Nate's blog » Judaism

College!

Nathan Schloss — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 01:56:08 +0000

So I’ve been at college for about 2 weeks now (3 if you count pre-orientation) and I’ve yet to blog about it, I figured that I’ll attempt to do so now.

Pre Orientation (August 20th until August 26th):

I did the multi-element pre-orientation trip. It was awesome, we went camping, backbacking, river rafting, and cannoning. I made so many friends on the trip. Two funny stories from the trip:

-On the first day of backpacking when we got to the campsite one of the leaders showed us the water pump and told us to fill our water bottles, she began to use the pump and then someone pointed out the sign that said non-potable water. We ended up using iodine in the water so we could drink it.

-Later that night we were given the option to either sleep in a ten that we had made using a tarp or to sleep in the permanent shelters that were at the campsite. Me and three other students chose to stay in the ten, we asked one of the leaders if we would be okay there at night. He said that we would be fine as long as it did not rain really, really hard. It rained really hard. All of our stuff got wet. (It was still lots and lots of fun)

Finally at Johns Hopkins (August 26th until now):

So from August 26th until August 30th we didn’t have any classes, instead we met people from various departments and learned more about the school. We also participated in some very fun Hopkins orientation traditions. My favorite of these was playfair.

On August 30th classes started. I was quite worried about the transition however once I got into class I realized that my high school (Milken Community High School) did a really good job of preparing me and that I would do fine. All of my professors are really nice and willing to help. My favorite classes are Robots in Science Fiction, Discrete Math, and Intermediate Programming.

The orientation activities continued throughout the week. I really liked first night (it takes place on the first night of classes, the upperclassmen welcome the freshmen) and the trip to the inner harbor/the national aquarium (which was only open for Hopkins students when we went).

Rosh Ha Shanah was cool too, the Hillel here is really nice and the food was good too. I made a bunch of friends at all of the Hillel events.

As we enter 2009

Nathan Schloss — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 08:43:34 +0000

Sony does some good PR (note the sarcasm)

Nathan Schloss — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 23:52:14 +0000

It looks like in a effort to boost their dwindling console sales, sony has decided to attempt to appeal to the anti-semitic market by banning words like “Jew” from their “home” service. Read the washingtonpost for more info.

Hamas

Nathan Schloss — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 05:06:09 +0000

Hamas unilaterally suspended the Egyptian-brokered truce with Israel, launching hundreds of rockets at civilian targets in southern Israel over the past week. Israel has exercised maximum restraint, but – after eight years of missile barrages from Gaza – must come to the defense of the 250,000 Israelis living within range of Hamas attack. Any other sovereign nation would do the same.
Under cover of the truce, Hamas engaged in a major campaign to upgrade its terrorist capabilities, manufacturing and smuggling massive quantities of weapons into Gaza – including rockets, explosive charges and machine guns – and constructing a network of underground tunnels for combat purposes. Israel cannot acquiesce to the presence of a Hizballah-like organization on its southern border.
The objective of the IDF operation is to cripple the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza, impairing the ability of Hamas and its allies to launch attacks on the citizens of Israel; IDF action would have been unnecessary had Hamas abandoned the path of terror. Israel is engaged in self-defense, and will respond assertively to any provocation by other parties in the region.
Hamas belongs to the “A” League of extremism, alongside Iran, Syria, Al Qaida and Hizballah. The United Nations and a majority of its member states have designated Hamas a terrorist organization and will not engage in any contact with its representatives. Israel expects the international community to lend its support to the war on Hamas terror.
Israel has done everything possible to avert any humanitarian crisis in Gaza, allowing for the regular entry of supplies and international aid. In fact, just last week, it was Hamas that acted to prevent the delivery of humanitarian assistance from Egypt.
While the IDF takes pains to direct its activities exclusively against terrorists, Hamas callously places Palestinian civilians in harm’s way – positioning its forces inside schools and houses of worship, and launching attacks from crowded areas. The unintentional injury of any civilians in Gaza is the sole responsibility of Hamas.
Hamas objections notwithstanding, the Government of Israel will continue its pursuit of peace with the Palestinian people, led by President Abbas and Prime Minister Fayyad. Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005 precisely to further this goal, but Hamas seized control of Gaza, turning the area into a launch pad for terrorism against Israel.

From StandWithUs.org

An example of why Israel needs to defend its self

Nathan Schloss — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 04:59:35 +0000

Notice how calm the Israeli children as the siren announces that bombs are being launched at their city. Their song perfectly illustrates their life, they were born into a situation where their lives are threatened on a daily basis… enough is enough!