freckles make me strong.
Month
Just like you can’t say something marginally racist, mention that your black friend said it first, and expect to get let off the hook, you can’t simply say, “I know a Jew who agrees” and expect that to be the end of the conversation. As always, what you say is your responsibility if you are willing to present it to the world you should be willing to take full credit.
The issue is this: Israel is not just any other county. Israel is a nation-state which represents a homeland for a people who has been kicked out of county after county for thousands of years because of their religious beliefs.
This is not to say that one cannot criticize Israel, but rather that there is difference between criticizing a government and criticizing a nation and separating the two is complicated. Critics of Israel are often painted as anti-Semites not because they disagree with Israel’s politics, but because it often comes across as denying that Israel has a right to exist. As Jews, we are driven to Israel’s quick defense because we are afraid it too will be taken from us. Hamas isn’t fighting over a river, or oil or trade agreements. Hamas wants Israel to cease to exist.
All of the said, the violence needs to stop in Gaza, Israel, Palestine, Iraq, Darfur and everywhere else. Fatally bad choices have been made and it is just as true as it is horrible that the people in Gaza are the perpetual victims of the continuing conflict.
the weakerthans, left & leaving (via whiskeyandgoatsmilk)
rulesformyunbornson:
REQUIRED LISTENING: Dropkick Murphys, ” Auld Lang Syne”
For a guy I used to know.
Shepard, Lost
I don’t watch the show but I saw this floating around the Internet and it reminded me of a conversation I had recently. The subject of this quote is a girl with a crushed spine. The subject of my conversation was a “state of the nation” type presentation to be given at a company holiday party involving the crushed economy. I maintain that no one wants to hear that they are probably going to be laid off unless there is an open bar. Two drinks on the house just doesn’t cut it.
One Sentence archive - story #2711 (via robot-heart)
I have no subject in mind but I would love to have the guts to do something like this someday. The combination of raw emotion and plotting is almost irresistible.
Looking at this list I can tell I have been travelling more for work than pleasure lately. I am clearly keeping it continental, which is a big change for me. In 2009, I will be adding DC and Dallas and if all my finger crossing pays off, Buenos Aires.
superamit:
One or more nights were spent in each city. Per Kottke’s specifications, * indicates cities visited multiple times on non-consecutive days.
See also: Katherine’s list and Chrysanthe’s list and Amit’s list and courtneyj’s list
This is, too often, my life.
Jesse Thorn, utterly nailing it. (via merlin)
Yep. Get funny or get out.
jordanlyons:
“Draft resolution XX… approved on 24 November by a recorded vote of 180 in favour to 1 against (United States), with no abstentions, would have the Assembly reaffirm that hunger constitutes an…
This is a message for my brothers and sisters who have fought so long and so hard for gay rights and liberty. We have spent a long time climbing up this mountain, looking at the impossible, changing a thousand year-old paradigm. We have asked for the right to love the human of our choice, and to be protected equally under the laws of this great country. The road at times has been so bloody, and so horrible, and so disheartening. From being blamed for 9/11 and Katrina, to hateful crimes committed against us, we are battle weary.
P.J. O’Rourke (via 52books)
This is also something I keep in mind when reading in public. First impressions can say such a lot and no one wants to meet someone new or run into someone from the past with a horrible book in hand. It says a great deal about you.
It seems my fellow Seattleites are having a hard time figuring out how to drive the snow. Here are some tips from Chicago, where snow happens more than twice a year. If you cannot follow these suggestions and there is a good chance you will spin out and cause an accident or block traffic perhaps the bus is a better choice. Remember, trucks and SUVs are no more snow worthy than their driver. (Full article here)
1. Front wheel drive cars are better for snow than rear wheel drive cars.
2. Automatic transmissions are better in the snow than stick shift.
3. Heavy cars are better than light ones in the snow
4. If you have a heavy front wheel drive car with an automatic transmission you have won half of the battle.
5. Allow extra travel time for driving in the snow.
6. In general when you are driving in the snow you have to slow way down.
7. When driving in the snow you also should take corners very slowly.
8. If you have to pull out of a parking spot that has been covered with a foot or two of snow first uncover your car.
9. If you are driving in heavy wet snow or an ice storm stop every ½ hour or so (or whenever you need to) and uncover the windows and mirrors with the ice scraper to see better and clear the headlights, tail lights and the snow/ice which gets encrusted in the wheel wells. (also known as car boogers)
10. If you are driving on the highway in a lot of snow, or on any multi-lane road, follow the tracks of other drivers the best that you can.
11. Also it is widely known that the salt from all the roads will rust your car out from underneath
12. I also thought I should mention snow tires.
(via muppetpants)
A Jewish parent’s guide to Christmas specials. - By Dahlia Lithwick - Slate Magazine
Awesome.
(via robot-heart)
A comprehensive attempt to explain the inexplicable, the parts of Christmas jews don’t mind. Mostly, I like the lights.
(via robot-heart-politics)
excerpt:
…the $10 billion Mr. Obama has pledged for early childhood education would amount to the largest new federal initiative for young children since Head Start began in 1965. Now, Head Start is a $7 billion federal program serving about 900,000 preschoolers.
“People are absolutely ecstatic,” said Cornelia Grumman, executive director of the First Five Years Fund, an advocacy group. “Some people seem to think the Great Society is upon us again.”
Despite the recession, Mr. Obama has emphasized his interest in making strategic investments in early childhood education. Asked if the financial troubles might force him to scale back, Jen Psaki, a spokeswoman for the transition, said, “We simply cannot afford to sideline key priorities like education.”
Munificent:
Adjective
1. very liberal in giving or bestowing : lavish
2. characterized by great liberality or generosity
peterwknox:
If at Halloween you’re invited to a TV- and movie-themed party and she dresses up as Winnie Cooper and you dress up as Paul Pfeiffer, mainly because you already have the glasses, and at the party some guy who’s a dead ringer for Fred Savage saunters up, peels off his mole, and says, “Get lost, Paul, Winnie’s mine,” and you’re left standing there while the two of them go off dancing to the soundtrack from Forrest Gump, and when two hours later she finds you sitting by the punch bowl explaining for the umpteenth time that, no, you’re not supposed to be Woody Allen, she holds up a tie stolen from a passed-out Alex P. Keaton to her petticoat and redubs herself Annie Hall, and you Alvy Singer: She loves you. And, to be honest, I sort of love you, too.
The Demise of Dating - NYTimes.com (via robot-heart)
The hook up is like going to a car dealership and test driving the shiniest thing on the lot; the one you remember from the commercial. You can test things you never considered much, most won’t be your style, but you’ll have a bit of fun.
The date is when you check consumer reports, show up on the lot with a lot of expectations and then only test drive the top contenders.