Meet the Taubs

Meet the Taubs. Chana and Simon Taub are divorced, and share a large house in Brooklyn. They spent USD350,000 on it and more than USD1 million on renovating the house. And yet, the both have spent more than the total value of the house, on divorce litigation.

A wall of Shetrock and plywood divides the house, and both of them. NY Times ran an interesting article about the two individuals, who despite a divorce, have opted not to sell the house that they both adored. The marriage lasted from 1985 to 2006, in total a staggering 21 years. Both of them are Jews. 

Their story began when Chana, then in her 30's, purchased a second-hand Oldsmobile sedan. The seller asked her if she was looking for a husband. She said yes. She was then introduced to Simon. Both were in their 30's and both had two children each. A few months later, they were married. 

The marriage started out in the best conditions that one could hope for. Simon was a millionaire, owner of a knitwear factory. Their house was open to poor men on weekends, for free food and drink. In 1997, competition from China began cutting his profits, and by 2003 his company filed for bankruptcy. He closed his door to the poor and needy. Over the years he survived on income from other sources. He also grew irritable and began to mistreat his wife, a consequence of the pent-up stress. All of these came out in the cause papers of the divorce proceedings.

Read more about the Taubs. I wouldn't want to spoil the ending for you. Here is the link: Chana And Simon Love Their House, But ... They Loathe Each Other. 5th October 2008, NY Times, by R. Padawer.

Thank You (for Elections)

"Thank you" to one and all,
Who responded to the call,
To let a lawyer in
And take part in the din.

"Thank you" for your faith,
and your kind support;
I learned a lot along the way
And did not lose the plot.

I do not claim to be
the very best there is.
But I owe it to myself to try
to keep the standards high.

Support and encouragement
And a little critique, too:
We need to have a little less talk
And a little more "do".

A Few Hours Before The Big Day

A few hours before the big day:
Who knows how the vote will sway?
I hope, and I pray
I'll make it through the fray;
But only God can tell
If there will be hell.

News of note: New MCA national youth chief, Datuk Wee Ka Siong, has stated that he will strive to lower the age limit for the youth wing from 45 to 40. He also plans to woo young women to join the youth wing. (Ref: The New Straits Online, 16-October-2008, Wee Wants To Lower Age, Bring In Women.)

Don't Want To Be An Emperor

I’m sorry but I don’t want to be an Emperor—that’s not my business—I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible, Jew, gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another, human beings are like that. We all want to live by each other’s happiness, not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone and the earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful.

But we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men’s souls—has barricaded the world with hate; has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed but we have shut ourselves in: machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical, our cleverness hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little: More than machinery we need humanity; More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost. The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men, cries out for universal brotherhood for the unity of us all.

Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me I say “Do not despair.” The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress: the hate of men will pass and dictators die and the power they took from the people will return to the people, and so long as men die [now] liberty will never perish.…

Soldiers—don’t give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you and enslave you—who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel, who drill you, diet you, treat you as cattle, as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men, machine men, with machine minds and machine hearts. You are not machines. You are not cattle. You are men. You have the love of humanity in your hearts. You don’t hate—only the unloved hate. Only the unloved and the unnatural. Soldiers—don’t fight for slavery, fight for liberty. In the seventeenth chapter of Saint Luke it is written “the kingdom of God is within man”—not one man, nor a group of men—but in all men—in you, the people. You the people have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness. You the people have the power to make life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy let’s use that power—let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give you the future and old age and security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power, but they lie. They do not fulfill their promise, they never will. Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people.

Now let us fight to fulfill that promise. Let us fight to free the world, to do away with national barriers, do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness. Soldiers—in the name of democracy, let us all unite!

Look up! Look up! The clouds are lifting—the sun is breaking through. We are coming out of the darkness into the light. We are coming into a new world. A kind new world where men will rise above their hate and brutality. The soul of man has been given wings—and at last he is beginning to fly. He is flying into the rainbow—into the light of hope—into the future, that glorious future that belongs to you, to me and to all of us. Look up. Look up.
Charlie Chaplin, “The Great Dictator” (1940)

This speech caught my eye while browsing at VVORK.com. I must say that its contents inspired me! Who knew that Charlie Chaplin gave such an impassioned speech? The words must surely resonate with everyone who reads them. The danger is that sometimes, vague words become vehicles for manipulators who piggyback on them to advance their own unjust cause. Yet this speech is surely a good example for our Malaysian politicians to read and learn from. Universal values inspire all men. Fairness, equality, and freedom -- these aspirations hold true for everyone. Nobody likes to be enslaved. Even those who say they like submission have their own idealized versions of submission. This means that they require freedom, in order to realise their ideas of submission. Yet it is the selfish nature of man to want to control other men. This only leads to the scheming and devising of vehicles of greed, and hate. Eventually, through lies of unity, the devious few will control the innocent masses, milking them for what they are worth.

It is time for a new look at the world. A world, where colour and creed do not matter, as long as we treat each human being for what he is entitled to. And that simply means that if you believe that you are entitled to economic freedoms, cultural and religious rights, so too does your fellow man. For you obtained those rights, and freedoms, by your birth. And knowing that, you should encourage each man to seek his birthright. Throw off the shackles of oppression! Live Life Free!