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I have been vastly disappointed by Craigslist. The people don’t show up, don’t pay, don’t return calls, more often than not. , it’s been hard to do business via Craigslist.
Chuck Jones, director of the most brilliant of the Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Wile E. Coyote cartoons, used to refer to the other people in traffic jams, and those who created them as the Anti-Destination League.
In an interview with the New York Times, he commented:
“Their job is to keep you from getting where you’re going.” Where Mr. Jones was going was to a radio studio in Manhattan, to give yet another interview about his new book of memoirs, “Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist.”
“There’s no point in cursing all these other drivers,” he said. “They’re just doing their duty for the league. It helps to know that this traffic is all just part of the conspiracy.”
rather than universal polygamy, perhaps we should introduce it slowly.
How about if boys who have written a sefer before they are 23 should be entitled to two wives.
I was not suggesting that a fight to save one’s own life was not without virtue, it has many virtues: fortitude, perserverance, bravery, etc. I just don’t think that heroism is one of the virtues involved.
A man calls the fire department to report a fire in his house, on 123 Elm St?
“How do we get there?” asks the answering fireman.
“Don’t you still have those big red trucks?” asks the homeowner.
In a bus station, a man asks the busdriver, “Does this bus go to Duluth?” (note: Duluth is a city in Minnesota)
“No,” the busderiver replies, “It goes ‘beep beep’.”
front load uses much less energy, and cleans better. There are larger rebates from many utilities on the front-loaders.
Mezonos, how can you regulate the legal aspects of it in America when the society is so opposed to plural marriage? The reason I brought up the social stigma is precisely that that is, and always has been, the greatest roadblock to plural marriage in America.
Just ask the Latter Day Saints (Mormons) and they will tell you. Brigham Young, who had 56 wives, which is probably too many for any man.
The Mormons in the west were applying for statehood for 40 years, but were ignored by Congress UNTIL they agreed to follow federal laws outlawing polygamy. Many legislators thought that the offer was insincere, and still didn’t support statehood.
I don’t see it happening in America, ever.
BTW, the 19th century Mormon polygamists did have a practice of marrying older women, widows and divorcees in order to provide for them. This would certainly help close the age gap and solve the shidduch problem.
Today we had a very disastrous accident in our town. An 18-year old high-school girl was hit and killed by a train while crossing the railway tracks behind the high school. This is a shortcut that has been used a lot in the 50 or so years that the high school has been around, and a few students have been killed there over the years, though it has gotten much better in the past decade.
Crossing the train tracks is a shortcut that saves about 15-minutes of walking between the high school and the neighborhood behind it.
My thoughts and prayers are with the girl’s family, and also with the engineer of the train who will have to live with this on his mind for the rest of his life.
There is a long stretch of rail behind the high school, and it is at least an 8 minute walk to the nearest crossing. People have proposed buying some of the land on one side of the tracks and creating an overpass at the midway point, so that bikers and walkers don’t have to go around the tracks.
What has this to do with the bus problem?
I started to think that safety, of all sorts, is a two-way street. We are obliged to encourage safe drivers and penalize bad drivers, but we are also obliged to teach our children, at a young age, not to run out in traffic without looking. Though any accidents will always be viewed legally as the driver’s fault, in practice, that is not always the case.
Likewise, it is a shame that the standards of dress and behavior of the people aboard these buses is so low, but aren’t we also obliged to teach our children how to deal with that? They will inevitably come across low characters in this world.
Having the mehadrin buses, etc., are solutions that are equivalent to only training the drivers of cars to avoid hitting children. But part of the solution is to prepare our children to for some of the people they will inevitably meet, so they will not run out into THAT traffic without looking both ways.
Only licensed tour guides do.
Yoshi, where are you selling now? Having any luck there?
we may still need help from illegal immigrants. Who will turn on and recharge the machines that Americans are unwilling to turn on and recharge?
Didn’t the pharoahs set the precedent by allowing the undocumented Joseph into their country, and alternately putting him to work, and in prison, and letting him rule the country? And didn’t his father Jacob’s whole family follow? A big family: probably a dozen or more kids, and a few wives, and their children? Probably lived dozens of people to the tent. but they did the work (brickmaking and hauling) that no respectable Egyptian would do.
As Tom Lehrer wrote 50 years ago:
Even in Egypt, the Pharoahs
Had to import Hebrew braceros.
600, there are already robotic floor scrubbers, gutter cleaners and lawnmowers available. Tighten the seatbelt on your recliner, because this is only the beginning. Check out iRobot.com for a view of some of the home robots available.
A Texan is trying to impress an Israeli visitor with how big things are in America.
“I can get in my car in the morning, drive all day, and at night, I’ll still be on my ranch.”
“You know,” says the Israeli, “I used to have a car like that, too.”
and, for the younger folks:
I drive a Rolls-Canardly: It rolls down one hill, and can ‘ardly get up the next.
A rabbi, a priest and a minister walk into a bar.
The bartender asks, “Is this some sort of joke?”
A termite walks into a bar and asks the bartender, “Is this bar tender, bartender?”
haifagirl, they get along well if they maintain discretion and hide the fact from most others. Most Attorneys-General will not prosecute polygamy, because it has made prosecutors look really bad in the past.
Even in Utah, if there is no child abuse or welfare fraud associated with the polygamy, it will be overlooked by the authorities.
The real problem polygamy faces in America are the social, inheritance and other legal aspects, such as Which spouse is your Social Security Survivor beneficiary? Who is going to take care of the children of spouses with numbers greater than 2 in the event of your death?
It’s hard for me to assume that none of them are Jewish, since no wise polygamist goes around announcing it to all.
Now, wasn’t the ban against polygamy for 1,000 years? Hasn’t it expired yet?
as the poet and philosopher (actually lyricist) Sheldon Harnick once wrote:
Who, day and night, must scramble for a living
Feed the wife and children, say the daily prayers?
And, who has the right, as master of the house
To have the final word at home?
Yoshi, with due respect, why are they heroes?
Is what they’re doing any more heroic than the doctors, nurses, medical technicians and family members who work to preserve their life? Doesn’t heroism have a connotation of giving up something for the benefit of another? or being a champion and standing up for others? of overcoming your fears and helping others (such as a fireman, who rushes into a building while other less heroic people rush out?)
and gelt, by itself, is a very poor motivator.
yes, it was almost like being at the stadium.
plus, she was lots of fun, and would bark a lot when strangers came near the house.
Bus – short for OMNIBUS, which means for ALL, in Latin. Generally, on buses, there are no entry requirements beyond the proper change.
if the smell is moldy, try adding a cup of ammonia to your next wash. Don’t do this if you’re also using bleach, however.
after all, YOU May have to sit next to this person on the bus.
the World Series is always more exciting when it goes to the seventh game. There are so many pluses to a longer series: the owners make more money; we get a longer baseball season; and football is ignored just a little longer;
All of these are good for society. I’m voting for the Phillies, not only because the Yankees have always seemed arrogant to me, and I grew up a Mets fan, and I live in Boston, where the Yankees are known as the “Evil Empire.”
There is a strong connection between American Jews and baseball. It was the first sport of young immigrants in the early part of the 20th century, in part because it was viewed as the most American of all major sports, in part because it could be played on any lot with a minimum of additional equipment, and there were actually professional Jewish ball-shpielers who could be admired.
As most of the men here will attest, in the world of boys, the World Series has always taken priority over boys’ studies, regardless of the attempts of surrounding adults to change that. It did us no harm, and baseball has many lessons to teach about life, teamwork, individualism and good sportsmanship.
On the other hand, there also was a certain delight in subverting the teachers and parents. If you were to give your children permission to view the World Series, that might take the fun out of it. Maybe it’s better to forbid it, and let them find a brilliant way to subvert your rules.
what is wrong with higher hygiene requirements?
Di Mame is Gegangen in Mark Areyn by Kapelye, or even Itzhak Perlman
Wedding Dance by Bock & Harnick, cut from the original version of Fiddler on the Roof, but now available on newer recordings of the original cast album.
Rumania, Rumania – by just about everyone. I love the Eartha Kitt version.
Hava Nagila by Harry Belafonte (Honorary Jew for the purpose of wedding music)
Independence Day Hora by Jerry Herman, from the show Milk & Honey
Lomir Zich Ibereytu – by Shirim Klezmer Orch.
Ot A Zoy – by Cab Calloway (not Jewish, but with a jewish kopf and many jewish influences)
The Unholy Chazir – by the New Orleans Klezmer Band
Sunflower, that’s somewhat the way the experienced native English-readers’ mind works. Don’t forget that sometimes we write for other types of readers, such as children, people for whom English is not their native language, etc.
As Strunk & White suggested, have great sympathy for your reader.
maybe we have a writing crisis on our hands. How can we be a light unto the nations if the nations can’t understand what we’re enlightening them about?
and if they understand the complexities and subtleties of the Infield Fly Rule by the time they are seven, you’ll know you have a future gaon on your hands.
and “keep your eye on the ball.”
Maybe you should get a dog, instead. Dogs make you feel safer in your home, for some reason. Burglars don’t like homes with dogs.
At least the kids could play with the dog; you wouldn’t want them to play with the gun.
I had a dog who taught me many important life lessons, and changed the course of my whole life. She taught and rewarded my kindness, generosity, enthusiasm, loyalty and affection, until they became life habits.
old yiddish proverb: Parents can give a child a dowry, but not good luck.
also, in an earlier thread, someone mentioned an organization called NASI. What is the full name of this organization?
I know I’ve told this story here before:
Several weeks before I met my wife, I heard a famous shadchan speak. He said that things had really changed in his business in the last 20 years. Now, people have all these requirements that make his job harder, such as: No Republicans; must have brown eyes; no one shorter than 5’6″; no one who makes less than $100,000 per year, etc. Things that really don’t make a difference in a lifetime.
This makes his job harder, since he then must match people in a smaller pool.
His suggestion was to drop your preconceived requirements, go out, meet someone you like and could love; someone worthy of your love, who may not meet your punchlist requirements.
I laughed, because I didn’t think I had any of these preconceived requirements.
A few weeks later, I met someone who was a little too short, and a little too Russian, and a little too this, and a little too that. She was not the kind of person I thought I would marry.
But she was a lovely person and we did continue dating. She was also a little too kind, and a little too pretty, and her laugh was a little too loud and infectious, and I liked being with her a little too much, and I was a little too sad when we were apart.
A few days short of two months ago, I married her.
Which goes to show something, though I’m not sure what.
I would send you mine, but I do use it. I get out the ladder every night and correct signs on stores and in public places.
the kit is on the first four and last four pages of the book. Labeled: Punctuation Repair Kit. It also has little panda stickers that say, “The Panda says No!”
I have the trade paperback published in 2006.
Can punctuation change your life, or the world?
her book is dedicated “To the memory of the striking Bolshevik printers of St. Petersburg who, in 1905, demanded to be paid the same rate for punctuation marks as for letters, and thereby directly precipitated the first Russian Revolution.”
I can recommend the book, “Eats, Shoots and Leaves” by Lynne Truss, “The Zero-Tolerance Approach to Punctuation.” She has written a serious, yet light-hearted review of the simple rules of pronunciation, without being a scold.
She also provides several pages of large stick-on commas, question marks and apostrophes for correcting signs in public places.
Haifagirl, I went to graduate school in an engineering discipline, and was also astonished at the number of fellow students who couldn’t write clearly. How do you make your thoughts known to others?
The title of the book comes from a joke: A panda walks into a cafe, orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun fires two shots,
“Why?” asks the waiter. The panda produces a poorly-punctuated wildlife manual and gives it to the waiter.
“I’m a panda,” he says at the door, “Look it up.”
The waiter turns to the entry, and there’s an explanation.
“Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.”
why is English so hard to learn?
A Hymn to Heteronyms by Richard Lederer:
Please come through the entrance of this little poem.
I guarantee it will entrance you.
The content will certainly make you content,
And the knowledge gained sure will enhance you.
A boy moped around when his parents refused
For him a new moped to buy.
The incense he burned did incense him to go
On a tear with a tear in his eye.
He ragged on his parents, felt they ran him ragged.
His just deserts they never gave.
He imagined them out on some deserts so dry,
Where for water they’d search and they’d rave.
At present he just won’t present or converse
On the converse of each high-flown theory
Of circles and axes in math class; he has
Many axes to grind, isn’t cheery.
He tried to play baseball, but often skied out,
So when the snows came, he just skied.
He then broke a leg putting on his ski boots,
And his putting in golf was in need.
He once held the lead in a cross-country race,
‘Til his legs started feeling like lead
And when the pain peaked, he looked kind of peaked.
His liver felt liver, then dead.
A number of times he felt number, all wound
Up, like one with a wound, not a wand.
His new TV console just couldn’t console
Or slough off a slough of despond.
The rugged boy paced ’round his shaggy rugged room,
And he spent the whole evening till dawn
Evening out the crosswinds of his hate.
Now my anecdote winds on and on.
He thought: “Does the prancing of so many does
Explain why down dove the white dove,
Or why pussy cat has a pussy old sore
And bass sing in bass notes of their love?”
Do they always sing, “Do re mi” and stare, agape,
At eros, agape, each minute?
Their love’s not minute; there’s an overage of love.
Even overage fish are quite in it.
These bass fish have never been in short supply
As they supply spawn without waiting.
With their love fluids bubbling, abundant, secretive,
There’s many a secretive mating.
It’s Bush’s Fault.
a large number of illegal guns in the hands of criminals and other no-goodniks are the result of thefts of legal guns.
Starwolf and I did not collaborate on our answers, honest!
you really need a locked case AND a trigger lock (or chamber lock, or cable lock: CADOJ approved) for the gun itself. Hiding isn’t enough.
If you learned to use a gun from TV detective shows, forget it, it’s not as simple as all that.
You also need to get the right gun, and learn how to shoot effectively. Take lessons, go to the range
If you live in a large building, get the right weapons. You want to be sure that the round you fire at the intruder doesn’t kill your neighbor or a family member in another room. It’s too easy to do if you live in a dense area.
If you really want to make your family safer, learn what to do in the event of misfires, jams,
You also need to teach your kids the rules of kid/gun safety, namely:
If you see a gun: Stop; Don’t Touch; Leave the area; Tell an adult.
Stop – to take time to remember the rest of the instructions
Don’t touch – A firearm that is not touched or acted upon by an outside force is highly unlikely to fire, or endanger a person.
Leave the area – By leaving the area the child removes himself/herself from temptation, as well as from the danger that another person might pick up the gun and negligently cause it to fire.
Tell an adult – An adult, if not personally trained in handling firearms, should know enough to seek professional assistance
These rules are from the NRA’s Eddie Eagle program. Though I am not in favor of much of what the NRA does, they have hit the nail on the head with these rules for children.
They don’t need to know you have a gun in the house, but some of your neighbors or relatives may have one, and they may not be as diligently careful as you are going to be with your gun. You’ve heard the horror stories, too.
The gun is a very powerful tool for putting holes in people. If you had a chainsaw around the house, you’d learn to use it correctly and effectively, secure it away from the kids when not in use, and make sure they knew not to touch it if you ever had a lapse in care.
I once had a gun for work, and kept it locked up very effectively. I could have the gun and ammunition quickly.
Sober, well-trained citizens having guns doesn’t scare me, but I do cringe when I see the disregard and disrespect that many people have for this powerful and deadly tool.
As an aside, I used to own a real estate brokerage, and once, at an open house, I found a loaded 22mm rifle in a drawer. It looked as if it had been there for years, and someone had just forgotten about it. I pulled the firing pin out, and asked the listing broker to call the police to dispose of this disregarded deadly tool.
it is possible to secure the gun so that it can be used quickly. You don’t want it to be able to be used instantly, for many reasons. The kids will inevitably find it some day. You don’t want a burglar to find it, then sell it to someone who will use a gun registered in your name in another crime.
I think you could reassure your spouse a bit by taking a gun-owner’s safety course. They are given by, surprise, the NRA and other groups, but they will show you how you can childproof and criminal-proof your gun. It is easy for a criminal to use your gun against you, and so increases the danger to your family, whereas your intent is to reduce it.
Take the course together, and let her see it is possible to be a responsible gun owner, and help her to assuage her fears.
Do you know what her fears are?
Part of owning a gun, or any tool, is to learn how to use it safely, and keep those who don’t know how to use it safely from using it.
I am convinced that it has been told about every enemy of the Jewish people since the creation of the world.
saw one on a car in Wattertown, MA yesterday:
Mycology is mushrooming!