My Favorite Story For Brad Pitt

So Angelina is not pregnant, after all, after just giving birth to twins four months ago. Who would have thought?

But - just in case, here is one of my favorite stories - for "poor, exhausted Brad Pitt":

A man, at the end of his rope, drags himself to the rabbi and collapses at the rabbi's feet and starts sobbing. "Rabbi, I am exhausted, desperate, and can find no way out. My life has become nothing but suffering and a great struggle. I can barely feed my wife and my twelve children. We live in a tiny house with her parents, go without food many days, and the overwhelming demands of our large family threaten to take my wife's health, and mine as well. The noise, the chaos, the need, and the suffering - it is all too much. And then, today - I found out that she is pregnant again, Rabbi. Please Rabbi, I am at the end. Please tell me, what am I to do?" The rabbi takes a moment to think, and then turns to him and says:

"Moshe, just stop! You have done enough!"

Senators McCain and Obama - At Their Best - Post Election Reflections

The Alfred E. Smith Foundation Memorial Dinner is an annual white tie fundraiser dinner event for Catholic Charities, held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City, in honor of former New York Governor Al Smith, the first Catholic presidential candidate. The first dinner was in 1945, the year after Al Smith's death.

What many people outside of the US may not know is that as far as stereotypes are concerned - "Catholic" in America used to be equated with "low class Irish drunk". The Klu Klux Klan was after "Catholics" as much as it was after "Blacks" because of competition for jobs and resources. African American and Irish women shared a strong history as servants to the upper classes who looked down on both groups. "First Catholic presidential candidate" - Governor Alfred E. Smith, therefore is a historical figure in the US, much like JFK as the first Irish Catholic President. Of course, by now, we know the historical outcome of this year's election. The US keeps growing and rewarding heroes from its lower social ranks who end up elevating all of us.

At this traditional dinner during our campaigns, the candidates make fun of themselves and each other. The event is shortly before the actual election and tensions are high. We get to see the candidates at their best, and are reminded - that if we can keep laughing together, and especially - at ourselves - there is hope for all of us.

Here are the two speeches in the order given.