Tuesday, June 22, 2021
Neil Postman - Foreword to Amusing Ourselves to Death
https://www.tau.ac.il/education/muse/maslool/boidem/170foreword.html
We were keeping our eye on 1984. When the year came and the prophecy
didn’t, thoughtful Americans sang softly in praise of themselves. The
roots of liberal democracy had held. Wherever else the terror had
happened, we, at least, had not been visited by Orwellian nightmares.
But we had forgotten that alongside Orwell’s dark vision, there was
another—slightly older, slightly less well known, equally chilling:
Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Contrary to common belief even among
the educated, Huxley and Orwell did not prophesy the same thing. Orwell
warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression.
But in Huxley’s vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of
their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come
to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their
capacities to think.
What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley
feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would
be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would
deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so
much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared
that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would
be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a
captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture,
preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and
the centrifugal bumblepuppy. As Huxley remarked in Brave New World
Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the
alert to oppose tyranny “failed to take into account man’s almost
infinite appetite for distractions.” In 1984, Huxley added, people are
controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled
by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will
ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us.
This book is about the possibility that Huxley, not Orwell, was right.
My dad predicted Trump in 1985 – it's not Orwell, he warned, it's Brave New World
The central argument of Amusing Ourselves is simple: there were two landmark dystopian novels written by brilliant British cultural critics – Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell – and we Americans had mistakenly feared and obsessed over the vision portrayed in the latter book (an information-censoring, movement-restricting, individuality-emaciating state) rather than the former (a technology-sedating, consumption-engorging, instant-gratifying bubble).
Unfortunately, there remained a vision we Americans did need to guard against, one that was percolating right then, in the 1980s. The president was a former actor and polished communicator. Our political discourse (if you could call it that) was day by day diminished to soundbites (“Where’s the beef?” and “I’m paying for this microphone” became two “gotcha” moments, apparently testifying to the speaker’s political formidableness).
Weil Gotshal Files Federal Lawsuit Against Fort Lee’s ‘The Colony’ Over Religious Discrimination
Plaintiffs and other Sabbath observant residents of the building, most of whom are elderly and/or physically handicapped, are religiously prohibited from operating the building’s elevators on the Sabbath, and have relied on building staff for assistance for more than 16 years. In May 2019, shareholders of the building voted in favor of a Sabbath elevator program, which operated in the service elevators only, and allowed the Sabbath-observant residents greater independence and dignity.
Monday, June 21, 2021
Sunday, June 20, 2021
Covid-19 outbreak: Health Ministry orders even those already vaccinate to isolate
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/308394
Case identified in Beit She'an is woman who recently traveled to Dubai. Fears of partially vaccine-resistant Indian mutation mount.
The so-called Indian mutation is known to be partially resistant to
coronavirus vaccines currently in use. According to a report from Reuters,
antibodies in blood from people who received both doses of the Pfizer
vaccine were found to be between three and six times less potent against
the Indian mutation than against other common variants, including the
"South African" mutation, according to a report posted on the website bioRxiv.
Troubled US teens left traumatised by tough love camps
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57442175\
Saturday, June 19, 2021
Thursday, June 17, 2021
UK chief rabbi axes educator after she receives Orthodox rabbinic ordination
A recent graduate of the Yeshivat Maharat Orthodox egalitarian rabbinical school in New York has been banned from teaching at the London School of Jewish Studies (LSJS), whose president is UK Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis.
The disqualification of Dr. Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz, who has won praise across religious denominations for pursuing her rabbinic studies, brings to the fore an ongoing controversy about Orthodox semicha, or rabbinical ordination, for women.
An increasing number of those in the Modern Orthodox community would like to see recognition of women rabbis, while those on the religious right continue to maintain that it is against tradition. At the same time, the coronavirus pandemic has tempted some Modern Orthodox Jews to join Progressive congregations that offer options such as Zoom services on Shabbat — something prohibited by Orthodox law.
Huge billboards outside Bennett's home: Keep your promises!
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/308263
The billboards, which were hung at intersections near the Bennett family home in Raanana, display a quote from the new Prime Minister who in November 2019 called to "eliminate the Hamas leadership in Gaza.” Also prominent on the billboards is a demand of the new government to enunciate and enact a new policy toward the terrorist organization, as well as the words: "The people demand victory!" The aim is to remind Prime Minister Bennett of his promises every time he leaves and returns to his home.
In addition, a video has been published on social media featuring Prime Minister Bennett’s past statements and other promises from recent years, such as: “The entire security concept of the State of Israel over the past 20 years is based on a lack of understanding that we are in the Middle East vis-à-vis Hamas,” “Hamas must understand that it will pay a massive price for any harm to Israeli citizens,” “The State of Israel must not give in to Hamas' threats,” and “I will deal with Hamas.”