Lawyer-Wearing-Yarmulka

I'm guest-posting over at DovBear. All posts there will be cross-posted here.

A yasher koach to Ezzie for informing me about A Different Twist Cafe.  It's a pretty cool place, and the cinnamon and sugar pretzel is really delicious. 

Today is my last first day of school for the rest of my life.

Weird.

I know that DovBear is going to blog about this tomorow, so I might as well beat him to the punch.

Well, I (mostly) agree with Harris that church-state seperation is bogus, at least the way I read the First Ammendment. But that's not why she's in an idiot.

It's this -

"If you're not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to legislate sin..."

Ouch.

Her attempt to weasel out of that idiotic remark wasn't that good either.

Harris' campaign released a statement Saturday saying she had been "speaking to a Christian audience, addressing a common misperception that people of faith should not be actively involved in government."

The comments reflected "her deep grounding in Judeo-Christian values," the statement said, adding that Harris had previously supported pro-Israel legislation and legislation recognizing the Holocaust.

Yeah right.

Actually, she was pandering to a Baptist journal, and I'm sure that those who read the journal knew that they were being pandered to. That snarky remark about electing non-Christians had nothing to do with clearing up the "misperception that people of faith should not be actively involved in government."

There's a reason why the GOP isn't supporting her, and I think they just found another one.

This article in the Washington Post is a must read. I hope to have some commentary on it tomorrow.

What do you do in this situation. Someone calls you and says they've got a great idea for you. You look into it, and decide, that yes, this seems like a pretty good shidduch. You call the shadchan back and say yes. A couple of days pass and you don't hear anything from the shadchan. You call again, and the shadchan tells you that she spoke to the girl, she's interested, but she's seeing someone at the moment, but she doesn't think it's going anywhere, so she'll probably be free in a few days.

Now what? Do you wait, knowing that it'll only be a few days? Or do you tell the shadchan that you're going to move on, and if you and her are both available at a later date, you'll go out?

I chose the second option. I politely told the shadchan that I'm not on retainer and I'm not going to sit around waiting for someone if I have other shiduchim that have been red. The shadchan tried telling me to just wait a bit, that she's not interested in the guy she's seeing, and she'll be available real soon. I didn't bite. Someone had red a really good shidduch that day and I wasn't going to sit around and wait.

So I end up going out with this next girl for 2 months. Meanwhile, the shadchan didn't call back. I thought maybe she got insulted and decided she didn't want to go out with me. Finally, six weeks later, the shadchan calls and sheepishly says that the girl ended up going out with the guy for six weeks.

Six weeks!

And that's why I don't wait around.

So, finally, last week I went out with her. It was over in one date.

If you see a friend that you haven't spoken to in a while, the first thing you say to them after hello shouldn't be "are you seeing anyone"? It's really irritating.

It's not a true vacation unless you come back with cuts and bruises. So far the casualty list includes...

1. One scrape down the length of my arm after being tossed out of my tube into the rocky Esopus River
2. One unusually large black and blue mark on same arm after using arm to shield my head from even more rocks.
3. One skinned knee from yet another time being tossed out of my tube by the whitewater of the Esopus River.
4. One bruise on my leg from I'm not sure where.
5. Some sort of shoulder injury after kayaking on Lake George
6. And of course an empty wallet after being cleaned out at the Saratoga Racetrack.
   

We interupt this blogging vacation to encourage everyone to read this.

I'm on a blogging break/ vacation. Recap when I get back.

...and Lieberman's decision to stay on as an Independent-

1. There isn't much the G.O.P. can do to exploit this, at least as far as the actual race goes. Alan Schlesinger is the current Republican candidate, and he has a zero % chance of winning, even if Lieberman splits the Democratic vote. Schlesinger may be convinced to bow out, but if the Republicans put forth a credible candidate instead, expect massive pressure on Lieberman to withdraw. If Schlesinger stays on, I don't see Lieberman withdrawing. In fact, I see him winning the general election. Keep in mind that Connecticut voters are roughly divided between Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. Lieberman can easily win with plenty of support from Republicans, Independents, and loyal Democrats.
2. I found this whole campaign rather amusing. Angry-Left Democrats have so far failed to remove Republicans in office. So to satisfy their desire to punish someone, they lash out at moderate Democrat. Doesn't this remind you of the Lawrence Summers kerfuffle last year?
   
3. If this phenomenon continues, the Democrats are screwed. But that's for another post.
   

Wow. I don't even know where to start. It's going to take a while to sort all of this out. One thing is for sure. This is bad for the Democrats, good for the G.O.P, and bad for this country.

Overheard on the subway this morning:

"I'm a woman and 30 years older than you. I'm not going to apologize".

-Woman explaining to man after she won a mad dash for the last seat in the subway car.

I always think of that Tom Petty song during shidduch dating. One of the worst parts of it is the morning after. You've had a really great date the night before. But being the mentch that you are , you don't ask her out again, instead the next morning you call the shadchan, say you had a really nice time, and would like to go out with her again. Then the waiting begins.

The shadchan has to call the girl, leave a message, girl calls back, yes she had a really nice time as well and would like to go out again, shadchan forget to call guy, remembers to call guy, guy is relieved, and another date ensues. But those few hours waiting for the shadchan to get back to you is the worst. So a friendly reminder to all shadchunim out there: Try to get in touch with both parties ASAP

I guess this happens every so often. You just can't think of anything to blog about. Sure there's plenty of stuff going around the world, but with what's going on in Israel, nothing else seems important.

Best wishes for a safe and meaningful fast.

ששון ושמחה, ןנס 'גון ואונחה, בשוב' ל'רושל'ם

Is there no greater embarrassment than Jimmy Carter? Has he no shame? There are so many errors, both policy and factual, in his op-ed in today's Washington Post. I will try to address a few of them.

It is inarguable that Israel has a right to defend itself against attacks on its citizens, but it is inhumane and counterproductive to punish civilian populations in the illogical hope that somehow they will blame Hamas and Hezbollah for provoking the devastating response.

Doesn't this sound a lot like, "some of my best friends are Jewish"? Israel-haters always say that Israel has a right to defend itself, but they never, ever, approve with the exact methods that they do it.

The urgent need in Lebanon is that Israeli attacks stop, the nation's regular military forces control the southern region, Hezbollah cease as a separate fighting force, and future attacks against Israel be prevented. Israel should withdraw from all Lebanese territory, including Shebaa Farms, and release the Lebanese prisoners. Yet yesterday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected a cease-fire.

Notice that Carter didn't call for Hezbollah to release the two soldiers it kidnapped. But he does call for Lebanese prisoners to be freed, presumably including Samir Kuntar. Why exactly should he be released? He's not being held as a P.O.W., or was kidnapped by Israel. Rather he murdered 5 Israelis; including a 4 year old who's head was smashed by Kuntar's rifle butt. By what logic should Israel ever release this monster?

And why should Israel withdraw from Shebba Farms? It's Syrian territory! Even the U.N., who Carter thinks is more important than the U.S. government, says it's Syrian territory.

Traumatized Israelis cling to the false hope that their lives will be made safer by incremental unilateral withdrawals from occupied areas, while Palestinians see their remnant territories reduced to little more than human dumping grounds surrounded by a provocative "security barrier" that embarrasses Israel's friends and that fails to bring safety or stability.

No, Carter, the "security barrier" does bring safety and stability. How many suicide bombings have their been since the wall started going up. Walls are very effective at keeping people you want out. Why do you think that Palestinians use Kassam rockets? Suicide bombings are much more effective. The answer is of course, that it's really difficult to breach the wall.

I can go on and on, but I'm just getting madder and madder as I type. Never in American history has an ex-President (and miserable President to boot) spent so much of his time trying to undermine current U.S. foreign policy. We would all be better of if Carter dedicated the rest of his life building homes somewhere, or better yet, supervising elections in Cuba.

According to a co-worker: "Hot enough to roast a chicken outside in the sun. Plust with the breeze, it will cook faster; just like a convection oven."

Ezzie links to a website that automatically alerts you when there is an article, poll, and whatnot about Israel. The goal, I guess to try to influence world opinion. I think it's a waste of time, at least when it comes to online polls.

Every so often, I get a chain-mail breathlessly telling me that CNNMSNBCFOXBBCREUTERSAFP is having a poll about something about Middle East, and urges me to vote immediately. I never vote in these things. It means nothing. It's completely un scientific, and everyone knows that with an effective email campaign, you can totally skew the results. I doubt anyone who is on the fence will be persuaded by a CNN poll asking who's to blame for the current conflict in the Middle East.

If you get a phone call from a pollster, by all means answer the questions. If you see an article in a paper that you don't like, by all means write a letter to the editor. But don't waste your time (and my time by sending me emails) on online polls. They are no more important than a poll on ESPN asking if you think the Maddox trade was better for L.A. or Chicago.