Friday, May 28, 2010

Happy Memorial Day?

Is that the correct wish? Do we want a happy time? I know that we use memorial day as the unofficial start to summer: the outdoor water parks open after memorial day, we bbq or take trips for the holiday weekend. But why isn't there a cultural sense of reflection and appreciation? Its too easy to tell an individual, 'you do it, you memorialize.' This is a cultural issue: memorial day is a day for sales and/or fun. The holiday sneaks up on us with no resounding weight recognizing what and who we forget to memorialize.

So take a moment between and think about it. And if I remember I will too.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Killing Kids with Kindness


Britain bans doctor who linked autism to vaccine
LONDON — The doctor whose research linking autism and the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella influenced millions of parents to refuse the shot for their children was banned Monday from practicing medicine in his native Britain.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ikJETNVBSJw_7bjEVDbFBwncE0EAD9FTEALO0
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Its about time. How many kids were maimed or died because this fraud of a doctor falsified research to make money?

And fools like Jenny Mcarthy still won't give up the fight. Some people don't care how much science is on the other side they will stick to their guns. Its one thing to say 'over my dead body.' Its another thing entirely to say 'over your kids dead body.'

One of the best parts of being an adult is that you get to change your mind. Please do.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Lady Gaga Covers

There are some great Lady Gaga covers. Among them a 13 yr. old who became a sensation for his piano cover of "paparazzi." Everyone thinks that these musicians are so amazing, and the covers are great. But they are great because they are covering Lady Gaga. She makes them great, not the other way around. If these same musicians covered some crappy song no one would pay any attention. These covers are only hits because the music Lady Gaga makes is amazing. A rising tide lifts all boats.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqT4VnnEU0M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY53khFqGDU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoeD1hdYDu8&feature=related

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Hezollah's Victory in Lebanon


Why I opposed Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon

Today Hezbollah's strength is several times greater than it was in the summer of 2006, certainly far greater than it was in May 2000.

By Ephraim Snehhttp://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/why-i-opposed-israel-s-withdrawal-from-lebanon-1.291383-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sneh is right and I was wrong.
Read the above article. As bad as it was, unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon turned out to be the wrong move. 
Israel can't go back in now though, so how do the problems Sneh outlines get fixed?
The only silver lining is that Hezbollah is stuck in Lebanon. At least they have good hummus.

Israel without America


Pox Americana

The real damage to Israel has come over the years from the special relationship itself.


"Yonatan Touval is a foreign policy analyst with several Israeli NGOs dedicated to advancing final-status agreements between Israel and its neighbors."
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Can Israel survive and even thrive without America as its special friend?

The writer of the above article, Yonatan Touval, makes a point I have heard by many Israelis, that Israel might be better off without America's support. He even goes so far as to confuse nations with actual real people with real emotions.

In every deal with a bank in which I've been involved, the loan officer always talks about the "relationship" between the bank and the client. Try paying your loan on time and perfect for ten years and then going to the bank and telling them that now its their turn to commit to this "relationship." Tell the bank that you need a few months of non-payment to get over some hurdles and see what happens. You won't even be dealing with your original loan officer, they left that bank years ago.

And here, as it pertains to global politics, this writer seems shocked that nations actually have their own best interests at heart and not the sole interests of their "special friend" with their "special relationship."

Are the people in charge of thinking and writing and analyzing these issues really that foolish? 

Does Touval really believe that Israel would survive as any sort of protection for Jews or economic power or force of any sort with the protective cover of a superpower?

Sure now Israel, with Nukes, can offer mutually assured destruction. Great. That's a great long term solution. The fact is that whether it was the French or the USA, Israel has only survived by getting weapons, supplies and money from other superpowers.Unless of course you are religious and believe that God makes miracles. Otherwise, everyone understands that the country with more resources in a war has the best chance of winning. And Israel has been supplied the best by the best.

And on an economic front, does anyone believe that microsoft and google and every other major company would be in Israel without the cover provided by superpowers?

I am not knocking Israel for getting protective cover from superpowers. You do what you have to do. Don't fool yourself into thinking that your past abilities to survive trouble is any guarantee of future success, especially when you want to kick in the teeth of your biggest backer. 

Israel's real problem is people like Touval having any influence on policy. People who take dangerous and emotional and foolish positions because their ego can't handle the idea that Israel actually needed and needs outside support to survive and thrive.

Confederate Flag Waving Chickens

At least if an actual chicken was waving a confederate flag I would be entertained. But instead I am talking about humans, about good ole boys who love the confederate flag.

During our trip to Wisconsin I saw an ever rarer sight, a truck with the confederate flag.

I've never heard a confederate flag supporter admit that the flag might be a racist icon. Instead they hide behind mealy mouthed words like "souther pride" and "heritage." What a bunch of babies. Their souther pride and cultural heritage is slavery and the Klan. I guess that's why they can't admit their racism, because their fore-bearers wore sheets to hide their faces.

When you see a biker gang they wear their patches with pride. The same goes for neo-nazis and other racist groups, at least you know where they stand.

But the confederate flag wavers are castrated little mice, who scurry at the sound of loud noises and would rather operate in the dark, unseen and unheard, always dreading a cat or a trap or a real person.

If it ain't racist then why can't you find one black person who supports the confederate flag?

Is racism defined by the group waving a flag or is racism defined by the groups disgusted and offended by the flag?

At least I can say this, in my lifetime the flag has gone from accepted and often sighted to recognized as a symbol of racism and less acceptable publicly. Although that shift in attitude (or demographics?)didn't stop movie makers from releasing a new version of Dukes of Hazard a few years back.  I guess money is money, even when it comes from racism.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Wisconsin Vacation

Just got back. Had a great time. Wisconsin was heaps o'fun. Have some interesting thoughts. Even a place that close is so different in so many ways. Its nice to shock the system once in a while. Its also nice to be back.


Sunday, May 9, 2010

Freakonomics gets eaten by The Black Swan

NTT, in his book The Black Swan, expands and explains the truth that 'you don't know what you don't know.'

One great example is the Turkey who thinks humans are great. Every day of his life a human feeds him and cares for him. All his historical knowledge of humans point to good times. Nothing in his Turkey:Human interaction prepares him for the day before Thanksgiving.

Check him out at my link list: Fooled by Randomness

I like Freakonomics, also in my link list, because they present unique ways of looking at the world. They give you a way of examining the world so that you know more.

In their first book, the authors of Freakonomics dive into the world of baby names. They list, based on statistics, popular baby names, unpopular, names successful families use, unsuccessful names, and other lists.
They imply that if you want to give your child a leg up, you may want to consider emulating the actions of successful families and use names from those lists.

Except you don't know what you don't know.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_baby_names

"Anything can influence baby names, from pop culture to literature to music and celebrities," said Jennifer Moss, author of "The One-in-a-Million Baby Name Book" and founder of Babynames.com."

"Barack still didn't crack the top 1,000 for boys, but a version of the president's daughter's name, Malia, was the fastest riser for girls. Maliyah moved up 342 spots, to No. 296, while Malia, which is how Obama's daughter spells it, came in at No. 192, rising 153 spots."

Sure the top ten are still dominated by the traditional names, but change is a comin.

Sexism in Circumcision

In my many conversations with people, esp. Jews, on the topic of circumcision, the argument for the mutilation of genitalia is specifically a male dominated issue.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/health/policy/07cuts.htm
"Group Backs Ritual ‘Nick’ as Female Circumcision Option"


Shouldn't Jews be at the forefront of protecting the rights of parents to preform female circumcision in their religion's desired format?


Why do Jews shy away from other people's rights as parents to mutilate (for god) their daughter's hoo-ha?