tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90141965531373231862024-02-21T06:46:01.936-08:00Steam and SteelClick Follow below to subscribe
WHRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371454770597034041noreply@blogger.comBlogger250125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9014196553137323186.post-58258464925336477142023-10-14T13:36:00.000-07:002023-10-14T13:36:50.295-07:00Must We Continue to Fool Ourselves?<p>David P. Goldman, a right smart observer of military and geostrategic matters, and the Middle East in particular, recently wrote:</p>
<p>"We may not learn soon, if ever, exactly how the sectarian politics of radical Islam intersected and diverged between the Sunni jihadism embodied in the Brotherhood and Shi’ite jihadism sponsored by Iran. What the Gaza disaster makes clear is that neither Israeli nor American intelligence understood the opposition. The Biden Administration wooed the Iranians with a $6 billion cash ransom for American hostages, while the Qataris financed Hamas as it were under the nose of the American military." </p>
<p>Contrary to the articles contention, we do know how Sunni Hamas' and Shiite Iran's interests converged. It's called <i>"do what I need and I'll like you for now."</i> If it is ever in Iran's interest, they will squash Hamas like a bug, but the Mullahs of Iran have signed up to destroy Israel more than any other thing, except perhaps awaiting the return of the 12th Imam.</p>
<p>But there is a more important lesson here, one that is so far out in the open that only those who will call for peace at any cost will miss it. <i>"If someone says they are going to kill you, don't imagine they're going away because you paid them."</i> This isn't just true of Hamas, it's true of the "mainstream" Palestinian Authority (PA), which talks about a two state solution when speaking in English to the wishful fools in the West, while calling for complete extermination of Israel in its Arabic media. Those useful idiots, including those in the US State Department, who think the hate spewed in the Arabic media is just to appease the masses, are functional morons.</p>
<p>So, while it's correct that relationships in the Middle East can be complex, it's also accurate to say the the fundamental drivers and ambitions of the region can be distilled down to a few facts. Hate the Jews, destroy Israel, and get paid to 'not' do it by Israel's supposed allies as long as it's convenient. After that, move on to using the remaining moslem emigres in the west as a Trojan Horse for western civilisation. This isn't alarmist thinking; it's a simple reading of what 'they' say. If it weren't so, there is a good chance that at least some Arab regimes would actually be trying to improve the lot of their citizens, at least a little. </p>
<p>Understanding these facts makes for hard work; Israel's allies would prefer that she just go away, so that they can move on with their next do-gooder project. Unfortunately for the US and Europe, those pesky Jews have no place to go. That's how their ancestors ended up there in the first place.</p>WHRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371454770597034041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9014196553137323186.post-78074472104417203292023-10-07T20:23:00.002-07:002023-10-07T20:23:36.074-07:00We Can But Reap What We Sow<p>Now that President Biden has aided and abetted the Hamas attack on Israel, he has decided to “fully stand behind the Jewish state.” It appears that the only thing worse than a lying, thieving Republican is a lying, thieving Democrat. (Trump fans can stop reading now)</p>
<p>There is plenty of blame to go around. Hamas bragged months ago about their aim of conducting an attack to overwhelm the Iron Dome system. A pretty good thumb rule is, when your long-time enemy says he’s out to murder you, believe him and govern yourself accordingly.</p>
<p>There may be plenty of blame to go around, but we ought not to use that fact as a way to spread it thin, instead of identifying the clear culprits.</p>
<p>President Biden, and his National Security advisor, Anthony Blinken, are at the top of the list. They apparently need to hedge their bets with the Islamist wing of the Democratic Party. Upon taking power, Biden and his administration resumed aid to Gaza; it seemed as if they couldn’t wait. That’s the same as resuming aid to Hamas. It’s not sufficient to say that Hamas rules Gaza. Gaza is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hamas. In furtherance of this idiotic move, Biden released six billion dollars frozen funds Iran, supposedly only to be used for humanitarian purposes. I’m sure that’s enforceable. For reasons that are best understood by understanding that liberals never stop thinking that <i>being nice to your enemies will make them be nicer to you</i>, Biden-Blinken and company simply ignored all the physical evidence that demonstrated exactly what Iran and Hamas thought of both Israel and the United States, and what they have been saying they intend to do. The mullahs must have been laughing their heads off over American naivety. It may also be that the President is simply tired of those pesky Jews insisting that one can’t make peace with terrorists. In that regard, Biden and Trump have something in common: both don’t believe their own intelligence agencies. One can forgive Biden (a little) by remembering that he appears to be a doddering old fool, but Blinken, one of the principal architects of the disastrous Iran nuclear deal, should be held to account immediately. The man is a moron. He's Jewish, so I suppose one can't call him anti-semitic. Anyway, moron is a more precise technical term for what he is.</p>
<p>For the Israeli leadership, this is an inexcusable intelligence failure, coming almost exactly fifty (Gregorian) years after their previous intelligence-failure fueled debacle – the surprise attack that opened the 1973 war.</p>
<p>Those who think Hamas doesn’t watch television or cruise the Internet might want to look at the video of a Hamas drone destroying an Israeli Merkava tank by dropping a bomb nearly vertically upon the tank’s vulnerable topsides. The Ukrainians have been doing this to Russian tanks for months, and publishing the videos.</p>
<p>Israel is now faced with a dilemma such as she hasn’t faced in decades. Does she go all out to destroy Hamas, or does she account for the hundreds of hostages the Islamic terrorist group has spirited away to Gaza. At least with Barack Obama gone from the White House we can once again use the term “Islamic terrorist.” That’s cold comfort, but it’s the only comfort we’re likely to have from Biden’s disastrous foreign policy.</p>
WHRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371454770597034041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9014196553137323186.post-41262240171213238842023-05-20T18:29:00.001-07:002023-05-20T18:30:01.535-07:00Mothers<p><i>The folloing is the Mothers Day column by my wife, Rabbi Rose Lyn Jacob.</I></p>
<p>“When someone asks you where you come from, the answer is Your Mother!”-- Anna Quindlen</p>
<p>A Mother’s Day remembrance came across my in-box the other day. It’s author is a woman who is, herself, at this point in life, already a grandmother. She happens to come from a culture that also reveres motherhood. “Miss my Darling Mummy on this Mother’s day. Thank you so much for the wonderful memories you left with us - we love & cherish all the fun times we had with you and are still in awe of your generosity and love for all those lives you have touched. Love you and Miss you forever!! Till we meet again.” How fortunate to have had such a mother. How blessed to be remembered as such a mother. </p>
<p>We often place motherhood in a quasi “nostalgic bubble.” Or sometimes, we go the other direction. The humorist Erma Bombeck referred to Motherhood as the “Second Oldest Profession.” American mothers come in all shapes, colors, sizes and denominations, and cover a range from traditional birth mothers and adoptive mothers, to foster mothers, step-mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers and a myriad of maternal stand-ins. In our desire to heed Commandment number five, the directive from God to HONOR our mothers, we shower moms with cards, flowers, candy and gifts in recognition of Mom’s unconditional love and dedication which, hopefully, has helped shape our lives in a positive way. This year Americans plan to shower mothers to the tune of 36 billion dollars-worth of appreciation, according to the National Retail Federation. </p>
<p>Married partners may have a strained, or barely existing relationship with their own mother, or that oft maligned creature, the “mother-in-law;” but the biblical mandate is to HONOR not LOVE our parents. It may not be easy to accept that not all mothers are “perfect,” no matter how you define or imagine maternal perfection, and yet, we are still obligated to HONOR her. That can be shown in any number of ways, but most biblical scholars take it to mean making provisions for her care later in life, even if we don’t really wish to or can’t care for her ourselves. </p>
<p>The most important functions of motherhood are to provide love, stability, security, education and a variety of survival skills, like learning to use a can opener or a microwave oven, or how to forage for edible plants, as well as hunt, skin and prepare an animal for consumption! </p>
<p>In 2018, however, motherhood took a dark, dark turn. We never could have imagined that, in America, the very inviolate nature of motherhood would take a beating as it has at our southern border, where children, literally ripped from their mothers and detained, have yet to be reunified with their mothers or other family members. Some, detained under the age of five, have been lost in the system. U.S. born children of non-citizen parents, were also ripped from their mothers. As citizens, these children were placed in Foster Care, where they may be kept until the age of 18. All this to discourage illegal immigration to the U.S. during the Trump administration. The current administration has yet to untangle the mess, and families have yet to be reunited.</p>
<p>Starting in 2021, motherhood was again under attack, this time as collateral damage of the war between Ukraine and Russia. In the chaos of rapidly shifting borders Ukrainian children were separated from their mothers and shipped to Russia for “re-education” and permanent placement with Russian families. Some have been returned to their Ukrainian families, brainwashed and traumatized. Fierce fighting left many Ukrainian children orphaned, with no one to claim them. Other children have been “misplaced.” The mental anguish of war, forced relocation, and maternal separation will leave these children scarred for the rest of their lives.</p>
<p>We should never underestimate the importance of a mother in any life. The words of the Negro spiritual ring true in every generation, in every corner of the world: </p>
<p>”Sometimes I feel like a motherless child.</p>
<p>Sometimes I feel like a motherless child.</p>
<p>Sometimes I feel like a motherless child.</p>
<p>A long way from home, a long way from home.”</p>WHRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371454770597034041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9014196553137323186.post-76377417798819536952023-04-30T20:09:00.003-07:002023-04-30T20:11:13.789-07:00Gimpy the Kitten Doesn't know He's Handicapped<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyuNMvN2AC8wkqzdn6blYato32I7WZLvIK_K4GcUkfZSi7kAk-TWqlgoCbj5RkBMvmCh-lt182sQYaSdpwKaA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>WHRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371454770597034041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9014196553137323186.post-34388967159788826452023-04-13T20:41:00.003-07:002023-04-14T05:15:59.316-07:00Taxes and the Convergence — Apologies from the Editor for an Incomplete Column<p>Your editor failed to publish the entire column. It has been corrected.</p>
<p>The following is the latest column from the <i>Culpeper Star-Exponent</i> by my wife, Rabbi Rose Lyn Jacob. Caution: There is humor for accountants in here.</p>
<p>It only happens every thirty years or so, the convergence of Easter, Passover and Ramadan. Whatever your faith tradition, I hope you have been enjoying a season of renewal, rebirth, and also one of reconnecting with family and friends after several years of cautious social interaction instigated by Covid and the prohibitively noxious behavior of folks with differing political views which made sharing a dining table insufferable!</p>
<p>The excitement is over, and we’ve consumed the last Chocolate Easter Bunny and/or Matzah Ball. We now enter a different season; one of reflection on the past year and consideration of and resolutions for behaviors in the coming year. I am, of course, referring to Tax Season. Mercifully, this year, Tax Day has been pushed forward, from Saturday April 15 to Tuesday, April 18; a brief but welcome reprieve. As Ben Franklin said: “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes!” To which we can add that only one of those two allows for an automatic extension!</p>
<p>Looking back at my tax records, as I thumb through the documents, my life literally passes before my eyes. You may have had the same feelings putting together your very first FAFSA form to get financial aid for college. W-2’s from those barista and construction jobs you took to get you through college. Your first REAL job and a first contribution to your very own IRA account; already planning for retirement. You might come across the first year you filed jointly with your new spouse, followed by the birth of your first little deduction. By the birth of your NEXT little deduction, you are mumbling to your new accountant that while each baby brings its own blessing, it would be nice if it also came with its own Certificate of Deposit. Your accountant says it’s time to sink money into a house, and the following year, VOILA! a new deduction – a mortgage! Sooner than you ever thought possible, your little deductions have grown, fled the nest and aged out of the system, and you’re being taxed on your Social Security!</p>
<p>Some of the kindest human beings I’ve ever met have been accountants. Just think about it, they know more about you and your habits than your priest, minister or rabbi, and they have heard or seen just about everything. They can’t absolve you if you’ve morally or financially flubbed it, but if they are honest, as most are, they will give you good advice and steer you in the right direction to try to keep your life together, even if there are moments when it seems to be falling apart. No judgement. They are there through the good and the bad, and, just like your therapist, they charge by the hour.</p>
<p>Taxes are, well, a taxing subject. It’s easier to say what they ARE NOT. They are not intended to be charitable giving nor should they be considered money “stolen” from us by our government. Taxation, in the United States, is intended for the common good; schools, infrastructure, transportation, health and safety, national security, police, a safe food supply and clean water. And, if you are really lucky, there is enough to pay for garbage pick-up.</p>
<p>But no community can thrive on taxes alone. We are just weeks away from the largest give back opportunity in our area sponsored by the Northern Piedmont Community Foundation. “Give Local Piedmont,” a four-county, one-day, on-line giving event, will be held on May 9th, 2023. This community fundraiser benefits over 120 non-profit organizations located in Madison, Culpeper, Rappahannock, and Fauquier counties. To date, it has brought in and distributed over $8 million in nine years.</p>
<p>“Give Local Piedmont” inspires community members to give to nonprofit organizations that are making our region stronger. Every dollar donated is increased with additional "bonus" dollars provided by the PATH Foundation, as well as sponsor-driven prizes. Visit www.givelocalpiedmont.org/giving-events/glp23/ to see if you and your family can identify causes that speak to your heart, and that would bolster our community and our quality of life. There are a dozen categories to check out including animals, health, the arts, and nature, just to name a few!</p>
<p>Now, I want you all to feel free to use your TAX REFUND to donate to Give Local Piedmont, or you can dig even deeper into your pocket for the good of your community. If you have been blessed with a little additional prosperity this past year, set an example for your children by asking them to help review and choose the organizations they would like the money to support. No matter how young, can get them in the spirit of giving and supporting local causes by creating a collection jar they, (and you) can add to through the year so that next year, they can donate to a cause!</p>
<p>After all is said and done, isn’t it true that you don’t know just how fortunate you are and just how much you have to be thankful for until you pay taxes on it!
<P>Wishing you health, happiness and prosperity, so that you may work and share with an open heart.</p>
WHRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371454770597034041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9014196553137323186.post-22320775035711574072023-04-07T09:52:00.001-07:002023-04-07T09:52:22.737-07:00Judged to be Perfectly OK<p>The headline says it all:</p>
<p><b>Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas Says He Didn't Have to Disclose Luxury Trips with Megadonor</b></p>
<p>Of course he didn't. "Cleared by advisors." I'll bet. There are no ethics rules for Supreme Court justices, and it showes. That's the remarkable thing. For all we can tell of the ethics rules, justices are free to accept cash payments from people having business before the court if they like. And Justice Alito was free to dine with, well, you know. . .</p>
<p>We are living in a new era. It's not just that the gloves are off; there is no shame, and no self control. The Constitution is waved like a religious totem, and if something isn't in it, well, cry havoc.</p>
WHRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371454770597034041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9014196553137323186.post-15043962438639314632023-03-22T22:13:00.001-07:002023-03-22T22:13:57.464-07:00Caught in a Medical Web<p>Two weeks ago, I was struck. Not only did I have my first heart attack; to the best of my knowledge, I had the first one in my immediate family. Thinking it was another acid reflux attack, I drove myself to the hospital, where they told me. “Sir, you’re having a massive heart attack.” Well. That might explain why the pain I was feeling was the worst I had ever felt.</p>
<p>They have no cardiac care in Culpeper, so they stuck me in an ambulance, rushing me to the UVA hospital in Charlottesville, where I went directly into the operating room, without checking in, for a quick exam and stent insertion — very freaky. But once they cleared the blockage, and emplaced the stent, I no longer felt any pain.</p>
<p>When the dust had settled, having passed through intensive care, and been studied, poked, and prodded, they discharged me with a handful of new prescription medicines, one of which promptly turned my back blue, and set me to itching over my entire upper body. That brought me right back to the emergency room. One of the drugs they’d sent me home with, the Plavix blood thinner, was apparently notorious for this. They changed it out for a different thinner, and sent me home again.</p>
<p>Ten days later they added another drug, and the itching began again. The next morning, I couldn’t breathe. Fortunately, on a whim, I’d bought a small oxygen cannister at Lowes (about the size of a bug spray bottle). Two puffs and I was fine, but it was off to the hospital again.</p>
<p>This time they couldn’t decide whether the drug was so important that they should try to find a way to medicate me so that I could ride out the side effects, or have me go off the drug. They opted for going off the drug (my choice, too). It’s been quite a recovery period.</p>
<p>At this point, all I want is to be free of the medical profession for a while. They are fine people, and perhaps they’ve saved my life, but we need to stop meeting for a while. I have a life.</p>
WHRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371454770597034041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9014196553137323186.post-67922197969156519182023-02-22T20:26:00.002-08:002023-02-22T20:26:58.188-08:00Born in China, Die in Syria — And the Hell with You<p>I bought the Western Digital <i>My Book</i> external hard drive about ten months ago, to make automatic backups on my Mac. I just wanted the little blighter to sit there, and record backups every four hours or so. That’s not a <i>tour de force</i> in today’s computer world. Earlier this week it gave up the ghost. The disk is still spinning, but it’s no longer talking to the computer. I tried everything an owner could do, but no luck. Fortunately, my Amazon sales document said it was under warranty, so I navigated the Western Digital website from hell, establishing an account, finding out that I already had an account, going back and retrieving my long lost password, learning the model number by applying a magnifying glass to the microprinted codes on the product cabinet, and eventually coming to a mutual agreement with the manufacturer as to the date of manufacture, and the fact that the drive was in fact still under warranty.</p>
<p>I had already established all this on my own on the website, but now it was <i>official</i>. I was entitled to get a replacement — but not so fast. I was now in communication with a real human, Richard. Before proceeding further, I was to attempt a few self-care items. Try using Apple Disk First Aid (tough to do if you can’t mount the disk). Now download the special Western Digital troubleshooting software to attempt repair. Also, replace the power supply and USB cord with a high quality, factory USB cord.</p>
<p>That hissing sound Rose heard from the other room was me, lifting safeties.<p>
<p>I stopped to consider for about ten seconds; I unplugged and re-plugged the power cord. I could hear the thing still spinning, but nothing more. I walked into the other room and found another, identical USB cord. Plugging it in, I detected no difference. My safeties stopped lifting as the steam pressure in my head went down.</p>
<p>I sat down at my computer and answered the email to Richard:
“Let me get this straight,” I wrote, “before replacing the unit under warranty, you want me to purchase from you a new power supply, and a new USB cable, all at your premium price, just to test, in order to see if the drive, which is obviously spinning, might have a power problem. Is that correct?”</p>
<p>Before I spent my own money acting like a trained monkey for those guys, I’d simply take this disk drive to the dump, and buy a different brand. Buying a new power supply and cable would get me into them for almost a third the cost of a new drive. It's a bit like building a new car from the parts department — not recommended.</p>
<p>I need not have worried. I was busy all the next day, but by the time I got around to reading my email in the evening, Richard had answered. He wanted my address and phone number so he could replace my sick drive with a new one. One small victory for common sense.</p>
WHRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371454770597034041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9014196553137323186.post-6126182155845118972023-02-10T18:06:00.000-08:002023-02-10T18:06:11.094-08:00BUILDING MEN OF CHARACTER<p>The following is a column by my wife, Rabbi Rose Lyn Jacob, in this week's <i>Culpeper Star-Exponent</i>:</p>
<p>It takes love and courage to build a boy into a man. It takes a lot of perseverance, guidance and mutual respect to build that boy into a man of character. I’ve been dwelling on this since listening to an interview with author Anna Malaika Tubbs on her new book, “The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation.” </p>
<p>The book acknowledges that, while we know a great deal about these three men and their legacies, we know almost nothing about their mothers; it is as if these women who were, in each case, an integral part of shaping her son’s life; Alberta Williams King, Berdis Baldwin and Louise Little, were erased from history. Her description of Alberta Williams King is that of a college-educated woman with a teaching certificate, who lead the choir, played the church organ and served as a proud member of the NAACP. She was an outstanding role model; active in several organizations that focused on social justice and passed on a commitment to social justice to Martin as part of her Christian faith.</p>
<p>She was extremely close to Martin, and he was known to say that he had “the best mother in the world.” She took her passion and talent, and translated those into her mothering, which Martin shared with the world. Although few today know it, Alberta was also assassinated, shot in the head at age 69, while playing the organ at Ebenezer Baptist Church, six years after MLK, only yards away from the graveyard where her son was buried.</p>
<p>It is 2023, and we have grown wearily accustomed to reports of viscous and unrestrained acts of war, terror and bloodshed. Yet we are struck repeatedly by acts of crime and savagery perpetuated by young men, regardless of color or ethnicity, or nationality. We ask, “How is it possible for young men to take lives so recklessly, brutally and callously?” We also wonder how they can walk into a subway, or a classroom, or a Walmart and just open fire?</p>
<p>We’ve grown immune to unethical behavior, lying, or cheating in business and politics perpetrated by young men who have no compunction about embezzling, cheating, or misappropriating funds of those who can least afford the losses, and defrauding the elderly who have no time or means to recoup their life savings. Our magazines and social media are rife with stories of poor behavior, often by men of privilege, or fame, who behave badly, but with no remorse.</p>
<p>This is America. So how can we, going forward, bolster for this and future generations of young men the idea of a free society of justice and compassion that respects the sanctity of life and the dignity of the human individual? Once upon a time, these values were conveyed in Sunday school lessons, or, if you were fortunate by role models in your life. These methods are rarer and rarer, and bad behavior is flaunted in the multiverse. As parents, grandparents or special people in their lives, we only have a few years to lay the foundations of good character in our sons. Some of these values and behaviors can be taught and reinforced starting at about age three, others by age five, and they all can pretty much get it down pat by age seven, with constant reminders and boosters for the next ten to fifteen years. No list of virtues can ever replace good role modeling. “Do as I say, not as I do” has never been a good strategy for building and toughening up moral behavior! Take a look at some of these ideas, and imagine when and how they might bolster your son’s self-worth, and confidence, and put him on a sure footing when life throws a curve ball his way, and send him in the right direction once he fledges from the nest.</p>
<p>Always give a firm hand shake and look ‘em in the eye.</p>
<p>When it comes to women of any age, CHIVALRY IS NOT DEAD! Treat all women with respect and courtesy. Hold the door open even if it isn’t necessarily the fashion.</p>
<p>Work hard. Give it your best, whether working for yourself or someone else! Whether it is academics or sports or working as a barista at Starbucks. The discipline and value of what you learn will last a lifetime. It’s called “hard work” because it is HARD!</p>
<p>According to Mahatma Gandhi, “The simplest acts of kindness are far more powerful than a thousand heads bowing in prayer.” Combat the tendency toward selfishness by modeling generosity. Teach him that helping and giving can make him feel good!</p>
<p>Starting in the sandbox, teach him how to play fair, be humble when winning and graceful in defeat, and never use performance enhancing drugs.</p>
<p>Try to think of the consequences of your actions before you end up in the hospital or jail. Only act after careful consideration, and if things go wrong, accept responsibility and try to set things right. And please, don’t blame others for your mistakes!</p>
<p>Consequences can be much worse than you might imagine. Especially if what you do is amazingly stupid.</p>
<p>Parents, please only occasionally use this phrase ,“What Were You Thinking?” You will only get a blank stare from which you can imply that he wasn’t. The male brain doesn’t mature until the mid 20’s, which means there will be too many opportunities to question their thought process.</p>
<p>Remember to hug and kiss when he is little. Say “good job, good job” when he deserves it. Don’t give praise for just showing up!!!!!</p>
<p>Wishing you all a good week. Be careful at your Super Bowl party and remember not to be caught double-dipping into the seven-layer dip! It will set a bad example for your son!</p>
WHRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371454770597034041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9014196553137323186.post-45714645257846715482023-01-11T19:01:00.000-08:002023-01-11T19:01:07.452-08:00Let’s Start the Year with a Smile!<p>The following is a column by my wife, Rabbi Rose Lyn Jacob, in this week's <i>Culpeper Star-Exponent</i>:</p>
<p>Happy 2023! Let’s all start off the year with a smile! ‘A smile can brighten the darkest day,’ the old saying goes, and we certainly have had some dark days this past year. </p>
<p>I haven’t taken smiling for granted since I developed Bell’s Palsy,’ a facial nerve paralysis that caused the right side of my face to droop, most notably my eye and right side of my mouth. The paralysis lasted for months, during which time it was impossible for me to smile. My seven-year-old found the condition so alarming that he implored me not to laugh, as this distorted my face even more. “Mommy, don’t laugh!” he entreated me, “You look like the Phantom of the Opera!” For someone known for her upbeat personality and smiling countenance, this was a game changer. Eventually, it passed. When I look in the mirror each morning, I am reminded what a gift the ability to smile is, especially when our mouths are hidden behind N95 masks!</p>
<p>Judaism has something to say about EVERYTHING, so why not SMILING? Smiling can be a natural instinct or a response to circumstances. So, what kind of important wisdom could the rabbis impart on the subject?</p>
<p>In a verse from the text Ethics of the Fathers we are advised to <i>“Receive everyone with a cheerful face!”</i> Elsewhere we are coaxed to, <i>“Always be the first one to greet every person.”</i> Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai, a great rabbi and sage who led by example, taught <i>“Never did I meet anyone in the street who greeted me before I greeted them.”</i> And one of my favorite rabbinical takes on smiling relates to the expression “Why the long face?” comes from philosopher Rav Eliyahu Dessler <i>“You are like a thief! You are depriving your fellow human beings of the pleasantness of a cheerful face!”</i> </p>
<p>To smile is innately human. There is evidence that babies smile in the womb and infants respond to smiles by four months of age. Once they get the idea of cause and effect, an infant almost always reacts to a smile with a smile. I instinctively smile at every baby I see, especially in restaurants. Those smiles usually lead to a short session of Peek-a-Boo which both the infant and I find rewarding.</p>
<p>So, what’s in a smile that makes us feel so good? Biologically, we know that smiling is good for us. Smiling releases neuropeptides, tiny molecules that allow neurons to communicate. They facilitate sending messages to the whole body when we are happy, sad, angry, depressed, or excited. The “feel good” neurotransmitters dopamine, endorphins and serotonin are all released when a smile flashes across your face. A study published in the journal <i>Neuropsychologia</i> reported that seeing an attractive smiling face activates our orbitofrontal cortex, the region in our brain that process sensory rewards. When we encounter a smiling person, we actually feel the satisfaction of being rewarded. There are other things that release “feel good” neurotransmitters, like exercise, and I recently read a study that suggested a smile is as neurologically rewarding as 2,000 chocolate bars. I’ve begun my own research to verify this, and only have another 1,998 Hershey Bars to go.</p>
<p>A smile can communicate a diverse range of feelings. It can raise a glum mood or signal that an apology is accepted. A smile can be flirtatious, silently approving, it can boost self-confidence and light up a face. But what happens when we turn that smile upside down?</p>
<p>Have you ever wondered about UNSMILING people? In an interview in <i>WIRED.com</i>, Marianne La France, an experimental psychologist at Yale who has written a book on the subject of smiling, called <i>Lip Service: Smiles in Life, Death, Trust, Lies, Work, Memory, Sex and Politics</i>, was asked: “What is it about <u>unsmiling</u> people that is unnerving?” Her response? <b>“People convey by their faces that they acknowledge us, that we’re alive, that we matter, that we are not just objects to be dispensed with.”</b> After three years of masking, of walking around without receiving smiles of acknowledgement, of being like ships that pass in the night, reading Dr. LaFrance’s response gave me a better understanding of why masking is such a bummer.</p>
<p>And that, I believe, is what the rabbis were trying to get at. Smiling is not only a reward, but a gift, a God given gift and gifts are meant to be given away, not hoarded. Their sage rabbinical advice to future generations would be to take every opportunity for face-to-face interaction, in order to retain our humanity and not just use “emoticons” to express emotion, or avatars, in lieu of our real-life faces. They would caution us that while our world may be rich in communication devices, we are miserly when it comes to the gift of face-to-face communication.</p>
<p>We can do our bit to heal the psyche of our country by trying to smile with sincerity. Smile at your children, your spouse, your co-workers, your dog. In 2023, don’t let your smile be hijacked by pundits and politicians. I find it unnerving to be partway through a congenial conversation, only to see the smiles disappear as hostility seeps in.</p>
<p>Here’s wishing you and yours a happy, healthy, prosperous and safe 2023. Be kind to others, be gentle with yourself, share the gift you were given and smile, smile, smile.</p>
WHRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371454770597034041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9014196553137323186.post-77426068607334523522022-12-21T19:30:00.000-08:002022-12-21T19:30:05.706-08:00An End of Year Thought<p>I know it's not the end of the year yet, but it seems as if it should be. Too much has been stuffed into the year, too little of it good. If the world isn't on Twitter, it's at least looking at Twitter. Nobody paid attention to Jack Dorsey; everyone seems to be paying attention to Elon Musk.</p>
<p>Twitter has been at the center of a storm that won't quit. It began when Donald Trump decided to run for president, and has continued to this day, as Elon Musk, its new owner, tries to decide whether to play with it, destroy it, or let it run. The whole soap opera seems to confirm my conviction that <i>anything that becomes popular enough becomes a parody of itself</i>. Whether twitter lives or dies is irrelevant. Within an hour of its death, it will be as if it had never existed. Fiscal considerations aside, perhaps Elon should just turn out the lights now, giving successor media a running start on the dreaded 2024 political season</p>WHRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371454770597034041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9014196553137323186.post-67886761004382448622022-12-14T19:26:00.000-08:002022-12-14T19:26:21.981-08:00IF YOU CAN’T SAY SOMETHING NICE, SAY IT ON THE INTERNET!<p>The following is the latest column by my wife, Rabbi Rose Lyn Jacob, in the Culpeper Star-Exponent</p>
<p>Humor me as I take a moment to share a story. It is a very old story, and, as with most Jewish stories, it teaches a lesson This is the tale of a boy whose slanderous gossip had the potential to cause havoc as it spread through the town. Realizing too late the potential harm that would be done by spreading misinformation as one villager told the next, and at a loss as how to rectify the deed, he ran to the wise rabbi for advice. Note that in Jewish stories, the rabbi is always wise. “Go quickly to your house,” said the rabbi “find a feather pillow and a kitchen knife. Slash the pillow’s case, then run back here as fast as you can!” Obeying the wise rabbi’s order, the boy retrieved the pillow, slashed it with a knife and ran back breathlessly, spewing a cloud of white goose feathers as he ran. Handing the pillow over to the rabbi the boy said, “Here, rabbi, I’ve done exactly what you asked of me. Here is the pillow!” “Very good,” said the rabbi. “What shall I do next, rabbi?” “Next I want you to take your pillowcase and put all the feathers back in. Search through the village until you’ve collected every feather!” “But Rabbi!” the boy cried with a look of incredulity, “there is no way to retrieve them all!”</p>
<p>The lesson was not lost on the boy, and hopefully not lost on us either. It is about guarding your tongue. Slanderous words, once spoken are like those feathers: irretrievable. You can try to walk them back, do a little public relations dance, apologize without saying you’re sorry, explain that YOU mis-spoke, or WE mis-heard, all to no avail. Lying, misrepresenting and twisting the truth, defaming character and making libelous accusations have real consequences.</p>
<p>Two verses from the Book of Psalms (120:3-4) ask the question: “What can you profit, what can you gain O deceitful tongue? A warrior’s sharp arrows…” Why an arrow and not a sword? Because if a person draws a sword to kill his fellow man, the intended victim can beg mercy and the attacker can change his mind and return the sword to its sheath. But an arrow, once it has been shot, even if the shooter wants to stop it, he can’t.</p>
<p>Our tongues are like arrows – once we have shot off our mouths, our words proceed to destroy and there is nothing we can do to stop them. Once uttered, words take on a life of their own, spreading, echoing, distorting at a pace humanity has never witnessed before. In the age of ubiquitous Internet use, anyone in any place in the world can share their message, without filtering or mincing words. Their words, their messages are not just heard, but amplified. From the cruel, vindictive words of teenagers to the malicious language of hatred targeted at “the other,” the vocabulary of bigotry, chauvinism, injustice, and intolerance that are disseminated and distorted by the Internet, weaponizes or warps almost every discussion of race, gender, religion, ethnicity and color. Postings by conspiracy theorists of every ilk play into the hands of the psychotic and/or politically motivated, and, as we’ve seen since the start of Russia’s war on Ukraine, Russian propaganda has worked overtime to shape their message for the Internet by creating a narrative of faux reality.</p>
<p>You can hop on the Internet merry-go-round at any point for a spin of malice, threats, scams and incitement to anarchy while Internet providers wring their hands and hash out HOW they will handle malicious messaging disguised as news or truth and information while simultaneously guaranteeing protection of our First Amendment Rights.
Case in point. This past year the Internet has upped the ante as a conduit for anti-Semites who openly spout anti-Semitic tropes, resulting in acts of violence, desecration, terrorism, murder and character assassination, targeting Jewish institutions, places of worship, businesses, politicians and financial and industry leaders. The hatred and misinformation are no longer whispered, but unapologetically shouted out. Jews have historically been the test case for “how much the traffic will allow,” and have, historically, been dubbed, “The Canary in the Coal Mine,” that unfortunate caged bird with tiny lungs who succumbs to the first traces of carbon monoxide down in the mine, and whose sacrifice sounds the alarm for others. This fowl idiom has come to mean a ‘warning of coming danger’. Whether a Jewish canary, a Black canary, an Asian, Hispanic, Immigrant or LBGTQ ++ canary, a threat to one is a potential threat to each and every flock.</p>
I’ll leave you with a quote from The French writer, philosopher, poet, dramatist, and historian, Voltaire, to ponder as we enter this season of Peace on Earth and Good Will Toward Men. A keen observer of human behavior, I think he nailed it, way back in the 1700’s, when he stated: “Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.”</p>
<p>Here is wishing you a blessed holiday season and good health. Protect yourself, your family, and friends by getting your flu shot, and those friendly epidemiologists at The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encourage everyone, believers and non-believers, to wear good quality masks to reduce the spread of Covid, flu and RSV as we gather together to celebrate the New Year.</p>WHRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371454770597034041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9014196553137323186.post-30731115548279022162022-12-14T15:21:00.000-08:002022-12-14T15:21:09.265-08:00A Most Difficult Year<p>MAD Cats, our low/no cost spay and neuter and kitten rescue group has had a tough year, with too many kitten deaths. The majority of the hardship has fallen on our Kitten Mom, Laurie. We hope the worst of it is over. Last night my wife Rose wrote this for Laurie:</p>
<p></p>
<p>A Poem of Kitten Love for Laurie</p>
<p></p>
<p><b>FRAGILE LIVES</b></p>
<p>As I held you close and tried my best</p>
<p>I knew your time had come to rest</p>
<p>I guess I knew things weren’t all right</p>
<p>Still I tried and tried with all my might</p>
<p>There were things I simply could not control</p>
<p>And the stress of living finally took its toll</p>
<p>But know that I loved you each step of the way</p>
<p>Through long nights together, and each hour of the day</p>
<p></p>
<p>Was it where you were born or the time of the year?</p>
<p>Were you just not formed right, was there no mother near?</p>
<p>Were you destined by genes or destined by fate?</p>
<p>Or did you simply arrive in a fragile state?</p>
<p>Hundreds of kittens have passed through my care</p>
<p>And losing one kitten is still very rare</p>
<p>Although most of my kittens will have a long life</p>
<p>The loss of just one cuts my heart like a knife.
<p>God give me the strength when my spirit is low</p>
<p>To love these fur babies and accept as they grow</p>
<p>That I cannot save all but can love every one</p>
<p>And with three litters a year --the work’s never quite done!</p>
<br>
<p>With Love and Great Respect for All You Accomplish – Rose Jacob</p>
WHRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371454770597034041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9014196553137323186.post-49024847949653284672022-11-27T10:59:00.001-08:002022-11-27T10:59:49.865-08:00The Iranian Situation Requires More Attention<p>From this morning's Washington Post:</p>
<p><i>”Western leaders have been slow to acknowledge the full significance and depth of what has been happening inside Iran — not least because of their fixation on persuading the regime to agree to a deal on Tehran’s nuclear program.”</i> — Masih Alinejad, Iranian Journalist</p>
<p>The Biden Administration is populated with foreign policy losers, beginning with Secretary of State Blinken and National Security Advisor Sullivan. They won't just sell Israel down the river in return for a "nuclear deal" with Iran, they'll sell all of our other Middle East allies down the river as well. Unfortunately, all except the far right press has kept mum on this issue.</p>
<p>President Biden is willing to go along. It pleases the left wing of his party, especially all those Palestinian boosters. And I believe he's now too feeble to care very much, as long as he gets some sort of foreign policy "triumph". I wonder what he thinks of the interlocking pieces of Russia, Iran, and Ukraine. Iran is building a drone factory in Russia to construct what Russia cannot construct on its own. Once again, I don’t think Biden has the marbles to hold a situation of this complexity in his elderly brain.</p>
WHRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371454770597034041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9014196553137323186.post-10367676994370253962022-11-22T13:22:00.000-08:002022-11-22T13:22:04.439-08:00My Wife's Thanksgiving Column from the Culpeper Star-Exponent<p><b>Thanksgiving 2022 by Rabbi Rose Lyn Jacob</p></b>
<p>
As first and second-generation children of Jewish immigrants from Hungary we
grew up knowing how blessed we were, and fortunate that our parents were
helped to get out of Hungary in 1932. My mother, only 16 years old, leaving
behind hunger, poverty and an uncertain existence and my father, approaching
18, the age of conscription, escaping to America to avoid being drafted into
the Hungarian Army, which was never a good thing for a Jewish lad. With clouds
of antisemitism roiling overhead, it was time for them to leave and go to
America, the Land of Opportunity where the streets, while not actually paved
with gold, were a path to freedom and prosperity. And for those reasons,
Thanksgiving held a special place in our family, a time to contemplate all
that America offered them, and how blessed they were to give back, lending
help to others who made the journey.
</p>
<p>
My earliest Thanksgiving memories were noisy with intergenerational
interaction. We feasted on mostly traditional Thanksgiving fare with Hungarian
Paprika featured both on and in the turkey. There were tasty side dishes from
the “old country,” and though not a traditional Hungarian food, mom always
served jellied Ocean Spray cranberry sauce along with the meal.
</p>
<p>
My mother continued to cook for our family while she still had the strength to
do so, no easy feat given the exponential growth of our family, and when all
were seated to eat, you could easily hear an audible groan from the tables as
they united to support the combined weight of food, silverware, platters,
stemware and the “good dishes.” My father carved the turkey with surgical
skill, and my mother excavated the turkey’s cavity to access her wonderful
stuffing.
</p>
<p>
There were four children in our family who eventually married and produced a
dozen grandchildren and, in what seemed to be the blink of an eye, those
grandchildren produced 32 great-grandchildren. Getting us together was a
logistical nightmare as children went off to college, careers and families of
their own. With telephone calls and email exchanges, Grandma’s Hungarian
recipes were shared as were more contemporary recipes involving cans of
Campbell’s Soup and French’s fried onions. While preparing their Thanksgiving
meal, the scattered grandchildren and great- grandchildren invariably ask the
same question, “HOW DID GRANDMA DO ALL THIS BY HERSELF, BY HAND, WITHOUT A
FOOD PROCESSOR?”
</p>
<p>
I’ve recently checked the spice rack, and there is enough Hungarian paprika to
prepare the traditional bird, albeit a small one, and plenty of stuffing. Gary
and I will be home alone, our bout with Covid having changed our plans. We’ll
participate in a multi-faith Thanksgiving service in the morning in Little
Washington and then head back to our hollow in Syria. Our siblings and sons
live far away. We’ll call and Zoom each other, and the grandchildren will
phone in early from Texas to tell us they are watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving
Day Parade, just as their father did, growing up in Florida, and I did as a
little girl in New Jersey.
</p>
<p>
Gary and I are so fortunate to be able to share the day with each other, and,
just as in years past, our festive meal will bring together Misch Family and
Jacob Family traditions. Gary, a New Englander from Rhode Island, will have
whole berry cranberry sauce, straight from the bogs, and I will have Ocean
Spray jelled cranberry sauce, straight from the can.
</p>
<p>
I hope this Thanksgiving can be one of healing from both Covid and the
mid-term elections. If you are fortunate enough to be with friends and family,
leave your politics at the door, turn down the vitriol and pump up the good
will. Oh, and regardless of your politics, go get your third booster, and a
flu shot! You owe it to yourself, as well as everyone around you. Do ask
everyone what they are thankful for, and threaten to withhold dessert from
those who won’t participate. If you’ve been alert enough these past twelve
months to take note of the scope of human misery you can take a few moments to
reflect on the gifts, and/or good fortune, that life has afforded you before
digging in to the pumpkin pie.
</p>
<p>
Pray. Even if it is not your custom, give up a few good words of Thankfulness.
You don’t have to direct your words toward a specific deity, after all, this
is America. But if you need some ideas, here are a few words with which to
start.
</p>
<p>
“How precious is Your love, God, that mankind can take refuge in the shadow of
Your wings. They will eat from the abundance of Your house and You will have
them drink from Your stream of delight. For with You is the source of life, in
Your light do we see light. Extend Your love to those who know You, and Your
righteousness to the upright of heart.”
</p>
<p>
And finally, how about praying that America will once again welcome the
stranger to her shores and find value in what they and their future
generations will bring to both refresh and strengthen this nation.
</p>
<p>
Wishing you the opportunity to be with loved ones this Thanksgiving, either in
person or via Zoom. May we continue to be a lamp and a light to those seeking
a new life in America, not to take anything away from what we all share but
instead encouraging new passions, hopes, ambition and skills to re-invigorate
our country.
</p>
<p>
And here is praying that you and yours will have enough to share with others
and create new family traditions and memories to last a lifetime.
</p>
<p>Rabbi Rose Jacob</p>
WHRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371454770597034041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9014196553137323186.post-54555355191573661102022-10-30T08:36:00.001-07:002022-10-30T08:36:23.107-07:00Yes, Words Really Do Matter<p>Three days ago, Erik Wemple, the Washington Post media critic, confessed in his column that he felt guilty for not objecting to the 2020 firing of James Bennet, the New York Times Editorial Page Editor. Wemple bemoaned the fact that neither he nor any of his fellow journalists had defended Bennett, admitting the failure was out of “cowardice and midcareer risk management.” Two-year-old regret is akin to 'close' in horseshoes.</p>
<p>In June of 2020 The Times OP-ED page had run a piece by Senator Tom Cotton (R-AK), calling for the use of federal troops to put down unrest in US cities. Minority journalists in The Times’ newsroom set the twiterverse afire, claiming all sorts of evil on Cotton’s part, and charging that <i>the column</i> made them feel unsafe. They demanded all sorts of things, but most importantly, they wanted Bennett’s head. After a brief defense of his editor, The Times’ publisher, A. G. Sulzberger, gave them their skin and fired Bennett, along with the usual mea culpas of current cancel culture. Cotton’s piece was even analyzed for every possible grammatical error, just to “prove” its unworthiness. The NewsGuild of New York, Bennett’s union, defended the firing as promoting workplace safety. That’s certainly Woke Newspeak. Oh, I forgot. The President said there is no such thing as Woke.</p>
<p>Free speech is only a constitutional guarantee against government control. The Times is a private enterprise, but it’s not just <i>any</i> private enterprise. It’s the leading newspaper in the United States, often called “our newspaper of record.” It is, or was, a fervent defender of free speech. Perhaps free speech at The Times, and other newspapers, has died with the migration of the fragile snowflakes from our campuses to our centers of journalism.</p>
<p>The whole affaire de Bennett died quickly and left our radar screens, yet not one of our great journalists has ever pressed the question, even now: “What in Senator Cotton’s column made [these reporters] feel unsafe?” I didn't say "asked", I said "pressed". That's what real journalists do. On campus, the gentle snowflakes would yell, scream, and occasionally riot if a speaker they disagreed with was invited to campus. The cry was always the same: “That speaker’s presence makes us feel unsafe.” But now that they’ve put on big boy and big girl pants, they’ve transferred their desire to not grow up to the real world. And their bosses are just as afraid of them as the college deans were.</p>
<p>The issue isn’t whether Cotton’s idea was a good one — it was a horrible idea, and it wasn’t going to happen. But with it we got the measure of Senator Tom Cotton, Just like we got the measure of Senator Bernie Sanders when he proposed his positions.</p>
<p>It's a truth of our time that liberals are afraid to speak many truths lest they be cancelled. Conservatives can’t seem to stop talking, and have all sorts of trouble differentiating truth from fiction. What was once the nation’s greatest newspaper shouldn’t be a place where people can’t have their say, no matter what. I suppose the likes of former Times greats like William Safire, Flora Lewis, and James Reston would no longer be welcome in their old offices.</p>
WHRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371454770597034041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9014196553137323186.post-87679505750953952082022-10-26T18:31:00.001-07:002022-10-26T18:40:12.421-07:00Yes, Virgina, China is Our Enemy<p>Today's entry is a reprint from <i>Persuasion</i>, an online series for subscribers to <i>The Atlantic</i>. Most Americans have a vague idea of the Chinese threat, but the fact is that China intends to defeat and dominate the United States. Whle she is preparing to do it militarily, her intent is to do it through a death of a thousand cuts, while carefully assisting us in our nationl suicide. The definitive text on this is <i>The One Hundred Year Marathon</i> by Michael Pillsbury, but today's article gives us a window into how China is weaponizing our own society against us.</p>
<p>While reading this article, recall that we have moved most of our industrial plant, and much of our intellectual property, to this country. Considering the facts, we need neither a doddering old fool of a president, nor a foolish internationalist.</p>
<P><b><font size="+1">How China Exerts Its Power</b></font size="+1"></p>
<P><i>The country has developed a network of institutions designed to silence its critics, enhance its reputation abroad, and use the strengths of the American university system for its own benefit.</i></p>
<p>by JOHN METZ AND SETH KAPLAN</P>
<p>OCT 26</P>
<P>Shortly before the Winter Olympics in Beijing this past February, students at George Washington University put up posters criticizing the Chinese government’s policies. The posters decried the internment and execution of Uyghurs, the crackdown on freedoms in Hong Kong, and China’s lack of transparency during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. They would have gone largely unnoticed had it not been for the firestorm ignited by the university’s response to a student petition.</P>
<P>In the petition, which was sent directly to the university’s president, Mark Wrighton, the Chinese Students and Scholars Association demanded that the university remove the posters, identify the students responsible, and “punish them severely” for “insult[ing] China.” In a leaked email response, Wrighton wrote that he was “personally offended” by the posters and promised to have them removed. Then, almost casually, he committed to “determin[ing] who [was] responsible.” There was a swift backlash both online, where freedom of expression advocates like the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression condemned the email, and among students of the university, who organized a protest in response. Within days, Wrighton issued a statement promising not to punish the students involved.</P>
<P>Given the freedoms typically touted on college campuses, George Washington University’s effort to limit student criticism of China might stand out as unusual. But it is part of a larger pattern—one linked to a multipronged effort by the Chinese Communist Party to influence and control its image abroad. That image is particularly vulnerable now because, according to numerous countries as well as the U.S. Department of State, the People’s Republic of China is committing genocide against the Uyghur people, among other human rights abuses.</P>
<P>To help in this project, China has developed a vast network of overlapping institutions on campus designed to silence its critics, enhance its reputation abroad, and use the strengths of the American university system—particularly its research prowess—for its own benefit, often in a manner that directly undermines American national security. Simply put, no foreign government has ever had both the resources and the resolve necessary to override academic firewalls against malign foreign influence in the way China does today. </P>
<P>And then there is another, more direct tactic: China actively monitors the speech of Chinese nationals studying in the U.S. and their actions on campus. Chinese intelligence officers use a combination of online surveillance and an array of informants motivated by money, ambition, fear, or patriotism to scrutinize student behavior. Attending the wrong speech or rally or saying the wrong thing in class can lead to the students or their relatives back in China being pressured. </P>
<P>When Chinese students do risk speaking out publicly, they pay a heavy price. University of Maryland valedictorian Yang Shuping praised “the fresh air of free speech” in her commencement address in May 2017. Almost immediately, she was singled out for abuse by Chinese state media and forced to issue an apology. Quoted anonymously in Voice of America, one Chinese student at the University of Maryland said that he “wouldn’t feel safe to speak publicly” for fear that Chinese authorities might punish him; another reported that he was “afraid that when [he gets] back to China, they will search [his] phone.” When a student from Hong Kong at Cornell University posted signs critical of China’s crackdown in the territory, he was reportedly assaulted by a fellow student who shouted at him in Mandarin. Chinese students often find that American civil liberties are paper-thin. Even when they stand on American soil, it’s as if they never left China.</P>
<P>Few of these incidents are the direct responsibility of American universities. But universities often act in ways that help the CCP intimidate and control their students. When Vera Yueming Zhou, a U.S. permanent resident, was detained at an internment camp in Xinjiang for using a VPN to access her University of Washington email address, the university allegedly declined to assist her over concerns that doing so might jeopardize a valuable agreement with China. </P>
<P>One way that China exerts influence on American universities is through Confucius Institutes—language and cultural education centers funded directly by the Chinese government which focus outwardly on facilitating educational and cultural exchanges but ultimately function as the Chinese government’s proxies on campus. By effectively outsourcing Chinese language and cultural education to entities funded by the Chinese government, universities have been giving up control over hiring and curricula. This approach has allowed these institutes to guide student learning in a direction favorable to China by, for example, avoiding all mentions of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Confucius Institutes must abide by China’s laws, and contracts between universities and these institutes often feature broad nondisclosure requirements while mandating that educators do not damage China’s image abroad. </P>
<P>More subtle is the steady influence of the Chinese Students and Scholars Associations, which by some measures have a presence at upward of 100 universities in the United States. Like Confucius Institutes, Chinese Student and Scholarship Associations have an outwardly benign purpose, in this case to provide opportunities for Chinese students to gather and create a sense of community. Although they are nominally independent and outwardly similar to other student affinity groups, in practice, they function as the eyes and ears of the Chinese government on campuses—creating immense pressure for Chinese students not only to conform to their government’s standards but also to inform on one another to demonstrate their own loyalty. These associations routinely receive funding directly from Chinese diplomatic staff, with whom they communicate regularly, to provide information on fellow students or to receive instructions to help ensure ideological uniformity in the local Chinese community. At McMaster University in Canada, these problems became so acute that in September 2019 the Student Union voted to ban McMaster’s Chinese Students and Scholars Associations from campus after it intimidated and surveilled students and at least one Uyghur refugee on behalf of local Chinese diplomatic staff. </P>
<P>China has also leveraged its ties with academic institutions to further military buildup and human rights abuses. According to a report released by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, at least 28 American universities have research partnerships with Chinese universities that have known ties to China’s military-industrial complex, including nuclear weapons research and cyberespionage. MIT, for instance, signed a research partnership in 2018 with iFlytek, a firm that has been credibly accused of providing surveillance technology that China uses to suppress its ethnic minorities. Many of the country’s 43 national-level “talent programs”—Chinese government-sponsored programs aimed at recruiting experts in science and technology from around the world—operate extensively on U.S. university campuses. Charles Lieber, the famous Harvard chemist who was convicted of lying to federal officials about research he conducted for Chinese entities, was a talent program recruit.</P>
<P>Despite the clear risks to free speech, academic liberty, and domestic security, universities have shown little willingness to pare back their partnerships with entities in China. Why do universities run the risk of entanglement with the CCP? </P>
<P>In large part, because they receive funding from CCP-connected sources—including gifts, donations, investments, Confucius Institutes, and research partnerships. These create an incentive for university administrators to silence student speech critical of China’s conduct. As one intelligence official concluded, “I used to think universities were victims. But now I think those that take money from China and don’t protect their students from [People’s Republic of China] harassment may be complicit.”</P>
<P>Between 2015 and 2019, U.S. colleges and universities reported just over $1 billion in donations from mainland China. But the real numbers are likely much higher. A 2019 staff report to the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations noted that “[n]early seventy percent of U.S. schools with a Confucius Institute that received more than $250,000 in one year failed to properly report that information to the Department of Education” despite a legal obligation to do so. In 2020, the Department of Education estimated that between 2012 and 2018, Hanban—the Chinese government entity overseeing Confucius Institutes—accounted not for the $15.5 million reported by universities, but for more than $113 million. And these figures don’t include funds from CCP-linked sources outside of China, like the Charoen Pokphand Group, which donated $10 million to Georgetown University in 2016. Altogether, the Department of Education estimated that universities had failed to report more than $6 billion in foreign donations—significant amounts of which came from Chinese entities.</P>
<P>These numbers also do not include revenue from Chinese students, who are more lucrative than American students because they typically pay full tuition. In the 2019-2020 school year, Chinese students accounted for more than one-third of international students studying in the country, who together generated over $40 billion in revenue. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s business school, for example, was receiving one-fifth of all tuition revenue from Chinese nationals before the pandemic. At the University of California Davis, international students contributed almost two-thirds of the $695 million that the school receives from tuition and fees, and Chinese students accounted for 69% of the school’s international student population. </P>
<P>Along with the financial concerns, there is also a fear that expressing concerns about Chinese influence could be perceived as prejudiced. When Michelle Bethel, a board member of MIT’s prestigious McGovern Institute for Brain Research, expressed concern that the lab’s research partnerships might not have been properly vetted for ties to the Chinese military, her concerns were dismissed as “racist” and “political.” She resigned in protest in December 2021, her concerns unaddressed. In the case of the posters at George Washington University, too, the university’s initial reaction was driven by assertions that the posters were racist. </P>
<P>The CCP has cynically exploited this tendency, arguing through state media that criticism of its policies is a form of “McCarthyist” anti-Chinese bias, even though many of China’s staunchest critics in the U.S. have vehemently condemned racism against Asians. Sulaiman Gu, a University of Georgia graduate student, explains that “American universities tend to treat these issues as issues of racism and diversity … [Instead] the university should support students against the surveillance of a foreign government. They should take measures to let educated and legitimate opinions be expressed without fear.” </P>
<P>The CCP’s campus influence has dangerous implications for free speech, student safety, industrial espionage, ethical scientific practices, and national security. But the silencing of student speech is perhaps the key factor making all of this possible because we cannot solve a problem if we cannot talk about it. </P>
<P>To this effect, the most significant thing that universities could do with regard to the threat from China would be to remove its proxies—from Confucius Institutes to Chinese Students and Scholars Associations—off their campuses for good. There has been some progress on this front. In 2018, Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act, which limited Department of Defense funding to universities operating Confucius Institutes. Some states have even banned them outright. And at colleges and universities across the country—from Tufts to William & Mary—students on both sides of the aisle mobilized for their universities to break their ties to China. So while as recently as 2018, more than 100 Confucius Institutes were operating in the U.S. Today, just 18 remain, of which four have announced plans to close.</P>
<P>But progress has been uneven. 28 erstwhile host universities that closed their institutes have sought to preserve their ties to China in other forms, often retaining many of the trappings of these institutes while changing little more than the name. To date, no American university has followed McMaster University’s decision to abolish its Chinese Students and Scholars Association. </P>
<P>Beyond the issue of these institutes and associations, universities should disclose sources of foreign funding and establish clear guidelines for how they will safeguard the freedoms of students from China and other authoritarian countries. Similarly, they should establish clear ethical guardrails to ensure that advanced research is not contributing to human rights abuses or to the military development of the world’s most powerful authoritarian state.</P>
<P>Ultimately, however, such changes will only take place once university administrators are willing to commit to protecting free speech and academic liberty. Today, they remain too eager to compromise such principles in order to maintain their relationships, especially financial ones, with the Chinese government. </P>
<P><i>Seth D. Kaplan is a professorial lecturer in the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. He lived in China for seven years.</P>
<P>John Metz is the President of the Athenai Institute, a student-founded nonprofit devoted to removing the influence of the Chinese Communist Party from U.S. university campuses.</i></P>
<P>A version of this article was originally published by Heterodox Academy.</P>
WHRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371454770597034041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9014196553137323186.post-57755019729870607682022-10-14T20:38:00.004-07:002022-10-14T20:38:49.571-07:00National Feral Cat Day is 16 October<p>By Rose Lyn Jacob</p>
<p>WITH APOLOGIES TO DR. SEUSS on National FERAL CAT DAY 2022</p>
<p>There are zillions of cats who have no home.</p>
<p>Some just hang around, while others like to roam.</p>
<p>Some are just lost and others are found,</p>
<p>by humans who leave kibble and chow on the ground.</p>
<p>Some live in barns, some live under houses,</p>
<p>some chase through fields after fat, juicy mouses.</p>
<p>Some are so shy they won’t come to eat,</p>
<p>and need to be tempted with tidbits of meat.</p>
<p>These cats all make kittens – dozens or more.</p>
<p>And the kittens they’ve made just make more who make more!</p>
<p>We call these cats “feral “--cats who don’t have a home,</p>
<p>cats who live in the street, cats who go out to roam.</p>
<p>So we trap ‘em and take ‘em all to a VET –</p>
<p>That’s an animal doctor who takes care of your pet.</p>
<p>The girl cats are spayed and the boy cats are neutered,</p>
<p>Before they’re returned, they’ve had shots and are speutered!</p>
<p>We build shelters to house them or find homes in a barn</p>
<p>So they’re out of the weather and kept safe and warm</p>
<p>Your support is essential, so we just want to say,</p>
<p>WE THANK YOU, as we celebrate, FERAL CAT DAY!</p>WHRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371454770597034041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9014196553137323186.post-22192534857821089492022-10-12T18:40:00.001-07:002022-10-12T19:04:59.087-07:00My Wife Rabbi Rose Lyn Jacob's Column for 12 Oct in the Culpeper Star-Exponent<p>You’ve no doubt seen some version of that first year Sunday School art project of Noah and his wife on the bow of an ark with two giraffes sticking their necks through port holes, along with a couple of zebras, and a pair of lions. There is a multi-colored rainbow overhead; sometimes just a colorful scribble, sometimes colored meticulously within the lines; a sign, God’s promise that he will never destroy the world again. Above the ark is a white dove holding an olive branch in its mouth, a symbol of renewal.</p>
<p>It has probably been a few years since you read the story, but have you ever wondered just how long it took Noah to build the Ark from the time God instructed him to build it, giving him the blueprint in CUBITS; 300 cubits (138 meters) long, 50 cubits (23 meters) wide, and 30 cubits (13.8 meters) high, until completion? Oh, and by the way, how long is a meter? How much time did it take for Noah and Mrs. Noah to get the materials together, scope out a location that wasn’t exactly “dockside” and start to build?</p>
<p>Once the vessel started to take shape, they were, no doubt, ridiculed by their neighbors. “What the heck is going on? Noah, what are you up to? Noah’s response was pretty much the same. “Oh, just planning for the future.” I’m positive that there was a whole lot-a head shakin’ goin’ on. No lectures on how evil his neighbors were; no ticking off their iniquities. No warning of God’s plan to wipe everybody away and start again; but this time without dinosaurs.</p>
Building an ark has been on my mind lately. In October alone, there have been devastating floods in India, California, Florida, South Carolina, New South Wales, Trinidad and Tobago, Nigeria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Brazil, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and it isn’t even the ides of October yet! Landscapes, coastlines, cities, towns and fields are gone. The threat of famine is growing exponentially; and that is without the grain shortages caused by the war on Ukraine!</p>
<p>Catastrophic geophysical events such as rising water, flooding, earthquakes, tsunamis and submerged lands become deeply rooted a culture’s psyche, its folk tales, myths and religious beliefs for the good reason that these stories send warnings to future generations that say, “Yes, this has happened, and yes, it could happen again.” Whether brought on by the gods, or rapidly melting ice sheets, they are cautionary tales that give us a glimpse into the inner lives of those who were there and who share stories based in trauma and catastrophe that live on long after the poets and storytellers are gone.</p>
<p>Noah had some time before the deluge started to plan for the future. We have also had time to plan, yet continue to squander that time. We hold conferences debating Global Warming, and our leaders vote “yea or nay” on climate initiatives. We assuage our conscience and compensate for our Carbon Footprint by paying a few dollars more for plane tickets; an offset, a “Mea Culpa” to the rainforests. </p>
<p>The warnings have been there all along, there, on the nursery wall. Perhaps we have been lulled into a false security by that rainbow above the Ark. Call it a Bible story or a geo-myth, it should be a call to action. Just like all Bible stories, this one is open to interpretation. But perhaps we should talk less, and do more. Time to gather the wood and the pitch and start building.</p>WHRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371454770597034041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9014196553137323186.post-1628911943005658532022-10-11T19:59:00.000-07:002022-10-11T19:59:41.707-07:00An Interesting Logistics Comparison<p>In 1944, as Germany suffered increasing losses on the ground, and experienced deeper shortaqes of critical war materiel, Hitler rained more and more bombs down on London and other British cities. It made no difference. On the battlefield he was a beaten man.</p>
<p>In a similar manner it may be that, with his armies in the field beaten and exhausted, Vladimir Putin is raining missiles down on Ukrainian cities. But this Russian tantrum cannot have any great effect.</p>WHRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371454770597034041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9014196553137323186.post-13317339631755908732022-10-02T19:47:00.001-07:002022-10-02T19:48:34.300-07:00Where are We Going with This?<p>The discussion of a potential Russian first use of tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine should be setting off alarm bells in rational people’s heads</p>
<p>There’s a concept in relations between nuclear armed belligerents (or potential belligerents) called the <i>firebreak</i>. It goes like this: Threats are one thing; saber rattling happens, and in the absence of other stimuli, it doesn’t necessarily create a desperate situation. An example of this is North Korea. Little Kim pretends to lose his mind and threatens terrible things on a regular basis, but nobody takes him seriously. He wants attention, not war. He has neither a casus belli nor an ongoing kinetic relationship with South Korea or the United States. </p>
<p>But when two nuclear powers already have a conventional kinetic relationship, the danger increases exponentially. It is generally believed that rational leaders are constrained from employing nuclear weapons by common sense and the survival instinct in all but the most extreme circumstances. The problem arises when one belligerent employs a single nuclear weapon, perhaps out of desperation, or as a demonstration to increase leverage. That single employment brings the conflict through the firebreak to the point where both powers are unconstrained in nuclear employment. The probability of nuclear employment stopping at one is low. </p>
<p>There is no such thing as a singular, precipitate use of a nuke that holds belligerents within some imaginary firebreak. That firebreak will evaporate. </p>
<p>How might we restore he firebreak in the face of Russian employment of a battlefield nuclear weapon? The solution would rest with a large, costly operation that employs conventional forces to destroy the Russian Black Sea Fleet, and a joint NATO operation to rid the skies over and adjacent to Ukraine of Russian aircraft. Such an operation would be logistically intensive, and fraught with hazards, as are all war making operations. For those who haven’t noticed, war isn’t clean. </p>
<p>Russia is already back on its heels. Its missile attacks on Ukraine are mostly being carried out by converted surface to air weapons. The Russian military logistics system in general is strained near the breaking point. </p>
<p>Sadly, there are no guarantees in warfare. Those of us not in control must wait it out while mediocrities named Biden, Blinken, and Sullivan try to save the free world — not a comforting thought.
WHRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371454770597034041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9014196553137323186.post-76699330013389904122022-09-22T07:35:00.002-07:002022-09-22T07:35:20.169-07:00Danger Close<P>If history teaches us anything, it's that unintended consequences are the most likely outcome of any historical event. The unanswered question is always: "Who will learn the lesson?"</p>
<p>Vladimir Putin clearly learnt one when he invaded Ukraine, but the forces he set in motion have not come to a halt. Rulers such as Putin don't know how to stop until they get what they want, so we can only guess where the correlation of forces is leading. </P>
<p>The danger rests in the fact that Putin has no exit strategy. The only hope for the West, and Ukraine, is in the Kremlin leadership deposing him. Otherwise, the minimum danger is of a nuclear 'demonstration'. Such a demonstration would involve a nuclear attack on an uninhabited area. Such a demonstration was proposed as an option against the Japanese as an alternative to the attack on Hiroshima, but abandoned. It was decided that the Japanese would perceive such a n on-attack as a sign of weakness. </p>
<p>I hold the Biden Asministration foreign policy team in the lowest possible regard. If Tony Blinken is a fool, Jake Sullivan is an idiot. I hope they are making plans. They need to be at their very best.</p>
WHRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371454770597034041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9014196553137323186.post-40563189640769451342022-09-09T13:52:00.001-07:002022-09-09T13:52:29.760-07:00One September Day
<p>On this September day,</p>
<p>One last time,</p>
<p>That small island</p>
<p>Might just seem,</p>
<p>The center of the world,</p>
<p>As so many wept</p>
<p>God save the Queen.</p>
WHRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371454770597034041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9014196553137323186.post-31276502824325423652022-09-05T16:14:00.000-07:002022-09-05T16:14:55.054-07:00Labor Day in Deep Space<p>Today is Labor Day, a lesser holiday to all except those devoted to the backyard barbecue. A <i>real</i> landmark today is the 45th anniversary of Voyager I’s launch. That aged satellite is now over 14.6 billion miles from earth, having completed its primary mission of touring the gas giants of our solar system. It, and its sister, Voyager II, have now exited our solar system and will continue on forever (unless one of them collides with some cosmic object) in hopes that they will eventually encounter another civilization. Both Voyagers carry messages of earth on gold records. Why gold? For its durability? Yes. Why a record? Forty-five years ago, that’s how we transferred data. The fact is, <i>when the Voyagers were born, the phonograph record was our standard</i>. They’ve been gone that long, and NASA has been monitoring them that long. The Voyagers weren’t meant to function into the twenty-first century, but their engineers built them well. Still, their plutonium reactors are gradually running down, producing less and less electricity, and their feeble radio signals will soon go silent. At that point they will continue sailing through deep space at 35,000 miles per hour, carrying our hope that they might someday encounter another civilization, giving them the first hint of a distant civilization.</p>WHRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371454770597034041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9014196553137323186.post-62391971504949889502022-08-15T14:14:00.000-07:002022-08-15T14:14:15.314-07:00Rabbi Rose Lyn Jacob's Faith Column for August 12, 2022 in The Culpeper Star — Exponent<p>My mother took her right to vote very seriously. After all, she was a proud American citizen; a thankful American immigrant who read the news religiously, listened to the radio, and watched television back when there were only three stations on the big box in the living room.</p>
<p>She stood in line at our polling place; entering that voting booth confident in the knowledge that it was a secret ballot; allowing her to vote her mind and her conscience. Mom took me along when I was very little, and I still remember the feeling of the black cloth and the swish sound of the metal track as we were surrounded by the privacy curtain. There was a hushed quiet in the room; not a library quiet, but rather the quiet of a chapel. To her, voting was a sacred act; a rite as well as a right. Although it wasn’t her birth right, upon becoming an American citizen, it was her entitlement. It was also her right as a woman. You see my mother was born in 1917. In 1917 an American woman did NOT have the right to vote. The 19th Amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing women the right to vote was only passed by Congress on June 4, 1919 and ratified on August 18, 1920.</p>
<p>That swish of the sacred curtain of the voting booth has been replaced by a sonic boom capable of shaking the very foundations our faith in the Democratic process. That sonic boom is the noise of protest revolving around the separation of Church and State.</p>
<p>This is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that Americans find themselves struggling with the voting booth, or the separation of Church and State. Our Founding Fathers wrestled with it. [In England and America a Religious Test was administered in order to promote certain religious beliefs and exclude others.] On September 17, 1787, Article VI, the “No Religious Test Clause” was signed into the American Constitution and ratified on June 21, 1788.
“The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”</p>
<p>At the time the United States Constitution was adopted, religious qualifications for holding state and local office were pervasive. Delaware’s constitution, for example, required government officials to “profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, and in the Holy Ghost.” North Carolina barred anyone “who shall deny the being of God or the truth of the Protestant religion” from serving in the government. Religious Tests effectively barred Catholics, non-believers, and non-Christians from holding office. And until struck down by the Supreme Court in 1978, many states had laws prohibiting clergy from holding office!</p>
<p>In the late 1950s, Catholic politicians were viewed with open suspicion by many mainline Protestants and Evangelicals, not exactly a great climate for the presidential campaign of the first Catholic elected President of the United States. Catholic candidates were accused of having “dual loyalties” to both the Vatican and the United States, prompting John Fitzgerald Kennedy to say, “I do not speak for my church on public matters, and the church does not speak for me.</p>
<p>On September 12, 1960, Candidate Kennedy addressed the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, a group of Protestant ministers, in an attempt to mitigate the reluctance of Protestant faith leaders to support a Catholic Candidate.
I leave you today with his words that ring just as true today as then, and which may give today’s voters a lens into how America has changed and perhaps give them the courage to “vote their convictions” when the time comes.</p>
<p>“I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish; where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source; where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials; and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all.</p>
<p>For while this year it may be a Catholic against whom the finger of suspicion is pointed, in other years it has been, and may someday be again, a Jew-- or a Quaker or a Unitarian or a Baptist. It was Virginia's harassment of Baptist preachers, for example, that helped lead to Jefferson's statute of religious freedom. Today I may be the victim, but tomorrow it may be you — until the whole fabric of our harmonious society is ripped at a time of great national peril.”</p>
<p>Wishing you a thoughtful week of wrestling with your convictions; it is good exercise.</p>
<p>Rabbi Rose</p>WHRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371454770597034041noreply@blogger.com0