tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-355828962024-02-08T09:33:52.503-05:00Barb's WorldOde to human folly, irony of life, and the pleasure of being aliveBarb Chanskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111608904463961090noreply@blogger.comBlogger823125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35582896.post-59298033052649634512023-12-07T17:57:00.004-05:002023-12-07T17:57:43.492-05:00CHANUKAH SAMEACH!<p> </p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Chanukah is a wonderful holiday, literally full of light (and delicious fried foods) - and we all love to celebrate it! But what we keep forgetting is that on Chanukah we celebrate the victory in the bloody, bitter civil war! Not just a war and a victory over the foreign enemies (although that too) - but a civil war and a victory over other Jews! You see, the majority of Jews at that time decided to abandon the dictates of their outmoded, strange, arcane religion - and instead they followed the most progressive ideas at the time and became </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Hellenists</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. </span></span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-b1c7207c-7fff-0175-0fae-56d25cea81ef"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">As it usually happens, the people who decided not to follow the modern, hip, progressive trends, and instead clung to their outmoded religion, could not just be left in peace - oh, no! They had to be declared the enemies of the state, persecuted, arrested, tortured, killed. Eventually, the rebellion broke out - a small group of Jews fighting for their spiritual independence against the most powerful army at the time - and against the Jews steeped in “progress”. Beating all odds - and with the help from The One Above, the rebels won; they won their right to be true to who they were, to practice Judaism once again, and to rededicate the Holy Temple.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Unfortunately, that won’t be last time when a large number of Jews would decide to abandon their religion, their heritage, and their true calling, and follow some other “great modern idea”. Personally, I always have in front of me the wonderful example of the former USSR - the great step-mama country of my family. Now, Russia was never known as a bastion of human rights - but the glorious Bolshevik/socialist/communist revolution really made it hell on earth; and, unfortunately, a large number of Jews who, again, decided to follow the clarion call of these new great ideas, played a major role in the revolution, and the events that followed. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The consequences for the religious Jews and the Jewish community in general were truly devastating - not only did the religious observance become nearly impossible; not only did the adherence to Judaism bring severe consequences - (people were imprisoned for simply teaching Hebrew, or possessing any kind of Judaic books), but Jews themselves eventually became second class citizens - and, again, only a miracle from above in the face of Stalin’s death in 1953 saved the Jewish community from potential mass extermination. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In light of this, I always felt that Chanukah has a special meaning for the Jews from the former USSR, and that every religious celebration is not only a very happy occasion, but a chance to basically flip a nice bird at the commies and tell them: See?!! Not only did we survive, not only did we remain Jews, but we are proud of it! And our children, our biggest blessings and our victory dance - they grow up to be proud Jews as well, learning again all about our strange and outdated religion!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The other thing about our holidays is that not only do we commemorate a specific occasion, but we get a chance to experience it ourselves again and again. Every Chanukah we get a chance to re-dedicate our little inner Temple, our soul, to the true meaning of being a Jew. And, unfortunately, as I said before, we always have large swaths of Jews who abandon Judaism, and instead follow the latest crazy, excuse me, progressive idea. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Right now, we have huge numbers of our brethren who are infected with the disease of the Leftism; not only do they deny the beauty of Judaism, but they actually defend every single one of our sworn enemies!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The miracles of Chanukah showed us that we are never alone in our battles - but we have to have the faith to begin them! Maccabees started the rebellion against all odds - and they were granted victory! There was not enough oil to rededicate the Temple and to light the Menorah - they did it anyway, and the oil lasted till more was available! The Heavenly Father is always with us, but we have to do our part! And we owe it to the Maccabees, to all our ancestors who suffered and who fought for the right to remain Jews; we owe it to our children; and we owe it ourselves - to always remain true to ourselves, our heritage, and our true calling; to fight against all the moronic and deadly ideas that keep infecting our brethren! Rabbi Sacks, of blessed memory, once said: “Chanukah candles are the light Judaism brings to the outside world; when we are unafraid to announce our identity in public, live by our principles, and fight, if necessary, for our freedom…..” So, pick up that sword, pick up the bow and arrows, light the tiny bit of oil - and The Heavenly Father will help you in your fight! </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Chanukah Sameach, everyone! Don’t forget to enjoy the delicious fried food! </span></p><br /><br /></span>Barb Chanskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111608904463961090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35582896.post-72268771498046345402022-05-15T17:11:00.003-04:002022-05-15T17:13:13.846-04:00MY UNHUMBLE AND UNPOPULAR OPINION ON UKRAINE <p> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dear Ukrainian Patriots, </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-8b0d25b2-7fff-9118-777f-775d67da0d92"><br /><ol style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you are naturalized citizens of the USA and you live here, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">America</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is your homeland; if you disagree with this, you are more than welcome to go to Ukraine and fight - there is no iron curtain holding you here.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I completely understand the desire to fly Ukrainian flags at times like these; however, if you decide to fly it without the American flags, please see above.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Naturalization Oath begins with “</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen”. We have had “the most secure” elections, which ended up installing a senile old poppet in the White House, resulting in the most hostile Executive branch in the modern history. Our economy is on the brink of collapse, our border is wide open, we have political prisoners (about whom almost nobody is talking), our Constitutional rights are eroding as we speak, and now we have BABY FOOD SHORTAGE! Somehow, I see no concern about any of that - why?! </span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For those of you who are Jews - Israel is experiencing another wave of constant terror, yet I still see more concern about Ukraine. Again, why?!</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ukraine repeatedly votes against Israel in the UN; why should Israel help them (aside from being perennial morons, and practicing kindness towards everyone)?</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I see that the most independent minded among you somehow found a way to blame President Trump, conservatives, and the right wing in general for Putin’s invasion. May I remind you that it was President Trump who kept in check every single tyrant and despot, including Putin? If you are so smart and open-minded, can you stop watching CNN for one minute and explain to me your train of thought?</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I also enjoy watching ad hominem attacks on Marjorie Taylor Greene and the other members of Congress who refuse to automatically send our non-existent money to Ukraine; why are they attacked for doing their jobs, ergo - protecting the interests of American citizens?!</span></p></li></ol><br /><br /></span>Barb Chanskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111608904463961090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35582896.post-30918520554312772822022-03-06T18:17:00.001-05:002022-03-06T18:17:10.936-05:00MY UNHUMBLE OPINION ON WHOPPI GOLDBERG'S LATEST<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here are my bullet points and subpoints (in no particular order) regarding Whoopi Goldberg’s latest verbal diarrhea, and the subsequent mini fallout:</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-eddfddb3-7fff-1e4f-2c5f-957ab7490ec6"><br /><ol style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As usual, The Left got grade A chutzpah:</span></p></li></ol><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a) they are the ones who not only ban books on the regular, but routinely attack people for any speech not in total agreement with their mantra, perform constant virtual hangings and auto da fe on the various social media platforms, advocate for the “amending” of the First Amendment, and basically clamor for any and all available thought police.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">b) the only reason they paid attention to Maus was because some little school district in the boondocks of Tennessee (read “probably right wing”) took it out of their curriculum.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">c) they are the ones who continually and shamelessly spit on the ashes and mass graves of our murdered brothers and sisters by constantly comparing any and all of their pet projects and victims du jeur to Holocaust and its victims. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">d) they never consider Jews a persecuted minority unless doing so serves their political agenda and/or general propaganda.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">e) they have among them the biggest collection of anti-Semites and anti-Semitic groups in the entirety of American history.</span></p><br /><ol start="2" style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Any person with a brain, logic, and a modicum of knowledge in the area of child development knows that you simply can’t allow children to read everything available to the general public:</span></p></li></ol><br /><ol style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; margin-left: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s one thing for them to encounter violence in fairy tales (monsters, dragons, scary old witches and warlocks, ets.) - they actually need it for their emotional development. It’s an entirely different kettle of fish to let them read about the real violence that human beings could be capable of - they need to be introduced to it very gradually, and, obviously, at the appropriate age (which, by the way, also varies from child to child), so, logic and caution are highly recommended! One of the hypocritical utterances I saw online was to the tune of “it’s age-appropriate to make the twelve year olds read Eli Wiesel’s The Night because he was twelve at the time” - wrong! No amount of Marvel and DC comics can prepare a normal twelve-year-old kid to read about the horrors that the subhuman monsters subjected young Eli to! Seventeen/eighteen - yes, but not before! It’s simply cruel and completely counterproductive to do so otherwise!</span></p></li></ol><br /><ol start="2" style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; margin-left: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The other subject that children have to be introduced to very cautiously, and at the appropriate age, is human sexuality, and everything connected to it. This is where the Left once again shows their cruelty and tendency towards child abuse by trying to force this knowledge on children beginning with the toddler years! As the former B & N children’s bookseller, I can personally testify to the staggering amount of board- and picture books (which are usually aimed at children 0 - 6) which are specifically dealing with the issues of sex, gender, homosexuality, so-called transgenderism, etc. - and the horrifying number of times these books were sought out because they were an assigned reading in school!</span></p></li></ol><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3) The Left sees everything - and I mean everything - through the prism of their bigoted concept of intersectionality, and their absolutely unscientific concept of race and ethnicity. It’s actually amusing to watch and see them trying to stick the Jews into these groups and ladders - because they actually can’t figure out if we are just a religious group, or an ethnic minority, or a race; of course, the prolonged brain activity is not their forte - so, they just decided to stick us with whities and be done with it. The part that really infuriated me personally was the one that most people ignored - it was when the honorable Whoopi mumbled that the Holocaust was “you white people doing it to yourselves”! How convenient - not only are the whities the subhumans, the source of all evil throughout history, and the “black and brown” people perpetual victims, ergo, morally superior, but we can simply write off the entire history of European anti-Semitism as internal problems between “you white people” - brilliant historical analysis, what can I say!</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4) The staggering amount of various right-wingers and libertarians, bless their hearts, saw it as a matter of honor to immediately jump on the various soap boxes and bloviate ad nauseum that Brilliant Historical Scholar Whoopi has her First Amendment protection just like everyone else, and, is, therefore, entitled to run off her piehole any which way she desires. Under normal logic and circumstances, yes, she is not a politician, or any kind of official spokesman for anyone, so, yes, she should be able to say whatever she damn well pleases. After all, there are politicians and former politicians - notably, our illustrious former Governor and even more illustrious former Mayor, who basically kept accusing Jews of spreading Covid, then offered some lame apologies, then continued with their accusations - and nobody ever brought any kind of criminal charges, or even civil proceedings, against them. However, the level of black anti-Semitism, especially in the recent years, got to the levels beyond alarming. Started, among many other contributions, by the tireless efforts of the late unlamented Desmond Tutu and still residing on this plane Louis Farrakhan, it is growing by leaps and bounds. Not only are these people showing black ingratitude (pun not intended) for the part our naive brethren played in the civil rights movement, but it seems that they accumulated all the ancient anti-Jewish blood libels under their umbrella - and added some of their own invention. So, when a “wise black woman” on the national TV show starts yammering garbage about Holocaust, yes, it has a very negative effect in general, and adds to already very murky waters of the black racism and anti-Semitism in particular. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5) Likewise, from the righteous right and libertarians came the repeated analysis and assertions of Ms. Goldberg not being an anti-Semite - wrong! She is a racist and an anti-Semite par excellence - just check her extra wise utterances regarding the so-called Israeli-Arab conflict.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6) As mentioned above, the Left are the ones who impose rules on speech; they are the ones who cancel people - making sure that anyone who disagrees with their dogma not only loses their employment, but is made a complete pariah, and Whoopi Goldberg is one of the most ardent supporters and promoters of the cancel culture. As such, her two-week suspension was just a very weak taste of her own medicine - in the best traditions of the cancellers, she really should have been fired. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7) The saddest in all this - and, unfortunately, by no means news - is the glaring fact of the ADL, which long ago ceased to be any kind of defender of Jewish rights, and instead became another arm of the politically correct army of the Left. </span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>Barb Chanskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111608904463961090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35582896.post-52659561435218127012022-02-21T23:47:00.000-05:002022-02-21T23:47:00.103-05:00SIGNS FROM HEAVEN, Part 1<p>There is a popular trope in fiction and movies - at a certain point the hero or the heroine would ask The Heavens (or a dearly departed) for some kind of a sign to know for sure that whatever action is about to be undertaken is the right one. This makes for a touching, or a romantic, or a heart-wrenching scene; but the real life is much more simple - and much more complex.</p><p>I firmly believe that Gd speaks to us all the time, and there is no need to ask for signs - they are just there: in the majesty of nature, in the love of our families, in the myriad of blessings bestowed upon us....heck, even in the craziness of this world and our fellow humans...and sometimes the message is so clear that it takes your breath away....</p><p>This past Monday Beloved Sibling sent me two consecutive media "bombs" - first was of the Israeli freedom convoy; the second was of our beautiful Sabra One donating her hair, which she painstakingly grew after the last donation so that she can donate it again! This, right there, was to me the entire meaning of life encapsulated in a bunch of Internet messages.</p><p>Our children are the best of us; they are our miracles, our hope for the future, our victory dance over our enemies. They are the biggest blessing from Heavens; their love, their innocence, their complete lack of guile, their unabashed enjoyment of simple stuff in life, their constant awe at the things that our jaded eyes just can't see anymore - all these and more make for the best balm for the troubled soul. </p><p>And in return, we have to ensure that the world we would leave for them is at least as good (and hopefully better) than the one that we had inherited - and that means standing up to the real monsters. It is that simple and that complex.</p>Barb Chanskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111608904463961090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35582896.post-61533653009371020522022-01-25T23:40:00.003-05:002022-01-25T23:40:50.129-05:00FACEBOOK ADVENTURES, Part 2<p> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Back in the summer I had to haul my behind to the city (which used to be fun, but, thanks to De Blasio's regime and the lockdowns, is, sadly, not anymore). Once there, I decided to visit the old hunting ground of Marshall’s and T.J. Maxx on Sixth Avenue. Since the story took place in late August, I found the all too expected rainbow products on clearance in the far corner. Most of it was the usual junk, but a wooden toothbrush with rainbow bristles really made me chuckle - so, I snapped a picture and posted it on Facebook. That post produced a very interesting exchange, the most pertinent part of which is presented here without edits - aside from the name changes (in order to protect the innocent and the guilty).</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-256d61d8-7fff-dcd7-8b38-fdf3efd75be5"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Name key:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">BC - yours truly</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">N - my friend from Pittsburgh; for full context - she is in her late sixties, a practicing Catholic, a mother and a grandmother, and also a very wise, logical, and tolerant person.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">L1 - a former coworker of mine, with whom I was on good terms while back at B&N; also for context - that coworker was born and raised in the USA; she is in her mid-twenties, and she is a lesbian</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">L2 - L1’s then-fiancée; I have never met her; all I know about her is that she was also born and raised in this country; she is from a very religious rural family, and, obviously, also a lesbian</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*****************************************************************************************************</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">BC: “</span><span style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am OK with everyone living their lives and not sticking it in mine at every turn...but the corporate idiocy really gets to me...our store never flew the American flag, even on the Independence day, or Memorial day...but they went all out every June</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">N: “BC, I hear ya, GF! I hate "follow the leader" bullshit. It's mindless! That's why I said that if they're on that LBGQ bandwagon, it's stupid! I can't stand that!! Sheeple.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Did you notice, commercials now are mostly black people or mixed race couples? 13% of the population is now 98% of the commercials.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">BC: “yep, I did notice this a while back…”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">L1: “BC, Seriously? Straight sex and romcoms and fucking everything has been in everyone’s faces and perfectly acceptable since the dawn of time. The rainbow isn’t hurting you or harming anyone. What it does is help people who have historically been outcasts feel a little more comfortable. Let people have their representation. It’s a toothbrush. Jesus fucking Christ grow up”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">L1: “N, How would you feel if the tables were turned and people said they couldn’t stand who you are and who you love? Bc if you want to experience, I can make that happen.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">BC: “L1, are you telling us to grow up?!! N and I?!! That's one of the funniest jokes I have seen this week!”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">N: “L1, What the hell are you raving about? Who said any of that? Why are you being so confrontational and vulgar?”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">N: “L1, Are you threatening me? Are you? Do what you gotta do.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">L1: “N, Why are you being homophobic and racist?”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">L1: “BC, Yep”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">N: “Wow! It doesn't take much to set you off. Have some Xanax.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">N: “L1, Where is my racist comment?!”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">L1: “N, Eh, I’m good. Not big on drugs thanks “</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">L1: “Here (screenshot of N’s earlier comment about commercials)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">N: “L1, And???? That's a fact. Do you see Asians, Muslims and Jews in that disproportionate numbers. Whites? Pacific Islanders? Get a grip.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">N: “L1, Maybe you need drugs to calm the f*ck down.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">N: “L1, How about Native Americans?”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">L1: “N, You’re the one being all salty about the existence of a rainbow toothbrush”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">N: “L1, You're reading between the lines and not doing a good job of it. My suggestion would be to take a deep breath, calm down, and read without emotion”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">N: “L1, You're overfocused on sentences taken out of context. Can't see the forrest for the trees.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CNN is hiring.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">N: “BC, I object to Jesus F*cking Christ. That's blasphemous. But, it's all OK when it's a liberal doing their thing.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I object but God is bigger than that. </span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 16px; overflow: hidden; width: 16px;"><img alt="😉" height="16" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/gIhbLMMEfIzbBWGJTFinwmgkQZcm7Yp1pYja37EBRylP3asMyzQYBfUqkeK4MN3zNGup559wUoypflk5dKBQVZZ6se3uVbvpI539OMQWwIWEczde5aFoFfFmd52LJyZlZ6XVhoyY" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="16" /></span></span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">BC: “you keep, forgetting, L1, that we are way older, more experienced, and yes, wiser...and that's the problem with your generation - all young people think that they are smart, but your generation decided that all older people are racists, bigots, nazis, etc, etc, etc, and you, guys, are the best of the best! You lead charmed lives that you don't appreciate, invent hardships, don't appreciate this country, and refuse to really educate yourselves on real history and facts. Young leftists in the USA are the most narrow-minded, entitled, and intolerant people I have seen in my life - and I have seen some doozies...there are plenty of things that offend us on the hourly basis, but WE BELIEVE IN LIVE AND LET LIVE!”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">L2: “BC, Except you don’t believe in live and let live. You believe in being stuck up, biased, cruel, and hateful, and then you get offended if anyone calls you on it. If you truly believed in live and let live, a toothbrush wouldn’t bother you so much. Also, you can take your ideas about a charmed life and shove them where the sun doesn’t shine. Entitlement is expecting to never see a rainbow toothbrush. Entitlement is losing your whole asshole when someone asks you to stop being so myopically self centered for just long enough to consider other human beings might exist. Entitlement is condescending to people and micromanaging their lived experiences. If you don’t wanna be called a racist, don’t say racist things. If you don’t want to look like a bigot, don’t act like it. If you don’t want to be associated with nazis, STOP ACTING LIKE NAZIS. Also, there are plenty of old people who aren’t bigoted, hateful, idiotic, and selfish - I see them every single day, so stop claiming that age equals a shitty personality and no empathy. Stop claiming that experience means that you can’t treat other people like humans. Stop victimizing yourself over a goddamn toothbrush. The hypocrisy is so thick I’m fucking choking on it. Grow up for a goddamn second and let the gays LIVE.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">N: “I'll say this for a 68 year old "boomer", if a toothbrush comment offends you, you have a problem. Life is going to kick your ass so buckle up ladies. You have a rocky road ahead. Your choice! You can move on or constantly argue and work yourselves up.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Neither BC or I are homophobes. Not in the least. The comments and posts were all about "woke" people jumping on bandwagons following what they think will make more money. Do you really think those companies give two sh*ts about you or anyone else? If you really do, you're so damn naive, you better make some in-flight adjustments.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You need to learn to pick your battles in life. This silly thing isn't a hill to die on. Trust me, life and people are going to clean your clocks for the remainder of your lives! The best thing you can do is develop a healthy sense of humor about who you are and learn how to laugh at yourself in order to survive. You ain't getting out of life alive no matter how you REACT.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes, these are reactionary comments made by you. They're not thought through. Just reacting while filling in the blanks.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Can't you just scroll past what you disagree with? This is BC’s timeline. She's the queen here and she can say as she pleases. Don't like it? Move on. Life is too short and if this is the most homophobic thing you've ever seen .... WOW .... you do have a charmed life so far. Buckle up and lighten the f*ck up! The best gay jokes I ever heard in my life were told to me by gay male friends who learned to love themselves and don't give two sh*ts about who doesn't love or accept them. They found themselves and accept who they are. They don't need to get all butt hurt over jokes. The funniest black jokes I ever heard were told to me by black folks I taught in college. I grew up in a 35% black town.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you're trying to fight some LBGQ battle, this ain't it! I remember days that gays, blacks and other minorities really had something to whine about. You do not! Life for your generation was easy compared to those who went before you.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">N: “One last thing ... if you wish to be accepted and treated with respect, vulgarity and insults won't help you in the least. If you want to be treated with class and dignity, blasphemy isn't going to generate much respect from others. You do much better learning and developing grace.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">L2: “N, ok boomer.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;"> </p><br /><br /><br /><br /></span>Barb Chanskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111608904463961090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35582896.post-30869661421865244072022-01-04T23:57:00.002-05:002022-01-04T23:57:25.454-05:00FACEBOOK ADVENTURES, Part 1<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I decided to try and document some of the more “amusing” stuff that routinely happens to me whenever I try to, erm, dialogue with the other side (otherwise known as THE DERANGED LEFT) on social media. This is part one. </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-715f5dcf-7fff-80e7-d725-eda73d75969b"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is a page on Facebook called Weird History; I honestly don’t know why I still follow it - because for every post that is actually interesting, educational, or inspired, they manage to produce about ten that amount to no more than left-wing propaganda, the bashing of the whities, the reaffirmation of the hate towards the West (especially the USA), and the mocking of anything remotely related to Christianity (and, of course, Judaism - for company).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">About a week ago they, once again, decided to demonstrate how stupid an average American is by posting some kind of kookie exchange relating to the origins of the “Arabic” numerals. I had a lot to say on that post, but all I did was point out that they are Indian numerals, not Arabic - and the floodgates opened….</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They were the usual emoticon reactions to my utterance - likes from people who probably had the same opinion, smiley faces from a bunch of people who thought that I was an idiot (unsurprisingly, a lot of them had Arab- and Jewish- sounding last names), and hearts from people who, I guess, applauded my daring (also, some of them had last names like Patel and Singh, so, I assume that they were duly grateful for my defense of the honor of their people and their homeland). Of course, it did not stop at emoticons - I got the usual barrage of comments that called into question my mental acuity, my education (and the possible lack of such), my familiarity with people and cultures different from mine, my level of tolerance, etc, etc, etc, etc. Obviously, my subsequent comment pointing out the fact of Arabs invading huge swaths of land, and claiming credit for scientific discoveries of superior cultures that they subjugated and forced into Islam produced the expected steam coming from all the orifices of the tolerant Left, who long ago accepted as fact that only Europeans ever waged the wars of conquest - and the rest is just hateful propaganda.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But forget all this - the best was the following exchange: one of the snooty comments directed at me claimed that “someone never visited Saudi Arabia, and it shows.” I assume that you have to go there in order to appreciate the superior intelligence of Arabs, and also get confirmation that they, and not Indians, invented the blessed numerals? Anyway, I politely pointed out to that genius that, as a Jew, I can’t really sojourn to the exotic lands of Saudis, woe on my head! The response? “Well, how was I supposed to know that you are a Jew?!! Simmer down there, Karen!” The love for Arabs is so great that their intolerance and anti-Semitism are completely forgotten! That self-proclaimed defender of human rights finds it A-OK for Jews not to be allowed into a whole bunch of countries populated by the enlightened and oh-so-brilliant Arabs! While telling me off, the possibility of my not being allowed to travel into those holy lands doesn’t even enter this extra educated mind! The usual sensitivity to the persecuted minorities is never afforded us, but I am a “Karen” (incidentally, I really hate this racist epithet!) for pointing it out! Curtains….</span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>Barb Chanskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111608904463961090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35582896.post-41890062540184665672021-08-04T20:18:00.000-04:002021-08-04T20:18:21.778-04:009/12?<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are a lot of people in our country who look back on September 12, 2001 with a sort of nostalgia and longing - because, even though the country was in shock and in mourning, we, as Americans, were united; united in our mutual love for our great country, despite our differences. </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-581cad96-7fff-08bd-a0f8-ea2f0ec13757"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My recollections of that time are a bit hazy and still somewhat painful, but one thing I knew even then - not everyone woke up the morning after the attacks as a much more decent human and a proud patriot; and the more I leaned with passing time, the bleaker the emerging picture got. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First of all, there were some people who just remained the scum of the universe - like the pickpockets who stole my wallet and cell phone on the crowded subway car the week after the tragedy, then went on the shopping spree with my credit cards, and kept calling our house from my phone and leaving taunting messages.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then there were psychotic morons like Katha Pollitt, who could not let her traumatized child hang the American flag because it stands for colonialism, jingoism, and whatever other -isms the Left usually applied to our country - no extra explosions of patriotism from these people.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And then there was Ta-Nehisi Coates….</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If the future historians would be at all honest, Coates would go down in history for this quote: “We arrived two months before September 11, 2001. I suppose everyone who was in New York that day has a story. Here is mine: That evening, I stood on the roof of an apartment building with your mother, your aunt Chana, and her boyfriend, Jamal. So we were there on the roof, talking and taking in the sight—great plumes of smoke covered Manhattan Island. Everyone knew someone who knew someone who was missing. But looking out upon the ruins of America, my heart was cold. I had disasters all my own. The officer who killed Prince Jones (a friend of Coates’), like all the officers who regard us so warily, was the sword of the American citizenry. I would never consider any American citizen pure. I was out of sync with the city. I kept thinking about how southern Manhattan had always been Ground Zero for us. They auctioned our bodies down there, in that same devastated, and rightly named, financial district. And there was once a burial ground for the auctioned there. They built a department store over part of it and then tried to erect a government building over another part. Only a community of right-thinking black people stopped them. I had not formed any of this into a coherent theory. But I did know that Bin Laden was not the first man to bring terror to that section of the city. I never forgot that. Neither should you. In the days after, I watched the ridiculous pageantry of flags, the machismo of firemen, the overwrought slogans. Damn it all. Prince Jones was dead. And hell upon those who tell us to be twice as good and shoot us no matter. Hell for ancestral fear that put black parents under terror. And hell upon those who shatter the holy vessel. I could see no difference between the officer who killed Prince Jones and the police who died, or the firefighters who died. They were not human to me. Black, white, or whatever, they were the menaces of nature; they were the fire, the comet, the storm, which could—with no justification—shatter my body.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That masterpiece of sociopathic hatred towards our country comes from the book titled Between the World and Me - it’s a letter addressed to his son! </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A lot of people rightly blame Barack Obama for the racial unrest of today - but Obama did not start it; moreover, he would not have been able to sow the seeds if he did not have a very fertile ground for these seeds to be sown, fertilized, and thrive. The black hatred began long before his time - with the Nation of Islam, Black Panthers, Black Liberation Army, Rainbow Coalition, and others. These people were (and are) radically different (pun not intended) from Dr. King and his teachings; they were not proud Americans demanding their Constitutional rights, oh no! That crew hated the USA with every fiber of their being, and all they wanted (and still want) is the total destruction of the country that we love so dearly.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For about six hours I suffered through one hundred and thirty five pages of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ hateful, virulent, psychotic America-hating bile written to his son (ironically, the dude actually knows how to write well). I did this in order to delve (at least for a fraction) into the mindset of these people - and to confirm my (at this point long-standing) theory: we can not share our country with them! </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You see, there would always be the scummy bottom-dwellers who would never miss an opportunity to steal, rob, and make an easy buck no matter the times (national tragedy included). There would always be disgusting crazies like Pollitt (who, after all, at least allowed her daughter to hang the American flag in her room). We should protect ourselves from the first, and loudly and relentlessly fight the second.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Coates and his ilk, on the other hand, are in our faces Fifth Column. I am sure that if his son wanted to fly the American flag on 9/12, not only would he not have been allowed to do it in any way, shape, or form - they would probably have had a public flag burning ceremony instead!</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Everyone who hates our country the way these people do - and who, moreover, does not acknowledge the legitimacy of the United States of America - should not be allowed to remain here and to maintain our citizenship. They should be permanently stripped of that citizenship, given a set time to set their affairs in order, and then forced to permanently depart our country! </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And, no, my dear friends, 9/12 and after was not really a time of great unity and resurgent patriotism - and you would do well to remember this….</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gear up and prepare to fight - because our complacency and sheer naivete allowed The Fifth Column to make great inroads in transforming our country and diminishing our freedom! </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">May The One Above bless and protect our beloved US of A! </span></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span>Barb Chanskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111608904463961090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35582896.post-11748988297062961362021-06-30T00:53:00.007-04:002021-06-30T00:54:39.358-04:00A MESSAGE OF HOPE<p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Burt Prelutsky (himself a secular Jew) once noted that religious Jews in America probably have more in common with devout Christians than they do with their left wing progressive brethren. Unfortunately, I knew that before I read his article, and in the intervening years I saw more and more examples confirming this sad fact. I pray for my lost brothers and sisters; I hope that they will be granted the clarity of vision to find the way back to the truth, to the real pride in their heritage, and to Heavenly Father - and I hope that I personally can (at least most of the time) teach them by example. </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-87dc6f39-7fff-7ed9-3fd6-b708be5277f0"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, this is not why I remembered Burt’s observation; as we all know, Gd works in mysterious ways, and a lot of times His messages come from somewhat unexpected places. </span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These past two years have been extremely challenging to the USA, Israel, and the Jews - and each day seems to bring more and more bad news. I firmly believe that He has a plan that we can’t possibly see, and we should never, ever lose hope - or consider ourselves defeated (unhorsed, possibly, using a line from one of my beloved romance novels, but not defeated!); but sometimes the constant barrage of enemy fire gets to be a bit too much for my psyche.</span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A few days ago I caught a little video of </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kayleigh McEnany talking about her upcoming book, the title of which is For Such a Time as This; Kayleigh pointed out that the title does come from the Bible, and kept asking the audience if they recognized the quote. Since I usually read the holy texts in Hebrew (or in the translation very different from King James or NIV), I could not immediately pinpoint the correct source - but something told me that it was from Esther. Sure enough, it was from Esther - and Kayleigh explained that the reason she used that phrase is because she firmly believes that she was put on this Earth, in her body, with her parents, with her family - for such a time as this.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Book of Esther - the first and foremost theme of which is Gd’s hidden ways! That was the message - I am Hidden, but I am with you! You know the truth, you know the enemy - and you were put here for such a time as this! You know the stakes of this fight; don’t stay silent, don’t put down your sword, keep fighting - and I am here with you!</span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Father chose this brave patriot and devout Catholic to send me a message of encouragement and hope! May He always protect His people, the people who truly believe in Him, the Holy Land, and this wonderful country! Blessings to Kaleigh, Baby Blake, and her entire family! We were all put on this Earth for such a time as this - let us keep our hope, and keep fighting! </span></p><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>Barb Chanskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111608904463961090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35582896.post-12241611131621814072021-06-15T16:44:00.000-04:002021-06-15T16:44:05.238-04:00UNBEATABLE LOGIC <p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Beloved Niece: </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Can I make you a ponytail? </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sure....</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Papi, you have a lot of grey hair! </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well, thanks for reminding me...</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">You didn't know you have grey hair?</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">August 5, 2012</span></p>Barb Chanskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111608904463961090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35582896.post-34981143793401398652021-06-15T16:40:00.000-04:002021-06-15T16:40:16.072-04:00KIDS ARE FUNNY<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Conversation with my 2-year-old niece: </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Where are we going? </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">To the zoo. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">No, I don't want to go to the zoo! I want to go to the library! </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why? </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I want books! I need books! </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Definitely related...</span></p><p><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Segoe UI Historic, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">August 9, 2012</span></span></p>Barb Chanskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111608904463961090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35582896.post-43348542405272070982021-06-15T16:27:00.003-04:002021-06-15T16:27:20.115-04:00HA!<p> <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Segoe UI Historic, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">My Minnie Mouse suitcase scared all the ladies on the bus - nobody wanted to sit with me! Hurray for demented fashion!</span></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Segoe UI Historic, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">September 21, 2012</span></span></span></p>Barb Chanskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111608904463961090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35582896.post-85961592827976219702021-06-15T16:20:00.002-04:002021-06-15T21:41:40.935-04:00FUN IN BROOKLYN<p>Upon opening the freezer was attacked by the flying objects; upon further investigation, conducted by the roomie and yours truly, it was concluded that, since the attackers were cabbage relatives and peasant bread, the attack itself was, most probably, ordered by the IRA. </p><p>October 15, 2012</p><p><br /></p>Barb Chanskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111608904463961090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35582896.post-70306616298413099302021-06-15T16:11:00.001-04:002021-06-15T16:11:24.436-04:00PET'S LOVE<p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Curry does not spend a lot of time on my bed. If he deigns to come, his usual routine is to jump to my left hand, go around my head, walk on my hair, make a circle, and jump off in the vicinity of my right foot. Today, after making a circle around my head, he landed by my shoulder and just stayed, letting me pet him, breathing and purring in my ear - as if he knew that I needed to be comforted.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">November 7, 2012</span></p>Barb Chanskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111608904463961090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35582896.post-91372214320752070682021-06-15T15:55:00.003-04:002021-06-15T15:55:58.239-04:00BABY BRO AT HIS BEST <p> <span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Missed all the excitement! It looks like NYPD was knocking on every single door, looking for a man with a dog; Benny informed them that we only have 2 cats, and there is also an older sister in the apartment, after which they went to knock on the next door.</span></p><p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">November 8, 2012</span></p><p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="stjgntxs ni8dbmo4 l82x9zwi uo3d90p7 h905i5nu monazrh9" data-visualcompletion="ignore-dynamic" style="border-radius: 0px 0px 8px 8px; font-family: inherit; overflow: hidden;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="cwj9ozl2 tvmbv18p" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 4px;"></div></div></div></div>Barb Chanskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111608904463961090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35582896.post-48677711397721098502021-06-09T18:06:00.000-04:002021-06-09T18:06:17.160-04:00THE BIG BROTHER<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Love of a big brother: Beloved Nephew refused to get in the stroller as he hates Martian plastic (which was needed due to rain); claimed that he is not at all tired to walk to school for three blocks; agreed to go in when informed that his baby sister is not feeling very well and can't be outside for too long - ergo, if he gets in, we can walk much faster :)</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">April 1, 2011</span></p>Barb Chanskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111608904463961090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35582896.post-9957901755599234002021-06-09T17:05:00.001-04:002021-06-09T17:05:19.745-04:00THE BLESSING OF FREEDOM<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Granddaughter of a man who was politely informed by KGB that he will rot in USSR, and a woman who was cursed by Russians for producing too many Jewish kids, was complimented by her teacher for doing extra Hebrew homework; Gd bless this country!</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">May 31, 2011</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p>Barb Chanskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111608904463961090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35582896.post-73414132433551253582021-06-03T16:12:00.008-04:002021-06-03T16:43:31.205-04:00KIDS ARE FUNNY<p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Beloved Niece: "Papi, I want to tell you a secret! There was a man and a woman in the elevator, and they did this (showing a pucker)". "Yes, sweetness, they were kissing each other." "Do they want to get married?"</span></p><p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">August 15, 2011</span></p><p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I, to Beloved Nephew: "do you know that I love your nose?" "You love every part of me, Papi! You know how I know? Because you love me!"</span></p><p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">August 14, 2011</span></p><p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Beloved Nephew is spending too much time in my company:</span></p><p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Serenity now! This is not your light, Mister! You are not the mater of the road!" But the last one is all his beautiful sweetness: "Hashem is the Master of the road!"</span></p><p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">August 11, 2011</span></p><p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p>Barb Chanskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111608904463961090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35582896.post-67249025073563812652021-05-24T19:18:00.000-04:002021-05-24T19:18:18.106-04:00ANOTHER "COMPLEMENT"<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">This was a really funny moment at one of my friends' Shabbat table:</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">"...and now I despise EPA because of what Jewish press was writing; I was duly surprised to hear this as EPA is on my hit list for about 12 years, during which I read JP exactly 24 times (I think)....Really enjoy these snippets of mind reading sessions..."</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">October 9, 2011</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p>Barb Chanskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111608904463961090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35582896.post-82062925052215230782021-03-14T21:54:00.003-04:002021-03-14T21:54:23.141-04:00WORK FUNNIES<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Next person to tell me that we are on our last bottle of water will be waterboarded using this remaining bottle!!</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">May 26, 2010</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p>Barb Chanskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111608904463961090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35582896.post-64921897422925286342021-03-14T21:26:00.005-04:002021-03-14T21:26:46.984-04:00SCENES FROM SOUTH BROOKLYN, EPISODE 1<p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Segoe UI Historic, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">My non-existent hat goes off to the true dedication for elegance; why else would a young matron come to do laundry in pantyhose and and 4 inch wedge sandals?</span></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Segoe UI Historic, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">June 11, 2010</span></span></span></p>Barb Chanskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111608904463961090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35582896.post-53534095113346973452021-03-14T21:22:00.005-04:002021-03-14T21:22:57.770-04:00MY TIMELESS FASHION ADVICE FOR MEN<p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Segoe UI Historic, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gentlemen, once you start going bold, accept realty and just shave your head - as gross as comb-overs are, there is nothing like a wig to really make you look pitiful.</span></span></span></p>Barb Chanskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111608904463961090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35582896.post-57352395929607947072021-03-14T21:17:00.005-04:002021-03-14T21:17:51.879-04:00SHOPPING FOR CLOTHES, NUMBER WHATEVER<p> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;">Attempted to give the clothing industry a chance to redeem itself; my olive branch was met with disdain and </span></span><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">hauteur</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;">June 17, 2010</span></span></p><p><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="stjgntxs ni8dbmo4 l82x9zwi uo3d90p7 h905i5nu monazrh9" data-visualcompletion="ignore-dynamic" style="border-radius: 0px 0px 8px 8px; font-family: inherit; overflow: hidden;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="l9j0dhe7" style="font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><div class="bp9cbjyn m9osqain j83agx80 jq4qci2q bkfpd7mw a3bd9o3v kvgmc6g5 wkznzc2l oygrvhab dhix69tm jktsbyx5 rz4wbd8a osnr6wyh a8nywdso s1tcr66n" style="align-items: center; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--divider); color: var(--secondary-text); display: flex; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; justify-content: flex-end; line-height: 1.3333; margin: 0px 16px; padding: 10px 0px;"><div class="bp9cbjyn j83agx80 buofh1pr ni8dbmo4 stjgntxs" style="align-items: center; display: flex; flex-grow: 1; font-family: inherit; overflow: hidden;"></div><div class="kb5gq1qc pfnyh3mw c0wkt4kp" style="flex-grow: 0; flex-shrink: 0; font-family: inherit; width: 7px;"></div><div class="bp9cbjyn j83agx80 pfnyh3mw p1ueia1e" style="align-items: center; display: flex; flex-shrink: 0; font-family: inherit; height: 22px;"><div class="gtad4xkn" style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 7px;"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41" style="align-items: inherit; 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padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; user-select: none; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><div class="n00je7tq arfg74bv qs9ysxi8 k77z8yql i09qtzwb n7fi1qx3 b5wmifdl hzruof5a pmk7jnqg j9ispegn kr520xx4 c5ndavph art1omkt ot9fgl3s rnr61an3" data-visualcompletion="ignore" style="background-color: var(--hover-overlay); border-radius: 4px; font-family: inherit; inset: 0px; opacity: 0; pointer-events: none; position: absolute; transition-duration: var(--fds-duration-extra-extra-short-out); transition-property: opacity; transition-timing-function: var(--fds-animation-fade-out);"></div></div><div aria-label="React" class="oajrlxb2 gs1a9yip g5ia77u1 mtkw9kbi tlpljxtp qensuy8j ppp5ayq2 goun2846 ccm00jje s44p3ltw mk2mc5f4 rt8b4zig n8ej3o3l agehan2d sk4xxmp2 rq0escxv nhd2j8a9 pq6dq46d mg4g778l btwxx1t3 pfnyh3mw p7hjln8o kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x tgvbjcpo hpfvmrgz b4ylihy8 rz4wbd8a b40mr0ww a8nywdso pmk7jnqg i1ao9s8h esuyzwwr f1sip0of du4w35lb lzcic4wl abiwlrkh p8dawk7l pphx12oy hmalg0qr q45zohi1 g0aa4cga" role="button" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; 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font-family: inherit; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; padding: 6px 4px; position: relative; z-index: 0;"><i class="hu5pjgll m6k467ps sp_6BltXiDPRrg_1_5x sx_910e84" style="background-image: url("/rsrc.php/v3/yS/r/Bg40KqdGJZv.png"); background-position: -20px -196px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: 74px 348px; display: inline-block; filter: var(--filter-secondary-icon); height: 18px; vertical-align: -0.25em; width: 18px;"></i></div><div class="rq0escxv l9j0dhe7 du4w35lb j83agx80 cbu4d94t pfnyh3mw d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz ph5uu5jm b3onmgus iuny7tx3 ipjc6fyt" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-shrink: 0; font-family: inherit; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; padding: 6px 4px; position: relative; z-index: 0;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql rrkovp55 a8c37x1j keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v lrazzd5p m9osqain" dir="auto" style="color: var(--secondary-text); display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; font-weight: 600; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="n00je7tq arfg74bv qs9ysxi8 k77z8yql i09qtzwb n7fi1qx3 b5wmifdl hzruof5a pmk7jnqg j9ispegn kr520xx4 c5ndavph art1omkt ot9fgl3s rnr61an3" data-visualcompletion="ignore" style="background-color: var(--hover-overlay); border-radius: 4px; font-family: inherit; inset: 0px; opacity: 0; pointer-events: none; position: absolute; transition-duration: var(--fds-duration-extra-extra-short-out); transition-property: opacity; transition-timing-function: var(--fds-animation-fade-out);"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="cwj9ozl2 tvmbv18p" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 4px;"><span class="rfua0xdk pmk7jnqg pfx3uekm ay7djpcl ema1e40h q45zohi1" data-html2canvas-ignore="true" style="clip-path: inset(50%); clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); font-family: inherit; height: 1px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; width: 1px;"></span></div></div></div></div>Barb Chanskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111608904463961090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35582896.post-85614229187628770992021-03-14T21:11:00.000-04:002021-03-14T21:11:16.535-04:00WORK FUNNIES<p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Segoe UI Historic, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I love working with creative people! For a few months we have been looking for office camera, and nobody knew where it was; today, yours truly opens the storage and is promptly assaulted by a flashlight; after remembering all the choice words in step-mama language, I replace the flashlight - and, lo and behold, here is the effin camera!! Good thing I was not efficient enough to trash the recharger...</span></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Segoe UI Historic, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">June 21, 2010</span></span></span></p>Barb Chanskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111608904463961090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35582896.post-19505831716774384342021-03-10T23:12:00.002-05:002021-03-10T23:12:44.086-05:00MAZAL TOV, MINI BELOVED SIBLING!<p>This is post number eight hundred on this blog - honestly, wow! </p><p>As per established tradition, I dedicate this entry to something - or, rather, someone - special; in this case, my wonderful niece, my Beloved Sibling's oldest, to whom, if the memory serves me right, I have been referring as Mini Beloved Sibling. The following is the speech that I gave at her Bat Mitzvah; granted, three years passes since, but who is counting? Also, after delivering the said speech I was advised to become a motivational speaker - laughs galore.</p><p><span style="font-family: New; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Good Evening, Everyone</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: New; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My apologies – as any self-respecting American, I will speak in English.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: New; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mazal Tov to my dear niece, to my sister, my brother in law, and all our extended families!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: New; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was your first official babysitter, sweetheart, – but I will refrain from the usual stories that loving aunts so enjoy to impart. Well, maybe one – when you were all of eight months old, we had to go to the Court House, where not one, but two judges pronounced you smarter than 90% of the jurors they got.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: New; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now, to get a little more serious, I want to talk about the special time of your birth. You were born on Chanukah. If you look at our holidays, Chanukah is considered a minor one – well, nice American gentiles think that it’s a major Jewish holiday, because it happens in the winter…well, it’s a minor holiday when we remember the miracle of the oil and gain about 5-10 pounds by eating latkas and sufganiout. We also periodically forget what precisely we are celebrating, because it’s not just the miracle of the oil - it’s a miracle of defeating our enemies against all odds; the miracle of our spiritual survival; the victory in the bloody civil war that our ancestors fought against other Jews who refused to be Jews</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: New; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you look at the more modern history, nothing reminds of Chanukah more than the Communist regimes. They were also going to build a glorious new world - only, unlike Hellenists, whose culture became the foundation for the magnificence that is Western civilization, Communists destroyed culture; and, tragically, a lot of the Communists were Jews. Jews that disavowed religion as the opium for the masses - and were actively trying to erase any and all religious observance, beginning, of course, with Judaism. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: New; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">This, my beautiful girl, was the country where your mother, your aunt, and your uncles were born. Being a religious Jew was an almost impossible task; there was no Torah education; teaching Hebrew was punishable by jail; same went for being a Zionist.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: New; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But our family managed to leave, to find freedom, and to re-discover our heritage. You were the first member of our family to be born on free soil – and you were born on Chanukah, the holiday on which we celebrate our spiritual survival. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: New; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You, my dear niece, your brother, your sisters – you are the biggest blessings; you are also our victory dance! Here, tonight, in the Holy Land, we celebrate your bat mitzvah! Believe me, nothing else says “we won” like this evening!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: New; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I want to thank The Heavenly Father for all the blessings that He bestowed on our family, and for His constant protection. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: New; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I wish you health and much happiness, my beloved niece! May you continue to be sweet, loving, talented, and wonderful; may you grow up to be a great bat Yisrael, and may The Heavenly Father bless you!</span></p>Barb Chanskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111608904463961090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35582896.post-86223719309301122812021-03-10T22:12:00.002-05:002021-03-10T22:12:54.122-05:00SIMPLE BRILLIANCE <p> <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Segoe UI Historic, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">A brilliant phrase just uttered by a co-worker: "Race - Bureaucrat; religion probably too"! (speaking of the very hard-working employee of the New York City Department of Design and Construction).</span></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Segoe UI Historic, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">July 15, 2010</span></span></span></p>Barb Chanskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18111608904463961090noreply@blogger.com0