More Jews without mitzvos

Steven Seagal vs. Chuck Norris

"Chuck Norris is exactly how you think he is. Friendly, humble and a badass martial artist. I have known Mr. Norris for 25 years and worked with him on 50 episodes of Walker: Texas Ranger. I was his stunt double for a highfall on the Blood Diamonds Episode and jumped off a 7 story building for him. He has a memory like a steel trap so don’t say anything to him that you don’t want him to remember. His stunt double, Kinnie Gibson, may he rest in peace, was one if my best friends. Chuck Norris is the real deal."

"Long long ago, I met Chuck Norris. It was the mid-1980s and Norris was just getting into his own acting-wise. And no one and I mean no one seriously doubted his martial arts expertise and skill. But to talk with the guy, you’d have thought he was “just got his Brown Belt” guy in a room full of black belt masters. Norris was totally nice and largely ego-less. I am sure if anyone pressed him as to his level of skill, he’d name 15 guys in Japan who were much much better than him. Steven Seagal is the exact opposite of Chuck Norris. He always acts like he is the best and most skilled guy in the room. Blowhards in the world of combat martial arts are found out rather quickly. And no, there is not a bigger fake tough guy than him."

What is Steven Seagal like in person?

"I’ve never actually met him but have been “in his presence” just a few feet away a couple of times. He used to come in to the shooting range where I used to teach to do gun transfers. He would stand back in shadows and his assistants would handle everything except for him signing the 4473 forms and taking possession of the guns.

The only person that was “allowed” to speak to him was the counter guy who was handling the transaction, and even then it seems only because it was required by law for him to actually sign the form and take possession of the firearm. He never spoke at all that I heard. His assistants (multiple) did all the talking.

I have an acquaintance that saw him a few times where she worked. I won’t go into any details but employees were not allowed to even acknowledge his presence, much less speak to him. Only the person who was “allowed” to speak to him was the main person who was helping the person he was there to see.

That’s my only experience with him so, draw your own conclusions."

What is it like to work with Steven Seagal?

Michael Caldwell

 · 

Follow

Ex-military, Yale Law.9y

I've had the misfortune of working with him on a number of occasions and found him to be incredibly self centered, obtuse, and boorish as well as a pathological lier. No matter what topic may come up in conversation he seems to always have a story to one up everyone. I'm not sure if his obsession with being the center of attention at all times is as pathetically obvious to others as it is to me but I can tell you that he doesn't have many friends outside of those with whom he has financial entanglements. I suppose to put up with his company for an extended period of time you'd have to be getting paid.

Jeez, I'm sure I'm coming off quite harsh, but I really can't find anything good to say about the man. There must be one positive thing i could say about him... I suppose you could say he appreciates a good drink. There."

 

Well guess what?

Seagal was born on April 10, 1952, in Lansing, Michigan,^[17] the son of Patricia Anne Fisher, a medical technician, and Samuel Seagal, a mathematics teacher. His mother was of Irish descent, while his father was Jewish.^[18] His paternal grandparents were Russian Jewish immigrants.^[19]

Not actually Jewish but having a Jewish father is enough.

And Chuck?

Norris was born in Ryan, Oklahoma, on March 10, 1940,^[2] to Wilma (née Scarberry, 1921–2024) and Ray Dee Norris, who was a World War II Army soldier,^[3] mechanic, bus driver, and a truck driver. His mother was of Irish descent and his father of Cherokee descent.^[3][4]

Every single time. 

New York Jews without mitzvos

Is Barbra Streisand as rude as she seems?

The town I resided in at the time has a “health retreat” in the desert, on a long dirt road.

Babs went to it and did not want the “local hicks” to know she was coming. Naturally, in such a small town, everyone knew someone who worked at the retreat, so word got out.

A limousine came through town one day, and, well, it had to be her. People gawked and stared. Then - a SECOND limousine came from the opposite direction. (There was one highway in and out of town.) Both went down the long dirt road. After a few days, both limos were seen leaving and left town in opposite directions.

Then the horror stories started to trickle out. Whenever SHE wanted something, she would snap her fingers at the staff. She was generally rude and unpleasant to everyone there. And the two limos? She was so worried that a “local hick” might follow her, a body double was hired to enter/exit when she did so nobody would know her true identity. (Yeah, right?) I find it laughable now. Imagine paying someone to be your double for a health retreat? This was in the late 80s, for context.

live within your means

Jews without mitzvos

 I saw this:

Hollywood director James Toback ordered to pay $1.68B to 40 women who accused writer of sexual abuse

A New York jury on Wednesday awarded $1.68 billion in damages to 40 women who accused writer and director James Toback of sexual abuse and other crimes over a span of 35 years, according to lawyers representing the plaintiffs.

Never having heard of him before, I thought to check on his background. Guess what:

Toback was born and raised in Manhattan, New York City, the only child of Jewish parents Irwin Lionel Toback and Selma Judith (née Levy).

We learn three things: 1) Jews without mitzvos get into trouble. 2) Jews are capable of terrible actions. 3) New York City is not a healthy place to grow up.

Understand the narcissist and you'll understand you know who

 

Vaknin is an anti-religious ex-Israeli so ignore his brief comments about that. But hear what he has to say about narcissists not being human and you'll understand some of those rabbis who have tormented you. 

explanation of baruch shem cavod malchuso

from tefilla - What does "Baruch shem k'vod malchuso l'olam vaed" mean? - Mi Yodeya

שם - a name refers to reputation, or how something is known. טוב שם משמן טוב (Koheles 7:1) means a good reputation is better than oil. One who is מוציא שם רע - וְשָׂם לָהּ עֲלִילֹת דְּבָרִים, וְהוֹצִא עָלֶיהָ שֵׁם רָע (Devarim 22:14) - has created a bad reputation.

The idea of a name is that which you use for others to relate to you - one does not identify themselves by their name, it is there for others to reference them.

כבוד - Honor refers to a presence, the extent to which something is recognized. The Gemara in Bava Basra 3a records a dispute about the verse גדול יהיה כבוד הבית הזה האחרון מן הראשון (Chagai 2:9) - The honor of the later Temple will be greater than the former:

רב ושמואל ואמרי לה ר' יוחנן חד אמר בבנין וחד אמר בשנים

Which means: Rav and Shmuel, one said it means it was larger, and one said it means it stood longer.

Both of them agree the greater "honor" refers to its physical presence, just was it in space or in time. (As the Gemara points out, they were both correct.) This is also why "seeing" Hashem is often referred to as "seeing" His "honor" (e.g. Shemos 29:43, Vayikra 9:23).

The idea of getting honor means you are acknowledged. You get honor when you are recognized in some way.

מלכות - Royalty refers to making something manifest. Bringing something from the potential to the actual is the attribute of Malchus. Rav Pinkus in Shabbos Malkisa explains that this is why malchus is always at the end of a list (i.e. in Nishmas, in "לך ה' הגדולה," the list of middos in Yishtabach [not the praises], etc.), because malchus only comes after everything else, and brings it out to actualization.

The role of a king is to actualize the potential of the individuals that make up the nation. This is one explanation why מלך שמחל על כבודו אין כבודו מחול, a king does not have the right to forgo his own honor - because the honor is not really his, it is the projection of the nation as a whole.

R' Tzaddok writes (Resisei Layla 25) that the world was created with מדת המלכות - bringing out the infinite potential of creation into a finite actual was accomplished through Malchus.

The concept of ברוך שם כבוד מלכותו is that the perception of Hashem's Presence should be increasingly (ברוך means רבוי, increase - Rashba and Nefesh HaChaim) brought out from infinite potential into a perceptible reality. Thus, roughly: ברוך (Increased [should be]) שם (the relationship to) כבוד (the physically-apparent aspect of) מלכותו (the manifestation of Hashem).

In Nefesh HaChaim Sha'ar ג Chapter יד, in a gloss, he explains that Yaakov Avinu said ברוך שם כבוד מלכותו and Moshe Rabbeinu did not (when each respectively said Shema), because Yaakov was still on the level of acknowledging the realness of a finite reality, and therefore his perception of ה' אחד relied on bringing it down to this world. Moshe, however, was on the level of, to some degree, perceiving Hashem's essence, that there is no authenticity to finite reality (see the beginning of Sha'ar ג) and therefore did not need to relate to Hashem through translating His infinitude into finite manifestation. Nefesh HaChaim also sees this line as relating to the relating to Hashem (שם) through the bringing out (מלכות) of His Presence (כבוד) into this world.

We (and everyone except Moshe Rabbeinu, see Nefesh Hachaim immediately after above-quoted gloss) live in a reality in which we experience Hashem on the level of how He appears in this world, and that is the level on which our relationship with Him must function (see Maharal Nesiv HaAvoda ch. 12). We therefore pray that His manifestation in this world should increase, in order that we have a greater experience of that relationship. Baruch Shem Kevod is the Tefillah of asking for that increase. (It is placed where it is, immediately following Shema, because Shema is the declaration of Hashem's oneness which supersedes finite existence and declares that His existence is the only real existence. We have to "mitigate" that for ourselves into our realm of experience, which is the reality of this world.)

Virtual Memories 597 - Shalom Auslander

 

Sad but true

Just received this. I did not seek it out. 

Who is the rudest celebrity you have met, and who would be the nicest?

In 1993, I flew through JFK airport in NYC.

It was the day the bomb blew up in the basement of the WTC.

Our flight was delayed, and I was waiting for boarding. A man and his Personal Assistant sat down next to me. I looked at his face, and it was the actor, Martin Balsam.

I had always liked his acting, and considered him to be talented and versatile. I looked at him, and said “Mr. Balsam, I’m a big fan.” Something along those lines.

He looked at me and replied, “No one gives a shit.”

So, I consider him to be the rudest.

On the other hand, while standing in line in the airport in Dover, Delaware waiting to board a late flight, I spoke to the woman in line directly behind me, and said “Do you think we’re ever going to get into the air?”

She chuckled and said, “Not to worry, we’re only three hours late.”

Then, the large man ahead of me in line, turned and said, “It’s not like any of us have any place to go.”

That man was Speaker of the House, Tip O’Neill. While we were waiting, the three of us had a pleasant conversation, and before we boarded, he even signed an autograph for me and the woman behind me. I still have mine. He was polite, humorous, and seemed like just another average guy. Definitely the nicest.

---------------------------

Martin Henry Balsam was born November 4, 1919, in the Bronx borough of New York City, to Russian Jewish parents, Lillian (née Weinstein) and Albert Balsam, who was a manufacturer of women's sportswear.

Is the problem that he's Jewish or from New York City?

O'Neill was the third of three children born to Thomas Phillip O'Neill and Rose Ann (née Tolan) O'Neill in the Irish middle-class area of North Cambridge, Massachusetts on December 9, 1912, known at the time as "Old Dublin."

narcissism is the opposite of judaism

we are supposed to be humble, not seeing ourselves as all knowing

we are not supposed to be attention seeking

attention is on G-d not us

supposed to be giving, creatures of chesed

not selfish

we are supposed to have self control, not prone to self-indulgence and losing ones temper

we are supposed to be full of gratitude, not groaning and complaining

a narcissist is a rasha

don't matter if he doesn't drive on shabbos

there were mafia killers who didn't drive on shabbos

Make decisions carefully. Do your research

 The starting point for the topic here is regret over getting breast implants, which may seem like not a kosher topic, but it's not handled salaciously, quite to the contrary, it's quite gross. And we see how many people make the same mistake as other people, how little fair warning one gets about commonly made mistakes, how people you trust might not be trustworthy, and how smart people can do dumb things when they ignore intuition.

The advice is the same for a BT

 I'm a 30-year-old man expecting a 20-year sentence in state prison for bank robbery. What should I expect in prison? What are some things I should avoid doing there?

I am truly sorry that you have to suffer this ordeal. But you can indeed survive prison and come out even stronger than you went in. I did. And although my bid was 4 years (served 3 1/2), the principles are the same.

I don’t know what prison you are going to, but I did spend 6 months in a State Prison with bank robbers, and people that committed many types of felony crimes. I have some experience to draw on.

You should expect to find most inmates you meet giving you leeway and respecting your boundaries, although there are many strange people in prison. Typically, as long as you respect others, you should be respected.

I would not be too outward focus at first. I’d stay within myself, but not aloof or arrogant, until you get the lay of the land and decide who you can trust (to a certain extent), who you can confide in (but I would recommend you not confide in anyone), and you can hang with.

I was in 5 prisons, including the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center (not such a nice place), a Medium Security State Prison, (a bit rough from an inmate standpoint but the guards were for the most part decent, the food considerably above average and the medical care good). I was also in the Federal Oklahoma Transfer Center, and two Federal prisons in Miami. So I have a little bit of prison type background on which to base my recommendations.

Here is my list of advice. You can obviously take it or leave it:

1. Don’t be pushy, or arrogant, or try to be the toughest guy in the cell block. Believe me, you will always find someone tougher. The fastest gunslinger is just around the corner
2. Don’t snitch - period
3. Don’t share details about your case - have a brief story ready to tell, so it does not seem like you are unwilling to be forthcoming, but keep it brief
4. Don’t ask others about their case
5. Don’t join a gang
6. Don’t lie to inmates
7. Avoid asking for favors - you don’t want to be indebted to anyone
8. Don’t share with anyone how much money you have in your spending account
9. Don’t shop for anyone at the commissary - you want to give someone something? Go ahead. but don’t go shopping for anyone
10. Be careful with:
1. your mail - assume it will be opened by the guards - incoming and outgoing
2. your email - assume it will be read by the guards
3. your phone conversations - assume it will be listened to by the guards
4. Make sure other inmates aren’t listening or reading your stuff
11. Don’t take or borrow someone else’s stuff - EVER
12. Don’t physically touch people or get in their face. Give people space
13. Do not assume you can sit anywhere. Wherever you want. Inmates stake out favorite places to sit. If there are others sitting, ask first before taking a seat. That goes for the cafeteria, TV Room, game room and other places depending on prison or cell block. And never sit on someone’s bunk unless given permission.
14. Be open and willing to share to help someone out - for example, someone is out of coffee? Give them some. Chances are your kind gesture will be repaid in the future. At a minimum you will come across as someone who can be trusted and counted on to help out
15. Don’t let anyone take advantage of you. Short of fighting, don’t let some wise guy make you look weak
1. Having said that, don’t fight, unless it is absolutely the last resort to protect yourself. If you find yourself in this position, be ruthless and finish it.
16. Stay clean - hygiene is very important in prison - keep your body, sleep area, clothing, locker, in tip top shape. When your family or friends come to visit, be clean, clothes pressed, and smelling good
17. Do not have or keep anything that is considered contraband - unless you are ready to face the consequences - this means drugs, food you are not supposed to have, too many pieces of clothing, radios, tobacco, etc.
18. Respect the COs (guards) many of them are incredible assholes, but they have the power over you. Typically, if you respect them, don’t talk back, follow orders, and don’t make yourself to be a wiseass, they will leave you alone and at least be civil to you, and maybe even respect you. I earned a lot of respect from some absolutely miserable guards and counselors. SOme of them even referred to me as Mister
19. Take care of your mind, body and soul
1. read a lot - books, magazines, newspapers - find the prison library, ask your friends and family to send you books, magazines and newspapers, get some reading buddies and exchange books and magazines with them
2. take every course or class you can find - in prison, mail order, online if you are allowed - consider pursuing a GED or college degree. It is DOABLE
3. learn how to play a musical instrument
4. learn a craft - woodworking, leather work, ceramics, anything
5. work out - stay in shape - do some aerobic and strength training exercises - find good workout buddies
6. find a prison job that keeps you engaged - you may not have the luxury of a good job at first, and might get stuck with a nasty job, but eventually, if you demonstrate that you follow orders, keep your nose clean, and can be counted on, you will get a better one
7. watch what you eat - if you can, supplement the prison food with commissary items that have good protein and try and stay away from junk
8. take vitamins and supplements yo can buy from the commissary
9. worship and pray in your own way - find a higher power if you don’t believe in God - just find a centering and focusing peace you can use to meditate, reflect, and you can count on to keep you whole
10. at the sign of any health issues, turn in a request to go to the clinic
11. stay in touch with your family and loved ones - have them visit, write to them, call them
12. help the older and infirm inmates when you can - it shows you are just and fair and will help those in need
13. if you have skills, like preparing a resume, writing a letter, or interpreting a complicated document, or translating something, do it. You will get a reputation for being helpful and I guarantee you it will make you feel like a million bucks
20. Finally, take time to reflect on what choices you made to land in the predicament you are in, and vow that you are going to make it right and re-establish and regain your reputation and self esteem

Bottom line? 20 years is a long bid. Most probably you won’t do the whole twenty, but that list above is designed to do some very important things - keep you busy, safe, healthy and focused on productive behaviors and to let the time to go as quickly as possible.

How do you serve ANY prison sentence? A day at a time my friend, a day at a time…

Hope this has helped. All the best to you. You deserve to serve your time in peace and in health and to emerge a better man with as bright a future as you can build.

do you really want to live in new york?

 Jamie Dimon was born in New York City 

https://x.com/i/status/1890202488596492620

atheism is so silly

 

relationships

 And one day you’ll be married and another opportunity comes. A wife is an opportunity and a husband is too. Marriage is given in order for a person to gain shleimus. That’s what eizer kenegdo means. He has the help of someone who is against him and she has the help of someone who is against her. Because a wife and a husband are two different kinds of people, two different natures.

Vayeitzei 5785 – The Wicked Make Us Great

Marriage is like life, and when you enter life, you are going to take it with all its details, with its ups and downs. There is some smooth driving, and sometimes there are crowded highways. And sometimes the road is bumpy and uncomfortable. It’s a roller coaster. There will be periods of unhappiness, and times you climb to heights of joy.

There is no such thing as a smooth marriage. The definition of marriage is friction; two personalities, each one with rough edges. And there’s no question that there is going to be tests and ordeals ahead. It’s very important to keep this in mind because it’s a very important principle that many people overlook – be realistic. Don’t expect too much. Once a person gets married he must know that he has to accept everything for better or for worse. Whatever you have, that’s yours for life, and make the best of it.

VAYEITZEI 5779 – MARRIAGE NEEDS PREPARATION

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/nKEyr5UxoZM

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-PZPdT3mbxU