My Purpose in Debating Christopher Hitchens on the Afterlife
on September 3, 2010 by Jude Emantsal in Other News, Comments (0)
Is atheism necessary for religion? Rabbi Zusya would say yes.
The great Russian Hassidic Rabbi, who lived more than two hundred years ago, was one day teaching his students when he emphasized the necessity of atheism and agnosticism. His students were aghast. Had the master lost his mind? He proved his point. “Say you’re walking down the street and you see a hungry man or a homeless woman. If you’re certain there is a G-d you’re reaction might be, ‘I need do nothing because G-d will provide.’ But if you don’t believe in G-d, or if you doubt his existence, then there is only you who can provide.’”
Medical Society of New York Fights Palliative Care Information Act Despite Mounting Evidence
on by Jude Emantsal in Other News, Comments (0)
The ink of Governor Paterson’s signature is barely dry on New York’s Palliative Care Information Act (PCIA), drafted and sponsored by Compassion & Choices and its New York affiliate, yet evidence mounts daily for its vast and dramatic impact on end-of-life care. I predict this bill will shift decision-making authority radically from physicians to patients, and dwarf the impact of the Oregon and Washington Death with Dignity bills that, themselves, sent tremors through Medicine over the last thirteen years.
The PCIA merely instructs physicians to discuss a prognosis with seriously ill patients and ask if they would like information on hospice, palliative care and appropriate end-of-life options. But this simple requirement runs counter to an endemic medical culture that keeps prognoses secret and imposes painful, intensive technology on uninformed, dying patients.
What Is ‘Back of the Line’ Citizenship for Unauthorized Immigrants in the U.S.?
on by Jude Emantsal in Other News, Comments (0)
Last month, after a quick, quiet, morning vote approving approximately $600 million in border security funding, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s office issued a statement calling for “comprehensive immigration reform that secures our borders, cracks down on unscrupulous employers, and requires those here illegally to get right with the law, learn English, pay taxes, pass criminal background checks, and go to ”the back of the line.”
A week or so later, Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) echoed Senator Reid:
Hunger Action Month: How You Can Help
on by Jude Emantsal in Other News, Comments (0)
September marks Hunger Action Month and national nonprofit Feeding America is calling upon individuals and communities to get involved in the fight against domestic hunger.
To help achieve this, Feeding America has launched its 30 Ways in 30 Days campaign, calling on everyone to be a part of the solution to this national crisis.
The "Existential Threat"
on by Jude Emantsal in Other News, Comments (0)
“Existential threat” recently entered the political lexicon, courtesy of Israeli paranoia. The expression sounds portentous, but all it seems to mean is that someone’s or something’s existence is in jeopardy. If so, the world is full of existential threats. But the expression is seldom used to refer to any of them except when the threatened party is Israel. Thus Iran’s still “aspirational” nuclear weapons program or, sometimes Iran itself are existential threats and so is Palestinian “terrorism.” An existential threat makes an excellent casus belli, a justification for war.
It is unclear, however what users of the expression think is threatened: is it the existence of the state of Israel as a state not of its citizens, but of the Jewish people? Or is it the physical existence of the inhabitants of that state? Those who promote the expression relish its ambiguity. It serves their purpose well.
Al Lawson, Top Democrat In Florida’s State Senate, Endorses Charlie Crist Over Kendrick Meek
on by Jude Emantsal in Other News, Comments (0)
Rep. Kendrick Meek, Florida’s Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, received some discouraging news Thursday when a top Democrat in the Florida State Senate chose to endorse independent Charlie Crist over him.
Al Lawson, the Florida State Senate’s Democratic minority leader, said that Crist has “always been there for us” and had supported state employees, rural counties and universities as Governor.
Review: Machete (VIDEO)
on by Jude Emantsal in Other News, Comments (0)
My very good buddy George ‘El Guapo’ Roush and I spend most of our time writing film reviews for our respective websites, but every once in a while, we just have to gab about them in person. This time we’re taking on the Robert Rodriguez film Machete, based on the trailer he did for Grindhouse, starring Danny Trejo, Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez, Lindsay Lohan, Robert DeNiro and Don Johnson. This one is rated R and that may have something to do with the multiple decapitations, nudity and intestines used as an escape device. Just a guess. We’ll give you the scoop on the flim. FYI, this is a long movie. Get extra popcorn and use the facilities before you see the film. If one more person climbs over me to hit the head during a movie, I swear I’m going to trip you. You’ve been warned. Machete opens in theaters today.
If you want to follow George on Twitter, and you’re crazy if you don’t, click HERE. I promise, you’ll thank me.
Joe Miller Campaign Funded By God, K Street
on by Jude Emantsal in Other News, Comments (0)
This story has been updated
Alaska Republican Joe Miller is telling his supporters that he is refusing to take corporate and out-of-state money, yet the Tea-Party-backed candidate has hired a prominent K Street fundraiser to help with his bid for the Senate.
Communication Breakdown
on by Jude Emantsal in Other News, Comments (0)
For the last year, or better said, ever since then Senator Barack Obama became the 44th president of the United States, there has been a lot of buzz around the Cuba issue, especially among Cubans along both sides of the straights.
In Cuba, most have been waiting with baited breath for brush stroke changes of a policy that has been in place for almost the entirety of half a century that would establish normal relations between both nations. For the Cuban American community in the United States things vary a bit. Some, thankfully an ever growing majority, hope for the same normalization and for a minority the desire is to hold on firm to the status quo.
Coauthoring: All for One And One for the Books
on by Jude Emantsal in Other News, Comments (0)
How-to books and courses for aspiring authors are generally directed towards the soloist — the writer who, like Kipling’s cat, walks by himself. Even the writing group whose members present their work for mutual constructive criticism is ultimately focused on helping the individual, and the same goes for the writer-editor collaboration (or, as sometimes happens, tug of war). There is not much out there for the aspiring team of writers who wish to avail themselves of the many benefits of co-authorship (while avoiding the equally numerous traps for the unwary).
The three of us recently coauthored a book called Short Cuts: A Guide to Oaths, Ring Tones, Ransom Notes, Famous Last Words, & Other Forms of Minimalist Communication (Oxford University Press: 2010), and not only lived to tell the tale but are still good friends and happy with the finished product, in large part because we agreed on a few basic precepts. Here are the fundamental half dozen, which we recommend to those of you who might be contemplating such a collaboration.