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Okay, this is not so much a rant as an eye opening awaking to the current dilemma that affects nearly everybody that ever has to go to the dentist for a treatment: its freaking really expensive for dental care these days, and the balance is due for services rendered at the time of treatment – no easy pay plans, no forwarding the balance, you pay for what you get then, and there! So how can anybody realistically afford decent dental care when it costs so much for everything? Dental Insurance has not Meet the Rising Costs of Dental Care Most people think, hey I have dental insurance, so everything will be okay, right? Not exactly folks. The dental insurance companies only cover part. Usually half to sixty percent of all treatments, the rest is out of your pocket. So a root canal and crown will cost the average insured patient around $600 smackers. Who can really afford braces then, crowns and so on? And, recent studies have concluded that dental insurance has not met the rising demands of the cost of dental care. They offer on average about $1500 that they will pay out per year, when insurance studies show it should be at least three times that amount to meet inflation. The Solution While there is not really any candid solution, your best bet lies in combining plans. Use up your dental insurance each year. Then use a discount card for the rest of the treatments that you need. Until congress passes news laws mandating insurance companies to cough up more dough each year, I’m afraid this problem will continue.

The ‘90s and the early ‘00s played host to a surreal cultural revelation. Garage rock is really catchy. I have no idea why there was a brief commercial bloom of artists that fall under the auspices of that category, but I wasn’t all to upset to hear new garage bands copping old attitudes. That was probably the last general cultural attitude I agreed with.

Anyway, the ‘90s obviously couldn’t have happened without the ‘80s. And while hipsters now choose to recall that decade as neon colored and spandex filled, it was the time when the first garage ‘revival’ emerged. No one can pin point cultural phenomenon like that but the Chesterfield Kings can’t be a bad place to start. There were others of course, like The Cynics, out of Pittsburgh. But where those bands held the Stones in highest regards, a band in Detroit injected their garage with an equal helping of blues and straight ahead punk.

Most folks will probably be more familiar with the double drums of Mick Collins newer act The Dirtbombs. But the Gories were first and have a pair of rather incredible albums.

You may be asking yourself why all of the explanation regarding a band that no longer exists.

Well, heeding countless heckles about a reunion from the previous decade or so; Collins and company are getting the band back together.

The tour isn’t slated to be too extensive and only two dates thus far have been confirmed: those of Detroit and Memphis. So if you’re in either of those two drastically different US locales, you’re in luck.

Hello, friends and web-surfers. My name is Michael Sarko and this is Judeo Talk, an interactive blog for the discussion of Jewish faith, culture, history and current events. I'll be updating three times a week, shedding light on a rich tradition that stretches back thousands of years and continues to impact the lives of millions of people worldwide. Every Friday, there will be a Shabbat D'var post providing an introduction to some of the themes in the week's Torah portion. Additionally, feel free to email me with any questions about Judaism and I'll do my best to post the answer in this blog. There is a famous Jewish story, known as a Midrash, about the importance of teaching and learning. In the story, a man goes to several different rabbis with the strange request of being taught Torah while he stands on one foot. Everyone was insulted by this request because it seemed silly and unnecessary. The only one who agreed to the stranger's odd stipulation was Rabbi Hillel, who was known for being a very open-minded and accepting man. Young Jews have long been told this story as a way to remind them to be open-minded themselves in the process of teaching and learning. Many tasks and topics seem daunting at the beginning, as if we are approaching them with no more stability or focus than we would have while standing on one foot. So, even if you don't know a thing about Judaism or Jewish culture, there's no need to turn away. Judeo Talk is a place where you only need a desire to learn. So, what is Judaism? Plainly, Judaism is the oldest of the three central Abrahamic faiths, followed by Christianity and then Islam. All three of those religions is Monotheistic, meaning that one of their basic tenates is a belief in a single God. Because Jewish history stretches back nearly six thousand years, the exact origins of the faith and culture are not certain. In the religious tradition, the foundations of monotheism and therefore Judaism are placed on one man, Abraham. This is where the term "Abrahamic" comes from. According to his story in the bible Abraham was ethnically Sumerian, living in approximately 4000 BC, or as Jews prefer to say, BCE (before the common era). Early in his story, Abraham experiences divine forces and becomes devoted to spreading belief in a single, all-powerful God. Of course, not everyone interprets the stories of the bible as being literal events, not even Jews. Unfortunately, retrieving accurate information about life and major events from thousands of years ago is exceedingly difficult. We do know that Jewish culture has existed since nearly the dawn of human civilization, thanks to writings and artifacts from ancient cities like Ur, Babylon and Jerusalem. Whatever its origins, Judaism persists in the modern day, though its definition remains elusive. If this question could be answered so easily, I wouldn't have bothered making an entire blog about it. Sure, there's a textbook definition, but that doesn't even begin to explain what it means to be a Jew and how Jewish culture has contributed to the world at large. I hope you'll join with me in learning about one of this world's great cultural traditions. Shalom and welcome. Got a question or a suggestion for a future topic? Email me at sarko.michael@gmail.com

Have you heard about or seen these new so-called ‘Smart Cars?’ They are these teeny little things that barely have four wheels and can be quite often seen driving around the cities in our great nation. They are really small, and seat two people at maximum, and hail a small two cylinder engine which boasts a fabulous mile per gallon ratio, and they tend to be far less costly than most other vehicles. So that is the good part about the Smart Car. But are people overlooking something that is very important when it comes to automobiles – their safety if they become involved in a car accident? The Smart Car is so tiny, that even a small, five mile per hour collision could easily collapse the entire frame. Sure, steel bars inside will help, but not if a sport utility vehicle comes careening at you at thirty miles per hour and shatters your tiny little Smart Car to pieces. So while the idea of a Smart Car is smart, it really is not all that smart at all. You basically have a little bit added safety over a motorcycle rider, and that’s a long shot at that folks. I guess the point that I am trying to make is that the name of this vehicle is rather misleading. How is it smart to put yourself at inherent risk of serious injury every time you drive your car? Maybe is economically smart, as far as gas mileage. But to me, safety and good gas mileage go hand in hand. So the proper name of this car should: Economically Smart Car. Don’t you think?