Conspiracy Theories

I signed onto the computer to check my email, and I of course got sidetracked with all the links, and I ended up on a "news" website for a UK newspaper the Telegraph.

Lately journalists have been pathetic. They're clearly super biased in terms of how they treated the entire Presidential campaign last year, and now they're idolizing the President, even though everything he's done so far has failed. And well, the journalists haven't stopped there. Now they're being stupid and they're focusing on the death of Michael Jackson, even though its already been OVER A WEEK AND A HALF after he died!

I understand journalists want to write about what gets their work read, but enough is enough! I understand a few days of mourning dedicated to a famous celebrity, the media does that; tabloids sell. But seriously, this is just overdone. I've had enough.

I'm very into the news. You know, actual news. Where they discuss important things like the economy, terrorism, war, and immigration. I don't care how old MJ was, or rather how young. I don't care that he was black before he paid a fortune to turn white, even though all the black-people claim him as one of their own.

I don't care.

I also certainly don't care about the idiots who are now claiming his death was a conspiracy (the article was dated about a day after his death, but its circulating now!), I just hope we don't get wacko-Jacko impersonators.

A week and a half is enough already. I don't want to hear about him anymore.

I know, I'm doing exactly what I'm complaining about. I'm talking about Michael Jackson. But I just can't help it. At work...omg...all day long, yesterday, they were talking about whether or not he was buried yet.

ENOUGH is ENOUGH!

It's like people have nothing worthwhile in their lives so they focus on the deaths of famous people.

Mike in Midwood wrote a post about this, here is the link :

http://mikeinmidwood.blogspot.com/2009/07/he-really-wasnt-liked-by-that-many.html

Money

I'm sure everyone is aware that we are in an awful economic crisis. The unemployment rate is at 9.5% and is predicted to be above double digits by the end of the summer.

At a time of economic crisis people begin to worry and the coupon clip, and they try to put more money into savings. The national savings average went up to 5% from almost 0%.

Why am I talking about this? Well, mostly because I need to vent.

It bother's me that so many people have no understanding about what money is. They have little knowledge of how the economy works, and they certainly have no idea how to manage their own family budget without living in credit.

I use a credit card to pay for almost everything. I love credit cards. I get to buy stuff without worrying that I have too much or too little cash in my bag. I get the great rewards from the points I gain with every purchase, and I also have a very easy way to budget my finances. Every month, the credit card company sends me a list of all the purchases I made, and If I overspend (went over my budget), I'll know exactly what to cut out from the next month. I'll also know approximately how much I spent, because since I hardly ever use cash, my cc statement is a very accurate money-journal for me.

Unlike most people who use credit cards, I actually pay off my ENTIRE balance at the end of each month. I have a few credit cards (a main one, a jic one, and a specific store one), and if I used more than one, I pay them ALL off. Why? Because if I can't afford something I just don't buy it! If only more people spent like me.

Everytime I speak to one particular lady I know in my office about credit cards, she always says "you should never use a credit card for the rewards, because thats how they get you in. Use one without the rewards and you'll think twice before making any purchases, because you'll only get the interest rates out of it."

So I told her "I pay off my full balance, every month. The rewards are like free cash."
She goes "No one does that!"
And I go "umm, yea..."

People like this irritate me. This same woman runs around and complains how its hard for her to pay her mortgage. Both she and her husband work. Her kids are grown, both have jobs and are hardly ever home.

Every few days she receives a package from Overstock, or Gap, or Macy's...
She charges those purchases...
She orders take out about 3 times a week for lunch and a few times a week buys already made food for home.

I don't care if people spend money on themselves, and they splurge a little. We're all entitled to some luxury. But if you're pampering yourself at the expense of having to pay high interest on your credit card, "take it like a man" and don't wander around and complain you have no money.

also, another girl at my office. Granted she's single and lives at home, so her life is pretty good, she wastes sooo much money I just want to cry for her when she complains. I feel like making her keep a money journal in which she has to record every expense for a week, and then having her add it up.

Its like "LADY, DO YOU SEE WHAT YOU"RE DOING?!"

I can't help but be bothered by the fact that people waste so much money and then have the audacity to complain about it.

like I said, we're all entitled to luxuries (especially if we work and spending hard earned money on fun things is a relief), but if the luxuries are overdone, its a bit annoying when PEOPLE COMPLAIN!!!

Random frum nonsense

Sometimes frummy educators try very hard to convince people of how the people in Jewish history were perfect little kollel angels, who never did anything wrong. Here is a list of random nonsense I heard from frummies over the years:

1- The RamBam learned to be a physician by learning the science in the Gemara. All the books he wrote pertaining to medicine, and all the science he learned were written/read in the bathroom. He never actually wasted time learning how to be a phsyician as a modern day residence would, he knew exactly what to do when the time came, without ever putting theory into practice.

2- Yehuda never actually thought Tamar was a hooker! He knew who she was, afterall, why would anyone other than Tamar sit covered outside the city wall on a beautiful day and entice men if thats how hookers were known to get clients in those days?


3- After the sea split, and the Jews made it across, Miriam and the ladies danced and sang behind a mechitza.

4- Pinchus went on a killing spree because the women weren't dressed tzniously [ nothing at all to do with the fact that people were fornicating infront of idols.]

That is the end of what I remember.
If any of you heard similar, I'd love to read about it in the comments :-D

A yated writer on why people go OTD

Once again after reading the Yated, I have found a letter which I feel is worth sharing (for educational purposes, of course). Apparently, one of the letter writers is irritated by the concept of people seeking therapy for their "at risk" children, because, according to him, if people only followed in the way of Hashem, nobody would go OTD.

Here is a piece of the letter:

***
Our Chachonim discussed these topics. They said that boys can lose their yiras Shomayim by not wearing yarmulkas. They spoke about timtum halev, which comes from the wrong things going into one's mouth.

When a boy is small as his yarmulka falls off, how quickly do we run to put it back? Do we realize that this can spell difference between whether he will still be in yeshiva at age 17? When we allow our daughters to eat cholov stam chocolate bar, do we realize the ramifications down the line and where this can lead? When our toddlers have fever and we give them Tylenol gelcaps with treif in it, why do we wonder that so many of our youth are falling by wayside?

These things are not opinions or thoughts. These are facts, built into Creation since the first six days.
***

The letter continued a little bit. But not by much.

Aside from the fact that this guy clearly doesn't know the difference between a chumra and a halacha as well as doesn't know the fact that he doesn't realize toddlers aren't given gel caps for safety reasons; He also clearly doesn't realize that this world is filled with very few absolute truths and the "truths" he described are certainly not built into Creation. The OTD rate is high, and while we can speculate as to why this is, to refer to these things as "facts" is just mind-boggling.

I don't understand this concept of a scare tactic. If anything I'd say its ignorant people like this guy who turn people off the path. He clearly has no understanding of what a halacha is, as well is completely ignorant of the history of the Jews. It wasn't until recently that Jews had 100 different hechshers on a single item. And it wasn't until recently that the frummy community was able to boast about a huge BT rate. And lo and behold, many BT's have no reservations admitting they ate actual treif, not just a "linient" version of something kosher.

If anything, this day and age no one would be going off the derech because now we have X-ray lights to check our lettuce!

Silly government, Wal-Mart keeps us thinner

I was reading an article in Forbes June 8, 2009 issue called "Wal-Mart's Weight Effect"



The article said the following:



...Our evidence is indirect, but we think it shows that price changes can have subtle and sometimes hard-to-detect consequences. Any change in price results in two phenomena. The first is the substitution effect: a change in consumption mix due to a change in relative prices. If a bag of salad is $2 and a bag of potato chips is $1, then the price of salad in terms of chips is two bags and the price of a bag of chips is half a bag of salad. If a Wal-Mart opens and reduces the price of salad to $1 a bag and the price of chips to 75 cents a bag, the "salad price" of chips has risen (from 1/2 bag to 3/4 bag) and the "chip price" of salad has fallen from 2 bags to 4/3 bags. In short, salad has become cheaper relative to chips.


The other effect from a change in prices is the income effect, which is a change in consumption due to a change in purchasing power. If Wal-Mart sells food at lower prices--even if our incomes don't change--every dollar can buy more. Therefore, we're richer.



I find this awesome. Because while the government is spending a fortune trying to figure out how to make poor people healthier; the CHEAP and easy answer is staring them right in the face!



As the great author (Art Carden) of the article said:



Do you want to make poor people healthier? Then restricting the growth of discount chains is the last thing you should do. Instead, repeal programs that distort incentives- like agricultural subsidies that make junk food made from corn and soybean derivatives artificially cheap. Next, cut payroll taxes. With more take-home pay in their pockets, lower-income workers can afford to buy foods that are better for their health.



This guy is suggesting the opposite of what the government is doing. I find that fascinating. As if liberals don't screw up enough, they now make it more expensive for NYC residents to stay thin, or lose weight.

School Control

This post is dedicated to "remy," a commenter on my "Why I'm going to homeschool" post.
***

Here is one full letter from the Yated (Feb 20. issue-I'm behind), and a description and quote from another, followed by my humble POV. :-D:

Dear Editor,

As a longtime reader of the Yated who has always enjoyed your paper, I hope that perhaps my letter here will spurn some change in the way our children's schools give vacation. Our daughter is a preschool student in a Brooklyn girls' yeshiva and the amount of vacation that he school gives has baffled us.

You see, not more than six weeks removed from a long Chanukah vacation, it appears to be necessary to give off almost an entire week for mid-winter vacation. Two weeks later, President's Day is a mandatory holiday that we all must celebrate because the school gives off. Finally, three weeks after that, there is a three-day vacation to celebrate the Yom Tov of Purim which, the last time I checked, is only a one-day Yom Tov in Brooklyn. Of course, four weeks after that is the two-week Pesach vacation.

In today's environment, where for many children both sets of parents are working to make ends meet, the amount of vacation that our children's schools are giving is broering on inconsiderate. Asking aprents to make arrangements every few weeks for thier children so that they can go out and make a parnassah or to ask the same parents to stay home instead of going to work should be reconsidered.

I beleive the time has come to reasses whether it is beneficial for our children to be out of school as often as they are. We must find a good medium that works for students, parents and teachers.
Thank you.
L.B.
---

The second letter is about a guy whose son came back from a camp reunion, excited about going to camp the following summer. The father on the other hand was having financial difficulties. He had no clue how to tell his son that he wouldn't be able to go to camp, so he decided to speak to the kid's Rebbe in hopes of getting advice. The Rebbe said the following:

"camp is no longer a luxury, but more of a necessity in developing within them a cheshek for Torah and Yiddishkeit...the wonderful blend of ruchniyos and gashmiyus of Camp (fill in name here), and especially the experience of Shabbos Kodesh spent b'kedusha and in the presence of gedolim and bnei Torah, could not and should not be so easily discounted."

blah blah, the guy called the financial office of the camp and agreed on a payment plan for his kid.
***

So now, here are my opinions of the disturbing letters above:

While I see the point of parents being annoyed by the constant vacations, and the constant need to find babysitters, I find it truly disturbing how parents lack in creativity skills and lack in respect towards their children.

Finding a babysitter on the days that most schools are closed should not be so hard- find a neighbor who has older children who also have off, and work out a deal. Maybe have them watch your kids for free, and in exchange drive them to school. or drive them to weddings or set up some kind of an arrangement.

There is also the concept of getting a grandparent to watch the kids, or a retired aunt or uncle. That's what my parents did. Sometimes they had the babysitter do it. Schools have CALENDERS for a reason. It's not like they call the Friday before Presidents' Day to inform parents of school closing!

The truly disturbing part, is the last paragraph:
"I believe the time has come to reassess whether it is beneficial for our children to be out of school as often as they are. We must find a good medium that works for students, parents and teachers."

Parents seem to be expecting the school to be their kid's babysitter, not their kid's educator. Parents also seem to not care too much about the student's, because students, young and old, seem to LOVE the days off (at least I remember loving them,and I know my sister loves them, too).

In comparing this with the second letter on how camps are mandatory, we can logically conclude that schools expect camps to teach. Especially since there was a part in the letter that mentioned that the Rebbe the parent spoke to happened to also be a sleep-away camp Rebbe (not the same camp this letter was talking about), which only goes to show that school, pretty much is year round instotution in the frum community. Which brings me to the reason for dedicating this post to "remy":

Dear remy,

Many frum people lack in the creativity and maturity skills to be decent parents. They have children and expect society to be their babysitter. The few days, weeks & months off once in a while should not be a problem for any parent with an ounce of creativity.

1- kids can be sent to a relative to be watched
2- a babysitter can be hired.
3- parents can take turns taking days off w/ aunts & uncles, and just watch cousins and have "play-dates" on those days off.

To shamelessly write letters to the Yated complaining about too-many CALENDER days off, is pathetic. It shows that my "misinterpretation" of your schools "discussion" was not far off.

Remy,

Take a look at the facts. Frum people see no problem ridding their kids, and administrators are power-hungry. You think that camp is more necessary now than it was before? How so? Did our parents generation forget less when they were younger? Did they study more?

I do find this rather humorous. School is already year round, parents are open to financially sound options of preventing their kids from forgetting how to learn. And Remy is denying the intentions of the school.

Having parent-friendly schedules is one thing. But children aren't parents. They need more time off to be a kid and to learn about themselves.

Career Day

My sister had career day in school today. My mom and sister were both in attendence.

One of the speaker's stories went like this:

-I graduated an all girls school. I wanted to marry a kollel guy. I went to seminary and then to touro college. I found myself a kollel guy. All was well and perfect. It was exactly how we wanted it. I was so happy. Everything was going smoothly. I had a job as a morah. What made me get a real job, was when one day we went to the store and we realized diapers cost money! and then another day we realized Steak costs money! so we realized we couldn't sustain ourselves anymore so we both decided to become lawyers..."-

***

Interesting story, no? The story points out 2 things:
1- school, especially the BY, does not, at all, teach students anything about the "real world."
They should've been taught that things cost money. And they should've been told that money runs out, especially if not budgeted properly (I'm assuming they had enough simcha money, which was why they didn't feel the burden so much until after the baby came).

2- School should not be year round, because it doesn't teach anything about what real-life brings anyway.

***
I do have to put the positive in ...
The lady and her hubby learned their lesson and they aren't the type to encourage kollel on their kids, because they know better. :-)