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Madonna Is Not the World’s Madonna March 31, 2009

Posted by voolavex in Social Issues.
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When did Africa become a pet shop for celebrities?  Oh, I’m sorry – an orphanage for celebrities.  Yes, children are dying in Africa from curable diseases and genocide and this is something that should be on the minds of everyone with a heartbeat – but I am wondering when decency will prevail in this country and let women like Angelina Jolie and Madonna know that cruising into an African country and picking out a chum for your other third world babies is not a decent and acceptable thing to do.  I am not certain what makes Angelina Jolie tick – but I suspect it is not quite right.  Her litter of children (and more to come I’ve heard) hardly seems very different than Nadya Suleman’s – except for the money.   I have no clue whatsoever what makes Madonna tick period.  And I find her shopping for little black babies offensive in the extreme.  Her last acquisition – David Banda – had a father and extended family.  None of that transaction seems right – down to her visiting him  recently with the kid – who must be confused at this point.  Now she returns to Malawi and decides to acquire another little black child who happens to have a grandmother young enough to care for this little girl.  Grandma went to court today to explain this to the judge and I hope the judge tells Madonna to get outta town.  Fast.
 
 
 
I think one of the things that makes folks see Americans in a less than charming light is just this sort of crap.  Why doesn’t Madonna – the ultimate nouveau riche – create a foundation to see that these children achieve a good life where they live?  Why does she think her entourage existence, her fake Kabbalahist religion and her still wet money are preferable to a child growing up in his or her own country and culture? (If you recall this same garbage existed with Elian Gonzalez years back). She offers a single parent home with two biological children who have no fatherly presence and the little boy whom she bought from his father.  A quick trip through any animal shelter should offer her ample opportunity to find needy creatures to love.  I simply do not understand it nor do I find it admirable on any level.  It is a form of colonialism that I had hoped we had abandoned.  Madonna may indeed be a material girl – but children are not traded on any exchange I know of and she needs to knock it off.  Now.

For Natasha’s Sons – How the Lost Boys Mourn March 22, 2009

Posted by voolavex in Social Issues.
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For Natasha and her sons

In my heart and mind I see the lost boys of Natasha Richardson mourning in a way that only boys of that age can mourn.  I saw William and Harry mourn that way. And most of all I see my baby brother mourn his loss when it happened to him.  Mothers lost suddenly, unexpected, with no chance to say goodbye.  Lost without the chance to save the day and make it stop. 
 
These boys – of this certain age, carry this unique loss all their lives.  The future  has ended as their own future starts. Their special talents and triumphs bloom harder without the special nurturing that brings them to fruit sweeter and fuller .  Their edges – beginning to firm – firm sharper and faster without the softened edges a mother can smooth.  Who encourages them to tenderness and caring now?  Who wipes the most private and personal tears and  embraces  the weeping when it comes, no matter when or why?  Who feeds the dog or cat let behind no matter how many times they promise to do it.   Not every mother merits this special grief – I suspect every mother thinks she does – but those who do are seen in one way or another in every step of their lost boys lives. 
 
The space that stays relentlessly empty lives within the heart and mind of these boys.  Part of it dreams of a day when it will all be back  to before ; part of it moves between happy memories that inevitably lead to tears of longing and regret.  But it never seems to resolve itself. Nor should it. The sadness encourages the memories and the memories allow growth and consolation. Leave them with their mothers forever frozen in time – young and loving – still vibrant and perfect. 
 Somehow many of them seem to be fair-haired  mothers, adding to the those tales of princesses and kisses that awaken even those held hostage by evil spells.  But to a son, every mother is that princess and this is the most evil spell imaginable. No kiss will fix it.  If only.
 
So this is how the lost boys mourn and learn, much to soon, to be strong and brave because their mother would have wanted that.  Although I am not sure, as a mother, that is what I would want or expect.  Little boys driven into manhood by loss and the energy that coping with loss requires. Would I insist that, with it all, they must be brave and manly too.  I don’t think so.
 
At this most grievous moment – give them time; allow them tears; encourage them to remember, because no matter how you cope – they will mourn longer and harder and sadder than you can imagine.  Burying their faces into sweaters to find her in the smell; listening to music she loved and still trying to be the little boy they were until that day arrived.
 
This is the way the lost boys mourn – try to ask nothing more of them. Abandon stiff upper lips, brave macho gestures, holding it in. The silences, the tears, the anger – embrace these boys and rock them and  simply let them mourn as only they can.

“Hanzelschaft iz nit keyn brudershaften” Livelihood is not brotherhood March 6, 2009

Posted by voolavex in common sense, despicable, guilt, immigration, Jews, kosher, Pets, Social Issues, talmud, torah.
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 I was recently writing an email to a family member regarding the Middle East War in Israel and as I wrote some cold thoughts came to mind that I had not addressed before. Troubled times call for fierce examination. Troubled times make people point fingers and assign blame. Sometimes I think the simplest truth can explain the most complex problem. I kept getting a zetz* from some annoying truths that begged for air. As a humane gesture to my kishkes** I started letting them out. They are my own truths – but they may zetz you too. They are not very likeable – but they do ring true. See what you think.

 

Bernard Madoff and Aaron Rubashkin are two of the worst things that have happened to the Jews since Pharoah’s armies got grounded. The two of them feed into the worst depths of Anti-Semitism and serve that end as examples of what people who (check one) mistrust, hate, avoid, slur and or revile the Jews, see as a benchmark of the entire Jewish tribe (except the one you know and he/she is a really nice person). And why wouldn’t they? The name for what Bernie Madoff did is affinity scam. Taking advantage of your own to establish credibility and then keeping at it until you are either caught or die. Underlying the entire con is the knowledge you personally know it’s is wrong, illegal, lies and misery for your victims. You know this when you start and you it know when you give it up, die or get caught. I would say that essentially it is driven by greed no matter how you slice it. This is the man for whom the term Greedy Jew was created. And in this troubled time this is the man who may have slowed; maybe even stalled the engine of the world. And because he used his Jewishness to this end he merits every bad name one can call him. Bernie Madoff is NOT good for the Jews. His money is treyf*** and so is every penny that may have been touched by him. Think of Bernie as a pig disguised as a lobster pretending to be a matzo ball.. Before you even work your way through to the “others” who got shafted all 163 pp of them (which I have read) find the Jews. The ones who lost big. These are what “others” will label “Stupid Jews”. Bernie Madoff is not good for the Jews. By the time one gets to the others it hardly matters who they are in terms of ethnicity. The blood libel has been revived and some stupid, greedy Jew did it. This makes me livid and is going to take a long time to fix . Why isn’t every Jew vocally enraged by this man and what he has done? Not content to go in head again first at the deep end let’s move along to the next question. What does Aaron Rubashkin have in common with Bernie Madoff? Greed.

 

 Aaron Rubashkin and Agriprocessors ignored Jewish law and screwed the Jews. Aaron and his family deny every single allegation and for this he is even more of a problem for the Jews. He exemplifies the slur “Those lousy Jews will do anything to make a buck”. Because that is precisely what he did and would have kept on doing if he had not been caught. Close friends of mine excuse him and tell me he has done so much good that he cannot have done what the law says he did but I don’t think prior good acts exonerate him. It’s like saying some Jew hater loves dogs. I love my friends and therefore I won’t argue with them but we disagree. Rubashkin is guilty of another kind of exploitation that was so specific to the Jews that it is disgusting. It’s not bad enough he exploited illegal and underage workers to work in his kosher meat factory. He is accused of breaking federal laws and religious law by his slaughtering methods and factory conditions and by doing so has made questionable every mouthful of kosher meat every observant Jew has bought under his aegis. This meat has been chewed and swallowed. Is it treyf? Part of the problem as I see it is in the entire behavior of Rubashkin and his cohorts. As with Madoff – they knew and they did it anyway. If you cut corners on one thing – where do you stop? And he did it in violation of Jewish law. He violated a mitzvah. He is a goniff, a hypocrite and betrayer. This makes me livid and is going to take a long time to fix . Why isn’t every Jew vocally enraged by this man and what he has done?

 

I don’t care if my meat is kosher and I am not observant but those who are deserve better than this. You might ask what happens if these folks ate the meat. Nothing except it is morally indefensible and therefore causes mental anguish among ****landsmen who have placed enormous trust in this product. If you recall how outraged we were in this country about the tainted dog food and baby formula – there is no difference. And the first tainted food was PET food. Think about it and get angry and let people know you’re an angry Jew.

 

Giving bigots a reason to use ethnic slurs is not good for the Jews. I think it is okay to be angry and vocal about both these men and what they have done. I think Jews should be outraged and say so. Nothing excuses them . Finding Bernie and Aaron outside the pale doesn’t do anything but say that you find this behavior unconscionable for everyone and especially the people that were targeted. Bernie Madoff is not good for the Jews. Aaron Rubashkin is not good for the Jews. We should all be much angrier than we appear to be.

 

* zetz = poke ** treyf/treif = not kosher ***kishkes = your gut ****landsmen = your co-religionists.

 

 Comments are welcome but I will delete anyone using the term – self-hating Jew – just so we are clear.

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