Friday, September 17, 2004
And sometimes you have to laugh, or else you'll just end up crying...
"Dick Cheney is saying there is great risk if John Kerry wins. Yeah, the risk is that George Bush might not be able to find another job." -- David Letterman
"Here's good news: Former President Bill Clinton is wide awake and alert. I wish we could say the same for our current president." -- David Letterman
"Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan says the economy is finally showing 'signs of traction.' Apparently our jobs are leaving the country so fast, they're leaving skid marks now." -- Jay Leno
"One hundred six degrees today. People are sweating like President Bush when he heard they found his National Guard records." -- Jay Leno
"Ralph Nader has successfully gotten his name onto the presidential ballot in Florida. He's on the ballot in Florida, boy, there's a surprise. Gee, I wonder who could have helped push that through. (coughing) Jeb Bush, Jeb Bush." -- Jay Leno
From the Toronto Star:
30 nations pick Kerry: Poll
34,000 adults surveyed in 35 countries
WASHINGTON—The rest of the world has spoken: It's John Kerry in a landslide.A poll of 34,330 adults in 35 countries released yesterday confirmed the global unpopularity of U.S. President George W. Bush, with respondents in only three of the countries saying they would prefer to see him re-elected to a second term on Nov. 2.In 30 countries, including Canada, Kerry was the runaway choice and in two other countries the verdict was split, according to a study for the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland.Globally, only one in five told the pollsters they preferred Bush be given a second term by American voters who, so far, seem inclined to do just that.The poll, conducted by the Canadian firm GlobeScan, also found respondents in 30 of the nations said Bush's foreign policy made them feel "worse" toward the United States.Canadians who were polled chose Kerry over Bush, 61 per cent to 16 per cent, and 71 per cent of Canadians said Bush foreign policy made them feel worse about their southern neighbour, 14 per cent said it made them feel better.The Canadian sample size of 1,598 adults was one of the largest samples in the study. Phone interviews were conducted between May 27 and July 5.Anti-Bush feeling ran highest in Norway and Germany (both 74 per cent in favour of Kerry), France (64 per cent Kerry) and the Netherlands (61 per cent Kerry).The poll also questioned voters in 12 nations which have contributed troops to the war in Iraq and found Kerry the choice of respondents in 10 of those countries."Those numbers show the precarious situation for those governments who have sent troops to Iraq," said Steven Kull, director of PIPA."Perhaps most sobering for Americans is the strength of the view that U.S. foreign policy is on the wrong track, even in countries contributing troops in Iraq," said GlobeScan director Doug Miller.Only the Philippines, Nigeria and Poland backed Bush while India and Thailand were split. About one-third of respondents said it would make no difference who won, or had no opinion.Arab countries were not polled.The findings brought to mind the Massachusetts senator's claim earlier in the campaign that he had spoken to international leaders who wanted him to replace Bush — a statement which hurt his campaign when he refused to name names.The Bush campaign mocked him in an Internet ad where they likened him to the movie character Austin Powers and called him the Democrats' "International Man of Mystery."The poll was released as Kerry tried to get his campaign back on track on the Iraq question, telling an audience in Cincinnati that Bush had made a "catastrophic choice" in going to war."Nearly two years after George W. Bush spoke to the nation from this very place, we know how wrong his choices were," Kerry said. "I call this course a catastrophic choice that has cost us $200 billion because we went it alone, and we've paid an even more unbearable price in young American lives."Kerry chose the same Cincinnati hall that Bush used almost two years ago to outline a case for war in Iraq. "He rushed to war without a plan to win the peace," Kerry said.The Bush campaign called the Kerry position another flip-flop and pointed to comments he made in a television appearance in August, 2003, when he told NBC's Tim Russert that the White House should spend whatever it takes to win the war.Bush acknowledged the American death toll in Iraq had topped 1,000 when he spoke briefly before a cabinet meeting yesterday morning.Bush said the U.S. will ultimately win the war on terror because "liberty changes the habits of people ... liberty promotes peace. And that's why we appreciate the sacrifice of the men and women who wear the uniform. They're serving a great cause. We mourn every loss of life. We'll honour their memories by completing the mission."Bush spoke as new questions were being raised about his service in the National Guard during the Vietnam War and a group called Texans for Truth also announced the launch of an advertising campaign featuring a retired lieutenant-colonel from an Alabama unit, who says he never saw Bush there during the time he was said to have been serving there.Kerry also promised to restore U.S. respect abroad. The PIPA study found that although more than nine in 10 Americans feel it is very or somewhat important that U.S. foreign policy be an instrument that gives the country a positive image around the world, they are not about to change their vote based on the perceptions of those outside this country.
Thursday, September 16, 2004
"In Brooklyn, New York, Chush is a school that caters to children with learning disabilities. Some children remain in Chush for their entire school career while others can transfer into conventional schools. At a Chush fund-raising dinner the father of a Chush child delivered a speech that always be remembered by all who attended.
After extolling the school and its dedicated staff he cried out, "Where is the perfection in my son Shaya? Everything God does is done with perfection. But my child cannot understand things as other children do. My child cannot remember facts and figures as other children do. Where is God's perfection?"
The audience was shocked by the question, pained by the father's anguish and stilled by the piercing query. "I believe," the father answered, "that when God brings a child like this into the world the perfection that he seeks is in the way people react to this child."
He then told the following story about his son Shaya:
One afternoon, Shaya and his father walked past a park where some boys whom Shaya knew were playing baseball. Shaya asked, "Do you think they will let me play?"
Shaya's father knew that his son was not at all athletic and that most boys would not want him on their team. But Shaya's father also understood that if his son was chosen to play it would give him a comfortable sense of belonging. Shaya's father approached one of the boys in the field and asked if Shaya could play. The boy looked around for guidance from his team mates. Getting none, he took matters into his own hands and said "We are losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him up to bat in the ninth inning."
Shaya's father was ecstatic as Shaya smiled broadly. Shaya was told to put on a glove and go out to play short centre field. In the bottom of the eighth inning Shaya's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the bottom of the ninth inning Shaya's team scored again and now, with two outs and the bases loaded with the potential winning run on base, Shaya was scheduled to be up. Would the team actually let Shaya bat at this juncture and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shaya was given the bat. Everyone knew that it was all but impossible because Shaya didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, let alone hit with it.
However, as Shaya stepped up to the plate, the pitcher moved a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shaya should at least be able to make contact. The first pitch came and Shaya swung clumsily and missed. One of Shaya's team mates came up to Shaya and together they held the bat and faced the pitcher waiting for the next pitch.
The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly toward Shaya. As the pitch came in, Shaya and his team mate swung at the ball and together they hit a slow ground ball to the pitcher. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could easily have thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shaya would have been out and that would have ended the game.
Instead, the pitcher took the ball and threw it on a high arc to right field, far beyond reach of the first baseman. Everyone started yelling, "Shaya, run to first. Run to first." Never in his life had Shaya run to first. He scampered down the baseline wide eyed and startled. By the time he reached first base the right fielder had the ball. He could have thrown the ball to the second baseman who would tag out the still-running Shaya.
But the right fielder understood what the pitcher's intentions were so he threw the ball high and far over the third baseman's head. Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second." Shaya ran towards second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bases towards home. As Shaya reached second base the opposing short stop ran to him, turned him in the direction of third base and shouted, "Run to third." As Shaya rounded third, the boys from both teams ran behind him screaming, "Shaya, run home." Shaya ran home, stepped on home plate and all 18 boys lifted him on their shoulders and made him the hero as he had just hit a "grand slam" and won the game for his team.
"That day," said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, "those 18 boys reached their level of God's perfection."
*******
(NOTE: The story quoted above is "Perfection at the Plate," a work of Rabbi Paysach Krohn which appeared in his 1999 book, Echoes of the Maggid. Echoes is a "Chicken Soup for the Soul" type work, described by its publishers as "heartwarming stories and parables of wisdom and inspiration." It is the fifth such tome in the Maggid series. Rabbi Krohn says that the story is true and that he was told it by Shaya's father, who is a friend of his. The "Chush" school mentioned in the piece is the Jewish Center for Special Education on Kent Street in Brooklyn, a school that caters to Yiddish-speaking children of Orthodox Hasidic Jews.