Credo 13

Posted on March 27, 2010 by Luke Ford

Professor Marc B. Shapiro blogs: I wanted to let readers know about the thirteen episodes of a show focusing on the Thirteen Principles. It is called Credo 13 and you can find it here.
It appeared on Canadian television and

Posted in Marc B. Shapiro | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Credo 13

Every Generation The Goyim Try To Annihilate Us

Posted on March 26, 2010 by Luke Ford

Joe emails: What the sam hill are you writing about on your blog these days that you cannot draw attention to the State of Israel and its sudden pariah status in the West Wing?

You were not of the faith yet, but when I was in elementary school and the Syrians installed SAM-7 missile batteries in the Bekaa in 1982, the Rabbis declared a fast day. Little did they know that Israel had already devised a plan (Operation Drugstore) to completely obliterate those batteries in one afternoon in June, taking 90 Syrian jets down on the same day, all with the loss of a single Israeli jet.

And now, we have a President in the white house who wants to transform the US into a Western European amoral state, with the attendant consequences to the US Israel relationship. I know of no Israeli wizardry that will transform Obama into a rational thinker. I suggest that you begin a call on your blog that there be some observance, as possible as early as the Passover Seder, to mark and pray about the current state of affairs between Israel and the US.

I suggest that all Jews who love the state of Israel stand during the “Vehee Shemda” a portion of the Passover Seder that confirms that in every generation there arise those who have endeavored to annihilate us. And in every generation, if we are worthy, the Holy One Blessed Be He delivers us from their hands.

Posted in Israel | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Every Generation The Goyim Try To Annihilate Us

The Informant

Posted on March 25, 2010 by Luke Ford

I’ve tried to hold off for the past 18 hours writing about this movie. I just saw it yesterday.

The bipolar protagonist? That’s me.

I don’t want to write about this dark side of mine because it could be really damaging to me, but it’s true. I’m not literally bipolar, but I have some strong tendencies in that direction at times. I love living a double life. I totally identify with Mark Whitacre. I suffer from delusions of grandeur. I do bad things, try to hide them, and when I’m found out, I still think of myself as the good guy.

Posted in Hollywood, Personal | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on The Informant

The Thrill Of Making Viruses

Posted on March 25, 2010 by Luke Ford

On his radio show yesterday, Dennis Prager said he did not understand why people made malicious computer viruses. What’s the thrill?

I might be a bad person, because I immediately know the answer to this question.

Making viruses that hurt thousands of computers makes a person feel significant. He thinks, wow, I took down all these people.

It’s the same reason that people light forest fires, put poison in aspirin, and wreak general havoc. It’s the same reason Hitler and other leaders wanted to conquer the world — it makes you feel like a big shot.

When my website is down, I feel like I have lost a lot of my power. My sense of self is so weak, I rely heavily on these external things. I can’t be happy in just myself. I have to accomplish things. I have to have influence and readers and fans. Attention is my substitute for love.

Posted in Personal | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on The Thrill Of Making Viruses

Is Yoga Down All Over?

Posted on March 24, 2010 by Luke Ford

During the recession, I kept hearing about how yoga was booming. People were using it to overcome their unhappiness about their monetary losses.

Now I’m seeing that my yoga classes are way down in attendance (over the past two months).

I’m wondering if this is a trend? Is the recession finally hitting yoga?

Posted in Yoga | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Is Yoga Down All Over?

Women Worry More

Posted on March 24, 2010 by Luke Ford

Alison Armstrong, relationships expert, was on Dennis Prager‘s radio show today.

Alison: “The amygdala is much more active in women than in men, and much bigger, it is the worry center of the brain. Women tend to think that what is happening now will happen forever.”

“We give up quicker. We think that if you are being mean to me today, you will be mean to me forever, instead of, ‘This too shall pass.'”

“Until a woman feels safe, she can’t be anything good. She can’t be kind, generous, loving, intimate, sexual. Everything that is fabulous about women is not possible until she feels safe.”

“Having a future [together] is what makes it safe for a woman to have huge feelings. The idea of together forever is what it makes it safe for us to be in love. Without that future, we’re in a panic to care deeply about another person. It’s frightening to us. We’ll pull our feelings back to match whatever future he is presenting. That’s why we want forever. Now I feel safe to love you because we’ll be together forever.”

Dennis: “It is good for me to believe that any day I can be fired… It is good for my employees to believe that. It makes you want to do your best.”

Alison: “I employ mostly women. If a woman thinks every day her job is on the line, she won’t feel safe. She’ll feel freaked out. She won’t think clearly. She won’t be creative. She won’t say things that are unpopular.”

Posted in Alison Armstrong, Dating, Dennis Prager, Marriage | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Women Worry More

The Underworld

Posted on March 24, 2010 by Luke Ford

I grew up the son of a preacher man. I was immersed in Seventh-Day Adventism and looked at the world through its prism until my teens.

I started public school in tenth grade and I ran into some bad guys.

Several more times over the course of my life, I strayed from polite society and mixed with the dregs.

One of the things I learned was that bad guys often see the world more clearly than good guys. In other words, good people are no more likely to see the world clearly than bad people. In other words, there’s a lot to learn from bad guys.

For instance, when I reported on the porn industry, I found that pornographers were often more honest and penetrating in their insights into life than the good Orthodox Jews who dominated my private life.

Prison populations tend to divide up according to race. I wonder what that has to tell us about the essence of the human condition? Perhaps there is more significance to race than polite society allows us to believe?

Throughout my life, I’ve been frustrated that girls I just wanted to be good to preferred to be with bad guys. I’d be nothing but nice to certain women I adored and they treated me like trash while guys who treated them bad got their desire.

I’m reading Matthew Randazzo’s new book, Mr. New Orleans: The Life of a Big Easy Underworld Legend.

From page 104:

The art of the pimp…was the art of playing hard to get permanently with a group of women. Prostitutes seek out pimps for three reasons: to enlist a protector in the underworld, to purchase a place of stability in their chaotic lives, and to find an outlet for all of the emotions normal girls throw at their daddies and husbands.

A whore will pay a pimp less for his protection than for his approval and affection, to fill the hole left by her usually negligent dad. A girl with daddy issues usually has little respect for anyone who treats them too well…

Posted in Personal | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on The Underworld

Good Reviews On Steven Weil’s Stewardship Of Orthodox Union

Posted on March 24, 2010 by Luke Ford

Rabbi Weil has been running the OU for about 18 months. I’m hearing: Weil is doing exceptionally well at the OU. His strong organizational skills, exceptional speaking and teaching talents and leadership abilities have all come to the fore.

Posted in R. Steven Weil | Comments Off on Good Reviews On Steven Weil’s Stewardship Of Orthodox Union

Why Do American Jews Support Bigger Government?

Posted on March 24, 2010 by Luke Ford

Dennis Prager writes: One day, the descendants of this generation of American Jews will regret what their ancestors supported. As difficult as it is for many Jews to imagine, American Jews will not be on the left forever. Two hundred years ago, few Jews would have imagined that most Jews would one day abandon Judaism. And if Jews could abandon Judaism, their own religious and moral system for thousands of years, they can certainly abandon leftism, their 200-year-old foreign import religion.

If this bill is not eventually repealed, our descendants will wonder why generations of Americans prior to 2010 had more personal liberty, a higher level of medical care, shorter waits for doctors, and why America was so much more influential in the world than in their generation. They will wonder why America decided in the beginning of the 21st century to move dramatically closer to Europe and expand the power of the state to an unprecedented degree.

Health care aside, they will live in both a weaker and morally inferior America.

Morally inferior because as the state expands, people do less for other people. The state takes over the job of taking care of other people. That is one reason Europeans give less charity per capita and per income, and volunteer less time than Americans

Posted in Dennis Prager | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Why Do American Jews Support Bigger Government?

Journalists Love Indifference

Posted on March 24, 2010 by Luke Ford

There’s no emotional quality that journalists prize more in their subjects than indifference.

When you deal with people who react in a volatile way to what you write about them, you can’t help but think they are emotionally weak.

Think about your life. When people react in an extreme way to what you say and do, it is no fun to have them in your life. You sense that these people have little sense of self. They can’t self-soothe their anxiety. They have to act out.

When you write about people and they go to pieces, they’re no fun to deal with. When you write about people who appear indifferent to your words, it’s a relief.

Many rabbis are drama queens. They are used to running things and they react badly to any challenge. They can be great rabbis (think Moshe Tendler, Mordecai Tendler, Robert Wexler, Steven Weil, Elazar Muskin, Joseph Telushkin, Y.Y. Rubinstein, Zalman Shachter-Shalomi, and Bradley Shavit Artson) but they are quick to take offense and if you have ever been unfair to them, you’ve likely made an enemy for life.

On the other hand, many rabbis are emotionally solid. They treat you the same whether you have just praised them or criticized them. Think Aron Tendler, Marc B. Shapiro, Nathaniel Helfgot, Isaiah Zeldin, Moshe Cohen (Aish), Abner Weiss, Kalman Topp, David Rue, Yehuda Bukspan, Yosef Kanefsky, Jonathan Rosenberg, Yosef Blau, Avrohom Union, Gershon Bess.

Journalists love these types. They don’t live and die by what you write about them. Their meaning in life has little to do with your blog. Of course they are emotionally affected by what is said about them, but by comparison to the drama queens, they’re solid.

Posted in Rabbis | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Journalists Love Indifference