In honor of Chodesh Adar (Mishenichnas Adar Marbim BeSimcha), below are two articles about happiness.
Genetics can determine more than just the way you look.
As CBS 2’s Kristine Johnson reported Tuesday, recent research indicates that they also play a part in how happy you are, and how happy you could be.
Read more: http://matzav.com/study-happiness-is-partially-genetic
H/T Matzav
Dawn Gluskin writes about happiness being a choice.
As often as possible, I'm a look-on-the-bright-side kind of girl. I choose to be grateful for whatever I have, instead of focusing on the have-nots. I view life's challenges as blessings-in-disguise because of the lessons attached to them. I have not always viewed life through this lens, but as a result of shining the light on my own negative thought patterns over the years, I've learned to keep a positive outlook and have gained more happiness and inner peace. I love to share my optimism with others and it is usually well-received.
Continue reading: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dawn-gluskin/positive-thinking_b_2623144.html
13 Feb 2013
The ill-advised outfit
Disgraced designer and convicted anti-Semitic ranter John Galliano ignited a new round of outrage yesterday — dressing like a Hasid to attend pal Oscar de la Renta’s Fashion Week show in New York.
The provocative fashion pariah sported the ill-advised outfit — replete with long jacket, hat and curly “peyos,” or sidelocks — as he exited a friend’s Manhattan apartment en route to de la Renta’s West 42nd Street design studio.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/oy_he_did_it_again_5stJIvOqFBmBMtK8pMUpRL
The provocative fashion pariah sported the ill-advised outfit — replete with long jacket, hat and curly “peyos,” or sidelocks — as he exited a friend’s Manhattan apartment en route to de la Renta’s West 42nd Street design studio.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/oy_he_did_it_again_5stJIvOqFBmBMtK8pMUpRL
12 Feb 2013
What's in a label?
A slaughterhouse and a meat firm have been raided by police and food safety
officials probing alleged mislabelling of horsemeat as beef.
...Meanwhile, Waitrose withdrew its Essential British Frozen Beef Meatballs after pork was detected in two batches.
Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21434077
There are not many occasions when a reporter needs a grasp of Latin. But one came on Monday when the Pope made a short announcement.
Most of the reporters present had to wait for the Vatican's official translations into Italian, English and languages that people actually speak.
But not Italian wire service reporter Giovanna Chirri, who had clearly been paying attention in secondary school. Her Latin was up to the job and she broke the story of the Pope's resignation to the world.
Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21412604
So, in the interest of learning Latin, (you never know when it will come in handy) here are a few phrases from Wiki.
Auctoritas non veritas facit legem
authority, not truth, makes law
humilitas occidit superbiam
humility conquers pride
in regione caecorum rex est luscus
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
Nihil sine Deo
nothing without G-d
Sydney Smith reports on how the Washington Post was duped by a satirical article and had to issue the following edit.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post incorrectly reported that Sarah Palin had signed on as a contributor to the Al Jazeera America news network. The blogger cited a report on the Daily Currant Web site as the basis for that information without realizing that the piece was satirical.
Read more: http://www.imediaethics.org/News/3750/Sarah_palin_joins_al_jazeera_washpost_duped_by_satire_article_.php
...Meanwhile, Waitrose withdrew its Essential British Frozen Beef Meatballs after pork was detected in two batches.
Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21434077
There are not many occasions when a reporter needs a grasp of Latin. But one came on Monday when the Pope made a short announcement.
Most of the reporters present had to wait for the Vatican's official translations into Italian, English and languages that people actually speak.
But not Italian wire service reporter Giovanna Chirri, who had clearly been paying attention in secondary school. Her Latin was up to the job and she broke the story of the Pope's resignation to the world.
Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21412604
So, in the interest of learning Latin, (you never know when it will come in handy) here are a few phrases from Wiki.
Auctoritas non veritas facit legem
authority, not truth, makes law
humilitas occidit superbiam
humility conquers pride
in regione caecorum rex est luscus
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
Nihil sine Deo
nothing without G-d
Sydney Smith reports on how the Washington Post was duped by a satirical article and had to issue the following edit.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post incorrectly reported that Sarah Palin had signed on as a contributor to the Al Jazeera America news network. The blogger cited a report on the Daily Currant Web site as the basis for that information without realizing that the piece was satirical.
Read more: http://www.imediaethics.org/News/3750/Sarah_palin_joins_al_jazeera_washpost_duped_by_satire_article_.php
The resignation
Yeranen Yaakov discusses Pope Benedict's resignation over here.
As European countries involve themselves in regulating kosher meat, the scandal involving horsemeat found in Europe continues to grow.
Mr Paterson told the Commons on Monday that it appeared "criminal activity" had been at the heart of the scandal.
MPs will discuss the issue after Labour called a debate on Tuesday afternoon.
It comes after some Tesco Everyday Value spaghetti bolognese, withdrawn from sale last week, was found to contain 60% horsemeat.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21421477
Joshua Gelernter discusses kosher meat regulation.
The English tried expulsion, the Italians tried ghettos, the Spanish had the Inquisition. The Russians had the Pale of Settlement. The Germans had gas chambers. And after the Germans were stopped, having got only half the job done, Europe’s better elements thought that perhaps enough was enough. For the first time in its collective history, overt Jew hatred was shunned in polite European society.
And so, Europe’s profound (Freudian?) Semite-loathing needed other outlets. The number-one outlet these days is, of course, spewing bile at Israel. But another, more fringe, outlet is obstructing Jews’ religion. Mainly, by outlawing kosher meat.
Kosher slaughter of animals is illegal in Switzerland, Sweden, Norway and Iceland, where laws require that animals be stunned before being killed. A similar ban is being accommodated in Holland and discussed in Britain. The two sides of this fight, as it’s understood by Europeans, are supporters of religious freedom on the one hand and opponents of animal cruelty on the other.
Everyone who sees the argument that way misses the point. The regulations of kosher slaughter aren’t an archaic religious tradition flying in the face of “animal rights”; they’re PETA’s progenitor.
http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/02/12/outlawing-kosher-meat-and-europe%e2%80%99s-profound-semite-loathing/
As European countries involve themselves in regulating kosher meat, the scandal involving horsemeat found in Europe continues to grow.
Environment Secretary Owen Paterson
is due to meet food industry representatives for the second time in a week to
discuss the horsemeat crisis.
Mr Paterson told the Commons on Monday that it appeared "criminal activity" had been at the heart of the scandal.
MPs will discuss the issue after Labour called a debate on Tuesday afternoon.
It comes after some Tesco Everyday Value spaghetti bolognese, withdrawn from sale last week, was found to contain 60% horsemeat.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21421477
Joshua Gelernter discusses kosher meat regulation.
The English tried expulsion, the Italians tried ghettos, the Spanish had the Inquisition. The Russians had the Pale of Settlement. The Germans had gas chambers. And after the Germans were stopped, having got only half the job done, Europe’s better elements thought that perhaps enough was enough. For the first time in its collective history, overt Jew hatred was shunned in polite European society.
And so, Europe’s profound (Freudian?) Semite-loathing needed other outlets. The number-one outlet these days is, of course, spewing bile at Israel. But another, more fringe, outlet is obstructing Jews’ religion. Mainly, by outlawing kosher meat.
Kosher slaughter of animals is illegal in Switzerland, Sweden, Norway and Iceland, where laws require that animals be stunned before being killed. A similar ban is being accommodated in Holland and discussed in Britain. The two sides of this fight, as it’s understood by Europeans, are supporters of religious freedom on the one hand and opponents of animal cruelty on the other.
Everyone who sees the argument that way misses the point. The regulations of kosher slaughter aren’t an archaic religious tradition flying in the face of “animal rights”; they’re PETA’s progenitor.
http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/02/12/outlawing-kosher-meat-and-europe%e2%80%99s-profound-semite-loathing/
11 Feb 2013
All the days
The following is taken from Revach.
In this week's parsha in the words of some of the items donated to the Mishkan we find a Remez to all the days that we read from the Torah. Both the readings during the week and Krias HaTorah on Yom Tov. They are:
is for the weekly readings:
& 
are
for special days:
In this week's parsha in the words of some of the items donated to the Mishkan we find a Remez to all the days that we read from the Torah. Both the readings during the week and Krias HaTorah on Yom Tov. They are:
is for the weekly readings: | Shabbos | = | 7 | = |  |
| Thursday | = | 5 | = |  |
| Monday | = | 2 | = |  |
& are
for special days:
| Kippur (Yom Kippur) | = |  |
| Succos | = |  |
| Pesach | = |  |
| Neiros (Chanukah) | = |  |
| Chodesh (Rosh Chodesh & Rosh Hashanah) |
= |  |
| Shavuos, Simchas Torah & Shemini Atzeres |
= |  |
| Taanis (all the Fasts) | = |  |
Safe to eat, safe to confirm?
The BBC reports:
All processed beef products are safe to eat but consumers must be prepared for more unwelcome news in the ongoing horsemeat scandal, the government says.
Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said "nothing seen so far presented a health risk".
Mr Paterson, who is to update MPs later on the latest developments, said it looked as if an "extensive" criminal conspiracy may have taken place.
Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21406653
Israel Matzav reports on President Obama's pick for the head of the CIA, John Brennan, who, according to a former FBI agent, converted to Islam.
Additionally, Israel Matzav posts about Chuck Hagel's description of Aaron David Miller - he's Jewish. As every speech he made over the past number of years is being scrutinized, analyzed and interpreted, it gives me pause to reflect on how every word I utter will be judged. The videotapes will be shown and I just hope I will not be subject to the same grilling as the nominee for Secretary of Defense.
Reuters writes that "Israeli police detained 10 women at one of Judaism's most sacred sites on Monday for wearing prayer shawls," including "Susan Silverman, a reform rabbi who is a sister of U.S. comedian Sarah Silverman."
Silverman said the Orthodox tradition barring women from wearing prayer shawls amounted to "spitting on Sinai", naming the site where the Bible says God handed the ancient Israelite leader Moses the 10 Commandments.
"All Jews are in a covenant with God, regardless of their gender," she said.
Continue reading: http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCABRE91A08G20130211
Can we expect to be invited to the bris?
Wishing you a good Chodesh. Mishenichnas Adar Marbim Besimcha.
All processed beef products are safe to eat but consumers must be prepared for more unwelcome news in the ongoing horsemeat scandal, the government says.
Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said "nothing seen so far presented a health risk".
Mr Paterson, who is to update MPs later on the latest developments, said it looked as if an "extensive" criminal conspiracy may have taken place.
Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21406653
Israel Matzav reports on President Obama's pick for the head of the CIA, John Brennan, who, according to a former FBI agent, converted to Islam.
Additionally, Israel Matzav posts about Chuck Hagel's description of Aaron David Miller - he's Jewish. As every speech he made over the past number of years is being scrutinized, analyzed and interpreted, it gives me pause to reflect on how every word I utter will be judged. The videotapes will be shown and I just hope I will not be subject to the same grilling as the nominee for Secretary of Defense.
Reuters writes that "Israeli police detained 10 women at one of Judaism's most sacred sites on Monday for wearing prayer shawls," including "Susan Silverman, a reform rabbi who is a sister of U.S. comedian Sarah Silverman."
Silverman said the Orthodox tradition barring women from wearing prayer shawls amounted to "spitting on Sinai", naming the site where the Bible says God handed the ancient Israelite leader Moses the 10 Commandments.
"All Jews are in a covenant with God, regardless of their gender," she said.
Continue reading: http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCABRE91A08G20130211
Can we expect to be invited to the bris?
Wishing you a good Chodesh. Mishenichnas Adar Marbim Besimcha.
10 Feb 2013
Arranged marriages
This morning a friend told me about an article I had missed in the New York Times from last month about arranged marriages.
Arranged marriages can work “because they remove so much of the anxiety about ‘is this the right person?’ ” said Brian J. Willoughby, an assistant professor in the School of Family Life at Brigham Young University. “Arranged marriages start cold and heat up and boil over time as the couple grows. Nonarranged marriages are expected to start out boiling hot but many eventually find that this heat dissipates and we’re left with a relationship that’s cold.”
...“In the secular world, a lot of the times a couple will fall in love with each other and then at that point they lose objectivity,” said Rabbi Steven Weil, the executive vice president at the Orthodox Union in New York. In arranged marriages, however, “there is a lot of homework, a lot of energy spent, before a young man and woman fall in love with each other. For that reason, the parents are involved. But obviously it’s the decision of the young man and woman, but a parent knows a child.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/20/fashion/weddings/parental-involvement-can-help-in-choosing-marriage-partners-experts-say.html?pagewanted=all
Regarding the couple in the video below, it seems that father did not know best.
Arranged marriages can work “because they remove so much of the anxiety about ‘is this the right person?’ ” said Brian J. Willoughby, an assistant professor in the School of Family Life at Brigham Young University. “Arranged marriages start cold and heat up and boil over time as the couple grows. Nonarranged marriages are expected to start out boiling hot but many eventually find that this heat dissipates and we’re left with a relationship that’s cold.”
...“In the secular world, a lot of the times a couple will fall in love with each other and then at that point they lose objectivity,” said Rabbi Steven Weil, the executive vice president at the Orthodox Union in New York. In arranged marriages, however, “there is a lot of homework, a lot of energy spent, before a young man and woman fall in love with each other. For that reason, the parents are involved. But obviously it’s the decision of the young man and woman, but a parent knows a child.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/20/fashion/weddings/parental-involvement-can-help-in-choosing-marriage-partners-experts-say.html?pagewanted=all
Regarding the couple in the video below, it seems that father did not know best.
Turned on their heads
As Rosh Chodesh Adar is upon us (Sunday and Monday) and we begin to entertain thoughts of the holiday of Purim and venafoch hu, here are three articles which are all about things being turned on their heads.
Breitbart reports Dem Ohio Poll Watcher: I Voted For Obama Twice.
Gay Fouse writes about Judith Butler's speech at the BDS event in Brooklyn College this past Thursday.
How ironic that she speaks of her right to free speech. Would she then condemn the so-called Irvine 11 when they disrupted the speech of Israeli ambassador Michael Oren a couple of years back at UC Irvine?
http://www.change.org/users/2244956
Stop the Prosecution of the 'Irvine 11'
Apparently not. So I conclude that she doesn't care much about the right of the Israeli ambassador to speak.
http://garyfouse.blogspot.be/2013/02/omar-barghouti-and-judith-butler-don.html
Additionally, Mr. Fouse posted a comment at the end of the article in which he writes, "One of these young men is now a law student at Harvard and boasted that he felt he was accepted because of his participation in the Irvine 11."
Pamela Geller posts Huffington Post Masks Religious Identity of U.K. Acid Attacker: Changes Report from "niqab" attacker to "masked"
Breitbart reports Dem Ohio Poll Watcher: I Voted For Obama Twice.
Gay Fouse writes about Judith Butler's speech at the BDS event in Brooklyn College this past Thursday.
How ironic that she speaks of her right to free speech. Would she then condemn the so-called Irvine 11 when they disrupted the speech of Israeli ambassador Michael Oren a couple of years back at UC Irvine?
http://www.change.org/users/2244956
- "Judith Butler signed the petition
Apparently not. So I conclude that she doesn't care much about the right of the Israeli ambassador to speak.
http://garyfouse.blogspot.be/2013/02/omar-barghouti-and-judith-butler-don.html
Additionally, Mr. Fouse posted a comment at the end of the article in which he writes, "One of these young men is now a law student at Harvard and boasted that he felt he was accepted because of his participation in the Irvine 11."
Pamela Geller posts Huffington Post Masks Religious Identity of U.K. Acid Attacker: Changes Report from "niqab" attacker to "masked"
9 Feb 2013
No horsing around
The French government promised on Saturday to punish those found responsible for selling horsemeat in beef products at the heart of a growing scandal that started in Britain but is quickly spreading to France.
Consumer Affairs Minister Benoit Hamon said an investigation had found that the horsemeat had originated in Romania, although there were links with French, Dutch and Cypriot firms and a factory in Luxembourg.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/09/britain-food-horsemeat-france-idUSL5N0B925H20130209
Kosher meat, anyone? I am not saying a kosher meat scandal cannot occur but it is unlikely that a fraud on such a large scale can happen.
Consumer Affairs Minister Benoit Hamon said an investigation had found that the horsemeat had originated in Romania, although there were links with French, Dutch and Cypriot firms and a factory in Luxembourg.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/09/britain-food-horsemeat-france-idUSL5N0B925H20130209
Kosher meat, anyone? I am not saying a kosher meat scandal cannot occur but it is unlikely that a fraud on such a large scale can happen.
8 Feb 2013
Mishpatim (Shekalim)
In the wake of this weekend's expected snowstorm in the Northeast, Kikar Hashabat reports on Rabbi Nir Ben Artzi's prediction from a few months ago about another storm.
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