Why you may ask am I watching random French electropop at 221 am on a Wed night? Im not sure, but right now, I think this is the best thing ever. Dont you just love the internet....
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Bad News, Snackers
Double dipping is a bacteria-spreading menace!
Ok, it's not quite that dramatic. But, next time you have half of that tortilla chip left over from the previous bite...do us all a favor and suffer through crunching on it plain...
at the very least, dip it in the thick cheese sauce, not the chunky salsa...( i don't like nacho cheese much anyway)
-DaGirl
Ok, it's not quite that dramatic. But, next time you have half of that tortilla chip left over from the previous bite...do us all a favor and suffer through crunching on it plain...
at the very least, dip it in the thick cheese sauce, not the chunky salsa...( i don't like nacho cheese much anyway)
-DaGirl
Pre-emptive Publishing?
Apparently the Super Bowl has already been determined.
Yesterday, Amazon listed a book entitled: "19-0: The Historic Championship Season of New England's Unbeatable Patriots."
Ignoring the overly-wordy title, I do understand that championship T-shirts are currently being printed for both the Giants and the Patriots, so they are ready to go as soon as a victor is determined. Those shirts that turn out to be false once the game is decided, are then - as I understand it based on a family friend in the business - sent to 3rd world countries. So, there's some kid in Africa wearing a 2007 Chicago Bears shirt and a 2007 Championship Colorado Rockies shirt, etc.
But books! Now, that costs a lot more to write and publish than printing a flimsy T-shirt.
Amazon has since removed the book listing from their site...I wonder if it was truly an error, as they claim, or simply a response to the backlash.
I think that if they wanted to be truly fair and balanced, for just a few hours, they should list a book entitled: "The 2008 Champion Giants: From Underdog to Top Dog in the League."
-DaGirl
Yesterday, Amazon listed a book entitled: "19-0: The Historic Championship Season of New England's Unbeatable Patriots."
Ignoring the overly-wordy title, I do understand that championship T-shirts are currently being printed for both the Giants and the Patriots, so they are ready to go as soon as a victor is determined. Those shirts that turn out to be false once the game is decided, are then - as I understand it based on a family friend in the business - sent to 3rd world countries. So, there's some kid in Africa wearing a 2007 Chicago Bears shirt and a 2007 Championship Colorado Rockies shirt, etc.
But books! Now, that costs a lot more to write and publish than printing a flimsy T-shirt.
Amazon has since removed the book listing from their site...I wonder if it was truly an error, as they claim, or simply a response to the backlash.
I think that if they wanted to be truly fair and balanced, for just a few hours, they should list a book entitled: "The 2008 Champion Giants: From Underdog to Top Dog in the League."
-DaGirl
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Total Happiness or Success?
A new study has demonstrated that happy people tend to be healthier, have more money, better careers and do better in school than people who are extremely happy. But, the study also showed that extremely happy people tend to form more stable relationships, volunteer more, and score higher on energy levels and indicators of self confidence.
Here is a picture of the Professor that ran the study. He looks pretty happy to me. In fact, maybe we should get someone a little less happy to check his data....
Hat tip: Slate
Your Tremendousness
Seborga, a small town in Italy has just won my prize for best title for a leader. They refer to their prince as Sua Tremendità, or 'Your Tremendousness.' And here I thought that Turkmenbashi had a stranglehold on this category!
Hat tip: Volokh
Hat tip: Volokh
Monday, January 28, 2008
This isnt Kabul, this is Beit Shemesh
This might be old news to some, but I just recently came across this article in Haaretz describing how some Israeli women have taken to wearing full on hijabs and burkas when they are in the street. Jameel translates and discusses the article here, and Jewlicious comments here.
I find it amazing that this movement is being driven by the women themselves. In fact, the men are against their wives adopting this mode of dress and one man has even taken his spouse to beit din over the issue. I really hope that this style will remain a choice that some women have adopted, and not become religiously mandated practice.
I find it amazing that this movement is being driven by the women themselves. In fact, the men are against their wives adopting this mode of dress and one man has even taken his spouse to beit din over the issue. I really hope that this style will remain a choice that some women have adopted, and not become religiously mandated practice.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Pretty Pictures
A bit of a furor has broken out over the boycott of a Flatbush wig store. The store faces a yeshiva, and displays posters of pretty, religious looking women. Dovbear has photos of the store here and the issue is addressed on Ezzie's blog here. The Wolf tried to ask an innocent question about the issue on the Yeshiva World blog that publicized the boycott (see first link) and quickly got shouted down for "questioning" the Rabbi.
I think there are three interesting parts of the debate. From least to most important they are:
1) The underlying issue of boycotting a store for displaying pictures of women's faces.
In general, I am pretty liberal when it comes to looking at women. Women are pretty, and they are nice to look at. I dont really think that doing so harms my soul in any way. I am also pretty liberal when it comes to allowing women to dress however they wish. We live in a free society, and they have earned that right.
Having said that, the Flatbush Jews also have the right to live their life as they see fit. If they believe that Yeshiva boys should not be confronted by photos of pretty women outside of their school building, they are certainly free to enact economic pressure on the owner of the store to take those photos down. There have been no reports of illegal coercion being applied, and they are simply exercising their right to vote with their pocketbooks. Scoffing at these Jews for not wanting to see the pictures is inappropriate. In this instance, there are no victims of religious whim.
2) The Role of Authority:
Many of the comments at Yeshiva World expressed the opinion that the underlying issue, of whether the store should be boycotted, should not even be debated because the Rabbi had ruled, and it was not for anyone to question. As one commenter put it: "If Daas Torah tells us left is right, we must believe it. If the RY posts a letter with grammatical errors, then the errors are correct!" (Im not sure if the poster was being sarcastic, but others treated her seriously, and other commenters said similar things in less dramatic ways. The fact that I am not sure whether this was written in sarcasm probably says something by itself.)
While part of me wants to respect the right of people to submit themselves to such absolute authority, a greater part of me abhors such mindless acquiescence. G-d gave us free will for a reason. I do not believe he wants us to hand this gift over to a proxy. Even if you believe that you should act according to the dictates of a Rav, it still makes sense to understand his reasoning. Questions that begin with 'Why' are most important to ask. Answers that consist solely of "Because he said so" shouldnt pass muster after the age of 5. So, while people are certainly free to turn over their minds, bodies and souls to another, I find it a bit distasteful and would not be happy if those I love followed such a path.
3) Jewish conflict
One of the comments on the YW site that worried me the most was the following: "Pritzus is the biggest problem our dor faces... In fact, both Batei Mikdash were destroyed because of lack of tzniyus."
Really? Do people truly believe that immodest dress caused the destruction of the Temples? I always learned the Second Temple was destroyed because of Sinat Chinam - baseless hatred of others.
"Controversies" such as this one tend bring out the worst in everyone. Some react to stories like this with derision. The Yeshiva world responds by accusing their less fundamentalist brothers of being irreligious heathens who are "beyond the pale." Both attitudes are wrong. Each group has something important to learn from the other. If we could get beyond the shouting and fiery rhetoric perhaps we can begin to do so.
I think there are three interesting parts of the debate. From least to most important they are:
1) The underlying issue of boycotting a store for displaying pictures of women's faces.
In general, I am pretty liberal when it comes to looking at women. Women are pretty, and they are nice to look at. I dont really think that doing so harms my soul in any way. I am also pretty liberal when it comes to allowing women to dress however they wish. We live in a free society, and they have earned that right.
Having said that, the Flatbush Jews also have the right to live their life as they see fit. If they believe that Yeshiva boys should not be confronted by photos of pretty women outside of their school building, they are certainly free to enact economic pressure on the owner of the store to take those photos down. There have been no reports of illegal coercion being applied, and they are simply exercising their right to vote with their pocketbooks. Scoffing at these Jews for not wanting to see the pictures is inappropriate. In this instance, there are no victims of religious whim.
2) The Role of Authority:
Many of the comments at Yeshiva World expressed the opinion that the underlying issue, of whether the store should be boycotted, should not even be debated because the Rabbi had ruled, and it was not for anyone to question. As one commenter put it: "If Daas Torah tells us left is right, we must believe it. If the RY posts a letter with grammatical errors, then the errors are correct!" (Im not sure if the poster was being sarcastic, but others treated her seriously, and other commenters said similar things in less dramatic ways. The fact that I am not sure whether this was written in sarcasm probably says something by itself.)
While part of me wants to respect the right of people to submit themselves to such absolute authority, a greater part of me abhors such mindless acquiescence. G-d gave us free will for a reason. I do not believe he wants us to hand this gift over to a proxy. Even if you believe that you should act according to the dictates of a Rav, it still makes sense to understand his reasoning. Questions that begin with 'Why' are most important to ask. Answers that consist solely of "Because he said so" shouldnt pass muster after the age of 5. So, while people are certainly free to turn over their minds, bodies and souls to another, I find it a bit distasteful and would not be happy if those I love followed such a path.
3) Jewish conflict
One of the comments on the YW site that worried me the most was the following: "Pritzus is the biggest problem our dor faces... In fact, both Batei Mikdash were destroyed because of lack of tzniyus."
Really? Do people truly believe that immodest dress caused the destruction of the Temples? I always learned the Second Temple was destroyed because of Sinat Chinam - baseless hatred of others.
"Controversies" such as this one tend bring out the worst in everyone. Some react to stories like this with derision. The Yeshiva world responds by accusing their less fundamentalist brothers of being irreligious heathens who are "beyond the pale." Both attitudes are wrong. Each group has something important to learn from the other. If we could get beyond the shouting and fiery rhetoric perhaps we can begin to do so.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Pitching for Israel
The Mets' GM, Omar Minaya, recently visited Israel. Seems he has a pretty good relationship with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Bush as well...
-DaGirl
-DaGirl
Friday, January 11, 2008
Why Did I Never Learn About This Guy
I was listening to Pandora today, when a song came on about a man named Moe Berg. I was only half listening, but I got the drift that the song was about an attorney who played major league baseball and spied for the US during World War II. I was pretty sure that the song was about an imaginary character, but to satisfy my curiosity I googled him and found that he was a real person, and an amazing American Jew.
Moe Berg was born in Harlem, graduated from Princeton and Columbia Law, played 15 years of professional baseball, and worked for the OSS and CIA gathering information on European resistance groups and the German nuclear program. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his service to the country. The wikipedia article about him is here, and it is awesome.
I find it appaling that I spent 12 years in Jewish day school and never heard of this man. He might not have been religiously observant, but he is certainly one of the coolest American Jews I have ever heard of. History teachers in Jewish day schools should be teaching about people like Moe Berg. He is part of our heritage in this country, and led a life from which school children could learn much.
Moe Berg was born in Harlem, graduated from Princeton and Columbia Law, played 15 years of professional baseball, and worked for the OSS and CIA gathering information on European resistance groups and the German nuclear program. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his service to the country. The wikipedia article about him is here, and it is awesome.
I find it appaling that I spent 12 years in Jewish day school and never heard of this man. He might not have been religiously observant, but he is certainly one of the coolest American Jews I have ever heard of. History teachers in Jewish day schools should be teaching about people like Moe Berg. He is part of our heritage in this country, and led a life from which school children could learn much.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
In Anticipation...
JT has promised to write a vacation roundup, in which he will hopefully detail the escapades of our trip to New Orleans....I am posting this to gently remind him to do so before the remaining memories leave his mind.
let me put it this way...NOLA ain't Seattle.
-DaGirl
let me put it this way...NOLA ain't Seattle.
-DaGirl
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Hopeful About Presidential Hopefuls
LT blogged a while back about his disappointment in the current crop of Presidential candidates. Im not sure if he has changed his mind on the issue, but I myself am very happy with the current slate. I cannot remember an election in which we have been presented with so many good choices. In my mind at least 4 of the candidates would make good Presidents. I even think that the candidacies of some of the others have added value to the race. Of course I have my preference for the ultimate winner, but I could see myself being content with a number of outcomes.
Even so, as LT suggested, it might still be a good idea to buy some of those Bloomberg futures contracts.
Even so, as LT suggested, it might still be a good idea to buy some of those Bloomberg futures contracts.
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