The religious claim that neither exist.
The right claim that Israel's neighbors don't want peace, all they want is to kill Jews. They claim that peace is impossible to achieve and therefore giving land for peace is a tactic to drive the Jews 1 step closer into the sea.
The religious also claim that men have sex drives that are almost uncontrollable. Women don't suffer from sexual desire but women are the cause of men's urges. Therefore, because men are so easily tempted and turned on, it is the women wo must be put out of sight to prevent men from being tempted.
Except in both cases the religious right are proven wrong by facts on the ground.
We know peace is possible because Israel has achieved peace.
Israel has peace with Egypt and Jordan. Further, Israel has a cold peace with a number of other countries in the region. Just read WikiLeakes and you can uncover even more instances of Israel working closely with numerous Muslim and other countries.
Similarly, men are not all diddling themselves in the privacy of their bathroom. These men are having sex with women. If women have no desire for sex, than how are these hyper-sexual men getting women to have sex with them?
The fact that Israel has peace proves that Israel can have peace.
The fact that women have sex proves that women also want sex.
It's unfortunate that the orthodox are taught from such a early age that everyone hates Jews and that Jews are the chosen people... and at the same time they are taught that men are weak and can barely contain themselves sexually and women must be especially modest and chaste... to protect men and because that is their nature.
Imagine what might be if people were taught that they are not especially special by virtue of their blood?
or imagine what might be if people were taught that although men and women may express desire differently, both have sexual desires and that behaviors between consenting adults are not twisted and deviant.
All I am asking is that people look at what is, and not just what they are taught.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Why Egypt Should DUMP the Israeli Peace Treaty
One of the hallmarks of a democracy, of a stable country with voting and equal rights, is the concept that future governments are responsible to uphold the agreements formed by previous governments.
Egypt's previous government was a dictatorship.
The government before that was also government of brute force.
Why should the Egyptian people, after risking their lives for the hope of democracy, be bound to the agreements of dictators who grabbed power and vast wealth in part due to the agreements they made with other governments?
Egypt should dump the Israel peace treaty... and every other agreement formed by their dictators.
Not today and not all at once. But elections are coming up. Let the parties state where they stand on oil contracts, military agreements, peace treaties; everything.
After the elections the new democratically elected Egyptian government can decide on a case by case basis which agreements to uphold, which to renegotiate and which to cancel.
I hope they uphold the peace treaty with Israel. I think peace is in everyone's interests. I like peace.
But the newly free people of Egypt should make that choice and not be bound to the residue from dictators.
Egypt's previous government was a dictatorship.
The government before that was also government of brute force.
Why should the Egyptian people, after risking their lives for the hope of democracy, be bound to the agreements of dictators who grabbed power and vast wealth in part due to the agreements they made with other governments?
Egypt should dump the Israel peace treaty... and every other agreement formed by their dictators.
Not today and not all at once. But elections are coming up. Let the parties state where they stand on oil contracts, military agreements, peace treaties; everything.
After the elections the new democratically elected Egyptian government can decide on a case by case basis which agreements to uphold, which to renegotiate and which to cancel.
I hope they uphold the peace treaty with Israel. I think peace is in everyone's interests. I like peace.
But the newly free people of Egypt should make that choice and not be bound to the residue from dictators.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Drugs Vs. Pot
http://ozarksfirst.com/fulltext?nxd_id=547427
The Centers for Disease Control reports overdosing on prescription painkillers is an epidemic in the United States, especially for men.
Government researchers say more people suffer deadly overdoses from prescription painkillers compared to heroin and cocaine combined.
Nearly 15,000 people died from prescription overdoses in 2008.
The CDC says there needs to be changes in the way the drugs are prescribed in order to cut back on misuse.
Not one person has died from a pot overdose, neither recreational pot or medically prescribed pot.
Who is against medical pot and why?
The Centers for Disease Control reports overdosing on prescription painkillers is an epidemic in the United States, especially for men.
Government researchers say more people suffer deadly overdoses from prescription painkillers compared to heroin and cocaine combined.
Nearly 15,000 people died from prescription overdoses in 2008.
The CDC says there needs to be changes in the way the drugs are prescribed in order to cut back on misuse.
Not one person has died from a pot overdose, neither recreational pot or medically prescribed pot.
Who is against medical pot and why?
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
New Joke
Two Yeshiva Boys are in a bar having drinks. After a while a girl walks over and starts chatting with one of them.
After a few minutes she asks him if he wants a blowjob.
He gets up and runs out of the bar as fast as he can.
His friend follows him out and asks him what she said that made him run out like that.
He answers “I’m not exactly sure but it had something to do with getting a job!”
After a few minutes she asks him if he wants a blowjob.
He gets up and runs out of the bar as fast as he can.
His friend follows him out and asks him what she said that made him run out like that.
He answers “I’m not exactly sure but it had something to do with getting a job!”
Monday, October 17, 2011
We Have Our Own Interests
I remember, one of the first things I saw when I visited Yad V'Shem, the Holocaust Museum, were pictures from American Planes of the camps and train lines.
Israelis, Jews from as far back as I can recall often held these pictures and other events like turned back boats and late entry to the war as proof that America failed. "America hated the Jews too," they said.
And the answer that America had its own interests was never accepted. Because it was the Holocaust and it happened to us.
And than I heard Israeli President Peres, at the beginning of the Arab Spring, defending Assad & Mubarak as men of stability.
I read Wiki Leaks and learned of secret deals between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
And selling "defense" weaponry to whomever can pay.
And on and on and on.
And I ask people, how can Israel support, trade and defend dictators with barbarous regimes?
And the answer is always the same: We have our own interests.
Israelis, Jews from as far back as I can recall often held these pictures and other events like turned back boats and late entry to the war as proof that America failed. "America hated the Jews too," they said.
And the answer that America had its own interests was never accepted. Because it was the Holocaust and it happened to us.
And than I heard Israeli President Peres, at the beginning of the Arab Spring, defending Assad & Mubarak as men of stability.
I read Wiki Leaks and learned of secret deals between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
And selling "defense" weaponry to whomever can pay.
And on and on and on.
And I ask people, how can Israel support, trade and defend dictators with barbarous regimes?
And the answer is always the same: We have our own interests.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Adult Medicine
A number of years back I was in an accident. The lowest disc in my spine shattered and the shards floated into the spinal canal and began to carve up the spinal root sac.
I had a number of surgeries and treatments and years of rehab.
I also had loads of pills. I had morphine, Vicodin, Felxerall, Valium, Oxycontin and Lyrica just to name the main drugs I was taking.
And they didn't work. Or rather, they did work for pain in the sense that if I took enough, eventually I would pass out and not feel the pain. But there was no in-between; either I took enough to get unconscious or I was devastatingly high but still in pain.
I have been prescribed medical cannabis.
And it works. I am functional, I can work, I can interact and it more effectively deals with the pain and nerve involvement than any pill I've taken.
These doctors have given me back a life.
What I don't understand is who is against this treatment? Why is it even an issue? How can anyone imagine that Medical Marijuana is worse than the pills they gave me?
It's nice to be treated like an adult and get the most effective treatments with the fewest side-effects. Why can't everyone have this? Why do you need to be in the right location, the right State or Country? Why do you need to go through years of disgusting and noneffective treatments before they finally give you something cheap and simple that works?
And every single person I see at the dispensary says the same exact thing. Every time a doctor, nurse or staffer walks by they are greeted by a row or people all of whom stop them and thank them and are grateful for getting their lives back. Cancers, MS, Accidents and more... across the board.
It's a flower, a plant. Please stop being stupid.
It's time we stopped putting religion and politics above the well being of real people.
I had a number of surgeries and treatments and years of rehab.
I also had loads of pills. I had morphine, Vicodin, Felxerall, Valium, Oxycontin and Lyrica just to name the main drugs I was taking.
And they didn't work. Or rather, they did work for pain in the sense that if I took enough, eventually I would pass out and not feel the pain. But there was no in-between; either I took enough to get unconscious or I was devastatingly high but still in pain.
I have been prescribed medical cannabis.
And it works. I am functional, I can work, I can interact and it more effectively deals with the pain and nerve involvement than any pill I've taken.
These doctors have given me back a life.
What I don't understand is who is against this treatment? Why is it even an issue? How can anyone imagine that Medical Marijuana is worse than the pills they gave me?
It's nice to be treated like an adult and get the most effective treatments with the fewest side-effects. Why can't everyone have this? Why do you need to be in the right location, the right State or Country? Why do you need to go through years of disgusting and noneffective treatments before they finally give you something cheap and simple that works?
And every single person I see at the dispensary says the same exact thing. Every time a doctor, nurse or staffer walks by they are greeted by a row or people all of whom stop them and thank them and are grateful for getting their lives back. Cancers, MS, Accidents and more... across the board.
It's a flower, a plant. Please stop being stupid.
It's time we stopped putting religion and politics above the well being of real people.
Monday, October 10, 2011
A Tale of Two Israels
My orthodox brother lives in an Orthodox community in the Jerusalem side of the country. I like to tell him that I live in a Mediterranean country. I live not far from the sea. In my area there are all the restaurants and shopping and clubs and malls and bars and events you could hope to find living in a European style country at the edge of the Mediterranean Sea. And he lives in the Middle East.
That split between Israels was crystallized for me this past Yom Kippur.
This was my second Yom Kippur in Israel. This was my brother's 21st.
The day after Yom Kippur I spoke with my brother and we talked about the holiday. I told him how interesting it is that the streets in my area are filled with people on bicycles. No cars drive on Yom Kippur. So the roads are absolutely filled with walkers and bikers. It is a real cultural event in Israel to bike ride on Yom Kippur. I taught my 8 year old how to ride her two wheeler and by Yom Kippur afternoon she was zipping down the streets with the crowd. My 5 year old son was happily racing her on his bike with training wheels.
And this event, which is ineffably linked to Yom Kippur in Israel for a huge chunk of the country, is virtually foreign to my brother's community. He's read about it in newspapers, but even if he weren't in shul all day, they don't bike around his neighborhood on Yom Kippur.
And I think that may be part of Israel's problem. When Israel presents herself to the world, the world sees the Israel of the Middle East, not the Israel of the Mediterranean .
That split between Israels was crystallized for me this past Yom Kippur.
This was my second Yom Kippur in Israel. This was my brother's 21st.
The day after Yom Kippur I spoke with my brother and we talked about the holiday. I told him how interesting it is that the streets in my area are filled with people on bicycles. No cars drive on Yom Kippur. So the roads are absolutely filled with walkers and bikers. It is a real cultural event in Israel to bike ride on Yom Kippur. I taught my 8 year old how to ride her two wheeler and by Yom Kippur afternoon she was zipping down the streets with the crowd. My 5 year old son was happily racing her on his bike with training wheels.
And this event, which is ineffably linked to Yom Kippur in Israel for a huge chunk of the country, is virtually foreign to my brother's community. He's read about it in newspapers, but even if he weren't in shul all day, they don't bike around his neighborhood on Yom Kippur.
And I think that may be part of Israel's problem. When Israel presents herself to the world, the world sees the Israel of the Middle East, not the Israel of the Mediterranean .
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