Top of the afternoon everyone...
I have often had arguments with my father-in-law over where I get my news. I usually read Fox news on line. He says it is all lies. I find it easier not to have the argument, so I remain silent.
He prefers CNN. I stopped reading CNN regularly several years ago when I decided that their anti-Israel bias was way too evident. My father-in-law has insisted that it has gotten better.
I respectfully differ.
There was an attack today in Tel Aviv. Two Palestinians shot up Sorona complex. For the record, there is nothing disputed about Tel Aviv.
The headline on CNN initially read: 9 shot in market area; 2 'terrorists' in custody. If they were terrorists, why were the quotation marks necessary? This is perplexing.
But wait! There is more.
I tried to figure out a way to contact the nice folks at CNN to tell them to call a terrorist a terrorist. It does not need quotation marks. I was unable to find a way to contact them.
During the several minutes that I was trying to find the contact information, CNN changed the headline. It now reads: 9 shot in market area; 2 attackers in custody. The entire word is gone.
On April 28th, CNN's headline read: San Bernardino terrorist's brother arrested. Clearly, when the attack takes place in the US, the word is acceptable. Let's explore further.
On March 21st, CNN's headline read: Surviving Paris terrorist was planning new attacks. So we can see that terrorism takes place in Paris.
On March 23rd, CNN invites us to "meet the victims of the Brussels terror attack."
CNN comfortably uses words like 'terrorism' and 'terror' in Europe and in the US. They do so without the quotation marks. What is the issue with Israel? One wonders.
I will happily concede to my father-in-law that Fox might not get it right all the time. However, lies exist beyond the distortion of facts. It is a bald-faced lie to use words that deliberately distort facts. It is also a lie to use words that deliberately conceal relevant facts.
CNN, I challenge you to use the word 'terrorism' in a headline that refers to Israel.
CNN, J'ACCUSE!
May the best of the day be yours.
R/SCG
Addendum: 9:02 PM - CNN's headline says that people were killed in a terror attack. They were able to use the word.
Addendum: It is now Friday morning. Since I wrote this, CNN has apologized for their vocabulary. They have called this a terrorist attack.
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Monday, May 30, 2016
Speech Development...
Top of the afternoon to all...
You are all aware of my dislike of earbuds. I believe that the constant use of them is a danger. A couple of weeks back, I was riding my bicycle on the trail along the Finch Hydro Corridor. There was a young woman ahead of me. I started ringing my bell to alert her of my presence. There was no response.
I decided to stop the bicycle and talk to her. She seemed to understand my concern about the danger of not being able to hear what is going on around her. I wonder whether she changed her practice.
A related matter has piqued my interest. When my children were still in the stroller, Jennifer and/or I would take them out for a walk. We did not have cell phones. We did not have text capability. I used to narrate the walk to the kids.
I watch now. People are out with the strollers. One hand is pushing the stroller. The other has the phone in hand and is doing whatever with the phone. No one talks with the child in the stroller.
I wonder what the implications for speech development are in this regard. Kids learn to speak by hearing what is going on around them. If parents are reading texts and e-mail and not talking to their children, there is crucial developmental time that is lost.
Have a good evening.
R/SCG
You are all aware of my dislike of earbuds. I believe that the constant use of them is a danger. A couple of weeks back, I was riding my bicycle on the trail along the Finch Hydro Corridor. There was a young woman ahead of me. I started ringing my bell to alert her of my presence. There was no response.
I decided to stop the bicycle and talk to her. She seemed to understand my concern about the danger of not being able to hear what is going on around her. I wonder whether she changed her practice.
A related matter has piqued my interest. When my children were still in the stroller, Jennifer and/or I would take them out for a walk. We did not have cell phones. We did not have text capability. I used to narrate the walk to the kids.
I watch now. People are out with the strollers. One hand is pushing the stroller. The other has the phone in hand and is doing whatever with the phone. No one talks with the child in the stroller.
I wonder what the implications for speech development are in this regard. Kids learn to speak by hearing what is going on around them. If parents are reading texts and e-mail and not talking to their children, there is crucial developmental time that is lost.
Have a good evening.
R/SCG
Monday, May 23, 2016
The Cardinal's Pushke...
Top of the evening to all...
It has been a while since I have written. I hope that all of you are doing well.
Jennifer and I are presently attending the Rabbinical Assembly in New York City. We have discussed the future of the Rabbinical Assembly as rabbis take on roles well beyond the pulpit. We have discussed the new, tour de force Shabbat siddur that has just come out.
We also had a plenary with His Eminence Timothy Cardinal Dolan from the Archdiocese of New York City. The Jewish community of New York City has always had a good relationship with the Archdiocese. Some years back, John Cardinal O'Connor came to the installation ceremony of the New York Board of Rabbis. He gave a gift of a red yarmulke to the incoming president. Cardinal Dolan sits on the advisory panel for the Jewish Theological Seminary, where both Jennifer and I received our semikhah. It was a wonderful discussion about religious leadership in a secular age. Cardinal Dolan suggested to us that while we live in an age of secularism, that did not mean that all secularists were anti-religion. His thoughts were further that on some level, way more people than not, even amongst the secularists, seek a language of spirituality.
As a gift, the Rabbinical Assembly gave him a pushke - a tzedakah box - a charity box for those with no Yiddish or Hebrew background. It had an inscription. It was lacking one thing.
My father-in-law has always said that a pushke should never be empty. On the one hand, one might think that we should seek to empty it at every chance. On the other hand, tzedakah should be a constant, never allowing us to rest on our laurels. As such, the minute it is emptied, we should put money into it. Knowing my father-in-law's thoughts (and agreeing with them), at the end of the plenary, I walked over to the Cardinal's pushke and put a dollar into it. He appreciated it.
Have a good night everyone.
R/SCG
It has been a while since I have written. I hope that all of you are doing well.
Jennifer and I are presently attending the Rabbinical Assembly in New York City. We have discussed the future of the Rabbinical Assembly as rabbis take on roles well beyond the pulpit. We have discussed the new, tour de force Shabbat siddur that has just come out.
We also had a plenary with His Eminence Timothy Cardinal Dolan from the Archdiocese of New York City. The Jewish community of New York City has always had a good relationship with the Archdiocese. Some years back, John Cardinal O'Connor came to the installation ceremony of the New York Board of Rabbis. He gave a gift of a red yarmulke to the incoming president. Cardinal Dolan sits on the advisory panel for the Jewish Theological Seminary, where both Jennifer and I received our semikhah. It was a wonderful discussion about religious leadership in a secular age. Cardinal Dolan suggested to us that while we live in an age of secularism, that did not mean that all secularists were anti-religion. His thoughts were further that on some level, way more people than not, even amongst the secularists, seek a language of spirituality.
As a gift, the Rabbinical Assembly gave him a pushke - a tzedakah box - a charity box for those with no Yiddish or Hebrew background. It had an inscription. It was lacking one thing.
My father-in-law has always said that a pushke should never be empty. On the one hand, one might think that we should seek to empty it at every chance. On the other hand, tzedakah should be a constant, never allowing us to rest on our laurels. As such, the minute it is emptied, we should put money into it. Knowing my father-in-law's thoughts (and agreeing with them), at the end of the plenary, I walked over to the Cardinal's pushke and put a dollar into it. He appreciated it.
Have a good night everyone.
R/SCG
Thursday, April 14, 2016
You Should See the Other Guy.....
Top of the afternoon to all...
My medium child received a warning from the police the other day due to a traffic violation. He was riding his bicycle in the crosswalk. It happened here:
His citation was a warning as he was riding his bicycle in the crosswalk.
When his school called me and told me what was going on, I knew exactly where it had happened.
And now for the rest of the story. First of all, the lad is just fine. He has some bumps and bruises. His bicycle...at the absolute least needs two new wheels, new pedals, and a new front gear system. When the light turned green, he pedalled out into the crosswalk, with the idea of riding parallel to the crosswalk. The person taking the left from Wilmington onto Finch either did not see him or thought that he could turn in front of him. It was the wrong set of decisions on the car driver's part. He hit the kid, pretty hard.
I met up with everyone at Humber River Hospital. We hung out there for a few hours while the nice folks there checked him over. He is fine.
There is no long-term damage.
The car, from what I understand, requires a new windshield. Good! It serves the driver right. He should know better than to zip out of an intersection like that, and crossing in front of anyone in the crosswalk is illegal. At least he stayed.
I always knew that the medium child would be the one with a police record.
May the best of the day be yours.
R/SCG
My medium child received a warning from the police the other day due to a traffic violation. He was riding his bicycle in the crosswalk. It happened here:
His citation was a warning as he was riding his bicycle in the crosswalk.
When his school called me and told me what was going on, I knew exactly where it had happened.
And now for the rest of the story. First of all, the lad is just fine. He has some bumps and bruises. His bicycle...at the absolute least needs two new wheels, new pedals, and a new front gear system. When the light turned green, he pedalled out into the crosswalk, with the idea of riding parallel to the crosswalk. The person taking the left from Wilmington onto Finch either did not see him or thought that he could turn in front of him. It was the wrong set of decisions on the car driver's part. He hit the kid, pretty hard.
I met up with everyone at Humber River Hospital. We hung out there for a few hours while the nice folks there checked him over. He is fine.
There is no long-term damage.
The car, from what I understand, requires a new windshield. Good! It serves the driver right. He should know better than to zip out of an intersection like that, and crossing in front of anyone in the crosswalk is illegal. At least he stayed.
I always knew that the medium child would be the one with a police record.
May the best of the day be yours.
R/SCG
Monday, April 11, 2016
Response to Reader on Most Recent Posting...
Top of the day to all...
One of my loyal readers replied to my previous post that she thought cleanliness had something to do with kashrut. Alas, it is not true.
Strictly speaking, the word only has to do with whether or not food is ritually fit. While kosher food producers should adhere to higher standards in areas outside of food preparation, honest books, and proper working conditions, just for example, violating any of those presents no ritual issue in and of itself.
I would like to point to an amusing article on kosher oysters. The oysters are clean, even pure, but they are not kosher.
I agree with the reader though on the basic issue. The quality of chickens has dropped precipitously since Chai Poultry closed. I understand that there will be kosher chickens again in Ontario in the not-too-distant future, but we are not there yet.
In the meantime, we are stuck with what we are getting, which is clearly a fowl foul.
Have a good day everyone.
R/SCG
One of my loyal readers replied to my previous post that she thought cleanliness had something to do with kashrut. Alas, it is not true.
Strictly speaking, the word only has to do with whether or not food is ritually fit. While kosher food producers should adhere to higher standards in areas outside of food preparation, honest books, and proper working conditions, just for example, violating any of those presents no ritual issue in and of itself.
I would like to point to an amusing article on kosher oysters. The oysters are clean, even pure, but they are not kosher.
I agree with the reader though on the basic issue. The quality of chickens has dropped precipitously since Chai Poultry closed. I understand that there will be kosher chickens again in Ontario in the not-too-distant future, but we are not there yet.
In the meantime, we are stuck with what we are getting, which is clearly a fowl foul.
Have a good day everyone.
R/SCG
Sunday, April 3, 2016
The Responsible Administration of Kashrut...
Top of the evening all...
Once upon a time, food production was largely cottage industries. The local dairyman brought milk to town. The local farmer brought chickens. The local gardener brought rutabagas. It was thus very easy to keep a kosher home. People knew the producers personally, and therefore knew the product.
As the techniques for mass production developed after the industrial age, kashrut had to take on new dimensions. Thus developed the concept of the hekhsher, kosher supervision. Rabbis would go out and put their seal on a product. We now see these marks on all manner of food. Some foods have a long history (comparatively). For example, Maxwell House coffee has been certified kosher since the 1920's. Coca Cola has been certified since the 1930's. Other products are more recent, such as M&M's and Oreos.
When we get to the Pesach time of year, the issues of supervision become a little more complex. We have to deal with the extra foods that are otherwise permitted, but forbidden during the holiday of Pesach. Within those foods, there is a category called kitniyot, which Sephardim eat but Ashkenazim do not.
In theory, this should be simple. It gets complicated though, because custom was never monolithic. It was subject to much interpretation depending on location, rabbi, product availability, and a whole bunch of other factors. It is thus impossible to say that Ashkenazim did 'X,' and Sephardim did 'Y.'
Now here is the issue. Some of those other issues have started to appear in ways that demand a new look at how products are supervised. For example, I cannot eat wheat or dairy. Other people are vegetarians. The list of quirks in people's diets is quite astounding.
Kashrut should be administered with those quirks in mind. If kashrut organizations do not wish to put all of the relevant information on the package, or if companies do not want to put all of the relevant information on the package, that is understandable. It gets crowded. It can still be put on the company websites. Oreos are certified as dairy, even though there is not a drop of milk in them. Okay, but for someone who has anaphylactic reactions to dairy, it is nice to know that they should be safe. The certification as dairy alone is not helpful.
Kashrut supervision at present takes only the kosher diet into consideration. It needs to expand its mindset beyond, so that those who keep kosher can do so while also tending to individual dietary needs.
May the best of the evening be yours.
R/SCG
Once upon a time, food production was largely cottage industries. The local dairyman brought milk to town. The local farmer brought chickens. The local gardener brought rutabagas. It was thus very easy to keep a kosher home. People knew the producers personally, and therefore knew the product.
As the techniques for mass production developed after the industrial age, kashrut had to take on new dimensions. Thus developed the concept of the hekhsher, kosher supervision. Rabbis would go out and put their seal on a product. We now see these marks on all manner of food. Some foods have a long history (comparatively). For example, Maxwell House coffee has been certified kosher since the 1920's. Coca Cola has been certified since the 1930's. Other products are more recent, such as M&M's and Oreos.
When we get to the Pesach time of year, the issues of supervision become a little more complex. We have to deal with the extra foods that are otherwise permitted, but forbidden during the holiday of Pesach. Within those foods, there is a category called kitniyot, which Sephardim eat but Ashkenazim do not.
In theory, this should be simple. It gets complicated though, because custom was never monolithic. It was subject to much interpretation depending on location, rabbi, product availability, and a whole bunch of other factors. It is thus impossible to say that Ashkenazim did 'X,' and Sephardim did 'Y.'
Now here is the issue. Some of those other issues have started to appear in ways that demand a new look at how products are supervised. For example, I cannot eat wheat or dairy. Other people are vegetarians. The list of quirks in people's diets is quite astounding.
Kashrut should be administered with those quirks in mind. If kashrut organizations do not wish to put all of the relevant information on the package, or if companies do not want to put all of the relevant information on the package, that is understandable. It gets crowded. It can still be put on the company websites. Oreos are certified as dairy, even though there is not a drop of milk in them. Okay, but for someone who has anaphylactic reactions to dairy, it is nice to know that they should be safe. The certification as dairy alone is not helpful.
Kashrut supervision at present takes only the kosher diet into consideration. It needs to expand its mindset beyond, so that those who keep kosher can do so while also tending to individual dietary needs.
May the best of the evening be yours.
R/SCG
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Poor Hamlet...
Top of the evening to all...
We are all aware of the hemming and hawing that Hamlet commits in Shakespeare's famous play. The Bard, however, did not take note of the physical manifestations of Hamlet's stress. We are, of course, all aware that stress can cause physical concerns.
For Hamlet, it was constant digestive issues. It really drove him crazy.
This of course leads Polonius to say "though this be madness, yet there be methane in't."
I am clearly guilty of Polonius assault.
Good night to all.
R/SCG
We are all aware of the hemming and hawing that Hamlet commits in Shakespeare's famous play. The Bard, however, did not take note of the physical manifestations of Hamlet's stress. We are, of course, all aware that stress can cause physical concerns.
For Hamlet, it was constant digestive issues. It really drove him crazy.
This of course leads Polonius to say "though this be madness, yet there be methane in't."
I am clearly guilty of Polonius assault.
Good night to all.
R/SCG
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)