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Tao Speaks - I am not a big fan of either of the two major political parties that exist today in the United States and the minor parties that do exist seem to cherish being extreme and exist for no other reason.

I do understand the economic policies of the Republican Party and I believe they are fundamentally flawed. I honestly can say that as far as the Democratic Party goes its policies are not all that much different.

In all honesty I think the concept of “fundamentally flawed” is based on the fact that I believe that an economic system, especially capitalism, has at its core a goal of creating wealth, creating an opportunity for wealth, and creating an environment for economic equality, that is equal to none.

Jobs should be a pathway to wealth and increasing income equality; our economy cannot create jobs.

Do you realize that from December 1999 until December 2009 our economy created a net of ZERO JOBS? Did you know that since December 1999 to December 2008 that middle-income households suffered a NET INCOME LOSS, when adjusted for inflation?

With the passage of NAFTA and the repeal of Glass-Steagall coupled with the supply side economics and anti-unionism of the 1980′s we have witnessed to slow but total destruction of our economic system in our country. This is reflected in our GDP where corporate, after tax profits, make up 11.1% of our GDP while wages and benefits have dropped to 43.5% of our GDP: Corporate profits have been growing and wages have been shrinking as a percentage of our GDP and there is no way to change that trend.

I want to know whose side are we on? {Read More}

To help her mother, Kimberly Savage, win a caregiver cruise (and take along the entire family) click the photo and vote. You will NOT be asked for a donation.

Alexa Savage is 8 years old. She has had cerebral palsy since birth. She has never been able to walk or speak without assistance, but she can use a computer, and goes to school in 2d grade. She speaks thru a specialized talking computer. She likes to read, but has trouble with math. She likes to swim, but has to watch others run and play. Most days she plays with her video collection on her free time. Her parents do all they can with their time and resources to get Alexa the therapy and support she needs.
Alexa has recently been diagnosed with “mitochondrial degeneration”. Basically, the “engines” inside her cells that process nutrients are breaking down. As new cells grow, there are fewer and fewer working mitochondria. Eventually this will mean that she can’t sustain life and will go into seizures and her heart will stop. We don’t know how much longer Alexa may last. She is already 3 years past the doctors’ best-case estimates.

Her parents would like to take Alexa on one last adventure, a cruise, as long as she is still functioning rather well. It would mean a lot to the entire family. Alexa would be able to take along her sister and brother on this cruise as well, which would do them all a lot of good. We need a little help from you, however. Please do all you can. Click on the link below and that is all we ask. No donation, just a vote. This is not a phony gimmick or some marketing ploy, but a real request to help a real girl and her family, and it won’t cost you anything. Just a vote.

http://cruise.caregiverstress.com/view-vote-for-entries/?k=Kimberly+Savage
Please vote once a day till August 24.

My daughter, Kimberly Savage, has been caring for her 9 yr old daughter with Celebral Palsy (who doesn’t walk or talk) for 9 years. In addition she is now working 40-60 hrs a week at a full time job since her husband, Jason, was layed off in January 2013.
Alexa requires 24 hr assistance as she can not do anything for herself. My daughter, works like Superwoman to accomplish everything she does everyday. She’s an incredible human being. Her stress level is beyond the stroke level and she so very very much deserves this time away.

In addition she has two other school age children ages 6 and 11. She is constantly helping others with special needs to get things to help them. She is a huge advocate for others. She goes way out of her way to help so many children and adults, I’d love to think someone could help her. God bless you and your caregiver award committee.

Her eyes, I think, will stay with me forever. Imploring, beseeching, full of so much sadness. I think the shock of where and how she was, was sinking in. I can't begin to describe all that was in those eyes.

Yesterday; Thursday, August 9th the 20th of Av, on my way to work, I found myself walking down Yaffo street. Hungry, I decided to stop and grab a quick bite... at Sbarro's Pizza.

In the past 5 years I have frequented this establishment exactly twice. Walking into Sbarro's there is a larger area for sitting in the front, but the back looked a bit cooler and quieter, so I decided to grab a seat in the back. That decision saved my life.

Waiting on line, when they brought me the baked Zitti I asked for, it was cold. So I asked the woman behind the counter if she'd mind warming it up. "Ein Ba'ayah", no problem, she said with a smile. I will always wonder if that was her last smile on earth... A couple of moments later, a fellow from behind the counter came to the back with my baked Ziti. Then he started to speak to someone at one of the tables... That baked Ziti saved his life.

At about 2PM, I both felt & heard a tremendous explosion, and day turned into night. And then the screaming began. An awful, heartrending sound; the sound of people coming to terms with a whole new reality, of people not wanting to comprehend that life has changed forever. Those of us sitting in the back were spared, but I was afraid of panic, so I started yelling at everyone to quieten down; not to panic. The ceiling looked like it might cave in, but there is always the danger of a second explosion, detonated on purpose shortly after the first... But then I smelled smoke, and was suddenly afraid the restaurant mightbe on fire. So we started climbing our way through the wreckage to the front.

Would there be another explosion? Would the roof collapse? Were we making the wrong decision, climbing through? There are moments that last a lifetime... There are no words to describe what the front of Sbarro's Pizza looked like in the immediate aftermath of that explosion. A woman was lying near the steps to the back. Her eyes were staring straight at me, following me. So full of pain and longing, sadness and despair. I dropped down becide her trying to ellicit a response to see if she could speak. And then I watched the life just drain out of her. I tried to get a pulse, to no avail. She died there, on the steps in front of me. She was lying by the table I had decided not to sit at...

There were bodies everywhere, and those images are in my mind; they won't let go. A child's body under the wreckage; a baby-carriage; limbs and a torso; A woman holding a motor-cycle helmet and screaming next to a person on the floor who had obviously been someone she was with... And then the mad rush to help the ambulance and emergency crews get the wounded out. They were obviously afraid of a second bomb, so there was no medical effort inside beyond getting the wounded on to stretchers and out. A religious Jew missing at least two limbs in tears and shock; what do you say? "yehiyeh Be'Seder" it'll be all right? Will it?

I happened to sit a bit to the left as you walk towards the back, and so the wall behind me shielded me from the blast. Another fellow whom we went back in to get wasn't so lucky. Sitting only 5 or 6 feet to my left, he caught the full force of the blast and was thrown in the air. When we got him on the stretcher he was bleeding profusely and was missing a leg... There are no words to describe what that man's hand, clenched around my arm, felt like. He just kept looking from me to his leg and back again. I started saying Tehillim ...

So many mixed emotions fill my head today. I came home last night and gave each of my children a very long hug... But there are so many families today who are waking up to the reality that life will never be the same. 17 funerals with friends and families saying goodbye to those they loved so, whose only crime was a desire for a slice of Pizza on a beautiful Jerusalem afternoon... A Personal Account of the Bombing, by Rabbi Binny Freedman



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Terrorist Ahlam Tamimi

• Giora Balash, 60, of Brazil
• Zvika Golombek, 26, of Carmiel
• Shoshana Yehudit Greenbaum, 31, of the U.S.
• Tehila Maoz, 18, of Jerusalem
• Frieda Mendelsohn, 62, of Jerusalem
• Michal Raziel, 16, of Jerusalem
• Malka Roth, 15, of Jerusalem
• Mordechai Schijveschuurder, 43, of Neria
• Tzira Schijveschuurder, 41, of Neria
• Ra'aya Schijveschuurder, 14, of Neria
• Avraham Yitzhak Schijveschuurder, 4, of Neria
• Hemda Schijveschuurder, 2, of Neria
• Lily Shimashvili, 33, of Jerusalem
• Tamara Shimashvili, 8, of Jerusalem
• Yocheved Shoshan, 10, of Jerusalem