tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-175924332024-03-19T04:59:11.223-07:00Padre Cohen<em>The one thing I want to leave my children is an honorable name.</em><br>
—Theodore RooseveltPadre Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12883859846586659445noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17592433.post-71544088534668143382015-04-15T15:02:00.001-07:002015-04-15T15:06:40.885-07:00"Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own." ~Jonathan SwiftJon Stewart Leaving The Daily Show Jon Stewart is one clever guy, but he's no Mark Twain, H.L. Mencken, George Carlin, Stephen Colbert, or Mort Sahl. Stewart's sarcasm and smug, abrasive humor is limited to humiliation, simplistically profane language, and irritatingly, poorly timed, prolonged pauses.Stewart gets in some great political jabs, but his humor is typically shallow and rarely Padre Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12883859846586659445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17592433.post-43556725162550933152014-04-25T15:35:00.001-07:002014-04-25T15:45:22.024-07:00"Leadership is based on inspiration, not domination; on cooperation, not intimidation." ~William Arthur WoodPalestinian Unity Exposes Netanyahu's True Face ~Haaretz.comHere's another opportunity for Israel to decide what she wants to be when she grows up.Regrettably, there's no palpable leadership and no direction in Israel, just bluster—a "big stick" without the "speak softly" part.Instead of intentionally sabotaging peace talks with the Palestinians, why not take the high road by sincerely working Padre Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12883859846586659445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17592433.post-90831000297897128572012-08-31T22:24:00.001-07:002012-08-31T22:24:13.664-07:00"All the President is, is a glorified public relations man who spends his time flattering, kissing and kicking people to get them to do what they are supposed to do anyway." ~Harry S Truman
Does the President of The United States Really Matter?
Presidents have far less power to make changes than we'd like to believe, the one exception being the character of the White House. Let's stop blaming presidents for everything from draught to ingrown toenails. We are not a monarchy and don't have a parliamentary system. Accordingly, presidential election promises and tirades are Padre Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12883859846586659445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17592433.post-24703995253920398582012-02-25T13:41:00.005-08:002012-02-25T14:14:08.932-08:00"Of my friend, I can only say this: of all the souls I have encountered in my travels … his was the most … human." 
Most noble, regal, beautiful, devoted, compassionate friend,
I will miss watching you standing on a hill
with the wind in your hair.
Padre Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12883859846586659445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17592433.post-20988901506692431772011-11-02T20:58:00.001-07:002013-01-06T14:07:31.837-08:00"Why can't the Jews and the Arabs just sit down together and settle this like good Christians?" ~Warren Austin, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations 1948
Palestinians Voted Full Membership in UNESCO
I recently received an e–mail from the Simon Wiesenthal Center informing me that "Palestine" (their quotation marks) was voted in as a member of UNESCO. The SWC asked that I sign a letter of protest to UNESCO's Director–General Irina Bokova.
I contacted no one.
Ask yourself this question: in the 44–year conflict between the Padre Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12883859846586659445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17592433.post-45285738363390009992011-09-12T12:56:00.001-07:002011-09-12T13:46:40.690-07:00"Study history, study history. In history lies all the secrets of statecraft." ~ Winston Churchill
Lessons from The Great Depression
Took the weekend to research The Great Depression to see whether there were any parallels to our current economic mess. Below are a few, but it's best to read this page.
Saving financial institutions from defaulting was critical. Still is.
Unemployment is the always the last to recover.
We were coming out of the depression in early 1937 when the Padre Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12883859846586659445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17592433.post-91333832075894169972011-08-10T16:47:00.001-07:002011-08-10T16:56:37.247-07:00"The whole trouble with the Republicans is their fear of an increase in income tax, especially on higher incomes." ~Will Rogers
Moderate Republicans, Where Art Thou?
Fareed Zakaria is correct ("right" is a loaded term) about the Republican Party.
"Watching the extraordinary polarization in Washington today, many people have pointed the finger at the Tea Party. It's ideologically extreme, refuses to compromise, and cares more about purity than problem solving."
David McCullough, the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Padre Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12883859846586659445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17592433.post-40107303292017874542011-07-11T22:49:00.001-07:002011-11-24T18:26:15.761-08:00"Engineers are all basically high-functioning autistics who have no
idea how normal people do stuff." ~Cory DoctorowOpen Letter to Aaron ForthDear Mr. Forth,I received an e-mail from Quicken.com regarding the status of Quicken and Mac OS 10.7. There isn't a satisfactory option listed. I think you know this.With the exception of upgrading, and I use that phrase loosely, to Quicken Essentials for Mac, the other alternatives provided are far too costly for personal-finance software. Quicken Essentials will work, Padre Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12883859846586659445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17592433.post-83439089470760038612011-06-13T11:01:00.001-07:002011-06-13T11:27:41.110-07:00"Government is too big and too important to be left to the politicians." ~Chester Bowles
"Get all the fools on your side and you can be elected to anything."
~Frank Dane
There's a delicate balance when crafting state or federal budgets. All politicians promise lower taxes or more social programs, sometimes both. Promise anything to one end: get elected.
Here's the truth: costs can be reduced, but that affects the future of America beyond a politician's time in office. Spend less Padre Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12883859846586659445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17592433.post-7547061837925886912011-02-05T21:44:00.001-08:002011-02-05T21:48:47.090-08:00"Am I my brother's keeper?" ~Genesis 4:9Letter to House Speaker Boehner
Our health care system is broken. It might be the best healthcare in the world. If so, it's the best healthcare only for those who can afford it. For most Americans, good healthcare is an unobtainable extravagance. Luxuries aren't objectionable, but when the few have much and the many haven't even life's necessities, our elected representatives, all Americans, Padre Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12883859846586659445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17592433.post-67965859364578940452010-06-12T15:23:00.000-07:002010-06-12T15:59:47.776-07:00"I find it rather easy to portray a businessman. Being bland, rather cruel and incompetent comes naturally to me." ~John CleeseWell, duh!
It's Apple vs. Google in the New Phone Fight - Newsweek: "Once an Apple ally—Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO, used to sit on Apple’s board of directors—Google is now Apple’s biggest rival."
I love this article. Steve Jobs is portrayed as a control freak, enemy of the people. If that's true, then what does that make Mr. Eric "Do No Evil" Schmidt. He was taking copious notes whilePadre Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12883859846586659445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17592433.post-76043744788365574872009-11-04T15:13:00.001-08:002009-11-04T15:29:37.189-08:00"You can't lead anyone else further than you have gone yourself." ~Gene Mauch
Now Carly Wants to Be a California Senator
Just read that Carly Fiorina wants to go to United States Senate. I mean as a Senator! Ms. Fiorina spent her time as CEO of Hewlett-Packard shattering the company's reputation, constantly mutating her company's marketing message, creating a cult of personality, mutilating morale, producing nothing substantial, and acquiring a colossal golden parachutePadre Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12883859846586659445noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17592433.post-2213588404935158532009-07-14T20:09:00.001-07:002009-07-20T17:08:08.501-07:00"When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it had happened or not." ~Mark Twain
Blow Up
I recently watched Antonioni's movie Blow Up chosen from a list of on–demand movies. The last and only other time I watched the film was when the movie first hit the theaters in 1966. It was the film to see. It wasn't intended to be a horror film, but it was, or I should say "is now."
What a boring piece of pretentiousness. The acting was mediocre with the possible exception ofPadre Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12883859846586659445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17592433.post-39332428969823095532009-02-09T21:08:00.001-08:002009-02-10T09:21:49.089-08:00"The school is the last expenditure upon which America should be willing to economize." ~Franklin D. Roosevelt
Open Letter to Our President, My Senators and Congressman
On the February 8, 2009, broadcast of Meet the Press, Senator John Ensign (R-NV) said that all the talk about firefighters and teachers losing their jobs was "fear mongering."
Is he out of his mind and out of touch? Have him to tell the legion of teachers being sacked in my wife's small school district—face to face—to Padre Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12883859846586659445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17592433.post-83432983383031664142009-01-01T21:15:00.001-08:002009-04-12T10:42:50.188-07:00"I have often wished I had time to cultivate modesty… But I am too busy thinking about myself." ~Edith Sitwell
"Be extremely careful with the honor and feelings of others."
~Yisroel Salanter
Maybe it's the media perpetuating the image of the strong individual who doesn't ever require anyone's help, or possibly it's the anonymity and brevity of the Internet that allows people to believe they should (because they can) act and speak without regard for the sensitivities and emotions of others. I don't Padre Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12883859846586659445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17592433.post-81370156656125992732008-12-23T19:08:00.001-08:002008-12-23T19:42:47.204-08:00Is stoning permitted?In Madoff Scandal, Jews Feel an Acute Betrayal—NYTimes.com
"It is not possible for him to atone for all the damage he did,' the rabbi said, "and I don't even think that there is a punishment that is commensurate with the crime, for the wreckage of lives that he's left behind. The only thing he could do, for the rest of his life, is work for redemption that he would never achieve."
~RabbiPadre Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12883859846586659445noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17592433.post-70434874180728688332008-12-15T13:11:00.001-08:002011-11-24T18:24:43.740-08:00"…the image of the Lord had been replaced by a mirror." ~Jorge Luis
BorgesShoe–Hurling Iraqi Becomes a Folk Hero– NYTimes.comShoe–Hurling Iraqi Becomes a Folk Hero
By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS and SHARON OTTERMAN
Published: December 15, 2008
BAGHDAD — An Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at President Bush and called him a dog became a huge celebrity in the Arab world and beyond on Monday, with many supporters exalting him for what they called a courageousPadre Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12883859846586659445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17592433.post-30481448473364567312008-12-12T21:09:00.001-08:002008-12-12T21:20:31.467-08:00"The real differences are between those who embrace peace and those who would destroy it; between those who look to the future and those who cling to the past; between those who open their arms and those who are determined to clench their fists." ~William J. Clinton
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni Has Sparked Controversy
On December 12, 2008, the BBC ran a story headlines Livni sparks Arab "transfer" row. In the article she speaks evasively about the future of Israeli Arab citizens. Will they be "transferred" out of Israel to preserve the country's Jewish character or not?
Ms. Livni must not prevaricate about this fundamental issue: it's time for Padre Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12883859846586659445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17592433.post-11061656653271995312008-11-01T22:15:00.001-07:002008-11-03T14:07:01.602-08:00Politicians disallow sex with interns, but accepting bribes considered respectable.Senator Stevens Receives a Hero's Welcome in Alaska
I must be missing some insignificant ethical point here. A president is impeached for having consensual sex, but a corrupt senator is a hero for accepting bribes.
Wait! I see the distinction. Alaskan voters didn't get any pork when President Clinton had his little liaison in the White House, but Senator Stevens brought home the bacon for Joe Padre Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12883859846586659445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17592433.post-17357998356341953842008-10-06T13:58:00.001-07:002008-10-06T14:00:32.683-07:00"It doesn't matter if you win or lose, it's how you play the game."
Open Letter to Senator John McCain
Dear Senator McCain,
Whatever respect and acclaim you've accumulated over decades are at risk. Your use of personal, irrelevant, and manipulative attacks against Senator Obama do nothing but cheapen your image, campaign, and legacy. They leave you open to similar attacks.
Personal attacks are signs of desperation, disrespect for the American voter. I ask Padre Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12883859846586659445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17592433.post-52346858144873675012008-06-19T14:43:00.001-07:002008-06-19T20:27:28.585-07:00"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." ~Albert Einstein
And Offshore Drilling is Ugly, Too!
The New York Times ran an article on June 19, 2008, with the headline Idea of Offshore Drilling Seems to Be Spreading. Apparently, Americans are so desperate to buy cheap gasoline, they'll do anything, absolutely anything, including destroying the environment, the beauty of their country, and their children's future. Even going to war.
In 1973, the Padre Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12883859846586659445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17592433.post-79707491229633297442008-05-20T20:40:00.001-07:002009-02-15T10:50:26.840-08:00Iceberg, Goldberg…
"America: What a Country!"
I recently took our Chrysler to Hiep Auto Pro for repairs. As I was speaking with the owner, a very pleasant, young Vietnamese man, I noticed the last name embroidered on his blue coverall: Goldberg.
"I don't mean to be intrusive," I questioned, "but, how did you end up with your last name being Goldberg?"
"I was orphaned by the war," he said, "and sponsored Padre Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12883859846586659445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17592433.post-75465794064302749602008-05-17T10:36:00.001-07:002008-05-17T10:36:57.345-07:00"Progress might have been all right once, but it has gone on too long." ~Ogden Nash
"NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition!"
A recent Haaritz article entitled Vatican rejects criticism of new prayer for Jewish conversion reported that "[t]he Vatican had come under fire from Jewish groups in recent days for changing its Good Friday service to include a prayer urging God to let Jews 'recognize Jesus Christ as savior of all men.'" By inserting this prayer into the Roman Padre Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12883859846586659445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17592433.post-70137947600751284742008-03-28T13:55:00.001-07:002008-03-29T18:14:56.324-07:00"In religion and politics, people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second hand, and without examination." ~Mark Twain
Spinning Minister
On March 19, 2008, Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe columnist, wrote a caustic rebuke of Senator Barak Obama and his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright. The article, It's still a question of Wright and wrong, generated much heat and no light.
First, I believe Jeff Jacoby is clueless about the roles of ministers and congregants of African–American churches in the United Padre Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12883859846586659445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17592433.post-11364326967101238852008-03-22T17:59:00.001-07:002008-03-23T11:02:44.537-07:00"Quite frankly, teachers are the only profession that teach our children." ~Dan Quayle
Teachers Take a Hit
The California budget debacle should come as no surprise to anyone who manages their household budget. Spending more than you make is a recipe for financial disaster.
California law requires an annually balanced budget. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger promised fiscal responsibility, but his method of balancing the budget was to borrow money against the delusion of an ever&Padre Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12883859846586659445noreply@blogger.com1