, or as an excuse to rally the country — as we did after the Soviets leapt ahead of us in the space race and launched Sputnik — to make the kind of comprehensive changes in health care, portability of pensions, entitlements and lifelong learning to give America’s middle class the best tools possible to thrive? A lot of history is going to turn on that answer, because if people don’t feel they have the tools or skills to thrive in a world without walls, the pressure to put up walls, especially against China, will steadily mount."
don't start worrying yet, though. soon it will be shabbat - the chance to put all worries aside for 24 hours and concentrate instead on giving yourself and all around you a break. gut shabbes!
"China, in other words, is inevitably going to move back to the center of U.S. politics, because it crystallizes the economic challenges faced by U.S. workers in the 21st century. The big question for me is, how will President Bush and the Democratic Congress use China: as a scapegoat or a Sputnik?
Will they use it as an excuse to avoid doing the hard things, because it’s all just China’s fault, or as an excuse to rally the country — as we did after the Soviets leapt ahead of us in the space race and launched Sputnik — to make the kind of comprehensive changes in health care, portability of pensions, entitlements and lifelong learning to give America’s middle class the best tools possible to thrive? A lot of history is going to turn on that answer, because if people don’t feel they have the tools or skills to thrive in a world without walls, the pressure to put up walls, especially against China, will steadily mount."
don't start worrying yet, though. soon it will be shabbat - the chance to put all worries aside for 24 hours and concentrate instead on giving yourself and all around you a break. gut shabbes!
weekend of remembrance
from kristallnacht to poppy day our thoughts are directed towards the world wars of the 20th century. we mourn those who gave their lives voluntarily through military service, and those who were unwilling victims of hatred and persecution.
the question for me is, however, will such thoughts and ceremonies have any effect on the wars and persecution of today?
rumsfeld is gone. hurrah. the troops, however, are still dying in iran and afghanistan. look at the graves. what next?
the question for me is, however, will such thoughts and ceremonies have any effect on the wars and persecution of today?
rumsfeld is gone. hurrah. the troops, however, are still dying in iran and afghanistan. look at the graves. what next?
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
a message from abraham lincoln
the new york times is offering its select pages for free this week, and i discovered that one of my favourite children's authors, maira kalman, is blogging there. here is an image for election day.
the worst of times
what issue brings together jews and muslims? according to the times today it is homophobia:
"Jews and Muslims unite against homosexuals
By Tim Butcher in Jerusalem
Last Updated: 2:24am GMT 07/11/2006
Jews and Muslims in Jerusalem have found common ground in their fierce opposition to a gay rights rally due to be held in the city this week.
Ultra-orthodox Jews burn rubbish yesterday during a protest against the rally in Jerusalem in support of homosexuals’ rights
Leaders from both faiths have united to denounce the parade, which has prompted nights of street protest by ultra-orthodox Jews, who regard homosexuality as an "abomination", and death threats against those taking part.
After Israeli police found and defused a bomb bearing the message "sodomites out", orders were given for 12,000 officers to deploy across Jerusalem during the march, which is planned for Friday. Last night, lawyers from both sides were wrangling at the High Court over whether the parade should be allowed to take place and, if so, where. With the court expected to convene another hearing today, it appeared that the parade would take place but at a new location near the parliament, a safe distance from orthodox neighbourhoods.
The issue of the parade is generating more media coverage than the Israeli military incursion into Gaza, which has left more than 50 Palestinians dead.
The city's Islamic leadership is opposed to the parade, with Tayseer Tamimi, the head of the Palestinian supreme council of Sharia litigation, leading Muslim opposition. "This march tries to destroy the moral and spiritual values for youths," he said. "All religions discredit gays because it is against the decent human nature created by God."
Ultra-orthodox Jews have protested for three nights, setting up burning barricades and throwing rocks at police. Thirty protesters were arrested and six policemen hurt as water cannon was deployed to put out fires and disperse crowds.
"This isn't the gay pride parade but the disgrace parade," said Yaakov Cohen, an MP from the United Torah Judaism party. Ben Yizri, an MP for the ultra-orthodox Shas party, part of Israel's ruling coalition, said: "We believe God will be very upset."
Homosexuality was legalised in Israel 18 years ago, but gay rights campaigners said many homosexuals were intimidated by Jerusalem's strongly homophobic atmosphere. Noa Satath, of Open House, the group planning the parade, said it marked an important step in bringing homosexuality "out of the closet" in Jerusalem."
kol hakavod to those who will march, and prayers for their safety. to find out more about the jerusalem open house, click here.
"Jews and Muslims unite against homosexuals
By Tim Butcher in Jerusalem
Last Updated: 2:24am GMT 07/11/2006
Jews and Muslims in Jerusalem have found common ground in their fierce opposition to a gay rights rally due to be held in the city this week.
Ultra-orthodox Jews burn rubbish yesterday during a protest against the rally in Jerusalem in support of homosexuals’ rights
Leaders from both faiths have united to denounce the parade, which has prompted nights of street protest by ultra-orthodox Jews, who regard homosexuality as an "abomination", and death threats against those taking part.
After Israeli police found and defused a bomb bearing the message "sodomites out", orders were given for 12,000 officers to deploy across Jerusalem during the march, which is planned for Friday. Last night, lawyers from both sides were wrangling at the High Court over whether the parade should be allowed to take place and, if so, where. With the court expected to convene another hearing today, it appeared that the parade would take place but at a new location near the parliament, a safe distance from orthodox neighbourhoods.
The issue of the parade is generating more media coverage than the Israeli military incursion into Gaza, which has left more than 50 Palestinians dead.
The city's Islamic leadership is opposed to the parade, with Tayseer Tamimi, the head of the Palestinian supreme council of Sharia litigation, leading Muslim opposition. "This march tries to destroy the moral and spiritual values for youths," he said. "All religions discredit gays because it is against the decent human nature created by God."
Ultra-orthodox Jews have protested for three nights, setting up burning barricades and throwing rocks at police. Thirty protesters were arrested and six policemen hurt as water cannon was deployed to put out fires and disperse crowds.
"This isn't the gay pride parade but the disgrace parade," said Yaakov Cohen, an MP from the United Torah Judaism party. Ben Yizri, an MP for the ultra-orthodox Shas party, part of Israel's ruling coalition, said: "We believe God will be very upset."
Homosexuality was legalised in Israel 18 years ago, but gay rights campaigners said many homosexuals were intimidated by Jerusalem's strongly homophobic atmosphere. Noa Satath, of Open House, the group planning the parade, said it marked an important step in bringing homosexuality "out of the closet" in Jerusalem."
kol hakavod to those who will march, and prayers for their safety. to find out more about the jerusalem open house, click here.
i dare you not to laugh
following various political reports around youtube, i also came upon this:
although there are a couple of minutes when i wonder if the baby is going to choke, i have to say that i could not help but laugh along. the gurgling was too infectious. and in those moments, i had a lot of hope.
although there are a couple of minutes when i wonder if the baby is going to choke, i have to say that i could not help but laugh along. the gurgling was too infectious. and in those moments, i had a lot of hope.
a scene of joy
the election is tomorrow. i am being inundated with pre-recorded calls to the extent that i asked someone this evening if she was real or on tape. it's dark early these days, phase one of the south beach diet does not get easier the longer one does it, and the election is tomorrow. am afraid to hope. despite all this, scenes of qpr joy have a miraculous, if brief, power to heal me. well, cheer me up a bit :-) so here are kevin and dexter feeling rather good about themselves.
Sunday, November 05, 2006
qpr 4-2 crystal palace
o frabjous day! our defence may be utterly porous, but at the moment we seem to be able to score goals as well. sounds like a mini return to the good old days, with entertaining football and a crowd that was really into it. and we actually won. i shall have to wear my new woolly r's hat forever :-)
Saturday, November 04, 2006
who belongs in the white house?
everyone has their own point of view, although whose it was before they got it is another matter altogether.
mind you, if piglet ran for president, the republicans would probably try to smear him regarding his unnatural interspecies relationship with winnie the pooh. and as for that time he was in kanga's pouch - oyyyyy!
mind you, if piglet ran for president, the republicans would probably try to smear him regarding his unnatural interspecies relationship with winnie the pooh. and as for that time he was in kanga's pouch - oyyyyy!
Friday, November 03, 2006
the week before the elections
only in america ... a snippet from today's times from an article about last-minute republican campaigning for next week's mid-term elections:
"In one electoral district in Texas, the last-minute campaign strategy has been to play down the fact that a candidate is dead.
Glenda Dawson, a Republican congresswoman in Pearland, died in September but a campaign leaflet distributed this week shows her smiling and noting her achievements for the district and did not mention her passing.
Ms Dawson is expected to win the reliably Republican district, in which case a special election will be held in a few months time. State Representative Dennis Bonnen, who is running her campaign, denied deliberately obscuring her death.
"We don’t suggest that there’s a great thing she’s going to accomplish for the voters in the future," he said. "We had already made it clear to voters in one piece that she had passed away. We didn’t think it was necessarily necessary to repeat it.""
it's incredible, isn't it, that dead people are even allowed to run. *pause while we insert appropriate joke about currently serving politicians and how dead they may be* but then better dead than red, eh? or than rainbow or black or anything else.
"In one electoral district in Texas, the last-minute campaign strategy has been to play down the fact that a candidate is dead.
Glenda Dawson, a Republican congresswoman in Pearland, died in September but a campaign leaflet distributed this week shows her smiling and noting her achievements for the district and did not mention her passing.
Ms Dawson is expected to win the reliably Republican district, in which case a special election will be held in a few months time. State Representative Dennis Bonnen, who is running her campaign, denied deliberately obscuring her death.
"We don’t suggest that there’s a great thing she’s going to accomplish for the voters in the future," he said. "We had already made it clear to voters in one piece that she had passed away. We didn’t think it was necessarily necessary to repeat it.""
it's incredible, isn't it, that dead people are even allowed to run. *pause while we insert appropriate joke about currently serving politicians and how dead they may be* but then better dead than red, eh? or than rainbow or black or anything else.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
the scariest thing
this is a photo noam took with her phone of the first rat. without the tail, it was the length from the tip of her middle finger to halfway up to her elbow. AAAAAAAAARGH! and hallowe'en greetings. (i have been hiding in the back of the house, since i did not have the nerve to put up the sign on the front door telling them that a crazy woman from england who is diabetic and on the first week of the south beach diet would probably not be opening the door and handing them treats).
wba 3-3 qpr
against all odds; despite a right-back playing left-back, a centre-back playing right-back, the centre back not really playing at all; on a dark hallowe'en night in the midlands; while everyone else was watching barca v the scum ... we scored 3 goals away from home and nicked a point. hurrah!
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
obesity causes global warming?
an op-ed in today's ny times. apparently, a billion extra gallons of gasoline a year are being used to transport fatter americans around the country. not only that, but how about this:
"The idea of using economic incentives to help people shed pounds comes up in the periodic calls for taxes on junk food. Martin B. Schmidt, an economist at the College of William and Mary, suggests a tax on food bought at drive-through windows. Describing his theory in a recent Op-Ed article in The New York Times, Dr. Schmidt said people would expend more calories if they had to get out of their cars to pick up their food.
“We tax cigarettes in part because of their health cost,” he wrote. “Similarly, the individual’s decision to lead a sedentary lifestyle will end up costing taxpayers.”"
the last universally acceptable prejudice - stoutism! (a tip of the typing key to an ancient episode of 'not the nine o'clock news')
maybe i'd better go out and buy some scales to make sure my south beach diet is working?
"The idea of using economic incentives to help people shed pounds comes up in the periodic calls for taxes on junk food. Martin B. Schmidt, an economist at the College of William and Mary, suggests a tax on food bought at drive-through windows. Describing his theory in a recent Op-Ed article in The New York Times, Dr. Schmidt said people would expend more calories if they had to get out of their cars to pick up their food.
“We tax cigarettes in part because of their health cost,” he wrote. “Similarly, the individual’s decision to lead a sedentary lifestyle will end up costing taxpayers.”"
the last universally acceptable prejudice - stoutism! (a tip of the typing key to an ancient episode of 'not the nine o'clock news')
maybe i'd better go out and buy some scales to make sure my south beach diet is working?
random telephone calls
my mobile just rang at 11:30 pm. when i picked it up i said hello, and a guy at the other end said, "who are you?" "hey, you called me," i said, "who are you?!" sounds like the beginning of a comedy sketch, or a sneaky new kind telemarketing. in the week before the elections, i assume that nothing is sacred. does anyone know how to set up my telephone so that anyone trying to canvas me automatically receives my recorded message instead? something along the lines of: "your candidate and cause have been recorded. please note that as a result of your call i shall be voting for anybody else. thank you and have a nice day."
o, and the guy? he claimed he was responding to a call from my number. i told him he wasn't, and we parted. where is 717 area code?
o, and the guy? he claimed he was responding to a call from my number. i told him he wasn't, and we parted. where is 717 area code?
Sunday, October 29, 2006
the death of a flying rat
if you check out noam's myspace blog this week you will see a record of her current rat infestation. the first rat that was killed was shot three times by the ratman before it fell. shot with poison pellets from a rat rifle it was.
i have been a vegetarian since 1975, and to this day find the snuffing out of any life a painful experience. the only exception to this would be mosquitoes (i have always believed that mummy mosquitoes tucked their babies up at night with the promise that one day they too would feast on friedlander) and london pigeons. ever since a trip up to town in the early seventies, when we visited trafalgar square, i have hated london pigeons. our kind parents paid their tuppence for a right guard lid full of bird seed, and we tried to feed the birds. you know those beards of bees that you see photos of every now and then when the news needs a little light refreshment? imagine a toupee of flying rats, whose talons got tangled in your naturally curly hair and then they tried to fly away.
nu, i don't like pigeons, and therefore rather enjoyed the following bit from a.a.gill in today's sunday times:
"It's all a bit hard to swallow
It’s a bird-eat-bird world. The pelicans in St. James’s Park are swallowing the pigeons and the usual swooning battalion of critter lovers is reaching for the smelling salts and the green ink. Pelicans should breakfast on fish.
Though I can’t for the life of me see the qualitative difference between the life of a haddock and a feral pigeon. We go to watch pelicans being fed fish in the zoo; how much more amusing to chuck them a flying rat. I think urban pigeon coursing would be an exciting day out and fun for all the family.
We’d start with a mad woman throwing breadcrumbs as bait while we hit behind trees with our trained pelicans at the ready. Maybe packs of them would go for foxes — riding after a squadron of killer pelicans coming out of the sun would be brilliant.
The pelican is the ancient symbol of selfless charity. They were thought to feed their young with the blood from their breast (they don’t) and the pigeon of course is cousin to the dove, harbinger of peace. Some might think that charity eating peace was an augury of some imminent catastrophe or perhaps it’s just an elegant bestiary metaphor for the end of the Tony Blair years?"
i have been a vegetarian since 1975, and to this day find the snuffing out of any life a painful experience. the only exception to this would be mosquitoes (i have always believed that mummy mosquitoes tucked their babies up at night with the promise that one day they too would feast on friedlander) and london pigeons. ever since a trip up to town in the early seventies, when we visited trafalgar square, i have hated london pigeons. our kind parents paid their tuppence for a right guard lid full of bird seed, and we tried to feed the birds. you know those beards of bees that you see photos of every now and then when the news needs a little light refreshment? imagine a toupee of flying rats, whose talons got tangled in your naturally curly hair and then they tried to fly away.
nu, i don't like pigeons, and therefore rather enjoyed the following bit from a.a.gill in today's sunday times:
"It's all a bit hard to swallow
It’s a bird-eat-bird world. The pelicans in St. James’s Park are swallowing the pigeons and the usual swooning battalion of critter lovers is reaching for the smelling salts and the green ink. Pelicans should breakfast on fish.
Though I can’t for the life of me see the qualitative difference between the life of a haddock and a feral pigeon. We go to watch pelicans being fed fish in the zoo; how much more amusing to chuck them a flying rat. I think urban pigeon coursing would be an exciting day out and fun for all the family.
We’d start with a mad woman throwing breadcrumbs as bait while we hit behind trees with our trained pelicans at the ready. Maybe packs of them would go for foxes — riding after a squadron of killer pelicans coming out of the sun would be brilliant.
The pelican is the ancient symbol of selfless charity. They were thought to feed their young with the blood from their breast (they don’t) and the pigeon of course is cousin to the dove, harbinger of peace. Some might think that charity eating peace was an augury of some imminent catastrophe or perhaps it’s just an elegant bestiary metaphor for the end of the Tony Blair years?"
qpr 1-1 leicester city
one of the few bright sparks in the recent dull performances by my 'r's, here is lee cook in action yesterday afternoon. they were down to ten men and still we did not lose, so it wasn't all bad :-)
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Transgender MP in toilet fracas
just read this on the bbc news site:
"An Italian opposition MP and former showgirl has expressed outrage after meeting a transgender colleague in the parliament's ladies' toilets. Elisabetta Gardini, spokeswoman for former PM Silvio Berlusconi's party, said she felt ill after the encounter during a break in Friday's session. The incident led to heated debate about which toilet the transgender MP, known as Vladimir Luxuria, could use. Ms Luxuria says she has been using ladies' toilets for years. Using the men's would have created even bigger problems, she said. The matter has now been passed to parliamentary procedural officials to resolve.
'Sexual violence'
Ms Gardini said she had been horrified to find Ms Luxuria in the toilets. "It never entered my mind that I'd find him in there", she said. "It felt like sexual violence - I really felt ill." Centre-right MPs backed her call for the creation of a third "transgender" toilet, Reuters news agency said. But ruling coalition deputies accused Ms Gardini of discrimination tantamount to racism. Ms Luxuria said she had not expected such aggression in the parliament.
Born Wladimiro Guadagno, Ms Luxuria wears women's clothes but has not had sex-change surgery. A 40-year-old former drag queen and prominent gay rights activist, she was elected MP for the Communist Refoundation, a member of Prime Minister Romano Prodi's centre-left coalition, in April."
one of my sisters, if she ruled the world, the first thing she would do would be to give each human being their own toilet.
having grown up in bottom-obsessed britain, and lived many years in a hypoallergenic america; my objection to sharing toilets has nothing to do with gender, and everything to do with some kind of fear of being contaminated by, well ... i'm not really sure but it has something to do with the smells and unsavoury nature of bodily waste products. enough already!
so why did this catch my eye? i think because, while i think the complainer is totally over the top, i also had to acknowledge that my path to thinking that had to go through my own initial reaction of yuck a guy in the bathroom. this was followed by but wait a minute this is not a guy it is a woman, and then it was ok. i was just interested that i had that yuck reaction in me. i hope and trust i would not act on it. however, knowing that it is in me too (even if i choose not to act upon it), may help me to be a bit less judgemental.
"An Italian opposition MP and former showgirl has expressed outrage after meeting a transgender colleague in the parliament's ladies' toilets. Elisabetta Gardini, spokeswoman for former PM Silvio Berlusconi's party, said she felt ill after the encounter during a break in Friday's session. The incident led to heated debate about which toilet the transgender MP, known as Vladimir Luxuria, could use. Ms Luxuria says she has been using ladies' toilets for years. Using the men's would have created even bigger problems, she said. The matter has now been passed to parliamentary procedural officials to resolve.
'Sexual violence'
Ms Gardini said she had been horrified to find Ms Luxuria in the toilets. "It never entered my mind that I'd find him in there", she said. "It felt like sexual violence - I really felt ill." Centre-right MPs backed her call for the creation of a third "transgender" toilet, Reuters news agency said. But ruling coalition deputies accused Ms Gardini of discrimination tantamount to racism. Ms Luxuria said she had not expected such aggression in the parliament.
Born Wladimiro Guadagno, Ms Luxuria wears women's clothes but has not had sex-change surgery. A 40-year-old former drag queen and prominent gay rights activist, she was elected MP for the Communist Refoundation, a member of Prime Minister Romano Prodi's centre-left coalition, in April."
one of my sisters, if she ruled the world, the first thing she would do would be to give each human being their own toilet.
having grown up in bottom-obsessed britain, and lived many years in a hypoallergenic america; my objection to sharing toilets has nothing to do with gender, and everything to do with some kind of fear of being contaminated by, well ... i'm not really sure but it has something to do with the smells and unsavoury nature of bodily waste products. enough already!
so why did this catch my eye? i think because, while i think the complainer is totally over the top, i also had to acknowledge that my path to thinking that had to go through my own initial reaction of yuck a guy in the bathroom. this was followed by but wait a minute this is not a guy it is a woman, and then it was ok. i was just interested that i had that yuck reaction in me. i hope and trust i would not act on it. however, knowing that it is in me too (even if i choose not to act upon it), may help me to be a bit less judgemental.
Friday, October 27, 2006
Thursday, October 26, 2006
south beach part deux
o yes d & i started the south beach diet again yesterday. o the desire! o the pain! o the struggle! am currently fighting my cravings by watching old ofra haza videos on youtube.
i am drooling a lot also, although i suspect that is from the fits-all-sizes tray with which i am trying to whiten my teeth.
it is, however, hard not to drool, even if only metaphorically. walking through the supermarket yesterday, buying only permitted foods, items on the shelf called out to me ... 'pick me! eat me! you know you want to!!' honestly, i had to go and stare at the meat counter for a few minutes to calm down. today is the second day of the beginning and brutal two-week phase. am trying to lust after ofra rather than bananas but not doing too well. send 'celery is cool' thoughts (and dental floss)
i am drooling a lot also, although i suspect that is from the fits-all-sizes tray with which i am trying to whiten my teeth.
it is, however, hard not to drool, even if only metaphorically. walking through the supermarket yesterday, buying only permitted foods, items on the shelf called out to me ... 'pick me! eat me! you know you want to!!' honestly, i had to go and stare at the meat counter for a few minutes to calm down. today is the second day of the beginning and brutal two-week phase. am trying to lust after ofra rather than bananas but not doing too well. send 'celery is cool' thoughts (and dental floss)
i love cookie monster!
it took me a while to figure out what tune arik/ernie is singing since i was trying to understand the hebrew. even if your hebrew is crap, if you figure out the tune, you can basically figure out what he is singing!
Monday, October 23, 2006
a bit of hope ...
... so after writing my depressed post, i went trawling around my links. do please go look at treppenwitz - he has taught me a lot about tolerance. he might appear to be the kind of jew at the furthest end of the spectrum away from me and towards the right, yet his mind and heart are open. because of this, i am able to listen to him, instead of intolerantly dismissing him immediately.
anyway, this snippet really cheered me up. there is a second story in the post, but you'll have to go to his site to read it :-) the link is on the right.
"Monday, October 16, 2006
Small acts of kindness
[Setting: Standing on line in a bakery on Friday afternoon, casually eavesdropping on two women having a conversation behind me]
Woman 1: I'm running really late today... I wonder if they've already locked the cash registers.
Woman 2: 'Locked the cash registers?' What does that mean... they won't take our money?
W1: Yeah... basically. 30 - 45 minutes before they officially close, the owner goes around to each cash register and locks the drawers... and then goes home. The cashiers have instructions to tell anyone coming after the drawers are locked that they have no way to accept money so whatever the customers have picked out is free.
W2: I don't get it... why would the owner do that?
W1: Don't you see... it's just like in Machane Yehuda [the open air produce market in Jerusalem] where a lot of the vendors who sell perishables slash their prices an hour before closing for shabbat. That way the poor people can 'buy' the things they need for shabbat with dignity... and the vendors basically give things that can't be stored over shabbat to a worthy cause. And because some of the people doing last minute shopping really are simply running late, there is no shame for the poor because nobody knows who is who.
W2: Wait, so you're telling me it's an open secret that poor people come here during the last hour before closing and they get their baked goods for free?
W1: Exactly, only everyone's dignity is protected by the fact that some shoppers are actually running late... and by the owner's little charade of the locked cash registers. This way everyone wins; The owner of the bakery performs a 'hesed' [roughly translates as an act of kindness]... the cashiers get to take part in the act... and the recipients can just as easily be genuinely running late as poor... so there is no embarrassment to anyone at being on the receiving end of the act.
W2: [after a brief pause] Y'know... sometimes I love this country!
[Author's note: Me too!]
Posted by David Bogner on October 16, 2006"
anyway, this snippet really cheered me up. there is a second story in the post, but you'll have to go to his site to read it :-) the link is on the right.
"Monday, October 16, 2006
Small acts of kindness
[Setting: Standing on line in a bakery on Friday afternoon, casually eavesdropping on two women having a conversation behind me]
Woman 1: I'm running really late today... I wonder if they've already locked the cash registers.
Woman 2: 'Locked the cash registers?' What does that mean... they won't take our money?
W1: Yeah... basically. 30 - 45 minutes before they officially close, the owner goes around to each cash register and locks the drawers... and then goes home. The cashiers have instructions to tell anyone coming after the drawers are locked that they have no way to accept money so whatever the customers have picked out is free.
W2: I don't get it... why would the owner do that?
W1: Don't you see... it's just like in Machane Yehuda [the open air produce market in Jerusalem] where a lot of the vendors who sell perishables slash their prices an hour before closing for shabbat. That way the poor people can 'buy' the things they need for shabbat with dignity... and the vendors basically give things that can't be stored over shabbat to a worthy cause. And because some of the people doing last minute shopping really are simply running late, there is no shame for the poor because nobody knows who is who.
W2: Wait, so you're telling me it's an open secret that poor people come here during the last hour before closing and they get their baked goods for free?
W1: Exactly, only everyone's dignity is protected by the fact that some shoppers are actually running late... and by the owner's little charade of the locked cash registers. This way everyone wins; The owner of the bakery performs a 'hesed' [roughly translates as an act of kindness]... the cashiers get to take part in the act... and the recipients can just as easily be genuinely running late as poor... so there is no embarrassment to anyone at being on the receiving end of the act.
W2: [after a brief pause] Y'know... sometimes I love this country!
[Author's note: Me too!]
Posted by David Bogner on October 16, 2006"
happy families
here's a sweepingly generalised question: are there any happy families any more?
i suppose i should go back to my own archives re the discussion on the nature of happiness.
ok - how about: where are the emotionally healthy families?
look at the cheerful children in the photo. they may even be holding hands. they have just been adding their footprints to all the others way way back to the original druids. they look like they are having a fun day. 37 years later they are both miserable, lonely and chronically ill.
perhaps in the end the question should be more along the lines of: where do we find hope?
my first thought? babies and children. being with them how can i not want to do everything i can to help make sure they are safe and well?
and if you don't have one of these little elves? i know there are millions of children in need - it is just a bit harder to make that gut connection that comes from holding one in your arms.
in any case, googled 'child poverty and hunger' and saw this re the hits:
about 5,030,000 for child poverty and hunger. (0.58 seconds)
see the page here
i suppose i should go back to my own archives re the discussion on the nature of happiness.
ok - how about: where are the emotionally healthy families?
look at the cheerful children in the photo. they may even be holding hands. they have just been adding their footprints to all the others way way back to the original druids. they look like they are having a fun day. 37 years later they are both miserable, lonely and chronically ill.
perhaps in the end the question should be more along the lines of: where do we find hope?
my first thought? babies and children. being with them how can i not want to do everything i can to help make sure they are safe and well?
and if you don't have one of these little elves? i know there are millions of children in need - it is just a bit harder to make that gut connection that comes from holding one in your arms.
in any case, googled 'child poverty and hunger' and saw this re the hits:
about 5,030,000 for child poverty and hunger. (0.58 seconds)
see the page here
Saturday, October 21, 2006
something to cheer me up
found this box of old slides today, and a scanner that can scan them. in those olden golden days when we were allowed to climb all over the rocks of stonehenge, here is my father pretending, i think, to be samson :-)
sheffield wednesday 3-2 qpr
bloody hell cannot even beat a managerless team doing worse than we are (until today of course). and why are they called 'wednesday' anyway? (apparently the name comes from the wednesday cricket club whose meetings were held on wednesday afternoons, this being the official day workers were able to play sports - ed.)
a last look at berlin
one more picture from this week - piglet east of the brandenburg gate. last time we were there, the gate was covered in scaffolding. the time before, we could only view it from the west. on this day, as the sun began to set and my legs began to jellify (from a long day's walking), we took this picture.
Friday, October 20, 2006
the real thing
it's one thing looking at pictures of an edible little girl (seen here with her abba last tuesday night). it's another thing when you hold her in your arms yourself. cannot help falling in love!
Thursday, October 19, 2006
... ...
i looked at him. he looked at me. i looked some more. stood there for about 45 minutes, then got on the bus to the airport. what a great job, eh? just sit there, and be yourself, and everyone loves you for it.
this morning in berlin ...
... i passed these flamingoes on the way to the pandas. i also passed elephants (including a baby), some possible llamas, some sort of mountain goats, the entrance to the monkey house and a giraffe. the flamingoes were stunning enough to slow me down on my way to the pandas :-)
Monday, October 16, 2006
piglet and the bill
my favourite piglet pic of recent years, although i did kinda sorta cheat a little to get it in that i put on a bit of an american accent when i asked the policemen if they were allowed to be in photographs, and when they said yes, if they would please hold my pig!
off to berlin later today, perhaps maybe possibly to meet my lovely niece. send kind thoughts ...
off to berlin later today, perhaps maybe possibly to meet my lovely niece. send kind thoughts ...
Sunday, October 15, 2006
qpr 3-3 norwich
first wish was that we did not lose while i was present.
wish granted.
second wish was that i see a qpr goal.
wish granted. thrice.
there is nothing like being at mecca in person. even though j. smith is on loan from chelscum he scored for us. thank you tracy for getting me such a brilliant seat.
afterwards in the pub i was saying to someone that it could've been worse - i could be a new york yankees fan - hang on a sec, i am!
wish granted.
second wish was that i see a qpr goal.
wish granted. thrice.
there is nothing like being at mecca in person. even though j. smith is on loan from chelscum he scored for us. thank you tracy for getting me such a brilliant seat.
afterwards in the pub i was saying to someone that it could've been worse - i could be a new york yankees fan - hang on a sec, i am!
Friday, October 13, 2006
the josephus problem
just watched an episode of the bbc1 roman empire epic dealing with the judean revolt. strangely the romans vespasian and titus were very anglo-saxon and british, whereas the revolting jews - except the finely-boned ed stoppard (son of sir tom) - were rather stubbly (as opposed to the full beards observant jews might have) and a bit swarthy. mr ed was designer-stubbly, which only made him more gorgeous. o, he played josephus. anyway, were not romans italians?
while trying to remind myself whether the original josephus was as self-serving as the bbc use of his writings presented him as being, came across the following from wikipedia. i have omitted the detailed formulae - if you wish to see them, please google.
"The Josephus problem is a theoretic problem occurring in computer science and mathematics. There are n people standing in a circle waiting to be executed. After the first man is executed, k−1 people are skipped and the k-th man is executed. Then again, k−1 people are skipped and the k-th man is executed. The elimination proceeds around the circle (which is becoming smaller and smaller as the executed people are removed), until only the last man remains, who is given freedom.
The task is to choose the place in the initial circle so that you survive (remain the last one), given n and k.
The problem is named after Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian living in the 1st century. As the legend goes, he and his 40 comrade soldiers were trapped in a cave, surrounded by Romans. They chose suicide over capture and decided that they will form a circle and start killing themselves using a step of three. As Josephus did not want to die, he was able to find the safe place, and stayed alive, later joining the Romans who captured him."
while trying to remind myself whether the original josephus was as self-serving as the bbc use of his writings presented him as being, came across the following from wikipedia. i have omitted the detailed formulae - if you wish to see them, please google.
"The Josephus problem is a theoretic problem occurring in computer science and mathematics. There are n people standing in a circle waiting to be executed. After the first man is executed, k−1 people are skipped and the k-th man is executed. Then again, k−1 people are skipped and the k-th man is executed. The elimination proceeds around the circle (which is becoming smaller and smaller as the executed people are removed), until only the last man remains, who is given freedom.
The task is to choose the place in the initial circle so that you survive (remain the last one), given n and k.
The problem is named after Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian living in the 1st century. As the legend goes, he and his 40 comrade soldiers were trapped in a cave, surrounded by Romans. They chose suicide over capture and decided that they will form a circle and start killing themselves using a step of three. As Josephus did not want to die, he was able to find the safe place, and stayed alive, later joining the Romans who captured him."
the house of lords
earlier today, piglet and i went to the house of lords to have tea with my godmother, the rabbi baroness. it was lovely to see her, and exciting to be in the parts other plebs cannot reach. we followed the red carpets towards the tea-room, except for one point where the carpet was blue. j. explained that when on the blue carpet i was forbidden to speak, although she was permitted. interesting.
while at tea, j. introduced me to a gentleman who, she said, was responsible for the passage of the civil marriage law (i guess i mean the one that allowed same-sex partnerships). i looked at him and said: thank you. he looked a bit startled, and then replied gallantly: you're welcome!
life in london is o so very different.
while at tea, j. introduced me to a gentleman who, she said, was responsible for the passage of the civil marriage law (i guess i mean the one that allowed same-sex partnerships). i looked at him and said: thank you. he looked a bit startled, and then replied gallantly: you're welcome!
life in london is o so very different.
Monday, October 09, 2006
beautiful noam
... but i am rather fond of this one.
anyway, we had a wonderful lunch together. my first time at the ivy and, forbidden by n. to turn my head to look at jonathan ross and his pink-headed wife, i had to make do with the profile of the erstwhilebisto lady and occasional glimpses of miranda richardson over the shoulder of a man with enormous eyebrows. o, the food was quite lovely too :-)
life in london is o so very different.
anyway, we had a wonderful lunch together. my first time at the ivy and, forbidden by n. to turn my head to look at jonathan ross and his pink-headed wife, i had to make do with the profile of the erstwhile
life in london is o so very different.
happy birthday to noam!
ten years younger than i am again today, she wanted me to post a pic in which she looks beautiful but i cannot decide. this is our mother's official favourite ...
a proud great aunt
hoping to go to berlin next week myself, here is another shot of our special one in her berliner apartment with her berliner great aunt d.
blogging is difficult when you don't have your own computer :-(
blogging is difficult when you don't have your own computer :-(
Friday, September 29, 2006
back in the blog gang
home for the holydays, i am able to scan my mother's latest shots of our darling o. expect to be inundated :-)
meanwhile, all the best for a happy and healthy new year, and well over the fast!
meanwhile, all the best for a happy and healthy new year, and well over the fast!
Friday, September 15, 2006
listmania!
o you are so lucky. i was just about to start another of my "what books do you have in your bathroom list?" when i saw this! 50 ways to irritate everyone!!
here are my 5 favourites:
i. "Being welcomed to places one has no wish to be in and thanked for things one has no wish to do. "Welcome to the Grottville Multi-Storey Car Park"; "Thank you for paying the Congestion Charge.""
ii. "Restaurant staff who now seem almost entirely recruited from Planet Youguy ("Are you guys ready to order some dessert?")"
iii. "Checking the overnight e-mails to find only 10 identical messages from "Demetrius Fitzcarraldo" offering to cure erectile dysfunction."
iv. "''Celebrity" chefs who invent perversely inedible dishes such as snail trifle and haddock-flavoured ice cream – and then charge gullible customers an additional fortune for having their plates dotted with spots of foam."
v. "Colourless, unexpressive, witless contemporary slang – "bling", "chav", "minger", "a bit rubbish" – disgracing a language that inspired the vernacular of Shakespeare and Dickens"
here are my 5 favourites:
i. "Being welcomed to places one has no wish to be in and thanked for things one has no wish to do. "Welcome to the Grottville Multi-Storey Car Park"; "Thank you for paying the Congestion Charge.""
ii. "Restaurant staff who now seem almost entirely recruited from Planet Youguy ("Are you guys ready to order some dessert?")"
iii. "Checking the overnight e-mails to find only 10 identical messages from "Demetrius Fitzcarraldo" offering to cure erectile dysfunction."
iv. "''Celebrity" chefs who invent perversely inedible dishes such as snail trifle and haddock-flavoured ice cream – and then charge gullible customers an additional fortune for having their plates dotted with spots of foam."
v. "Colourless, unexpressive, witless contemporary slang – "bling", "chav", "minger", "a bit rubbish" – disgracing a language that inspired the vernacular of Shakespeare and Dickens"
Thursday, September 14, 2006
ann richards r.i.p.
former texas governor ann richards has died of cancer. here is an early yahoo obituary.
alongside geraldine ferraro, ann richards was one of the first american women politicians of whom i became aware in the late 1980's as i reached voting age and began to pay attention to u.s. politics.
the report notes some of her pithier statements:
"She grabbed the national spotlight with her keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention when she was the Texas state treasurer. Richards won cheers from delegates when she reminded them that Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, "only backwards and in high heels.""
&
"Richards sealed her partisan reputation with a blast at George H. Bush, a fellow Texan who was vice president at the time: "Poor George, he can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth.""
&
"Richards rose to the governorship with a come-from-behind victory over millionaire cowboy Clayton Williams in 1990. She cracked a half-century male grip on the governor's mansion and celebrated by holding up a T-shirt that showed the state Capitol and read: "A woman's place is in the dome.""
sic transit gloria mundi, eh?
alongside geraldine ferraro, ann richards was one of the first american women politicians of whom i became aware in the late 1980's as i reached voting age and began to pay attention to u.s. politics.
the report notes some of her pithier statements:
"She grabbed the national spotlight with her keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention when she was the Texas state treasurer. Richards won cheers from delegates when she reminded them that Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, "only backwards and in high heels.""
&
"Richards sealed her partisan reputation with a blast at George H. Bush, a fellow Texan who was vice president at the time: "Poor George, he can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth.""
&
"Richards rose to the governorship with a come-from-behind victory over millionaire cowboy Clayton Williams in 1990. She cracked a half-century male grip on the governor's mansion and celebrated by holding up a T-shirt that showed the state Capitol and read: "A woman's place is in the dome.""
sic transit gloria mundi, eh?
first rabbis ordained in germany since ww2
our friend ruth gledhill writes in the times this week about the ordination of new rabbis by the abraham geiger college.
i know very little about this seminary, and thus can make no comment about it. the article is headed by a fine picture of my godmother, and ends with quotes from an advance copy of the speech she was to make. what jumped off the screen at me was this paragraph:
“Perhaps we will once again see that extraordinary German Jewish symbiosis. Perhaps once again, with these new rabbis, this rebirth, we will see talent spring forth and a capacity for cultural and intellectual endeavour to find a modus vivendi with a religious life that is not orthodox but is demanding.”
o i could cry at that. that is what we grew up with (julia and i). those were the rabbis and the teachers and the relatives and friends that we knew and loved. they are the reason we do what we do today, or try to.
there was a comparable stratum in the american reform movement, but most of them also now are dusty hardbacks sitting on low shelves in synagogue libraries used as dumping grounds for books that don't fit in the house but cannot be thrown away.
o yeah? how many of these guys have you heard of, and what do you know about them?
(randomly picked as first that come to mind) kaufmann kohler? isaac mayer wise? ok, a bit more recently ... abraham cronbach? jacob petuchowski? steven schwarzschild? alex schindler? arnold jacob wolf? eugene borowitz? a. stanley dreyfus?
actually, the first that came to mind for me was my father, but i didn't want to show off *blush*
this is rather depressing, actually. julia gave up the congregational rabbinate many years ago. i can hardly wait to see her next month and talk about the choices i need to be making.
in any case, good luck to the newly-minted ones.
i know very little about this seminary, and thus can make no comment about it. the article is headed by a fine picture of my godmother, and ends with quotes from an advance copy of the speech she was to make. what jumped off the screen at me was this paragraph:
“Perhaps we will once again see that extraordinary German Jewish symbiosis. Perhaps once again, with these new rabbis, this rebirth, we will see talent spring forth and a capacity for cultural and intellectual endeavour to find a modus vivendi with a religious life that is not orthodox but is demanding.”
o i could cry at that. that is what we grew up with (julia and i). those were the rabbis and the teachers and the relatives and friends that we knew and loved. they are the reason we do what we do today, or try to.
there was a comparable stratum in the american reform movement, but most of them also now are dusty hardbacks sitting on low shelves in synagogue libraries used as dumping grounds for books that don't fit in the house but cannot be thrown away.
o yeah? how many of these guys have you heard of, and what do you know about them?
(randomly picked as first that come to mind) kaufmann kohler? isaac mayer wise? ok, a bit more recently ... abraham cronbach? jacob petuchowski? steven schwarzschild? alex schindler? arnold jacob wolf? eugene borowitz? a. stanley dreyfus?
actually, the first that came to mind for me was my father, but i didn't want to show off *blush*
this is rather depressing, actually. julia gave up the congregational rabbinate many years ago. i can hardly wait to see her next month and talk about the choices i need to be making.
in any case, good luck to the newly-minted ones.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
here and there
another hebrew sesame street spot on youtube. not terribly good quality, and you have to last through the first few seconds that look like the videotape is being mangled by the machine. however, after that you may watch a sketch that could be the answer to life the universe and everything :-)
if your hebrew is still a bit wobbly, here is the basic premise: the kid wants to be over there, but every time he gets there, it turns out that he is here.
if your hebrew is still a bit wobbly, here is the basic premise: the kid wants to be over there, but every time he gets there, it turns out that he is here.
the face of god
i seem to remember a passage in the torah where moses begs to see the face of god, who tells him he cannot for it would be too much and kill him. god's compromise is to let moses sit in the cleft of the rock and see god's back after god has passed by. (exodus 32:18-23)
in any case, while i understand that all our visions and understanding of god are limited by our human experience; and my tradition tells us we were made in the image of god ... i still worry that we tend to reverse this and make god to be in our image.
what do i mean by this? it has something to do with the difficulty of accepting there are some things we cannot get our heads round. for example, why do bad things happen to good people? if god lets that happen, why should one have anything to do with such a god? we assume that this entity we have defined as a supreme deity works within the rules that we understand. of course we can only understand within our own dimension. yet there seems little space for a god that does not fit our needs.
perhaps we need to start reading the book of job again. god tells it like it is to job:
god speaks out of the whirlwind and says, "who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?"
god continues, "where wast thou when i laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast the understanding. who determined the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who stretched the line upon it? whereupon were the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the cornerstone thereof ...?" (job 38)
you go god!
meanwhile, today's times runs the following story:
America is revealed as one nation under four faces of God
By Tim Reid
A survey shows that the way Americans see the Almighty is closely linked to their political beliefs
NINE in ten Americans believe in God but how they vote, or regard the Iraq war, depends on the very different views they have about His personality, according to a detailed survey of religion in the US.
It found that Americans hold four different images of God — Authoritarian, Benevolent, Critical or Distant — and these views are far more powerful indicators about their political, social and moral attitudes than any of the traditional categories such as Protestant, Catholic or Evangelical.
The study also suggests that America is more religious than previously thought, with only 5.2 per cent of respondents calling themselves atheist and 91.8 per cent saying that they believed in God.
In Britain, by contrast, 20 per cent say that they hold no belief in a higher power and only 38 per cent claim to believe in a traditional God, according to a 2005 survey.
The American survey, conducted by Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion in Texas, broke new ground in asking respondents how they viewed God’s personality.
Researchers found that Americans hold four distinct views, and these “Four Gods” are remarkably accurate diviners of how an American thinks about everything from politics, abortion, taxation and marriage. “You learn more about people’s moral and political behaviour if you know their image of God than almost any other measure,” said Christopher Bader, one of the researchers."
you can read the rest of the article here.
what i have gleaned from it is basically the more authoritarian god is, the more conservative one is; and the more distant god is, the less connected one is to one's tradition of origin.
what worries me most, is this quote:
"“This is a very powerful tool to understand core differences in the United States,” said Paul Froese, a professor at Baylor. “If I know your image of God, I can tell all kind of things about you. It’s a central part of your world view.”"
sounds like a bit of a marketing tool if you ask me.
in any case, while i understand that all our visions and understanding of god are limited by our human experience; and my tradition tells us we were made in the image of god ... i still worry that we tend to reverse this and make god to be in our image.
what do i mean by this? it has something to do with the difficulty of accepting there are some things we cannot get our heads round. for example, why do bad things happen to good people? if god lets that happen, why should one have anything to do with such a god? we assume that this entity we have defined as a supreme deity works within the rules that we understand. of course we can only understand within our own dimension. yet there seems little space for a god that does not fit our needs.
perhaps we need to start reading the book of job again. god tells it like it is to job:
god speaks out of the whirlwind and says, "who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?"
god continues, "where wast thou when i laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast the understanding. who determined the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who stretched the line upon it? whereupon were the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the cornerstone thereof ...?" (job 38)
you go god!
meanwhile, today's times runs the following story:
America is revealed as one nation under four faces of God
By Tim Reid
A survey shows that the way Americans see the Almighty is closely linked to their political beliefs
NINE in ten Americans believe in God but how they vote, or regard the Iraq war, depends on the very different views they have about His personality, according to a detailed survey of religion in the US.
It found that Americans hold four different images of God — Authoritarian, Benevolent, Critical or Distant — and these views are far more powerful indicators about their political, social and moral attitudes than any of the traditional categories such as Protestant, Catholic or Evangelical.
The study also suggests that America is more religious than previously thought, with only 5.2 per cent of respondents calling themselves atheist and 91.8 per cent saying that they believed in God.
In Britain, by contrast, 20 per cent say that they hold no belief in a higher power and only 38 per cent claim to believe in a traditional God, according to a 2005 survey.
The American survey, conducted by Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion in Texas, broke new ground in asking respondents how they viewed God’s personality.
Researchers found that Americans hold four distinct views, and these “Four Gods” are remarkably accurate diviners of how an American thinks about everything from politics, abortion, taxation and marriage. “You learn more about people’s moral and political behaviour if you know their image of God than almost any other measure,” said Christopher Bader, one of the researchers."
you can read the rest of the article here.
what i have gleaned from it is basically the more authoritarian god is, the more conservative one is; and the more distant god is, the less connected one is to one's tradition of origin.
what worries me most, is this quote:
"“This is a very powerful tool to understand core differences in the United States,” said Paul Froese, a professor at Baylor. “If I know your image of God, I can tell all kind of things about you. It’s a central part of your world view.”"
sounds like a bit of a marketing tool if you ask me.
thank you, danya!
qpr lost tonight, and are at the bottom of the table. their defence has more holes than my memory. was feeling a bit blue and then found the hebrew version of ernie singing "rubber ducky" on youtube via danya's blog. definitely cheered me up!
here it is in english if your ivrit is a bit rusty :-)
here it is in english if your ivrit is a bit rusty :-)
Sunday, September 10, 2006
go dexter!
dexter is congratulated by cooky, birch & nick ward. the commentator on qpr world has to have been one of the worst ever. he spent half the time advertising another programme, he rarely described what was actually going on, and he said the 3 guys not dexter in this pic were hard to tell apart because they all had the same hair!
who cares ... a happy picture, of celebration, joy & success!
btw, today while wandering round the mall, there seemed to be myriad babies. many of them got tired of wandering round the mall and started wailing. i said to d - wouldn't it be nice if we could just wail like that when we felt like it? so we did. briefly :-)
who cares ... a happy picture, of celebration, joy & success!
btw, today while wandering round the mall, there seemed to be myriad babies. many of them got tired of wandering round the mall and started wailing. i said to d - wouldn't it be nice if we could just wail like that when we felt like it? so we did. briefly :-)
plymouth argyle 1-1 qpr
we still didn't win but we still didn't lose. honours even between olly (our old manager) & waddo (the new guy). in this pic dexter blackstock nutmegs the argyle keeper for the opening goal.
Saturday, September 09, 2006
leviticus
thinking about the ways that people interpret the torah after reading about the possibility that the conservative movement in the us might actually start to accept g/b/l/t rabbis, i then came across the following bbc world service broadcast written by my dear father:
"More than thirty years ago, I shared a bed with a Catholic priest and a Methodist minister. It was a small bed-and a long night. Just the same, I would not have forgone that experience for all the tea in China. And we didn't even have tea in that small cottage in Selma, Alabama. We had spent the night in the black ghetto of that town in order to join in the Civil Rights March from Selma to Montgomery. The next morning, I would walk alongside Martin Luther King, the Nobel Prize Laureate Ralph Bunche, and my own teacher and friend Professor Abraham Heschel. It was all part of a statement of support for the persecuted black community in the United States which would be heard and seen throughout the world. But, the night before, we discovered solidarity and religious faith in the family bed of our hosts who insisted that they would sleep on the floor. It meant so much to them to have us as their guests. And it was important to us as well.
What can a rabbi, priest, and minister discuss together on a night like that, when sleep is almost impossible? We should have talked about the shared dream, the hopes to achieve full civil rights for dispossessed and persecuted minorities. Or we could have talked about dangers: during the afternoon, some rifle shots had been sent in my direction. The rednecks roaring by in their car had only intended to scare me; and I could have assured them that they had succeeded in this. But what DID the three of us talk about that night? We talked shop, of course-about the Bible, and how to interpret the sacred texts.
Oddly enough, one text we did discuss was read in our synagogues this week: Leviticus 19. The first words in it define all of that text: kiddoshim t'h'yu 'You shall be holy, because I the Lord your God am holy'. The three of us, clergymen in different traditions, strive after holiness. As a rabbi, I had less problems than the others. Rabbis are not really holy. When I am not in town, any lay-person in my congregation can take the service, read from the Torah, give the sermon and pronounce the blessings. Rabbi means 'teacher', not a holy man. In any event, the three of us, interpreters of that shared sacred text, knew that we could find a definition of holiness in these lines. The text is very clear here. It turns to the Ten Commandments, and lists them with new interpretations which make us aware that to be 'holy as God is holy' means to be compassionate and merciful and to spend our lives in ethical actions. That is the only way to acquire holiness, although my colleagues on that night could disagree with me to a certain extent. 'A hermit in the desert, a monk or a nun in an enclosed order can be very holy', was their argument. In the end I suggested that this training might make them holy-but only if they then served the community and the world.
But there were subtleties in the Biblical text which all of us enjoyed. 'You shall not curse the deaf, or put a stumbling block before the blind' is an absolutely marvellous text. We could argue that a deaf person is not damaged by a curse he or she will never hear; and that a blind person will stumble over an obstacle on an unfamiliar road without realising that it was not bad luck but malice which caused a fall. But the key to the passage is the final sentence: "v'ahavta rea-cha kamocha, ani adonai", 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself; I am the Lord.' God reaches out to every human being; and we are taught to see others as ourself, to recognise each human being as an aspect of God. Then, ethical actions unite us, and we become like God: HOLY.
In the morning we went out to march with Martin Luther King towards freedom."
why, she cried in a fit of naivety, why is it so hard not to do to each other what is hateful to us? gut shabbes
"More than thirty years ago, I shared a bed with a Catholic priest and a Methodist minister. It was a small bed-and a long night. Just the same, I would not have forgone that experience for all the tea in China. And we didn't even have tea in that small cottage in Selma, Alabama. We had spent the night in the black ghetto of that town in order to join in the Civil Rights March from Selma to Montgomery. The next morning, I would walk alongside Martin Luther King, the Nobel Prize Laureate Ralph Bunche, and my own teacher and friend Professor Abraham Heschel. It was all part of a statement of support for the persecuted black community in the United States which would be heard and seen throughout the world. But, the night before, we discovered solidarity and religious faith in the family bed of our hosts who insisted that they would sleep on the floor. It meant so much to them to have us as their guests. And it was important to us as well.
What can a rabbi, priest, and minister discuss together on a night like that, when sleep is almost impossible? We should have talked about the shared dream, the hopes to achieve full civil rights for dispossessed and persecuted minorities. Or we could have talked about dangers: during the afternoon, some rifle shots had been sent in my direction. The rednecks roaring by in their car had only intended to scare me; and I could have assured them that they had succeeded in this. But what DID the three of us talk about that night? We talked shop, of course-about the Bible, and how to interpret the sacred texts.
Oddly enough, one text we did discuss was read in our synagogues this week: Leviticus 19. The first words in it define all of that text: kiddoshim t'h'yu 'You shall be holy, because I the Lord your God am holy'. The three of us, clergymen in different traditions, strive after holiness. As a rabbi, I had less problems than the others. Rabbis are not really holy. When I am not in town, any lay-person in my congregation can take the service, read from the Torah, give the sermon and pronounce the blessings. Rabbi means 'teacher', not a holy man. In any event, the three of us, interpreters of that shared sacred text, knew that we could find a definition of holiness in these lines. The text is very clear here. It turns to the Ten Commandments, and lists them with new interpretations which make us aware that to be 'holy as God is holy' means to be compassionate and merciful and to spend our lives in ethical actions. That is the only way to acquire holiness, although my colleagues on that night could disagree with me to a certain extent. 'A hermit in the desert, a monk or a nun in an enclosed order can be very holy', was their argument. In the end I suggested that this training might make them holy-but only if they then served the community and the world.
But there were subtleties in the Biblical text which all of us enjoyed. 'You shall not curse the deaf, or put a stumbling block before the blind' is an absolutely marvellous text. We could argue that a deaf person is not damaged by a curse he or she will never hear; and that a blind person will stumble over an obstacle on an unfamiliar road without realising that it was not bad luck but malice which caused a fall. But the key to the passage is the final sentence: "v'ahavta rea-cha kamocha, ani adonai", 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself; I am the Lord.' God reaches out to every human being; and we are taught to see others as ourself, to recognise each human being as an aspect of God. Then, ethical actions unite us, and we become like God: HOLY.
In the morning we went out to march with Martin Luther King towards freedom."
why, she cried in a fit of naivety, why is it so hard not to do to each other what is hateful to us? gut shabbes
conservative judaism to lift ban on gay rabbis?
a report i just read on yahoo. a snippet to whet your interest:
"Rabbi Joel Roth, a leading religious scholar and a member of the Conservative Law Committee, questioned whether people with traditional Jewish views on sexuality will stay, even if the panel allows synagogues leeway to accept or reject gay relationships. Roth said he has been "demonized" for saying that he interprets religious law as barring same-gender sex.
"I know the law as it stands causes pain," he said. "But pain is not to be equated with immorality."
Rabbi Elliot Dorff, vice chairman of the Law Committee and also a respected scholar, supports ordaining gays, saying "it is simply not natural" to demand that they remain celibate.
"We have to interpret God's will in our time," Dorff said."
"Rabbi Joel Roth, a leading religious scholar and a member of the Conservative Law Committee, questioned whether people with traditional Jewish views on sexuality will stay, even if the panel allows synagogues leeway to accept or reject gay relationships. Roth said he has been "demonized" for saying that he interprets religious law as barring same-gender sex.
"I know the law as it stands causes pain," he said. "But pain is not to be equated with immorality."
Rabbi Elliot Dorff, vice chairman of the Law Committee and also a respected scholar, supports ordaining gays, saying "it is simply not natural" to demand that they remain celibate.
"We have to interpret God's will in our time," Dorff said."
english from arabic
sorting through mounds of paper in the masses of boxes that travel with me from job to job, i came upon an informational handout from the council on islamic education. some arabic words that are the origin of familiar english ones:
al-jabr
amir al-rahl
zirafah
naranj
sifr
trafiq
&
banana.
o, of course, excuse me:
algebra
admiral
giraffe
orange
zero
traffic
&
banana.
al-jabr
amir al-rahl
zirafah
naranj
sifr
trafiq
&
banana.
o, of course, excuse me:
algebra
admiral
giraffe
orange
zero
traffic
&
banana.
who was grace hopper?
i cannot for the life of me remember how i ended up on an internet page about grace hopper, but i did. what's the big deal about her? well, first of all, she's an unsung woman who achieved a lot in her field. secondly, she's the person who invented the term computer "bug". in 1951 she was working on the UNIVAC computer, and found a moth in its workings that was causing a problem. she removed it and placed it in the logbook! if you are interested, here are some links to learn a little more about her:
the wit and wisdom of grace hopper
pioneer computer scientist
brief biography
the wit and wisdom of grace hopper
pioneer computer scientist
brief biography
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
modern english
the telegraph reports on some of the new words that are entering the chambers dictionary.
these include "bingo wings" (flaps of skin that hang down from the upper arm) and "muffin top" (the roll of fat that spills over a pair of low-cut trousers). also in there are "sudoku", "i-pod" & "islamophobe".
my pet peeves these days include "to impact", rather than to have an impact on something; "to resonate" as an alternative to empathy and "to piggyback" on something someone else has said. yccccccccchhhhhhhhh!
one of my favourite words at the moment is 'palaver'. mind you, 'muffin top' is a good one!
these include "bingo wings" (flaps of skin that hang down from the upper arm) and "muffin top" (the roll of fat that spills over a pair of low-cut trousers). also in there are "sudoku", "i-pod" & "islamophobe".
my pet peeves these days include "to impact", rather than to have an impact on something; "to resonate" as an alternative to empathy and "to piggyback" on something someone else has said. yccccccccchhhhhhhhh!
one of my favourite words at the moment is 'palaver'. mind you, 'muffin top' is a good one!
the eyes don't have it
one of the things that i find really hard to accept about the work of lawyers is that it has less to do with right/wrong and more to do with how to argue one's way around the legal system. an interesting example today - here is an excerpt from the telegraph regarding a man who was arrested for dangerous driving while blind:
"Pc Austin's colleague, Pc Stuart Edge, told the court that he asked Aziz whether he could see him. He said: "He removed the dark-coloured sunglasses he was wearing and I could clearly see he was blind as he had no eyes."
Timothy Gascoyne, defending, said Aziz, who did not give evidence, should be cleared because "the question is not whether his driving was dangerous, but whether being blind makes it dangerous".
He said: "If my client hadn't been blind he wouldn't have been arrested for dangerous driving, so it doesn't fall far below what is expected from a careful and competent driver.""
mr. gascoyne, i salute your chutzpah. meanwhile, mr. aziz was convicted.
"Pc Austin's colleague, Pc Stuart Edge, told the court that he asked Aziz whether he could see him. He said: "He removed the dark-coloured sunglasses he was wearing and I could clearly see he was blind as he had no eyes."
Timothy Gascoyne, defending, said Aziz, who did not give evidence, should be cleared because "the question is not whether his driving was dangerous, but whether being blind makes it dangerous".
He said: "If my client hadn't been blind he wouldn't have been arrested for dangerous driving, so it doesn't fall far below what is expected from a careful and competent driver.""
mr. gascoyne, i salute your chutzpah. meanwhile, mr. aziz was convicted.
steve irwin r.i.p.
the crocodile hunter is dead, speared in the heart by a stingray barb. i'm not particularly fond of any kind of reality show, including going mano a mano with lions and tigers and bears (o my). thus, of all the obituaries i have so far read, i'd like you to see these comments in the telegraph by virginia mckenna:
"The Crocodile Hunter who got too close
One of television's most charismatic characters has gone. Whether you agreed with Steve Irwin's approach to wildlife or not, his undeniable passion for his subject will be missed by millions.
At yesterday morning's meeting at the offices of my charity, Born Free, we contemplated the loss that his family is now coming to terms with. But the question remains; did Steve Irwin, "The Crocodile Hunter", pay the ultimate price for getting up close and personal with wild animals?
The natural world is under increasing pressure and urban populations are now largely divorced from nature. Yet somehow that dissociation sparks a desire to get back in touch with wild places and wildlife. More people now travel the world in search of wilderness than ever before.
Steve Irwin took "up close and personal" to the limit and, with all due respect to him, I think it was a mistake. In America, there are now thousands of people who keep dangerous wild animals – alligators, snakes, lions and more than 5,000 tigers – as pets. Thousands more people regularly drop off the side of a boat to swim with sharks. Yet others pay handsomely to ride African elephants through the bush. It's not how it was meant to be.
The fundamental truth of the relationship between wild animals and people is one based on mutual respect and, to an extent, fear.
In my experience, the stand-off between a wild animal such as a lion and a human being logically ends with both in retreat. Humans, lions and many other animals are risk-averse. The last thing they want to do is to suffer an injury that will reduce their survival chances. As a result, wild animals rarely attack unless they are threatened or intimidated, or unless they perceive that there is more to gain than there is to be lost.
I have had my own intimate experiences with dangerous wild animals. For nearly a year, my husband, Bill Travers, and I worked with a number of lions in making the film Born Free. But the fundamental message of that film was not about getting close; it was about letting go.
Steve's television performances, without doubt, set the adrenaline rushing. He put himself where few others would dare to tread and I can understand how that kind of television had global mass appeal. Yet I fear that there will be some out there seeking to emulate Steve Irwin's bravura who will not survive such close encounters.
I suspect that it's a little like participating in extreme sports of one kind or another. Each successful high-speed race, each free-fall leap from a plane, each mountain scaled or remote cave explored begins to convince the participant of their invincibility. He is, at least for the moment, immortal.
I know that my son, who has helped move adult African elephants from areas in Kenya where they are under threat to relative safety, will attest to the fact that when a five-ton male is down, matters of personal safety – and common sense – seem insignificant and risks are taken that would otherwise seem foolhardy.
Wild animals are exactly that. Their nature cannot be changed by a few generations in captivity, or because the human being confronting them is a "friend". Natural instincts that have evolved over millions of years are, at best, just below the surface.
Witness the almost lethal attack on Roy Horn, part of the Siegfried & Roy Las Vegas tiger show a couple of years ago, or the continuing, regular and tragic demise of keepers and handlers in circuses and zoos across the world.
My heart goes out to Steve Irwin's family. They will be inconsolable. I just wish that Steve's talent, passion and commitment had been directed more towards the conservation and protection of wild animals in the wild.
In a way, I wish he had been able to keep his distance; if he had, he might still be here."
"The Crocodile Hunter who got too close
One of television's most charismatic characters has gone. Whether you agreed with Steve Irwin's approach to wildlife or not, his undeniable passion for his subject will be missed by millions.
At yesterday morning's meeting at the offices of my charity, Born Free, we contemplated the loss that his family is now coming to terms with. But the question remains; did Steve Irwin, "The Crocodile Hunter", pay the ultimate price for getting up close and personal with wild animals?
The natural world is under increasing pressure and urban populations are now largely divorced from nature. Yet somehow that dissociation sparks a desire to get back in touch with wild places and wildlife. More people now travel the world in search of wilderness than ever before.
Steve Irwin took "up close and personal" to the limit and, with all due respect to him, I think it was a mistake. In America, there are now thousands of people who keep dangerous wild animals – alligators, snakes, lions and more than 5,000 tigers – as pets. Thousands more people regularly drop off the side of a boat to swim with sharks. Yet others pay handsomely to ride African elephants through the bush. It's not how it was meant to be.
The fundamental truth of the relationship between wild animals and people is one based on mutual respect and, to an extent, fear.
In my experience, the stand-off between a wild animal such as a lion and a human being logically ends with both in retreat. Humans, lions and many other animals are risk-averse. The last thing they want to do is to suffer an injury that will reduce their survival chances. As a result, wild animals rarely attack unless they are threatened or intimidated, or unless they perceive that there is more to gain than there is to be lost.
I have had my own intimate experiences with dangerous wild animals. For nearly a year, my husband, Bill Travers, and I worked with a number of lions in making the film Born Free. But the fundamental message of that film was not about getting close; it was about letting go.
Steve's television performances, without doubt, set the adrenaline rushing. He put himself where few others would dare to tread and I can understand how that kind of television had global mass appeal. Yet I fear that there will be some out there seeking to emulate Steve Irwin's bravura who will not survive such close encounters.
I suspect that it's a little like participating in extreme sports of one kind or another. Each successful high-speed race, each free-fall leap from a plane, each mountain scaled or remote cave explored begins to convince the participant of their invincibility. He is, at least for the moment, immortal.
I know that my son, who has helped move adult African elephants from areas in Kenya where they are under threat to relative safety, will attest to the fact that when a five-ton male is down, matters of personal safety – and common sense – seem insignificant and risks are taken that would otherwise seem foolhardy.
Wild animals are exactly that. Their nature cannot be changed by a few generations in captivity, or because the human being confronting them is a "friend". Natural instincts that have evolved over millions of years are, at best, just below the surface.
Witness the almost lethal attack on Roy Horn, part of the Siegfried & Roy Las Vegas tiger show a couple of years ago, or the continuing, regular and tragic demise of keepers and handlers in circuses and zoos across the world.
My heart goes out to Steve Irwin's family. They will be inconsolable. I just wish that Steve's talent, passion and commitment had been directed more towards the conservation and protection of wild animals in the wild.
In a way, I wish he had been able to keep his distance; if he had, he might still be here."
Monday, September 04, 2006
pussycat funnies
poor d. i showed her youtube and we could not stop watching amusing cat videos. the one that left her with tears pouring down her face was this:
and i was also quite taken with this:
all that bravado and then just BAM.
o gosh but laughter can be so healing.
and i was also quite taken with this:
all that bravado and then just BAM.
o gosh but laughter can be so healing.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
happy b-day part deux
the good news was that the rain held off for the outdoor wedding i performed on thursday afternoon.
the bad news was that the rain arrived about twenty minutes after i did.
i sat under my brolly in the arthur ashe stadium, my best british bravado on display; and was rewarded with the brief sight of the players knocking up. lindsey davenport's outfit was scarlet on the jumbo screen above me, and rather more orange waaaaay down below. but the rain returned, and the women went back indoors. d. arrived a few minutes later, and we sat for a few minutes at the top of the bleachers before coming to our senses and, with one last look back (seen here), going back to the car and off for some dinner.
the bad news was that the rain arrived about twenty minutes after i did.
i sat under my brolly in the arthur ashe stadium, my best british bravado on display; and was rewarded with the brief sight of the players knocking up. lindsey davenport's outfit was scarlet on the jumbo screen above me, and rather more orange waaaaay down below. but the rain returned, and the women went back indoors. d. arrived a few minutes later, and we sat for a few minutes at the top of the bleachers before coming to our senses and, with one last look back (seen here), going back to the car and off for some dinner.
happy birthday to me
so i gave up a second night in a great room in quoge to come back for the u.s. open. we'd bought the tickets at the temple auction months ago, and it just happened that they ended up being on my b-day.
d. has never seen a live tennis match before (a profi one that is) and we were rather excited to be there. ms. sharapova, however, seemes even more excited to be in the presence of our friend piglet.
d. has never seen a live tennis match before (a profi one that is) and we were rather excited to be there. ms. sharapova, however, seemes even more excited to be in the presence of our friend piglet.
a new meaning for footprints
had a delicious and almost healthy dinner at the cheesecake factory - d. got me with a slice of cake with a candle in it and the waitress singing. fresh banana cream cheesecake. it may shorten my life by a day or two, but it tasted worth it. afterwards we went shoe shopping. in the shoe shop i learned two things. first of all, there is a make of shoe, licenced by birkenstock, called betula. strangely enough, this is also a biblical hebrew word for virgin. interesting choice ...
secondly, i began to look at the patterns on the soles of the women's shoes on sale. i noticed that the clarks shoes had their trademark daisy on the bottom of some pairs. the thing that got me going, however, was a pair of naturalizer shoes. on the soles were two circles the diameter of a large pill box lid. it took a while to figure out the pattern within - turns out it was the word 'naturalizer' backwards. mmmmmwohaha! (evil laugh) so you hand over your money for these lovely shoes and not only does the company make a profit but every time you leave a footprint somewhere you also leave a little ad printed on the ground. i cannot decide whether to be furious at this kind of manipulation, or in utter awe of the genius who came up with the idea.
secondly, i began to look at the patterns on the soles of the women's shoes on sale. i noticed that the clarks shoes had their trademark daisy on the bottom of some pairs. the thing that got me going, however, was a pair of naturalizer shoes. on the soles were two circles the diameter of a large pill box lid. it took a while to figure out the pattern within - turns out it was the word 'naturalizer' backwards. mmmmmwohaha! (evil laugh) so you hand over your money for these lovely shoes and not only does the company make a profit but every time you leave a footprint somewhere you also leave a little ad printed on the ground. i cannot decide whether to be furious at this kind of manipulation, or in utter awe of the genius who came up with the idea.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
selichot
one of my favourite parts of the torah is in the book of numbers, at the beginning of chapter 14. the children of israel are complaining again, wishing they were dead, or back in egypt; and contemplating returning to egypt. a few chapters earlier i love the bit where they remember the melons and cucumbers and leeks they used to eat in the good old days! anyway, despite the pleas of moses and his guys, the congregation threatens to get nasty and are about to stone them when god shows up in the tabernacle. god is utterly fed up, and suggests that god will destroy them all and start all over again with moses. this could be a big opportunity for moses - to be the founder of a whole new, and hopefully better, people! so what does moses say? listen god - i think this is really bad p.r. for you. if you kill the children of israel now, the egyptians and the others won't be saying o well they were really whiny and totally deserved all they got. no, god, these guys will be saying that you are all mouth and no trousers. you made big promises, but you just couldn't follow through. don't you think it would be a better move to forgive the children of israel and give them another chance? and god responds: good point, moses. i shall do as you say.
WHAT WAS THAT?!
the holy sacred torah has a passage in it where moses argues with god, and not only is not struck down, but also changes god's mind?
indeed it is so. and it is not the only place in the torah where god's mind is changed after a discussion with a human.
this is such an important moment - i don't understand why it is not one of the most famous parts of all the torah. moses' words requesting pardon are part of our atonement services. the previous verses, however, where he dares to argue with god, are not highlighted.
i have so much to say about this, and no idea where to start.
first of all i'll go with brit, which i choose to translate as covenant. by this i mean a relationship, that i often describe on the one hand as a deal, i.e., god gets this and we get that; and on the other hand as a partnership, where we agree to work together towards a particular goal.
try and forget about all the power stuff with superman god smiting us according to his will and punishing us with his absence.
try and think about being in a relationship with someone that you think you could like if you got to know them better.
what kind of things might you do to develop this relationship in a positive way?
perhaps most organised religions started out as a way of gathering together the things they thought would help to develop this relationship.
the problem for me is that over time many people forgot that their records, their sacred scriptures, and the rituals that they had developed over the years, that these things were supposed to help them, rather than oppress them. by this i do not mean to say that if something is too difficult then it is ok to just bin it. i am trying to talk more about how the forms themselves become sacred over time, and the content within them, the thoughts and feelings that engendered them, start to melt into the faraway corners of memory.
trying to get back to the point here ... why am i so excited about the above passage of torah? because god listens. and god is flexible. and god is flexible enough to hear something difficult, and not let pride stop god from changing god's response. even the greatest power that the human mind can posit is able to turn and say hmmmmm maybe there is another way to do things. not only that, but god also is the one to begin the conversation.
whether you believe in god or not, is not the question. whether you believe in relationship, or not - that is the question! if so, what follows logically for me is how do i figure out how to be in relationship with anyone and anything? and that's where selichot comes in! selichot is a time put aside every year as we start to prepare for the new year. the summer is ending (unless you are in the southern hemisphere of course. apologies for my northerncentric perspective). it is a time when we can check in on our relationships, when we can turn to each other and ask, "are you ok?" and then, i hope, i can listen to the answer.
WHAT WAS THAT?!
the holy sacred torah has a passage in it where moses argues with god, and not only is not struck down, but also changes god's mind?
indeed it is so. and it is not the only place in the torah where god's mind is changed after a discussion with a human.
this is such an important moment - i don't understand why it is not one of the most famous parts of all the torah. moses' words requesting pardon are part of our atonement services. the previous verses, however, where he dares to argue with god, are not highlighted.
i have so much to say about this, and no idea where to start.
first of all i'll go with brit, which i choose to translate as covenant. by this i mean a relationship, that i often describe on the one hand as a deal, i.e., god gets this and we get that; and on the other hand as a partnership, where we agree to work together towards a particular goal.
try and forget about all the power stuff with superman god smiting us according to his will and punishing us with his absence.
try and think about being in a relationship with someone that you think you could like if you got to know them better.
what kind of things might you do to develop this relationship in a positive way?
perhaps most organised religions started out as a way of gathering together the things they thought would help to develop this relationship.
the problem for me is that over time many people forgot that their records, their sacred scriptures, and the rituals that they had developed over the years, that these things were supposed to help them, rather than oppress them. by this i do not mean to say that if something is too difficult then it is ok to just bin it. i am trying to talk more about how the forms themselves become sacred over time, and the content within them, the thoughts and feelings that engendered them, start to melt into the faraway corners of memory.
trying to get back to the point here ... why am i so excited about the above passage of torah? because god listens. and god is flexible. and god is flexible enough to hear something difficult, and not let pride stop god from changing god's response. even the greatest power that the human mind can posit is able to turn and say hmmmmm maybe there is another way to do things. not only that, but god also is the one to begin the conversation.
whether you believe in god or not, is not the question. whether you believe in relationship, or not - that is the question! if so, what follows logically for me is how do i figure out how to be in relationship with anyone and anything? and that's where selichot comes in! selichot is a time put aside every year as we start to prepare for the new year. the summer is ending (unless you are in the southern hemisphere of course. apologies for my northerncentric perspective). it is a time when we can check in on our relationships, when we can turn to each other and ask, "are you ok?" and then, i hope, i can listen to the answer.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
you tube pandas
i tubed you tube pandas
am now replaying these with great joy:
and the sneezing panda
an english version!
tai shan at the national zoo in dc a few months ago
and finally, panda preschool in china
my favourite piece of information - that while previously thinking that pandas were solitary creatures without many interests, scientists observing them now see that they like to be touched and played with and have friends with whom to play!
am now replaying these with great joy:
and the sneezing panda
an english version!
tai shan at the national zoo in dc a few months ago
and finally, panda preschool in china
my favourite piece of information - that while previously thinking that pandas were solitary creatures without many interests, scientists observing them now see that they like to be touched and played with and have friends with whom to play!
Monday, August 28, 2006
stuffed animal rights
not that i know any adults who sleep with teddy bears *ahem* but was interested to see in the telegraph today in an article about how betjeman had fibbed about failing an exam for artistic licence the following reference to his bear:
"The record of Betjeman’s pass in divinity is now displayed at the Bodleian Library alongside Archibald Ormsby-Gore, the poet’s teddy bear, which went on public display for the first time for the exhibition.
The bear was the inspiration for Evelyn Waugh’s creation Aloysius, the bear carried around by Sebastian Flyte in Brideshead Revisited. Betjeman died holding the bear in one hand and his elephant, Jumbo, in the other when he died in 1984."
"The record of Betjeman’s pass in divinity is now displayed at the Bodleian Library alongside Archibald Ormsby-Gore, the poet’s teddy bear, which went on public display for the first time for the exhibition.
The bear was the inspiration for Evelyn Waugh’s creation Aloysius, the bear carried around by Sebastian Flyte in Brideshead Revisited. Betjeman died holding the bear in one hand and his elephant, Jumbo, in the other when he died in 1984."
Sunday, August 27, 2006
joy comes in the morning
just finished reading this book by jonathan rosen. auntie d. left it for me at pesach, and i just opened it yesterday. inside was a post-it note written in her handwriting: "a folk saying based on a saying in the talmud. a rabbi whose congregation does not (want) to drive him/her out of town, isn't a rabbi; and a rabbi they drive out of town isn't a man(woman)!"
well, i'm still here.
meanwhile, on p. 142, i read the following:
"... he realized how rudimentary his religious thoughts and feelings were; he had ignored them for so long. He had once written an article about art therapy for the elderly and one of the therapists had explained that you only draw as well as the last time you drew. For most people, this was in childhood, so most adults draw like ten-year-olds. Perhaps his religious life was like that, undeveloped and childish."
is it so for many people? that the last time they really believed in god it was the god they were shown as children: a white old man with a beard on a big throne up in the sky who knows if you've been bad or good and responds accordingly?
then you grow up and realise there is no santa, no tooth fairy and your parents screwed you and the whole world up so there is nothing left in which to believe except what you can hold in your own two hands.
has my religious life grown and matured since i was ten years old? at first i think that i had more faith then, because i believed in happy endings. on the other hand, having some small knowledge of how the world is, and all the evil and horror in it today, perhaps it is a greater sign of faith to remain within it, rather than to run screaming into the dark cloud. my father believed in the thread of gold that is the harbinger of the dawn to come. and he experienced the dawn, surviving the nazi peril and continuing to become a husband, parent and teacher. i'm still waiting.
well, i'm still here.
meanwhile, on p. 142, i read the following:
"... he realized how rudimentary his religious thoughts and feelings were; he had ignored them for so long. He had once written an article about art therapy for the elderly and one of the therapists had explained that you only draw as well as the last time you drew. For most people, this was in childhood, so most adults draw like ten-year-olds. Perhaps his religious life was like that, undeveloped and childish."
is it so for many people? that the last time they really believed in god it was the god they were shown as children: a white old man with a beard on a big throne up in the sky who knows if you've been bad or good and responds accordingly?
then you grow up and realise there is no santa, no tooth fairy and your parents screwed you and the whole world up so there is nothing left in which to believe except what you can hold in your own two hands.
has my religious life grown and matured since i was ten years old? at first i think that i had more faith then, because i believed in happy endings. on the other hand, having some small knowledge of how the world is, and all the evil and horror in it today, perhaps it is a greater sign of faith to remain within it, rather than to run screaming into the dark cloud. my father believed in the thread of gold that is the harbinger of the dawn to come. and he experienced the dawn, surviving the nazi peril and continuing to become a husband, parent and teacher. i'm still waiting.
Saturday, August 26, 2006
poor pluto
the new york times reports on pluto's loss of status as a planet. does this set a dangerous precedent? for example, might qpr be in danger of losing its status as a football team?
"Editorial - And Now There Are Eight
Published: August 25, 2006
The world’s astronomers came to their senses yesterday and approved a new definition of the word “planet” that would drop tiny Pluto from the club and relegate it instead to a lesser realm of “dwarf planets.” It was a welcome step away from a proposal that would have kept Pluto as a planet but simultaneously opened the door for dozens of small, icy bodies on the fringes of the solar system.
The crucial vote came after tumultuous debate at a meeting of the International Astronomical Union, which had been considering a proposal to define a planet as any object that orbits a star and is large enough for its own gravity to pull it into a spherical shape.
That definition was scientifically precise but led to results that offended common sense. An asteroid, a small moon, and another icy ball like Pluto would suddenly have been catapulted to planet-hood, swelling the number of planets to 12, with hordes more icy rocks likely to qualify as more was learned about them.
Fortunately, the astronomers have now added another requirement to the definition. Planets must not only be large enough to be round, they must also have cleared out the neighborhood around their orbits. Pluto would not qualify — it orbits in a belt of icy debris on the edge of the solar system. Neither would an icy rock nicknamed Xena, which orbits in that same zone, nor Ceres, a big asteroid that marches in the company of other asteroids. Pluto’s moon, Charon, which had qualified under the first proposal, is also out of the running.
Pluto, with its small size and oddball orbit, should never have been deemed a planet in the first place. Henceforth there will be eight planets, at least three dwarf planets, and tens of thousands of “smaller solar system bodies,” like comets and asteroids. Our only regret is that the astronomers chose the name “dwarf planets” for Pluto’s new category instead of abandoning the word entirely when discussing these less-than-planetary bodies."
"Editorial - And Now There Are Eight
Published: August 25, 2006
The world’s astronomers came to their senses yesterday and approved a new definition of the word “planet” that would drop tiny Pluto from the club and relegate it instead to a lesser realm of “dwarf planets.” It was a welcome step away from a proposal that would have kept Pluto as a planet but simultaneously opened the door for dozens of small, icy bodies on the fringes of the solar system.
The crucial vote came after tumultuous debate at a meeting of the International Astronomical Union, which had been considering a proposal to define a planet as any object that orbits a star and is large enough for its own gravity to pull it into a spherical shape.
That definition was scientifically precise but led to results that offended common sense. An asteroid, a small moon, and another icy ball like Pluto would suddenly have been catapulted to planet-hood, swelling the number of planets to 12, with hordes more icy rocks likely to qualify as more was learned about them.
Fortunately, the astronomers have now added another requirement to the definition. Planets must not only be large enough to be round, they must also have cleared out the neighborhood around their orbits. Pluto would not qualify — it orbits in a belt of icy debris on the edge of the solar system. Neither would an icy rock nicknamed Xena, which orbits in that same zone, nor Ceres, a big asteroid that marches in the company of other asteroids. Pluto’s moon, Charon, which had qualified under the first proposal, is also out of the running.
Pluto, with its small size and oddball orbit, should never have been deemed a planet in the first place. Henceforth there will be eight planets, at least three dwarf planets, and tens of thousands of “smaller solar system bodies,” like comets and asteroids. Our only regret is that the astronomers chose the name “dwarf planets” for Pluto’s new category instead of abandoning the word entirely when discussing these less-than-planetary bodies."
Friday, August 25, 2006
a picture is worth ...
"New York Times - Art Review
Walker Evans. Or Is It?
By MICHAEL KIMMELMAN
Published: August 25, 2006
A PHOTOGRAPHER snaps a picture. If it’s a camera with film, a negative is made; if it’s a digital camera, a file is produced. A printer, in a dark room using chemicals, or at a computer screen, can tinker with the image, crop it, enlarge it, make it lighter or darker, highlight one part or obscure another.
In other words, the image produced by the camera, whether it’s a negative or a digital file, is only the matrix for the work of art. It is not the work itself, although if the photographer is a journalist, any hanky-panky in the printing process comes at the potential cost of the picture’s integrity. Digital technology has not introduced manipulation into this universe; it has only multiplied the opportunities for mischief.
[snip]
Is photography closer to music and theater, or to painting? A painting is what it is, and copies of it are not the same. Music and theater exist through their variety of interpretations."
did you know that i used to be a photographer? i shot sport and theatre, mainly because there was already an agreement that what was taking place was there to be watched (vs papparazzi-style doorstepping) ... and because i loved them. i stopped because i needed to curtail the development of my amoral side. it was not to do with the photographing - i still love to do that. things one had to do, however, to get assignments; and then the kinds of assignments themselves, involved a lot of lying and stomping on other people - and while i found out that i could be quite good at that, i did not want to look back on my life and see nothing but a few bits of yellow newspaper swirling in the mist. also, 15 years or so ago, i figured that technology would pretty soon make me obsolete. why pay to send me to an event, and a biker to pick up the film, and the film guy to develop it; when you could look on a computer screen at the televised version, freeze the moment you want, and photoshop it?
anyway, this piece from the ny times today caught my eye and i lifted a few sentences to share with you.
my simple response is look mate you cannot lump it all together like that. for a start just separate it out into intention - where the intention is to record an event in order to convey to the viewer what is occurring at the moment of the shot. of course this is already edited by the photographer's eye & instinct, even if this is not conscious. nevertheless, if i take a picture of qpr scoring a goal (a rare event she said sadly, especially as they lost tonight on national television. mind you they always lose on national television :-( ), i believe i am recording an historical moment (and such moments are so rare as to be truly historical etc etc ad nauseam). i believe this intention is different to one who uses the camera, and the darkroom, as media of expression of one's view of the world.
another reason that i quit photography was that i was so busy trying to figure out how to frame what i saw through my nikon, that i rarely got round to experiencing life face on. i was so busy trying to save it for the future, that i never lived it in the present. one of the reasons i do not like photos being taken during b'nei mitzvah and other lifecycle ceremonies in the sanctuary is that i believe that if you know there will be some kind of record of the event, you are less likely to focus on being there, on taking it all in. i think that if you know it will be a one-off, you are more likely to be fully present.
on the other hand, if the photo is only a matrix, what am i worrying about?! gut shabbes!
Walker Evans. Or Is It?
By MICHAEL KIMMELMAN
Published: August 25, 2006
A PHOTOGRAPHER snaps a picture. If it’s a camera with film, a negative is made; if it’s a digital camera, a file is produced. A printer, in a dark room using chemicals, or at a computer screen, can tinker with the image, crop it, enlarge it, make it lighter or darker, highlight one part or obscure another.
In other words, the image produced by the camera, whether it’s a negative or a digital file, is only the matrix for the work of art. It is not the work itself, although if the photographer is a journalist, any hanky-panky in the printing process comes at the potential cost of the picture’s integrity. Digital technology has not introduced manipulation into this universe; it has only multiplied the opportunities for mischief.
[snip]
Is photography closer to music and theater, or to painting? A painting is what it is, and copies of it are not the same. Music and theater exist through their variety of interpretations."
did you know that i used to be a photographer? i shot sport and theatre, mainly because there was already an agreement that what was taking place was there to be watched (vs papparazzi-style doorstepping) ... and because i loved them. i stopped because i needed to curtail the development of my amoral side. it was not to do with the photographing - i still love to do that. things one had to do, however, to get assignments; and then the kinds of assignments themselves, involved a lot of lying and stomping on other people - and while i found out that i could be quite good at that, i did not want to look back on my life and see nothing but a few bits of yellow newspaper swirling in the mist. also, 15 years or so ago, i figured that technology would pretty soon make me obsolete. why pay to send me to an event, and a biker to pick up the film, and the film guy to develop it; when you could look on a computer screen at the televised version, freeze the moment you want, and photoshop it?
anyway, this piece from the ny times today caught my eye and i lifted a few sentences to share with you.
my simple response is look mate you cannot lump it all together like that. for a start just separate it out into intention - where the intention is to record an event in order to convey to the viewer what is occurring at the moment of the shot. of course this is already edited by the photographer's eye & instinct, even if this is not conscious. nevertheless, if i take a picture of qpr scoring a goal (a rare event she said sadly, especially as they lost tonight on national television. mind you they always lose on national television :-( ), i believe i am recording an historical moment (and such moments are so rare as to be truly historical etc etc ad nauseam). i believe this intention is different to one who uses the camera, and the darkroom, as media of expression of one's view of the world.
another reason that i quit photography was that i was so busy trying to figure out how to frame what i saw through my nikon, that i rarely got round to experiencing life face on. i was so busy trying to save it for the future, that i never lived it in the present. one of the reasons i do not like photos being taken during b'nei mitzvah and other lifecycle ceremonies in the sanctuary is that i believe that if you know there will be some kind of record of the event, you are less likely to focus on being there, on taking it all in. i think that if you know it will be a one-off, you are more likely to be fully present.
on the other hand, if the photo is only a matrix, what am i worrying about?! gut shabbes!
the beloit class of 2010
highlights from the beloit college mindset of the class of 2010 include:
Members of the class of 2010, entering college this fall, were mostly born in 1988. For them: Billy Carter, Lucille Ball, Gilda Radner, Billy Martin, Andy Gibb, and Secretariat have always been dead.
1. The Soviet Union has never existed and therefore is about as scary as the student union.
6. There has always been only one Germany.
9. A stained blue dress is as famous to their generation as a third-rate burglary was to their parents'.
18. They grew up with and have outgrown faxing as a means of communication.
19. "Google" has always been a verb.
28. Carbon copies are oddities found in their grandparents' attics.
36. They have rarely mailed anything using a stamp.
52. They never played the game of state license plates in the car.
62. Acura, Lexus, and Infiniti have always been luxury cars of choice.
63. Television stations have never concluded the broadcast day with the national anthem.
66. Dolphin-free canned tuna has always been on sale.
67. Disposable contact lenses have always been available.
68. "Outing" has always been a threat.
70. They have always "dissed" what they don't like.
74. Ringo Starr has always been clean and sober.
75. Professional athletes have always competed in the Olympics.
to see the rest, click here
i also had a look at the mindset of the class that graduated this year:
3. South Africa's official policy of apartheid has not existed during their lifetime.
8. Big Brother is merely a television show.
9. Cyberspace has always existed.
20. China has always been a market-based reforming regime.
22. The U.S. and the Soviets have always been partners in space.
31. Women have always had tattoos.
32. Vanessa Williams and Madonna are aging singers.
47. Hip-hop and rap have always been popular musical forms.
yes, well, i have a birthday coming up next week and therefore need to beat myself over the head about how bloody old i am. maybe i will spend the whole week wittering on about how i remember when mobile telephones were the size and weight of a brick, and complaining that qpr players never had ads on their arses when i was but a lass. time to go listen to the monty python sketch of the four yorkshiremen i think ...
Members of the class of 2010, entering college this fall, were mostly born in 1988. For them: Billy Carter, Lucille Ball, Gilda Radner, Billy Martin, Andy Gibb, and Secretariat have always been dead.
1. The Soviet Union has never existed and therefore is about as scary as the student union.
6. There has always been only one Germany.
9. A stained blue dress is as famous to their generation as a third-rate burglary was to their parents'.
18. They grew up with and have outgrown faxing as a means of communication.
19. "Google" has always been a verb.
28. Carbon copies are oddities found in their grandparents' attics.
36. They have rarely mailed anything using a stamp.
52. They never played the game of state license plates in the car.
62. Acura, Lexus, and Infiniti have always been luxury cars of choice.
63. Television stations have never concluded the broadcast day with the national anthem.
66. Dolphin-free canned tuna has always been on sale.
67. Disposable contact lenses have always been available.
68. "Outing" has always been a threat.
70. They have always "dissed" what they don't like.
74. Ringo Starr has always been clean and sober.
75. Professional athletes have always competed in the Olympics.
to see the rest, click here
i also had a look at the mindset of the class that graduated this year:
3. South Africa's official policy of apartheid has not existed during their lifetime.
8. Big Brother is merely a television show.
9. Cyberspace has always existed.
20. China has always been a market-based reforming regime.
22. The U.S. and the Soviets have always been partners in space.
31. Women have always had tattoos.
32. Vanessa Williams and Madonna are aging singers.
47. Hip-hop and rap have always been popular musical forms.
yes, well, i have a birthday coming up next week and therefore need to beat myself over the head about how bloody old i am. maybe i will spend the whole week wittering on about how i remember when mobile telephones were the size and weight of a brick, and complaining that qpr players never had ads on their arses when i was but a lass. time to go listen to the monty python sketch of the four yorkshiremen i think ...
Thursday, August 24, 2006
a bissele yiddish patriotism
thanks to r. jordan parr in texas for the following ditty:
(1943 translation of the Star Spangled Banner into Yiddish by Dr. Abraham Asen, described as "the foremost Yiddish adapter of English poetry,")
O'zog, kenstu sehn, wen bagin licht dervacht,
Vos mir hoben bagrist in farnachtigen glihen?
Die shtreifen un shtern, durch shreklicher nacht,
Oif festung zich hoiben galant un zich tsein?
Yeder blitz fun rocket, yeder knal fun kanon,
Hot bawizen durch nacht: az mir halten die Fohn!
O, zog, tzi der "Star Spangled Banner" flatert in roim,
Ueber land fun die freie, fun brave die heim!
(1943 translation of the Star Spangled Banner into Yiddish by Dr. Abraham Asen, described as "the foremost Yiddish adapter of English poetry,")
O'zog, kenstu sehn, wen bagin licht dervacht,
Vos mir hoben bagrist in farnachtigen glihen?
Die shtreifen un shtern, durch shreklicher nacht,
Oif festung zich hoiben galant un zich tsein?
Yeder blitz fun rocket, yeder knal fun kanon,
Hot bawizen durch nacht: az mir halten die Fohn!
O, zog, tzi der "Star Spangled Banner" flatert in roim,
Ueber land fun die freie, fun brave die heim!
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
a second win ...
... and the first win in a cup match for about two years. qpr managed to scrape past northampton town at home 3-2, with ray jones scoring his first senior goal in the 90th minute. i tell you - i am beyond radio & telephone contact in the mountains over the weekend and the yanks sweep the red sox at fenway ... and i fall asleep listening to qpr live when northants equalise and miss the winning goal. if i were superstitious i might think that my absence is good karma for my teams :-)
wtf!!!
floating around the blogosphere i came across the concept of private military companies and found the following at a site called 'global'security':
"Mercenary / Private Military Companies (PMCs)
The term mercenary is applied to a variety of historical situations which do not appear to have elements in common. Casca, the eternal mercenary, pulled the duty of nailing Christ to the Cross and was doomed to spend eternity as a soldier, a career that can lead to billets like sitting on five-gallon water cans in the cold desert wind on Christmas Eve in Saudi Arabia.
Estimates of the number of private international security personnel range from 15,000 to 20,000. That is as much as 15 percent of the total US presence of about 130,000 soldiers. These private contractors -- who most often work for corporations, diplomats, or journalists -- have no accountability to the US military. These private security contractors can earn up to $1,000 a day. NATO forces have used private soldiers for security in the Balkans. But the proportion of private security personnel to regular military soldiers was no greater than 10 percent.
Part of the US Occupation force in Iraq, the in-country commander, LTG Sanchez decreed that federal civilians will not carry weapons. But being well acquainted with some fellow federal civilians, if they were armed over here it would scare the "you know what". Consequently, every time civilians leave their "safe area", they must have what are called "shooters" with along. They are sometimes the mercenary security teams who are hired and paid by the contractors. Other times they are young American men and women in the US Army.
Since the end of the Cold War there has been a disproportionate growth in the tail to tooth ratio on the battlefield; that is, a marked escalation in the number of support functions relative to actual combat power. As weapons and equipment become more complex and challenging to maintain and operate, there is a greater willingness to rely on civilian contractors who can provide services ranging from monitoring advanced weapon systems to rendering technical assistance and logistical support. No longer restricted solely to acquisition and logistical functions, contractors often accompany the military into war zones and even into battle.
Is the battlefield contractor, in a sense, a corporate soldier and is the U.S. military becoming increasingly commercialized, privatized, and outsourced? The presence of civilians accompanying the force on the battlefield has legal and ethical ramifications and raises troubling questions relating to issues of chain of command, authority, accountability, force protection, and, ultimately, mission effectiveness. That presence, too, provokes discussion about the growth of the privatized military industry and the reliance on civilians in the realm of military training, international security missions, and peacekeeping operations.
The post Cold War world has given rise both to new problems and new opportunities. In many areas we need to test the received wisdom against an evolving post Cold War reality. The global confrontation of the Cold War and its massive military establishments have been winding down; instead we find ourselves in a world of small wars and weak states. Many of these states need outside help to maintain security at home. There may also be an increasing need for intervention by the international community. At the same time, in developed countries, the private sector is becoming increasingly involved in military and security activity. States and international organisations are turning to the private sector as a cost effective way of procuring services which would once have been the exclusive preserve of the military. It is British Government policy for example to outsource certain tasks that in earlier days would have been undertaken by the armed services.
The demand for private military services is likely to increase. The cases that attract most attention are those where a government employs a private military company to help it in a conflict – as the governments of Sierra Leone and Angola have done. Such cases are in practice rare and are likely to remain so; but we may well see an increase in private contracts for training or logistics. Some of this demand may come from states which cannot afford to keep large military establishments themselves. But demand may also come from developed countries. It is notable for example that the United States has employed private military companies to recruit and manage monitors in the Balkans.
A further source of demand for private military services could be international organisations. The private sector is already active and effective in areas that would once have been seen as the preserve of the military – demining for example. And both the UN and international NGOs employ private companies to provide them with security and logistics support. A strong and reputable private military sector might have a role in enabling the UN to respond more rapidly and more effectively in crises. The cost of employing private military companies for certain functions in UN operations could be much lower than that of national armed forces. Clearly there are many pitfalls in this which need to be considered carefully. There are, for example, important concerns about human rights, sovereignty and accountability which we examine in this paper.
Today’s world is a far cry from the 1960s when private military activity usually meant mercenaries of the rather unsavoury kind involved in post-colonial or neo-colonial conflicts. Such people still exist; and some of them may be present at the lower end of the spectrum of private military companies. One of the reasons for considering the option of a licensing regime is that it may be desirable to distinguish between reputable and disreputable private sector operators, to encourage and support the former while, as far as possible, eliminating the latter."
can this be for real?
here is what wikipedia has to say about it.
here is a list of private military company firms. i clicked on an israeli security company on the list and was not impressed by their highlighting of their protection of yitzchak rabin :-(
o yeah, and halliburton is on that list
i followed a link that was called 'the privatisation of peace and development' ... this is serious bloody stuff
and then there was also this lovely sentence in a box:
"Looking for a security job in a conflict or post-conflict zone such as Iraq or Afghanistan? Visit our recruitment area"
a whole part of life in this world that is so completely alien to me. IT'S NOT AN EFFING PAINTBALL GAME, Y'KNOW GUYS!!!
excuse me - i have to go and wash my brain now.
"Mercenary / Private Military Companies (PMCs)
The term mercenary is applied to a variety of historical situations which do not appear to have elements in common. Casca, the eternal mercenary, pulled the duty of nailing Christ to the Cross and was doomed to spend eternity as a soldier, a career that can lead to billets like sitting on five-gallon water cans in the cold desert wind on Christmas Eve in Saudi Arabia.
Estimates of the number of private international security personnel range from 15,000 to 20,000. That is as much as 15 percent of the total US presence of about 130,000 soldiers. These private contractors -- who most often work for corporations, diplomats, or journalists -- have no accountability to the US military. These private security contractors can earn up to $1,000 a day. NATO forces have used private soldiers for security in the Balkans. But the proportion of private security personnel to regular military soldiers was no greater than 10 percent.
Part of the US Occupation force in Iraq, the in-country commander, LTG Sanchez decreed that federal civilians will not carry weapons. But being well acquainted with some fellow federal civilians, if they were armed over here it would scare the "you know what". Consequently, every time civilians leave their "safe area", they must have what are called "shooters" with along. They are sometimes the mercenary security teams who are hired and paid by the contractors. Other times they are young American men and women in the US Army.
Since the end of the Cold War there has been a disproportionate growth in the tail to tooth ratio on the battlefield; that is, a marked escalation in the number of support functions relative to actual combat power. As weapons and equipment become more complex and challenging to maintain and operate, there is a greater willingness to rely on civilian contractors who can provide services ranging from monitoring advanced weapon systems to rendering technical assistance and logistical support. No longer restricted solely to acquisition and logistical functions, contractors often accompany the military into war zones and even into battle.
Is the battlefield contractor, in a sense, a corporate soldier and is the U.S. military becoming increasingly commercialized, privatized, and outsourced? The presence of civilians accompanying the force on the battlefield has legal and ethical ramifications and raises troubling questions relating to issues of chain of command, authority, accountability, force protection, and, ultimately, mission effectiveness. That presence, too, provokes discussion about the growth of the privatized military industry and the reliance on civilians in the realm of military training, international security missions, and peacekeeping operations.
The post Cold War world has given rise both to new problems and new opportunities. In many areas we need to test the received wisdom against an evolving post Cold War reality. The global confrontation of the Cold War and its massive military establishments have been winding down; instead we find ourselves in a world of small wars and weak states. Many of these states need outside help to maintain security at home. There may also be an increasing need for intervention by the international community. At the same time, in developed countries, the private sector is becoming increasingly involved in military and security activity. States and international organisations are turning to the private sector as a cost effective way of procuring services which would once have been the exclusive preserve of the military. It is British Government policy for example to outsource certain tasks that in earlier days would have been undertaken by the armed services.
The demand for private military services is likely to increase. The cases that attract most attention are those where a government employs a private military company to help it in a conflict – as the governments of Sierra Leone and Angola have done. Such cases are in practice rare and are likely to remain so; but we may well see an increase in private contracts for training or logistics. Some of this demand may come from states which cannot afford to keep large military establishments themselves. But demand may also come from developed countries. It is notable for example that the United States has employed private military companies to recruit and manage monitors in the Balkans.
A further source of demand for private military services could be international organisations. The private sector is already active and effective in areas that would once have been seen as the preserve of the military – demining for example. And both the UN and international NGOs employ private companies to provide them with security and logistics support. A strong and reputable private military sector might have a role in enabling the UN to respond more rapidly and more effectively in crises. The cost of employing private military companies for certain functions in UN operations could be much lower than that of national armed forces. Clearly there are many pitfalls in this which need to be considered carefully. There are, for example, important concerns about human rights, sovereignty and accountability which we examine in this paper.
Today’s world is a far cry from the 1960s when private military activity usually meant mercenaries of the rather unsavoury kind involved in post-colonial or neo-colonial conflicts. Such people still exist; and some of them may be present at the lower end of the spectrum of private military companies. One of the reasons for considering the option of a licensing regime is that it may be desirable to distinguish between reputable and disreputable private sector operators, to encourage and support the former while, as far as possible, eliminating the latter."
can this be for real?
here is what wikipedia has to say about it.
here is a list of private military company firms. i clicked on an israeli security company on the list and was not impressed by their highlighting of their protection of yitzchak rabin :-(
o yeah, and halliburton is on that list
i followed a link that was called 'the privatisation of peace and development' ... this is serious bloody stuff
and then there was also this lovely sentence in a box:
"Looking for a security job in a conflict or post-conflict zone such as Iraq or Afghanistan? Visit our recruitment area"
a whole part of life in this world that is so completely alien to me. IT'S NOT AN EFFING PAINTBALL GAME, Y'KNOW GUYS!!!
excuse me - i have to go and wash my brain now.
Monday, August 21, 2006
a walk in the wilderness - the mikva
ok, so i should write about my shabbat this past weekend at the women's weekend at elat chayyim. before i say anything, please look here to see the velveteen rabbi's take on her experiences at this jewish renewal retreat centre.
first of all - why did i go? short answer is that h. was going and asked if i'd like to go to and i thought why not - it'd be nice to spend shabbat as a congregant.
i also thought that it would be healthy for me to be a little uncomfortable and push my boundaries a bit and the main thing to do that was the mikva that would begin shabbat. although i have witnessed for many women in the mikva, i have never actually been dunked myself. the reason has nothing to do with religion or theology or anything like that. the reason has always been that i am ashamed to be naked in front of a stranger. look, i grew up in england which means i haven't seen myself naked since i was small enough to share a bath with my sister; and i'm hung up about being fat - two strikes to start with.
i got there about an hour before the mikva, and wandered around emanating anxiety. when we finally gathered, those of us with body-image issues gravitated to each other and discussed whether or not we would be disrobing. meanwhile, i had noticed that the women who were leading and guiding us had badges saying 'kohenet', and i figured they had been there for the whole week and had volunteered to help us integrate into the group. they then began to smudge us. i decided not to have this done as i wanted the mikva to be my method of purification and the mikva alone. it was the mikva i feared (not to mention the thirty naked women who were about to share the swimming pool with me). we were told to find a partner so we could witness for each other. the woman standing next to me offered herself and so it began. everyone was disrobing, so i did too. once i took my glasses off, i couldn't see anyone else, and so of course they could not see me. my partner asked me how i was doing, and i said i was in complete denial. she asked if she should tell me i was naked and i said no thank you i do know that why don't we get into the water?
gosh it was cold. a couple of the kohenets were cavorting in the deep end, while the rest of us inched gingerly along until the water covered our naughty bits. a few of us went deeper, and squealed when our nipples hit the water. nu - we held hands in a big circle, and shared some of the things we wanted to wash away. nobody mentioned anger. (when i told d. that she just said, 'liars!') once i was in the water everything was fine. i have now been dunked. afterwards one of the women for whom it was also the first time said that she was disappointed that it wasn't a more spiritual experience. i told her that i had not looked for that - for me the important thing was actually, finally doing it.
i guess it was kind of like virginity, or treif food - a taboo that seems scary to violate but if and once you do, it turns out to be rather nice :-)
later i hope to write about kabbalat shabbat, and shabbat morning, but i am a bit tired. laila tov.
ps am wondering who it is in the burg who pops into the blog every now and then. say hello my virginia friend!
first of all - why did i go? short answer is that h. was going and asked if i'd like to go to and i thought why not - it'd be nice to spend shabbat as a congregant.
i also thought that it would be healthy for me to be a little uncomfortable and push my boundaries a bit and the main thing to do that was the mikva that would begin shabbat. although i have witnessed for many women in the mikva, i have never actually been dunked myself. the reason has nothing to do with religion or theology or anything like that. the reason has always been that i am ashamed to be naked in front of a stranger. look, i grew up in england which means i haven't seen myself naked since i was small enough to share a bath with my sister; and i'm hung up about being fat - two strikes to start with.
i got there about an hour before the mikva, and wandered around emanating anxiety. when we finally gathered, those of us with body-image issues gravitated to each other and discussed whether or not we would be disrobing. meanwhile, i had noticed that the women who were leading and guiding us had badges saying 'kohenet', and i figured they had been there for the whole week and had volunteered to help us integrate into the group. they then began to smudge us. i decided not to have this done as i wanted the mikva to be my method of purification and the mikva alone. it was the mikva i feared (not to mention the thirty naked women who were about to share the swimming pool with me). we were told to find a partner so we could witness for each other. the woman standing next to me offered herself and so it began. everyone was disrobing, so i did too. once i took my glasses off, i couldn't see anyone else, and so of course they could not see me. my partner asked me how i was doing, and i said i was in complete denial. she asked if she should tell me i was naked and i said no thank you i do know that why don't we get into the water?
gosh it was cold. a couple of the kohenets were cavorting in the deep end, while the rest of us inched gingerly along until the water covered our naughty bits. a few of us went deeper, and squealed when our nipples hit the water. nu - we held hands in a big circle, and shared some of the things we wanted to wash away. nobody mentioned anger. (when i told d. that she just said, 'liars!') once i was in the water everything was fine. i have now been dunked. afterwards one of the women for whom it was also the first time said that she was disappointed that it wasn't a more spiritual experience. i told her that i had not looked for that - for me the important thing was actually, finally doing it.
i guess it was kind of like virginity, or treif food - a taboo that seems scary to violate but if and once you do, it turns out to be rather nice :-)
later i hope to write about kabbalat shabbat, and shabbat morning, but i am a bit tired. laila tov.
ps am wondering who it is in the burg who pops into the blog every now and then. say hello my virginia friend!
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