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The American dilemma
Allow violent hack and slash, shoot and kill films and video games.....
Allow nasty death videos on You Tube.....
Disallow the odd titty, bare bum and nipple.....
The mentality of the American amazes me.
2105 posts • joined 4 Oct 2011
Allow violent hack and slash, shoot and kill films and video games.....
Allow nasty death videos on You Tube.....
Disallow the odd titty, bare bum and nipple.....
The mentality of the American amazes me.
Looking for gullible investors......
Quick way to make money
1. Promote asteroid mining
2. Promise short time scale get rich quick scheme
3. Rake in the investment
4. Buy expensive houses and cars
5. Extend time scale ask for more investment because they are so close to starting
6. Rake in more investments
7. Buy more expensive cars and houses
8. Extend timescale ask for more investment
9. Investment dries up
10. Go bust, retire on proceeds bought from investments
Mandoff would be proud of you.
They will make gentlemanly agreements with the rich to pay back their taxes on the understanding that there will be no prosecutions.
The little people, who are easier to go after will be convicted for anomalies of £10 or less.
That's how it works, one rule for the rich one for the working man.
She's probably right but who the hell is going to take any notice?
Would you listen to a bunch of MP's that spent years with their snouts in the trough and tried desperately to prevent the publication of their expenses, not to mention the MP's who tried to find 'work arounds' directly after the scandal to continue to fleece the tax payer by renting houses from each other and claiming expenses from them?
It is up to parents to resolve this issue ( I'm one ) and not for the Government to nanny me over it. Yes there are parents who have no idea or don't care, the majority do though and I for one won't be dictated to by a bunch of thieves.
Manufacturers were heavily into promoting Ultra Books and the like, which most consumers saw as an over priced product that provided less for more.
The consumers, Fanbois excluded, have become more cost conscious and tech savvy and are not as easily conned.
Some people live in a virtual reality bubble and will believe the hype then invest their life savings into this venture.
Someone will make money out of it, but it won't be the investor. Let Bernard Mandoff be a warning to all.
Look like a real knob in these, but could they catch on and become a fashion accessory?
It would only take a few celebs seen out with them on.
I suppose it is an attempt to make the phone a more desirable proposition, though you might be better off selling them with a years free supply of petrol.
He was a naughty boy, he got caught being a naughty boy and should have got his backside slapped for being a naughty boy. What he did was illegal, he could have asked if he could run his software to check, but he did not.
I think he was just a clever lad acting the prat overestimating his own importance.
However the punishment really does not fit the crime, being a prat is not a crime, it is just being stupid. Censure him yes, expel him no. A kick up the arse and some menial tasks for the next three months would have been quite sufficient.
This isn't about stealing, this is about outsourcing.
Pay peanuts to employees (outsourcing to India) and expect some form of corruption.
I wonder how many times this has happened but the banks have kept the problem 'in house' to avoid the scandal.
Since many people use the word password for their password and many people have none I suppose we are almost there.
I agree, if they had called the app Image Changer or Face Changer there would have been no problem.
I wonder who the complainants were, usually they are the white middle classes who like to get on the band wagon. Apparently this statistic holds true where more complaints are raised by white people on behalf of minorities (though in some cases not so minorities any more if you live in London) or where an occasion like Christmas has a name change to Festivalmas by a white majority city council who feel that Christmas upsets those from other religions and 'wants' to have a generic holiday period.
The world is going mad.
So what you are saying is don't bother spending too much thinking you will get great wireless speeds, even when LTE becomes mainstream we will be fighting each other over bandwidth.
The major cities will probably suffer first and the most, while those of us out in the sticks won't even see it for years. Even if we do finally get it here, eventhough our system will not be as overloaded as say London I am sure they will make sure we 'pay' as much as everyone else.
Apparently, according to a New York Post story, a number of large (body size) American Ladies have decided to start a class action against the use of Airport Scanners. They feel they have been discriminated against in that all the pretty and slim women are directed through the scanner, on occasion several times in succession for the benefit of the operators who claim spurious reading. The larger ladies are inevitable directed through the manual pat down.
Airport security spokesman claimed 'Unfortunately with some of the larger ladies the X-ray is not able to penetrate under their skin folds'. He also denied claims that in one serious incident a larger lady got stuck passing through the scanner. He also denied it was policy that slim pretty women are made to pass through the scanner several times before being cleared though it did appear in some cases this may have inadvertently happened due to 'spurious readings'.
Probably sterilises men with the X-rays and increases risk of testicular cancer and promotes and increases breast cancer in women.
So to cover this up they are withdrawing the units. Every other excuse is jut a lie.
And we can teach the Yanks the meaning of self deprecating humour, not to mention correct spelling and use of words in the English language. Educating Americans should be a priority and Siri would be a most useful tool.
You should know that the bidding process is already tied up by the bigger players when Government contracts are concerned. The small guys are only invited or encouraged to bid to make up the numbers so that those in charge can say the bidding was open to all.
The result has already been fixed months before the bidding process starts. You can see how institutionalised this is when you see how many MP's who are responsible for procurement get advisory jobs or when they lose the election or retire they get a seat on the board.
They are all at it and it is a truly bent system.
I'm sure the CIA will also have an interest in being able to turn off medical equipment from a distance.
I wonder who might be on their list?
That the standards of the comments had dropped over the last year, now I know why, it's the abundance of Americans coming to the site. Still hopefully we can help educate them.
Fly in an aircraft that has a 100% safety record, never fly with an airline that has a 100% safety record. Never fly in a new aircraft type that has never crashed.
Statistically it's only a matter of time, whereas the others that have crashed failed etc have had time to put the flaws and systems right and are statistically less likely to fail.
It is quite common in American Cinemas for audiences to cheer and whoop after car chases and gun battles during the film and then clap loudly cheering the film. The phenomenon was first noted in the US during the screening of Reservoir Dogs.
This is possibly a good indicator of American Mentality.
In the 1990's an American chap found that he was being sacked from his printing and sinage firm for poor work, time keeping etc. He said, 'is that so' then pulled a 9mm pistol out and began killing people then after he had enough he killed himself.. I forget his name but he is listed on Murderpedia.
The previous month he had joined a gun club to learn to shoot efficiently and bought by mail order 12,000 rounds of ammunition. Apparently he had a lifetime history of depression for which he was being medically treated. He did not play computer games.
Allowing a manic depressive to buy a weapon and ammunition enough for an army without checks is the problem not computer games.
These boards don't go the way of Netbooks, cheap and cheerful working functional computers which have now appeared to morph into £1000 Untrabooks with missing features.
I'm all for competition, but this time next year will we see boards reaching £100+
They can say what they want and try to defend themselves over the case.
You take your victim as you find them, Swartz became the victim in this, but these prosecutors have skin thicker than battleship armour.
Sadly it is unlikely they will be tormented by this.
Apparently all the publicity surrounding Tony Stark has led the Chinese to believe he is real.
Keep raising the petition number, it'll make no difference as the population in the US is so huge that proportionally they have more unhinged nutters than any other country in the world.
Example: NRA shooting game.
There will be no problem finding 100,000 for signatures for things like Death Stars, Nuke Iran, Death to Homosexuals, ban Mexicans etc etc.
America Land of the Brave home of the nutters.
The American D of J will hound him and persecute him until he gives in or commits suicide.
Because that is what they are about.
If found guilty this will cost Nvidia millions if not a billion, of course they must knowingly have acted on the information. The guys themselves will be locked up for a long time, except of course the first one who grasses and plea bargains against the rest.
God Bless the American Legal System.
If you put yourself out there, express opinions and make statements to the world you have to expect the consequences and if someone disagrees with you well, that's life I'm afraid.
I'd suggest schools give a lesson on social media and consequences.
When some weird tentacled thing turns up and demands humans hand themselves over to be eaten we will wish we'd built a Death Star.
The musical fart app sponsors Coronation Street..
Voters could have some fun on this one.
For initiative.
But it just shows how cheap it is to outsource, if he can outsource his job and still pay the rent.
So much for the Kyoto Agreement on reducing pollution. In the UK we bend over backwards, increasing our costs, being taxed for so called green energy that has absolutely no effect worldwide.
The rest of the world sticks two fingers up at us.


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Shadow play: How Bloc Party reinvented their sound
When non-stop touring left them creatively shattered, Bloc Party had to reinvent their sound. Gavin Cumine hears how they did it
Monday 20 October 2008
I meet Bloc Party in London's fashionable Shoreditch, in precisely the kind of place satirised on the band's last album, A Weekend in the City. On that album's opening track, "Song for Clay (Disappear Here)" – named after the druggie, alienated protagonist of Bret Easton Ellis's novel Less Than Zero – lead singer Kele Okereke sang, "East London is a vampire. It sucks the life right out of me." The album that followed was an unflinchingly honest portrayal of British life: immigration, drug abuse, suicide, sexuality, the London bombings, a critique of youth subcultures and casual sex, and Okereke's identity as a second-generation Nigerian immigrant were all tackled. It was a record without answers, confused and caught in the moment, standing up for itself and its opinions.
It was also a change of pace from their well received debut Silent Alarm, a riotous salute to pop culture that, with its twisted grooves and Okereke's abstract lyrics, garnered NME's album of the year award, a Mercury Prize nomination, success in America and platinum sales. All this made Bloc Party one of the most popular bands in the country, but as bassist Gordon Moakes notes, the past three years have been a time of uncomfortable change for the band.
"At the end of last year touring became quite a grind. We started to play one set list we weren't deviating from. It was a tour too far. We were in Europe, but we all really wanted to get home. It was tough to look beyond that towards a new record and where we would go with it. I remember when we finished the last show in Barcelona we didn't say that much to each other, we just disappeared to the hotel, anxious to fly home and get away from the routine.
"At this point the single 'Flux' had come out and we were playing it live," continues Moakes. "The interesting thing about 'Flux' was that it opened a door to the fact that we could go in any direction on the next record. Before we even started thinking about a new record or going into the studio we needed to take time off. I had a weekend on the coast somewhere and we didn't really communicate with each other for a month. When we came back into the studio I felt that there were no rules."
The result was the band's third album, Intimacy, rush-released as a download in August after an announcement three days before at a webchat. It gets its official full release next Monday, including the new single "Talons", out today. The record shows strong resolve, with a toughened sound that, in addition to disembodied dance beats and orchestral elements, has an electronic tinge – a direction the band has only hinted at before. Bloc Party have had trouble finding their niche, their previous records' confidence masking a deep anxiety. Intimacy is a record that marries the boisterous aspects of Silent Alarm and the wisdom of A Weekend in the City – and the result reveals a band that has grown in confidence.
"I think with A Weekend for the City there was compromise. We knew we had to do something to push forward, but weren't entirely comfortable with going all the way. I think having gone through a period of uncertainty it came down to Kele saying that we needed to pin our colours to the mast. We had songs where we disregarded the guitar and focused on the beat, which meant we could really go to town with them."
Moakes is candid about his feelings towards the band. At 32, he is the oldest member and recently became a father. He missed much of their summer tour on paternity leave. "Now it is strangely more instinctive than it has ever been. We realised Bloc Party is not life or death for us as individuals. It is what we do, but you can devote more energy to it if you have perspective and something else to go away to. I think, allowing this record the space to come together the way it has, we realised that we didn't all have to be in the studio together."
The guarded Okereke and drummer Matt Tong come to join us. Okereke has never been the most comfortable of speakers and today he seems tired and unable to string his thoughts together. He refers to the download release of Intimacy as "a laugh", and in one particularly awkward moment refers to a fist fight with Tong that almost led to Tong's sacking. "It's a draining process," says Okereke by way of explanation for his demeanour. "With past records we have released them six months after we finished them, which is a long time to sit on a record and then have to talk about it. Naturally your mind wanders and you don't really maintain the connection with the record. Once it's done I'm not really interested in it. I'm always thinking about the next thing. That was related to the way we released the record, to retain some excitement for us."
"This is our third record now and I think that if we had any anxieties about the process, then they have been ironed out by now," adds Tong. "We know what we will be going through and how long we're going to have to do it for. I think we have got that tetchiness out of our system."
Tetchiness is inherent to Bloc Party's make-up, though. They are a product of their environment, their urgent music analogous to fast-paced London life. "There is real restlessness and a short attention span here," says Okereke. "Everything is so fast in London, and that is very apparent in our sound. Our songs are schizophrenic, which I think is something you need living in London. We just get bored so easily.
"I'm already writing the basic parts to the next record. It's on my mind now, because this one is done and there's nothing more I can add now that it's out in the public sphere. It isn't mine anymore. I just don't want to hit 30 and think, 'We could have worked harder.' We are not going to be in this forever and we might not want to do this forever, but while we have a window of opportunity to affect people it would be silly of us not to."
Lyrically, on Intimacy Okereke sounds more liberated, airing deeply personal details about a bad break-up, rather than the convoluted judgments of A Weekend in the City. "Weekend... was very opinionated, it was me saying what I thought of the world and trying to find my place. This record is the opposite. It is me worrying about what is going on in my back garden, about my world rather than what effect I can have on the world. When I wrote A Weekend in the City I had been going out more than I should have been and when the album came out I had stopped that lifestyle. With this record I wrote when I felt emotionally inclined to rather than because I had something to say."
One of the most interesting elements of the record is the way Okereke's voice is used, often treated like an instrument in itself; it is cut up, distorted, vocoded and run through a variety of effects pedals, most notably on lead single "Mercury" and album opener "Ares". "I wanted this record to sound like a modern rock band with elements of its personality manipulated, and distorted," explains Okereke. "I didn't want us to sound like we had been playing in a room. I wanted it to sound like we had gone through some kind of machine.
"One of the things that has really hounded us is that people likened us to bands that meant nothing to us; people seemed to miss the point," continues Okereke. "I wanted to make sure that people saw us in a different way. There was a whole spate of bands doing the disco thing and the staccato guitar thing and that form of music lost its appeal for me. I guess with this record I wanted to put us in a place where nobody else could make an album like Intimacy."
In their short lifespan Bloc Party have shown an exciting readiness to turn their back on the desires of others and a music industry they see as founded on repetition. "There is a real sense of the industry being like a dog that has been chasing its tail that has then caught its tail and started to eat itself," says Tong. "That image of the skinny guy with pointy shoes and a trilby hat, that silhouette of a band dude has been appropriated by the media and it has become a cultural norm. I'm not knocking the internet –I think the democratisation of music it has allowed has been great – but now being in a band has become a norm and you have a lot of people who don't really deserve to be heard. Being in a band has become the latest fashion accessory."
Out of step with trends, Bloc Party are a band determined to move beyond the hype they attracted some three years ago. Fashions may come and go but Bloc Party are in it for the long haul.
The new single, 'Talons' is released on Wichita today; the album 'Intimacy' is released on CD on 27 October
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Fashion Week Survival Secrets — from Some of Our Favorite Fashion Insiders
>> We caught up with some of our favorite models, designers, editors, fashion directors, bloggers, and PR pros to find out exactly how they plan to survive Fashion Week. From the pieces that top their shopping lists to the essential beauty products they can't live without to helpful tips on where to grab a quick bite between the shows — here are their Spring 2012 need-to-have-now Fashion Week essentials.
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- This model's been missing from Fashion Week! — Style.com
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If you heat with natural gas, your bill is about to rise.And it's not a small jump either. How does 40% sound? Enbridge has applied for a rate increase with the Ontario Energy Board. That increase, if approved, could work out to 400 dollars more for the average home. A bill that would be $1000 a year, would now be $1400 a year. Enbridge says what usually happens, is that they purchase and stockpile natural gas during the summer months, when it's less expensive. What's happened now, is that because it's been such a long cold winter, those supplies are running low. That's forced Enbridge to purchase the more expensive natural gas to sell to you. Other suppliers, particularly in Ontario and Quebec, are facing similar supply pressures and could raise their prices as well.
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For new questions please post at magento.stackexchange.com, the community-run support site for the Magento community. We will be providing updates on the new forum solution soon. For questions or concerns please email firstname.lastname@example.com.
I'm wondering if anyone has a multilingual store built on Magento or knows of some good examples. I've read other posts on how to download language packs, add languages, etc., but I'm wondering what solutions people use to translate their product descriptions, CMS page content, category descriptions, etc. Is this really expensive or difficult to manage if you have a store with many languages? Is there a plugin that makes this easier? Any info or advice people might have on how to do this would be greatly appreciated! Thanks
There is no plugin for this. It's core behavior. You can create different languages (store views) for your website(s), and you can manage descriptions and product names and many others at store view level. Search for the forum on how to install language packs and how to add store views.


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Tag Archives: women
What Happened to Dinah?
Although we're a bit beyond the portion, there's been a lot of social media chatter about Dinah – possibly because of the December airing of a television version of the novel by Anita Diamant. I mostly ignored it until a friend asked me about Dinah's age (without going too far into it, if you follow the timeline laid out in the Torah plainly, she must have been VERY young, possibly a child. She probably isn't, though) – at that point, I somehow found myself drawn into thinking about this very disturbing story.
There are many difficult passages in the Torah, and the rape of Dinah is among them. Nevertheless, I find the idea of turning what is clearly a forced sexual encounter into some kind of love story (as Diamant does in The Red Tent) – to be very difficult indeed.
Dinah's role story turns around the first four verses of chapter 34 of Genesis. It is clear from the text that Dinah was violated. In verse two it says,
וַיַּרְא אֹתָהּ שְׁכֶם בֶּן חֲמוֹר הַחִוִּי נְשִׂיא הָאָרֶץ וַיִּקַּח אֹתָהּ וַיִּשְׁכַּב אֹתָהּ וַיְעַנֶּהָ:
"He saw her, Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land; and he took her; he lay with her; and he humbled her."
What confuses the matter is that this verse is then seemingly followed a declaration of love:
וַתִּדְבַּק נַפְשׁוֹ בְּדִינָה בַּת יַעֲקֹב וַיֶּאֱהַב אֶת הַנַּעֲרָה וַיְדַבֵּר עַל לֵב הַנַּעֲרָה
"His soul cleaved to Dinah the daughter of Jacob and he loved the girl and spoke to the girl's heart."
The number of disturbing things about this story start multiplying rather quickly here:
A man kidnaps and rapes a young woman, possibly a very young teen; he then, after forcing her, tells her he loooves her and has his father make an offer for her. Her brothers are outraged. They come up with a plot, telling Hamor that they can't give her to the uncircumcised and that they'll let his son marry her only if everyone circumcises themselves. Hamor sells this to his fellow citizens by noting how rich they'll all get if they intermarry with this wealthy clan. The brothers of Dinah wait until the men of the city are weak from their surgery and then slaughter them, taking their sister home. When Jacob complains that their actions make him look bad, they respond, "הַכְזוֹנָה יַעֲשֶׂה אֶת אֲחוֹתֵנוּ" – Shall he make our sister like a whore?
The "modern" take on this story is that it is about the disgust for exogamy. But a closer reading reveals something different.
It seems unlikely that Shechem was that besotted by a young girl – even a young woman – with whom he was unlikely to have had much interaction. And in fact, he clearly doesn't "love" her before he violates her. The son of the prince may want her for the moment- but not, probably, because he loves her, but rather because abductions are a tried and true way to marry someone whose family won't consent (in many cultures- some even today). He wouldn't have known much about Dinah – but he – and his father – clearly knew whose family she was a part of. And there is some confirmation from the text itself (which a number of commentaries pick up on) that it was not just Shechem, but the entire city, who are implicated in this vile crime: "Jacob's sons came upon the slain and plundered the city that had defiled their sister. (34:27)"
Note also the focus on family in the verses: "Shechem the son of Hamor, the Hivvite, the prince of the land" and "Dinah the daughter of Jacob" – even though the story begins by calling her "Dinah the daughter of Leah." As the daughter of Leah, who is not, of herself, wealthy, she is not too interesting. As the daughter of the wealthy Jacob, however, she is someone the son of a prince might be interested in acquiring. So he takes her. And he does it in such a way that – in the Hivite culture- makes her impossible to take back. She's now someone – they presume – that her family must get rid of, because surely they can't give her to anyone else now.
But the brothers of Dinah don't hold that view. To them, she isn't a pawn in a family dynasty, perfect for cementing an alliance between the city and a wealthy clan that can bring in a lot of money. To her brothers, she is not to be sold. Her brothers may be awful – and there's a case for that – but clearly they cared about their sister. They didn't say "shall our family name be blemished?" or "Shall our line be tainted?" but "shall our sister be treated as a whore?"
In other words, they refused to let her body be a pawn for financial exchange. Her brothers, unlike the Hivites, are saying that they don't care what the state of her virginity is, they won't stand for this behavior, and won't write her off as ruined. Remember, the circumcision is a ploy. They have no intention of leaving her there, regardless. And they know that Hamor wants this deal, and will do whatever it takes to get them to settle there because he wants not their family, not their God, but their wealth.
Compare this episode to those of Dinah's paternal grandmother and great-grandmother. Both were claimed as sisters in order to avoid the threat to Isaac and Abraham that might have been posed by the local prince desiring them. In the case of Sarah, in fact, Avimelech does take her. One might even think of Dinah's brothers' actions as a corrective to these earlier episodes. In the case of Sarah, God has to rescue her: and perhaps, indeed, Dinah's brothers do one better – in Sarah's case, God goes to a great deal of trouble to make sure that Sarah isn't defiled by Avimelech – in Dinah's case, the brothers make it clear that they don't care – she is their sister, regardless.
Our society also has its Shechems – we read in the news constantly about the ways in which womens' bodies are treated as objects, and not a month went by in the past year without a story of how a high school or college student was sexually assaulted – and how it is the victim, not the perpetrators, who so often pay the price. In that atmosphere, I find it troubling to turn a story of rape into a romance.
The story of Dinah is still one of its time: we never hear what Dinah thinks, or feels; we don't really know what happens to her beyond the speculation of the classical midrash. But we know that at the very least, her brothers care enough to protect her, and go against an entire society – and indeed their own father- to bring her home.
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Jewish Men Behaving Badly
"Wear red lipstick when you meet with him," warned a grad student. I only vaguely understood what she meant. The man in question was a revered academic scholar. His taking time to meet with a lowly undergraduate was an honor. His advanced years and disheveled fashion clouded my naïve ability to see him as a sexual predator. But after he began calling me sweetheart, asking me to sit up in the front row during class, and putting his hands on my thighs under the table, the meaning of her warning became crystal clear. I always wore lipstick and stopped going to closed door meetings.
The arrest and charging of Rabbi Barry Freundel was a terrible shock to most. But in reading some of the first-person accounts of encounters with Freundel, a pattern has emerged of a man whose abuse of power was not entirely unknown but never publicly challenged. From Toronto, in the county in which I grew up and love, similarly the story of Jian Ghomeshi, a former rock star turned popular radio host, has uncovered tales of years of abuse and exploitation spoken about quietly and never explicitly published or charged.
Reading these now public accounts has opened up floodgates of personal memory and laid open the implicit challenge that comes when men in power abuse or harass women, in particular young or vulnerable ones. And having grown up in and become a professional in the inner circles of the Jewish community, the memories and stories come from inside our "kodosh kodoshim," our holiest of places and institutions.
When I was 19, I was invited to a high-level meeting of my student group being held in the Old City in Jerusalem. As Shabbat descended, I found myself in a small private bedroom where the only other female leader was sleeping soundly. I was flattered that our executive director had sought me out to discuss some of the upcoming business; I was political, ambitious and believed in the causes we were activists for. But at some point he began undoing the zipper on my dress and pushing me down on the bed. I told him to cut it out but that was only mildly effective. I remember my confusion. Young and sexually inexperienced, I was not attracted to this man. He was someone I respected. I did not want to wake my roommate. He told me not to fuss. The Shabbat siren wailed; my roommate woke and we went to pray. Over the mechitzah, he continued to leer at me and my confusion turned to anger.
At dinner, I made sure not to be seated with him, but at some point when he made a comment about changing that, I stood up and said before all assembled that I had not come to be physically or religiously pressured. All conversation stopped. I looked a fool, I am sure, but the harassment stopped there.
I was proud of myself. I felt empowered. But it was no easy feat. No one, not even the other female on the board, ever asked about my outburst. This was not surprising. At other retreats I had seen board members stick their penises in the faces of sleeping friends, and others prey on underage girls. Sexualization and harassment were part of the culture, and if I wanted to play in the big leagues I had to be strong enough to deal with it. So as hard as it was, I internally spun the story as one of pride for my ability to talk up, playing down the utter humiliation and isolation.
My brashness came in no small part from an understanding of my self worth (thanks to my ima for that) and the Jewish values that were part of the same education package the men I knew had grown up with. But there was also a piece that I would come to understand only with time. The stakes were low and the violation, while upsetting, relatively minor. I had little to lose by speaking up. The harassment, while troubling, had not crossed in my mind that imaginary line that often makes the shame too hard to overcome for the sake of reporting. This man, while in a position of power, was of increasingly little consequence in my life and I did not worry about direct retribution. And finally, I was young and still not fully aware that holding men accountable for abuse of power could and often does have repercussions that can add layers of trauma.
I wish I could say that that is the end of this story. Through the years I've supported women who have had to sit and watch their rapists lead tefillot, or suffer as their abusers are celebrated as among the great Jewish leaders. I personally have had to face inappropriate behavior from men in the Jewish community. Sometimes I've spoken out, and sometimes not. I've avoided some very bad situations because even when women don't speak up publicly they share information quietly. With the help of this informal network, I've avoided getting into elevators alone with particular men. I've chosen not to engage in conversations with certain men or pursue specific opportunities.
The good men of the Jewish world far outweigh those who abuse their power. But abuses, small and large, exist and come at a cost. Women rarely have the opportunity to speak up and push back, for when we do, we risk at best being told that we are too sensitive (what I was once told by a colleague when I objected to being told to "stop acting like a wife") or at worst that we brought it on ourselves (what I was told when I recounted the Old City story to a loved one). We risk being labeled as difficult, getting a reputation as too outspoken or jeopardizing employment if we challenge the wrong people. Sometimes we walk away from the Jewish world, because it is just too hard to live in close quarters with those who betray our trust or because the values that are supposed to come from the holiest place are the same ones that are used to overlook deplorable behavior.
As I watch a new generation of young women begin to take their places in the Jewish world, I wish for them more safety and less exploitation. But barring that, I pray that they have the strength to find the support that they need when they need it, so that they remain safe and holy in body and spirit. In lieu of protection I cannot guarantee, I offer this advice: take the rumors to heart. No level of observance, power, or privilege is immune to men who exploit their manhood. And if bad things happen, do not blame yourselves. It is not your fault. You did not bring it on yourselves. You are holy, created in the image of God. No one has the right to treat you otherwise.
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Living in a house full of readers, I often find my book—the book that I reserved from the library to read on Shabbat afternoon—sitting on someone else's nightstand with someone else's favorite bookmark peeking out from the pages, a clear signal that someone else has staked a claim to my book. I am annoyed, though only until I remember the many times my spouse has warned me away from a book that he knows I won't enjoy.
There is only one genre about which we tend to disagree: biography/memoir. He's a scientist who prefers non-fiction and literary fiction, while I'm an artist who is hungry for personal narratives that demonstrate the writer's source of inspiration. That's why I was surprised when he devoured Bringing Bubbe Home: A Memoir of Letting Go through Love and Death, by Debra Gordon Zaslow. He finished it in a single afternoon and insisted I read it next. "You'll love it," he assured me.
I did.
Bringing Bubbe Home is so personal that I immediately feel as if I've known Debra my whole life. She is a gifted storyteller and writer, and she shares her story of the decision to bring her 103 year old grandmother home from an assisted living facility—to care for her until her death—with unwavering compassion and honesty.
The book stayed with me long after I'd finished reading the epilogue; hours after the havdalah candle was extinguished and the peace of Shabbat had departed from our home, I was still thinking about Debra's family. I wanted to recommend the book to my spouse, but realized that he'd already read it. I considered giving it to my friend, with whom I swap books regularly, but she is still in the first year of mourning her mother and Debra's detailed account of Bubbe's death might be too painful for her to read right now.
So I recommend it to you. If you read only one book during Jewish Book Month, please let it be this one.
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Freundel: Not Just an Orthodox Problem
Much has been written about the impact of Rabbi Barry Freundel on the Orthodox world. In a community that sees the mikveh as essential to their practice of Judaism, this is a fundamental tear in the fabric that weaves together ideals of halakhic observance with the messy realities of daily life. But much less commented upon are the ways in which this tragedy has implications beyond the Orthodox world.
Jewish feminists of all stripes, and mikveh activists like Mayyim Hayyim in Boston have been working to help reimagine mikveh. In my own life and rabbinate, I've been to the mikveh with women after abortions and miscarriages. I've seen its healing powers provide a balm to those struggling with illness or dramatic life changes. I've had the privilege of celebrating brides, b'not mitzvah and mothers of b'nai mitzvah with a spiritual dip. For many, the power of this ritual exceeds rational expectations and is profoundly meaningful.
Unfortunately, this scandal has reinforced preexisting negative assumptions about mikveh which abound in the liberal Jewish communities I inhabit. Part of this emerges from a feminist critique of the laws which link women's menstruation with the need for purification. There are concerns about privacy, cleanliness, and irrational outmoded rituals. The extent to which Freundel's alleged corruption focused around mikveh has put the healing and spiritual potential of this ritual even further from the reach of liberal Jews. Since news broke, I have been part of many conversations, on line and in person, where people are seeing Freundel's actions as vindication for having avoided the ritual in their lives to date. Others, looking for life cycle rituals, have voiced trepidation about going to the mikveh in the future. The loss of trust and the positive potential of this ritual has been compromised beyond the narrow confines of the Washington, Orthodox community.
Additionally, while the majority of non-Orthodox commentators have been thoughtful in their reactions, I have been troubled by the tendency of some to wonder why any Jewish women stay in the male-dominated Orthodox world. Some cite the exclusively male rabbinate as reason enough for women to leave. Others suggest that given the more egalitarian options in the Jewish religious landscape, women should be moving out of Orthodoxy.
This line of thinking is highly problematic. Whatever denomination or affiliation a particular Jew holds, it is important to recognize that other streams of Jewish life have their own value. If we are intellectually honest, most of us can recognize that there is no perfect religious community. But more troubling than the dismissal of Orthodoxy as a valid approach to Jewish living is the victim-blaming implied by such critiques. Let us be clear: None of the victims of Rabbi Freundel's alleged misdeeds bears any fault or blame for what has happened. We should not underestimate the intelligence, passion or thoughtfulness of the women in Rabbi Freundel's community. That these women might have chosen less male-dominated forms of Jewish living does not by any means lessen Rabbi Freundel's responsibility or the obligation of the RCA to live up to its own standards and those of secular law. They bear the entire responsibility. No one should expect or put up with abuse of power or sexual abuse.
Finally, the focus on Rabbi Freundel and the RCA should not obscure that the abuse of women or rabbinic power is not unique to the Orthodox. Seeing abuse as primarily an Orthodox problem minimizes the pain and suffering of those who have been sexually harassed or abused by non-Orthodox rabbis and Jewish leaders in non-Orthodox settings. The limited circles of Jewish power and community often have a chilling effect on women's ability to stand up to abuse, no matter the denomination. Furthermore, I have worked with converts from all denominations who have had rabbis charge exorbitant fees for conversions or required favors be performed, exploiting their spiritual vulnerability. Across the board, Jews have to condemn sexual and religious exploitation within our communities.
As it should, Rabbi Freundel's arrest has rocked the Kesher Israel community and the Orthodox circles that held this man in great esteem. Yet the implications are much broader. We should take the opportunity to open conversations about what are often taboo subjects. Rabbi Freundel's alleged actions have shined a light on mikveh, abuse of power in the Jewish community, and the challenges of conversion. None of these issues is unique to the Orthodox world.
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An Ancient Oath Renewed for Labor Day
Often reality is stranger than fiction; The vote for one of the first major strike in American history was taken in Yiddish and involved an ancient Jewish oath.
Most of us take for granted the bathroom breaks and workplace safety that are, not always but generally, the standard in the United States. As Labor Day approaches, it is worth taking a moment away from the barbecues and the back to school prep to remember that some of these basic workplace amenities came to be through the hard fought battles of early labor organizers many of whom were Yiddish speaking women.
In the early years of the twentieth century the influx of immigrants combined with industrial mechanization gave rise to sweatshops and factories with grim conditions, low wages, and long hours. Workers were rarely in a position to negotiate time off, overtime, or even bathroom breaks. Workers were crammed together with little fresh air and breathing in the byproducts of their manufacturing process. Machine safety was an afterthought. Threats of strikes and unionization were undercut by threat of unemployment for the same workers who could ill afford it and the easy supply of replacement labor.
Still there were those who understood that the power for change would only come through unionization and strikes. Unless business owners faced real loss they would have no incentive to change. In 1909 there were a series of small strikes. These were grassroots affairs that engage a largely female Jewish immigrant population involved in the needle trades. But the bosses beat picketers, had them arrested and the strike fund dwindled. Time was running out.
Nonetheless the members of Local 25 of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union called a meeting inviting all the workers in the shirtwaist industry. Thousands came and listened to a roster of important union bosses, most of whom were men, speak in broad terms about the importance of strikes and the challenges to the efforts. The momentum might have been lost had not Clara Lemlich stepped to the podium for an impromptu speech.
Lemlich was a Russian immigrant and a self taught socialist who had become a union organizer in the United States. She had been arrested and beaten but felt compelled to act. She was frustrated by lack of action and new that something needed to be done. Speaking in Yiddish she admonished the union leaders and roused the crowd. "I am a working girl, one of those on strike against intolerable conditions. I am tired of listening to speakers who talk in generalities. What we are here to decide is whether we will or will not strike. I offer a resolution that a general strike be declared–now." Following her lead, the assembled masses raised their right arms and swore loyalty to the union using the words "If I forget thee o' union may my right arm forget its cunning." Playing off the ancient oath not to forget Jerusalem. The vote to strike carried. The numbers swelled to 20,000 and it became impossible to ignore the workers needs. Though only some of the needed changes were made, a 52 hour week and 4 vacation days, it was the start of a new era.
Since those days Yiddish has largely become the language of Jewish jokes not of American politics or social reform. Yet in recalling the passion and purpose of Clara Lemlich and the other brave women she rallied that night, we remember that the story of those still struggling for safe working conditions and reasonable pay is our own story. We cannot distance ourselves from the farm, box store or fast workers who despite actively contributing to the economy cannot necessarily afford the basics of food, shelter, and healthcare or be assured safe working conditions.
In a few weeks it will be 5775 on the Jewish calendar, a Jubilee year when we are supposed to set our slaves free. Take a page from Clara Lemlich and begin this year with a call to justice. Write to your representatives and to the stores in which you shop, post to your communities on social media and remind them that we all need to work together to have a society in which work and human dignity and survival go hand in hand.
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Are You Bossy, Pushy, or Executive Leadership Material? Take This Quiz to Find Out!
1. Do you have strong ideas and opinions?a. Yes
b. No
2. Do you share these ideas with others?
a. Yes
b. No
3. Do you expect other people to live up to your high expectations of them?
a. Yes
b. No
4. Do you command attention when you enter a room?
a. Yes
b. No
If you are male and answered "a" to all of the questions above, then you have executive potential. If you are female and answered "a" to the above questions, then you are bossy and pushy. If you manage to reach the top of your field in spite of these character flaws, then expect to be reviled.
This is what we have learned from the ouster of the Executive Editors Jill Abramson from The New York Times and Natalie Nougayrède of the French paper Le Monde this week.
Because she was "the first woman" she is de facto a leader. Her curiosity and thorough investigation of the world she lived in served her well to be a leader of early humankind. But it was these very same traits that caused her downfall. She was too curious; she bit the fruit from the tree of knowledge, and convinced her husband, Adam to do the same. Since then people have been suspect of women's leadership. Eve led humanity in to a world filled with suffering, pain and disease.Women in leadership positions have always had to walk a fine line. They need to be smart enough, and confident enough to assume a leadership position, but not appear to pushy, bossy, or aggressive. Gender bias is alive and well in 2014, and we have Eve to thank for this. Yes, Eve, the first woman mentioned in the Bible.
How do we undo the damage taught by this story for thousands of generations?
It deeply pains me to love Judaism so much, to love the stories in the Bible, and the artful way rabbis debate laws in the Talmud when this amazing tradition is inherently misogynistic. We have come a long way in both the larger Western culture and the liberal Jewish world to recognize that women can be leaders in a variety of secular and religious positions. Yet, female leaders are still seen as somewhat suspect.
I think this will always be the case until we stop teaching the story of Eve the way we do. Instead of casting Eve as the one who leads humanity in to suffering, why not teach the beauty of curiosity – how sometimes it leads to good things and sometimes to bad? Why not stress that God wanted Eve to eat of the apple. For God put the tree there in the first place and imbued humans with curiosity. By eating the fruit, Eve was living up to her highest potential; in the end she opened the door to all of human ingenuity and progress. Isn't that a good leader's job, to help propel things forward?
I love the characters of the Bible because they are all flawed human beings, just like us. However, when a story portrays a gender stereotype that has been passed down for generations and has been woven in to the very fabric of culture after culture, it is time to tell a different story.
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On Mother's Day
Yet another holiday about which I am ambivalent, Mother's Day seems this year to have engendered rather more commentary than I can remember in past years. I have read several moving essays from women whose infertility has made Mother's Day painful, as they are forced to watch the omnipresent cute pictures of babies and advertisements directed at heteronormative families seemingly composed of clumps of gooey gazes of young, pretty, thin (and mostly white) women at their offspring, neatly clad, and freshly scrubbed.
Aside from the commercialism of it all, aside from the very real pain of women who want children and have not been able to bear them, I wonder if this is the best we can do for women. While honoring one's parents is a Jewish value, I'm not sure that Mother's Day offers any real honor.
Of course I wouldn't dare not show up at my own mother's house, but as for me, I'd rather see our society make genuine changes to the way we treat women. I would consider it a far greater honor to make sure that no girl need fear rape in her high school or college than to get some paid-for gift every year. It would be a lot more clear to me that our society cares about mothers and motherhood if it made more effort to feed the children of all the mothers in it, and pay women the worth of our work—equal to what a man would make.
Of course, that's sort of the point. It takes a lot less work to show pretty once a year, and make a few grand pronouncements about how motherhood is the most important job than it does to actually honor women. That would require some big changes in the way we do business, in how we live our lives, and would require more than one day's consideration.
And I will say this, too. You can't truly honor mothers if you don't have genuine respect for all women: before, during, and after the years of her fertility, whether or not she chooses to bear children, whether or not she is able.
So if you really want to honor your mother this weekend, get off your duff and go make the world better for every girl, for every old woman, for any child born of woman, boy or girl. Go on: then you can be the hero your mother always told you you were. And that would be the best Mother's Day present you could give her.
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Asking the Wrong Questions
Earlier this week, my excellent colleague, Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz asked the important question of whether, "there can be a new type of "masculinism" that is not about stereotypical manliness, but about confidently embracing what it means to be a man today while also honoring the narrative, journeys, and rights associated with feminism?"
Rabbi Yanklowitz didn't initially frame the question in terms of Jewish practice, although he did post it on ejewishphilanthropy, and very properly pointed out his perspective as an Orthodox rabbi certainly must color his views in terms of the spiritual meaning of gender.
In those terms, it is interesting that many traditional Jewish cultures valued masculinity in quite different ways than modern western culture does (Daniel Boyarin writes extensively about this in many of his books, most notably, Unheroic Conduct: The Rise of Heterosexuality and the Invention of the Jewish Man, and of course, others have as well).
In the rabbinic imagination, as well as some Ashkenazic cultures that sprang from them, the feminine is judgement to the masculine mercy (for example in kabalistic imagery); women are suited to labor, while men study; and women are physically tough while men are valued for their delicacy and yeshiva pallor. Of course, we all know that the expression of these values most likely differed more by individual case than by actual gender – as is true regardless of what society one lives in- but the fact that these ideas about how gender is performed varies so dramatically from that of our current western society, demonstrates how entirely socially constructed those values are, and how little they have to do with the people inhabiting them. In fact, these values were so different from the cultures surrounding them, that the non-Jews made note of them, often stereotyping Jews negatively based on them, viewing male Jews as effeminate and weak and female Jews as lusty and strong – stereotypes that we have sadly spent a great deal of effort on disproving by assimilating the contrary gender attitudes of the culture around us.
The irony doesn't quite end there: even though Rabbi Yanklowitz has essentially brought us full circle, by wondering how we could re-imagine gender roles (to which one might at first consider answering by saying, "bring back the traditional values!"), to solve the problem, it is the question itself which must be examined. As long as society defines each gender in opposition to the other, the problems of sexism cannot be avoided. As soon as you ask, "how can I be not like a woman," the implication must be that being like a woman is bad ("you throw like a girl," or the like) and in a society where women are still significantly less powerful than men, it is impossible to avoid this.
Is there a genuinely good reason to differentiate genders in this way, by defining some behaviors as female-appropriate, and some as male- appropriate? My mother-in-law, bless her, likes to say that there are only two jobs that require a person to be sexed a particular way: sperm donor and surrogate mother.
There is no way to equitably explore separate gender roles until equality has been fully achieved. Even then. On the other hand, there is no downside to trying to achieve full gender equality. It will not in any way rob either men or women of being male and female (anything which is biologically determined won't change, presumably, so what are you afraid of? And if it isn't biologically determined, then reinforcing it benefits whom, may I ask?) – but it will benefit people by encouraging them to pursue spirituality that fits them, rather than insisting that they should fit themselves to someone else's notion of what their spirituality ought to be.
Of course, Judaism does require us to undertake obligations, sometimes even responsibilities that we have no desire for, but nevertheless, we are called upon to fulfill them. But is performing gender roles, and separating what women and men do religiously, part of this set of obligations? Or would it be more appropriate to be strict, and say that all are obligated, unless their specific case renders that obligation impossible, or temporarily difficult. For example, perhaps the exemption from positive time-bound mitzvot should be based on who is taking care of the children, rather than assuming that it is the female person that is doing so. Sometimes it will be, but sometimes it won't – requiring the exemption along gender lines prevents people from choosing which role suits them – and of course some people might never have children- why should they be exempt?
It's not the way our sages would have thought about it. Perhaps, though, we can draw wisdom from how we today think about the four sons of the haggadah. Most of us are disinclined to assume that our children are permanently the wicked child, or the simple one (and certainly those of us with children know that they aren't always the wise child): rather, we understand that all four of those children is within each of us, and at different times, we will ask (or not ask) those questions based on where we are then, at that moment.
And finally, we should remember that while the four children are examples of different kinds of people looking for answers, and provides a script for each of those defined roles, the haggadah also requires us to each ask our own question: that is why one can fulfill the obligation of the four questions by asking any question at all.
Perhaps that is a better example for us today: instead of insisting that we must stick to a preordained script, let us encourage everyone to remember that we are not the same people at all times, and that we will play different roles throughout our lives – thus, we must ask different questions for each of them. Instead of asking, how can men can express their supposed differences from women, maybe the right question is, "How can each person be themself?"
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Sex and violence
A friend of mine recently posted a link to this blog post about a screening of an Israeli film titled Six Acts. I found the post profoundly disturbing, not only because the facilitator of the discussion whose point was to reduce rape, apparently had very little awareness of the facts of sexual violence, or even because of the comments made by organizers and audience members. I felt disturbed as well because we see such a great deal of sexual violence in our society and we are inclined to write it off in various ways.
As a human being, and as a citizen, it should be enough to disturb me. But as a Jew, I feel that there is a great deal more to be said, and I fear that we are not having these conversations in our community at least in part because in the Jewish community, we struggle with modernity in more than one way:
First, because many liberal Jews wear our "Jewish lenses"—our framing of the world in Jewish terms- too lightly, and we don't take seriously the idea of sex as a form of intimacy and holiness, whose performance echoes the divine unification of God. And we do not teach sexuality as a sacred act, which is private and precious, rather than an act which is "for fun."
And second, we also struggle with the reality that in Jewish culture itself, there is a deep inequality between men and women built into our halachic (legal) system. Even though we in the liberal Jewish communities give lip service to egalitarianism, in reality we have not achieved it, neither in our institutions, nor in our personal lives. A cursory examination of the leadership of our institutions (overwhelmingly male at the top) inequality of pay among not only clergy but also the extreme levels of low pay for traditionally female jobs (including regular airing of news stories in various iterations of Jewish press showing preschool teachers and social workers on welfare).
While these items don't even begin to match the horror of the situation described in the blog post, they are reflections both of our schizophrenic attitudes towards women, and of the unresolved tensions in our two cultures in dealing with women.
Certainly, the secular culture, too, is deeply invested in not examining its attitudes towards sex and sexuality and women. However, as a Jew and a rabbi, I believe that we are failing our communities in not speaking—yes, explicitly speaking—about sex, violence, and sexism, and about how Jewish tradition talks about all of these matter—both for good and in ways that we should find disturbing- and in what ways Jewish tradition can offer a better way.
**In the DC area, the excellent organization JCADA offers resources for victims of domestic violence. Jewish family services also often offer counseling services. The (secular) organization RAINN can help the victims of sexual violence find a variety of support services, and all RAINN affiliates offer 24 hour crisis hotlines. If you or someone you love has been a victim of sexual or domestic violence, please contact someone who can help you.
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Seekers and Unaffiliated: An Opportunity
I recently met a woman who I really liked. We have a lot in common, being professionally accomplished Jewish women of roughly the same age, with grown kids in their twenties, and an intense interest in progressive politics and making our contributions to repairing the world. She's raised a Jewish family infused with traditions and conversations about Jewish values. She has a strong Jewish educational background, and speaks Hebrew, as does her husband.
And we are both marginally affiliated Jews. I hold memberships in two communities in Israel; one in Jerusalem and one in Tel Aviv, but not one near my home in New Jersey. She belongs to a Conservative synagogue in her neighborhood that she doesn't attend, but continues to support out of a sense of history and loyalty. We talked about where we would attend High Holiday services and she said, "anywhere but in the sanctuary of my shul," (shuttering, as if that would be an ordeal.) I told her that my husband and I would be attending an experimental holiday "prayer event" with "Lab/Shul," in New York City. We were looking forward to a spiritually rich, musical and interactive experience. She told me about a California rabbi who she finds very inspiring, whose services are live-streamed on the internet. After Rosh Hashanah we shared our thrill for having had wonderful holiday experiences.
That week I met another very interesting women, also close to my age, professionally accomplished, with young adult kids. She, like me, is studying at a graduate school of Jewish studies, to see where it leads. We talked about our holidays, and she told me that she was still seeking, having left the Reconstructionist synagogue in her New Jersey neighborhood (where she had once been very involved), not because she didn't like it, but because the expense of dues didn't make sense to her family after the kids left the nest. Like us, she and her husband planned to spend the holidays in New York City (away from home in New Jersey), to access "hip" alternatives. We talked about where to find the best Israeli food in Manhattan, because she, like me, spends a lot of time visiting Israel.
Then I met another woman in my age cohort at a business meeting in Manhattan, another professionally accomplished woman from the NY Metropolitan area, and her story was much the same. She was anxious to tell me that she had been very involved at her neighborhood synagogue for a long time, serving on the board and actively contributing. But she left there after a political shake up between the board and the clergy, which she found very distasteful. So she and her family found a really "cool" rabbi who was doing High Holiday services in a rented storefront. She talked about how it was informal, engaging, and deeply spiritual. She is also seeking a meaningful Jewish path, feeling alienated from her Reform community, which she feels is too much about politics and not about spirituality. She went on to tell me about the non-profit organization that she and some friends founded in Israel and the amazing work that it is doing.
We are living in challenging times for synagogues in America. Most of my rabbinic colleagues are worried about declining membership, declining volunteer commitment, declining fundraising income. Some worry that the model of the American synagogue, created in the 20th century in a different reality, may be itself endangered. Others complain about losing members to "pop-up" congregations, storefront arrangements for holidays and Shabbat that offer cheap Jewish engagement, or Chabad. Pay as you go, or perhaps no commitment at all, rather than membership dues with a commitment.
I was there until recently too, scrambling to innovate in big and small ways in a small congregation. Now, from the outside looking in, I am driven to imagine in different ways. Synagogues need to ask challenging questions of themselves, reimagining their strategies for serving a more complex set of needs and demands. People will vote with their feet and their wallets for the kind of Jewish spiritual experiences they want – and are willing to pay for. My commitment for this year is to support and encourage new models, while seeking ways to add my own creative ideas and efforts. Perhaps, rather than fearing this change, we can all embrace the new world of possibilities that come with it.
The three women I profile here are just the tip of the iceberg, but they are noteworthy. A rabbi or a program or a community that can catch their attention and nourish their needs will earn their support. It is up to us to seize this time of change to build a better future for the Jewish people.
(Photo from Lab/Shul, Yom Kippur 2013, 5774)
Note: The opinions expressed here are the personal views of the author. All comments on MyJewishLearning are moderated. Any comment that is offensive or inappropriate will be removed. Privacy Policy


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When dredging the news to write my article this week, I had bumper crop of items from which to choose: I could have written about the clash of Christian fundamentalism in The US vs. fundamentalism in Afghanistan. Certainly, this is a rich topic. That crazy preacher in Florida whose actions caused ripples that led...
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The artificial leaf
Bismillah, and independence — the noble loneliness
I have read, with great interest, of the arguments for and against inclusion of 'Bismillah' in the Constitution of Bangladesh. It got me thinking.
I know a wonderful mild-mannered man. He is wise and grandfatherly. This friend of mine is at peace with himself, and to be in his presence is to experience joy.
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Sandman Hotel & Suites Calgary Airport - Calgary
25 Hopewell Way N.E. - Calgary
1-877-662-6988Welcome to Sandman Hotel & Suites Calgary Airport!
This 3-star Calgary hotel offers a roundtrip airport shuttle. Make the most of your trip to Canada by taking some time to relax as you will find a spa tub and a fitness center on site. Unwind with some laps as this hotel features an indoor pool. Guests wishing to relax with a drink will surely want to visit the bar/lounge. Multilingual staff are available at the front desk 24 hours-a-day and can provide express check-in and express check-out.
Enjoy complimentary newspapers and a TV in front of the fire in the lobby area, as well as having a safe deposit box at the front desk. Guests can make use of the free Wi-Fi. Planning a meeting? This hotel has conference rooms, as well as a business center. Other amenities include dry cleaning/laundry, ATM/banking and an elevator (lift).
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Check Availability at Sandman Hotel & Suites Calgary Airport
Facilities at Sandman Hotel Calgary Airport
- Business Center
- Conference room
- Bar
- Restaurant/Dining
- Laundry service
- Lift/elevator
- Room service - limited hour
- Pets accepted
- Entire property is non-smoking
- Gym
- Indoor swimming pool
- Shuttle service from and/or to the airport
- Free parking
- Multilingual staff
- Newspapers
- Front desk - safety deposit box
- Front desk - 24 hour
- Internet/Email services
- TV Lounge
- Hydromassage Jacuzzi
Know before you go
- This property offers transfers from the airport. Guests must contact the property with arrival details on arrival, using the contact information on the booking confirmation.
Check-in: after 4 PM .
Check-out: before 11 AM .
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on hotel policy.Government-issued photo identification and a credit card or cash deposit are required at check-in for incidental charges.
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges. Special requests cannot be guaranteed.
City tax and/or any other fees charged by the hotel
The following fees and deposits are charged by the property at time of service, check-in, or check-out.
- Pet fee: CAD 10 per night
The above list may not be comprehensive. Fees and deposits may not include tax and are subject to change.
Sandman Hotel & Suites Calgary Airport is also known as
Sandman Hotel Calgary Airport
Sandman Hotel & Suites
Sandman Hotel Calgary Airport reviews by TripAdvisor
Room Details
Reserve your business-friendly accommodation at Sandman Hotel & Suites Calgary Airport, where guest room features include climate control. Guests can unwind at the end of a long day and enjoy 32-inch flat-screen televisions with premium cable channels and pay movies. Business travelers will have access to free wireless high-speed Internet access as well as desks and phones during their Calgary International Airport visit.
Private bathrooms are outfitted with shower/tub combinations and complimentary toiletries. Irons/ironing boards, coffee/tea makers and hair dryers can be found in each room to accommodate basic traveling needs. Rooms also include air conditioning and blackout drapes/curtains.
Accommodation Services
- Air conditioning
- Telephone
- Pay-Per-View
- Coffee and tea maker
- Hairdryer in each room
- In-room ironing facilities
- Desk
- Individually controlled air conditioning
- Cable TV
- Wireless Internet access
Distances from Sandman Hotel Calgary Airport
Aero Space Museum of Calgary - 1 km / 0.6 miMcCall Lake Golf Course - 2.3 km / 1.4 mi
Sunridge Mall - 2.7 km / 1.7 mi
Calgary Elks Lodge and Golf Club - 4.3 km / 2.7 mi
Calgary Zoo - 6 km / 3.7 mi
Confederation Park - 6.5 km / 4 mi
Nose Hill Park - 6.7 km / 4.1 mi
Fort Calgary Historic Park - 6.7 km / 4.2 mi
Prince's Island Park - 6.8 km / 4.2 mi
Harvest Hills Golf Course - 6.8 km / 4.3 mi
Calgary Chinese Cultural Centre - 6.9 km / 4.3 mi
Armengol Statues - 7 km / 4.3 mi
Eau Claire Market Mall - 7 km / 4.4 mi
Olympic Plaza - 7.1 km / 4.4 mi
EPCOR CENTRE for the Performing Arts - 7.1 km / 4.4 mi
The preferred airport for Sandman Hotel & Suites Calgary Airport is Calgary, AB (YYC-Calgary Intl.) - 3.9 km / 2.4 mi.
Distances are calculated in a straight line from the property's location to the point of interest or airport and may not reflect actual travel distance.
Distances are displayed to the nearest 0.1 mile and kilometer.
Transportation services Sandman Hotel & Suites Calgary Airport
- Shuttle service from and/or to the airport
- Free parking
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[IMAGE]Alstom3-2.jpg[/IMAGE]In August, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood announced that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) received 77 applications from 25 states for the most recent round of High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail (HSIPR) grant funding to be awarded this fall.
The application requests, totaling more than $8.5 billion, are being considered for the more than $2.3 billion appropriated in FY 2010, which is in addition to the $8 billion appropriated earlier this year by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) as a down payment for the HSIPR program.
A majority of those grant applications — 20 applications from 10 states totaling $7.8 billion — are for high-speed rail corridor development programs. The FRA also received 57 applications from 18 states totaling $700 million for smaller, individual projects within rail corridors that are ready to begin construction. To date, the FRA has awarded more than $583 million to states for HSIPR.
With the continuing funding serving as a jump-start for President Obama's vision of a national high-speed rail network, manufacturers with an enormous wealth of experience worldwide are gearing up for the eventual implementation of higher-speed rail vehicles, particularly on high-speed rail systems in California and Florida.
So, what do these manufacturers bring to the table? METRO reached out to several companies to discuss their products and services, as well as their international project experience.
These manufacturers' array of products and knowledge will greatly help the U.S. fulfill its high-speed rail vision but first, many agree that the continuing funding of HSIPR program will be essential.
Alstom Transport
Headquartered in France, Alstom Transport has been involved in high-speed trains and services in that country since 1981 and has worked with Switzerland since 1984; Spain since 1992; Belgium since 1993; Eurostar and KTX (Korea) since 1994; and Amsterdam and Germany since 1996.
In June, Alstom unveiled a new model of Very High Speed train at the international railway exhibition EXPO Ferroviaria in Turin, Italy. The new platform is in addition to its already extensive portfolio of articulated Very High Speed platforms — TGV, TGV Duplex and AGV — and non-articulated High Speed platforms — Pendolino.
The train, designed to reach a maximum speed of approximately 248 mph, relies on eight traction systems with eight motors in powered bogies, delivering a total power of 10 MW and is capable of a commercial speed of up to approximately 224 mph. It is targeted for the worldwide market.
Keith Stentiford, interim vice president, North America, explains that adapting its vehicles to fit the U.S. marketplace should not be an issue.
"For customers, not only is technology a choice, but also there is an operational choice as well as capacity, maintenance and speed. So, any adaptation to our standard products depends on the client and is based on performance," he says. "We have incremental high-speed vehicles already operating on Amtrak's lines; our product range is pretty big. We can build whatever train the customer wants."
Like most of the manufacturers METRO spoke with, Stentiford says that the second biggest question U.S. high-speed groups are asking is about the technology of the vehicles themselves. Likewise, the manufacturers are unsure of how exactly their technologies in use around the world will be utilized here in the U.S.
"There is also a lot up in the air; a lot of speculation that leaves the manufacturer with a little uncertainty about what the technology transfer from Europe into the U.S. market will be," he says.
Aside from its wide array of rolling stock, Alstom also offers signaling, infrastructure, information systems, electrification and turnkey solutions.
The Quay Valley, Calif. Hyperloop track will be built using HTT's tube, capsule and station models. It will be instrumental in optimizing passenger system needs — such as loading, departure and safety considerations — to ensure Hyperloop is ready for larger-scale operation.
Milestones include the completion of snow and ice removal from all platforms and critical rail switches system-wide, as well as the addition of supplemental trains, doubledecker and standard passenger cars to increase capacity and combat overcrowding.
Company is responsible for the integrated tramway system, which includes the design, delivery and commissioning of 30 coupled Citadis X05 trams; power supply equipment, including APS -ground power supply; signaling systems, the energy recovery system HESOP, depot equipment and maintenance.
In 2009, more than a year before MDOT signed a contract to lease and refurbish the double-decker railcars, which since have cost the state about $12 million, an Ann Arbor transit official told MDOT the cars were not suitable for proposed commuter rail services because they didn't meet federal requirements.
Finmeccanica owns all of AnsaldoBreda, which is unprofitable, and 40% of Ansaldo STS, which is profitable, according to the report. The two Ansaldo companies formed a joint venture, Ansaldo Honolulu JV, to design and build the 20-mile, 21-station elevated train system for Oahu under a $1.4 billion contract.
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Justin Theroux Shirtless Pictures in Hawaii
Justin Theroux Strolls Shirtless During His Hawaiian Vacation With Jennifer Aniston
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Justin Theroux Strolls Shirtless During His Hawaiian Vacation With Jennifer Aniston
Justin Theroux was shirtless to join his heavily tattooed pal, Scott Campbell, for a walk on the beach in Hawaii yesterday. His girlfriend, Jennifer Aniston, didn't go along for the outing, but the duo has been enjoying themselves around the island for the past week. They arrived in Hawaii in order to attend Christine Taylor's birthday party, but it seems Jen and Justin will stick around to celebrate his 40th on Wednesday. Between their shopping, coffee, and fruit runs, it's evident that they're happy being together. It's even been said that Jennifer and Justin seem "giddy in love" as they show PDA during their tropical excursion.
3 years
I'm with Jaan, I want to punch those pop-ups.
That line that isn't tattooed on Scott's body is so weird. I hope he fills it in because from far it just looks like he got a really weird tan.
3 years
the pop-ups on this site are beginning to annoy the shyt out of me, you don't need to "recommend" anything...Justin looks good, the other guy is giving me hives
3 years
The guy with him is Scott Campbell - a well known tattoo artist and one of Justin's good friends. He was with them on the coffee run pics last week as well. Campbell does tattoo designs for Louis Vuitton handbags, as well as many celeb tattoos. Justin looks awesome - how come we haven't seen Jen in a bikini yet? She seems to be hiding out!
3 years
The other guy, who ever he is, looks disgusting. I'm definitely NOT a fan of tattoos and to have your body cover like that....ugh.
Justin has an amazing body, not feeling his tattoos either but at least it's not his whole body.
Link Love
- India didn't even like the edited version of Fifty Shades — Us Weekly
- This Clueless star was almost cast in Titanic — HuffPost Celebrity
- Find out about Nicholas Hoult's latest project — Lainey Gossip
- Which star was Cupid for Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard? — Dlisted
- Demi Lovato talks about a possible Eminem collaboration — ET
- Rosie Huntington-Whiteley is well aware of her privilege — JustJared
- Eva Longoria is still in magnificent shape — Hollywood Tuna
- Guess which celebrity quit Instagram? — Pink Is the New Blog
- Chelsea Handler did not get a breast lift, OK? — The Superficial
Latest Celebrity


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VIDEOS: Bootsy Collins & the Funk University @ Tipitina's – 6/15/11
Too funky for this Earth
A full photo gallery and words are still to come – so hopefully these extensive videos will suffice until then. Safe to say, they just don't make 'em like this anymore. Bootsy Collins & the Funk University is touring in support of his new record Tha Funk Capital of the World, enrolling fans nationwide in his Funk University on a nightly basis and bringin' the kind of party to town seldom seen anywhere else. His stop at Tipitina's on the heels of a buzzed-about Bonnaroo set marks a long-awaited return to THE Funk Capital of the World and it was clear from the get-go that even a place largely built on funk music was poorly equipped to handle this kind of three bass attack and the kind of joyful noise Bootsy and Friends were bringing, covering Jimi and Sly and of course bringing a lot of the songs he helped make famous with George Clinton – nearly sending Tip's into orbit. Outta this world = Stay tuned for more.
Bootsy Opening 15 minutes
Mothership Connection (Starchild) – Sampled in Dr. Dre's Let Me Ride
Happy Birthday Leo Nocentelli > I Wanna Take You Higher
Flash Light
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CONCERT RECAP: Milo Greene plus Cardinal Sons @ One Eyed Jacks – 6/7/13
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golf, hiking, photography and just being outside. I read a lot, do
art projects and am spiritual but not a religious fanatic. I follow
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Today marks the beginning of the London 2012 Festival, one of the biggest cultural events in UK history, which will help to launch and celebrate the Olympic Games. Over the next 12 weeks, more than 25,000 artists from all 204 competing Olympic countries will take part in events across Britain, beginning with five major celebrations across the four nations of the UK this evening. In Stirling, world-famous conductor Gustavo Dudamel will lead The Big Concert with the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, which will feature rousing themes and celebratory compositions. Meanwhile, Lake Windermere will play host to On the Nightshift, an outdoor pyrotechnic and percussion extravaganza that will light up the skies over Cumbria. Birmingham is playing host to The Voyage, which will feature a gigantic ship 'sailing' into the city centre accompanied by dancers and aerialists, while Edward Gardner will conduct Weltethos, an epic choral work exploring common values between different faiths and traditions. In Derry-Londonderry in Northern Ireland, the Peace One Day concert will celebrate the theme of the ancient tradition of the Olympic Truce, while the National Botanical Gardens in Carmarthen, Wales, will see artist Jeremy Deller's life-size inflatable replica of Stonehenge, Sacrilege, unveiled for the first time, before it begins its journey around the UK. Between now and September 9th, more than ten million free tickets will be provided for 12,000 events across the country, with performances at 900 venues. Festival director Ruth Mackenzie described the festival as a 'once-in-a-lifetime event' and said the aim is to unite every nation of the UK and make each person feel part of the Olympic celebrations. 'It is really important that Northern Ireland, which doesn't have any of the sporting events, has the opening event for the London 2012 Festival, along with Stirling in Scotland, and our friends in Birmingham and in Wales.'
Each of our shops is currently featuring a display of books by and about great women, to mark INternational Women's day on 8th March. Emily, from our Waterloo branch, explores the wealth of recent fiction for younger readers that offers inspirational role models for the next generation of young women.
Simon Winder, Publishing Director at Penguin Press, reveals how he and his team chose the 80 titles that make up the 80-pence Little Black Classics marking the publisher's 80th birthday.
Stuart Prebble, whose production company came up with the idea for TV hit Grumpy Old Men after he read a news article, looks at how lives can be changed irrevocably in seconds, as they are in his new novel, The Insect Farm.


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Users that received Eraser achievement← Back to all achievementsMod achievement! Deleted over 1000 comments.
Top Commentsthis is disgusting.........instead of an eraser i would love to be a pencil
I have to say the same
All CommentsU will lose 1000 reputation for this achievement [:Qblink] Only if you do it on your wall (0 + -1 = -1) as apposed to a blog or something (1 + -1 = 0)Never mind, it's now just for mods/up Last edited by UnDeAd.YeTii, 8 months ago
The reason I don't have it is because I'm not that big of an 'achievement whore'... I would rather get it when I get it
Last edited by UnDeAd.YeTii, 11 months ago
Me too then I noticed it -1's so I stopped
Last edited by UnDeAd.YeTii, 10 months ago
I cant believe yateshpoonia1245 actually "disliked" my comment.


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CDS Global Job Opportunities!
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