Category: Happiness

Some People Do Fight Hate in America

Some weeks ago the Los Angeles Times reported that someone in Sacramento, California had put up swastikas and other anti-semetic posters on their home.  Of course free speech gives that home owner the right to put up what ever he wants.  It’s guaranteed by the constitution.

swastikas-sacramento california-5 month display

On Monday night, that display was torn to shreds by a city resident who told Fox40 he was just doing the right thing.  Robert Dixon, who is not Jewish, told a local television station he had done the right thing.  He fully expected to be arrested.  But the police never came to his home.   A Sacramento police representative said there were no calls to the Moddison Avenue address Monday night.

Oregon’s New Governor is Bisexual

Who cares? Why should anyone care?

Kate Brown, Oregon GovernorReported in the Los Angeles Times: “Advocates for the LGBTQ community cheer the milestone. Libertarian-leaning Oregon — liberal in Portland, conservative elsewhere — mostly yawns.”

And I must agree. Why do I need to know that Kate Brown is a homosexual? Will she do her job differently because of her sexual orientation? Isn’t her sexual orientation her private business?

The news media’s desire to tell me every detail of every politician’s personal life that has no bearing on their job is a true shame. It appears to me that mainstream media has descended into the area usually covered by the tabloids like The Globe and The Examiner and television programs like TMZ.

This situation is the consequence of the 24 hour news cycle. I am going back to sleep.

Freedom of Speech and other Western Freedoms

Freedom of the press means my right to post and print some things that others may find offensive.  Similarly I too may find what others post and print offensive. The Ku Kluz Klan marching through Skokie, Illinois carrying anti-Semitic banners was offensive to that Jewish neighborhood.  Still, it is freedom of speech.

Jeremy Renner is reminding people that his cheeky one-liner (at the Golden Globes) about Jennifer Lopez’s “globes” on Sunday was only a joke.  Jennifer was obviously showing off.

jennifer-lopez-jeremy-renner--cleavage-001

I am Charlie Hebdo (Je Suis Charlie)

It is sad to report that many news organizations refuse to print or post Charlie Hebdo cartoons.  If everyone would do it then who would the haters attack?  Congratulations to The Huffington Post.  Someone there has the courage.

From the Huffington Post

Known for its caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, as well as critical depictions of Catholics, Jews and French politicians, the magazine regularly stirred controversy.

Charlie Hebdo gained notoriety in 2006 for its portrayal of a sobbing Muhammad, under the headline “Mahomet débordé par les intégristes” (“Muhammad overwhelmed by fundamentalists”). Within its pages, the magazine published 12 cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, bringing unprecedented condemnation from the Muslim world. The French Council for the Muslim Faith eventually sued the weekly for the cartoon. The issue has since been considered the one which positioned Charlie Hebdo as a target for terrorist attacks.

Charlie Hebdo

A Wish for You in 2015

May peace break into your home and may thieves come to steal your debts 

May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet for $100 bills. 

May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips!

May happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy

May the problems you had, forget your home address! 

In simple words …………

May 2015 be the best year of your life!!

Jews Wrote the Most Beloved Christmas Songs

Lauren Markoe wrote this piece for the Religion News Service.  PBS also had a program on the contribution of Jewish composers to favorite Christian music.
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Christians don’t seem to mind that so many beloved Christmas songs were written by Jews, and Jews tend to reel off the list with pride.

“White Christmas”; “Let It Snow”; “Santa Baby”; “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”; “Silver Bells”; “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”; “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” (popular line from “The Christmas Song”).

Those not mentioned here could fill an album.

But why didn’t the Jews write any similarly iconic songs for their holiday that falls around Christmas time: Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights?

“I Have a Little Dreidl”? Great song … if you’re 4.

There are reasons that Jews are good at Christmas songs and why so many of these songs became so popular. And there are reasons why Jews didn’t write similarly catchy tunes for Hanukkah – or any other Jewish holiday.

In the first half of the 20th century, Jews flocked the music industry.
It was one business here they didn’t face overwhelming anti-Semitism, said Michael Feinstein, the Emmy Award-winning interpreter of American musical standards.

“White Christmas,” written by Jewish lyricist Irving Berlin, topped the charts in 1942 and launched popular Christmas music, encouraging many others – Jews and non-Jews – to write more odes to the holiday.

And although celebrating the birth of Christ was not something these Jewish songwriters would want to do, they could feel comfortable composing more secular Christmas singles.

“The Christmas songs that are popular are not about Jesus, but they’re about sleigh bells and Santa and the trappings of Christmas,” Feinstein said. “They’re not religious songs.”

In their music and lyrics, Jews captured Christmas not only as a wonderful, wintry time for family gatherings, but also as an American Holiday.

What they drew on, said Rabbi Kenneth Kanter, an expert on Jews and popular culture at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, was their background as the children of European-born Jews, or as immigrants themselves, in the case of Russian-born Berlin and others.

Jewish songwriters’ own successful assimilation and gratitude to America pervades their mid-century Christmas and other songs, and appealed to a country that wanted to feel brave and united as it fought World War II.

“These songs made Christmas a kind of national celebration, almost a patriotic celebration,” Kanter said.

The nonreligious nature of these Christmas songs may not sit well with pious Christians, said Feinstein, who is Jewish and who cut “Michael Feinstein Christmas,” among many other albums.

But they are now part of the fabric of our larger culture, he said, and “any singer who is a singer of the American song book will sing Christmas songs,” said Feinstein.

“We all sing them.”

Have a Merry Christmas/Hanukkah

California Bullet Train is a Path to the Future

Driving from San Francisco to Los Angeles is a dreary six hour experience. Most people travel inland to use Interstate 5. It is a straight and boring ride. In the summer the heat in the Central Valley and the drive to the top of the Tehachapi Mountains (called the Grape Vine) causes many cars to overheat. The drive from Los Angeles does not include the steep climb but isn’t any fun either.

Today the flight from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to San Francisco International Airport takes about 1½ hours.  Airplane seats are narrow, poorly padded, and there is no leg room.  The time for check in and clearance through security is about 1½ hours. American Airlines recommends check in “At least 90 minutes prior to departure when checking bags.” Travel to LAX is about 1½ hours. Thus a 1½ hour flight requires 4½ hours. The flight costs $124.00 round trip. Currently the travel time by rail is about 12 3/4 hours.   Obviously train travel is not acceptable to most people as the train does not actually go into San Francisco. The last leg of the trip is a bus ride from Emeryville across San Francisco Bay.

The Bullet Train project plans that by 2029 the system will run from San Francisco to the Los Angeles basin in under three hours at speeds capable of over 200 miles per hour. If the train cost is competitive with air travel we will see a new era for travel. We will be able to reach the center of each city without a special effort. The airlines will cut their fares to continue drawing patrons.

Despite the naysayers, I believe Governor Jerry Brown is correct in perusing this project.

CA Bullet Train Map