we have an absolutely beautiful cemetery near us, it was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, who also designed Central Park. The original purpose of the cemetery was to attract people to bury their dead OUTSIDE the city, and the cemetery and an adjoining arboretum were designed for the recreation of the living, who needed to devote the better part of the day to get out to the cemetery and back, as well as the dead.

Though there are places to walk, picnic and birdwatch, bicycling through the cemetery is not allowed. I think it is believed to be undignified.

Many people have objected to this policy over the years, since the cemetery is amid rolling hills would make a marvelous place to ride.

I have no problem walking and watching and doing most things at this cemetery, after all, it was designed for that purpose, and its grounds are very beautiful.

I wouldn’t do anything undignified though, because I also realize that this is a sacred place to the families of those buried there and wouldn’t want to upset or offend any of them.

In over 30 years, I have never seen anyone be disrespectful of this lovely place. I think cycling would be compatible with the cemetery, and that cyclists could treat it in a respectful manner, as do the walkers and birdwatchers.

people have said they have laughed themselves to death.

On a more serious not, Norman Cousins detailed his defeat of several illnesses using megadoses of Vitamin C, along with a positive attitude, love, faith, hope, and laughter induced by Marx Brothers films.

He said, “I made the joyous discovery that ten minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give me at least two hours of pain-free sleep. When the pain-killing effect of the laughter wore off, we would switch on the motion picture projector again and not infrequently, it would lead to another pain-free interval.”

He wrote several good books on the topic, including “Anatomy of an Illness” and “Mind Over Illness.”

He died in 1990, having survived years longer than his doctors predicted: 10 years after his first heart attack, 26 years after his collagen illness, and 36 years after his doctors first diagnosed his heart disease

Also, there were righteous Germans and evil Germans during that period, and millions of people in-between those two poles. How do we know what kind of German is profiting from the engine or nailclippers or knives? Should we punish the children of the righteous Germans, too? Or need we make a careful investigation for each product?

I think those were from the (particularly cruel) trick question section:

It is a brave new world out there, but it still requires at least two rabbits to make more bunnies. If you have a male rabbit, there will be zero or one rabbits. If you have a female, it can range from zero to 5, or even more, depending on how long it takes bunnies to reach reproductive maturity.

If I had a flag, I would display it. I am very grateful for being born in America, and I am grateful to the veterans and soldiers who fought to protect the freedom that helps to make my life so good.

This week, a boy from my town was killed in Afghanistan.

45 years ago, my father died of a service-related illness that he acquired during WWII. He answered the call to help defeat the forces of true evil in the world, as did a very high percentage of Jewish-American men who were eligible for the armed services at that time. Today, I am wearing his dogtags, and on the dogtag chain, there is a small mezuzah (government issue). In one of the corners of the dogtag, there is an H, for Hebrew.

It may be the galut, and it may be flawed, but the USA is among the most wonderful countries in the world, and has been very good to its Jews.

Bless the USA and all its defenders and veterans. May Hashem give wisdom to its leaders, whether we like them or not.

I have not been pleased by GE appliances, in general.

Our newest Sears Kenmore has been a disappointment, it does not close well, and it is not as good as our last refrig.

You can get replacement shelves for Frigidaire refrigerators on eBay for much less than they cost at appliance stores.

In general, you will be better off with a newer refrigerator. Our new (2.5 year old) refrigerator uses 1/3 of the electricity than the 20-year old refrigerator it replaced.

mathematics fans:

what is the recipe for fibonacci salad?

What do Kermit the Frog, Atilla the Hun, Winnie the Pooh and Smokey the Bear have in common?

bad information crowds out good information.

from various places around the WWW:

1) Pigs

2) Mattress makers — b) unwrapped

3) Organ donors

4) Underwear Makers d) discounted

5) Accountants

6) Rap singers

7) Bobsledders

8) Tour Guides

9) Writers

10) Exterminators —- j) disgruntled

I don’t believe the Moderators allow many screen names per person, I think they tolerate it.

ICOT, I like your answer, too, but the answer I had in mind for the riddle:

“What is the difference between a woman and a postage stamp?”

is one I remembered from “Highlights for Children,” which I read about 1964.

A: One is a female, and the other is a mail fee.

these are not as pure (de- dis-) as ICOT’s wonderful list, but I hope you will enjoy them:

1) electrician

2) musician

3) cowboy

4) tree surgeon —- d) depressed

5) blackjack dealer — e) disgusted

6) dry cleaner

7) veil maker

8) fruit sellers

9) baseball players – i) decapitated

10) hatmakers

11) yoga teachers — k) bereft

12) Nuns

13) Filing clerks

14) apiarist

15) meteorologist —- o) disjointed

16) marijuana

salesperson

Wolf and Helpful – you guys remind me of the reaction of an Indian roommate when VP Spiro Agnew was forced out of office in a scandal involving a bribe of $50,000.

The Indian fellow laughed his head off and said it could never happen in India. No Indian politician would bother with such a small bribe.

what is the difference between a woman and a postage stamp?

bravo, baron!

a) broadcaster

b) model

c) spelunker

1) exposed

2) excavated

3) excommunicated

Marad yarad b’drom sfarad b’erev.

how do you say “smorgasbord” in Hebrew?

brava!

A politician is, of course, devoted. But it is more likely that he will retire on account of illness: the voters get sick of him.

is it good that the secular community is scared of this? I don’t think so. What does the future hold for a country living in fear of their countrymen?

I don’t see how that benefits anyone living in Israel, frum or otherwise.

ranked by percentage of home value, taxes will be highest in NJ, at an avg of 1.89% of home value, and a median payment of $6,579. Next highest is New Hampshire (no sales tax) at 1.86% and a median of $4,636. Texas will be third at #$2,275. New York, ranked 17th, will be a bit lower at 1.23% and a median of $3,755.

Massachusetts comes in 21st at $3,511 and 1.04%.

There are other ways to rank, of course, by % of total income and by average payment.

You can get all the hard figures here: http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/1913.html

Isn’t Gov. Christie supposed to be doing something about property taxes in NJ?

over 25 years ago, the taxpayers of Massachusetts passed a ballot initiative, Proposition 2 1/2, based on the California property tax limitation initiative.

Our property taxes are still high, but limited to 2.5% of the actual value of the house, and total town taxes can not go up more than 2.5% per year, not including taxes from new property.

Our taxes are high, but limited, and without this initiative, we would probably be in the same bad situation as New Jersey.

On a 2-family home that’s probably worth about $800k, we pay about $9500/year.

Out of all the taxes, I mind paying this the least. For this money, the children of our town get an excellent public education, the police come when called, and the fire department is there whenever there’s a fire. The trash gets picked up regularly. If these things disappeared or didn’t work, my life would be much worse for it.

sign at my optometrist’s office:

If you don’t see what you’re looking for, you’ve come to the right place.

sign on a small urn at my physicians:

Ashes of patients who complained.