I’ve been invited to be a contributor to Jewneric. I’ll be “simulblogging” my Judaism-related articles on my blog here as well as on Jewneric. If one of the articles here piques your interest, you may wish to follow the comments about it on Jewneric as well as here. I’ll post cross-links at the ends of… Read More: I’m being “syndicated” on Jewneric »
Political discussions among Jews who align themselves with the Democratic party frequently turn to the question of how it can possibly be that any Jew would choose to be a Republican (yes, we really do find it hard to believe!) and how to win them over to the Democrats. I have written previously about how… Read More: Orthodox Judaism, politics, and the gay problem »
The Associated Press ran an article recently about the fact that Clarence Thomas hasn’t asked a single question during oral arguments in the Supreme Court in over two years. Apparently, the last time he asked a question was on February 22, 2006, 144 cases ago. Thomas claims that he doesn’t need to ask questions to… Read More: Thomas: No Questions in 2 Years »
I have been reluctant to write here about the smear campaign against Barack Obama that has been targeted at Jews. I had hoped that people would recognize it as the despicable pack of lies that it most surely is, but alas, it seems that some are not, so I feel the need to speak out.… Read More: Smear campaign against Barack Obama targeted at Jews »
On the topic of mandatory periodic retesting of senior citizens when they renew their driver’s licenses, my wife recently had this letter printed in the Boston Herald (under the completely nonsensical headline “Rights watered down”, thus proving yet again that the Herald really needs to hire some better headline writers): Over a decade ago, it… Read More: Letting blind people drive »
The Scripps News wire recently ran a story which the Boston Herald picked up, ‘Green’ burials get a boost. Apparently, the idea of burying someone wrapped in a simple shroud, in a plain wooden coffin, with no embalming and no concrete vault, is so revolutionary that it deserves news coverage. Admittedly, the “green burial” movement… Read More: The “modern invention” of “green burials” »
Every once in a while, I head on over to eBay to dispose of something I no longer need that somebody else might want. This isn’t a business or even a hobby for me; it’s just a useful tool for getting rid of things that I’d rather not just throw away. When I’ve done this… Read More: Stupid eBay policy about sellers accepting Paypal payments »
Along with countless Jews throughout the ages, I have spent a great deal of time thinking about how to justify belief in the Torah through rational argument. It is certainly possible to maintain a belief in Judaism or anything else through simple faith, without regard for whether there is any rational underpinning for one’s beliefs.… Read More: Is Judaism any less weird than Mormonism or Scientology? »
3YL: “It’s time to make some art for the cat!” Me: “Art for the cat? What does that mean?” 3YL: “You know… art… like a drawing or a painting or a project.”
The GNU libc library comes with a bunch of files which define all of the POSIX locales supported by the library. These files take up hundreds of megabytes, and the vast majority of them are completely unneeded by those of us who only speak a few languages and never attempt to read or enter text… Read More: Reducing space taken up by GNU libc locale files »