Why I'm Not Boycotting the Olympics

A lot of my friends are boycotting watching the Olympics. Some are opposed to the anti-gay law passed in Putin's Russia and the oppression of the LGBT community. Some are opposed to the desecration of the site where Circassian people (who are native to the Sochi area) were massacred in order to build ski slopes. Some are opposed to the senseless killing of dogs, mostly strays, so that they don't bother those attending the Olympics. Some are opposed to Russia's hideous human rights record in general. I am opposed to all of those things. They are all horrible and the Olympics should never have been held in Russia. I blame the IOC for choosing sites in countries that have no respect for human rights and that is where protests should be focused.

I am not boycotting. I watched last night. It was on broadcast TV (I have neither cable nor satellite) so there is nobody anyone can count or any way bean counters can tell that I watched for ratings purposes. Nobody in Russia benefits from my watching. Advertisers can only make a negative impression on me by cashing in on the Olympics so they won't benefit either. I love figure skating and I support Team Israel and Team USA.

I enjoyed watching the first part of the first ever figure skating team competition. The Canadian couple of Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford is awesome and had an amazing performance, as did Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan. Scott Hamilton called his performance "sick".

I also think NBC and Bob Costas deserve huge kudos for their coverage of the anti-gay law. First, they spent a lot of time on the subject and called a lot of attention to it. Their two Russian analysts were amazingly good. One, Vladimir Posner, the former Soviet spokesperson, said it best: "Russia is a homophobic country." The law has the support of 85% of the population. He also made clear that Putin doesn't give a damn what anyone in the West thinks. Posner also pointed out that Putin is "an autocrat, not a democrat" and that the protests against the law are by "urban, liberal intelligentsia" and not the masses, who are, as he said, homophobic.

That kind of coverage does Putin and Russia no favors, and it was smack in the middle of prime time between figure skating and skiing segments. I'm glad I watched it. The anti-gay law was presented in an entirely unfavorable way. I'm sure the bigots in the audience hated that coverage.

What I am doing is using a rainbow flag with the Olympic rings as my Facebook profile picture to show solidarity with the LGBT community in Russia, and I urge everyone who cares about human rights to do the same.

A Note About Dinner and Kosher Foods in America

I made a big pot of bean and leek soup (with carrots, garlic, a little bit of onion, a finely minced habanero pepper to add a little kick, plus spices) in a Crock Pot. I had some as part of dinner tonight topped with some shaved Parmesan cheese, with a piece of baked Alaskan cod and a piece of very fresh rye bread. It's wonderful, but since it's just me that eats it I'll be having it for a week or more. That's why I do things like this (big pots of soup, chili or cholent) so infrequently.

I used half of a bag of a 15 bean mix intended for soup. It had the appropriate kosher certification on it. On the back cover it had a soup recipe which started by telling me I'd need 1 lb. of ham hocks. Really? Tell me this: why would a company go through the expense of kosher certification and then only put a blatantly treyfe recipe on the back of the package? Wouldn't it be better to have two recipes, one of which appeals to the people who looked for that symbol of kashrut and perhaps vegetarians as well? Wouldn't that make more sense? Trust me on this: you can make a delicious soup from those beans without any pork.

[Note: This started out as a Facebook post. I've also published it in my Zionist/Jewish blog since it does touch on Jewish dietary laws.]

On Phil Robertson, Hate and Hypocrisy

On the whole Duck Dynasty thing... I'm perhaps a bit sensitive about this issue but I live in North Carolina. We have one pastor here who wanted to round up all the "queers" and lesbians, fence them in (a concentration camp) and kill them off. We have another who urged parents to beat the gay out of their sons. Here in the South lots of people cheer those attitudes and really do want the LGBT community dead or gone. To quote one of the leaders of the Amendment One campaign, "We don't want them here." (Amendment One took the law against same sex marriage here and added it to the state constitution. It is currently being challenged in court.)

Phil Robertson has influence due to his celebrity. His words are likely to be used to justify more violence against the LGBT community here in the South and we have too much of that already. Words have power. Sure, he has the right to hold whatever beliefs he has, no matter how despicable I find them. However, he has been given a public platform and has used it in a way that can do real harm. For that reason I really cannot accept any of the defending of him I see online, and I really, really am outraged by those who turn him into some kind of hero.

Also, as an excellent article by Dean Obeidallah in The Daily Beast points out, those who are up in arms that Robertson was suspended by A&E are raging hypocrites. Those same people were ready to pillory Martin Bashir for making nasty statements about one person: Sarah Palin. These people didn't champion Alec Baldwin's homophobic statements or his firing from MSNBC because he isn't a conservative.

Surely, equating gay people with terrorists and with bestiality can and should be considered hateful. Saying that black people were happier in the Jim Crow South before integration is certainly racist. It should never be defended and A&E has every right to hold the man accountable for his statements.

With All the Things Wrong in This World... My Take.

I wrote this for a friend who expressed real frustration with the state of the world on a Facebook page. I decided it's something I want to share with everyone with only minor editing:

I've had the good fortune to travel the world in my career. I have family and friends scattered all over the world that I keep in touch with. I'm a citizen of two countries and I'm probably eligible for citizenship in three more. Most people are decent everywhere my travels have taken me.

Are governments flawed? Yep, everywhere. For all it's flaws the U.S. is still ahead of most of the world in more areas that you'd imagine. There are judges who should never be judges. There are terrible decisions made by people who just don't get it. Still, I find a lot more that's hopeful about our world today than the one that existed when I was young.

Don't give up on the world. We Jews have an obligation called "tikkun olam", literally fixing the world. We each are supposed to do our little part to leave the world a better place than we found it. I think if we all (not just Jews but everyone) embrace that concept we can all make a small difference in our own little way. Lots of small differences can add up to a large change.

Review: Karolina - Zohar (Special Edition)

For the first time since November, 2005 I wrote a product review for Amazon. Eight years ago it was a book I really enjoyed; this time it's a two CD boxed set:

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If you've heard either Funset's "Pumpkin Ragga" or Habanot Nechama you probably already know that Karolina (Keren Avratz) has an amazingly flexible and expressive voice and is a very capable songwriter. When she sings in English her Israeli accent is thick enough to cut with a knife but somehow that doesn't matter.

"Zohar" (Glamor) is her second solo album. The original CD was rather short and included two different versions of Al Te'ahar (Don't Be Late), with an acoustic rendition closing the album. On this album she drops the soul and reggae influences which were so evident on her first album and with Funset and adds a little Mizrahi flavor, even though she is not from that tradition. Zohar, with the exception of her Chanson For Lebanon, has a much more contemporary feel. The words are entirely in Hebrew with the exception of "Save Me From Myself", and surprisingly that may be my favorite from this album.

The new version adds an EP of covers, three well known Israeli songs from the '60s and '70s plus a collaboration with Boom Pam on a version of Led Zeppelin's Black Dog, with a surprising amount of Middle Eastern flavor added to the instrumentation. Karolina practically channels Cilla Dagan, who sang the original version of Yom Bo Yakom, and does a beautiful rendition of Zohar Argov's Tzel Etz Tamar (Shadow of the Palm Tree).

This is an album I just keep going back to again and again. Definitely pick up the Special Edition if you're going to get a copy of Zohar. It's more than worth a little bit extra to hear Karolina rework the old songs.

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Here are a couple of songs from the album:

Is Professional Courtesy a Thing of the Past?

Last week I had blocked time for a phone call and for a meeting down in Houston. I was supposed to get a confirmation call for the Houston meeting on Monday. Neither of the calls ever came. I followed up, of course, and both phone messages and e-mail went unanswered.

Once upon a time, not too long ago, if you scheduled time with a professional in any field and you needed to cancel you called to let them know. You didn't just pull a no show unless something was seriously wrong. There is no shame in saying things aren't going to work out for whatever reason. You don't even need to give a reason. In this day and age, with smartphones everywhere, giving the courtesy of a note cancelling a meeting takes a few minute and can be done by phone, text or e-mail.

I find it amazing, not to mention incredibly unprofessional, than one person in the business world would simply stand up another like this. Time is valuable. Is professional courtesy dead? Is it a thing of the past. Sadly, it seems to be.

I Ate Kale and It Didn't Kill Me

I have a great friend. She's becoming more health conscious and is doing a great job of losing weight. The one problem she has is what she likes to eat. Her idea of eating green is mint chocolate chip ice cream. She will tell you that she eats vegetables because she eats potatoes. Seriously, if it's a green vegetable she hates it. If it's fish she says it will make her throw up. She's a meat and potatoes type... and pizza. Pizza is a major food group for her. None of this sounds like a healthy diet, does it?

Me, well... I like most vegetables and I eat lots of them. The ones I really don't like I can count on the fingers of my right hand and still have fingers left over. I hate asparagus. I really don't like endive. Kale (and most greens) taste bitter to me. Why have kale when you can have spinach? I like spinach.

Imagine my surprise when my meat and potatoes friend calls me asking for kale recipes. Kale? She's going to eat kale? She read somewhere that it's a super food and really good for her and she wants a way to prepare kale that will taste good to her. Oof! Almost any other vegetable and I would have clever ideas. Spinach recipes, I have endless spinach recipes. Kale? I've got nothing.

I've never been one to shy away from a good challenge and I need to lose weight too. If kale is this super food then maybe I need to learn how to make tasty kale, right? Sure. My first attempt, suggested by Bobby Flay online, didn't turn out so well. Maybe I didn't cook it enough, or maybe just garlic isn't enough to mask the bitterness, but let's just say I didn't eat it. I also found raw kale salad suggestions. I'd rather eat newspaper. It isn't as bitter and the texture is better.

Tonight it turned out the third time was the charm. I sauteed the kale in very good Halutza extra virgin olive oil from Israel. I used more garlic. I added chopped green onion. I also used Heritage Fair Greens Seasoning. I cooked it longer and got it a bit softer. It really wasn't bad at all the way I made it. My main dish was vegetarian Tofurkey Italian style sausage and peppers (three kinds) with mushrooms, fresh tomatoes, yellow squash and green onion in a tomato based pasta sauce over Jewish style egg noodles. It ended up being a nice dinner.

OK, I ate kale and it didn't kill me. I have a tiny bit left over in a Tupperware in the fridge. I wonder if it would be good in an omelet in the morning. Hmmm... [Photo courtesy of WikiMedia Commons]