Tag Archives: current events

October 12, 2023 · 4:43 pm

Never Again

Never Again. We were raised on these words. We were sure that this could never happen again. This past week so much has been written that I did not feel the need to add my voice to this repetition. Until I realized that as a Jew I have an obligation to not remain silent.

We are Jews. We are Jews before we are our nationality. We are Jews before we are our professions. We worry about the safety of our children and grandchildren, our elders, our peers, because no one appears to be spared. We have lived our entire lives knowing there are places we are not comfortable for they are filled with the hate and rage of those who want us dead. For centuries.

We did not expect our homes to be one of these places… again.

We don’t own this space. But what we do fear is that even those who have had to suffer a similar plight, or those who habitually speak out in their defense, are finding it hard to stand by us. The knowledge that this is going to get much worse sickens us. That other innocents will suffer in the wake of our only option for survival is counter to all our beliefs.

Our collective shock from the terrorism is horrifying enough, but the reactions that reflect how truly broken our country and our world have become; these are what frighten us most.

I am left here, to bring to our lives the only thing that can help us bear what has happened.

Hatikva (The Hope). I hear this anthem and I am brought back to the Hebrew school days of my childhood. When I complained about having to attend and now I am so very grateful to my parents for giving me a solid Jewish education.

Now I get chills when I hear the soldiers waiting to go into battle singing this in unison. When I read of communities around the world gathering to chant these words together. NYC organizing to sing this out their windows at a set time the way they cheered for healthcare workers each night during the pandemic.

HOPE. All caps. Because when there is chaos the only antidote is hope.

Please note: commenting will be turned off for this post, because… I would like to end with hope.

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July 8, 2016 · 12:02 pm

On Speaking Out

bubbles
This has never been a political place, and has certainly not been a very active one for a while. But it is where ‘I go’. And today, I had to ‘go’ somewhere. Time to Cry, indeed.

Speaking out. This week’s mantra. All ‘sides’.

Sides? Really?! Now there are sides to humanity? To dignity? To civil rights?  To driving down the road with your child in the back seat? To waking up every day and doing your job protecting your community?

Are there systemic issues? Hell, yeh. Should we push for a drastic overhaul of our broken system that includes real oversight, investigation and punishment? Both ‘sides’. Double hell, yeh. Do we have issues with guns… triple hell, yeh. Are all cops evil? Come on, you don’t believe that any more than you believe that all people of color are criminals. Right?

Tell me right, ok? Make me believe it. Please, come out of the woodwork and tell me that as Americans we can stop taking sides. Tell me that I am not delusional. Tell me that from the wreckage of all this violence we can create change. Not slogans and hashtags. Not turning your profile picture black OR blue. Turn it both. Black and blue… bruised and hurting. That is what we are all feeling.

These are the things I have read today that moved me after a sleepless night. Let them move you. Let’s all turn down the volume and turn up the idea of what being an American should mean. And what our responsibilities are.

  • There are no sides. Please don’t take one. Grieve for loss of life, the broken system and violence begetting violence. But don’t take sides.
  • You know the hardest part of having a conversation surrounding police shootings in America? It always feels like in America… if you take a stand for something, you automatically are against something else. It’s such a strange world to be in. You shouldn’t have to choose between the police and the citizens that they are sworn to protect. (Trevor Noah)
  • Things have not changed, the access to real time video has.
  • An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind. (thank you, Dawn)
  • I’m sorry, I must have set my alarm for 1968 (thank you, Marc)
  • We need to stop thinking hashtags are going to fix the problem and get away from our computers and out into our communities to work together to figure out how to stop this reality we find ourselves in. (C.C. Chapman)

Speaking out is great. But please choose your words wisely. And act upon them. Effectively. Sensibly. And with liberty and justice for ALL.

Amen. Namaste. Shalom. Salaam.

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June 20, 2013 · 1:56 pm

Video on Instagram… Vinekiller?

video for instagram

Well, well, well. Bless their little monopolistic hearts, facebook has just blown up Vine with video for instagram. And as much as I want to say it sucks… I can’t.

Quick run-through:

  • iOS and Android – Good move but I personally don’t care. But it is huge.
  • 15 seconds vs 6 – Don’t care that much, this is like bar mitzvah videos to me, sometimes less is more. Brands will love it. Little 15 second spots all over town… great opp.
  • Editing – This is big. Not sure why it is not in their bullet screen above; this is a big feature. The Vine purists will say that capturing it in one take is the artform – it keeps it fresh, it keeps it real. I get that, but really? Bullshit, everyone likes to edit.
  • 13 custom filters – Yum and they had to do it. And filters by frame can be beautiful, or really tacky depending whose hands they are in like anything else. I admit I love filters but as an artist I am in that crowd that wears the #nofilter hashtag proudly whenever I can. Because, you know, ‘I went to art school, yo.” (and yes, I am way to old too say ‘yo’)
  • Cover frame – lovely, I like that I can pick the frame for the feed. And brands… this is huge for you.
  • Cinema – OMG, I actually can’t say anything bad about stabilization. (Seriously, who doesn’t aspire to stability? What? That is not what it means?) There is no need to take a Dramamine when watching these vids, they are crisp and beautiful (with only a moderate amount of drinking while shooting, I am assuming).

I am still a huge fan of looping and think it is what makes Vine so cool when used correctly, so I am not sure not including it was wise. But I am not sure if Vine will survive this. On the other hand, Vine is the new frontier and the younguns’ are getting sick of the facebook clutter.

What are your thoughts?

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May 3, 2011 · 6:51 pm

Why Politics are Akin to Sports

I know what you are thinking, what the heck does she know about politics and sports. Not a whole lot, but my dear friend David C. Haas does and this is a guest post on demand from my college friends.  We have a thread going for years now, and if you missed my post about them it is worth a read; they are a lively group. Dave wrote this on the thread today and we voted to give it an airing in the blogosphere. So give this a tweet, a share, a stumble or just read it to a friend; he has great insight. In respect to my friends in the media who do not fit this description, my opinion on this is that it is a generalization about mass media and not an attack on those of you who still take great pride in your craft. 

Enjoy, and feel free to comment.

I know the problem, but not the solution. Politics has become too akin to sports. People are diehard fans of their “team” (Republican, Democrat, Tea Party, Green Party, etc.) and anyone who is on the other teams is a jerk only because they are on the other team. People don’t discuss anymore, they defend their team without listening to the other side. The networks have taken advantage of this by recognizing that they can make more money by not being impartial and instead being a booster of one of the teams.

The politicians use the networks to post trash talk on the locker room bulletin boards to psyche up the players (rally the base). The networks are only too happy to oblige and add their own inflammatory commentary which often times omits key facts, exaggerates the truth, or is an outright lie. Media exaggeration and lying have become so commonplace that apparently the politicians seem to think it’s okay and have stepped up their offense to include a new page in the playbook, the Super Spin, otherwise know as an outright lie.

Sen. John Kyl’s commentary that 90% of Planned Parenthood services were devoted to abortion were proven to be false (in 2009 approximately 3% were) and when he was confronted about this he replied that his speech “wasn’t intended to be factual”.

You have got to be kidding me! In any other profession this would not be tolerated. “Well doctor, what do the test results show?”, “I’m afraid you’ll need a heart transplant John”, “Huh, my specialist said it was acid reflux” “Well, ah… I wasn’t talking literally.”

The media used to be the umpires. They would call a foul, then show the instant replay for the fans to see, and the offending player would be penalized. But now the umpires have taken sides and can no longer agree on the fouls. And the fans are left confused and just assume that their team is in the right. But without umpires the game has gotten out of control. Teams are playing to win at all costs. They don’t care if the game suffers while they break all the rules.

Maybe someday the fans will realize that the game stinks, and stop going to the stadiums. And the empty seats will be votes against the teams and for the game.

My only hope is that after a few election cycles were each time the party in power loses, politicians will realize that the people are not voting for Republicans or for Democrats. They are voting against the corruption of the game, and until the players, owners, and league officials, can be trusted to act in the interest of the game, they will be off the team.

– David C. Haas

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February 1, 2009 · 1:40 am

2-4-6-8 lady you have too much on your plate

babies-on-a-plateCheck out my post at 50-something mom blogs about the California octuplets.

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