EDIT
I want to clarify something right off the bat: the article's words are not mine. I do not agree with every nuance, jot and tiddle (is that a word??) and my posting a link to it should not be construed as such. HOWEVER I think the author makes some valid, important points, if nuanced rather than said outright, that need to be taken into account in the rapidly changing, fluid world around us. Please see the comments for some good discussion on that and please add to the discussion by commenting yourself. Thanks.
I read a really insightful article that's been making its way around the J-Blogosphere, plus the Jewish news sites as well (well, not YWN, naturally, as you'll see if you read the article). I urge everyone to read it. Link to it here.
I'll leave it up to the comments section to spur discussion and thought about the points raised.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Happiness and...Taxes
I haven't posted in a while. Let's get back to business, shall we? People will call me cranky, but somebody's got to recognize these issues and shove them into the limelight, no?
There's an interesting article on the Tax Foundation's website. I like it because it has this to say about taxes and lifestyle. Much of this culled from a Wall Street Journal editorial:
"The study finds that New Yorkers are the unhappiest people in America and their neighbors in Connecticut come in a close second, followed by Michigan, Indiana, New Jersey, California, and Illinois."
Then this:
"...According to the Tax Foundation 2008 analysis, three of the top five unhappiest states—New York, Connecticut and New Jersey—have the highest state-local tax burdens. On the other hand, four of the top five happiest states—Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee and Arizona—are among the states with the lowest state-local tax burdens. True, correlation doesn't prove causation, and high taxes alone don't always make people miserable, but there's something going on here."
So in New York State, we work really hard to make a living. We then see an enormous percentage of that money out the door by spending a disproportionately higher portion of our dollars on state, local, and property taxes, and receive a much, much lower return per tax dollar collected than other states, because of huge budget allocations that behave like Robin Hood. So say you spend like $15-$20K a year on NYS, you get in return... garbage collection, plus sleepless nights wondering about family finances thrown in for free! Maybe a bit of street repair thrown in, too. Maybe. And a bit of schooling. If you're not an Orthodox Jew. Mr. and Mrs Illegal Immigrant spend nearly $0 per year on NYS and receive, say, $20-$25K worth of assistance per year (if you game the system right), if not more. Yay. That makes me... happy??
Rinse, repeat for NJ. At least NJ residents had the good sense to recognize the problems and throw out garbage leadership, while New Yorkers continue year after year after year after year to vote in complete and utter self-aggrandizing grandstanding self-centered avaricious petty idiot nincompoop babies (I can say more but this is a FAMILY FRIENDLY blog!) who treat public office as a profitable enterprise and spy on each other (with state money) and hire nice fancy limousines and drivers (with state money) and grind state activity to a halt and hire prostitutes and get in bed with money launderers and have fun in session engaging in really productive name-calling (all while getting paid with... state money) and spend huge amounts of time and effort in lofty thought on legislation that truly means almost nothing practical or material to nearly everybody (did someone say same-sex marriage?) instead of working together, rolling up their sleeves, and hammering out reforms that materially affect massive amounts of people that most agree on like, uh, for example, TAX RELIEF and SPENDING REFORM.
Something's going on, indeed.
There's an interesting article on the Tax Foundation's website. I like it because it has this to say about taxes and lifestyle. Much of this culled from a Wall Street Journal editorial:
"The study finds that New Yorkers are the unhappiest people in America and their neighbors in Connecticut come in a close second, followed by Michigan, Indiana, New Jersey, California, and Illinois."
Then this:
"...According to the Tax Foundation 2008 analysis, three of the top five unhappiest states—New York, Connecticut and New Jersey—have the highest state-local tax burdens. On the other hand, four of the top five happiest states—Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee and Arizona—are among the states with the lowest state-local tax burdens. True, correlation doesn't prove causation, and high taxes alone don't always make people miserable, but there's something going on here."
So in New York State, we work really hard to make a living. We then see an enormous percentage of that money out the door by spending a disproportionately higher portion of our dollars on state, local, and property taxes, and receive a much, much lower return per tax dollar collected than other states, because of huge budget allocations that behave like Robin Hood. So say you spend like $15-$20K a year on NYS, you get in return... garbage collection, plus sleepless nights wondering about family finances thrown in for free! Maybe a bit of street repair thrown in, too. Maybe. And a bit of schooling. If you're not an Orthodox Jew. Mr. and Mrs Illegal Immigrant spend nearly $0 per year on NYS and receive, say, $20-$25K worth of assistance per year (if you game the system right), if not more. Yay. That makes me... happy??
Rinse, repeat for NJ. At least NJ residents had the good sense to recognize the problems and throw out garbage leadership, while New Yorkers continue year after year after year after year to vote in complete and utter self-aggrandizing grandstanding self-centered avaricious petty idiot nincompoop babies (I can say more but this is a FAMILY FRIENDLY blog!) who treat public office as a profitable enterprise and spy on each other (with state money) and hire nice fancy limousines and drivers (with state money) and grind state activity to a halt and hire prostitutes and get in bed with money launderers and have fun in session engaging in really productive name-calling (all while getting paid with... state money) and spend huge amounts of time and effort in lofty thought on legislation that truly means almost nothing practical or material to nearly everybody (did someone say same-sex marriage?) instead of working together, rolling up their sleeves, and hammering out reforms that materially affect massive amounts of people that most agree on like, uh, for example, TAX RELIEF and SPENDING REFORM.
Something's going on, indeed.
Hodu l'Hashem Ki Tov!
HODU L'HASHEM KI TOV!
We said this at the bris of our son at 8 days old, Daniel Tzvi, born 10 days ago. We actually said it twice, if I'm not mistaken.
And we MEANT it!!
Thanks to everybody for everything!
We said this at the bris of our son at 8 days old, Daniel Tzvi, born 10 days ago. We actually said it twice, if I'm not mistaken.
And we MEANT it!!
Thanks to everybody for everything!
Monday, December 21, 2009
Change
I'm going to be removing the auto-email feature from the blog today - that means that my posts will no longer be automatically sent to the email addresses I specify.
I'll still be posting to the blog, so if you want to follow it, either periodically visit the website (musingsofabaldguy@blogspot.com) or add that web address to an RSS reader like Google Reader or something like that. For the uninitiated, an RSS reader is just a web tool that aggregates items, pages, articles (all referred to as 'feeds'), etc that you want to follow on the web. You can do a search on 'RSS reader' and learn all about it there.
Thanks for reading and continuing to read!
I'll still be posting to the blog, so if you want to follow it, either periodically visit the website (musingsofabaldguy@blogspot.com) or add that web address to an RSS reader like Google Reader or something like that. For the uninitiated, an RSS reader is just a web tool that aggregates items, pages, articles (all referred to as 'feeds'), etc that you want to follow on the web. You can do a search on 'RSS reader' and learn all about it there.
Thanks for reading and continuing to read!
Monday, December 14, 2009
My wonderful wife...
I've got a lot to be thankful for (despite my crabbing!). But nothing more than having a wonderful wife!
I mean, look at what she does for me:
She cooks
She cleans
She carries our baby
She works
She makes calls
She allows me time for my chavrusa
She lets me sit at the shabbos table with slippers!
She tolerates my tech geekiness
She listens politely as I rant and rave about taxes
There are many, many others. But there's one thing that she does do that trumps them all: she allows me ample time on the can so I can write these blogs!!
THANKS DEAR!!
I mean, look at what she does for me:
She cooks
She cleans
She carries our baby
She works
She makes calls
She allows me time for my chavrusa
She lets me sit at the shabbos table with slippers!
She tolerates my tech geekiness
She listens politely as I rant and rave about taxes
There are many, many others. But there's one thing that she does do that trumps them all: she allows me ample time on the can so I can write these blogs!!
THANKS DEAR!!
Taxes and Texas
First things first - everyone must read my response to Anonymous's comment on this post before reading this current post and before posting comments such as "why don't you just move?" Read what I wrote in my counter-comment. Now for the post itself.
Many here know of my excoriations, despite my new place of residency, of the financial and tax burdens of residing in the NYC metro/tri-state area. I stumbled upon this website that I think just solidifies my thinking in my mind.
First. I encourage everyone to click on the 'About Us' link and read what this place is all about. Obviously, this place is Republican (or conservative) funded that advocates a decidedly conservative agenda, and some of us may hate Republicans. But that doesn't mean that the Tax Foundation's mission or list of things they stand for don't make sense. I don't agree fully with everything they stand for (their 'Neutrality' section for one), but I definitely find my thinking generally aligned with theirs.
The Tax Foundation has an interesting concept called tax freedom day, which is an interesting concept that I encourage everyone to read about here. I'll wait a moment until everyone's done.
Finished? Ok, good. Now click on this link to see the Tax Freedom Day for 2009 depending on which state you live in. Note that the higher the rank #, the better, a higher number ranking (47 vs 3, for example) means you have to work less days in order to pay off your federal, state, and local tax bill. Look at New York, New Jersey, and Texas. Notice the difference?
Now look at this link, which shows a Tax Freedom Day trend over time (you have to download an Excel file). Can't be bothered? Well see below for a 10-year trend comparing US average, NY, NJ, and, of course, TX. If you do the math, the differences between the states average out to something like over TWO WEEKS worth of wages. Heck, Texas even beats the US average each year! This may not show properly so I encourage all to download and look at the Excel table to see for yourself. But take my word for it:
Now, check out this link, which ranks states by tax climate for business (basically a measure of how favorable the tax climate is for growing businesses). Again, look at NY, NJ, and, naturally, TX.
Check out this, this, and this for a one stop shop for all that ails NY and NJ.
Do you see anything interesting? I do, if these figures are accurate and correct. Am I going somewhere with this? You betcha. NY and NJ residents have consistently shouldered a possibly (we DO make a bit more $$$ in NY/NJ, after all) disproportionately higher tax burden than do Texans. And what have we got for forking over our hard-earned money to Unca Empire and Garden state? A business drain to states like... Texas. So we in NY and NJ hand over lots of cash to local and state gub'ment and get in return... a loss of one of the greatest drivers of economic growth. Consistently.
Yay!
Many here know of my excoriations, despite my new place of residency, of the financial and tax burdens of residing in the NYC metro/tri-state area. I stumbled upon this website that I think just solidifies my thinking in my mind.
First. I encourage everyone to click on the 'About Us' link and read what this place is all about. Obviously, this place is Republican (or conservative) funded that advocates a decidedly conservative agenda, and some of us may hate Republicans. But that doesn't mean that the Tax Foundation's mission or list of things they stand for don't make sense. I don't agree fully with everything they stand for (their 'Neutrality' section for one), but I definitely find my thinking generally aligned with theirs.
The Tax Foundation has an interesting concept called tax freedom day, which is an interesting concept that I encourage everyone to read about here. I'll wait a moment until everyone's done.
Finished? Ok, good. Now click on this link to see the Tax Freedom Day for 2009 depending on which state you live in. Note that the higher the rank #, the better, a higher number ranking (47 vs 3, for example) means you have to work less days in order to pay off your federal, state, and local tax bill. Look at New York, New Jersey, and Texas. Notice the difference?
Now look at this link, which shows a Tax Freedom Day trend over time (you have to download an Excel file). Can't be bothered? Well see below for a 10-year trend comparing US average, NY, NJ, and, of course, TX. If you do the math, the differences between the states average out to something like over TWO WEEKS worth of wages. Heck, Texas even beats the US average each year! This may not show properly so I encourage all to download and look at the Excel table to see for yourself. But take my word for it:
| State | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
| United States | April 30 | May 1 | May 3 | April 30 | April 19 | April 16 | April 17 | April 24 | April 26 | April 27 | April 21 | April 13 |
| New Jersey | May 14 | May 16 | May 17 | May 15 | May 4 | April 30 | April 30 | May 8 | May 10 | May 11 | May 8 | April 29 |
| New York | May 8 | May 9 | May 11 | May 11 | May 1 | April 27 | April 28 | May 4 | May 7 | May 8 | May 4 | April 25 |
| Texas | April 25 | April 24 | April 26 | April 23 | April 14 | April 10 | April 8 | April 14 | April 18 | April 20 | April 15 | April 6 |
Now, check out this link, which ranks states by tax climate for business (basically a measure of how favorable the tax climate is for growing businesses). Again, look at NY, NJ, and, naturally, TX.
Check out this, this, and this for a one stop shop for all that ails NY and NJ.
Do you see anything interesting? I do, if these figures are accurate and correct. Am I going somewhere with this? You betcha. NY and NJ residents have consistently shouldered a possibly (we DO make a bit more $$$ in NY/NJ, after all) disproportionately higher tax burden than do Texans. And what have we got for forking over our hard-earned money to Unca Empire and Garden state? A business drain to states like... Texas. So we in NY and NJ hand over lots of cash to local and state gub'ment and get in return... a loss of one of the greatest drivers of economic growth. Consistently.
Yay!
Thursday, December 10, 2009
What's wrong with this picture?
I heard a story the other day that is probably of some interest to those of us who work for a living and pay our fair share of taxes.
A woman, we'll call her Shaindy, has one kid, is relatively young (20's I think) and has a husband in kollel. She works at an office job somewhere in the NY metro area. She was complaining to someone I know about how she's tired of working, getting up early, rushing to commute, dealing with the day to day work headaches that all of us working folk deal with. She's just plain tired. She mentioned that she was seriously considering stopping to work and going on Section 8/HUD assistance, Medicaid, and food stamp welfare programs and staying home with the children.
Is something wrong with this picture?
Uh... yes. What she should do is either suck it up like we all do (This is the choice she made when she got married) or encourage and convince her hubby to get a job (or a yob ;-)).
Welfare programs already eat up a massive portion of NYS's and NJ's budgets, and are partly to blame for our (NY/NJ metro area for one) ludicrously high state and local taxes. Welfare programs are there IN DIRE CASE someone NEEDS them, they are not there as an "opt-in" lifestyle. No one has the right to choose to go on welfare to live one's religious ideal, and CERTAINLY nobody has the right to go on welfare just to shirk responsibility. This is one of the many problems with our welfare programs today. Welfare programs are noble and necessary because a nation as rich as ours has the responsibility to ensure that people don't die or live sickly lives from starvation and poverty, and FDR was correct in institutionalizing them rather than keep the Hooverian belief that personal and private charities will "come through". These programs have become bloated though and viewed almost as entitlements! They create perverse incentives to not work and not take risks and not pursue jobs and responsibilities. They easily create an indolent attitude that eschews trying to better one's lot and rise from poverty either for fear of losing benefits or from laziness and a belief that that good ol' Unca Sam should take care of me.
This kind of thinking might just not be limited to one individual, unfortunately. There are many things about government waste from the municipal level on up that make me want to scream. But this really makes me mad - my tax $$$ are continuing to support this! It should make all of us honest, hardworking taxpayers really mad, too! While NY and NJ taxpayers groan under onerous tax burdens, while state budgets are in deficit and state governors declare bankruptcy, these programs get more bloated!
Wow, it's funny how you become politically self aware after buying a house and having a kid! ;-)
Speaking of taxes, stay tuned for an eye opening post regarding that issue, BTW. I found a wonderful website that I just HAVE to share with everyone.
A woman, we'll call her Shaindy, has one kid, is relatively young (20's I think) and has a husband in kollel. She works at an office job somewhere in the NY metro area. She was complaining to someone I know about how she's tired of working, getting up early, rushing to commute, dealing with the day to day work headaches that all of us working folk deal with. She's just plain tired. She mentioned that she was seriously considering stopping to work and going on Section 8/HUD assistance, Medicaid, and food stamp welfare programs and staying home with the children.
Is something wrong with this picture?
Uh... yes. What she should do is either suck it up like we all do (This is the choice she made when she got married) or encourage and convince her hubby to get a job (or a yob ;-)).
Welfare programs already eat up a massive portion of NYS's and NJ's budgets, and are partly to blame for our (NY/NJ metro area for one) ludicrously high state and local taxes. Welfare programs are there IN DIRE CASE someone NEEDS them, they are not there as an "opt-in" lifestyle. No one has the right to choose to go on welfare to live one's religious ideal, and CERTAINLY nobody has the right to go on welfare just to shirk responsibility. This is one of the many problems with our welfare programs today. Welfare programs are noble and necessary because a nation as rich as ours has the responsibility to ensure that people don't die or live sickly lives from starvation and poverty, and FDR was correct in institutionalizing them rather than keep the Hooverian belief that personal and private charities will "come through". These programs have become bloated though and viewed almost as entitlements! They create perverse incentives to not work and not take risks and not pursue jobs and responsibilities. They easily create an indolent attitude that eschews trying to better one's lot and rise from poverty either for fear of losing benefits or from laziness and a belief that that good ol' Unca Sam should take care of me.
This kind of thinking might just not be limited to one individual, unfortunately. There are many things about government waste from the municipal level on up that make me want to scream. But this really makes me mad - my tax $$$ are continuing to support this! It should make all of us honest, hardworking taxpayers really mad, too! While NY and NJ taxpayers groan under onerous tax burdens, while state budgets are in deficit and state governors declare bankruptcy, these programs get more bloated!
Wow, it's funny how you become politically self aware after buying a house and having a kid! ;-)
Speaking of taxes, stay tuned for an eye opening post regarding that issue, BTW. I found a wonderful website that I just HAVE to share with everyone.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Decisions, decisions...
As many people know, I (and my wife) have Verizon Wireless cell service. I've been really disappointed over the last few years or so at Verizon's so-so rate plans and especially disappointed with their pathetic line-up of handsets, the bulk of which you can probably label as 'feature-phones', or phones that look cool but don't really do much.
I've been getting ready to ditch Verizon for Sprint or (gasp) AT&T and the iPhone. But Verizon just launched a game changer a couple of days ago that's making me rethink that decision (sorry, Ben).
By now, everyone must have heard of Verizon's new handset that was just released, the Droid. This device is, IMHO, a very, very serious competitor to Apple's iPhone 3GS. It has a better higher res screen, removable battery, 16-32GB micro-SD card memory, multitasking, free turn-by-turn GPS, physical keyboard, etc. iDon't think it's an iPhone killer, though.
There are three things that I'm on the fence about with the Droid, now that I've used an iPod touch for a while:
iDon't - like Android 2.0's media app, it really looks horrible and pales in comparison to iPhone OS 3.1's app. You can't even mention the 2 in the same sentence. Will Google update this in a later update (Android 3.0, perhaps)? Who knows. But it's important to me, plus there is as of yet no viable syncing software for Android that can compete with iTunes.
iDon't - like the lack of multitouch. Come ON, Verizon, Moto, and Google!! Google, you build multitouch capability into Android. Verizon & Moto, you release the Milestone in Europe (essentially an overseas Droid) with this capability. Palm's Pre has it, Verizon's own Droid ERIS has it; come ON! How did they miss this? My guess is that the Droid CAN do multitouch, but was released without it for some inexplicable reason. I can only hope that it can get 'turned on' through some over the air or software/firmware update. I was playing with the Droid on Friday and found myself instinctively trying to pinch to zoom and not being able to REALLY was annoying. The Droid does have zooming soft buttons onscreen but their functionality is really limited when comparing to the iPhone.
Last, iDont - like the severely limited podcast search and playback options. Note - I just found out about Google Listen, so this iDon't may turn out to be an iDo.
So, I'm sitting on the fence to see what happens in the next 6-12 months with Apple, Motorola, and Verizon. I'll see how the device and OS landscape shakes out before iDecide what to do.
What does everyone else think of these two devices and their respective networks?
I've been getting ready to ditch Verizon for Sprint or (gasp) AT&T and the iPhone. But Verizon just launched a game changer a couple of days ago that's making me rethink that decision (sorry, Ben).
By now, everyone must have heard of Verizon's new handset that was just released, the Droid. This device is, IMHO, a very, very serious competitor to Apple's iPhone 3GS. It has a better higher res screen, removable battery, 16-32GB micro-SD card memory, multitasking, free turn-by-turn GPS, physical keyboard, etc. iDon't think it's an iPhone killer, though.
There are three things that I'm on the fence about with the Droid, now that I've used an iPod touch for a while:
iDon't - like Android 2.0's media app, it really looks horrible and pales in comparison to iPhone OS 3.1's app. You can't even mention the 2 in the same sentence. Will Google update this in a later update (Android 3.0, perhaps)? Who knows. But it's important to me, plus there is as of yet no viable syncing software for Android that can compete with iTunes.
iDon't - like the lack of multitouch. Come ON, Verizon, Moto, and Google!! Google, you build multitouch capability into Android. Verizon & Moto, you release the Milestone in Europe (essentially an overseas Droid) with this capability. Palm's Pre has it, Verizon's own Droid ERIS has it; come ON! How did they miss this? My guess is that the Droid CAN do multitouch, but was released without it for some inexplicable reason. I can only hope that it can get 'turned on' through some over the air or software/firmware update. I was playing with the Droid on Friday and found myself instinctively trying to pinch to zoom and not being able to REALLY was annoying. The Droid does have zooming soft buttons onscreen but their functionality is really limited when comparing to the iPhone.
Last, iDont - like the severely limited podcast search and playback options. Note - I just found out about Google Listen, so this iDon't may turn out to be an iDo.
So, I'm sitting on the fence to see what happens in the next 6-12 months with Apple, Motorola, and Verizon. I'll see how the device and OS landscape shakes out before iDecide what to do.
What does everyone else think of these two devices and their respective networks?
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Like a kid in...
Oh boy. I'm like a kid in a candy store! Look at all these juicy, tasty morsels for me to chew on! Oh my, where will I find the time??
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/the-importance-of-yiddish
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/couples-having-shabbos-guests
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/modern-orthodox-judaism
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/colored-shirts
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/eruv-in-brooklyn
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/college-secular-studies-038-judaism
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/is-the-fbi-anti-semitic
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/jeans
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/the-importance-of-yiddish
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/couples-having-shabbos-guests
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/modern-orthodox-judaism
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/colored-shirts
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/eruv-in-brooklyn
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/college-secular-studies-038-judaism
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/is-the-fbi-anti-semitic
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/jeans
Wonderful speech
Just saw this - thought I'd pass it along. It's the text in full of the Beth T'filoh Rabbi's Rosh Hashana speech in Baltimore, MD.
GREAT speech. And very true. Worth reading through in its entirety.
Hat tip: Cross-Currents.
GREAT speech. And very true. Worth reading through in its entirety.
Hat tip: Cross-Currents.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Great story!
An interesting thing happened to me over Simchas Torah, I thought I'd share because it's such a great story...
So I'm standing in shul during hakafos in Monsey, NY, rather yeshivish place, minding my own business on the side reading through an interesting pamphlet (more on that later) authored by a chashuv local rav. I'm wearing my brown srugie, brown sportjacket, striped shirt, no tie, white tallis. You could say I stood out (yay!) like a sore thumb. I notice a chassidishe bachur, about 13 y/o, approaching me with a gemara Gittin in his hand. He opens it up to the first mishna and asks me if I could discuss p'shat in one of the Tanaim's statements in the mishna. We proceed to have a lengthy discussion right then and there about it.
I felt like asking the kid - of all people in shul, you come to me? I mean, I really stuck out like a sore thumb. I didn't ask him though. I didn't need to get into that discussion since the moment was just really wonderful - here were two Jews from totally different backgrounds who probably disagree on a myriad of different lifestyle kleinekeit - sharing the beautiful Torah that really binds us together.
It was a great feeling.
So I'm standing in shul during hakafos in Monsey, NY, rather yeshivish place, minding my own business on the side reading through an interesting pamphlet (more on that later) authored by a chashuv local rav. I'm wearing my brown srugie, brown sportjacket, striped shirt, no tie, white tallis. You could say I stood out (yay!) like a sore thumb. I notice a chassidishe bachur, about 13 y/o, approaching me with a gemara Gittin in his hand. He opens it up to the first mishna and asks me if I could discuss p'shat in one of the Tanaim's statements in the mishna. We proceed to have a lengthy discussion right then and there about it.
I felt like asking the kid - of all people in shul, you come to me? I mean, I really stuck out like a sore thumb. I didn't ask him though. I didn't need to get into that discussion since the moment was just really wonderful - here were two Jews from totally different backgrounds who probably disagree on a myriad of different lifestyle kleinekeit - sharing the beautiful Torah that really binds us together.
It was a great feeling.
If only...
If only I had known about this during my life as a single...
Come on, all us recently former and current singles know that "Im yirtze H"m by you" is the single (ha, no pun intended) most annoying and infuriating thing that anyone can say to anybody.
hat tip: frumsatire.com
Come on, all us recently former and current singles know that "Im yirtze H"m by you" is the single (ha, no pun intended) most annoying and infuriating thing that anyone can say to anybody.
hat tip: frumsatire.com
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
Shana Tova to all
I just wanted to wish a Shana Tova to all and sundry.
I hope HKB"H will shower us all with brachos of peace, prosperity and happiness this year and in all coming years, and will hasten the coming of the geula, b'mheira b'yamenu.
Shana tova u'mesuka to all!
I hope HKB"H will shower us all with brachos of peace, prosperity and happiness this year and in all coming years, and will hasten the coming of the geula, b'mheira b'yamenu.
Shana tova u'mesuka to all!
Friday, September 4, 2009
Good for us... or not?
I saw an interesting story on VIN about Madonna visiting the tomb of a famous Kabbalist in Safed.
I'm really curious what everyone thinks about this? Does this new spotlight help or hurt Judaism on the whole?
I'm kind of on the fence about this. On one hand, it 'legitimizes' Judaism in the minds of non-Jews, on some level. On the other, I don't think the Arizal wanted someone like Madonna dabbling in what is really a very holy subject matter (and should be kept that way).
Comments?
I'm really curious what everyone thinks about this? Does this new spotlight help or hurt Judaism on the whole?
I'm kind of on the fence about this. On one hand, it 'legitimizes' Judaism in the minds of non-Jews, on some level. On the other, I don't think the Arizal wanted someone like Madonna dabbling in what is really a very holy subject matter (and should be kept that way).
Comments?
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Oh, the horror!!
I have something to confide in you. It's... well, it's... it's really just... just really embarrassing. Traumatic even. You see, well... oh boy this is hard... you see, well, um, uh, well... I'm scheduled to be raped in a couple of months.
It's OK, don't gasp like that! Really, I'll get through it. I'll be OK, shaken and shocked, but I'll pull through. I know I will because the perpetrator has struck hundreds of thousands of other people, if not millions, and they seem to have come through their ordeal just fine, maybe a little shaken, but OK. So I know I will.
But you see what's galling is that none of the perpetrator's victims really were ever able to seek justice. See, there was nothing that could be done, no recourse. So while I know I'll pull through, I have to resign myself to the facts of the situation. Wait - what's that? You say you know a good lawyer that could help me, break new ground in bringing this despicable rapist to justice? I'd have to disagree, see, because the perp here is a real baddie, remorseless and cruel, and he's got lawyers on his side up the wazoo to kingdom come. See, his name is NEW YORK STATE.
Yes, I see your face blanching at the mere mention of his despicable name. But it's true. He's going to get me, I know it.
See, Mr. NY State will be forcibly relieving me of some thousands upon thousands of our hard earned, blood sweat and tears dollars, for absolutely no real reason I can discern. Maybe deep down, in his brooding, loathsome heart he fancies himself a modern day, perverse Robin Hood. But I really can't tell, his very thoughts and actions are constantly shrouded in a veil of secrecy and mystery. He calls this despicable act of rape - oh, the horror of its name! - New York State mortgage tax. Can you even comprehend the heinousness of the crime!? He even lends his name to this despicable act, as if it's his signature, his calling card move! It's not enough for him that he violates me year after year after year after year after year, like clockwork, on April 15. Now he wants more with this disgusting crime, the bloodthirsty savage that he is. I guess I should take some kind of perverse satisfaction that I draw so much of his attention, no? Then again, hundreds of thousands of innocents have fallen victim to this dastardly crime. But still. Each time leaves its scar and pain. There is no justice that can be served. One day, maybe, sometime in the future, I'll run and hide somewhere, into the nurturing arms of one of the other State family brothers or cousins, of which my perp is a member, where he can never touch me again, the dirty b**tard. May he be smitten one thousand times!
It's OK, don't gasp like that! Really, I'll get through it. I'll be OK, shaken and shocked, but I'll pull through. I know I will because the perpetrator has struck hundreds of thousands of other people, if not millions, and they seem to have come through their ordeal just fine, maybe a little shaken, but OK. So I know I will.
But you see what's galling is that none of the perpetrator's victims really were ever able to seek justice. See, there was nothing that could be done, no recourse. So while I know I'll pull through, I have to resign myself to the facts of the situation. Wait - what's that? You say you know a good lawyer that could help me, break new ground in bringing this despicable rapist to justice? I'd have to disagree, see, because the perp here is a real baddie, remorseless and cruel, and he's got lawyers on his side up the wazoo to kingdom come. See, his name is NEW YORK STATE.
Yes, I see your face blanching at the mere mention of his despicable name. But it's true. He's going to get me, I know it.
See, Mr. NY State will be forcibly relieving me of some thousands upon thousands of our hard earned, blood sweat and tears dollars, for absolutely no real reason I can discern. Maybe deep down, in his brooding, loathsome heart he fancies himself a modern day, perverse Robin Hood. But I really can't tell, his very thoughts and actions are constantly shrouded in a veil of secrecy and mystery. He calls this despicable act of rape - oh, the horror of its name! - New York State mortgage tax. Can you even comprehend the heinousness of the crime!? He even lends his name to this despicable act, as if it's his signature, his calling card move! It's not enough for him that he violates me year after year after year after year after year, like clockwork, on April 15. Now he wants more with this disgusting crime, the bloodthirsty savage that he is. I guess I should take some kind of perverse satisfaction that I draw so much of his attention, no? Then again, hundreds of thousands of innocents have fallen victim to this dastardly crime. But still. Each time leaves its scar and pain. There is no justice that can be served. One day, maybe, sometime in the future, I'll run and hide somewhere, into the nurturing arms of one of the other State family brothers or cousins, of which my perp is a member, where he can never touch me again, the dirty b**tard. May he be smitten one thousand times!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Those crazy French!!
I was reading Ikea's 2010 catalog last night on the train home, trying to find some Scandinavian inspiration for home decor, and I noticed a woman and her daughter pointing at my catalog.
Turns out they were French tourists, from Paris, on a 5 day visit to NYC as part of a 3 week North American tour.
So they took 5 whole days out of their 21 to see this stinkhole!!??? They were staying in Queens, even better!!! So they couldn't afford a pricey Manhattan hotel, the city even prices those crazy enough to want to visit out of it's touristy areas! I asked them how they liked Queens - they said it was a nice hotel, but the area was loud and dirty. Um, YEAH, that pretty much describes all of NYC!
I couldn't get over why someone who lived in freakin PARIS, FRANCE of all places would want to shlep all the way across the Atlantic to visit this hellhole??!!!!
I guess it's just those crazy French.
Turns out they were French tourists, from Paris, on a 5 day visit to NYC as part of a 3 week North American tour.
So they took 5 whole days out of their 21 to see this stinkhole!!??? They were staying in Queens, even better!!! So they couldn't afford a pricey Manhattan hotel, the city even prices those crazy enough to want to visit out of it's touristy areas! I asked them how they liked Queens - they said it was a nice hotel, but the area was loud and dirty. Um, YEAH, that pretty much describes all of NYC!
I couldn't get over why someone who lived in freakin PARIS, FRANCE of all places would want to shlep all the way across the Atlantic to visit this hellhole??!!!!
I guess it's just those crazy French.
A little housekeeping
Got a request.
Can everyone just post comments to the blog itself? Just click on 'comments' under each post or, if you click on the title of each post, look for a window that says 'post your comment' or something like that.
Please do this vs responding to the blog email. Makes for better management of the whole thing + encourages & facilitates discussion.
Thanks!
Can everyone just post comments to the blog itself? Just click on 'comments' under each post or, if you click on the title of each post, look for a window that says 'post your comment' or something like that.
Please do this vs responding to the blog email. Makes for better management of the whole thing + encourages & facilitates discussion.
Thanks!
Watch out
Watch out, makeup artists! If this spreads around, it'll eat a chunk out of your revenue!! Somthing tells me this won't be very popular though. Girls don't like to look like hell on their wedding day and I for one don't blame them.
I don't think the funding for this is really big $$$ at this point, but if it gets larger, wouldn't you think of 1,001 better uses for this tzedakah money?
Arggghhhh..... The (potential) waste of $$$ continues.
Postscript - it looks like there's already a lively discussion on YWN about this. Wow, news travels fast in the Jewish world! Viva la Internet!! Viva la blogosphere!
I don't think the funding for this is really big $$$ at this point, but if it gets larger, wouldn't you think of 1,001 better uses for this tzedakah money?
Arggghhhh..... The (potential) waste of $$$ continues.
Postscript - it looks like there's already a lively discussion on YWN about this. Wow, news travels fast in the Jewish world! Viva la Internet!! Viva la blogosphere!
Monday, August 31, 2009
The happiest day of my life!
Today's our anniversary. I just wanted to publicly thank my wife for making August 31, 2008 the happiest day of my life, and every subsequent day even happier.
And... I also want to thank her for putting up with me and all my... shall we say misheggassim. Including this blog.
THANKS DEAR!!!
And... I also want to thank her for putting up with me and all my... shall we say misheggassim. Including this blog.
THANKS DEAR!!!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Why, O why????
So we're moving close to buying a house. The whole process is nerve-wracking - making sure you get a good price, inspections, and last, but not least, making sure it's an affordable undertaking.
I've found that budgeting for a house is a tricky thing, especially if your expenses are lower now (aka having no kids yet) but will shoot up later (aka having KIDZ). It costs an enormous pile of cash just for basic monthly expenses around here. It costs a HELLA lot of money alone just to piss it away to fund our wonderful and bloated state and local services, much of which we'll never avail ourselves of (public school) and a lot that many of my fellow brethren defraud with gusto (here and here and here, for starters). What I also found is that you really can't get a decent house that you'd want to grow into in a NY Metro, tri-state area, frum community for less than $450,000 - $475,000 or so. Sure there are houses for less, but they tend to be out of the Jewish area, fixer-uppers you need to pour like $75,000 at least just to not wake up each day staring at an eyesore, or just plain POS properties that no one would want to live in, unless they're desperate (which if you're coming from anywhere in NYC, you might be).
Anyway, that's not the point of this post. Budgeting for a home purchase here as gotten my ever-fertile mind thinking. And when I think, I blog.
We orthodox Jews around here are constantly bellyaching (often times rightfully so) about the prohibitive costs of living. We all know that frum living, while giving us deep meaning and direction in our lives, comes at an enormous price tag, what with tuition, utilities, taxes, housing, kosher food, yom tov gouging, and communal obligations all thrown into the mix. Many people I know can't hit their head on the pillow at night without either worrying about their negative financial situation or about something that may likely happen down the road that will put them into such a position. The truth may very well be that most frum Jews in the NY area are one kid, tuition bill, stock market drop or tax hike away from turning an affordable lifestyle into a financial nightmare. News and comment sites abound about this problem and about the rising cost of tuition and how to deal with it. It may well be possible that the "silent holocaust" isn't intermarriage at all, reducing the number of Jews in the world - it's the annual tax and tuition bill. But, there is an answer. It's so simple and clear, I don't know why no one else thought of it. It's not for everyone, but it works.
What if I were to tell you that you could put say, $15,000-$30,000 annually back into your pocket? You think I was a crazy man, right? Wrong.
This event holds the key. The OU sponsored a forum this past June allowing emerging, vibrant, flourishing Jewish communities to showcase themselves to NY area residents. A whopping 1,000 people attended to explore freeing themselves from the financial shackles of frum life in metro NY/NJ. For many, simply moving your butt from one locality to another can dramatically change your quality of (frum) life. I did some searching on housing, tuition, and tax costs and the cost differences of living in town vs out of town are staggering - it could translate to tens of thousands of dollars a year in cost savings, with possibly only (depending on your industry) a small dip, if at all, in salary and income.
We get a raw deal living in NY/NJ metro. We pay some of the highest income and property taxes in the country, and we don't even use most of the state services and programs that we're paying for!! Especially education. For those living in NYC itself, I think anyone who reads this blog knows how horrible it is to live in the city and the direct and intangible costs city living imposes. Just see my last few posts. We pay criminally high costs for taxes, housing and utilities in this area, plus higher costs for child care, tuition, and just about everything else.
So why the hell do we stay here? Is there some perverse relationship between the amount of financial suffering one has and one's share in the afterlife? Don't think so. So what do we gain by staying here? Let's look at some of the possibilities:
Reason 1 - family and friends. OK, I'll concede a lot on this one. Moving away from one's family and/or friends can be traumatic, unless you hate your family or get into a snit fit with your friends that festers forever. But with the amount you save in costs you could freakin' fly once a month to see the fam, you can always make new friends, and keep well in touch with the old via social networking, email, phone, etcetcetc. This is a personal choice though that only an individual and spouse can weigh for themselves.
Reason 2 - job and salary. I'll concede a little here. Many people have businesses here that they can't just pick up and relocate; for them, they are chained to this area. Those who are salaried employees though have less standing here. If you can't get a job somewhere else or don't want to leave a (possibly) sure thing in NY/NJ in this economy, I understand. But if your sole reason for staying put is you think that your salary would, hands down, be higher, that's not necessarily the case. Look up your salary and the salary you'd command in an out of town location on salary.com. Depending on the industry and other factors, you may be surprised at how little a pay cut you may take, if at all. At the worst, telecommuting may also be an option (though you'd still be paying those criminally high NY/NJ income taxes) should your job duties and employer allow for it.
Reason 3 - quality of life. Don't even get me started. Quality of life here SUCKS if you live in NYC. If you live just outside NYC and drive to work in NYC, quality of life still SUCKS. If you live in the NYC metro area and ever drive near the city for anything, that alone makes the quality of life go right down the tubes as well. Plus the aggravation of paying your hyperinflated mortgage and taxes and getting no tangible benefit from either is enough to put a little damper on anyone's existence.
Reason 4 - Jewish amenities. OK, I can hear this one, a little. It even sounds plausible at first. The NY/NJ metro area has, bar none, the richest menu of Jewish amenities you could think of. Mikvah lady's been eyeing you a little to lasciviously for your taste? Go to the one down the road. Don't like the fact that your shul 'inserts the names' for the mi shebeirach for cholim? Go down the block to another one that does. Want to go out to eat but want Chinese food tonite instead of pizza? Go to the local kosher Chinese place. Don't like the haavara (accent) in which your child learns Hebrew? Send him or her to another school. And on and on and on, you get the picture.
The issue is that all this choice really isn't as advantageous as it seems. Having a new school, kollel, shul, and mikva on every block costs the community at large money that isn't necessary to begin with. Having 110 flavors of shul and school within a 30 mile radius gives you choice, but it doesn't do much to promote achdus in the community at large, either. And having 20 different schools in a small area doesn't really drive down costs either as they're not really competing with one another as much as filling a perceived need within a small subsection of the community. So you've got cost redundancies up the wazoo. Plus these are all in no small part donor (read: you and me) funded through hidden tuition subsidies, the ominous, wasteful 'building funds', etc.
Think about the tradeoffs you're making here. Do you really want to forgo cost savings of tens of $000's just so you can have the choice of saying the tefilla for the medina or not? Do we really place such a high value on having like 15,000 pizza places in one square mile and kosher sushi in every corner?
Reason 5 - many more Jews like us. The argument is that there are so many more Jews here than anywhere else. We're 'the Man' over here where out of town, we're nothing, and the KKK is just waiting around the corner to nab us. Plus, us NY/NJeans are just a more sophisticated, less backward lot. This argument, to put it succinctly, is b******t. In fact, it's a reason NOT to stay around here, since all of the financial pressures of frum living plus being cooped and self-ghettoized into these small geographic areas has mutated us average NY/NJ metro area frum jews into a stereotype of being yentish, pushy, self-aggrandizing, money-hoarding conservatives. I'm not saying ch"v that everyone is like this, just that the need to out gun and 'get ahead' and survive in an arid and hopeless financial climate creates a pall over life in this area and is a necessary attitude to have when faced with such a bleak economic future. It's no coincidence that it seems that the bulk of the fraud and money laundering and deception and the stealing and cheating and dishonesty that seems to be going on in our community under our noses originates or has some significant connection to this area.
The common NY/NJ perception that your average out of towner is a more moronic, backward individual is just self-compensating for our own pitiful existence here. Out of town communities can be more low-key, laid back, nicer, more pleasant and less rife with divisive politics than we have here. And no. The KKK is not waiting, rubbing hands with glee, for us to move house to New Orleans or Atlanta or whatever so they can set fiery crosses on our lawns and molest our young 'uns en masse. And there are plenty of anti-semites in the NY area.
So what do we really gain as a community by continuing to cling to the NY/NJ metro area? I think that the current, younger generation has been asking the same question and finding that the answer is: not much, essentially. If the attendance at the OU fair mentioned above is any indication, many young couples and families are starting to realize that there is, for many, a better, vibrant world outside of the self imposed NY/NJ ghetto and are actually contemplating breaking out. Kudos to the brave ones that take responsibility for their families' financial future and do.
Continued dominance of the NY/NJ metro area as the go to place for frum Jews will wane with time - it had better. The tortured and deeply flawed economic model we've created for ourselves here cannot and will not be sustainable. My prediction is that you'll see a vastly changed demographic landscape in this area in the next 20-30 years as younger, more dynamic families realize they owe no allegiance to this northeastern ghetto.
I've found that budgeting for a house is a tricky thing, especially if your expenses are lower now (aka having no kids yet) but will shoot up later (aka having KIDZ). It costs an enormous pile of cash just for basic monthly expenses around here. It costs a HELLA lot of money alone just to piss it away to fund our wonderful and bloated state and local services, much of which we'll never avail ourselves of (public school) and a lot that many of my fellow brethren defraud with gusto (here and here and here, for starters). What I also found is that you really can't get a decent house that you'd want to grow into in a NY Metro, tri-state area, frum community for less than $450,000 - $475,000 or so. Sure there are houses for less, but they tend to be out of the Jewish area, fixer-uppers you need to pour like $75,000 at least just to not wake up each day staring at an eyesore, or just plain POS properties that no one would want to live in, unless they're desperate (which if you're coming from anywhere in NYC, you might be).
Anyway, that's not the point of this post. Budgeting for a home purchase here as gotten my ever-fertile mind thinking. And when I think, I blog.
We orthodox Jews around here are constantly bellyaching (often times rightfully so) about the prohibitive costs of living. We all know that frum living, while giving us deep meaning and direction in our lives, comes at an enormous price tag, what with tuition, utilities, taxes, housing, kosher food, yom tov gouging, and communal obligations all thrown into the mix. Many people I know can't hit their head on the pillow at night without either worrying about their negative financial situation or about something that may likely happen down the road that will put them into such a position. The truth may very well be that most frum Jews in the NY area are one kid, tuition bill, stock market drop or tax hike away from turning an affordable lifestyle into a financial nightmare. News and comment sites abound about this problem and about the rising cost of tuition and how to deal with it. It may well be possible that the "silent holocaust" isn't intermarriage at all, reducing the number of Jews in the world - it's the annual tax and tuition bill. But, there is an answer. It's so simple and clear, I don't know why no one else thought of it. It's not for everyone, but it works.
What if I were to tell you that you could put say, $15,000-$30,000 annually back into your pocket? You think I was a crazy man, right? Wrong.
This event holds the key. The OU sponsored a forum this past June allowing emerging, vibrant, flourishing Jewish communities to showcase themselves to NY area residents. A whopping 1,000 people attended to explore freeing themselves from the financial shackles of frum life in metro NY/NJ. For many, simply moving your butt from one locality to another can dramatically change your quality of (frum) life. I did some searching on housing, tuition, and tax costs and the cost differences of living in town vs out of town are staggering - it could translate to tens of thousands of dollars a year in cost savings, with possibly only (depending on your industry) a small dip, if at all, in salary and income.
We get a raw deal living in NY/NJ metro. We pay some of the highest income and property taxes in the country, and we don't even use most of the state services and programs that we're paying for!! Especially education. For those living in NYC itself, I think anyone who reads this blog knows how horrible it is to live in the city and the direct and intangible costs city living imposes. Just see my last few posts. We pay criminally high costs for taxes, housing and utilities in this area, plus higher costs for child care, tuition, and just about everything else.
So why the hell do we stay here? Is there some perverse relationship between the amount of financial suffering one has and one's share in the afterlife? Don't think so. So what do we gain by staying here? Let's look at some of the possibilities:
Reason 1 - family and friends. OK, I'll concede a lot on this one. Moving away from one's family and/or friends can be traumatic, unless you hate your family or get into a snit fit with your friends that festers forever. But with the amount you save in costs you could freakin' fly once a month to see the fam, you can always make new friends, and keep well in touch with the old via social networking, email, phone, etcetcetc. This is a personal choice though that only an individual and spouse can weigh for themselves.
Reason 2 - job and salary. I'll concede a little here. Many people have businesses here that they can't just pick up and relocate; for them, they are chained to this area. Those who are salaried employees though have less standing here. If you can't get a job somewhere else or don't want to leave a (possibly) sure thing in NY/NJ in this economy, I understand. But if your sole reason for staying put is you think that your salary would, hands down, be higher, that's not necessarily the case. Look up your salary and the salary you'd command in an out of town location on salary.com. Depending on the industry and other factors, you may be surprised at how little a pay cut you may take, if at all. At the worst, telecommuting may also be an option (though you'd still be paying those criminally high NY/NJ income taxes) should your job duties and employer allow for it.
Reason 3 - quality of life. Don't even get me started. Quality of life here SUCKS if you live in NYC. If you live just outside NYC and drive to work in NYC, quality of life still SUCKS. If you live in the NYC metro area and ever drive near the city for anything, that alone makes the quality of life go right down the tubes as well. Plus the aggravation of paying your hyperinflated mortgage and taxes and getting no tangible benefit from either is enough to put a little damper on anyone's existence.
Reason 4 - Jewish amenities. OK, I can hear this one, a little. It even sounds plausible at first. The NY/NJ metro area has, bar none, the richest menu of Jewish amenities you could think of. Mikvah lady's been eyeing you a little to lasciviously for your taste? Go to the one down the road. Don't like the fact that your shul 'inserts the names' for the mi shebeirach for cholim? Go down the block to another one that does. Want to go out to eat but want Chinese food tonite instead of pizza? Go to the local kosher Chinese place. Don't like the haavara (accent) in which your child learns Hebrew? Send him or her to another school. And on and on and on, you get the picture.
The issue is that all this choice really isn't as advantageous as it seems. Having a new school, kollel, shul, and mikva on every block costs the community at large money that isn't necessary to begin with. Having 110 flavors of shul and school within a 30 mile radius gives you choice, but it doesn't do much to promote achdus in the community at large, either. And having 20 different schools in a small area doesn't really drive down costs either as they're not really competing with one another as much as filling a perceived need within a small subsection of the community. So you've got cost redundancies up the wazoo. Plus these are all in no small part donor (read: you and me) funded through hidden tuition subsidies, the ominous, wasteful 'building funds', etc.
Think about the tradeoffs you're making here. Do you really want to forgo cost savings of tens of $000's just so you can have the choice of saying the tefilla for the medina or not? Do we really place such a high value on having like 15,000 pizza places in one square mile and kosher sushi in every corner?
Reason 5 - many more Jews like us. The argument is that there are so many more Jews here than anywhere else. We're 'the Man' over here where out of town, we're nothing, and the KKK is just waiting around the corner to nab us. Plus, us NY/NJeans are just a more sophisticated, less backward lot. This argument, to put it succinctly, is b******t. In fact, it's a reason NOT to stay around here, since all of the financial pressures of frum living plus being cooped and self-ghettoized into these small geographic areas has mutated us average NY/NJ metro area frum jews into a stereotype of being yentish, pushy, self-aggrandizing, money-hoarding conservatives. I'm not saying ch"v that everyone is like this, just that the need to out gun and 'get ahead' and survive in an arid and hopeless financial climate creates a pall over life in this area and is a necessary attitude to have when faced with such a bleak economic future. It's no coincidence that it seems that the bulk of the fraud and money laundering and deception and the stealing and cheating and dishonesty that seems to be going on in our community under our noses originates or has some significant connection to this area.
The common NY/NJ perception that your average out of towner is a more moronic, backward individual is just self-compensating for our own pitiful existence here. Out of town communities can be more low-key, laid back, nicer, more pleasant and less rife with divisive politics than we have here. And no. The KKK is not waiting, rubbing hands with glee, for us to move house to New Orleans or Atlanta or whatever so they can set fiery crosses on our lawns and molest our young 'uns en masse. And there are plenty of anti-semites in the NY area.
So what do we really gain as a community by continuing to cling to the NY/NJ metro area? I think that the current, younger generation has been asking the same question and finding that the answer is: not much, essentially. If the attendance at the OU fair mentioned above is any indication, many young couples and families are starting to realize that there is, for many, a better, vibrant world outside of the self imposed NY/NJ ghetto and are actually contemplating breaking out. Kudos to the brave ones that take responsibility for their families' financial future and do.
Continued dominance of the NY/NJ metro area as the go to place for frum Jews will wane with time - it had better. The tortured and deeply flawed economic model we've created for ourselves here cannot and will not be sustainable. My prediction is that you'll see a vastly changed demographic landscape in this area in the next 20-30 years as younger, more dynamic families realize they owe no allegiance to this northeastern ghetto.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Warning follow up
I've been playing around with my blog, and I added a feature which lets anyone subscribe easily through RSS readers like Google, Yahoo!, etc. See the options on the upper right corner. Have fun!
Friday, August 14, 2009
Warning
Just to let everyone know, I'll be removing the auto-email feature of my blog soon. I think everybody's weaned, almost.
To continue to follow my blog, all you have to do is use an RSS reader. For those who don't know, an RSS reader is a program - either accessed online or install on your desktop - that aggregates 'feeds', or items/articles of interest to you, in one place. Google Reader is an excellent RSS reader and is so easy to use your pet fish can do it. Just go here, to access Google's account page, click 'create one for free', and create an account. Sign in to the account on the top right when done, then click the 'More' drop down link on the top of Google's home page, click 'Reader'. You should be able to access a 'help' link or something like that that shows you how to add 'feeds'. Add my blog - musingsofabaldguy.blogspot.com - and every time you sign into your Google account, fire up the Reader, you'll see my blog and all the updates.
Thanks.
To continue to follow my blog, all you have to do is use an RSS reader. For those who don't know, an RSS reader is a program - either accessed online or install on your desktop - that aggregates 'feeds', or items/articles of interest to you, in one place. Google Reader is an excellent RSS reader and is so easy to use your pet fish can do it. Just go here, to access Google's account page, click 'create one for free', and create an account. Sign in to the account on the top right when done, then click the 'More' drop down link on the top of Google's home page, click 'Reader'. You should be able to access a 'help' link or something like that that shows you how to add 'feeds'. Add my blog - musingsofabaldguy.blogspot.com - and every time you sign into your Google account, fire up the Reader, you'll see my blog and all the updates.
Thanks.
Les Paul, R.I.P.
So Les Paul died yesterday. Just found this out last night - my wife actually told me.
If you don't know who he was, see this article. One could say that he was the single person literally, technically responsible for rock and roll. He seemed to me to be a really interesting fellow, dedicated to his art. I met him once at Iridium a few years ago. He had just turned 86, I think, and still played a full 1.5 hr set, bantering and joking with the smallish crowd all the while. He stayed behind after his set for another hour or so, signing autographs and just shmoozing with whoever wanted to shmooze. He didn't have to; the guy's a celebrity, for crying out loud, PLUS he was over 85! But he did, and I never got the impression he felt he had to stay, he wanted to do that.
He seemed to me to be a real, sincere, great personality and the music world will be forever diminished without him.
If you don't know who he was, see this article. One could say that he was the single person literally, technically responsible for rock and roll. He seemed to me to be a really interesting fellow, dedicated to his art. I met him once at Iridium a few years ago. He had just turned 86, I think, and still played a full 1.5 hr set, bantering and joking with the smallish crowd all the while. He stayed behind after his set for another hour or so, signing autographs and just shmoozing with whoever wanted to shmooze. He didn't have to; the guy's a celebrity, for crying out loud, PLUS he was over 85! But he did, and I never got the impression he felt he had to stay, he wanted to do that.
He seemed to me to be a real, sincere, great personality and the music world will be forever diminished without him.
Friday, July 31, 2009
I love NY!!!!!!?????? part deux
Sorry I couldn't finish all my ravings and rantings on life in the big city in one post -
All in all, the city is a horrible place to live, more for couples or couples with kids, than singles. If you're single, it's not as bad since you probably don't have a car, all your friends are in the same area, you don't worry about groceries, errands, etc since you just basically live out of chinese food cartons and never bother with laundry.
If not, then you're in trouble. Don't live in the city. It ain't worth it.
All in all, the city is a horrible place to live, more for couples or couples with kids, than singles. If you're single, it's not as bad since you probably don't have a car, all your friends are in the same area, you don't worry about groceries, errands, etc since you just basically live out of chinese food cartons and never bother with laundry.
If not, then you're in trouble. Don't live in the city. It ain't worth it.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
I love NY!!!!!!??????
You see it on bumper stickers. You see it on t-shirts. You see it on pencils, magnets, mugs, backpacks, stickers, billboards etcetcetcetcetc:
I used to think the same. Then I moved here. Living in NY is truly for the pitiful poor or the rather rich. Otherwise, it's a hellhole that you'll find yourself screaming to escape from.
We live in Queens, NYC. We've been living here for almost a year, and at this point I consider myself fully qualified to dump my bowels on the hellish experience that they call living (if you can call it living) in "the Big Apple".
Why would I hate living in the big city, you'd ask. Such culture, arts, bars, concerts, stuff to do, why WOULDN'T you want to be where it's all at? Ahh where shall I start... let me give you a taste of what daily living is like.
You own a car or two? Yes? GOOD for you! You want to live a normal life, go out every so often, get groceries, run errands? GOOD for you! Guess what? You are a prisoner in your own home in NYC (and you pay 3x normal rent for the privilege) and will curse your errantry EVERY TIME YOU GO OUT! Once you've experienced trying to find a spot to park your car, you will park that car and NEVER take it out until the next alt side day. You can or will seldom go out, if ever, out beyond your own pathetic little dirt strewn noisy 'hood. Sure, you'll take a nice, relaxing stroll through your picturesque neighborhood, listening to the soothing sounds of racing car engines and honking and cursing, and soaking in the atmosphere of litter and smelly exhaust. But you'll never venture beyond. Because you will never take that car out for fear of losing that spot...unless you go on an errand.
Ah, the errand! What is so tame, mundane and routine in the 'burbs turns into a rage inducing, hideous outing in NYC. You need groceries for the fam? What do you 'burb peeps do? You go to Acme. Park the car in the 1,001 car lot. You buy. You roll the shopping cart to your car. You load. You drive to the house, pull in the driveway. You take groceries in house. Done!
Now, for the NYC'er. You get in the car, after walking the 1/2 mile to where you parked it. You get in. You accumulate exactly 34 scratches on your front and rear bumpers while wriggling out of your pathetically tight space. You drive to the store and... drive around the block and... drive around the block, and repeat and repeat and repeat... because there are NO parking spaces to park in because there are NO lots. You park (1/2 mi away). You go into the store and buy (prices inflated 20%!). You are forced to leave your ghetto cart by these bars in front of the store since they obviously don't trust YOU to bring it back. You shlep 55lbs of groceries the 1/2 mile to your car. You return to your place and park 1/2 mi away from your place. You shlep 55lbs of groceries 1/2 mi to your place. You remember you forgot keys. You stop. You scream. You bang your head so many times against wall that you develop amnesia, if not death.
Let's say you need to get from point A to point B all outside of NYC. You get in your car and go. The trip takes 20 minutes. You find yourself on the same journey 2 weeks later; it takes 20 minutes. What do you infer?....... Anyone? Bueller?..... OK, so you infer that it takes, drumroll please, about 20 mins to drive that distance! So next time you need to go that distance, you allow, drumroll please, 20 minutes to get there! And you're usually on time, within reason.
This ain't so in NYC. If your starting point or destination or both is NYC, fuhgeddaboudit. It could take 2 hours to move 5 miles. It could take 20 minutes to move 20 miles. It could take 1.5 hrs to travel 7.25 miles. It could take 6 hours to travel 11 miles. It could take 5 minutes to drive 3 miles. It could take 3.75 hours to drive 10 miles. It could take.. I think you get the picture. You have to deal with this EVERY #$@& time you want to go anywhere in NYC or to NYC or from NYC. You have to build in 2 hours of 'traffic time' because on any given day there could be any amount of construction/accidents/volume just waiting to turn a joyful jaunt into a heart attack inducing traffic jam. Yet another reason to just stay home and do nothing.
There's a lot more. To be continued.
I used to think the same. Then I moved here. Living in NY is truly for the pitiful poor or the rather rich. Otherwise, it's a hellhole that you'll find yourself screaming to escape from.
We live in Queens, NYC. We've been living here for almost a year, and at this point I consider myself fully qualified to dump my bowels on the hellish experience that they call living (if you can call it living) in "the Big Apple".
Why would I hate living in the big city, you'd ask. Such culture, arts, bars, concerts, stuff to do, why WOULDN'T you want to be where it's all at? Ahh where shall I start... let me give you a taste of what daily living is like.
You own a car or two? Yes? GOOD for you! You want to live a normal life, go out every so often, get groceries, run errands? GOOD for you! Guess what? You are a prisoner in your own home in NYC (and you pay 3x normal rent for the privilege) and will curse your errantry EVERY TIME YOU GO OUT! Once you've experienced trying to find a spot to park your car, you will park that car and NEVER take it out until the next alt side day. You can or will seldom go out, if ever, out beyond your own pathetic little dirt strewn noisy 'hood. Sure, you'll take a nice, relaxing stroll through your picturesque neighborhood, listening to the soothing sounds of racing car engines and honking and cursing, and soaking in the atmosphere of litter and smelly exhaust. But you'll never venture beyond. Because you will never take that car out for fear of losing that spot...unless you go on an errand.
Ah, the errand! What is so tame, mundane and routine in the 'burbs turns into a rage inducing, hideous outing in NYC. You need groceries for the fam? What do you 'burb peeps do? You go to Acme. Park the car in the 1,001 car lot. You buy. You roll the shopping cart to your car. You load. You drive to the house, pull in the driveway. You take groceries in house. Done!
Now, for the NYC'er. You get in the car, after walking the 1/2 mile to where you parked it. You get in. You accumulate exactly 34 scratches on your front and rear bumpers while wriggling out of your pathetically tight space. You drive to the store and... drive around the block and... drive around the block, and repeat and repeat and repeat... because there are NO parking spaces to park in because there are NO lots. You park (1/2 mi away). You go into the store and buy (prices inflated 20%!). You are forced to leave your ghetto cart by these bars in front of the store since they obviously don't trust YOU to bring it back. You shlep 55lbs of groceries the 1/2 mile to your car. You return to your place and park 1/2 mi away from your place. You shlep 55lbs of groceries 1/2 mi to your place. You remember you forgot keys. You stop. You scream. You bang your head so many times against wall that you develop amnesia, if not death.
Let's say you need to get from point A to point B all outside of NYC. You get in your car and go. The trip takes 20 minutes. You find yourself on the same journey 2 weeks later; it takes 20 minutes. What do you infer?....... Anyone? Bueller?..... OK, so you infer that it takes, drumroll please, about 20 mins to drive that distance! So next time you need to go that distance, you allow, drumroll please, 20 minutes to get there! And you're usually on time, within reason.
This ain't so in NYC. If your starting point or destination or both is NYC, fuhgeddaboudit. It could take 2 hours to move 5 miles. It could take 20 minutes to move 20 miles. It could take 1.5 hrs to travel 7.25 miles. It could take 6 hours to travel 11 miles. It could take 5 minutes to drive 3 miles. It could take 3.75 hours to drive 10 miles. It could take.. I think you get the picture. You have to deal with this EVERY #$@& time you want to go anywhere in NYC or to NYC or from NYC. You have to build in 2 hours of 'traffic time' because on any given day there could be any amount of construction/accidents/volume just waiting to turn a joyful jaunt into a heart attack inducing traffic jam. Yet another reason to just stay home and do nothing.
There's a lot more. To be continued.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Degeneration
Here's a good post to watch from YWN. What began as an innocuous, fairly tame post seems to be going down the slippery slope here.
It's so funny to me how predictable the direction of these posts can be, this one at least so far. Act I - innocent question. Act II - seemingly innocent question about tznius. Act III - clarification that seemingly innocent question about tznius is really a thinly veiled impetus for tznius flame war. Act IV - tznius flame war degenerating to immature, idiotic personal insults.
How Shakespearean. Let's see how this plays out.
It's so funny to me how predictable the direction of these posts can be, this one at least so far. Act I - innocent question. Act II - seemingly innocent question about tznius. Act III - clarification that seemingly innocent question about tznius is really a thinly veiled impetus for tznius flame war. Act IV - tznius flame war degenerating to immature, idiotic personal insults.
How Shakespearean. Let's see how this plays out.
Shabbos
Just wanted to let the world know that I am so looking forward to two meals of good food on Friday night that I'm running 15 miles a day instead of 4.
Just kidding. But I'm still salivating.
Also, looking forward to seeing a long lost friend - let's hear it for V-I-C!!
Just kidding. But I'm still salivating.
Also, looking forward to seeing a long lost friend - let's hear it for V-I-C!!
Monday, June 15, 2009
Judging a book by its cover - and a whole side rant
I came across this article on a nice, juicy Jewish news web site. Read the article title, look at the comments, then actually read the article.
I love the the way sites like this portray the 'news' with attention-grabbing headlines that have little to do with the actual article. VIN news knows exactly how people react once they throw the word "gossip" into the equation. It's really just a way to stir up idiotic discussion in the comments section - barely anyone, except for one lone comment, noticed that the study's definition of "gossip" as an activity with health benefit is not quite synonymous with what we would call lashon hara. Take a look at comment #4 for a nice, hearty laugh, if you need a pick-me-up today, BTW.
I'm surprised tznius wasn't dragged in to the discussions here, given the propensity of these sites' commentators to link the most obscure news story with that topic. Which brings a slowly spreading evil smile to my face that my wife knows all too well as a thought flashes across my mind - look at some of the posts that elicit tznius discussions on that other font of journalistic wisdom, YWN. Seriously, if innocent stories or posts about bubby's beano cholent recipe (OK, I'm exaggerating, but not much) elicit virulent posts on the decadent degradation of tznius amongst our holy bnos yisroel, there's something screwy in YOUR brain, my friend. If you're thinking about tznius that much, get professional help. My guess is that something other than normal bodily functions are going on in your bathroom, and you just gotta be defensive. I apologize for the, um, inappropriateness of that remark, but probably true to some extent.
Which brings me by way of natural segway to another pet peeve. Can't we let or leave discussions or lamentations on or of tznius issues or problems to women??? Or include them in the klal's discussion (besides the usual classroom lectures on inches, hemlines, and bodily areas)??? We read about kol koreh after asifa after speech after proclamation after blah blah blah on or about this issue, largely uttered by men to men instructing men on how to be manly about 'bettering' our wives. I'm not ch"v saying that achieving the highest levels of tznius in dress is not desirable. Nor am I denigrating those who make the decision to approach the issue this way. I just think it don't WORK. Does anyone really think most women want to be dictated to? Does anyone really see that constant harping on just one corner of the concept of 'hatzneia leches' can distort the chinuch we should giving our kids on what it really means?
Please comment - will this approach likely and generally turn our women onto or off of at least to attempt achieving a higher level of tznius than they already may observe? Does the incessant drumbeat of the "tznius = long sleeves and skirts" credo REALLY educate our children on what tznius means, in totality? I'm curious.
And I have absolutely no idea why this even crossed my mind at 3:00 PM EST.
I love the the way sites like this portray the 'news' with attention-grabbing headlines that have little to do with the actual article. VIN news knows exactly how people react once they throw the word "gossip" into the equation. It's really just a way to stir up idiotic discussion in the comments section - barely anyone, except for one lone comment, noticed that the study's definition of "gossip" as an activity with health benefit is not quite synonymous with what we would call lashon hara. Take a look at comment #4 for a nice, hearty laugh, if you need a pick-me-up today, BTW.
I'm surprised tznius wasn't dragged in to the discussions here, given the propensity of these sites' commentators to link the most obscure news story with that topic. Which brings a slowly spreading evil smile to my face that my wife knows all too well as a thought flashes across my mind - look at some of the posts that elicit tznius discussions on that other font of journalistic wisdom, YWN. Seriously, if innocent stories or posts about bubby's beano cholent recipe (OK, I'm exaggerating, but not much) elicit virulent posts on the decadent degradation of tznius amongst our holy bnos yisroel, there's something screwy in YOUR brain, my friend. If you're thinking about tznius that much, get professional help. My guess is that something other than normal bodily functions are going on in your bathroom, and you just gotta be defensive. I apologize for the, um, inappropriateness of that remark, but probably true to some extent.
Which brings me by way of natural segway to another pet peeve. Can't we let or leave discussions or lamentations on or of tznius issues or problems to women??? Or include them in the klal's discussion (besides the usual classroom lectures on inches, hemlines, and bodily areas)??? We read about kol koreh after asifa after speech after proclamation after blah blah blah on or about this issue, largely uttered by men to men instructing men on how to be manly about 'bettering' our wives. I'm not ch"v saying that achieving the highest levels of tznius in dress is not desirable. Nor am I denigrating those who make the decision to approach the issue this way. I just think it don't WORK. Does anyone really think most women want to be dictated to? Does anyone really see that constant harping on just one corner of the concept of 'hatzneia leches' can distort the chinuch we should giving our kids on what it really means?
Please comment - will this approach likely and generally turn our women onto or off of at least to attempt achieving a higher level of tznius than they already may observe? Does the incessant drumbeat of the "tznius = long sleeves and skirts" credo REALLY educate our children on what tznius means, in totality? I'm curious.
And I have absolutely no idea why this even crossed my mind at 3:00 PM EST.
Who's singin' in the rain?
I think this "post" went out without a post - I hit the enter button after typing in the title (very witty, I must say), thinking it'd get me to the actual post section, when it really just posted the title - and nothing else, I think. If that happened, sorry.
Anyway, with all the glorious, wonderful, life giving rain we've been having, that's been turning NYC into a beautiful babbling brook of brown sludge (oh, how I love NYC! but that's a different post), got me to thinking. Who is financially benefiting from all this rain (even if it's just a few $$$) right now or sometime in the near future? I'll start a short list here; please comment and let me know what you think and add to it! Here it is, no particular order (actually in order of which came to my mind first):
Umbrella sellers - duh
Street sweepers, if they get paid hourly
Vacation package companies (if they're adept enough at marketing to convince ppl to get away from the rain to a lush paradise)
Movie theaters
Movie rental companies
Drug companies who manufacture antidepressants
Indoor paintball
Retailers
Gutter cleaning services
Landscapers (or teenagers roaming the streets with lawnmowers)
Places that sell windshield wipers
Bowling alleys
Please add. Thanks!
Anyway, with all the glorious, wonderful, life giving rain we've been having, that's been turning NYC into a beautiful babbling brook of brown sludge (oh, how I love NYC! but that's a different post), got me to thinking. Who is financially benefiting from all this rain (even if it's just a few $$$) right now or sometime in the near future? I'll start a short list here; please comment and let me know what you think and add to it! Here it is, no particular order (actually in order of which came to my mind first):
Umbrella sellers - duh
Street sweepers, if they get paid hourly
Vacation package companies (if they're adept enough at marketing to convince ppl to get away from the rain to a lush paradise)
Movie theaters
Movie rental companies
Drug companies who manufacture antidepressants
Indoor paintball
Retailers
Gutter cleaning services
Landscapers (or teenagers roaming the streets with lawnmowers)
Places that sell windshield wipers
Bowling alleys
Please add. Thanks!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
First blog post - now I'm cookin'
I've finally fulfilled a lifelong dream of mine - before retirement age, even, wow! - by starting a blog. Actually, I finally started one after months of dithering whether I'm 'blog-worthy', mostly because my good friend started one called Since1978 (I highly recommend everyone check it out) and I was just spurred on to create one. I'm calling it "Musings of a Bald Guy" partly because I'm bald, partly because I muse a lot, and partly because I'm not sure what exactly I'll blog about yet so I can't pick a title any more specific than that.
Prepare yourselves for a mind-bending journey through the musings of... the Bald Guy. It'll be fun, hopefully. Please comment and spread the word around about my blog. Thanks for looking in.
Prepare yourselves for a mind-bending journey through the musings of... the Bald Guy. It'll be fun, hopefully. Please comment and spread the word around about my blog. Thanks for looking in.
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