Haaretz
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Children of abusive mother ask for leniency in sentencing
YNet
Jerusalem District Court debates sentencing of Beit Shemesh woman convicted of abusing six of her 12 children. Eleven of them appear in court, say abuse was result of mental illness, ask for leniency
Jerusalem District Court debates sentencing of Beit Shemesh woman convicted of abusing six of her 12 children. Eleven of them appear in court, say abuse was result of mental illness, ask for leniency
Obama, Big Pharma, & you (mimus you)
Newsweek
So it looks as though we are going to get a health-care-reform bill. Now the question is whether it will be reform, or "reform": whether it will improve the way we care for people in this country or, for the most part, be a taxpayer-funded boon to the warped and wasteful industry we already know. Call me naive or cynical—or both—but I can't quite get my mind around the notion that the way to bring "change we can believe in" is to cut an upfront deal with Billy Tauzin. (Click here to follow Howard Fineman).
Nothing against Billy, of course. At 66, Wilbert Joseph "Billy" Tauzin II is what he is: a Louisiana politician and former congressman with the Bayou-bred knack for cloaking brainpower and bare-knuckle tactics in bonhomie; a masterful mixologist of power and money; and, since 2005, the president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, which he joined (for a reported $2.5 million a year) shortly after playing the key congressional role in enacting a Medicare prescription-drug plan that is a bonanza for the industry he now (officially) serves.
Barack Obama ran on the claim that he would be the new sheriff in town, that he and his posse of fresh-faced Rhodes Scholars would tame the capital's ruling class. But the first thing that he and his tacticians, Rahm Emanuel and Jim Messina, did on health care was to strike a bargain with Tauzin. Big Pharma, it was agreed last June, would kick in $80 billion over 10 years to help shrink the "donut hole" in seniors' Medicare prescription-drug coverage and would spend $150 million on a pro-reform ad campaign. In exchange, the White House would oppose congressional attempts to extract more, and would specifically fight two common-sense, long-overdue reforms that Big Pharma fears most: allowing imports of cheaper drugs and empowering Medicare to negotiate directly with the industryto keep prices down, as the VA long has done. The administration has similar understandings with other stakeholders, such as the hospital and doctors' groups—and still hopes to engineer one with the health insurers. [...[
So it looks as though we are going to get a health-care-reform bill. Now the question is whether it will be reform, or "reform": whether it will improve the way we care for people in this country or, for the most part, be a taxpayer-funded boon to the warped and wasteful industry we already know. Call me naive or cynical—or both—but I can't quite get my mind around the notion that the way to bring "change we can believe in" is to cut an upfront deal with Billy Tauzin. (Click here to follow Howard Fineman).
Nothing against Billy, of course. At 66, Wilbert Joseph "Billy" Tauzin II is what he is: a Louisiana politician and former congressman with the Bayou-bred knack for cloaking brainpower and bare-knuckle tactics in bonhomie; a masterful mixologist of power and money; and, since 2005, the president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, which he joined (for a reported $2.5 million a year) shortly after playing the key congressional role in enacting a Medicare prescription-drug plan that is a bonanza for the industry he now (officially) serves.
Barack Obama ran on the claim that he would be the new sheriff in town, that he and his posse of fresh-faced Rhodes Scholars would tame the capital's ruling class. But the first thing that he and his tacticians, Rahm Emanuel and Jim Messina, did on health care was to strike a bargain with Tauzin. Big Pharma, it was agreed last June, would kick in $80 billion over 10 years to help shrink the "donut hole" in seniors' Medicare prescription-drug coverage and would spend $150 million on a pro-reform ad campaign. In exchange, the White House would oppose congressional attempts to extract more, and would specifically fight two common-sense, long-overdue reforms that Big Pharma fears most: allowing imports of cheaper drugs and empowering Medicare to negotiate directly with the industryto keep prices down, as the VA long has done. The administration has similar understandings with other stakeholders, such as the hospital and doctors' groups—and still hopes to engineer one with the health insurers. [...[
Sex offenders barred from places of Worship
Time
North Carolina is a proud member of the so-called Bible Belt of states that take their religion seriously. So some eyebrows were raised when James Nichols was arrested for attending church.
His offense? Nichols, a convicted sex offender, had chosen to worship at a church that has a nursery where kids play while their parents pray. Now Nichols, 31, who only recently got out of prison, is fighting back, challenging the legality of a new law that took effect in December prohibiting registered sex offenders from coming within 300 ft. — nearly a football field's length — of any facility devoted to the use, care or supervision of minors. (See pictures of John 3:16 in pop culture.)
As more states have adopted laws regulating where sex offenders can go, it was only a matter of time before the noble goal of protecting children butted heads with the sacrosanct First Amendment right to worship where and when you choose. Which takes precedence? [...]
North Carolina is a proud member of the so-called Bible Belt of states that take their religion seriously. So some eyebrows were raised when James Nichols was arrested for attending church.
His offense? Nichols, a convicted sex offender, had chosen to worship at a church that has a nursery where kids play while their parents pray. Now Nichols, 31, who only recently got out of prison, is fighting back, challenging the legality of a new law that took effect in December prohibiting registered sex offenders from coming within 300 ft. — nearly a football field's length — of any facility devoted to the use, care or supervision of minors. (See pictures of John 3:16 in pop culture.)
As more states have adopted laws regulating where sex offenders can go, it was only a matter of time before the noble goal of protecting children butted heads with the sacrosanct First Amendment right to worship where and when you choose. Which takes precedence? [...]
Change in the Arab Middle-East
CNN
The Arab Middle East teaches minorities some tough life lessons and shapes them in ways that might surprise you. While the effect of a conservative patriarchal society is expected to keep people under the thumb of tradition, culture and tribal and religious beliefs — sometimes too much oppression and control yields opposite results.
Having lived in several parts of the Middle East as a child, I learned that a woman doesn't exist except as someone's daughter, sister, wife or mother. Her opinion is not required, her emotions don't count and she has no rights whatsoever – except those granted to her by a male.
With a few recent exceptions, an Arab woman's testimony is not accepted in court. Most Arab women can't travel outside their countries without permission from a male guardian, and most Arab women still can't give nationality to their children. In Saudi Arabia women are not even allowed to drive cars. A popular Arabic saying describes it best: a good woman "has a mouth that eats but not one that speaks." [...]
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Gra: Torah comes from the poor - not the rich
כתר ראש אורחות חיים
סח] הזהרו בבני עניים שמהם תצא תורה' [נדרים פא.], והיינו שבני עניים מקבלים פעולה בהישיבה יותר מבני העשירים, מפני שאבותיהם לא הרבו עליהם בהוצאות שכר למוד ונשאר אצלם הכל בכח ובהישיבה מוציאים מכח אל הפועל, ולא כן בני חעשירים. שכבר הוציאו עליהם למלמדים מופלגים כו׳ כל מה שהיה בכוחם הוציאו אל הפועל, ומזה תקיש לשאר אופניםל פ ):
לט)להתחבר עם עניים והמתנהגים בשפלות, ולישב עמהם בכדי שיסתפק במה שימצא את עצמו (באור רבינו משלי ט״ז ייט) < וכמו מעשה דר״ע שמצא הצשיר יושב בין הנגניים.
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