Mockingbird Serenade

Last year, in the weeks before my Mom died, I had the privilege of staying with her at night while my other sister worked. Her yahrzeit is Adar 10. During the last few weeks of February, a mockingbird would serenade each night. The first few nights, it was difficult to fall asleep but then, the charm of the bird song started to kick in. The video below is what is sounded like:



Today, at work, another mockingbird began his serenade. It is a beautiful reminder of the laughter my family shared in the last weeks of Mom's life. It is a beautiful reminder that Mom's last breath she took was laughing with us.

I can still hear the mockingbird's serenade and the echo of Mom's laughter.

"Aspirin Between the Knees"

Foster Friess, the billionaire backer of Rick Santorum, doesn't seem to have much smarts in spite of his accumulated wealth. When speaking of the birth control issue that is frothing around, especially in Santorum's camp, this is what Friess had to say during an interview:

“Back in my day, they used Bayer Aspirin for contraceptives. The gals put it between their knees and it wasn’t that costly,” he said Thursday on MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports, setting the host back for moment.

I haven't heard a phrase like that in over thirty years. My Mom said it to me just before I started having my period. What she was trying to tell me was that the best thing to do is abstain from sex before marriage. Then she told me about birth control.

The Republicans are trying their best to make the birth control health coverage issue about religious freedom. But it's not about religious freedom at all. It's about women's health. Some women need to be on birth control because of hormonal issues. Some need to be on it because they could die if they have children. The hearing today, led by Representative Issa was a farce and played for the 28% of those Americans who believe that women are incapable of making their decisions about their health. Their "expert panel" didn't have any health professionals and consisted solely of men.

It would be nice if teenagers chose to abstain from sex and that there isn't a need for birth control. The reality is that teens will have sex. Mississippi has only teaches abstinence in its schools now.

Mississippi now has the highest pregnancy rate among teens:

Mississippi, a comparatively poor state in the South, had a rate of 68.4 births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 19 in 2006, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report. That marked a 13 percent increase over 2005.

And that's not all:

It has rates of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis among youth practically twice that of the national average.

Additionally, the Sex Information and Education Council of the U.S. reports that:

“Nearly 60 percent of Mississippi high school students report ever having had sexual intercourse compared to 47.8 percent of high school students nationwide. Moreover, teens in the state are nearly twice as likely to have engaged in sexual intercourse before the age of 13, and 50 percent more likely to have had four or more sexual partners than their peers nationwide.”

Rick Santorum, Representative Issa, most Republicans in Congress, and billionaires like Foster Friess are sadly deluded if they think people are going to us an "aspirin between the knees" or abstinence as birth control.

Rick Santorum views on sex:

Here is an actual Rick Santorum quote: “One of the things I will talk about, that no president has talked about before, is I think the dangers of contraception in this country.” And also, “Many of the Christian faith have said, well, that’s okay, contraception is okay. It’s not okay. It’s a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be.”
...
It’s pretty basic: Rick Santorum is coming for your contraception. Any and all of it. And while he may not be alone in his opposition to non-procreative sex, he is certainly the most honest about it — as he himself acknowledged in the interview.

Rick Santorum wants to do away with all birth control because its against his religious views. Kinda of scary that this man is actually in the running for President of the United States. I mean, do you really want Rick Santorum telling you how you must live your married life and you as a couple have sex?

Why Does Fox News Hate the Constitution?

The so-called "culture wars" are heating up. Apparently, Republicans, Rick Santorum, and Fox News doesn't like the fact that insurance companies must now cover birth control pills. To be fair, religious institutions do not have to provide that coverage. I can see that. What I can't understand is why some politicians, especially Santorum, believe that their faith and religious beliefs trump our US Constitution. Jon Stewart says it so much better than I can:

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Jewish views on be fruitful and multiply are very different than Christian views.

In a most remarkable ending to the Mishnah of Yevamot, there is a disagreement cited between an anonymous teacher and Rabbi Yochanan ben Berukah. The anonymous teacher (whose view is accepted Jewish law) states that women are not obligated to be fruitful and multiply. In traditional Jewish law, it is a man's duty to marry and have children, whereas a woman is free to remain childless…

The whole birth control controversy is not about so-called "culture wars". It's about a group of people trying to foist their religious beliefs on everybody else. The US Constitution is a remarkable document. Let's not let Fox News, Santorum, and Republicans try to change us from a representative democracy to theocracy.

Bullies

The Republican party, especially the TEA party faction remind me of bullies. It seems the only way they deal with those who differ in their beliefs is to shout them down, insult them and if that doesn't work, call them un-American.

The TEA party tactics consists mainly of shouting down their opponents. This was demonstrated clearly a couple of years ago when Congressman Gene Taylor tried to hold townhall meetings. The TEA party members kept shouting that no one could air their views and have debates about issues. Their tactics worked. Taylor was swept out of office and a TEA party shill by the name of Steven Palazzo took his place.

We saw Sarah Palin use the same tactics. Newt Gingrich uses the same tactics. These are the tactics of bullies and not statesmen and politicians.

Obama is Not a Muslim

Discuss and if you really believe he is a Muslim defend yourself. Do not use links from Robert Spencer, Pamela Geller, Newsmax, World News Daily, and other garbage sites.

Breakdown - Fascism

In my post, Self-hating Jew, I linked to the 14 points of fascism. For the next few weeks, I'm going to show some of the concerns I have the direction the US is going.


1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays. How many times have you heard Republicans say liberals are not patriotic? What of the claims of American exceptionalism? I am proud of my country but think it does our country a disservice when politicians say that because I'm a liberal, I'm not a "real" American. It has been our country's liberal ideals that make us a truly great and unique nation. There have been mis-steps. The Founding Fathers allowed slavery to continue. It took a civil war to correct that injustice. Women were long denied the right to vote. The flood of Jewish, Irish, and other immigrants in the late 1800's and early 1900's led to quotas on immigration. During World War II we locked Japanese citizens on the West coast. Our country performed medical testing on blacks in Tuskegee.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc. After World War II, Japanese soldiers were executed for water-boarding US soldiers. Today, in the United States, water-boarding is called "enhanced interrogation technique". When news first came out that the US was water boarding, Shepard Smith stated We are America. We don't f**king torture. Gitmo is a festering sore. We do not need Gitmo. We do not need to torture. Our laws were sufficient to deal with terrorists.


3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc. Whose the biggest bogey man in the minds of many Americans? Muslims. Do we really need to pass laws that strike at the very heart of what it means to be free? The recently passed NDAA allows any president to have the military detain and US citizen arrested on US soil detained indefinitely. This is huge, huge, huge threat to our American way of life and it was started by President George W. Bush after 9-11 and sadly and much to my dismay, was signed into law by President Obama. Oh, to be sure both President Bush and Obama stated they would never use that power. But it shouldn't be a power they had to begin with. The PATRIOT Act, passed after 9-11 is an act which needs to be abolished.

We are Americans but too many are allowing fear to jeopardize the very things that make our country great. I wrote to my congressman before the passage of the PATRIOT Act urging him to vote no its passage. I've written to my current congressmen urging them not to pass NDAA with its truly un-American detention of US citizens. I wrote to them regarding the threat to free speech that SOPA and PIPA poses. All of my congressmen let me down. President Obama let me down by signing NDAA into law. But I'm hoping more and more Americans can see the power they have. If it weren't for the internet protests last week, we would have SOPA and PIPA.

If we can stop SOPA and PIPA, we can make Congress abolish the NDAA and the PATRIOT Act.

I cannot support any of the Republican nominees for president. They are just too dangerous to our country's future. We have given up some of our freedoms out of fear. The Republican candidates message is nothing but fear and more fear. If they truly believed in American exceptionalism, why do they keep feeding us fear? Aren't we the home of the brave? It's time to give up fear.

Shabbat Shalom!!!

Self-hating Jew?

Someone, an anonymous person from Littleton CO, has accused me of being a self-hating Jew because I support President Obama.

There are many reasons I support President Obama. He is not out to get Israel. He is not a Muslim. His policies on Israel are about the same as past presidents. Unlike some past presidents such as George W. Bush, he did not promise to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

All presidents from President Truman to President Obama have supported Israel. Some have offered better support than others. Both Presidents Eisenhower and Nixon both Republican, withheld timely help when Israel desperately needed it. Just look at the Yom Kippur War and contrast it with President Johnson's, a Democrat, response during the 1967 war.


I cannot support any of the current Republican candidates for president. Newt Gingrich has openly advocated jailing judges he disagrees with. Mitt Romney actually thinks that a corporation is a person. Santorum seems to want to establish a theocracy and do away with our representative democracy.

All of them seem to have a singular disregard for a actual, breathing persons individual rights. All of them seem to morbidly interested in women's reproductive rights than in looking at ways to help the unemployed. Some of them openly embrace endorsements from those that say homosexuals should be killed. Most of them show a contempt for science.

Here's a good example of Republicans in action:It's an anti-bullying law but states that a person with deeply held religious convictions can make a statement for those beliefs. The bill was aimed at gay kids who were being tormented. But it would have helped other kids who were being bullied. I guess it will be okay for those with deeply held religious beliefs to call Jewish children "christ killers" or kikes.

These Republican contenders all show a tendency toward fascism.

Just look at this:

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread
domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.

6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.

9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

10. Labor Power is Suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

From Liberty Forum

The Republicans, to me, already have the first 13 points locked in. All across the nation, Republican controlled states are attempting mass voter suppression by various laws.

No, I'm not a self-hating Jew. I'm just one who remembers where great-great-great-great grandfather came from: Tulchin. I also remember a conversation I had with my Grandfather about the US. I told him we are so lucky to be living here and would never have to worry about being prosecuted because of religion. He said it could happen here and that we must be on guard. Read the above 14 points again.

Stop SOPA & PIPA

Don't let Congress take away your freedom of speech. Stop SOPA



Do your part to end American Censorship

Our protest song!!!

Martin Luther King Jr

Today, we honor a real American hero, Martin Luther King Jr. He understand the term equality. He marched peacefully even when state violence was directed at him and those who marched with him across Alabama. He spoke eloquently of the oppression blacks suffered at the hands of state policies in places like Mississippi. He spoke against the poll taxes, literacy tests, and other measures used by the state to suppress the voting rights of blacks. He spoke bravely even while around him, black churches were bombed, Freedom Riders, black leaders were murdered and states, especially Mississippi, covered up the evidence.


He died for the dream of little black and white children playing together. Most of his dreams have since come true. Even Mississippi has since prosecuted the murderers of the Freedom Riders. Little black and white children play together.

But there is an insidious force at work across the nation, especially in the South, to suppress voting rights.

After Mississippians voted for initiative 27, many voters will see their rights curtailed and suppressed. The poor, blacks, and the elderly will be the ones most affected by these changes.

Mississippi had been making such great strides to overcome its brutal past. November 11, 2011 proved we haven't quite caught on to that whole equality thing. I encouraged my friends and family on Facebook to oppose 27. I don't know how successful I was. Most people do not see it as a hardship to have to present a photo ID and most cannot imagine the feeling of intimidation some may feel when asked to show ID at the voting booth. I remember how intimidated I felt when a poll worker questioned whether I was at the right polling place even though I had been voting there for 12 years.

I can still hope and dream....

Yes, I have a dream this afternoon that one day in this land the words of Amos will become real and "justice will roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream."

I have a dream this afternoon that we will recognize the words of Jefferson, "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with some inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.