TRW was the maker of the satellites that used infrared to see what was going on in the USSR.

 TRW was the maker of the satellites that used infrared to see what was going on in the USSR. [The USA wanted to know if the Soviets were preparing a first strike.]That was  the reason my dad was hired by TRW. Dad was the creator of infra red telescope. And after that they were making SDI. That was when the KGB had a mole in TRW. My dad's expertise was not in lasers, even though he did create the laser communication system for SDI. But at that point the mole was discovered and TRW went under. [A movie was made about this : The Falcon and the Snowman.] [No more government contracts.] My dad left TRW. I admit I was sad that his career in science was over. 

In every generation comes some insanity

 In every generation comes some insanity that seems to most intuitively obvious that all subsequent generations see for what it really is--utter lunacy. There are plenty of examples of system that seemed to be the highest of intellectual rigor which turned out to be confused delusions--Existentialism for example. Sigmund Freud  would be another example. Not a single thread of his theories has stood up to rigorous testing.  [That is even though at the time he was thought to be the equal of Einstein.] [Psychology has yet to prove that it has cured even one single person of any definable disease-despite the trillions of dollars that have been pored into it.] Communism was thought to bring in the golden age --the workers paradise. It was thought to be built not on theory, but rigorous  scientific facts. [The odd thing is that even Trotsky saw the Soviet system would produce 100 tractors and only 55 would actually work. ] The natives that Columbus encountered begged him to save them from the  Caribbean tribes ("Caribs") that were the most organized group that were eating them.  [Not exactly the noble savages in the delusions of Rosseau.] The Native Americans were busy at war with each other and enslaving each other  and  begging the Europeans for weapons. 

But other times things are not so clear to later generations. Steven Dutch pointed out that old insanities arise anew. Time is not the best test.

Why this comes up is that I have been trying to figure out some sort of justification for the Civil War. Let's say for example I have a wife, and one day she wants out. But I say, "Sure you can leave but only if I can keep keep your right arm." Few people would justify that. So the South entered into a voluntary agreement to be one nation with the North. But one day they want out. So we say, "Sure you can go as long as we kill a half a million of your men and leave you impoverished for the next 150 years."--and all for your own good. [Why have I been thinking about this is I have looked at President Grant's justification of the war. All for the good of the South.] 

And as far as slavery goes-It started because tribes of men have been at war one with another since the beginning of time. But some people decided that instead of killing the tribe that had been at war with--they would spare their lives. But not leave them so free as to be able again to attack them from the inside. Rather they would enslave them.   

Or lets say there is a Mad-Max situation. Civilization has collapsed. And you manage to get around you a group of people that are now just managing to grow crops and start anew. Out of the blue you are attacked. But you win. Do kill them? Or just let them go free to be able to attack you again? Or let them join your group and plot against you from within your gates? Or perhaps the more humane thing is to spare their lives but not give them enough freedom to be able to undermine you and attack you from within. 

In any case, I found the books of the disciples of Rav Israel Salanter to be of the most benefit for me to understand the basic path of straight Torah.

People are not really moral though they have learned to talk in the language of morality. The basic idea of Musar is to awaken the inherent ability of Reason to discern objective morality. One basic idea of the book Light of Israel   is the centrality of Fear of God. His idea there is that it is impossible to enter into the gates of service of God without fear of God. The first time I read this I was looking at it during Musaf on Rosh Hashana at the Mir Yeshiva in NY. And that book was for me somewhat of a revolution in thought. I realized I was spending all my time and effort to get into the depths of the Gemara and here this book was opening up the secret. By fear of God [which comes by learning Musar (mediaeval books on ethics)] one merits to enter into the gates of Torah.

And that had a tremendous effect on me. However I can see why Rav Chaim of Brisk did not want Musar to be part of the learning sessions of a yeshiva.-It can and does get people off track--very quickly. 

So the Litvak yeshiva came up with some sort of compromise. The Goldilocks solution. [Not too hot nor too cold. Just right.] Not -- no Musar. Not hours of Musar. Just 20 minutes before mincha (afternoon prayer) and 15 minutes before arvit (evening prayer).

In any case, I found the books of the disciples of Rav Israel Salanter to be of the most benefit for me to understand the basic path of straight Torah. 

By the time one is 35 years old, 95 percent of one's programming is already built into one. [That is our way of thinking and the information we use to operate on is already set.] But about 50 percent of that is wrong. It is false information.

global warming

 I wanted to mention that global warming is not as high as it was during the time of the dinosaurs. [which was about twenty degrees higher in Celsius which is about 40 degrees higher in Fahrenheit.] Still I think the fact that the oceans are even a slight bit higher seems to cause an increase in parasites.

[I would agree that is the average temperature in Canada was 90 degrees Fahrenheit that there would be cause for concern.]

So even though I go into the water, still I think it is best to do so only once, and to get out of the water since these little parasites seems to get attached to the skin very quickly --and you can not see them.

I do not see others at the sea are worried about this, but still I think this is an issue. The Muslims had a festival last week and were siting in the water for hours. The surfers were out in force today. No one seems concerned about these little parasites. I used to worry more about the jelly fish but after actually touching one as it floated by and nothing happened -I realized that they are not the problem. It is these little parasites that no one seems even to be aware of. 

 

 In The Laws of Plato in book V, the Athenian stranger says the greatest penalty of evil doing is to become like evil doers and to have to hang out with them. We learn something the is brought in books of Musar that one tends to become like those he or she hangs around with.

Also a very interesting observation I found there: that the untrustworthy person ends up alone because eventually it becomes known that he can not be relied on to keep his word

Torah of the Dark Side of the religious world

 The problem with religious clothing is that it is not intended for the stated purpose. Rather the reason is group identification. And that comes under two of the seven categories of Prushim that are the destroyers of the world. [as brought in the Gemara and also in the book by Nisim Gaon Maasei Hagedolim Deeds of the Great in paragraph 740].[See the verse:מה השם אליך שואל ממך   והצנע לכת אם אלוקיך What does the Lord your God ask from you ---and to walk humbly with the Lord your God. That is one must not advertise how religious he or she is. The religious turn this into its opposite to mean that one must advertise one's religious  clothing to show that they are religious. 

והצנע means to hide. The religious advertise their religiosity showing that they could not care less about the Torah but rather the money and power they can make by pretending to seem as if they care.`

Fear of God and keeping his commandments is explained in the books of Musar. But what makes this difficult is the vast majority of the religious world that are into it for money and power and thus the naïve and plain  that do not know better fall into the trap of the  Torah of the Dark Side of the religious world that claim to be keeping Torah .