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August 11, 2013

‘Breaking Bad’ and Special Needs Parenting

Leave a Comment / Blogs /

Although the fifth and final season of the TV show 'Breaking Bad' starts Sunday night, I only started watching previous episodes recently. I had heard many years ago about this AMC series, but had little interest in following the story of a chemistry teacher diagnosed with lung cancer who turns to cooking meth to make a bundle of cash to leave behind for his family. Free time is a precious commodity and I sure didn’t want to waste it on watching a show with which I couldn’t connect in any way.

But after a colleague at work mentioned that the main character, Walter White, has a teenage son with mild cerebral palsy (CP), I had to pull myself away from my Mad Men addiction (love to cheer on Peggy Olson) and watch the show.

The son, played by actor Roy Frank “RJ” Mitte III, actually has CP, although milder than his character, Walter White, Jr. who is shown walking with arm braces and has significantly slurred speech. Shortly after Walter White first “breaks bad” in Season 1, there is a scene in a clothing store in which some kids from Walter White, Jr’s school are making fun of his disability, and his mom walks over, ready to give them a good verbal lashing. But out of nowhere darts his Dad, Walter White, who proceeds to beat the hell out of the young rude jerk, including stomping on his calf and saying to the effect, “having some trouble walking now, huh?” My inner pissed off parent cheered.

After Season 1, the show takes on a much darker descent into violence and greed and Walter White turns into a total absentee father for his own son (so much so that Dad misses his son’s 16th birthday party), but there’s a very small part of me that does connect with this nasty son-of-a-bitch as parent of a teen with CP. Walter White loves his son unconditionally, disability and all, and will fight to his last breath to protect his son (and young daughter) in his own sick, twisted way.

No matter how the show ends (and you know at least a few people are going down), I want thank the show’s Executive Producer, Vince Gilligan, for creating a show with a main character who has a disability, and then for getting it right by casting a talented young man who actually has that disability to play him.

And I’ve been inspired. Next time someone parks in a disabled parking spot without a placard I may just say in my best bad-ass imitation, “Stay out of my territory”.

‘Breaking Bad’ and Special Needs Parenting Read More »

August 11, 2013

Leave a Comment / Israel, Must Reads /

The US

Headline: U.S. to reopen 18 of the 19 embassies, consulates closed because of terror threats

To Read: Doyle McManus examines the reasons for the US' lack of leverage in the Arab world-

If the United States could be expected to have influence over any institution in the Arab world, it would be the government of Egypt, which collects $1.6 billion a year in American aid.

But two factors have diminished the leverage that the United States once gained by doling out foreign aid: less money and more competition.

Quote: “I think we saw more rhetoric on the Russian side that was anti-American, that played into some of the old stereotypes about the Cold War contest between the United States and Russia”, President Obama commenting on the recent tensions between the US and Russia and on President Putin's role in them.

Number: 68, the percentage of Americans who believe that the media 'keeps political leaders from doing things that should not be done'.

 

Israel

Headline: PM Netanyahu recovering after surgery

To Read: Mira Sucharov writes about a provocative Israeli mayor who excuses his public exclusionary attitude toward Arabs by claiming that 'If I'm racist then so is Israel'-

But those pull factors also suggest a darker side, the side of ethno-nationalism. Hardline Zionists like to emphasize that Israel should not be compared to the multicultural landscape of Canada or to the melting pot of America. Jewish nationalism at root implies a certain exclusionary quality, they argue. And maybe Gapso is right. Maybe it is the sheltered liberals who are trying to have their Tea Nana and drink it too. Perhaps Zionism should be recognized for what it is: an experiment in Jewish nationalism that is unavoidably exclusionary.

Quote:  “That means that we’ll never be neutral and that Israel can be sure of our support when it comes to ensuring its security. That’s why I also said that Germany’s support for Israel’s security is part of our national ethos, our raison d’être”, German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, talking to a Jewish Newspaper about Israel.

Number:  1,187, the Israeli government anounced it will issue tenders 1,187 Jewish homes behind the 1967 lines.

 

The Middle East

Headline: Egypt's top sheikh begins mediation efforts

To Read: David Ignatius is still optimistic about democracy in the Middle East-

The counterrevolution is gathering momentum in the Arab world, two years after the uprisings that toppled rulers in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has fought back brutally to preserve his dictatorship; Egypt’s generals ousted the Muslim Brotherhood government there. The men in the tanks seem to be winning the day.

Yet I’d be surprised if the Arab revolutions were permanently stalled. The forces that are undermining dictatorial rule are embedded in technology; a society where anyone can tweet a message or post a cellphone video will have difficulty repressing its citizens indefinitely.

Quote:  “We estimate that the real figure… is double the figure documented by the Observatory due to extreme secrecy that both sides in the conflict maintain on their casualties”, the Britain based watchdog organization, 'The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights', claiming that the death toll in Syria might be closer to 200,000 than to the standard estimations of around 100,000.

Number: $80-100m, the amount of Money which Bayti Real Estate Investment Company, the firm which is building the new Palestinian city of Rawabi, spends annually in Israel.

 

The Jewish World

Headline: Beitar Jerusalem to start keeping Shabbat

To Read: Rabbi Jonathan Sacks explains the reason why real prophecies made by legitimate prophets don't necessarily come true in the bible-

A prophet is not an oracle: a prophecy is not a prediction. Precisely because Judaism believes in free will, the human future can never be unfailingly predicted. People are capable of change. God forgives. As we say in our prayers on the High Holy Days: “Prayer, penitence and charity avert the evil decree.” There is no decree that cannot be revoked. A prophet does not foretell. He warns. A prophet does not speak to predict future catastrophe but rather to avert it. If a prediction comes true it has succeeded. If a prophecy comes true it has failed.

Quote:   “Had to get some challah bread so you can holla back and holla that/My Jewish lawyer too enjoyed the fruit of letting my cash stack”, a quote by Rapper Jay-Z, one of many quotes featured in a crazy compilation of rappers shouting out to their Jewish lawyers. 

Number: 78,000, the number of Ethiopian Falasha Jews who have immigrated to Israel since 1980.

August 11, 2013 Read More »

Polling Notes: No Threat to Netanyahu, No Hope in Egypt

Leave a Comment / Israel, Israel, Middle East /

1.

In our updated Israel Poll Trends tracker you can see that the decline in the popularity of Israel's Yesh Atid Party – not long ago the big surprise of the elections and a supposed alternative to Likud – continues. The party of Yair Lapid, according to the latest poll, gets as low as 13 mandates, and is trailing behind Labor and Habayit Hayehudi (not to mention Likud). And all this happened before Lapid called his critics, “schnauzers who were left out in the rain”.

You can see why Lapid is frustrated. While he used to be Israel's beloved golden boy, he is now becoming a punching bag for pundits and other politicians who all have the numbers to rely on:

Seventy-eight percent of the population disapproves of Yair Lapid’s performance as finance minister… Asked to grade him in the task of selecting a new Bank of Israel governor, 53% said he performed badly… The poll may also dampen Lapid’s ambitions toward the premiership; 82% of respondents said he was not fit for the position, versus only 12% who did. Even among Yesh Atid voters, 54% said he was not keeping his promises, and 43% said they would not vote for the party which he heads again.

All this means that:

A. Yesh Atid can't leave the coalition anytime soon (not that it wanted to leave).

B. Lapid is not much of a threat to Netanyahu anymore.

C. In fact, there is no threat to Netanyahu as things stand now – no candidate has emerged in the last couple of months that can compete with him.

D. In fact, when we think about potential PM candidates it seems that things are looking exceedingly good for Netanyahu. Lapid is in trouble, Livni's party doesn't even cross the new electoral threshold, and possible candidate Gabi Ashkenazi, former IDF chief and a rumored potential Labor candidate, is under investigation. Bottom line: we are left with Olmert, if his trial ends positively.

2.

An article I wrote for Al-Monitor deals with the gap between Israeli-Arab public opinion and the opinions expressed by Israeli-Arab politicians:

[T]he July 2013 Peace Index of the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) shows surprising optimism among Arab Israelis in relation to the resumption of the talks with the Palestinians: 47% of the respondents told pollsters that an agreement was within reach; 58% of them — a rather staggering number — believe that the government of Israel is sincere in its desire to resume the talks. Yet there isn’t a single Arab Knesset member who would openly come out and say that he believes that the government of Israel is sincere in its desire to hold negotiations.

This isn’t the first time that polls point out the vast gap between what Israeli Arabs think and what their representatives in the Knesset are saying they think. So why do they elect those representatives? That’s a big question. Some clearly don’t vote for them, given that the voting percentage among Israeli Arabs is lower compared to the Jewish population. Some vote for other parties, and, yes — some of them do vote for the nonrepresentational leadership that represents them in the Knesset, and even tell pollsters that by and large they are pleased with them. And that’s a shame and also quite strange, because it doesn’t always add up with the other things they say.

3.

We understand that Americans aren't that interested in news from Egypt:

Public interest in news from Egypt has plummeted since the early weeks of the Arab Spring in February 2011. And the share of Americans saying what happens in Egypt is “very important” to U.S. interests has fallen by 10 points – from 46% to 36% – since then.

But whatever you think about the politics of Egypt and the country's chance at getting its act together, this is heartbreaking:

Egyptians gave their lives some of the worst ratings they ever have in the weeks leading up to former President Mohamed Morsi's removal from office. The 34% of Egyptians who rated their lives poorly enough to be considered suffering in June was up from 23% in January. Fewer than one in 10 rated their lives positively enough to be considered thriving.

Polling Notes: No Threat to Netanyahu, No Hope in Egypt Read More »

The New Arab Settlement: Rawabi

Leave a Comment / Blogs, Books, Cover Story, Culture, Entertainment, Mobile, Mobile-Homepage, News /

The New York Times recently “>fancy website brag how the yuppy Palestinian endeavor is being received with such international admiration. The UN's Ban Ki-moon, John Kerry, and even American rabbis have paid a visit to its state-of-the-art visitors center. While Rawabi is supposed to be a point of Palestinian pride with Palestinian flags waving across the fresh stones, I'm not bothered, certainly not bothered the way Palestinians claim to be bothered when Israeli settlements go up.

I'm happy to see Palestinians focus on building life rather than devising the death of Israel. I am bothered by the fact that Rawabi is welcomed with international fanfare, while Jewish settlement in the West Bank, whether built or populated out of political, religious, security or economic considerations, is “>my website.)

Call me naive, but I await for the next great city to be built beyond the green line: a mixed city where Jews, Muslim reformers, Christians, atheists, Buddhists, whatever, can make a home, peacefully, because life and freedom are the foundations upon which it is built.

The New Arab Settlement: Rawabi Read More »