It's got the Hebrew for me, and the Scotch for you

As I entered a new shul (synagogue) this past Saturday morning, it looked like many I had seen before from any one of many states. It was cozy with dark wood benches facing a small, well-adorned ark, the cabinet where the Torah is kept. There were the usual pieces of furniture that you might find in any synagogue; bookshelves, a table to read the Torah from, nothing unusual. Unfortunately, being in my late thirties meant that I was one of the youngest adults there, also not unusual.
As the rabbi was getting ready to give his sermon he walked over to one of the bookshelves in the room. This particular shelf like many others had prayer books of various sizes lining the top shelves and cabinets on the bottom for storage. As he was waiting for the congregation to finish the prayers he started to open one of the cabinets.
Up to this point I had not really paid anything other than cursory attention to this bookshelf. As he stood there, I noticed a bottle of Johnny Walker Black Label Whiskey sitting on the top of the cabinets. This bottle was not sitting in the corner of the bookshelf, as it might for decorative purposes. This bottle was not there for ambience. It was not as if an important congregant had given it to the synagogue and it was being displayed. This bottle was open and ready for business.
The rabbi, approximately fifty years of age with the first signs of gray in his full but not long beard, proceeded to get himself one of the small plastic disposable cups from the cupboard and pours himself a little bit of the scotch. I notice that other people quietly finish and have a bit of the whiskey. When one of the men recognized that I have finished the rabbi offers me some of the scotch. At that point I declined explaining that I drink vodka.
When the group was done with that section of the service, the rabbi started to give his sermon. He explained that before he does anything else he wants to take a moment to discuss some synagogue business with us. Apparently, he bought some Johnny Walker Blue Label Whiskey (Really Expensive), for the congregation and it appears to have been misplaced could it be returned. He goes on to explain that while he does not drink the whiskey there are members of the congregation that do.



Just remember, in business it is most important to please the customer. By the way at the Oneg (Light Lunch), after the service there was a bottle of vodka.....

I think they are on to something.

Loss of Civility

I remember being completely stunned when I first heard the news. A student at a high school near where I work had been killed that morning. The students I teach are likely to go to high school there. As I ate my lunch composed of a lean pocket and a fruit cup, a coworker asked if I had heard the news. Naively, I said yes, thinking that the reference was regarding health care or some other national issue. I kept eating, unknowingly, blissful in my ignorance.

A student, who just a few years ago had attended my workplace, killed another student while at school. There are still teachers that remember him. There are still substantial ties between this young man and the school. He had a dispute with another young man and is accused of stabbing this other student numerous times. This dispute concerned a girl. Unfortunately, while this event is rare it is not unheard of around the country.

Why mention this? Serena Williams goes off on a profanity filled tirade, and does she get punished? Joe Wilson is totally inappropriate in his actions during a joint session of Congress, and how is he reprimanded? Kanye West interrupts Taylor Swift, with a drunken tirade, as she accepted the Video Music Award for Best Female Performance. What sort of rebuke does he get for this abomination of behavior?

For those of you that followed these events, the answers are obvious. Each of these individuals got reprimanded, but the overall effect for each of them was beneficial. As I write this, I’m tasked with the job of helping young adults not only learn, but also teaching them the rules of good manners. Don’t misunderstand; this is one of the jobs of teachers in general, not just me.

We have basic rules. Teachers are taught to limit the number of rules so as not to confuse or overwhelm the students. Typically, there are about 5 on every list. Within these five two are; don’t speak when others are speaking and don’t use profanity. So what is this all driving toward?

As I teach how can I tell my students to respect each other if our national figures are lauded as heroes when they act like idiots.

By the way, there were reports that a student in my school had a weapon this week.

Sarah Palin is for End of Life Planning

I know I've said this before but could these Republicans please realize that their positions are being recorded... but here is a position from Sarah Palin just about 4 months ago...

Healthcare Decisions Day

WHEREAS, Healthcare Decisions Day is designed to raise public awareness of the need to plan ahead for healthcare decisions, related to end of life care and medical decision-making whenever patients are unable to speak for themselves and to encourage the specific use of advance directives to communicate these important healthcare decisions. WHEREAS, in Alaska, Alaska Statute 13.52 provides the specifics of the advance directives law and offers a model form for patient use.

WHEREAS, it is estimated that only about 20 percent of people in Alaska have executed an advance directive. Moreover, it is estimated that less than 50 percent of severely or terminally ill patients have an advance directive.

WHEREAS, it is likely that a significant reason for these low percentages is that there is both a lack of knowledge and considerable confusion in the public about Advance Directives.

WHEREAS, one of the principal goals of Healthcare Decisions Day is to encourage hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, continuing care retirement communities, and hospices to participate in a statewide effort to provide clear and consistent information to the public about advance directives, as well as to encourage medical professionals and lawyers to volunteer their time and efforts to improve public knowledge and increase the number of Alaska’s citizens with advance directives.

WHEREAS, the Foundation for End of Life Care in Juneau, Alaska, and other organizations throughout the United States have endorsed this event and are committed to educating the public about the importance of discussing healthcare choices and executing advance directives.

WHEREAS, as a result of April 16, 2008, being recognized as Healthcare Decisions Day in Alaska, more citizens will have conversations about their healthcare decisions; more citizens will execute advance directives to make their wishes known; and fewer families and healthcare providers will have to struggle with making difficult healthcare decisions in the absence of guidance from the patient.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Sarah Palin, Governor of the state of Alaska, do hereby proclaim April 16, 2008, as:

Healthcare Decisions Day in Alaska, and I call this observance to the attention of all our citizens.

Sad and Pathetic but True

Private insurance companies are spending over $1 million DAILY to kill the public option by inventing phony citizen groups, and trying to scare the elderly with lies about euthanasia and pro-lifers with concerns about abortion; they know the only way to kill reform is to get people of good conscience fighting over misinformation, while they laugh all the way to the bank. They don't think very highly of our intelligence.

I have run into a story that is quite ironic, at least to me. A conservative activist in St. Louis was protesting the proposed healthcare reform bill. During the protest things got physical and this activist, Mr. Gladney, got a bit roughed up. He needed medical attention for injuries that were not life threatening. He ended up in a local emergency room to care for these injuries. It later became known that he went to the emergency room because he has no insurance and needed medical care.

Healthcare Debate: Fog of War or Outright Lying

One-sixth of all our government spending is on health care, twice as much as any other country spends out of its budget. Our nation pays $2.5 trillion for care costing $912 billion.

- 11 http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aFRY..TvUM2M

I'm open to discussion on this one. Here goes...

There is currently a myth out there that the health care reform bill will allow the federal government to set up "death panels" so that the government overseers can put to death the most extreme (READ: Elderly) health care users.

All of the people voting on this bill are elected officials. Almost everyone admits that most politicians first priority is to get reelected. Passing a law with this provision would make it much more difficult for these politicians to get reelected. Considering that the cohort within the electorate that is most likely to vote are the elderly, this provision makes no sense and is not even close to true.

The provision being misquoted for this scare tactic allows for federal funding of end of life counseling. That is a fancy term for a living will. This provision is really funding individuals , only if they choose, services to create a document that instructs health care personnel and next of kin what health care procedures and lifesaving procedures the individual might desire.

The truth is not nearly as scary as the smear tactics that interest groups are putting out is it...

I'm open to differing opinions on this one.

The Children are our Future

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Governor Palin and the Media

If Governor Palin was hoping to position herself for a run at the 2012 Republican Presidential ticket, I have a piece of advice for her. Governor Palin , shut the hell up. I admit that free advice is worth about that much, but this advice actually has some merit to it. For those of you that read this blog on a semi regular basis my bias is obvious. I am inherently left leaning in my opinions, but having worked for a conservative republican on Capitol Hill, I am able to view things from the center.

Governor, please take my advice. (For those of you unaware of what this is about) Recently, Governor Palin has been keeping her name in the public eye in all the wrong ways. The two most obvious events are a (bad) joke made by David Letterman early last week. To see Letterman's apology click here. After David Letterman apologized twice, Governor Palin finally let the matter drop. This kept her in the news for a few days, but simply as a late night comedian's punchline. This week she is upset that a blogger clearly aligned with the Alaskan Democratic Party chose to photoshop a picture of her and her son who has Down Syndrome ( To see the picture in question go to the post from June 25 at 23:24:35).

This change was made to show how close Governor Palin is to a specific radio talk show host in Alaska. Her spokesperson is now sending out statements claiming that this is an improper manipulation of Governor Palin's special needs child. I feel it is important to tell any of you reading this that I have Cerebral Palsy. I am considered mildly disabled by the general public. I do not want someone's disability used for political fodder. However, the only one manipulating the disability in this case is the Governor herself. This photoshopping had nothing to do with the disability, it had everything to do with her relationship with a media person.

Her complaint is centered around the fact that children of politicians are generally off limits. Two good examples of this are the Obama girls, and Chelsea Clinton (circa 1992-2000). In both these cases, these children were not at many political events, and even on those rare occasions, they were not the center of attention. The Clintons and the Obamas did there best to ignore the occasional joke about the children, and succeeded in keeping the children out of the spotlight. I also think President Bush did a good job keeping his twins out of the spotlight. I give the Governor some credit for her argument the media has treated her family differently.

There is a significant difference in the way Governor Palin has treated her own family in the public eye. Governor Palin has made a point of putting her family out there from the beginning. In her convention speech she chose to take her special needs child on stage with her, using him as a prop to get votes.

Here is her problem (and the problem of Senator Ensign and Gvernor Sanford for that matter) the core of the Republican Party is more interested in the family dynamic than policy initiatives. This is no longer a fight worth having. The Governor is going to get the core Republican vote so bringing herself down to the level of a late night comedian or some left wing blogger does not serve her purpose. If she want to be taken seriously as a contender for 2012, stop worrying about what Letterman says, and start worrying about what the Federal Reserve says. Stop making yourself the joke of the election cycle.

BBC Report about the protests in Iran