Beer, Jewish Kids, and Arkansas

The title of this post sounds like a Carnac punchline.

Legislation allowing underage Jews to drink beer during religious ceremonies has sparked widespread support in the Arkansas Legislature and puzzlement, even laughter, in the Jewish community.

“I can’t think of any religion, off the top of my head, that uses beer sacramentally,” said a chuckling David Gilner, director of libraries at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati.

“I have never heard of this,” agreed David Kraemer, a professor of Talmud and rabbinics at The Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City.
Arkansas already allows children to receive wine as part of a “religious ceremony or rite in any established church or religion.”

But House Bill 2151 would expand the exemption to include beer. The state House of Representatives passed the legislation 71-17 on March 19, and the Senate’s State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee recommended passage on Tuesday. It’s now awaiting a vote in the Senate.

Full Article

Posted in Spiritual | Comments Off on Beer, Jewish Kids, and Arkansas

Bag of Randomness

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  • A study Bible wins Christian Book of the Year.  Should any other book beat out the Bible in a Christian Book of the Year award?
  • With the economy in turmoil you don’t hear a lot of “privatizing Social Security” talk.
  • On my drive to work the other morning I saw a truck that had a back windshield sticker of a cowboy and his horse on one knee in front of a cross.  I then looked down at the trailer hitch where a pair of rubber testicles were hanging.  I was almost tempted to provide a link to that product, but I’ll leave it up to yourself to Google it.
  • I remember back in the day when you could only buy seeded grapes – at least I think I do.
  • I really like what President Obama did yesterday with his online town hall, and I hope future presidents do the same.  In short, people could submit questions via the web they would like the president to answer, and other viewers to WhiteHouse.gov had the opportunity to rank the questions.  It’s great that the public gets to ask questions in a public forum rather than just have the journalists ask the questions for us.    And props to him for not dodging the most popular question that dealt with legalizing marijuana.
  • In terms of being an affective communicator, he has to work on that, but in terms of effort of trying to communicate with the public I have to give him a high mark.
  • I think he’s going to start some sort or expand on the whole get your student loans paid off by doing public service stuff.  I hated that feeling of coming out of college with so much in student loan debt, that I would have loved the opportunity to take advantage of that, rather than the alternative of joining the military or border patrol.
  • Here’s an interesting Hong Kong picture, be sure to move your mouse up and down the picture.
  • WifeGeeding made the following statement during a conversation last night that made me chuckle, ” Would a protein shake be good for me, because I don’t work out that long, just an hour?”  And here I am struggling working our for half an hour.  But hey, she’s got the abs to prove it.
  • D Magazine sent a reporter to 42 used car dealerships and to write and rank them.
  • So when I heard that the Red River was flooding way up north, I had to research to see if that’s the same Red River that’s about an hour north of me . . . turns out there’s more than one Red River.  Thank you Wikipedia.
  • Metroplex Atheists are trying to raise funds for billboards, in their words: This billboard message challenges the accepted social status quo without coming across as deliberately offensive. It has a message of inclusiveness (“You are not alone.”) vs. the divisiveness of religion.
  • Kim Kardashian’s un-photoshoped photo.
  • I’m not a fan of when the local news put comments from viewers that drop little comments on their website and then put them on TV.  It just seems silly.  You see something like “CowboyFan75 thinks that Dallas police chief is a coward for not backing his boys in blue.”  And they always like throwing the two most oppossing and extreme comments out there – blerg.  Just report the news, please, pretty please.  I don’t need to see the news sensationalize and turn into a local tabloid blog.
  • And now a few Lost thoughts . . . you know the drill:
  • So Sayid popped a cap in Little Ben . . . but that doesn’t men Ben’s dead.  Remember how Locke was shot a season or two back and lived?  This might just be what’s happening with Little Ben – the Island doesn’t want him to die.
  • But I have a feeling we’ll see Workman Jack turn into Dr Jack and save his life, which will mean that’s twice he’s saved Ben.
  • So Sayid killed the last of Widmore’s clan, can that war actually be over?
  • It’s going to be a matter of time until we learn more and see scenes from Ann Arbor.
  • Didn’t Sayid’s flashback with his brother and chicken killing remind you of Mr Eko’s flashback with his brother?  Remember, Yemi couldn’t kill an unarmed man, so Eko stepped in and did the deed to save his brother.
Posted in Personal | 9 Comments

Tough Call

I always wondered what would happen if I had to rush to the hospital to see a loved one before he or she passes only to be followed by a cop.  Would I stop and explain the situation?  Would I continue to drive to the hospital and then talk?  How would the officer react?  Would the police think that I’m lying?

In the story below, an NFL player rushed his family to the hospital to be with his mother-in-law before she passes.  He ran a red light and didn’t pull over until he got to the hospital, and he stayed behind to talk to the officer as his family rushed in.  Nurses came out to try to persuade the officer to let the man inside, but the officer didn’t budge, and he missed his mother-in-law’s passing.

Read the story here – it even includes the dash-cam video where you can hear both men talk.

I wonder if this would even be news if this guy wasn’t a “celebrity.”

On a side note, I remember rushing to the hospital to be with my mother before she passed.  This one guy in a tan Chevy just wouldn’t let me over or pass him.  He had no idea I’m sure of why I was trying to get by him, but that moment still sticks in my mind, and it has made me a bit more of a sensitive driver because I have no idea what’s going on in someone’s head as they drive – I just give them the benefit of the doubt.

Forgive him Father for he knows not what he has done.

Posted in DFW, Interesting, Personal, Spiritual, Sports, Touching | 4 Comments

Greggo’s Top 20 Burgers in the Metroplex

Greggo, or Greg ‘The Hammer’ Williams, formerly of Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket and now current local ESPN radio personality recently did a burger rating that you can find here.

Quick thoughts:

  • I totally agree with his assessment that Kincaid’s is #1.
  • I totally agree that Snuffers is over-rated, but I do recall a story one of my readers told me about U2 eating there once.
  • Whataburger makes the list.
  • Fat Daddy’s makes the list.  He only noted the Garland Road location.  I’ve eaten at a Fat Daddy’s in Coppell, and that burger was very spare.
  • I bet he didn’t try Mooyah, that’s a darn fine burger.
  • I’m glad Chips made the list.
  • Funny he made this list after his thumb stomach surgery.
  • WifeGeeding prefers Fuddruckers.
  • My list would have somehow included Braums.
  • I’ve only eaten at six of these burgers.  How much longer until Lent is over? 😉
Posted in DFW | 1 Comment