Big Brother Is Watching You In Toledo, Ohio

Who is watching you in Toledo, Ohio?
Has 1984 finally arrived in Toledo during the year 2012?
Have Toledoans adopted the language of Newspeak?
Is Big Brother (Nineteen Eighty-Four) the new government leader of Toledo?
Do you believe that Big Brother is watching you in Toledo?
Has the era of Big Brother: The Orwellian Nightmare Come True in the City of Toledo?
Is it all just blowing smoke... or is there someone to watch over me in Toledo, Ohio?

What say you? Any thoughts on this?

Me?
I sure as hell will not cast a ballot to re-elect Toledo City Council members who vote to enact legislation such as that being proposed. In fact, I will try my damnedest to make sure any such council member is defeated in the next municipal election.

President Barack Obama. Catholics. Birth Control, Contraception, Sex.

The President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, has recently taken the bully pulpit route in his desire to assure that all women in the United States have health care insurance coverage for birth control.

Generally speaking, and I emphasize generally speaking, Roman Catholics have not been pleased with the President's perspective that all women in America should be treated equally in having contraception services as a proviso of health care insurance. While the President has attempted to honor religious belief systems and assure the religion protection guarantees of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, some Catholics have been very vocal in attacking the President, postulating that he is violating the First Amendment and some attacks even go to the point of making the accusation of "the Obama Administration’s efforts at forcing contraception on Catholics."

Leaders within the Catholic Church in the United States vow that they will continue to actively oppose President Barack Obama's proposal concerning health care insurance contraception coverage. Click on the embedded link to go on over to read:
U.S. Catholic bishops oppose Obama birth-control plan

In trying to better understand the issue from the official Catholic perspective, I did a search on the internet and found quite a few web sites, web pages, and specific comments that I found interesting.

The comment "... sexual pleasure within marriage becomes unnatural, and even harmful to the spouses, when it is used in a way that deliberately excludes the basic purpose of sex, which is procreation. God’s gift of the sex act, along with its pleasure and intimacy, must not be abused by deliberately frustrating its natural end—procreation ..." may be found on the web page Birth Control from the web site of Catholic Answers.

The comment "... we are enormously grateful to the Church for her constant teaching that sexuality must be open to the transmission of life ..." may be found on the web page Contraception Misconceptions of the web site of catholic-pages.com.

I also have placed embedded links on the titles to some other web pages I suggest you read. The web pages are:
Catholicism and Family Planning
Catholicism and sexuality
Christian views on contraception
Religious views on birth control

"Jew him down." "I got jewed."

So! Hmmm. Have you ever used slurs that are an affront to Jewish people? If you haven't used any of those slurs yourself, have you heard any the slurs used in conversation that are demeaning to Jewish people?

One such slur is the phrase "Jew him down."
Click over to the following embedded link to The Phrase Finder to learn about the phrase "Jew him down."

I find it interesting that people I know, people who say they are my friends and who know I am Jewish, will use the phrase " I Jewed them down" and then do not understand why I find it offensive. I mean, these folks continue to use that phrase even though I have informed them that I do not like it. Consequently, I no longer consider anyone my friend nor will I associate with anyone who continues to use the phrase after I have expressed my displeasure in its use.
Click on over to read the responses over at the Yahoo! Answers web page What does the term " I Jewed them down" mean? and think about it.

Take a look at all the google search results for the phrase Jew them down.

Okay, okay, so someone overcharged me for an item I purchased. Another person charged me an outrageous amount for an item of low quality that was no way worth the price. What do you say? Many people say "I got jewed." Yet, again, another derogatory slur that demeans Jewish people!!! But, still, if you follow the embedded link, you can take a look at all the google search results for the phrase I got jewed.

Yeah, I know, this isn't the first time I have written a commentary that concerns Jewish people. Actually, I guess I have written several blog entries along those lines. Here, take a look at the search reults for the use of the word "Jew" in Roland Hansen Commentary entries.

I have also written quite a few things about this same overall topic over at my other blog, Roland's Ramblings, including one earlier today. You can search over there if you are inclined to find all of them over there; however, the only one to which I wish to link, and upon which I wish to close this Roland Hansen Commentary is the one I wrote today on Roland's Ramblings; it is Jew Hater Anthony Graziano Allegedly Firebombs Two Synagogues.

More About Newt Gingrich

Newt! Newt! Newt!

I wrote a little piece about Newt Gingrich yesterday, Monday, January 23, 2012, entitled So? What about Newt? Newt Gingrich, that is. Today, I have a couple more places for you to visit on the internet blogosphere to read more about Newt Gingrich.

Over at Writes Like She Talks, you may read what Jill Miller Zimon wrote in her entry Attention Newt Gingrich: You are not Russel Crowe.

And, then you may go over to Tilting at Windmills in order to read what CW Martin has written in his blog entry Tonight's Debate in which he gave his opinion of the Republican Presidential Candidates' Debate last night and in which CW Martin wrote Newt Gingrich: Once again proves himself the master debater.

So, if anyone reading my blog wishes to express something about Newt Gingrich, please feel free to write what you want in the coment section.

So? What about Newt? Newt Gingrich, that is.

I wrote all about newt at Roland's Ramblings.

Now, I think I will reference Newton Leroy Gingrich, aka Newton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich, aka Newt Gingrich.

Okay, that is all from me; I am not explicitly expressing my own personal opinion of Newt; I shall remain mute about Newt.

However, if you want, though, you may read the opinion of Chili Dog about Newt Gingrich and then get a real dose of outrage about Newt Gingrich.

Sometimes, my silence tells you much more about my thoughts than if I were to express them in written or verbal form. (AND, sometimes not.)

Modern American Morality

The Roland Hansen Commentary that I last wrote back on January 12, 2012 was entitled It's About Female Breasts, Freedom and Equality in which I had hoped to point out the hypocrisy of American mores.

I also made that same entry over on my other blog, Roland's Ramblings. I write more frequently on that blog than I do on this blog of mine. Today, I noticed an unconscious trend I was following with recent entries over on Roland's Ramblings.

It seems as though I have been giving much thought lately about hypocrisy and modern American morality. Consequently, in an anthology bringing it all together, I decided to place embedded links to three of those Roland's Ramblings entries in this Roland Hansen Commentary to supplement the previous aforementioned It's About Female Breasts, Freedom and Equality.

Yes, indeed, Americans have their own form of morality, especially on issues such as:
Marriage, Sex, and God.

It's About Female Breasts, Freedom and Equality

As many people may be aware, I have two blogs, Roland's Ramblings and Roland Hansen Commentary. Very occasionally, I will duplicate an entry on each of them. There are times when I will make an entry on one of my blogs and link to a related topic on the other blog. There are also times that I will make an entry and link to an earlier entry or entries of the same blog. My wife, Judy, also has two blogs, Judy's Jewels and Judy Hansen Commentary. At times, in one or both of my blogs, I may link to entries on one or the other or both of Judy's blogs. And, then there are times that I may make a combination of linkages within and between my blogs and Judy's blogs.

The lack of feedback on either of my blogs is not really unusual, regardless of my methodolgy or my topic. I wonder what the feedback of today's entry will be in which I am employing some of my techniques as described in the preceding opening paragraph.

Sometime ago, I wrote a Roland Hansen Commentary that did not garner much response. The subject concerned women breastfeeding in public. That entry contained several embedded links; for example, one led to an entry of Judy's Jewels, while others linked to the controversy concerning the public display of women breasts, breastfeeding in public, breastfeeding laws, breastfeeding images, and breastfeeding videos. Well, go ahead and read that entry and all its embedded links; just click onto the Roland Hansen Commentary of Public Breastfeeding.

Then, there was an entry I made on Roland's Ramblings that is only very tangentially related to the topic of women's breasts. Well, actually, that blog entry was about padded brassieres or more precisely travel safety and protection for a padded bra. You can take a look-see for yourself and click over to read Roland's Ramblings about Bra Brags.

Now, how do we tie these two topics together? Hmmmm. Let's see. Let's take a real good look. Here goes:

In the United States of America, societal mores and social norms assert that men may go without shirts and women may not go without shirts or some kind of cover up on their breasts. Men are told to look at a woman's face when speaking to her and not look at the woman's chest. And yet, fashions popular with American women include low-cut blouses and dresses along with push-em-up, push-em-together bras that expose and accentuate a woman's cleavage.

Often, I hear and read that women should not be viewed as sex objects and that women want to be treated for themselves as individuals and as equals to men; there is no argument from me on that. However, I am often confused by the mixed signals being sent out. Don't look at a woman's breasts; but, a woman will draw attention to her breasts by wearing a padded bra, showing lots of cleavage, etc.

Well, let's shed some light and shed some clothing on the topic. Let's expose the truth, the naked truth.

Bare human female breasts are not sex objects, in and of themselves; but, bare naked exposed breasts may be sexually stimulating in less than an openly public setting, such as exists during intimate moments and at other times that are related directly to a sexual situation.

American society needs to get rid of its double-standard on bare breasts. Not too many Americans realize that this double-standard is one of attitude, one of social acceptance, as opposed to it being a legal issue, i.e, one of law.

If a man can go topless, a woman should be able to go topless. If it is acceptable for men to be bare chested in public, then it should be acceptable for women to be bare chested in public. If mainstream Americans would rid themselves of their "hang-ups" and Victorian prudish attitudes and behaviors such as those that have given rise to neo-prudism, if Americans would accept the fact that the human body is something not to be ashamed of and that nudity is a natural state, if Americans would stop hiding behind the cloak of modesty (and that is while adult sexually-oriented magazines, films and bookstores are a strong thriving business in America), if Americans would act and behave as civilized human beings, there would be absolutely no problem with women baring breasts in public as is the case in many other countries throughout the world. The women of America deserve the same freedom as men; the women of America are entitled to equal rights on the issue bare chests and bare breasts in public as well as equal rights on every other societal issue.

If this is a topic that is of interest to you, I suggest you head over and explore the very interesting website of Topfree Equal Rights Association (TERA). There is a plethora of embedded links over there that will take you to lots of other informative web pages.

You might also wish to visit YouTube to view and listen to nakedcity.MOV, topless women in nyc is legal.

Comments, anyone?

American Jewish Federations Codemn Israeli Jewish Extremism

Sometimes, I just wonder if the so-called "observant" Jew (as these folks call themselves) is any more religious than what they label a "non-observant" Jew. It appears to me that they are hypocrites and are less than religious than all the other various denominations or movements of Judaism. Here, read the following article and let me know what you think.

Jewish Federations Condemn Wave of Religious Extremism and Violence in Israel December 27, 2011

The Jewish Federations of North America today expressed strong condemnation of a recent wave of religious extremism and violence in Israel. The situation has been highlighted in the media in recent days, which has focused on the verbal abuse of an eight-year-old girl in the city of Bet Shemesh, by a group of ultra-Orthodox men. Other issues have included the forced segregation of genders on some public bus routes – despite the fact that the Israeli Supreme Court has outlawed this practice – and the unofficial ban on any female image in advertising in some areas. “Our movement includes Jewish people from all streams and persuasions. Yet, despite our differing backgrounds, we unite today to strongly condemn, with one clear and loud voice, all acts of violence, intimidation, coercion and extremism, especially those that are undertaken, incredibly, in the name of Judaism,” said Jerry Silverman, president and CEO of JFNA. “We know that ‘deracheha darchei noam’ – the Torah’s paths are ways of peace. We stand firmly and resolutely behind the voices of reason and moderation in Bet Shemesh and throughout Israel.” As a result of significant media attention in recent days, many members of the Israeli Government, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have spoken out publicly to condemn the extremist behavior. Similarly, the police have stepped up efforts and made a number of arrests. “We applaud Prime Minister Netanyahu and other members of the government for their strong words condemning recent acts of extremism, and urge the government and the Israeli police to work hard to stamp out this stain on Israeli society,” said Rebecca Caspi, JFNA’s senior vice president for Israel and Overseas. Earlier today, thousands took to the streets in Bet Shemesh to protest the acts of extremism, drawing increased media attention and scrutiny to the city. Michael Gelman, JFNA’s chair of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees, said, ”We reach out to the Ultra Orthodox community, and in particular, their spiritual leaders. We plead for them to break their silence and speak out firmly and decisively. An act of this nature can help heal Israeli society and restore their image as moral, upstanding, Torah-abiding citizens.” Stuart Kurlander, president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, which has a relationship with the Bet Shemesh/Mate Yehuda Region through the Jewish Agency for Israel’s Partnership Together program, also condemned the recent violence, intimidation and other extremist acts. “We have been working in partnership with the city of Bet Shemesh for 10 years and have come to know the community and its people very well. We stand with the law-abiding population of Beit Shemesh, and especially those groups working at conciliation and moderation in the city,” said Kurlander. “At the same time, we urge Bet Shemesh’s mayor, Moshe Abutbol, to put a stop to this religious extremism and violence, and help to rebuild a harmonious and thriving community.” 
For more information, please contact: Dani Wassner at dani.wassner@jewishfederations.org 

ref: JFNA Briefing: Jewish Federations Condemn Wave of Religious Extremism and Violence in Israel

Now, what about the Christian extremists over there in the Holy Land???? Is this more of religious hypocrisy?
Check it out! Take a look-see at: Rival Monks Brawl While Cleaning Bethlehem Church.


You and I know that followers of Islam have been taking a lot of heat because of Muslim extremists. Why do we humans tend to brush a whole group of people based on the actions of a few? Muslims and Jews alike are painted with one broad brush called STEREOTYPE. But, what of Christians? Where is the stereotype there?

Global Warming: Fact or Fiction, Take The Preventative Approach.

Regardless of whatever news there is concerning global warming, such as the news article Global Warming: 2011 Tied For The 10th Hottest Year On Record by Arther Max, the global warming debate continues on.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations states:

"Global warming is a global problem. To understand it, cope with it and try to keep it from getting worse, all the countries of the world need to work together. And when nations need to unite, they turn to the United Nations. The United Nations is playing a central role in clarifying the science of global warming and preparing a global plan of action to deal with it. Because UN organizations like FAO are neutral, their scientific and technical reports are trusted and they can negotiate agreements among countries with different political viewpoints and economic interests."

ref: WHAT DOES FAO DO? :: GLOBAL WARMING :: THE UNITED NATIONS AND GLOBAL WARMING

Dare I even suggest (I do not know if I should for fear of garnering the wrath of global warming deniers and conspiracists) that readers explore the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change website.

Hey, all I can say is: Better safe than sorry! We all, and I do mean ALL, should error on the side of caution and implement all precautionary measures that assist in stemming the tide of "man-made" global warming.

Why, WHY, would anyone even take the most remote chance of endangering our children, our grandchildren, and the future of human-kind?

A Chanukah Gift For You

To all the readers of Roland Hansen Commentary,

I am re-gifting this to you for Chanukah.

An extra special "Thank you" goes out to Rabbi Jason.