I asked my last GF (who was 40 and whip smart and accomplished and a 6-7 in looks without make-up), what percentage of her self-esteem came from her looks. She said, “100%.”
When I’m in a healthy state, connected to God and to people around me and working the 12 Steps every day, I’m solid with my self-esteem. It does not vary. It does not need external validation. I’m glad to be alive and contributing. When I fall into my default unhealthy state, I think I get 20% of my self-esteem from my looks, and 80% from my verbal ability. I get 0% of my self-esteem from the being the biggest loser at almost any shul.
My FFB (Orthodox) friend: “So you converted to the bottom of the totem pole? Your Jewish self esteem AMONGST Jews is close to zero, but AMONGST goyim is high. You wear your kippah and Tzitzit with pride.”
My secular Jewish friend: “The question worth asking yourself, is not knowing what you know now would you convert to Judaism, but in your case had you been anywhere but the United States (and let’s face it, that means for someone born in Australia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Great Britain with the possibility of South Africa pre ANC governance) would you have converted to Judaism.
I believe you needed a sufficiently multicultural environment to feel comfortable converting to Orthodox Judaism. If this is true, it is ironic since only by living in the type of society you deplore would you have considered conversion.”
Posted inPersonal|Comments Off on Where Do You Get Your Self-Esteem?
This is another example of Sailer’s Law of Female Journalism: The most heartfelt articles by female journalists tend to be demands that social values be overturned in order that, Come the Revolution, the journalist herself will be considered hotter-looking.
Technically, it might seem highly possible that somebody named “Teresa Wiltz” has naturally straight hair and is just writing out of a disinterested interest in the topic. But, decades of reading female journalism at its most passionate suggested to me that Ms. Wiltz’s own looks would turn out to highly germane.
Posted inFeminism|Comments Off on Sailer’s Law Of Female Journalists Strikes Again
From iSteve 2007: “Sailer’s Law of Female Journalism: The most heartfelt articles by female journalists tend to be demands that social values be overturned in order that, Come the Revolution, the journalist herself will be considered hotter-looking.”
I quit online dating for a number of reasons. Chief among them was that I did not want to participate in platforms where users are given tools to discriminate based on race.
Regardless of the type of app or site, online dating works better for some than others — a lot better, in fact. If you’re a black woman, as I am, or an Asian man, OkCupid data shows that you’re likely to receive fewer matches and messages.
My experience reflected this trend. It became glaringly obvious that I was getting far fewer matches and messages while online dating than my non-black friends.
The people who design and create these sites and tools are working to address this disparity in user experience, but their attempts and failures show just how deeply ingrained racism is in our society.
Comments at WP:
* Okay – so take away the racial preferences in searches.
It won’t change a thing.
If you have a photo, anyone with a preference can decide based on that. That’s all it is – a preference. If you are rotund and you’re looking for a date with a hot aerobics instructor, you’ll probably be disappointed – because the aerobic instructors have preferences too, and it’s a rare aerobic instructor who wants an out of shape guy, right?
Online dating is like window shopping, except the mannequins don’t get upset if you don’t walk in and make a purchase when you’re window shopping.
It’s a means to potentially get a date. Outcomes are never guaranteed.
* We are bombarded by media telling us race is the most important issue of the day (unless it’s man-made global warming).
But when people go on-line to find a date/spouse/partner, follow suit and make race important it’s a scandal?
I’m mixed-race and I don’t ever consider race a factor in dealing with people on any level. Race hucksters writing for this very paper have said promoting “color-blindness” is not only offensive but actually racist.
MLK must be spinning at about 78 RPM.
* So people aren’t allowed to have dating preferences now?
* Lots of people (most?) want to date within their own racial group. For a lot of reasons, none of which are relevant. You’re entitled to select dating partners from your “type”, whatever that may be.
I get that it’s tough on black women, because in many cases even the black men don’t want to date them. But it makes no sense complaining about the online dating mechanism when the problem lies in peoples’ feelings about what they want.
What’s the alternative? Make online dating racially blind, so that you don’t find out what race your date is until you actually meet him/her, have to spend time in a bar or restaurant, and pay for drinks/dinner for someone you know you’re never going to be in a long term relationship with? Yeah, that makes sense.
* It sounds to me like online dating is the messenger, and nothing else. I’ve dated a few black women, and I have to say that it’s really not a mystery to me why some people would be averse, based on my experiences. I know that’s not even close to a representative sample…but the way our brains work, we don’t do double-blind studies with statistically-valid sample sizes when we assess compatibility based on past experiences. We just don’t.
* Not to be critical, but based on the writer’s photo for the article, maybe she should go for a look a little more flattering than “the Barack Obama.”
* Looks are still the predominant factor, and if you don’t believe me, read “Date Lab.”
* Whether online dating is a success or not depends on your expectations, I think. As a black woman in her early 50s I frankly didn’t expect much. What surprised me, however, was the number of white men who sent me flirts and who wantes to communicate. Even on targeted black sites, white men reached out. I’m not opposed to dating outside of my race, but the amount of interest was unexpected. I’ve chatted with some interesting men of different backgrounds and races. If a friendship develops, great. If a serious relationship happens, then that’s a blessing. But you can’t go into online dating expecting to be blessed. Will people discriminate? Of course, and you will too in order to narrow who you wish to meet, regardless of race. You’ll be better off in the end if you don’t focus on the negative.
* I too am tired of the racial discourse. But, as an ethnic woman in DC (of Indian descent), I think the author is right – compared to my white peers, I received barely any indications of interest through online dating (even though I am slim, athletic, and look good). But – I don’t think it’s an online dating problem. I think it’s just that men in general aren’t really interested in ethnic women, or women of color. This holds true outside the online world – all of my white female friends have gotten married, and had little trouble attracting interest – no matter their weight, looks, or (often toxic) personalities. Most of my ethnic female friends – many of whom are beautiful, articulate, and fun to be around – have received zero interest from men (even men of their own race – all of whom prefer white women, because it is a status symbol).
I don’t want to begrudge anyone their personal tastes – the heart wants what the heart wants. I also think men are rarely adventurous – they usually want what they grew up with and are familiar with. I think the advent of Michelle Obama on the political scene was helpful – I noticed a lot of white guys I work with (all of whom are married to white women) mentioning that she is “hot”. After the Obamas arrived in the White House, I also noticed more white guys walking around with black women – a sight I have rarely seen before.
I think the biggest problem for ethnic women and black women is that our men, after tasting success, immediately race after the ultimate status symbol: a white woman. Indian men (from India) are usually pretty loyal – they prefer dating their own women, unless a white woman chases them down. But I have noticed that a lot of Indian guys born and brought up here prefer white women. I think it’s part of an attempt to assimilate (especially in the post 9/11 era), but I also think it’s a status symbol reach.
* I wonder how the writer did with the responses she received. After about five minutes of listening to her complaining about how unfair life is, they moved on.
* #BlackDatesMatter
* “If you’re a black woman, as I am, or an Asian man, OkCupid data shows that you’re likely to receive fewer matches and messages.”
Oh get over yourself. Its not a black woman thing, or at least not entirely. The data also bears out that if you’re not a very attractive woman, you get less matches and messages. Or if you’re overweight. Or if you _________.
The very nature of online dating is that it does allow people to be pickier about who they match with and message–regardless of what criteria is used. That being said, if a man is weeding out black women, less attractive women, heavier women, unathletic women, etc., its also unlikely those same men would talk to the black/heavy/unattractive/etc women in real life.
This isn’t a black woman issue in online dating. Its that, despite all kinds of advances forwards, there are still plenty of people who don’t necessarily have much interest in dating outside of their race–and that applies in-person and online.
Stop making EVERYTHING a race issue. Especially when it comes to love/dating, sometimes things are PREFERENCE issues, and there’s nothing inherently evil with preferring X over Y. In fact, I’d argue there’s something worse about expecting people to get X and Y equal shots, regardless of what their personal preference may be, when it comes to PERSONAL issues like dating.
* I do think that people are allowed to have a physical “type.” For some people that may mean tall, regardless of race. For others that may mean one race only, regardless of height. I’m sure the author’s experience with online dating has been way more than frustrating, but this is not employment or housing discrimination we’re talking about.
Jan. 2, 2014, Dennis Prager said on his radio show: “I don’t like any ethnic neighborhood. I don’t think it’s the American ideal.”
“I don’t think black neighborhoods are healthy for blacks. I don’t think Mexican neighborhoods are healthy for Mexicans. They’re comfortable.”
Feb. 13, 2014, Dennis said: “A lot of people feel more comfortable with one of their own, unfortunately, racially, ethnically, whatever, I understand that, but that’s where the mind must conquer feelings, particularly if you are religious. Religion must conquer all other feelings or else religion is crap. Either we are all God’s children irrespective of our race or we are not.”
“That you feel more comfortable with people who look like you may well be your human response but it should not be your God-centered response… If religion doesn’t teach us values, it is utterly worthless… Values should always trump feelings.”
A black woman calls in. “Within black culture, you are taught from childhood that you are not to marry white people but then you grow up and you see all these black men marrying white people… When black guys go to college, they will not leave with a black girl. They will only marry a white woman.”
Dennis: “[Maybe] it is time for black women to date white men. Doesn’t love trump race?”
“I didn’t expect this [stand for pro-interracial marriage] to be controversial. I expected to do one segment and move on.”
“This notion about we want to preserve the culture. That’s a very dangerous idea that race and culture are identical. Race is race and culture is culture. What culture does a black atheist and a black evangelical share? Recipes?”
“Either we believe we are all God’s children and character matters infinitely more than skin color or we don’t. If you are religious, then you must ask, what does my religion teach?”
Interracial marriage is growing steadily. From the 1960 to the 1990 Census, white – East Asian married couples increased almost tenfold, while black – white couples quadrupled. The reasons are obvious: greater integration and the decline of white racism. More subtly, interracial marriages are increasingly recognized as epitomizing what our society values most in a marriage: the triumph of true love over convenience and prudence. Nor is it surprising that white – Asian marriages outnumber black – white marriages: the social distance between whites and Asians is now far smaller than the distance between blacks and whites. What’s fascinating, however, is that in recent years a startling number of nonwhites — especially Asian men and black women — have become bitterly opposed to intermarriage.
This is a painful topic to explore honestly, so nobody does. Still, it’s important because interracial marriages are a leading indicator of what life will be like in the even more diverse and integrated twenty-first century. Intermarriages show that integration can churn up unexpected racial conflicts by spotlighting enduring differences between the races.
Blonde British beauty Lowri Turner married an Indian the second time round and she writes:
“She’s getting very dark, isn’t she?” This is what one of my friends recently said about my much adored – 12-week-old daughter.
She didn’t mean to be rude. But it was a comment that struck me with the force of a jab to the stomach.
Immediately, I was overwhelmed by a confusion of emotions. I felt protective, insulted, worried, ashamed, guilty, all at once. The reason? My lovely, wriggly, smiley baby is mixed race.
Now, I think of myself as pretty ‘right on’. My home is on the border of the London Republic of Hackney. I’ve been to the Notting Hill Carnival, even if I found the music a bit loud. Yet now I realise what a ‘white’ world I inhabit.
I am white and I have two sons from my first marriage who are both milky complexioned and golden haired. My twin sister, who I spend a lot of time with, has a Danish partner. As a consequence, she has
two boys who are also pale skinned and flaxen haired.
Into this positively Scandinavian next generation, I have now injected a tiny, dark-skinned, dark-haired girl. To say she
stands out is an understatement.
Some bi-racial children really don’t know which way to turn. It is fashionable to claim that the “tragic mulatto” is a racist myth, but science has tracked him down. Dr. J. Richard Udry’s 2003 study of 90,000 middle- and high-school students found that black/white and white/Asian children were more likely to be depressed, sleep badly, skip school, smoke, drink, consider suicide, and have sex than children of just one race.[Health and Behavior Risks of Adolescents with Mixed-Race Identity, American Journal of Public Health, November 2003]
The authors of a 2008 study reached the same conclusion:
“When it comes to engaging in risky/anti-social adolescent behavior . . . mixed race adolescents are stark outliers compared to both blacks and whites. . . . Mixed race adolescents—not having a natural peer group—need to engage in more risky behaviors to be accepted.” [ “The Plight of Mixed Race Adolescents,” NBER Working Paper No. 14192, July, 2008.]
Other research on white/Asian children found that they were twice as likely as mono-racial children—34 percent vs. 17 percent—to suffer from psychological disorders such as anxiety, depression or drug abuse. (Bi-Racial Asian Americans More Likely to Suffer Psychological Disorder, UCDavis, August 18, 2008)
Instead of moving smoothly between both groups, many mixed-race children don’t feel comfortable in either. When they go to college, such “outcasts,” as they sometimes call themselves, start their own student groups. Harvard, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, UCLA, Bryn Mawr and other campuses have groups with names such as ReMixed, Half and Half, and Mixed Student Union. (The Risks of Multiracial Identification, by Naomi Schaefer Riley, Chronicle of Higher Education, November 10, 2006.)
Miscegenation can be dangerous: Lynn Barkley Burnett and Jonathan Adler, the authors of a 2005 study on domestic violence in the United States, found that “the incidence of spousal homicide is 7.7 times higher in interracial marriages compared to intraracial marriages.” The chances of being killed by your spouse are small, to be sure, but an older study found that white men who married black women were 21.4 times more likely to be killed by their spouses than white men who married white women. A white woman increased her risk of being killed 12.4 times by marrying a black man. (Fatal Violence Among Spouses in the United States, 1976-85, By James A. Mercy and Linda Saltzman American Journal of Public Health, May, 1989.)
…We have the opposite situation today: A ruling class that promotes miscegenation and reviles anyone who opposes it. Together with our mass immigration policies, this spells doom for the survival of whites and their culture.
* After watching the video all I saw was a typical example of black parenting. It’s all too common to see black women smacking and cursing at their children in public, hard to imagine what goes on at home.
* It never, ever looks natural, and yet 99.9% of them try anyway. Even Michelle Obama, with all that money and power at her disposal, couldn’t make it look natural. This must mean that it simply can’t be done.
I’ve heard black women talk about “long hair” the way teenage boys talk about chicks and the way people on diets talk about chocolate. I’ve heard their tone of voice actually change to fit the apparent importance of this subject in their minds. By the way, it’s also known as “good hair”.
If you’re unfamiliar with that culture, if you’re reading this blog comment from Finland or somewhere like that, then there is probably no way you could truly appreciate the amount of envy that straight hair inspires in some people. It has to be seen and heard to be believed.
By the way, am I alone in finding that article’s use of the phrase “black hair” a bit off-putting? Black hair is what Catherine Zeta-Jones has. I’m sure she’s happy with it.
* Hard wired libido, not social values (or race), determines who looks hot. All heterosexual men want the same thing: a thin to medium build woman with a large bust, narrow waist, light skin, younger than 26, no taller than 5’7, round face, large eyes, small well shaped ears, pert noses, voice no lower than contralto, straight or slightly wavy thick hair, well arched eyebrows (but not Chandra Levy thick), fine body hair, etc, etc. Not too many women fit the bill, maybe 1 – 2%. Needless to say most men take what they can get; then again, most men aren’t prizes, either.
Disney does a marvelous job teaching little girls one of life’s hardest lessons for women: to the hot chicks go all the spoils.
* “Sister, farewell, and remember that modesty, as it makes the most homely virgin amiable and charming, so the want of it infallibly renders the most perfect beauty disagreeable and odious. But when that brightest of female virtues shines among other perfections of body and mind in the same person, it makes the woman more lovely than an angel.” (Benjamin Franklin)
* These types of articles are absolutely hilarious in my opinion, but then again, most of a woman’s power comes from her looks, so I can see why they are so important for women.
* There is probably no better way to insult a Latin American woman than to suggest she has “bad hair”(pelo malo), which means her hair is kinky.
The more black a Latin American country is, the more insulting it is. That is why it is especially insulting in the mulatto Dominican Republic, and more like a sarcastic kind of compliment in majority white Argentina.
It would also be insulting in Puerto Rico, some central American and northern South American countries too.
Dominican women invest a lot of time, energy, and money(if they have it), trying to make themselves look as white as possible. They usually require a lot of work, but are often in denial over their obvious black heritage, largely due to the hatred Dominicans feel for the even blacker Haitians, with whom they share the island of Hispaniola. It’s the Haitians who are African they say, not the Hispanic Dominicans.
“According to a study by the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute, about 90% of the contemporary Dominican population has African ancestry to varying degrees.[73] However, most Dominicans do not self-identify as black, in contrast to people of African ancestry in other countries. A variety of terms are used to represent a range of skintones, such as morena (brown), canela (red/brown) [“cinnamon”], India (Indian), blanca oscura (dark white), and trigueño (literally “wheat colored”, which is the English equivalent of olive skin),[74] among others.”
I remember my mother telling me about this friend of hers from boarding school over 30 years ago, this mulatto girl whose parents were from Haiti(obviously from the tiny mulatto elite). One day my mom suggested something about her friend’s hair, she doesn’t remember exactly what she said but implied it was thick or kinky, and her friend blew up. She was crying, and yelling and screaming at my mom at the top of her lungs, denying she had “bad hair”, and that her hair wasn’t kinky.
It’s easy to understand why mulattoes, especially female mulattoes would have psychological issues over their mixed heritage, even more so than pure black African women. The “tragic mulatto” used to be a popular theme in American literature. It appears we may have the most powerful tragic mulatto story yet, but this time being played out in the highest office in the land(thanks to Steve for showing us how race-obsessed our president is – rare is the mulatto who isn’t race-obsessed).
It is a strange irony that some of the biggest anti-black racists in the world are often black themselves.
* The author is a lazy woman (lesbian?) who doesn’t want to go to the effort to make herself attractive. Regardless of color there are many painful and unpleasant procedures all women undergo (waxing to name one) to beautify themselves. It’s just part of the package that comes when the dice come up XX. Accept it or resign yourself to having a vibrator for a boyfriend.
* I remember a girl at school. A blonde haired, blue eyed lovely. So far out of my league that the light from her league would take a million years to reach mine. She was covered in hair, very fine and very blonde. She could totally get away with it in a way even slightly darker haired girls just could not.
* Black women are blaming white people for the fact that straight hair is naturally more aesthetically pleasing than kinky hair.
While this should both sadden and surprise me, it doesn’t. Every worse trait blacks exhibit (IQ, lack of inhibition, kinky hair) will be attributed to white racism.
* From the Toronto Sun: Psychiatrists agree Melissa Todorovic is unique among teenaged offenders.
She never met Stefanie Rengel but engineered her horrific murder by inciting her thuggish boyfriend through threats of ending their turbulent affair or cutting him off sexually.
Atypical of young offenders, who often come from broken homes fractured by abusive or alcoholic parents, Todorovic excelled as a straight-A student and comes from a supportive, middle-class family.
Her teachers sang her praises as a “wonderful role model” in elementary school.
She was obsessed with her looks. She thought her breasts were too small and her lips were too thin.
She spent and still spends inordinate amounts of time straightening her naturally wavy brown hair.
Zoran and Rachel Todorovic are hard-working, loving parents who provided their daughter with a stable home.
She suffered no abuse and has a good rapport, especially with her mother, a nurse.
As a teenager, Todorovic is too young to diagnose for personality disorders, according to psychiatrists Philip Klassen and Julian Gojer, who assessed her prior to yesterday’s sentencing.
“Melissa exhibits marked anti-social tendencies in the single domain of intimate relations, while otherwise functioning normally,” Gojer noted in his assessment.
Gojer said Todorovic was diagnosed with Body Dysmorphic Disorder — an obsession with one’s looks — and certain anxieties along with obsessive compulsive issues.
“She has been consumed by her Body Dysmorphic Disorder and Bulimia Nervosa that have led to the development of low self-esteem, negative self-image in terms of physical attraction,” Gojer wrote.
She sought boyfriends, not for love or affection, but to obtain acceptance and boost her self-worth, Gojer said.
Todorovic’s lack of remorse stems from her immaturity. She doesn’t pose a risk to the community as long as she undergoes therapy, Gojer added.
Klassen said the convicted murderer sees herself as the victim and “presented as someone more self-pitying than remorseful.”
Unlike the typical young offender who acts impulsively, Todorovic persisted over months until Rengel was murdered, Klassen told the judge.
“I believe those struggles with territoriality and sexual jealousy are likely to persist,” Klassen wrote.
“She continues to minimize and/or deny her personal role or responsibility in the death of Stefanie and manifests … more self-pity than remorse.”
Posted inBlacks, Dating, Journalism|Comments Off on WP: Black women face prejudice every day. I don’t need it in online dating, too.
It’s been a busy month in gay news: Obama and Biden support marriage equality, John Travolta supports happy endings, Bravo’s Andy Cohen is finally looking for a boyfriend, and now (sit down girls), Y-Love, the only African-American hasidic Jewish hip hop artist comes out as gay.
In an Out.com exclusive interview, Y-Love, nee Yitz Jordan, tells the gay magazine he “wanted to tell the world that he’s [been] gay for some time, but he was concerned that his ‘public reputation’ would be tarnished and the music career he has fought so hard to carve out in a seemingly intolerant community would be ruined.”
Jordan converted to Hasidic Judaism in 2000, attended Jerusalem’s fundamentalist Ohr Somayach Yeshiva, married a woman for a brief time and lived an ultra-orthodox lifestyle while becoming a rising star in the hip hop community, even winning an award for Best Hop Hop artist at Heeb’s 2006 Jewish Music Awards.
While Y-Love has now gone down the path of Matisyahu and identifies as ex-Hasidic, it’s fascinating that Jordan lived a Hasidic lifestyle, even marrying a woman – all by choice, knowing he was gay. I can forgive marrying a woman, but chareidi-misery by choice? That’s unforgivable.
With Y-Love now focusing on finding his man-basherte, and the release of his new single “Focus on the Flair” where he can be seen in drag and vogueing, we’re curious to see how his religious Jewish audience will respond to his coming out. Time will tell, in the meanwhile, we offer Y-Love much mazel in this new journey and remember there are resources out there on teaching ex-Orthos how to date in New York!
It seems as if in the minds of David Miller, Kevin MacDonald and Hilary Aked, a mysterious Jewish cabal is responsible for all the world’s ills.
Even Tony Blair, Miller argues, is in league with a sinister “international network” of Israeli settlers and American “Islamophobes.”
“A liberal Muslim is their trussed-up version of the enemy, the alien, the ‘other’.” — Nick Cohen, journalist.
Hilary Aked describes moderate Muslims as “native informants.” She also believes that a hidden Jewish network is responsible for the “Islamophobia industry.” She has frequently written for a Qatari-funded media group that is accused by Egyptian newspapers of being a Muslim Brotherhood front group.
Electronic Intifada is a prominent pro-Hamas publication, whose founder, Ali Abunimah, describes Palestinian leaders who talk with Israel as “collaborators.”
To fund his obsession with the “propaganda” ostensibly spread by Jews and anti-Islamist Muslims, Miller has received grants from the Economic and Social Research Council, a body funded by the British government. In 2012, Miller received £400,000 from the Council, as well as grants from groups affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas.
From his office at the University of Bath, David Miller, an academic and writer, researches organizations and activists that he believes, in his words, work to “distort public debate and undermine democracy.”
The results of this research, done with the help of his students and assembled into detailed profiles of the shadowy figures behind this lobbying, are published across a number of websites run by Miller, including PowerBase and SpinWatch.
A visitor to these websites will quickly note one particular constant: a vast number of Miller’s profiles focus on Jews and Muslims who are working to fight extremism and terrorism.
Counter-terrorism groups, “neocons” and various political organizations are all accused of belonging to a “covert propaganda operation” for various Jewish organizations. Even Tony Blair, Miller argues, is in league with a sinister “international network” of Israeli settlers and American “Islamophobes.”
As one blogger notes, any of Miller’s “fellow academics” who do not present strong convictions against Israel, are “smeared… as neocons.”
Shiraz Maher, a counter-terrorism expert, has written: “Despite the ‘close to ten thousand’ entries on SpinProfiles [another Miller project] you will find nothing on [Islamist pressure] groups. … The problem is with SpinProfile’s apparent obsession with ‘Jewish power’ or, if you will, ‘the Jewish lobby’.”
At a recent conference organized by Miller, American academic Deepa Kumar denounced Muslims working to combat extremism and terrorism within their communities as “native informants.” And as the journalist Nick Cohen observed: “For the religious [Islamic] right and the political and academic left, a liberal Muslim is their trussed-up version of the enemy, the alien, the ‘other’.”
Another David Miller site, Neocon Europe (now defunct), published the works of Kevin MacDonald, a prominent white supremacist who claims that Jews control the media and politicians to “transform the country to serve their interests.” In a list entitled, “characteristics of Jewish intellectual movements,” MacDonald has claimed that Jews “form a cohesive, mutually reinforcing core” that has “access to prestigious and mainstream media sources, partly as a result of Jewish influence on the media.”
Other conspiracy theories promoted on Miller’s websites include those of Miller’s colleague, Idrees Ahmed, who claims that the Darfur crisis has been prolonged by a powerful Jewish lobby.
In 2009, David Miller provided accommodation for Joel Kovel, an anti-Jewish American academic who has written that, “The Holocaust has been repressed from history and converted into moral capital to cover and justify whatever the Jewish people would do in the way of domination themselves, whether this be the pell-mell immersion in American bourgeois life or the policies of Israel.”
David Miller and his network also work with Muslim Brotherhood operatives. In 2009, Miller secured taxpayer funding to run a project examining British Islam in collaboration with Osama Saeed, a Muslim Brotherhood activist. Saeed was previously the spokesperson for the Muslim Association of Britain, the main organization for the Muslim Brotherhood in Britain. In 2005, Saeed called for the re-establishment of the Islamic caliphate; and in 2006, Saeed expressed praise for the late Al Qaeda leader Anwar Al-Awlaki.
Miller’s protégés include Hilary Aked, a blogger with a strong interest in British Jewish groups. Aked apparently believes that a hidden Jewish network is responsible for the “Islamophobia industry,” and that there is a distinct “overlap between Islamophobia and Zionism.” She also describes moderate Muslims as “native informants.”
Posted inAnti-Semitism|Comments Off on Gatestone Institute: The New Racists: David Miller, Hilary Aked, Kevin MacDonald
How would you like 40 Muslim refugees moving on to your block? How many Jews and gentiles will be raped and slaughtered due to this massive encouragement of Muslim refugees? Will the following Jewish elites apologize for promoting this mess?
I don’t know an Orthodox Jew in my life who wants more Muslim immigration into the West.
From an Amazon.com review: I really enjoyed the first half of the book. I am a Jewish person living in Appalachia right now. Even people who weren’t Jewish could relate to the life she led in the mountains; many had grandparents who lived that way.
Since I also moved to this area from a big city, I enjoyed reading about her culture shock and adjustments.
While I give her credit for her quest of spirituality, I don’t think she gave enough credit to her first husband. While Tzirel had her doubts, it was her husband who steadfastly held to his beliefs that an intermediary wasn’t needed. He came to the realization first, which is an amazing event! She had doubts because of her Christian upbringing, but he held true to his beliefs. She finally came to agree with him, but it took awhile.
I had problems reading about her constant dependence on the community to take care of her and her family. She took EMT training, yet she didn’t go thru with getting the job because “she didn’t like it.” Ma’am, you have a very large family, and support your family!
The part about her life in Israel was ok. She spent too much time talking about her second husband. This book was supposed to be about her mountain family, not her second husband. Also, it seemed like the book we never end. There was an epilogue, and then another chapter.
Posted inConversion|Comments Off on The Mountain Family: An Appalachian Family of 12 – and their Fascinating Journey to Judaism
In a mass conversion of sorts, Chad and Libby McJunkin and their 10 children became members of the tribe last Sunday. The formerly Christian Chattanooga, Tennessee, family was converted to Orthodox Judaism on June 1 in Brooklyn. The parents, now known as Sholom and Nechama, were also married according to Jewish law the same day.
In a phone conversation with The Times of Israel, the father described his children as “sparkling” and “shining” as they emerged from their ritual immersion in the mikveh. The couple, married for 18 years, has six girls and four boys, ranging from one to 16 years of age.
McJunkin, a carpenter, said it feels wonderful to now be Jewish and embraced by the Orthodox communities of Borough Park and Chattanooga, but he admits that the road to conversion has not been entirely smooth. While avoiding giving a direct answer to a question about how his teenage children were taking to the change, he noted, “There have been ups and downs for all of us.”
This is not the first time the family has adapted to an all-encompassing religious lifestyle. After trying out many churches, and prior to becoming interested in Judaism two-and-a-half years ago, the McJunkins lived in an Amish community for two years.
“I became a [Amish] brother and we lived in an Amish community west of Nashville. It was the real deal: horse and buggy, no electronics or Internet,” he said.
“But when I came in to contact with people who told me about the Hebrew scriptures and I learned about the Torah, I realized there was a conflict between the Five Books of Moses and the New Testament,” McJunkin explained. “One was true and the other was totally false — and it’s obvious which one was false.”
The family was excommunicated by the Amish and returned to live in Chattanooga. They moved in with family in rural Georgia, where McJunkin and his wife grew up.
“I was really hurt that my whole life had been wrapped up in a lie. We cried for a week and had a family meeting and decided to go toward Judaism,” he recalled. At that point, the McJunkins returned to Chattanooga, where they received guidance from members of Chabad and others. (Surprisingly, this isn’t the first time a Christian family of 12 from the rural South converted to Judaism.)
COMMENTS:
* As a an orthodox convert to Judaism I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that this family’s love affair with Judaism will end when they start trying to marry off their kids. It is in that process where you see just where a convert stands in the orthodox jewish community. The more religious the more discriminatory. I have many convert friends that have gone through hell and back and 98% of converts leave the religion all togehter, it’s only a matter of time. With what I know now after having living in a very religious community in New York I can say that converting is insane, it really is because it is just such a complication and you become so disapponited with so many things that you end up reevaluating your secular nonJewish life and go running back!
* Exactly! That’s why when this story came out and people were touting it as a warm feel good story, I was sad for this family. I don’t think it’s a celebratory occasion, it’s the beginning of many disillusions. Although, it wasn’t like that in the past, when conversion was once so common and easy that the Romans had to ban it. In the past, people regarded gerim with respect. Today, it is very different. One problem is that a male will not give his wife or kids a tribal affiliation and Kohanim won’t marry his daughter. A female convert is always in danger of having her conversion questioned, which could affect someone’s kids or grandkids and it’s not uncommon to have the grandchildren of a giyores do a giyur lehumrah…just “to be safe”. No one wants to deal with those issues. If people don’t believe me, even great rabbis wrote some sad things about gerim.
* One of the finest human beings I ever knew, a very orthodox woman, once told me the following story: There was a ger tzedek, who not only converted but was great in the Torah and a fine person. It was quite a problem to find him a bride. Why, I asked really surprised, a ger tzedek, gadol batorah, a fine person – why was it difficult to find him a bride? Well, was the answer, we couldn’t very well give him one of our girls, could we?
* I’m sad for the kids being jerked around. Religious belief should be individually developed, or, like me, rejected. Reading their story I would conclude this will not work out well for the family. I think it is sad, sad.
* I could see them very much being at home with living in a smaller Yishuv in Yehuda & Shomron. They would flower there and integrate well as well as becoming living Jews of the Land & Torah. In Galut they will only struggle to maintain their identity in a foreign environment and many temptations for the children as they become teens to revert back to another identity, would not happen by living in Yosh. May the God of Israel bless them to start afresh in the Land of Israel, they can only thrive there and remain assured of their collective future.
* They’ve changed their religious practice HOW MANY TIMES? I don’t know, but I would want a few more years of living Jewish as proof of intent. What happens if they change their religion again, to Shintoism, Bhuddism, Hindoism or worse, islam – next? [b/t/w there IS a connection between the Amish and the Orthodox Jewish, one Amish woman found out. They are like the ‘german – Anusim’. Look it up, it is a fascinating study. One example, the ‘Amish/Mennonite’ people NEVER name their children after anyone in the New Testament, ONLY the Old Testament or Torah. Look it up. Tens of thousands of ‘Abrahams’, Joshuas, Jeremiah’s, etc.]
Posted inConversion|Comments Off on Tennessee family of 12 are fresh converts
In the 11 months since the passage of Prop 47, more than 4,300 state prisoners have been resentenced and then released. Drug arrests in Los Angeles County have dropped by a third. Jail bookings are down by a quarter. Hundreds of thousands of ex-felons have applied to get their previous drug convictions revised or erased.
But along with the successes have come other consequences, which police departments and prosecutors refer to as the “unintended effects”: Robberies up 23 percent in San Francisco. Property theft up 11 percent in Los Angeles. Certain categories of crime rising 20 percent in Lake Tahoe, 36 percent in La Mirada, 22 percent in Chico and 68 percent in Desert Hot Springs.
It’s too early to know how much crime can be attributed to Prop 47, police chiefs caution, but what they do know is that instead of arresting criminals and removing them from the streets, their officers have been dealing with the same offenders again and again. Caught in possession of drugs? That usually means a misdemeanor citation under Prop 47, or essentially a ticket. Caught stealing something worth less than $950? That means a ticket, too. Caught using some of that $950 to buy more drugs? Another citation.
“It’s a slap on the wrist the first time and the third time and the 30th time, so it’s a virtual get-out-of-jail-free card,” said Shelley Zimmerman, who became San Diego’s police chief in March 2014. “We’re catching and releasing the same people over and over.”
Officers have begun calling those people “frequent fliers,” offenders who knew the specifics of Prop 47 and how to use it to their advantage. There was the thief in San Bernardino County who had been caught shoplifting with his calculator, which he said he used to make sure he never stole the equivalent of $950 or more. There was the “Hoover Heister” in Riverside, who was arrested for stealing vacuum cleaners and other appliances 13 different times over the course of three months, each misdemeanor charge followed by his quick release.
There was also the known gang member near Palm Springs who had been caught with a stolen gun valued at $625 and then reacted incredulously when the arresting officer explained that he would not be taken to jail but instead written a citation. “But I had a gun. What is wrong with this country?” the offender said, according to the police report.
Posted inCrime|Comments Off on CA’s Prop 47 Boosts Crime
Observation. Do you feel converts have high self esteem or are outspoken? Surely, not too shy.
There are definitely a lot of common character traits or similar issues with converts. Like, coming from an unstable or broken home.
If you had the proper attention from a compatible female, perhaps you wouldn’t need that attention. Everybody needs love/attention.
Conversion is a great trick in Judaism. You can show that you’re not racist, anyone can join, but practically, very difficult.
If you just went with the flow, and went transgender, I’m sure you could hook up with a Rabbanit.
Only a masochist would do it.
Only troubled souls
Or those in love.
You should start a support group for would be converts, and derail them to a twelve step program, which is really what they need. The RCC might pay you. They would have to graduate/pass your program, to be able to start the conversion process. You could write a book on the psyche of a convert. It could be a must read for would be converts.
You could be the Anti-Christ/Anti-Convert. You could start your sessions with Daf Yomi.
Miriam: Tell that to this family, they don’t come from a broken home. Btw, while everyone sees this as an adorable “feel good” story, I see it as a sad one where none of them are spiritually related anymore. Technically, the parents are not really the parents or vice versa. And I am against adults converting their children, as it should be the child’s choice when they’re more mentally mature. But whatever, feel good story of the year.
Smemaya and Avtalyon certainly were. They were teachers and once even made the kohen gadol jealous from all the followers they had. That’s when people had respect and love inside. Today, however, any opinion is soon encountered by a “and who gives you the authority to say that”. (Translation: silence go sit at the back of the shul).
What is the most difficult race, religion, ethnicity or other situation, to be accepted by other frum Jews, AFTER converting? Blacks. Jews have an easier time with ex-Muslims. Jews can’t help staring at blacks in shul or blacks with kipot. It’s just not a black religion. Blacks are the opposite of Jews.
How often do converts convert twice? Like they realize, the religion they chose is a farce, and they then choose another religion. Conversion is for lost souls. Many who convert to Judaism are turned off after a while. You would think they would continue to search for the “truth.”
Or does the grueling conversion process just tire them out and take all the wind out of their sails?
Do you think there is a parallel between Hollywood and conversion? So many people want to be famous actors, but the best they can attain is an Extras role. When you are converting you want to become a typical Orthodox Jew, but there’s so much stigma attached to being a convert, that even when you’re in, you are never fully accepted, and you will never be that person.
Are you told before a conversion, that you will never be fully accepted, that others will judge you and look down on you? No. I think they should. Basically, a second rate citizen.
Luke: If a convert to Judaism keeps uppermost in his mind at all times — how can I contribute to the Jewish community? — he won’t complain and he’ll be happy.
Posted inConversion, Orthodoxy|Comments Off on Thoughts On Converts From An FFB (Frum From Birth)
"This guy knows all the gossip, the ins and outs, the lashon hara of the Orthodox world. He’s an [expert] in... all the inner workings of the Orthodox world." (Rabbi Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff)
