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You are welcome!
Never assume something you hear about on the internet is true until you confirm it from an independent source. Kal v’chomer when the original source is from an anti-Semite!
The proposal appears to do the exact opposite of what Alex Jones claims: It is designed to facilitate continued OPERATION of networks during emergencies! Below is an excerpt from the actual text of the bill. I guess this goes to show that one should never trust anti-Semites.
SEC. 249. NATIONAL CYBER EMERGENCIES.
`(a) Declaration-
`(1) IN GENERAL- The President may issue a declaration of a national cyber emergency to covered critical infrastructure. Any declaration under this section shall specify the covered critical infrastructure subject to the national cyber emergency.
`(2) NOTIFICATION- Upon issuing a declaration under paragraph (1), the President shall, consistent with the protection of intelligence sources and methods, notify the owners and operators of the specified covered critical infrastructure of the nature of the national cyber emergency.
`(3) AUTHORITIES- If the President issues a declaration under paragraph (1), the Director shall–
`(A) immediately direct the owners and operators of covered critical infrastructure subject to the declaration under paragraph (1) to implement response plans required under section 248(b)(2)(C);
`(B) develop and coordinate emergency measures or actions necessary to preserve the reliable operation, and mitigate or remediate the consequences of the potential disruption, of covered critical infrastructure;
`(C) ensure that emergency measures or actions directed under this section represent the least disruptive means feasible to the operations of the covered critical infrastructure;
`(D) subject to subsection (f), direct actions by other Federal agencies to respond to the national cyber emergency;
`(E) coordinate with officials of State and local governments, international partners of the United States, and private owners and operators of covered critical infrastructure specified in the declaration to respond to the national cyber emergency;
`(F) initiate a process under section 248 to address the cyber vulnerability that may be exploited by the national cyber emergency; and
`(G) provide voluntary technical assistance, if requested, under section 242(f)(1)(S).
`(4) REIMBURSEMENT- A Federal agency shall be reimbursed for expenditures under this section from funds appropriated for the purposes of this section. Any funds received by a Federal agency as reimbursement for services or supplies furnished under the authority of this section shall be deposited to the credit of the appropriation or appropriations available on the date of the deposit for the services or supplies.
`(5) CONSULTATION- In carrying out this section, the Director shall consult with the Secretary, the Secretary of Defense, the Director of the National Security Agency, the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and any other official, as directed by the President.
`(6) PRIVACY- In carrying out this section, the Director shall ensure that the privacy and civil liberties of United States persons are protected.
Philospher,
By the time the Spanish arrived, the Aztec Empire wasn’t “Tribes” but a highly organized militaristic brutal despotic state that controlled the lives of perhaps 15 million people — more than that of Spain. By comparison, the contemporary population of France, the largest country in Europe at the time, was around 20 million. Among the more notorious actions of the Aztecs were the burning of all historical records, human sacrifice, and cannibalism.
000646,
Also essential to the Spanish conquest of Mexico is that the native Mexicans suffered horrendous deaths from smallpox, and also that many of the non-Aztec Mexican peoples were sick and tired of being oppressed by the brutal Aztec state. Tenoctitlan (now Mexico City) was a city of 200,000 people, as large as the largest European cities, and well defended (it was an island in the middle of a lake), so there was no way that Cortes’ small group of Spanish soldiers could have conquered it on their own.
I am completely unconvinced that any divine work or divine being can be proven by human logic or human collection of empirical evidence. How can anything that is amenable to human effort in such a way be considered to be divine? And if you consider the possibility that logic or empirical evidence can prove Torah, you have to also consider the possibility that it can disprove Torah, chas v’shalom, otherwise you have not really conducted an investigation. How can any Jew who accepts “with perfect faith” partake of such?
Philosopher,
Learned people during the middle ages believed the world was round. A Greek scholar, Eratosthenes of Cyrene, came close to getting the circumfrence correct — and he lived during second temple times! Muslim scholars during the middle ages knew this Greek science and improved on this estimate. Christian scholars thought that the earth was round even before they discovered the much more advanced Muslim science in the later middle ages. The myth that people during the middle ages thought the earth was flat seems to have originated with the American writer Washington Irving in the 19th century.
I don’t know the halachah, but it is definitely asur under secular law. And just think of the chilul HaShem if frum Jews became known as widespread willful violators.
Furthermore, most songs from most artists can be downloaded for a dollar. Are you really that poor that you can’t afford a dollar?
Besides, there is something much better with which to fill up your IPod: audio shiurim! And most of them are free.
In the winter, go to Mountain Trails Cross Country ski area in Tannersville, rent skis, and sign up for a lesson. There is no more fun outdoor activity.
Mathhelp,
I know it is too late to help, but I also got y=220.228x-111.942.
I have both a B.A. and and M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a Ph.D. in Biostatistics. This despite the fact that my only “B” in a math course between grades seven and twelve was in a probability and statistics course. Critical thinking is far more important than remembering formulas in statistics; in fact I don’t remember most of the basic statistics formulas and I am now a full Professor of Biostatistics at a major medical school! (And I have no idea why they are teaching exponential regression in high school; it is something usually taught to graduate students.)
squeak,
While at one time we married off women as young as three years old, today we require couples to be at least bar and bat mitzvah age, and also old enough to marry under secular law. And in most of the US that means at least age 16 even with parental consent, 18 without. (That hasn’t always been the law; my father’s first cousin got married without her parents knowledge at age 17. The marriage lasted over 67 years until her husband died.)
“already watered down FDNY’s physical requirements”
Not true. There is one exam that every candidate has to pass; it contains a selection of tasks that resemble things done in actual firefighting. You can have confidence in every FDNY uniformed firefighter.
(That is true for FDNY; I can’t comment on other fire departments.)
“Hashem gave specific and different characteristics for each gender for them to fulfill their respective roles.”
This is true. There are about a dozen mitzvot that HaShem gave to male Yisraelim that he did not give to female Yisraelot. But for most of them, female Yisraelot are encouraged to do them (such as hearing the shofar) and the normative practice is that a female Yisrael will even say the blessing beforehand if she is Ashkenazic!
“whether women should be allowed to vote in secular society”
Whether women should be allowed to vote is not a machloket. All of Klal Yisrael rejected Rav Kook’s opinion in favor of that of Rav Uziel.
I happen to be working at FDNY HQ at this very moment. FDNY welcomes female firefighters and EMS workers. They have to pass the same exams as men, though, including a demanding physical performance test for firefighters. It is a great organization, with great benefits, and you get to perform the tremendous mitzvah of saving lives as your job.
Just make sure the college is accredited by the appropriate regional accrediting board, otherwise the courses will be unlikely to be acceptable for transfer credit anywhere and any degree you earn will be next to worthless.
I don’t have fixed working hours; I often work at home nights and Sunday.
Try Herman Wouk. Great writer, great subjects, and frum! In addition to his many novels he has also written three books about Judaism that are even used by rabbis in kiruv.
“Did you on another thread complain about being a poker player?
And how much Chazal would disapprove?”
Indeed Chazal takes a very dim view of gambling. Not of doctors.
“Speak for yourself.”
Are you arguing against Chazal’s characterization of gamblers?
hereorthere,
What is wrong with a woman becoming a doctor? I can think of few other careers in which one is constanly performing mitzvah after mitzvah after mitzvah after mitzvah. My wife finished her medical residency shortly before we met.
My wife and I got engaged on the second in person date after having met on an internet dating service. (Can I say which one?) We have been happily married for five years.
I agree with SJS that it is better to break it off before the wedding than after.
Is being a top poker player something to be proud of? Chazal would not think so!
I think that the thread has now generated all the useful comments it will generate.
Kasha,
A woman can be a eid for some things, but not others. For example, her testimony for kashrut is as good as that of a man.
“Mixed dancing” generally refers to men and women dancing together, not to men and women dancing separately in the same room. I’m unaware of Rabbi Henkin permitting the former; if you have a source, please provide!
trying my best,
You are wrong about “following the majority of poskim”. Your statement is contradicted by the explicit mishnah “Aseh l’cha rav”. We each should have a rav and follow that rav’s derech when that rav is stringent and when that rav is lenient. And any decent rav will pasken knowing both the individual and the community in which that person lives.
Not having a rav but trying to sort out for ourselves what the “majority of poskim” say can create a situation where our yetzer hara will enable us to pick and choose who are the poskim we include for that majority in order to justify our actions, whether stringent or lenient. That isn’t the Torah way.
Regarding denim and chukat hagoyim, the ONLY communitie in America where long denim skirts are common are Orthodox Jewish ones. They may not be acceptable in some community, but they are certainly acceptable in Riverdale, Teaneck, the Upper West Side, and Kew Gardens Hills.
Regarding denim, it is considered casual wear in the United States but in other parts of the world it has much greater status. I remember being surprised to see a Levi’s boutique next to an Armani and a Gucci boutique in Rome! And the prices for Levi’s jeans resembled that of Armani pants!!!
Kasha,
Rav Henkin is one of the most respected rabbis in the modern orthodox community in Israel. Like most rabbis, he has some leniencies and some stringencies. And he generally follows his grandfather z’tz’l when he has a specific mesorah from him.
And everyone would benefit from reading his essay, “Contemporary Tseni’ut” in the Fall 2003 issue of *Tradition* in which he brings many sources that commenters here have ignored. You can buy it at the traditiononline web site.
Kasha,
You misrepresent Rav Henkin. He said it is permitted for women to dance in the same ROOM with men but not WITH men. Bnei Banim, vol. 1 no. 37 part 9.
Rav Henkin also has brought many sources that disagree with some of the strict opinions brought down by Rav Falk. I’d post more but it is getting close to Shabat.
I spent a Shabat at the old Sefardic synagogue in Philadelphia, in continuous operation now for 270 years. Most of the nigunim were in the style of popular music of colonial America! Nobody there had any knowledge of 18th century popular music, so they had no idea!!!
Some music written by non-Jews is beautiful and inspirational. The “Va, Pensiero” chorus from Giuseppe Verdi’s “Nabucco” sounds like it could have been written by David HaMelech and in fact it was inspired by “Al Naharat Bavel”. Verdi was not a Jew but he loved the Jewish people and sympathized with our struggles.
Here are the words, by Temistocle Solera:
Va, pensiero, sull’ali dorate;
va, ti posa sui clivi, sui colli,
ove olezzano tepide e molli
l’aure dolci del suolo natal!
Del Giordano le rive saluta,
di Sionne le torri atterrate…
Arpa d’or dei fatidici vati,
Le memorie nel petto raccendi,
ci favella del tempo che fu!
traggi un suono di crudo lamento,
o t’ispiri il Signore un concento
An English translation, from the Wikipedia site:
Fly, thought, on wings of gold;
go settle upon the slopes and the hills,
where, soft and mild, the sweet airs
of our native land smell fragrant!
Greet the banks of the Jordan
and Zion’s toppled towers…
Oh, my country so lovely and lost!
Oh, remembrance so dear and so fraught with despair!
Golden harp of the prophetic seers,
why dost thou hang mute upon the willow?
Rekindle our bosom’s memories,
and speak of times gone by!
Mindful of the fate of Jerusalem,
either give forth an air of sad lamentation,
or else let the Lord imbue us
with fortitude to bear our sufferings!
Kosher Bed and Breakfast in Newport:
d a,
President Obama has already honored them, 2-3 days early:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/presidential-proclamation-memorial-day
And he will be attending a Memorial Day ceremony in the Chicago area:
Next time, try doing some research before embarrassing yourself.
Yes, and it was not until page seven that it found a site having anything to do with me. That is what happens when you have a common name.
Come up to the Bronx! We have
Bronx Zoo
New York Botanical Garden
Wave Hill
The new lion cubs are the zoo are very cute :).
Trying my best,
Regarding whom to follow: The Mishnah answers this: “aseh lecha rav”. Any Orthodox Rabbi with a connection to the mesorah is legitimate to follow; mine happens to have been a talmid of Rav Soloveitchik z’tz’l and always paskens according to The Rav whenever he heard The Rav’s opinion on a particular matter.
Trying my best,
I mentioned a gedol who disagrees in the very first comment after you started the thread.
Trying my best,
I didn’t ask your opinion on Land for Peace, I’m asking whether you think that someone who opposes Land for Peace is within the Torah camp.
“Dr. Soloveitchik” is an ambiguous term. Not only did The Rov earn a doctorate, so did his wife, a brother, his son, and both daughters. And both daughters married rabbis with earned doctorates.
Trying my best,
Rav Soloveitchik z’tz’l and Rav Shach z’tz’l both supported Land for Peace. Do you believe that anyone who disagreed with them are not “within the Torah camp”?
Trying my best,
I have seen lots of calf length skirts every time I visit Flatbush or Boro Park.
tomim tihye,
You wrote,
“There are certain parts (lower leg included) that are meant to be exposed, and to cover them is considered provocative. “
If you study pre-modern Jewish dress you will not find lower legs exposed; your statement is inconsistent with how Jews have understood proper dress for millenia. The mizrachi ankle length skirts are more in keeping with tradition than are the charedi calf length skirts.
Good luck!
I’m glad I live in an neighborhood where we just listen to the local rabbis.
hello99,
No non-kosher milk is currently produced in the United States, so the heter IS relevant. Essentially, the only thing that would make milk non-kosher is the addition of non-kosher additives; about ten years ago a particular brand of milk marketed in New England lost its hechsher because it added a non-kosher additive.
yeshivaguy1,
Read Rabbi Yehuda Herzl Henkin’s essays on tzniut where he brings down *all* the sources. They are a much better source for learning about this issue than Rav Falk’s book which is more selective on sources and also includes many of Rav Falk’s personal chumrot.
hello99,
Regarding swordfish, a lot of prominent authorities have permitted it including Rabbi Eliezer Silver z’tz’l and Rabbi Isser Unterman z’tz’l. The OU had a nice presentation on the issues a few years ago that includes actual photographs of kosher swordfish in Italy taken very recently. You can view the entire presentation at ouradio.org by searching on “OU Kosher Swordfish” and scrolling down to “The Three Fishes Part II: Swordfish”.
SJS,
You bring up an interesting point regarding skirt length. In my MO community the skirts are generally much longer than in the charedi communities I’ve visited. With skirts reaching to the ankle — or longer — knees are never seen.
The measles outbreaks were in people either not vaccinated, or not fully vaccinated:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/cd/2009/09md25.pdf
Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known. It must be taken very seriously.
Trying my best,
You are thinking of the mumps cases, not the measles cases. The mumps vaccine does not provide 100% immunity (neither does actually contracting mumps). I met a Centers for Disease Control investigator who was researching the outbreak at Kiryas Joel; he reported that the Rebbe personally took his team to all the schools and clinics in order that they receive total cooperation. And indeed virtually the entire village had been vaccinated pretty much according to protocol.