"Love" - how long will it last?

Some say it will last forever,
that it is all you need,
and it will keep us together,
some say it was just a summer,
and then again, that you can't buy it.

But for a short time you could have heard the whole CD on AOL Radio.

And while the "Love" CD contains remixes of stuff you all know well, there is a song that you have not heard this way before - "While my guitar gently weeps" in an acoustic solo version by George Harrison, with a rich orchestral score making it quite "Something". This track used an early take of Harrison's monumental song, and Sir George Martin wrote the orchestral backdrop for the Cirque du Soliel show now running in Vegas.

Also, as a public service, here are some other links:

1) to McCartney selections
2) to the Beatles on AOL radio
3) to an article wrapping up a view of the Beatles in Time's Top 100 of the previous millenium,

for those who are so inclined.

Happy Thanksgiving . . .

************** Go, Dems, Go! ***************

******** Teach your children well.
(link to see lyrics and play song)

Yikes! Squirrels are on the loose again?

Uncle Sam wants YOU and YOUR POOCH to join the "Squirrel Patrol" . . . Don't delay.

Books-by-the-dozen . . . .

I am sorting through our books at home, and fear there are several we have come to posess by forgetting from whom they were borrowed.

I will begin posting the titles in this section:

If you see any that belong to you, or you are interested in reading, please email me at etzchayimforum@aol.com

Also, email me if you think you loaned us a book, and want me to check and see if we have it.

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#1 Clues to American Architecture by Klein, Fogle and Etienne. A pocket size book with diagrams, might be interesting to take along on one's travels.

#2 Rising Sun - Michael Crighton

#3 The Ice Queen - Alice Hoffman

#4 Masai Dreaming - Justin Cartwright (bought in SA)

List will likely continue under comments

Faith Restored . . . and then some.

So, if you have been following along, Abe triumphed over Rove. The pendulum has begun its swing back. At last, correction is under way. My faith in the order of things, how the world works, is restored.

One of the many wonders of this world, and this life, is to learn from the great people who have preceeded us, and to appreciate the depth of their wisdom.

At this moment to reflect on the following:

“You may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time.” Abraham Lincoln.

and

"The stone that the builders rejected has become the corner stone." Psalms 118:22

and to see that this is true, whether the context is national or regional, involving millions, or just a few. At the heart of the matter is the resilience of people and their collective will.

re - Choice: the PROs and CONs . . .

As election day approaches, we prepare to cast our votes, to exercise our rights and duties as citizens, to choose who will represent us, and govern on our behalf. This is the essence of freedom, exercising the right to choose.

Freedom to choose is also the cornerstone of a free economy, the engine that drives prosperity, bringing low cost goods and services to the masses. Choices and competition keep the market accessible and affordable. Businesses and organizations know that to succeed, they need to meet the needs of their customers and clients.

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So it is with choices in Jewish Charleston, particularly Orthodox Jewish Charleston. With the advent of the new West Ashley Minyan, new choices are now available to us.

BSBI has functioned for years as a monopoly. But now there are options beyond the control of the BSBI establishment. And the expansion of choices is good for the community, collectively and individually.

Some like to speak in code - "We must do what is good for BSBI." Yes, indeed. And which kibbutz are you from?

Actually, the New West Ashley Minyan is good for BSBI, good for AHA, the JCC and Jewish Charleston, no question about it. Let’s have more alternatives to the bromides of the old guard. Let’s see whose model for progress, growth and change has traction. Lets see what happens in the market-place of freely-chosen ideas.

Are there any cons to having choices?

Not as I know it . . . and Happy Voting . . .

Rove vs. Abe (Nov 7, 2006)

A moment of truth approaches.

The polls show the pendulum is swinging away from the political "Right".

But polls are one thing, votes are another.

Under Rove et al we have seen how the system and the people can be "gamed".

The question is, will Abe Lincoln again be proven correct to have said:

“You may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time.”

A reason to pause . . .

Professors murdered in Iraq.

More Sauer Kraut?

Here is a posting that is fairly recent, and topical: it deals with the link made in the Congress between the minimum wage and the "Death tax".

Seems someone noticed Sauer Krauthammer (SK) distorting "the facts" , on the fabulous Fox no less, to suit the party-line.

SK is wrong on both issues -
1 ) raising the minimum wage does not materially damage small businesses or employment levels of minimum wage earners (or others earning more, for that matter)
2 ) repealing the current estate tax does not amount to a protection of small businesses and /or farms.

"a July 2005 Congressional Budget Office report found that based on an analysis of 1999 and 2000 estate-tax returns, only 135 family-owned businesses would have owed any estate tax at the current exemption level of $2 million. By contrast, about 4.5 million active businesses with assets under $5 million filed income-tax returns in 2002, according to the IRS."

That is way less than 1%. (If you do the math, lets say there are 4 million small businesses, 135 is 0.003375 %.

As for the minimum wage, Sante Fe, NM, has seen mostly positive effects from its minimum wage increase, and in New Jersey, increasing the minimum wage did not decrease jobs at all. As quoted in the above posting, increasing the minimum wage also increases payroll and revenue taxes: "Think Progress also noted that a report from the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development found that the state's 2005 minimum-wage increase "produced $175 million in additional payroll and a $3 million boost in state tax revenue."

To cap this off, consider this - the Federal minimum wage has not been increased for a good while, but Congress has voted itself numerous pay increases. Isn't there something wrong with this?
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(For part 1 of this new series, visit "Sour on Krauthammer".