Rant #3,598: Tell Me

There was an interesting post on Facebook yesterday.

It was put up rather innocently, but it caused a little bit of chatter among some of the respondents, including me.

The poster put up the photo [above] and wrote "Merry Christmas."

Very innocent indeed.

And most respondents posted the very same thing.

That was OK by me.

But a couple of the respondents didn't leave it at that.

They posted this emphatic question:

"Weren't the Stooges Jewish? Didn't they celebrate Chanukah?"

Well, this kind of went back and forth without being adequately answered, so I jumped in with my answer, which in all honesty, I could have gone on and on about, but which I decided to keep fairly short:

"Yes, all the Stooges were Jews, except for Curly Joe DeRita.

Those were different times. Although many of Hollywood's biggest stars were Jewish, Hollywood did not recognize Judaism-except in certain instances--

Made even more ridiculous by the fact that most studio heads were Jews themselves.

Look at all the Jewish references in their films ... how could anyone not know that the Stooges were Jews?

But if you could ask everyone from Jack Benny to Hedy Lamar to Jerry Lewis to Paul Newman and the Marx Brothers, they would tell you it was simply not spoken about.

Even Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor converted to Judaism when they married Jewish men, but it was not acknowledged by Hollywood."

Those were verrrry different times back then, and Judaism certainly never crept into Hollywood's handling of the holidays, and quite frankly, still doesn't.

Chanukah celebrations on mainstream TV and films are few and far between, and when there are choice times to handle the holiday--and teach people about it without hitting anyone over the head about it--it is usually flubbed.

Adam Sandler's "Hanukkah Song" is the most atrocious instance of a wasted moment, as the song has absolutely nothing to do with the holiday, but is more of a smarmy name-dropping exercise about who is Jewish and who isn't.

And then we have "The Goldbergs" TV show, which had a real chance to bring Judaism into the public consciousness, but during its years on prime time, it did nothing but denigrate Judaism, taking three seasons to even acknowledge that the family was Jewish.

And its holiday episodes always featured the narrator lamenting that he was Jewish, and he was jealous of those who celebrated Christmas--in fact, he wanted to be one of those people himself!

It was just so obvious to me what was going on on this sitcom; I even commented about it on Facebook on the show's site, and was quickly barred by the show's creator's mother--who ran the site--for having the audacity to bring up such a thing.

And when TV does tackle being Jewish in America, like it did with "Brooklyn Bridge," It simply doesn't sell to Middle America.

Even that terrific show, when it was headed for cancelation, began to focus more on the budding relationship between the Jewish boy and his Irish Catholic girlfriend, rather than being Jewish in America in the 1950s, the era the show was based in.

And that is the point: however idiotic this sounds, in particular as we head into 2025, the powers that be still think like they did in 1940--

That Judaism doesn't sell to Middle America ...

But every alternative lifestyle you can think of does.

Hooray for Hollywood!

Look, I am not interested in equal representation at this point--certainly not with about 4 percent of this country's population being Jewish--but with Chanukah still being swept under the rug in 2024, and Jewishness pretty much the same way by certain people in the entertainment industry who just happen to be as Jewish as I am, you would think during the past 80 years, there would be more of an understanding--

And an acceptance.

I could go on and on about this, but I won't. 

I think I have made my point.

Just let me end this Rant by stating that in a culture that seems to accept every permutation of humanity, why are we even having this conversation?

I know the answer--

Do you?

Have a nice weekend, and I will speak to you again on Monday.

Rant #3,597: Right Place, Wrong Time (?)

It is hard to believe, but a week from yesterday, Christmas Day and the first night of Hannukah will be on exactly the same day.

I don't ever remember this happening before, but I am told that it actually has, the last time in 2005, but it has only happened four times in the last 100 years or so.

It all has to do with the Jewish calendar, which runs differently than the calendar that we generally use.

And for the first time since 2005, Hanukkah will actually take place AFTER Christmas, because the Jewish holiday begins after sunset of December 25, the first day of Christmas, and the eight-day celebration will extend past New Year's Day into early 2025.

I guess this has its positive and negative aspects.

Jew and non-Jew alike can celebrate their holidays at the same time, but on the other hand, Hanukkah will kind of get buried by all-encompassing Christmas.

And the duality of the day will continue the perpetual nonsense that Hanukkah is "the Jewish Christmas" which is so utterly nonsensical--

But it is simply amazing how many people actually believe this craziness.

And again--and I don't know how many times I have to say this--both holidays are wonderful celebrations, but one holiday has absolutely NOTHING to do with the other, other than annually coming at just about the same time of the year--

In 2025, I think Hanukkah comes about a week before Christmas does.

And there is no such thing as "Chrismukkah," that is just a media invention thst means absolutely nothing, because it simply does not exist.

And the next thing that I contemplate every year around this time is what the correct spelling of the Jewish holiday is.

For the first probably 50 years of my life, I spelled it "CHANUKAH," but since then I have spelled it "HANUKKAH."

I don't know why I switched, but I did, even though the latter spelling is pretty much angilicized.

Now, with angilicization not currently the way to go, I think it is time to go back to "CHANUKAH," because the accent on the word is on the "Ch " pronouncing it with a heavier "H" sound.

It isn't "Cha-nukah" like "chair," It is "Chanukah" like a more gutteral "hair"--

So I will go with "Hannu--" err ... "Chanukah" for now on.

So, Happy Chanukah and Merry Christmas to all!--

On the same date this year, believe it or not!

Rant #3,596: Guilty

I know that what I am going to say goes against all ethics--including my personal ones--all laws, and what we firmly believe in this country, that people accused of crimes--even heinous ones--are innocent until proven guilty.

I align with all of that, but I am starting to waiver a bit ...

I think the accused Gilgo Beach killer and the guy who allegedly shot the health insurance chairman, and shot him in the back, no less--

ARE AS GUILTY AS SIN.

Yes, they certainly deserve trials, and to be judged by their peers, due process, and every legal stipend and doctrine that we believe in in our country, and they both have the right to a fair trial.

But it seems that every day, these guys are getting more guilty, more enmeshed in their own bizarre worlds, and it simply makes it more and more obvious that they did exactly what they are accused of doing.

Now, the accused Gilgo Beach serial killer has had yet another murder put on his docket, the seventh person he is alleged to have done away with.

And the guy who supposedly offed the health insurance company chairman ... well, he has been indicted by the Manhattan district attorney, and there are about 20 other charges against him, including terrorism.

I mean, can the evidence be much more obvious in both cases?

The fellow who is said to have shot the health onsurance chairman to death actually had most of the evidence on his very person, while the supposed Gilgo Beach murderer may as well have had the evidence on his person, because whatever they have found has had his DNA--or his wife or daughter's DNA--all over it.

Evidence has been found that supposedly proves that each case was planned meticulously, which, of course, also makes it pretty obvious who committed these horrid crimes.

But we cannot assume anything--

Which is something I have to keep telling myself.

And other obvious cases have been fouled up on technicalities, so even the most guilty--or who we feel are the most guilty--sometimes can do an end-around against the crimes they have been charged with.

Time will tell, and I am not a lawyer, but to me, these guys should rot in jail for the rest of their god-forsaken lives.

But this is America, and they will each have their day in court.

And the good thing about this, at least to me, is that I do believe the outcomes of these fair trials will prove, without a shadow of a doubt, exactly what I think these individuals are accused of.

Good riddance.

And while we are all pondering what I just said, how about putting on trial the next chapter of my novel?

Please, give me an innocent or even a guilty verdict.

I will get what I deserve.

Thanks!

12

Although Alexander Lincoln Panim had earned his high school diploma, he sought more knowledge. Mrs. Stottle could only provide him just so much, and Mrs. Panim had her school to run.

Two years had passed, and Abraham Lincoln Panim was now 18 years of age.

“Abraham Lincoln Panim,” said Mrs. Stottle one day when she and the boy were studying with each other, “there is so much more for you to learn. You have a high school diploma now, and I really cannot teach you any more myself.”

“So how am I going to learn more?” asked Abraham Lincoln Panim, pretty much knowing the answer to his question.

“I will talk it over with your mother, but I believe it is time for you to venture out into the world, but do it without me or your mother leading you,” said Mrs. Stottle. “It is time you went to—“

“College?” Abraham Lincoln Panim asked, knowing that that was the answer.

“Yes, that is what I think you have to do,” Mrs. Stottle said. I mean, I simply cannot teach you what you need to know at this point, and quite frankly, I am getting a bit older now, and my eyesight and my feet are not well … maybe you should go out and meet people, make friends, go out and live your own life.”

“But how can I live my own life—“

“You can, Abraham Lincoln Panim. You might just have to take the good with the bad, and there is so much more good to higher learning than bad. I think you should try it, at least try it.

“Remember what I always say, ‘Do unto others as you would have the do unto you … treat other people the way you would like to be treated yourself.’

“But Mrs. Stottle—“

“Abraham Lincoln Panim, I do believe it is time for you to experience the outside world. Don’t equate it what happened to all those years ago when you were a little boy to now. Colleges have a much more liberal view of the world and people. I think that you will fit right in. Nobody will notice you as being odd or different—

“Because you aren’t odd, and you aren’t different.”

Later that day, when Mrs. Panim arrived home from school, Mrs. Stottle broached the subject to Abraham Lincoln Panim’s mother.

During one of their regular walks in the evening, Mrs. Panim decided to sit down on one of the benches where they usually took their walks, which was somewhat unusual, because the mother and son were used to walking and rarely stopping.

“Abraham Lincoln Panim, Mrs. Stottle brought up something to me today that I have been thinking about a lot lately myself, and that is—“

“Going to college, mom.”

“Yes, and I agree with Mrs. Stottle. It is time you get out on your own, meet people, and get a higher dose of education.”

“But mom, I don’t know, I haven’t been in school—“

“Yes, for many years, But with Mrs. Stottle’s help, you were able to learn, and you learned well. You are 18 now, you aren’t a baby anymore. I think it is high time that you tried to go to a public college.”

“But mom, I still look like a rat.”

“Nobody cares what anyone looks like when you get to college. And to me, you are very handsome, anyway.”

“Mom, come on, I look … well … different than a lot of people do.”

“But that is what colleges are for, to blend people from all different backgrounds into one. I loved college. Maybe you will too.”

“But will college love me?” asked Abraham Lincoln Panim, as the mother and son left the bench and continued their walk into the moonlight.

That talk signaled the beginning of a new chapter in Abraham Lincoln Panim’s life that was ready to unfold.

Rant #3,595: Relax

So, I had that growth removed from my scalp ...

Evidently, it was already removed when I was at the dermatologist a few weeks ago, which I wasn't told when I was called by the receptionist and she told me I had a pre-cancerous lesion, and that I had to come back to the office to have it removed.

So during yesterday's visit, I just had that painful freezing spray applied to the area, and I was done.

I don't know if I was in there for a minute.

It wasn't much ado about nothing ... more like an anti-climax, but whatever the case, at least it is over and done with.

I just want to be whole as we enter the final days of the year.

I am still having some after-effects from the prostate procedure I had done, but otherwise, I am doing pretty well.

Work--even the remote kind that I do--has been impossible lately, so I have been quite busy with that, and it is good to be busy, but not crazy busy, like this.

In between, I absolutely do not sit in front of the TV all day; I try to at least keep moving rather than sitting.

I digitize my records--I might be 150 before I am done--but yes, I do watch some TV.

One of the shows I used to watch on occasion was The Michael Kay Show on the YES Network, which was simulcast from its radio origins.

Now, after 22 years, Kay--the Yankees TV announcer--has moved on to another show, and at least right now, YES is not simulcasting either the new show replacing the original Kay show, nor the new Kay show, so if I am not overloaded with work to do at 3 p.m.--as I was pretty much all of last week--that option is now out.

At 7:30 p.m., once all of the local and national news shows are over for the early evening, I usually cast something to my TV to watch.

I have been doing this for months at this time of the day, and I have bounced around from one old TV show to another, from "The Abbott and Costello Sow" to "Mr. Ed," and seemingly everything in between.

For the past few months, I have been casting every short I can find from YouTube and Daily Motion related to the Our Gang/Little Rascals comedy shorts.

Of the more than 200 shorts, maybe about 50 are available on these sites, and I have watched two each night.

Thus was an incredible series to begin with, and watching these shorts between 80 and 100 years after the fact demonstrates how well these shorts have held up over the years.

They are still very funny, the kids remain engaging, and the scripts are generally very clever, even all these years later.

Sure, some of the humor is a bit over the top fir today's audiences, but taken for what they are, these shorts are not only funny, they give us a clear view of where we were as a society in the pre-World War II era and during the early war years.

They are a real cinema treasure, and even though I have probably watched most of these entries about 100 times each, if not more, I still marvel at these episodes, as I do continue to marvel at the kid actors, everyone from Farina to Stymie to Spanky and to Buckwheat--

What a talented bunch of kids they were!

So now that this health episode is over and done with, I hope that when I do have some time on my hands, I can really relax and when i have the time, watch what I want to watch when I want to watch it ...

Without a care in the world.

Rant #3,594: Hope and Deliverance

As you are reading this, I am in the dermatologist's office once again.

I found out last week that that lesion I had on my scalp was pre-cancerous, and it must be removed.

Some people are very prone to this, and I am one of them.

This probably had to do with my scalp's interaction with the sun from years, even decades, ago, and even when I had a full head of hair 

But the lesion grew over time, and it became cancerous, so I can certainly live without it.

When I received the news, I was in the middle of doing a long and involved project for work, so after getting the call, I stopped for a moment, and then, I picked up where I left off with my work--

I mean, what else could I do?

Shrug it off, and move on.

This weekend, my wife, son and I saw a performance by forever-Monkee Micky Dolenz at Westbury Music Fair, and that really was the salve for what ailed me.

He put on a nice show on Saturday night, much more laid back than in the past, singing many--but not all--of the most popular Monkees hits and telling stories of his time in and out of the spotlight.

What is great about this theater is that it literally is Long Island's "local" theater that has been drawing top acts to its stage--not revolving for this particular show--for the past 60 years.

And the place is so local that you will always see people you know there in the audience.

We saw a couple of friends, the head of the athletic program our son is in, and believe it or not, we also saw one of our son's former teachers when he was in the local school system. 

She remembered him and us, and we had a nice conversation--

Which continued as we went into the theater itself, as she and her husband sat right in front of us!

Earlier on Saturday, the holiday season started for me, as it always does, and has each year for the past 58 years, when I heard my favorite Christmas/holiday song on the radio for the first time this season.

"Snoopy's Christmas" by the Royal Guardsmen is the song, and this 1966 tune will always mean "the holidays" to me, both Christmas and Hanukkah.

The B side, "It Kinda Looks Like Christmas" is also a great song, and I have often said that maybe a "Hanukkah version" of "Snoopy's Christmas" might be in order, but right now, this Jewish boy will settle for the original.

So as I get this thing removed from me today, let's hope that this will be it for this type of thing, and that I never have to worry about such things again.

One can only pray for this goal to reach fruition, in this time of lights, hope and celebration.

Yes, it kinda looks like Christmas and it kinda looks like Hanukkah ...

Both just a little more than a week away!

Rant #3,593: Wonderful Christmas Time

 'Tis the season ...

Last week, a woman blocked me, and refused to let me into a local gas station, because I had the nerve to try to enter the wrong way--there was no other way to get in at that moment--and she forced me to back into oncoming traffic from both ways as she made her stand.

When she exited the gas station, she gave me the finger.

'Tis the season ...

A driver thought he had enough room to move into my lane as I drove right next to him. He moved into my lane, and the only way that I avoided him was to dart into another lane, so he basically pushed me out of my lane, and thank goodness there was no one on the lane I jumped into.

When he passed me, on the road, he was yelling at me, as if the whole thing was my fault.

'Tis the season...

My son and I went to the barber shop to get our hair cut, and there was an altercation between the usually mild-mannered owner and one of her workers.

My son was told to get his hair cut by this barber, but the barber refused, saying he needed to rest. The owner said he should rest during his break in a room in the back, but he refused to budge. She ripped out all of his electric accessories from the wall at his stand, but he refused to move, and my son went to some other barber.

The owner apologized to me, and I told her not to worry about it.

'Tis the season ...

Evidently for humans to show their most nasty, underhanded, vulgar tendencies.

I don't know what it is, but in seemingly "the most wonderful time of the year," people can sure be inhuman, can't they?

And today is Friday the 13th, so who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men (or women)?

So that being said, how about going into this holly, jolly weekend by reading the next chapter of my novel?

And your opinion matters, so don't hold back, one way or the other.

Just don't flip me the bird, OK?

Have a great weekend, and I will speak to you again on Monday.

11

Abraham Lincoln Panim and Mrs. Stottle became an exceptional learning team, with the boy speeding ahead from his contemporaries and finishing his public school education at 16 years of age, or two years ahead of his peers.

But Abraham Lincoln Panim was not up to his peers in other areas, such as in social situations. And with no father at home, he had many questions about life, but he felt ill at ease talking about them with Mrs. Stottle or even with his mother.

During one of their late night strolls, Abraham Lincoln Panim asked his mother, “How did you and daddy meet, and how did you end up having me?”

Mrs. Panim stopped in her tracks, and did not know what to say.

“Well, we met … “ she hesitated. “We met on the street one day. It was around holiday time, and we were both rushing around at night, and I guess we didn’t see each other … we bumped into each other, and we both fell onto the pavement. He was so bundled up with his heavy jacket and scarf, and I could barely hear him talk, but we kind of fell in love right then and there.”

“When did you get married?” Abraham Lincoln Panim asked.

“Oh, it wasn’t for several months later,” Mrs. Panim told her son. “Daddy always told me over the phone that he had to get things done first before he could see me again, and I guess that I just fell in love with his voice, and that he actually paid attention to me. We talked every day on the phone, but he did not want to see me in person just yet.

“He kept on telling me that he had to get things done so I would be proud of him, and then one day, he did what he said. He had done whatever he wanted to do, we met, had a few dates, and finally, we married.”

“And how did you have me, mom?” Alexander Lincoln Panim asked his mother, and again, she hesitated in her reply.

“For the birds and the bees, you did well in biology, so I am sure you know how you came about,” she told her son.

“No, I know all about that, but how did you have ME?” meaning, how did you have a son with a rat face that hated cheese.

It took Mrs. Panim a few moments to come up with an answer, which became her stock answer whenever the subject would be broached. “We had you because we loved each other,” and the subject was ended right then and there until it came up again during one of the mother and son’s night time walks.

Rant #3,592: Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Goodness.

People, in the name of the absolutely stupid side of our president elect, continue to believe that COVID does not exist, and that the shots are sort of a "mind/ body control" device.

Further, they lump in the COVID shot with real vaccines, like those for the measles and polio, that actually, through use, do eradicate their respective diseases.

This came up again on Facebook, and I let the dummies perpetuating the invalidity of COVID and the shots have it again.

"The shots were valid. The virus did, and still does, exist. They only mitigate the disease, and that is why there is such a commotion about it.

If the government would not have jumped the gun and labeled this as a vaccine--like what we have for measles and polio--I do believe there would never have been such a kerfuffle about this. 

But they were so eager to get people to take the shots, that they lied to us all. Now, people are refusing to have their children get ANY shots, and that is just plain wrong.

The real vaccines are beneficial, wiping out horrid diseases for good ... until the foolish among us started to not get them for their kids.

Funny, these adults received the shots when they were kids, as most school districts require them ... did it do irreparable harm to them?

I had measles as a very young child because I was way too young to get the shots at that time; you don't want your kids to get that disease, take it from me.

The COVID "vaccine" isn't one, as it only generally lessens the symptoms for many of us. 

But it does do the job. Don't knock it."

Of course, others knocked what I said, but I fought back once again.

They quote something called the "Adverse Reaction Reporting System," but I let them have it.

"I, and everyone I know, had absolutely no problems, or minor aches and pains that went away as quickly as they came.

This is the utter nonsense that makes me feel proud that I did what I believe was the right thing and voted for neither Trump nor Harris ...

But funny, remember Operation Warp Speed? That was Trump's program to get the research on the shots started.

He didn't believe anything, either, until his family, and he himself, got COVID.

And I am sure that as a child, you got your shots, so yes, the government was fully at fault in how they sold these most recent innoculations, but these shots are valid. They are NOT vaccines.

Believe what you want. I had the measles, everyone I know, except my son, got different degrees of COVID, and people died from this malady.

And there can be adverse reactions to ANY shot. I get allergy shots once a month ... can I say in my more than 50 years of getting them that not a one ever hurt, caused a black and blue mark, or made me suffer slightly?

Stop the nonsense, but I know you won't. I, at least, have the guts, and the experience, to show you how ridiculous what you say actually is."

You want your kids to get sick ... keep this charade hot on the fire ...

Like the belief that some people were actually eating others' pets.

Now, that is something that actually is utter nonsense ... or now that I said that, will some people try to prove that this is actually true?

Take a shot and be quiet!

And now that I think about it--

Did these people who believe this nonsense about eating pets give their own pets the required shots?

Or are they scared of mind/body control of their dogs and cats?