Government Intervention

We all know that $4 dollars for a gallon of gas SUCKS! So, what is the government going to do about it? I know what Michigan Governor, Jennifer Granholm, plans to do to help the people of Michigan with this problem. Make everyone go slower!

That's right, Governor Granholm wants to lower the speed limits so people get better gas mileage and save money.
While this sounds like a noble idea to save the money of the tax payers, and she's sure to get support from environmental groups and some of her constituents, it upsets me that Michigan, like other states, would elect public officials that would even consider a violation of our rights in such a manner.

I was born and raised in Michigan. I currently live in Maryland. You would think that Michigan Laws would not affect me anymore, but it's only a matter of time until Maryland's Governor Martin O'Malley catches wind of this, Eco-friendly idea, and tries to do the same thing in Maryland.

It would be a different story if Governor Granholm wanted to lower the speed limit if it meant saving lives. But, this is not the case! Governor Granholm needs to remember that it's not the job of the government to force the taxpayer to conserve energy in such a manner. If the government wants us to save money on gas then they should remove the State tax on gasoline or try to encourage public transportation.

What's next? Outlawing SUV's, Forced conversion to electric cars or how about issuing tickets on the road to anyone who doesn't have a newer model energy efficient vehicle. This small change, in a speed limit, is the beginnings of a slippery slope. It's not the governments job to force the people to save money, via, imposing restrictions upon the population.

Reasons Why John McCain Sucks!

"I do not want to keep our troops in Iraq a minute longer than necessary to secure our interests there. Our goal is an Iraq that can stand on its own as a democratic ally and a responsible force for peace in its neighborhood. Our goal is an Iraq that no longer needs American troops. And I believe we can achieve that goal, perhaps sooner than many imagine.
-This statement was taken off of John McCains campaign website

I can't even begin to describe the problems with his statements. But I'll take a shot at it.

"...to secure our interests there.": Notice that he uses the ambiguous term "interests" (in plural). What interest(s) is he talking about? National Defense is only one interest, so why is he being so vague?
For those of you who think this may just be a typo or that I'm reading to much into one word, I'M NOT! Politicians have Chief of Staffs, Speech Writers and Campaign Managers who make sure that they do not say anything that is not Pre-Planned and Rehearsed over and over again.

"I do not want to keep our troops in Iraq a minute longer than necessary... Our goal is an Iraq that no longer needs American troops": Did I hear that right, you don't want our troops in Iraq longer than needed? Didn't you say, that you would be fine with troops being in Iraq for 100 years? Yes you did!

And then you defended your statements, while on Meet The Press, by bringing up our bases in Germany, Japan, S. Korea, etc. etc.. and said that many of these countries are fine with our presence in there country.
Don't these statements about making permanent bases in Iraq, regardless of whether or not soldiers are in harms way, conflict with the statements that your are making that our goal is to remove American troops? Yes they do, and perminant bases will also cost billions of dollars to the American tax payer.

Political U-turns bring to much ambiguity and allows a politician too much leeway to do whatever they want. This in turn, can lead to horrable policies and the squandering of billions of dollars. Senator McCain seems to have a trend of making conflicting statements, like these, giving McCain the reputation of being a "Flip-Flopper".

Other U-Turns in McCains political past include:
- He now opposes his own immigration plan.

- He now backs the Bush tax cuts he once opposed with contempt.

- He called for lifting the moratorium on offshore drilling, a dramatic contrast with his strong support in 2000 for upholding the moratorium.

Running around like a chicken without its head, in politics, is a fancy way of saying that you're either an IDIOT of a LIAR... My money's on Both!

Kiruv Programming

I saw an interesting post, on the website FailedMessiah. The post discusses effects of the Kiruv programs, upon Jewish girls, by the organization Aish Ha'Torah.

The article discusses the shortcomings of summer Kiruv programs. It compares the experience, of coming back to high school with a new found sense of religion, to "a summer romance" that doesn't last.

My religious beliefs developed predominantly through private study. But, I have dealt with, my fair share of, Kiruv programs since I became religious. I have seen first hand the rise and fall of peoples, as well as my own, religiosity.

The article also points out a problem, concurrent with a problem I spoke about in the post "The 'Jewish' State... Sort of", regarding the removal of the diverse nature of Judaism, through a dismissal, by Kiruv advisers, of any interpretation of Halacha (e.g. Sephardi) that does not coincide with their ideals of Judaism.

This is a very interesting article. I feel that I should be read and discussed throughout the Jewish community as much as possible.

5 Reasons Why Barack Obama Sucks!

"I will lead the world to combat the common threats of the 21st century: nuclear weapons and terrorism; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease. And I will send once more a message to those yearning faces beyond our shores that says, 'You matter to us. Your future is our future. And our moment is now'. "
— Barack Obama, Des Moines, Iowa, November 10, 2007


This statement was part of a speech, Senator Obama gave last year and can be found on the Senators main campaign website, which I linked above. Lets analyse the threats in the 21st century Senator Obama wants to combat for a minute!

"I will lead the world to combat...": What? I'm confused I thought you wanted to lead the United States of America not the World! This type of obscure wording is normally glossed over and overlooked by the general population, but, it screams of a world government in which the United States bares the brunt of expends in terms of money, resources and soldiers to get involved in disputes that have nothing to do with us and have no bearing on our national security.

"Nuclear weapons": In another part of his website describes a goal of a world without nuclear weapons, and pursue it, this plan includes strengthening the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to make nations, such as Iran and North Korea, automatically face strong international sanctions when they break rules.
And what happens if/when Iran and North Korea break the rules? They get international Sanctions! (this, is an International slap on the wrist that only kills innocent civilians and doesn't harm regimes!)
Other than military intervention how does Senator Obama, truly, plan on making this a Nuclear Free World? He can't! This is nothing more than political posturing and a open door to future conflict.

"Terrorism": One of Senator Obama's stated goals, in the fight against terrorism, is to strengthen NATO. NATO, for those of you who don't know, is an alliance of over 2 dozen countries who pledge to protect the security of other member countries by political and military means, It has also engaged in several "peacekeeping" operations. Each NATO country contribute to the funding and supply of arms and soldiers for the organization.
With Obama's interest in strengthening our ties with this organization, He overlooks the sever infringement on our national autonomy that NATO has brought us. NATO has entangles the lives of American soldiers into regional civil wars, without congressional approval, that have nothing to do with America's security (e.g. Bosnia).
American soldiers are being put into harms way. At the same time the 'Commander and Chiefs' role, in determining the actions of the conflict, are restricted by foreign demands on how to wage war. The president effectively takes power away from Congress under the auspices of NATO, and then, NATO takes power away from the President by not allowing him to guide his own troops the way he sees fit.
All of this removal of power, and yes, we get to pay for it too!

"Climate Change": Supporting clean energy is one thing. But, how is Obama planning on policing the entire worlds energy consumption? Is he planning on forcing developing nations to "Go Green" instead of using fossil fuels? Is he going to violate the national autonomy or sanction countries who chop down to many tree's?

"Genocide": While Genocide is morally reprehensible, it is not the job of the United States to police the world! There are well over 200 conflicts raging in the world today. Even though America in over 130 countries, in order to attempt to stop genocide we would need to be in over 300 countries. We have neither the resources, finances or manpower to take on that type of venture. Besides, we have tried things like this before and it didn't work (See: Somalia). It would mean spending billions of American tax dollars and putting American troops into harms way, for what can only be considered, a fruitless venture.

There are more than enough reason why Obama should not get elected. This post, merely, skims the surface of Obama's foreign policy. I have not even begun to talk about his domestic plans. My only hope is that people will realize that, the campaign slogan "Change We Can Believe In" is nothing more than a bunch of hot air, before it's to late.

War on Drugs

In 1971, President Richard Nixon declared a "War on Drugs". After this declaration was made, our prison populations doubled in size, then, that number doubled, and after that, the number tripled.

We spend, well over, 30 billion dollars a year and arrest over 2 million people per year, many of these people are charged with minor Marijuana possession charges.

But after almost 40 years, millions of arrests and hundreds of billions of dollars spent on this "War against Drugs" we need to ask the question; Are we winning?

the answer to that is a big fat NO!!

Are we not aware that a "War on Drugs" much like a "War on Terrorism" is such an open ended propaganda war that has no end and can be used to justify almost any governmental actions. Our government uses the term "War" to stir up emotion and take away our civil liberties.

We have used the War on Drugs as an excuse to fund military actions in Columbia, but, at the same time, the U.S. Government illegally trained Nicaraguan Contras, while shipping large amounts of cocaine into the South West United States, using U.S. government aircraft and U.S. military facilities, to fund them (See: Iran-Contra).
What is to stop our government from using this War on Drugs as an excuse to invade Syria or Malaysia on charges of Opium production and Heroin smuggling! Or to justify border incursions into Panama or Columbia in order to destroy Coca farms (coca leaves, produce cocaine).
if we think about it, our government can use the ambiguous nature and language of the "War on Drugs" to justify any actions they want.

We need to ask ourselves, how is our government allowed to do all of this? To institute Prohibition, the government needed to add an Amendment to our Constitution to make Alcohol illegal. So, why is the government able to make Cannabis and other drugs illegal without a similar Amendment? The truth is, they do need an Amendment! unfortunately no one (Not even Drug reform lobbyists) use this, particular, argument to make the federal government reform its drug laws. This is just another example of our government trampling on our Constitution.

With Movies and T.V. that give an acceptability to Marijuana use (e.g. Dazed and Confused, Super Troopers, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle and Grandma's Boy) and movies with plots centered around drug trafficking (e.g. Trainspotting, Requiem for a Dream, Blow and American Gangster) our culture has started growing accepting, or at least apathetic, to drug use.

Instead of realizing that people who abuse drugs need help, not jail, and that our culture is growing more and more accepting of the idea to legalize Marijuana usage, we spend billions of dollars trying to get drugs off of the streets. Unfortunately all this has done is create a dangerous and deadly sub-culture of gangs and dealers who make a very lucrative profit by selling drugs on street corners. All the while, an average high school student can get their hands on a bag of pot without expending a great deal of energy.

Our government has overextended its powers in relation to drug enforcement, it has created more violence and crime than it has stopped, in its endless pursuit of the "War on Drugs".

This "War on Drugs" is costing us over 30 Billion dollars per year, yet, we can't even keep drugs out of our prison systems let alone the streets! So, are we winning this so called War? You tell me!!

Ron Paul is the man!!!

21st Century

As a Ba'al Teshuva, it can be hard, sometimes, dealing with secular family members who don't understand your religious beliefs. In regards to my family, it isn't that my parents don't understand the practices of Judaism (they were both raised, somewhat, traditional). They don't understand why I'm not willing to "bend the rules," a little, when it comes to my religious practices!

My father is a wonderful man, but, whenever I say to him that I am not able to do something because it conflicts with my religious beliefs his response is always "This is the 21st Century".

Just in case you ever read my blog, dad, I just want you to know that I Truly Love You with my Whole Heart, but, I'm not the one who moved to the middle of, nowhere, North Carolina. I didn't give my house a name in homage to the TV show Bonanza (The Ponderosa), I didn't buy a tractor and scream hooray because it came with a 'John Deer' hat and, when I'm at home, I have cell phone service!! I do live in the 21st Century dad! I drive a car, I own a computer and use it in my everyday life, My wife (a rabbi's daughter) works in a Neuroscience research lab, I have a cell phone and we have a nice 37" flat screen TV at home that has cable and a PS3 attached to it!!

Just because I stop using all of these items on Shabbos and I have a very restrictive diet doesn't mean I'm not living in the present. Dad, I love you, If I become half the man that you are then I know that I will be a good husband and future father (way in the future, with the father thing!) but, The 21st Century did not disprove gods existence. The 21st Century does not change my obligations as a religious Jew.

It hurts me, dad, that you consider my beliefs backwards and outdated because you're, basically, calling me backwards and outdated.

The Power of War

I got confused after reading in the News that Former Secretaries of State James A. Baker III and Warren Christopher are going to be leading a panel to determine who in our government has the power to start and end wars.... WHAT???
It doesn't take a genius, or a useless panel, to give us the answer to determine were the powers of war belong. If we just take a look in our Constitution and use our common sense and we'll see;

All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. (US Constitution, Article 1, Section 1) The Congress shall have Power... To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water (US Constitution, Article 1 Section 8)

The President as Commander in Chief had power to lead the U.S. forces once the decision to wage war had been made, to defend the nation against an attack, and perhaps in some instances to take other action such as rescuing American citizens. But, in most cases, he does not have the power to commit armed forces to war without approval of Congress.

This is idiocy... Why should we waste time and money creating panels to tell us what is written in our Constitution? Reading that news article has, seriously, just made me dumber.