jerusalem is the place to be

"Ah, Bialystock and Bloom, I presume! Heh heh, forgive the pun!"

2006-10-29T08:45:00.000+02:00

Got this list of puns by email.
-J

A GOOD PUN IS ITS OWN RE-WORD

A pessimist's blood type is always b-negative.

Practice safe eating -- always use condiments.

A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your mother.

Shotgun wedding: A case of wife or death.

I used to work in a blanket factory, but it folded.

Marriage is the mourning after the knot before.

A hangover is the wrath of grapes.

Corduroy pillows are making headlines.

Is a book on voyeurism a peeping tome?

Sea captains don't like crew cuts.

A successful diet is the triumph of mind over platter.

Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

A gossip is someone with a great sense of rumor.

Without geometry, life is pointless.

When you dream in color, it's a pigment of your imagination.

Reading while sunbathing makes you well-red.

A man's home is his castle, in a manor of speaking.

Dijon vu -- the same mustard as before.

When two egotists meet, it's an I for an I.

What's the definition of a will? (Come on, it's a dead giveaway!)

In democracy your vote counts. In feudalism, your count votes.

If you don't pay your exorcist, you get repossessed.

With her marriage, she got a new name and a dress.

Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft, and I'll show you a flat minor.

When a clock is hungry, it goes back four seconds.

The man who fell into an upholstery machine is fully recovered.

A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.

You feel stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.

Local Area Network in Australia: The LAN down under.

He often broke into song because he couldn't find the key.

Every calendar's days are numbered.

A lot of money is tainted. It t'aint yours and it t'aint mine.

A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.

He had a photographic memory that was never developed.

The short fortuneteller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.

Once you've seen one shopping center, you've seen a mall.

Those who jump off a Paris bridge are in Seine.

When an actress saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she'd dye.

Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead-to-know basis.

Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.

Acupuncture is a jab well done.

Marathon runners with bad footwear suffer the agony of defeat.

Quote from The Producers (1968)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"He helped Joshua fight the battle of Jericho, he helped Daniel get out the lion's den, he helped Gilligan get off the island"

2006-10-22T08:51:00.000+02:00

Saw this at CNN.com

NEW YORK (AP) -- Don't remember much about high school biology or physics. Couldn't tell ya how to compute a calculus problem. But, for the love of Will Smith, the theme song to "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" remains fresh in the mind.

Smith's catchy rap opened each episode of his hit '90s sitcom, in which he starred as a street-smart teen from Philly who moves in with wealthy relatives. A whole generation knows it by heart -- that, and the "Saved by the Bell" song.

TV themes, from "The Beverly Hillbillies" to "The Brady Bunch" to "Cheers" to "Friends," conjure up memories of cozy nights, childhood bliss and a universal nostalgia for bygone days. But, today, show themes are doing a fast fade as the networks crunch their programming budgets.

Are they about to join the variety hour in the TV graveyard?

"It's a rarity today," TV historian Tim Brooks said of the catchy, tuneful opening. "It's kind of like the Broadway musical producing hit songs -- it just doesn't do that anymore."

Back in the day, even into the '90s, shows usually had a "main title," a 40-to-60 second opening montage that introduced the cast and was often set to music written by a composer, said Jon Burlingame, author of "TV's Biggest Hits," a history of themes. Songs summed up what a show was all about, whether spinning the tale of how a group of wacky castaways ended up on "Gilligan's Island," telling how a spunky single career woman was "going to make it after all," or describing why six touchy-feely Manhattan singles were there for each other.

But now many sitcoms and one-hour dramas are dropping that device. They dive straight into the action, sometimes flashing the show's title or logo at various points throughout an episode.

ABC's "Lost" does it. The twisty drama begins after a teaser, which touches on what happened in previous installments, and cuts to a black screen at a crucial plot point. A white "Lost" logo swirls into view. Eerie music plays. The whole thing lasts about five seconds.

"That's not a theme" nor an artistic statement, lamented Burlingame, longing for the urgency of the "Mission: Impossible" score.

Other title-flashers include ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," which threw out its 26-second theme last year, and "Desperate Housewives" and NBC's "My Name Is Earl," which both switch off between showing the full credits and the logo. New shows -- ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" and "Ugly Betty" and NBC's "Heroes" and "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" -- display only the logo.

"Almost all shows have music, but it's generic, it's scene-setting, it's short," said Brooks, who estimated that fewer than 10 percent have "traditional" themes that set up the show.
Getting to the point

Clearly, brevity is key. No drawn-out intro or hokey theme. Networks don't have time for that -- and neither, prevailing TV thinking goes, do the country's couch potatoes.

"Producers feel, rightly or wrongly, that that interruption, if you will, is going to lose viewers," Brooks said.

"I think one of the things that has squeezed themes out is this relentless kind of move toward tightening everything, making it go right from joke to joke, from action to action, from shootout to shootout, so that you won't press the dreaded remote control."

Thanks to the elimination of commercials between the end of one show and the beginning of another, shows overlap before fickle viewers have a chance to channel-surf to Another Network. More commercials air within a show, making episodes shorter. Main titles and well-rounded theme songs and scores? Sorry, no time, no money.

Tara Ariano, co-founder of the blog Television Without Pity, isn't sweating it. She thinks a "full-on opening credit (and) theme song is kind of a waste, from a business perspective."

"The networks sort of assume we watch the show, so we don't need to have the premise explained to us each week ... In the era of the DVR, half the people watching the show are just fast-forwarding that anyway," she said.

Another trend, which harks back to the late '80s-early '90s fave "The Wonder Years" and the more recent "Dawson's Creek" and "Laguna Beach," is the use of music by established and new artists as both a theme in the main title and a device within the show.

"Increasingly, it's not music scored for the show, it's pop songs pasted into the show," Brooks said.

CBS' "CSI" opens with the Who's "Who Are You?" Gavin DeGraw's star rose after his radio-friendly single "I Don't Want to Be," debuted as the theme to the CW's "One Tree Hill." And the Fray was, well, just a band on the fringe until "Grey's Anatomy" and others played their songs to underscore dramatic scenes and montages.

All of this makes Jesse Frederick-Conaway, who composed the music to G-rated sitcoms such as ABC's "Full House" and "Family Matters," a little sad. There is, he thinks, "this desire to be super hip."

"Now, the music director is sort of the composer," he said. "It's a different kind of deal."

Burlingame, citing the great intros of award winners such as NBC's "The West Wing" and HBO's "Six Feet Under," is confident the theme -- lyrical, instrumental, whatever -- will make a comeback. He'd rather see more original music, but he'll take licensed material if it's good.

"Some producers, I think, want to make a statement, in terms of imagery and music," he said. "It depends on who you get."

Will Smith, back in the '90s, made a hip-hop statement of his own while advising fans to "just sit right there/I'll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel-Air."

But, in this fast-forward TV world, would they still listen?

Quote from Coming to America (1988)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"For God's sake, don't shake that booty!"

2006-10-06T12:39:00.000+02:00

Chag Sameach

May you all enjoy living in your booth....

J.

Quote from In & Out (1997)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"You have no repentance! You're bad! Through and through, bad!"

2006-09-26T14:51:00.000+03:00

My sister sent this to me. It is hilarious.

J.

Quote from East of Eden (1955)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"Fink. That's a Jewish name, isn't it?"

2006-09-26T12:00:00.000+03:00

Was sent this interesting article by my friend sobersumrnr.

J.

Krauthammer's Law: Everyone is Jewish until proven otherwise

By Charles Krauthammer

Strange doings in Virginia. George Allen, former governor, one-term senator, son of a famous football coach and in the midst of a heated battle for reelection, has just been outed as a Jew. An odd turn of events, given that his having Jewish origins has nothing to do with anything in the campaign and that Allen himself was oblivious to the fact until his 83-year-old mother revealed to him last month the secret she had kept concealed for 60 years.

Apart from its political irrelevance, it seems improbable in the extreme that the cowboy-boots-wearing football scion of Southern manner and speech should turn out to be, at least by origins, a son of Israel. For Allen, as he quipped to me, it's the explanation for a lifelong affinity for Hebrew National hot dogs. For me, it is the ultimate confirmation of something I have been regaling friends with for 20 years and now, for the advancement of social science, feel compelled to publish.

Krauthammer's Law: Everyone is Jewish until proven otherwise. I've had a fairly good run with this one. First, it turns out that John Kerry — windsurfing, French-speaking, Beacon Hill aristocrat — had two Jewish grandparents. Then Hillary Clinton — methodical Methodist — unearths a Jewish stepgrandfather in time for her run as New York senator.

A less jaunty case was that of Madeleine Albright, three of whose Czech grandparents had perished in the Holocaust and who most improbably contended that she had no idea they were Jewish. To which we can add the leading French presidential contender (Nicolas Sarkozy), a former supreme allied commander of NATO (Wesley Clark) and Russia's leading anti-Semite (Vladimir Zhirinovsky). One must have a sense of humor about these things. Even Fidel Castro claims he is from a family of Marranos.

For all its tongue-in-cheek irony, Krauthammer's Law works because when I say "everyone," I don't mean everyone you know personally. Depending on the history and ethnicity of your neighborhood and social circles, there may be no one you know who is Jewish. But if "everyone" means anyone that you've heard of in public life, the law works for two reasons. Ever since the Jews were allowed out of the ghetto and into European society at the dawning of the Enlightenment, they have peopled the arts and sciences, politics, and history in astonishing disproportion to their numbers.

There are 13 million Jews in the world, one-fifth of 1 percent of the world's population. Yet 20 percent of Nobel Prize winners are Jewish, a staggering hundredfold surplus of renown and genius. This is similarly true for a myriad of other "everyones" — the household names in music, literature, mathematics, physics, finance, industry, design, comedy, film and, as the doors opened, even politics.

But it is not just Jewish excellence at work here. There is a dark side to these past centuries of Jewish emancipation and achievement — an unrelenting history of persecution. The result is the other more somber and poignant reason for the Jewishness of public figures being discovered late and with surprise: concealment.

Look at the Albright case. Her distinguished father was Jewish, if tenuously so, until the Nazi invasion. He fled Czechoslovakia and, shortly thereafter, converted. Over the centuries, suffering — most especially, the Holocaust — has proved too much for many Jews. Many survivors simply resigned their commission.

For some, the break was defiant and theological: A G-d who could permit the Holocaust — ineffable be His reasons — had so breached the Covenant that it was now forfeit. They were bound no longer to Him or His faith.

For others, the considerations were far more secular.

Why subject one's children to the fear and suffering, the stigmatization and marginalization, the prospect of being hunted until death that being Jewish had brought to an entire civilization in Europe?

In fact, that was precisely the reason Etty Lumbroso, Allen's mother, concealed her identity. Brought up as a Jew in French Tunisia during World War II, she saw her father, Felix, imprisoned in a concentration camp. Coming to America was her one great chance to leave that forever behind, for her and for her future children. She married George Allen Sr., apparently never telling her husband's family, her own children or anyone else of her Jewishness.

Such was Etty's choice. Multiply the story in its thousand variations and you have Kerry and Clinton, Albright and Allen, a world of people with a whispered past.

Allen's mother tried desperately to bury it forever. In response to published rumors, she finally confessed the truth to him, adding heartbreakingly, "Now you don't love me anymore" — and then swore him to secrecy.

Quote from Barton Fink (1991)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"I know. I've seen this sickness before. It's an old familiar road."

2006-09-25T18:55:00.000+03:00

More reasons to feel sick today:

Man Arrested for Blowing Shofar at Western Wall
Monday, September 25, 2006 / 3 Tishrei 5767

Shades of the 1920's: A Jewish man was hauled off to the Old City police station in the middle of prayer for sounding the shofar during Rosh HaShanah services at the area known as the Kotel HaKatan.

The incident occurred around 7:30 in the morning, at the northern-most section of the accessible Western Wall - a little-known area called the Kotel HaKatan, the Small Wall. It is considered to have extra sanctity, as it stands opposite the presumed spot of the Holy of Holies of the Beit HaMikdash.

Yesterday morning (Sunday), a group of some 10 men and two women gathered at the site, as they have done for several years on Rosh HaShanah, for early-morning prayers. The holiday prayers feature the blowing of the shofar (ram's horn) at several different times. Towards the end of the first shofar sounding, a Border Guard policeman came in, made an unclear motion with his hand as if to ask what was going on, and then left. He said nothing.

Shortly afterwards, Eliyahu K., the 20-year-old prayer leader, blew the shofar a second time, in the midst of his silent prayer (in accordance with Sephardic custom). Policemen came in once again and began trying to pull him away. However, Eliyahu was in the midst of reciting the Amidah - a long passage during which one must stand in one place without moving - and he therefore did not move.

The policemen informed their supervisors by radio that he was praying and refused to move, and reinforcements were soon sent - no fewer than 20 policemen, according to several witnesses.

They then started dragging him out, and when they stopped for a moment, he got up and resumed his prayers. They then began to drag him away again, and shortly afterwards again stopped for a moment - and again he resumed his prayers. At this point, the policemen allowed him to complete his prayers.

In the meanwhile, the other members of the prayer group came out and tried to prevent the policemen from taking Eliyahu away. At this point, the policemen started swinging their clubs violently; no one was hospitalized, but "it was a big brawl," in the words of one witness, with many people being dragged around and beaten while wearing their prayer-shawls and Sabbath suits.

Meanwhile, Eliyahu was taken to the small police station at the Western Wall plaza, and several of his friends followed him there. They wanted to go up the steps into the police station, and demanded that at least the shofar be returned, but the police again came down with their clubs.

They finally took Eliyahu by foot, accompanied by his fiancée, all the way around the Old City, past Mt. Zion and through Jaffa Gate, to the Kishle police station inside Jaffa Gate. At this point, there was no longer any violence, and Eliyahu was released around 11:30 - after being charged with attacking a policeman, disturbing a policeman in the line of duty, and disturbing the public order.

One witness related, "It's not only that they stopped him from blowing the shofar, but rather the fact that the police beat us up very harshly. I was on my way to the Wall for prayers when I saw 5-7 policemen going with Eliyahu and protecting him very closely. I walked after them, and then a few of his friends came, and then the violence started. We asked the policemen to return the shofar, and they started kicking us and punching us."

The worshipers said that the police had apparently been called by an Arab woman who said the sound of the ram's horn disturbed her children.

A Jewish resident of the Old City told Arutz-7, "How ironic. The loud Arab weddings and nightly prayers by the muazzin [over a powerful loudspeaker] at 4:30 AM disturb our sleep every night." Similar complaints are heard from Jews living near Arab villages in Judea and Samaria.

A member of the Jerusalem Police spokesman's office, contacted by Arutz-7 for a statement on the matter and asked whether this signified a new policy towards shofar-blowing at the Wall, said, "When we have an answer for you, I will get back to you."

The head of the local council of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, Shmuel Yitzchaki, could not be reached for comment by the time of this report.

The rabbi of the Western Wall, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, told Arutz-7, "This is a very grave incident, and I have asked the local police commander, Yossi Priente, to check into it - both the violence and the prevention of the shofar blowing. It reminds us of the days of the British Mandate when Jews [had to make] super-human efforts to blow the shofar at the Western Wall."

He was referring to the 1ate 1920's, when the British, in an attempt to appease the Arabs, and following violence at the Wall, forbade shofar-blowing at the Wall. In one famous incident in 1929, a man named Moshe Segal blew the shofar at the conclusion of Yom Kippur - and was immediately arrested by the British. Though he had fasted for the previous 25 hours, the British detained him without food until midnight, when he was released. It was later reported that the release came about when then-Chief Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook informed the commander that he himself would not eat until Segal was released.

Nearly 40 years later, following the first Yom Kippur service at the Wall under Israeli sovereignty, shortly after the Six Day War, the shofar was again sounded - by Moshe Segal.

I now see that both Jameel and JoeSettler also wrote about this, check out what they have to say.

J.

Quote from Bounty Killer (1965)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"Neighbors bring food with death, and flowers with sickness, and little things in between"

2006-09-25T13:41:00.000+03:00

This just makes me sick

SICKNESS

You'd think the Neturai Karta would have better things to be doing with their time on Erev Rosh Hashana.

J.

Quote from To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"What is Jerusalem worth?"

2006-09-22T16:08:00.000+03:00

I wanted to take this time to wish you all a healthy, happy new year.

May we all be inscribed for a great year and may the redemption come soon.

Shana Tova

J. and Jcop Jr.

Quote from Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"And do you want to know something else? I've never liked your spinach puffs."

2006-09-21T09:21:00.000+03:00

Here are some editorial cartoons and a short video about the tainted spinach.

Enjoy.

J.

Quote from The Emperor's New Groove (2000)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"What's with the Kmart thing, huh?"

2006-09-20T09:11:00.000+03:00

I got this by email today and thought that it might actually be fun to do some of these things suggested.

J.

(click twice on the image to enlarge it)

Quote from Beauty Shop (2005)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"Oh, the Pope warned me never to trust the CIA!"

2006-09-19T12:34:00.000+03:00

Here's an editorial from the WSJ. The cartoons are not from the WSJ.

J.

Benedict the Brave
The pope said things Muslims need to hear about faith and reason.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006 12:01 a.m. EDT

It's a familiar spectacle: furious demands for an apology, threats, riots, violence. Anything can trigger so-called Muslim fury: a novel by a British-Indian writer, newspaper cartoons in a small Nordic country or, this past week, a talk on theology by the head of the Roman Catholic Church.

In a lecture on "Faith and Reason" at the University of Regensburg in Germany, Benedict XVI cited one of the last emperors of Byzantium, Manuel II Paleologus. Stressing the 14th-century emperor's "startling brusqueness," the pope quoted him as saying: "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

Taken alone, these are strong words. However, the pope didn't endorse the comment that he twice emphasized was not his own. No matter. As with Salman Rushdie's "Satanic Verses," which millions of outraged Muslims didn't bother to read (including Ayatollah Khomeini, who put the bounty on the novelist's life), what Benedict XVI meant or even said isn't the issue. Once again, many Muslim leaders are inciting their faithful against perceived slights and trying to proscribe how free societies discuss one of the world's major religions.

Several Iraqi terrorist groups called for attacks on the Vatican. A cleric linked to Somalia's ruling Islamist movement urged Muslims to "hunt down" and kill the pope. In an apparently linked attack Sunday in Mogadishu, a nun was gunned down in a children's hospital. Pakistan's parliament unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the pontiff and demanding an apology.

Under pressure and no doubt to stop any further violence, the pope on Sunday did so. "I am deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries to a few passages of my address . . . which were considered offensive to the sensibility of Muslims," he told pilgrims at his Castelgandolfo summer residence. The quote doesn't "in any way express my personal thought. I hope this serves to appease hearts."

It was a gracious gesture on the pope's part, especially because his original argument deserves to be heard, not least by Muslims. The offending quotation was a small part in a chain of argument that led to his main thesis about the close relationship between reason and belief. Without the right balance between the two, the pontiff said, mankind is condemned to the "pathologies and life-threatening diseases associated with religion and reason"--in short, political and religious fanaticism.

In Christianity, God is inseparable from reason. "In the beginning was the Word," the pope quotes from the Gospel according to John. "God acts with logos. Logos means both reason and word," he explained. "The inner rapprochement between Biblical faith and Greek philosophical inquiry was an event of decisive importance not only from the standpoint of history of religions, but also from that of world history. . . . This convergence, with the subsequent addition of the Roman heritage, created Europe."

The question raised by the pope is whether this convergence has taken place in Islam as well. He quotes the Lebanese Catholic theologist Theodore Khoury, who said that "for Muslim teaching, God is absolutely transcendent, his will is not bound up with any of our categories." If this is true, can there be dialogue at all between Islam and the West? For the pope, the precondition for any meaningful interfaith discussions is a religion tempered by reason: "It is to this great logos, to this breadth of reason, that we invite our partners in the dialogue of cultures," he concluded.

This is not an invitation to the usual feel-good interfaith round-tables. It is a request for dialogue with one condition--that everyone at the table reject the irrationality of religiously motivated violence. The pope isn't condemning Islam; he is inviting it to join rather than reject the modern world.

By their reaction to the pope's speech, some Muslim leaders showed again that Islam has a problem with modernity that is going to have to be solved by a debate within Islam. The day Muslims condemn Islamic terror with the same vehemence they condemn those who criticize Islam, an attempt at dialogue--and at improving relations between the Western and Islamic worlds--can begin.

Quote from Hudson Hawk (1991)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"We're in the business of winning."

2006-09-07T07:43:00.000+03:00

I got these this morning from JoeSettler and I thought you would enjoy them.

J.

Quote from Friday Night Lights (2004)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"I just sold my company to Microsoft!"

2006-09-03T14:50:00.000+03:00

I know this is something like a month old already, but I just saw it in an email today and thought it was quite funny.

Letterman saying farewell to Bill Gates.

Quote from Shallow Hal (2001)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"Are you guys ready? Let's roll! Come on, let's go! "

2006-09-02T20:20:00.000+03:00

Shavua Tov.

I know that many (if not most of you) know that I enjoy movies (to say the least), and I've tried to avoid writing about movies in this blog and just stick to using movie quotes...but that is about to change today.

I had been anticipating the release of United 93 ever since I heard it was coming out in the US back in April. I checked every week to see when would it finally arrive here in Israel and it never came. Two months ago, I downloaded it using bit torrent and when I checked the quality of the copy, I decided to skip watching it until a better copy came out. Last month, a friend told me that he had seen it advertised on a website that it would arrive here in Israel yesterday on Aug. 31st....I couldn't wait.

Prior committments didn't allow me to see it on opening night (I for some strange reason always prefer to see a movie on it's opening day, haven't really figured out why, but maybe it's similar to me prefering to watch award shows live at 3am...who knows)

But I digress, I discovered last week by accident that the Malcha mall here in Jrslm, has 2 matinees on Friday's of many of it's movies (mostly for kids to get a chance to see a movie I guess, since the mall is closed on shabbat).

I decided that I would make sure my plans for shabbat were settled on thursday night or Friday morning and try and catch a 1:30 showing.

Over the last few months, I have seen the two made-for-tv movies about Flight 93 (the one on NBC and on A & E) and eventhough I thought I knew everything about what (possibly) happened on that flight, I still had the urge to see United 93 since I had heard a number of top reviews who claimed that it was the best movie of the year and still blew everyone out of their seats eventhough they knew how it would end.

What I found very interesting is that all 3 movies looked at the story slightly differently and I'm actually quite glad that I saw United 93 last.

Flight 93 (NBC) focused on the flight itself and especially included the many phone calls from the passengers to their family members. This gives the viewer a more personal view of who these men and women were and how they (once again) supposedly acted when facing a calamity as grave as this one was.)

Flight 93: The Flight that fought back (A & E) showed the story from a documentary approach; it was narrated by Kiefer Sutherland who described what was going on and even told some background story on the individuals involved. The story itself was shown as a dramatization in the style one would see on numerous TV shows or dosumentaries, bujt teh action was described by the narrator as it was happening.

The director of United 93 chose to go a completely different route. The first half of the movie focuses on what was happening to the flight controllers in Boston, New York, Virginia, Cleveland and at the military installation at NORAD. We see all of the events of that morning as it unfolded from their eyes, the people who were the first ones to be aware of what was happening as it happened. These stories were interspersed with the regular mundane issues of air travel for the passengers of flight 93; security check, boarding, waiting for takeoff, chatter between passengers and eventually take-off itself.

The second half of the movie takes place once United 93 is hijacked and then we only see what is going on in the aircraft itself.

They made the story about all 40 passengers without giving us intimate details about their lives, they could be anyone we know and eventhough I knew who many of the characters were, it didnt matter, because the story wasn't about an individual, but about the passengers as a whole.

This version kept me glued to the screen the entire time I was in the theater and made me see the story from a totally different side.

Here is the trailer:

Eventhough this movie just came out in the theaters this past week in Israel, it will be coming out on DVD on Tuesday (Sep 5th) all over the world.

I highly recommend seeing it.

J.

Quote from United 93 (2006)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"What is this, some sort of dork outreach program?"

2006-08-31T11:11:00.000+03:00

Growing up in the mid-west, I was very active in NCSY and I recall on numerous occasions that people would ask me: "Why are you so involved in an organization that is mainly for non-religious youth who want to become more religious and not for religious FFB (Frum From Birth)". I always countered that in order for them to see how "normal" it is to be religious, they should be able to interact with FFB's also.

The truth is, I was not completely correct back then and even til today, I had trouble admitted to myself the truth.

I was emailed this video clip of a speech given at a dinner in NYC last week and the speaker really put into words what I've always known deep in my heart.

Watch this video: (it's close to 10 minutes long, but really worth watching)

"

scroll down after you watch the video clip

+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+

Now that you have watched the video, I can explain. I always (and still do) envy those kids, I wished that my quest for bettering my level of observance was like theirs. There are many times where I feel that I'm "just going thru the motions" and not completely using my heart as I should, by finding ways to better myself and my committment to Judaism.

Hopefully this will help serve as an additional wake-up call for many of us who strive for more.

J.

Quote from She's All That (1999)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"okay you know what, take you scrubby little paws off my bag, okay? It's not like I have a bomb in here. It's not like I wanna blow up the plane."

2006-08-29T11:46:00.000+03:00

I wouldn't say that this guy made the correct decision here....nothing like a chillul hashem right on TV.

Here's the video

Here's the article

Long Beach Airport Evacuated Following Bomb Threat

(CBS) LONG BEACH, Calif. A man was arrested after phoning in a bomb threat to Long Beach Airport in an attempt to catch a plane.

The incident occurred about 9:15 p.m., involved JetBlue Flight 243 to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, according to Sharon Jackson, an airport spokeswoman.

Authorities located and arrested Yechezkel Wells about 9:30 p.m., an American citizen, in the area around the airport, based on specific information he provided in the phone call.

Three others were detained, questioned and released. Wells was upset that he was kept off the plane.

Officers from the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and Long Beach police conducted a search of the plane with the aid of bomb-sniffing dogs, according to Jackson.

Wells confessed to the authorities that there was no bomb, according to FBI Media Coordinator Kenny Smith.

Passengers were delayed about 50 minutes before the flight resumed, Smith said.

Quote from Meet the Parents (2000)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"Man how the hell can they call Pluto a planet?"

2006-08-27T05:04:00.000+03:00

Shavua Tov!!

I'm sure by now, most of you have heard that the Planet Pluto has been demoted from planet status to dwarf planet status. The thing that bothers me abt it is that now the song I was taught in 3rd grade to remember the order of the planets is obsolete.

My Very Energetic Mother Just Sent Us Nine

Nine what? It use to be Nine Pizaapies, but now it's just Nine. To think astronomers coulda thought abt that before declassifying Pluto. Oh weell, I guess they didnt want to have to add new words to the song by adding 3 new planets...

The last cartoon is the best in my opinion.

Have a good one.

J.

Quote from Me, Myself and Irene (2000)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"Yeah, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I had to... I... it's kind of a long story."

2006-08-26T22:12:00.000+03:00

Mel, only has 14 million Jews left to apologize to.

I got this from this website

J.

Mel Phones Jews -- "I'm Really Sorry"

Mel Gibson has decided to make good with the Jewish community, one Jew at a time.

TMZ has learned that Gibson has been calling entertainment industry honchos with whom he's worked in the past and apologizing for his anti-Semitic rant the morning of his DUI arrest.

Two of the people he called, who wish to remain anonymous, say Gibson told them that he wanted them to know that he was really sorry and he was working on his "problem." Gibson also said that he hoped he would be able to work with them again.

"...he wanted them to know that he was really sorry and he was working on his 'problem.'"

The two people who gave the debrief on Gibson's conversation to TMZ say that they were less than moved by the actor's apology. One said he was civil to Gibson but was unconvinced that Gibson has changed his stripes.

Gibson has declined offers to speak before larger groups. His publicist says the actor is consumed with his recovery at the moment and cannot deal with other matters until he gets his life under control.

It is unclear why Gibson began making the calls, however his rep has told TMZ that his client was in a recovery program, which includes a 12-step program to sobriety. Step #9 is making amends. If Gibson is on Step #9, he clearly is on the fast track.

Quote from Gotcha (1985)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"And finally, Jews for Jesus - buptkiss. But can you really put a price on offending two major religions at once?"

2006-08-26T21:40:00.000+03:00

To even think that Krusty the Klown is an advocate of Jews for Jesus is totally absurd!!!!!

I love the J4J spokewoman's line at the end of the article. I can't believe she would actually say something like that...

Stupid people...

J.

Oy! Jackie Mason sues Jews for Jesus
Comedian says group used his name in vain, seeks $2 million
The Associated Press

Updated: 10:12 a.m. ET Aug. 25, 2006

NEW YORK - Saying he’s “as Jewish as a matzo ball or kosher salami,” Jackie Mason filed a lawsuit against Jews for Jesus for using his name and likeness in a pamphlet.

The $2 million lawsuit seeks the immediate destruction of the pamphlet, which members of the missionary group have been handing out at various points around New York City.

“While I have the utmost respect for people who practice the Christian faith, the fact is, as everyone knows, I am as Jewish as a matzo ball or kosher salami,” the 75-year-old comedian said in documents filed in state Supreme Court in Manhattan.

Founded in the 1970s, Jews for Jesus practices Judaism but regards Jesus as the Messiah.

The pamphlets feature an image of Mason next to the words “Jackie Mason ... A Jew for Jesus!?” with information inside that outlines the similarities between Jews and Christians.

“The pamphlet uses my name, my likeness, my ‘shtick’ (if you will), and my very act, which is derived from my personality, to attract attention and converts,” Mason said in an affidavit.

Susan Perlman, a spokeswoman for Jews for Jesus, said the pamphlet was “good-natured.”

“Shame on him for getting so upset about this,” she said Friday.

Mason has starred on Broadway and in films including “Caddyshack II.”

Quote from The Daily Show (1996)

I know this is a TV show, but the quote was so good. The full quote is "That's it for This Week In God. But before we go, let's check last week's collection plates! The Catholics are once again number one, no surprises there. The Baptists come in second, followed by the Methodists. Ooh, Scientology, I'll just check Variety. And finally, Jews for Jesus - buptkiss. But can you really put a price on offending two major religions at once?"

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"What do you mean there's no government? There's always a government, they're in a bunker or a plane somewhere!"

2006-08-24T13:03:00.000+03:00

Got this by email from a friend and thought it was pretty funny. Maybe if we find one of Whitney Houston Osama will come out of his cave.

;)

J.

Quote from 28 Days Later (2002)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"Every hero has a weakness. Superman has kryptonite. Indiana Jones has snakes. Whitney Houston has Bobby Brown."

2006-08-22T09:14:00.000+03:00

Monday, Aug. 21, 2006 12:13 a.m. EDT

Osama Bin Laden 'Obsessed' With Whitney Houston

As if Whitney Houston doesn’t have enough problems with her rumored struggles with drug addiction, now there’s news that the superstar may be pursued by a high-profile admirer: Osama bin Laden.

The New York Post’s Page Six reports that bin Laden is apparently "obsessed” with the one-time chart-topping pop diva, who is married to troubled entertainer Bobby Brown.

Bin Laden, according to novelist Kola Boof who claims to have been the terrorist mastermind’s "sex slave,” considered Houston to be "the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen,” and even talked about having her husband (Brown) killed so he could make Houston one of his wives.

"He [Bin Laden] said he wanted to give [her] a mansion that he owned in a suburb of Kartoum,” Boof told the Post. "He explained to me that to possess Whitney he would be willing to break his color rule and make her one of his wives.”

Bin Laden is apparently "dismissive of black women,” but he was so taken by Houston’s beauty, that he reportedly carried photographs of the singer from Star magazine in his briefcase.

Quote from Taxi (2004)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"See, you did what you were trained to do. You should be proud of that, be proud of that."

2006-08-21T13:45:00.000+03:00

WHY I’M PROUD TO BE A JEW - by Bruce from New York

With war raging in the Middle East, with global terror reaching new heights, with global anti-Semitism on the rise, I thought it might be a good time to reflect on why I’m proud, more than ever, to be a Jew.

I’m proud to be a Jew because Jews don’t kidnap.

I’m proud to be a Jew because Jewish education does not consist of teaching martyrdom and hatred.

I’m proud to be a Jew because my religious leaders and religious services don’t whip me into a frenzy to kill others.

I’m proud to be a Jew because in the middle of a war, Jews still demonstrate and protest to protect the rights of the Arab-Israeli minority to voice their opposition to the war.

I’m proud to be a Jew because even when Israel is wrongly and falsely accused of killing innocent civilians, Jewish leaders apologize immediately for any loss of life—instead of celebrating these deaths by passing out candy and shooting celebratory gunshots into the air.

When the world accuses Israel of massacre in Jenin—when the world accuses Israel of bombing civilians on a Gaza beach—when the world accuses Israel of shooting a child cowering against a wall—when the world accuses Israel of bombing a Lebanese apartment building killing 56 civilians—when all of these accusations turn out to be totally false—to be vicious anti-Semitic lies—and when all along I knew in my heart that these stories just could not be true—and I’m later proven to be right—then I’m proud to be a Jew.

I’m proud to be a Jew because the Israeli Army is so, so good, that when it takes more than four weeks to wipe out a sophisticated enemy who has prepared six years for this war, the world criticizes the IDF for not getting the job done quickly.

I’m proud to be a Jew when my army, the Israeli army, drops leaflets and makes calls to Lebanese citizens on their cell phones to warn them to evacuate before bombing begins.

I’m proud to be a Jew when the democracies of the world talk about fighting the war on terror, but only Israel is left alone to bear the burden of eradicating Hezbollah, the proxy army of Iran and Syria.

I’m proud to be a Jew when entire Israeli towns in the north—Nahariya, Kiryat Shimona, Safed, are reduced to ghost towns due to the constant shelling, and yet not one looter has appeared to empty out the property of others.

When Israel must defend its very right to exist, when it must fight a well armed enemy representing the Islamic fascists, as President Bush has called them, when Israel must conduct this war on terror with its hands tied behind its back so as not to take an innocent life lest the media have something true to report, that it must fight this war of survival under the cloud of “disproportionality”, as if thousands of Katusha rockets falling on its citizenry is somehow “proportionate”—when Israel simultaneously pushes back these threats both in the North and in the South under the added pressure of a biased media, then I’m proud to be a Jew.

I’m proud to be a Jew when the Edinburgh Scottish film festival tells an Israeli director to stay home although his film is being screened and the director says “No, I’m coming.”

I’m proud to be a Jew because Mel Gibson is not a Jew.

I’m proud to be a Jew when the UN’s Human Rights Commission consists of countries like Syria, Libya and Iran and Israel is not asked to join.

I’m proud to be a Jew when magician David Blaine announces his trip to Israel next week to entertain the children living in bomb shelters and tells the press he’s doing it to encourage other performers to stand up for Israel and its right to defend itself.

I’m proud to be a Jew when a Russian/Israeli businessman single-handedly creates not one but two tent cities on the beach to house Israelis fleeing the North and provides shelter, bedding, food and drink, showers and bathrooms—all done without red tape in a matter of 24 hours—to house over 6,000 Israeli’s, one of whom described it as a “poor man’s Club Med.”

I am proud to be a Jew when Israelis on the left and on the right support the government’s decision to fight—when 97% of the country is united in its own defense—when Israeli’s from Jerusalem give shelter to families from Haifa—when food from the Negev is donated to feed soldiers at the front—when the IDF deploys soldiers on special assignments to deliver diapers to shelters and to entertain and calm the frightened children.

I’m proud to be a Jew when the three weeks preceding Tisha B’Av reminds us of the terrible things we have endured as a people and as a nation—and yet immediately thereafter, Hashem offers us consolation, redemption and hope—plus the promise that we shall defeat our enemies, that we shall endure, that Am Yisrael Chai.

And I am proud to be a Jew because when we proclaim that God is on our side, we have the book to prove it.

Quote from Black hawk Down (2001)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"Baseball may be a religion full of magic, cosmic truth, and the fundamental ontological riddles of our time, but it's also a job."

2006-08-17T21:46:00.000+03:00

To continue with my Mel diatribe, here is a clip from Tuesday nights game between the Red Sox and the Tigers where Denis Leary was invited to "help out" the radio announcers.

Quite funny!!

Thanks to Elliot for sending me the URL and to Deadspin and Alternet for the link

Quote from Bull Durham (1988)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"It was a typical wedding: enemies of the bride on the right, enemies of the groom on the left."

2006-08-17T14:06:00.000+03:00

I guess you can say Mazal Tov.

:)

J.

Suha Arafat marries

According to rumors, Yasser Arafat's widow marries Tunisian president's brother-in-law, who was supposed to marry her sister, but chose Suha due to her large fortune
Roee Nahmias

From now on say Suha al-Trablusi: Suha Arafat, widow of Yasser Arafat, secretly married Lahasn al-Trabulsi, the brother-in-law of the Tunisian president, a number of days ago, a Tunisian website reported.

As is fitting to the widow of the former Palestinian Authority chairman, this time Suha also married someone close to power. Al-Trablusi is the brother of Leila Ben Ali, who is the wife of Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.

The sister and her husband gave their blessing to the marriage.

The marriage followed a wave of stubborn rumors in Tunisia, according to which al-Trabulusi planned to marry Suha's sister. However, credible sources said that he divorced a few months ago to marry Suha and not her sister, and that one of the main reasons for the wedding is that is his interest in Suha's large fortune.

Two years ago, after Arafat's death, Suha was personally promised by Mahmoud Abbas' staff that she would receive USD 22 million a year, on the basis of an agreement Arafat himself sent his wife while on his death bed – USD 11 million to cover her lifestyle in Paris for half year.

Blackmail

Abbas and Palestinian senior figures were forced to come to a deal with Suha, after she "created facts on the ground," in accordance with French law, and prevented PA members from visiting Arafat as he was dying, or to take decisions on disconnecting the life support machine, until she received her promise. PA senior figures concluded it was worth paying her and ending the episode.

The money given to Suha comes from the "secret fortune" of the PA, managed personally by the PA president. The fortune is worth around USD four billion, and is kept in a number of bank accounts – in Tel Aviv, London, and Zurich.

Since Arafat's death, Suha refused to live in PA territory or any Arab capital other than Tunis, and enjoys close relations with the Tunisian president and his wife.

Quote from Yours, Mine and Ours (1968)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"The final measure of bravery is to stand up to death."

2006-08-15T13:11:00.000+03:00

Here is a video with a montage of pics of our brave soldiers during these troubling last few weeks.

Quote from The Brave (1997)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"Thoughts raced through his mind. Did she really want him? What had he done to deserve this bounty? Does God exist? Who invented liquid soap and why?"

2006-08-15T12:34:00.000+03:00

Due to Ifyouwillit's comment about Mel being out of the news lately, I decided to put up more "relevant" cartoons.

Thanks Mate ;)

Enjoy

J.

ok, Mel snuck in one of them....

This is my favorite

Quote is from The Sure Thing (1985)
------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"You think I'm an anti-Semite.?"

2006-08-14T15:59:00.000+03:00

More of Mel....

J.

Quote is from Gentelman's Agreement (1947) This is an excellent movie about anti-semitism in the US in the 1940's. Amazingly, it doesn't once mention the Holocaust and gets it's point across. It won Best Picture at the Oscars and stars Gregory Peck. It also has a very young Dean Stockwell (Al from Quantum Leap) as Peck's son. Highly recommended.

J.
------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"Say, that's a pretty good slogan! Top of the page - just ahead of the editorial column!"

2006-08-11T11:28:00.000+03:00

Got this by email don't know who wrote it (but I assume it's not Treppenwitz) ;)

J.

Lebanon: An International Wake-up Call

While the naysayers are out in force, it is important to recognize that Israel has
accomplished a lot toward restoring its deterrence in this conflict against Hezbollah.

Menachem Begin used to say that it's not so terrible if the world thinks Israel is a
little crazy. While Israel has actually taken great care in this struggle to limit
civilian casualties in Lebanon, the world chooses to see Israel's actions as out of
control and disproportionate. This has a major down side in terms of Israel's image in
the world, which we combat. On the other hand, it reinforces the message to Israel's
enemies than when the country's basic security is at stake, Israel will do what it has
to do to protect itself. Or as Golda Meir once said, "better a critical editorial than a
praiseworthy obituary."

Furthermore, it woke up the international community which two years ago passed UN
Security Council Resolution 1559, demanding the dismantlement of Hezbollah. The world,
however, did absolutely nothing to implement it while Hezbollah was accumulating a huge
arsenal of rockets now raining down on Israel's cities. Now, however, to a large extent
because they see that Israel is indeed serious about defending itself, the security
council has drafted a new resolution , which while having some weak spots, does provide
a mechanism to implement 1559. By providing for a multi-national force with authority,
together with the prevention of the redeployment and rearming of Hezbollah, the
resolution creates the framework for a different dynamic in southern Lebanon.

The challenge for the US and others who understand what this conflict is about is to
make sure that the goals of the resolution are lived up to. If they are, then southern
Lebanon will no longer be a terrorist state within a state, Israel's cities will be
secure and Iran will know that its efforts to threaten Israel with Hezbollah did not
succeed, nor will their nuclear ambitions.

It is therefore important, while not ignoring the problems and sadness of this conflict,
to recognize and commend the strides, at great cost, that Israel has made. That
recognition itself is part and parcel of the deterrence that makes Israel a safe place
in a dangerous neighborhood.

Quote is from Cimmaron (1931)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"C'Mon, Wizard, I'm gonna send you back to the land of Oz."

2006-08-10T13:24:00.000+03:00

Here's an interesting quote from Israeli author and columnist Amos Oz...

J.

The minute we leave south Lebanon we will have to erase the word
Hizbullah from our vocabulary, because the whole idea of the State of
Israel versus Hizbullah was sheer folly from the outset. It most
certainly will no longer be relevant when Israel returns to her
internationally recognized northern border.

Amos Oz in "Try a Little Tenderness" (Interview) Ha'aretz, March 17,
2000

Quote is from The Toy (1982)
------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"Well Hang tough baby! Do what Rocky would do!"

2006-08-08T06:11:00.000+03:00

Got this by email.

Very nice editorial.

It turns out that I credited this editorial to the wrong person, and it has been brought to my attention that the original author is Treppenwitz and I apologize for the quoting of the wrong author.

J.

** Why the World Should Stand Back and Let Israel Do What It Has To Do **

When I was in the Navy, I once witnessed a bar fight in downtown Olongapo ( Philippines ) that still haunts my dreams. The fight was between a big oafish Marine and a rather soft-spoken, medium sized Latino sailor from my ship.

All evening the Marine had been trying to pick a fight with one of us and had finally set his sights on this diminutive shipmate of mine... figuring him for a safe target. When my friend refused to be goaded into a fight the Marine sucker punched him from behind on the side of the head so hard that blood instantly started to pour from this poor man's mutilated ear.

Everyone present was horrified and was prepared to absolutely murder this Marine, but my shipmate quickly turned on him and began to single-handedly back him towards a corner with a series of stinging jabs and upper cuts that gave more than a hint to a youth spent boxing in a small gym in the Bronx.

Each punch opened a cut on the Marine's startled face and by the time he had been backed completely into the corner he was blubbering for someone to stop the fight. He invoked his split lips and chipped teeth as reasons to stop the fight. He begged us to stop the fight because he could barely see through the river of blood that was pouring out of his split and swollen brows.

Nobody moved. Not one person.

The only sound in the bar was the sickening staccato sound of this sailor's lightning fast fists making contact with new areas of the Marine's head. The only sound I have heard since that was remotely similar was from the first Rocky film when Sylvester Stallone was punching sides of beef in the meat locker.

Finally the Marine's pleading turned to screams.... a high, almost womanly shriek. And still the punches continued relentlessly. Several people in the bar took a few tentative steps as though they wanted to try to break it up at that point, but hands reached out from the crowd and held them tight. I'm not ashamed to say that mine were two of the hands that held someone back.

You see, in between each blow the sailor had begun chanting a soft cadence: "Say [punch] you [punch] give [punch] up [punch]... say [punch] you [punch]were [punch] wrong [punch]". He had been repeating it to the Marine almost from the start but we only became aware of it when the typical barroom cheers had died down and we began to be sickened by the sight and sound of the carnage.

This Marine stood there shrieking in the corner of the bar trying futilely to block the carefully timed punches that were cutting his head to tatters... right down to the skull in places. But he refused to say that he gave up... or that he was wrong.

Even in the delirium of his beating he believed in his heart that someone would stop the fight before he had to admit defeat. I'm sure this strategy had served him well in the past and had allowed him to continue on his career as a barroom bully.

Finally, in a wail of agony the Marine shrieked "I give up", and we gently backed the sailor away from him.

I'm sure you can guess why I have shared this story today.

I'm not particularly proud to have been witness to such a bloody spectacle, and the sound of that Marine's woman-like shrieks will haunt me to my grave. But I learned something that evening that Israel had better learn for itself if it is to finally be rid of at least one of its tormentors:

This is one time an Arab aggressor must be allowed to be beaten so badly that every civilized nation will stand in horror, wanting desperately to step in and stop the carnage... but knowing that the fight will only truly be over when one side gives up and finally admits defeat.

Just as every person who had ever rescued that bully from admitting defeat helped create the cowardly brute I saw that evening in the bar, every well-intentioned power that has ever stepped in and negotiated a ceasefire for an Arab aggressor has helped create the monsters we see around us today.

President Lahoud of Lebanon , a big Hezbollah supporter and a close ally of Syria , has been shrieking non-stop to the UN Security Council for the past two days to get them to force Israel into a cease fire.

Clearly he has been reading his autographed copy of 'Military Success for Dummies Arab Despots' by the late Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt Ever since Nasser accidentally discovered the trick in '56, every subsequent Arab leader has stuck to his tried and true formula for military success:

** Instigate a war. **

Once the war is well underway and you are in the process of having your ass handed to you... get a few world powers to force your western opponent into a cease fire.

Whatever you do, don't surrender or submit to any terms dictated by your enemy. That would ruin everything! All you have to do is wait it out and eventually the world will become sickened at what is being done to your soldiers and civilian population... and will force a truce.

Once a truce has been called you can resume your intransigence (which probably caused the conflict in the first place), and even declare victory as your opponent leaves the field of battle

This tactic has never failed. Not once. In fact it worked so will for the Egyptians in 1973, that to this day they celebrate the Yom Kippur War - a crushing defeat at the hands of Israel - as a military victory! No kidding... it's a national holiday over there!

President Lahoud has already begun to shriek like a school girl to the UN Security Council to "Stop the violence and arrange a cease-fire, and then after that we'll be ready to discuss all matters."

Uh huh. Forgive me if I find that a tad hard to swallow. He allowed Hezbollah to take over his country. He allowed the regular Lebanese army to provide radar targeting data for the Hezbollah missile that struck the Israeli destroyer. He has turned a blind eye while Iranian and Syrian weapons, advisers and money have poured into his country. And now that his country is in ruins he wants to call it a draw.

As much as it may sicken the world to stand by and watch it happen, strong hands need to hold back the weak- hearted and let the fight continue until one side finally admits unambiguous defeat.

Quote is from Mr. Mom (1985)
------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"Okay, I'll admit it, you know. I'm an anti-Semite. I crack Jew jokes, think they're dirty, greedy. And you know what? He's the only one I've known"

2006-08-06T10:29:00.000+03:00

I couldn't resist.

Have a great week

J.

Quote is from School Ties (1992)
------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

Woe Unto Israel - A Lament for Leadership - Reprint from The Muqata

2006-08-03T23:29:00.001+03:00

Woe Unto Israel - A Lament for Leadership

This is a reprint of Jameel's important posting from last night.

It's the evening of Tisha B'Av now in Israel. The day Jews mourn the destruction of the Jewish Temples and other calamities that have befallen the Jewish people.

I already sat on the floor of our shul, and heard "Eicha" -- The Book of Lamentations, and thought long and hard about this posting.

The stated cause of the destruction of the Second Temple 2000 years ago, was that of "sin'at chinam" -- baseless hated among the Jewish people. For the past 3 weeks since the start of the war, I have tried to to put politics aside, and let the Israeli Prime Minister run the war as best as he sees fit.

I have encouraged a united front, and encouraged Jews around the world to unite against our common enemy -- so that we bring our kidnapped IDF soldiers safely home, remove the missile threat of Hizbolla from South Lebanon, and instill the fear of the IDF into the Palestinians in Gaza, so that they realize it's not worthwhile to shoot rockets at Israel.

However, tonight, I can no longer remain silent.

As awful as it is to write this on Tisha B'Av, I have checked and rechecked myself to make sure that the source of this posting is not based on sin'at chinam -- needless hatred.

Today, the Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert, has showed the world his true colors -- that the unity of Israel is unimportant to him. Olmert said:

"Israel's victory in Lebanon will give a new momentum to complete the disengagement from the Palestinians by evacuating most settlements in Judea and Samaria." YNETNEWS

At a time when Israel needs its unity the most, when rightwing/leftwing, secular and religious soldiers are fighting shoulder to shoulder in South Lebanon and Gaza, when rockets are falling on civilians of all walks of life and shades of Israel -- more than anything we need unity, NOW.

And yet, Olmert decided that now, the day before Tisha B'Av, on the one year anniversary of the destruction of Gush Katif, is the perfect time for him to announce that his "convergence" plan of the evacuation and destruction of many more settlements in the West Bank, will be served by a victory in Lebanon.

There were many who said that the national-religious youth would shun the IDF as a result of the Disengagement, yet they are still signing up in droves for the most elite of combat units. This war is being fought by the IDF -- the unified army of Israel, for the protection of the State of Israel.

And yet, Olmert has ulterior motives for this war?

There's a story running around in my head since last week, that I can't let go of.

Major Roi Klein...IDF combat officer...who gave his life fighting last week in Bint Jebail, South Lebanon.

Major Roi Klein...just shy of his 31rst birthday from the hilltop settlement of Eli. He was married with 2 young boys...and went off to battle in South Lebanon.

While leading the charge against a Hizbolla terrorist position, a grenade was thrown at his IDF platoon, and Roi made the decision to jump on top of the grenade. Falling flat over it, his body absorbed the explosion -- saving the lives of the soldiers under his command.

What goes through the mind of a soldier, a husband, a father when he sees the grenade being thrown at him, and the split second decision that will end his life, yet save those around him?

This noble Jewish soldier not only sacrificed his life, Al Kiddush Hashem, for the sanctification of G-d by defending the Jewish State, but in the process, saved the individual lives of his fellow soldiers around him. Every soldier's life he saved was a world in and of itself.

And those soldiers whose lives were saved all told the same story...that as he jumped on the grenade, everyone was able to hear him say, "Shma Yisrael, Hashem Elokaynu, Hashem Echad." (Hear O Israel, Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is One)

Over the past week, Olmert has cynically invoked this story of Roi Klein and now professes that the purpose of the war is to promote his political plan of the "convergence". Olmert knows perfectly well that bombastic statements at this point in time will only serve to rile up the right wing. Roi Klein's widow and children live in Eli -- a settlement slated for destruction by Olmert's convergence plan -- and now he says that the war in Lebanon -- Roi Klein's heroic death, will serve to springboard that PLAN?!

This week, Olmert sent the Israeli Police to "unauthorized" hilltop outposts -- the very same ones that Ariel Sharon encouraged to be built -- and the police served destruction/eviction orders. Unfortunately, many of the husbands of those caravans didn't receive the "orders" and their wives did instead. That's because their husbands are currently fighting in South Lebanon in the IDF.

We can not be silent any more. There is a limit to how much Am Yisrael can stomach for the sake of unity, when the Prime Minister of Israel is purposely acting divisively to achieve his own narrow political goals...during wartime!

And you know what? Olmert is entitled to his political opinion as Prime Minister, and he is even entitled to try and push his plan forward.

However, to do so now, during wartime, intentionally targeting the settlers who are showing incredible loyalty to a State which turned it's back on them last year, who are fighting as one in a war of survival for the Jewish State -- shows incredible cynicism, small mindedness, and I'm sad to say...evil.

And for Olmert to say so on the day before Tisha B'Av...shows that he is not worthy of leading the Jewish State.

I seriously suggest you take a minute to send PM Olmert and his staff a comment on how the Prime Minister of Israel is acting. And if you really are incensed by his words and actions -- then pass this along to others.

A Meaningful Tisha B'Av to the Entire Jewish People,

Jameel.

You can send Olmert and his staff your comments at the following locations:

By Web Form: Here
By Email: pm_eng@pmo.gov.il
By Fac: [+972]-2-670-5475
By Phone: [+972] -2-670-5555

Rachael Risby-Raz
Diaspora Affairs Advisor to the Prime Minister
Phone; 02-6706182
Fax: 02-6706179
risbyraz@it.pmo.gov.il

Erez Halfon
Advisor to the Prime Minister
Phone; 02-670-5235
Fax; 02-651-0630
pm_eng@pmo.gov.il

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"Well, I remember Mel Gibson accurately, and he didn't say that. That Polonius guy did."

2006-08-03T23:29:00.000+03:00

Here are a few political cartoons about everyone's favorite "friend of the Jews"

J.

Quote is from Clueless (1995)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"They're always upset. They're Arab terrorists."

2006-08-03T22:32:00.000+03:00

Now that the 9 days have finished, here is the latest hit song in Israel for your listening pleasure....

Yalla Yalla Nasralla

J.

Quote is from Naked Gun 33 1/3 (1994)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

Tzom Kal

2006-08-02T19:00:00.000+03:00

Just wanted to wish you all a meaningful and easy fast.

See ya on the Temple Mount with Mashiach.

:)

J.

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"I read this article a while back, that said that Microsoft employs more millionaire secretary's that any other company in the world"

2006-08-02T12:11:00.000+03:00

I know that there are many things going on around here, but I was sent this short video by my brother and I felt that it needed to get posted.

This is for all you microsoft "lovers" out there.

Have a good one

J.

Quote is from Boiler Room (2000)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"He says he was hit in a bombing raid."

2006-08-01T19:25:00.000+03:00

Great article by Naomi Regan

A few things journalists might want to check out, re:Qana.

1. The men parading around with dead children dressed as
"rescue workers" are the same man, photographed again and
again. He's the main actor.

2. The same man was caught in similar photos in 1996
parading around with a dead child, which means that he is a
professional dead-child parader, a very prestigious job that
has been created by terrorists concerned about CNN's
ratings.

3. A Lebanese blog says that Hezbollah filled the house in
Qana with crippled children who couldn't run away. It then
placed a rocket launcher above them, and waited.

4. Another possibility - the bodies may be the same ones
paraded around in Tyre a few days before for the benefit of CNN

5. If these things don't sound possible to you, that no one
could be that callous or horrible, then let me remind you of
Beslan, where hundreds of children were held hostage on the
first day of school, the little girls raped, and then the
building exploded. Might I remind you of the terrorist
massacre of Israeli children in Maalot. Might I remind you
of the flying of several passenger planes filled with women
and children into skyscrapers. Terrorists are not nice
people. Other questions: How did that building alone have
so many people when other buildings had none? And why so
many children? And why not a single man? And why, dafka,
the building in which they stored the rocket launchers? Why
would people have chosen to huddle there against the bombs
instead of somewhere else unless they were forced to?

And what about the gap of eight hours between the bombing
and the explosion?

Inquiring minds want to know. Isn't that what journalists
used to do, dig beneath the obvious to get the truth instead
of guzzling down and regurgitating staged propaganda like
so much draft beer in a cheap bar? And another question, if
the death of children is being staged for the benefit of
CNN, then isn't CNN responsible for their deaths?

Quote from Platoon (1986)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"Atrocity and terror are not political weapons. We will never negotiate. We will no longer tolerate or be afraid. It's your turn to be afraid."

2006-08-01T00:23:00.000+03:00

Hat tip to Sobersumrnr who showed me this link and I thought you would all enjoy it.

This is a talk show host "discussing" Islamic extremism with a Muslim caller.

J.

Quote is from Air Force One (1997)
------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"I can't take it anymore! If I gotta choke down on one more of those moldy, disgusting crackers... Bam! Whack!"

2006-07-28T09:34:00.000+03:00

I was sent this by my good friend Elliot and I couldn't stop laughing at the pure stupidity

shabbat shalom

J.

a letter in this week's Yated Ne'eman (yes, it's for real)

===========================================

BEARS AND ELEPHANTS

Dear Editor, Poschim b'chvod achsanyah. My family loves reading this wonderful newspaper, as it is the only newspaper that truly belongs in a Torah home. I would like to share with you an experience that I recently had, one that I found very disturbing. I opened up a box of heimishe-brand animal crackers and was terribly dismayed to see that a whole array of non-kosher animals are featured! What are we teaching our children, to eat treife animals?! Are we chas v'shalom teaching our children to eat bears and elephants? Wishing to hear a response. I remain, F. O. G.

Below are three letters that the Yated published in response to last week's
letter about the animal crackers: =================================================

HEIMISHE ANIMAL CRACKERS

Dear Editor, I read last week with consternation, A letter written with righteous indignation. The writer was appalled, As he recalled, A cracker unbecoming to his nation! He picked up a snack, And in the pack, Were animals that are taboo. An elephant, a tiger and a monkey too. And so a letter he sent to you! How dare this company so heimish, Perpetrate an act "beheimish." To ensnare his child to actually chew, Something prohibited to every Jew. And then it hit me with a thud! Takeh a shandeh! Takeh ah shud! Though I only eat, The kosher species of that treat, And save the treife ones for a goy… I still am in trouble, oy vavoy! You see I bit the leg last week, Of a cow-shaped cracker in my feast. And now, I'm stuck, I cannot lie. I ate an eiver, min hachai! And now before I eat, I check, To carefully slice off the neck,
And way before I'll eat, I halt, And make sure to sprinkle salt, Lest it would look, At least to some… I did not rid the cow of "dum". And when there are two crackers, That were put in the box by packers, Perhaps an ox along with its calf. We have a problem, Please don't laugh. Because the Torah tells us NO! Do not shecht 'Osoh v'es b'noh'! So thank you reader, Oh so ehrlich, Who saved me from something so geferlich. And listen up all animal snackers, You can even learn halacha from simple crackers! A Grateful Yated Fan

ELBOW MACARONI AND ZEBRA COOKIES

Dear Editor, I would like to address the author of the letter titled "Bears and Elephants", who wrote last week how "very distressing" it was to recently open a box of heimishe-brand animal cookies and that he was "deeply dismayed" to find non-kosher shaped animals. To think that someone notices something as silly as this and then actually allows this to bother him is shocking and
troubling. Based on these concerns, should we eliminate 'horse'radish on the Shabbos table, 'ham'burgers at barbecues, and gummy bears from our children's pekalach? Should we prohibit our children from calling their tante an "aunt" and should we remove beer from our shalom zachor menus? Should we cross off ladyfingers from our Pesach orders? Are we now concerned that eating elbow macaroni together with cheese promotes aiver min hachai and bosor b'cholov? Should we say no to zebra cookies? The "concern" that allowing bear or elephant shaped cookies into your home "teaches our children to eat treife animals" is about as likely as a black and white cookie showing support for affirmative action or being concerned that eating a Napoleon pastry promotes cannibalism. Yossi G. Highland Park, N.J.

WORRYING ABOUT WHAT COMES OUT

Dear Editor, In response to F.O.G.'s "Bears and Elephants" letter: I think we should start worrying about what comes out of our
mouths as much as we worry about what goes in. I remain, N.H.B.

Quote is from Aladdin (1992)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"My job takes me all over the world. Lebanon, Nicaragua... Newark. You name it, I'm in there. Always where the action is."

2006-07-28T09:28:00.000+03:00

Nice article from Abe Foxman

J.

Proportionality in the War in Lebanon
By Abraham H. Foxman

Israel's case before the world in its military conflict against Hezbollah is as strong as the nation has ever had. Not occupying territory from whence the aggression came, facing a foe which is recognized by the international community as terrorist and illegitimately in control of the southern part of Lebanon, being the victim of an unprovoked attack and kidnapping by the terrorist group, Israel is seen even by the usual knee-jerk critics of the Jewish state as having the right of self-defense.

The problem for Israel lies beyond first causes, in the now oft-repeated accusation that Israel is engaged in a "disproportionate" response.

Sometimes this charge takes the form of accusing Israel of destroying Lebanon just to redeem two soldiers. Sometimes it takes the form of comparing the ratio of the civilian death toll, about ten Lebanese for every Israeli. Or other times it appears in the comment that Lebanon had finally begun to emerge from three decades of war, division and destruction, and now Israel was setting the country back irreparably.

These are serious charges. Israel does have a responsibility to itself and the international community to avoid, if possible, civilian casualties and destruction of Lebanese infrastructure. However, the accusation against Israel completely fails to recognize the context out of which this conflict has come to pass.

Israel did not go to war because of kidnapped soldiers, though the redemption of these soldiers is and must remain a priority. The war came because of Israel's need to eliminate the missile attacks on its population in the north and incursions into its territory from Hezbollah.

Israel's northern cities and towns have continuously been under threat of missile attacks, especially as Hezbollah amassed an arsenal in the years since Israel left southern Lebanon. If not dealt with by Israel, Hezbollah would have evolved into a far greater threat to the fundamental security of the State of Israel.

Because the international community did nothing about Hezbollah's control of southern Lebanon despite the Security Council passing UN resolution 1559, the terrorist group had already accumulated an estimated thirteen thousand rockets, some reportedly with a range of 125 miles. Had Israel not acted when it did, Damascus and Tehran would have undoubtedly proceeded to elevate the quantity, quality and range of missiles, with chemically-tipped weapons surely part of the future mix.

So when the issue of proportionality is raised, one must consider the size of the threat of a semi-autonomous, terrorist entity in southern Lebanon, committed to Israel's destruction, and with an open-ended supply of ever more sophisticated weapons from Syria and Iran.

Moreover, the Hezbollah infrastructure within Lebanon is significant. It would be a difficult enough task for Israel to deal with rocket launchers, thousands of missiles, logistical support and media outlets in different parts of the country. It is made even more difficult by the fact that Hezbollah places its missiles in civilian locations, that it is continually looking for re-supply through Damascus and is being egged on and armed by Tehran. In other words, Hezbollah is a big and complex operation that poses a big threat.

Also, let us not forget that the international community has known for a number of years exactly what was going on. Resolution 1559, demanding the dismantling of Hezbollah and its replacement in the south by the Lebanese army, understood this was hardly a small matter, but a big deal that would have involved major actions and confrontations. In the end, unfortunately, neither the Lebanese government nor the international community implemented 1559 seeing it as too big a job. So proportionate to what?

Additionally, as Alan Dershowitz pointed out in the Wall Street Journal on July 18, the element of proportionality which comes into play because of civilian deaths and infrastructure damage must take into consideration Hezbollah's sinister strategy. By deliberately targeting Israeli civilians with its admittedly inaccurate missiles while making it well-nigh impossible for Israel to hit its military infrastructure and arms without harming civilians; they calculatedly put Israel in an impossible dilemma: avoid imposing civilian casualties in Lebanon by leaving Hezbollah missiles intact, putting Israeli citizens in a vulnerable position, or taking out Hezbollah missiles with civilian casualties, leaving Israel condemned by the international community.

In the end, Israel won't allow itself to be paralyzed by this conundrum. It observes the first responsibility of a state - to protect its people from outside attack. And, in the process tries its best to minimize the damage to the Lebanese. The results may be mixed in this regard but this is not only the moral posture to assume but the wisest, since Israel needs to avoid alienating the Lebanese people who must fill the vacuum when Israel defeats Hezbollah.

Finally, the proportionality accusation is presented in the context of a Lebanon which was returning to normalcy prior to this conflict. On many levels this is true and it is sad what has occurred, though it is Hezbollah that is ultimately responsible for what has happened. On a deeper level, however, it must be stated that it was an illusion to talk about a normal, independent Lebanon as long as a terrorist group, armed to the teeth by two of the most dangerous states on the planet, held sway in the southern part of the country.

Looking at the conflict from this angle, as a big picture, Israel's response is not out of proportion at all. Fortunately, the Bush Administration understands this and supports Israel in its historic, proportional struggle.

This article originally appeared in Ha'aretz on July 23, 2006.

Quote is from Deal of the Century (1983)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"Heaven knows we haven't lost our sense of humor!...do we EVER LOSE OUR SENSE OF HUMOR?"

2006-07-27T12:57:00.000+03:00

I received these quotes and this picture by email and thought that its important to look on the lighter side, once in a while too.

J.

Israel sent warplanes into Lebanon Monday to bomb Hezbollah rocket launchers in the hills and hideouts in Beirut. Diplomacy is not impossible. Hezbollah's sworn goal is the destruction of Israel, but they have some flexibility on the exact date. (Argus Hamilton)

Syria declared Friday they support Hezbollah against the Israelis.

It's hard for Americans to keep track of these groups. Hezbollah supports the destruction of Israel and the Islamic takeover of the United States, and they are the moderates. (Argus Hamilton)

Israel says its goal is to "disband" Hezbollah. If Israel is successful, most Hezbollah members will likely be picked up as free agents by al Qaeda or chosen by other terror organizations in the annual amateur draft. (Jake Novak)

A lot of people are complaining about how long it's taking to evacuate Americans from Lebanon. Lebanon? We couldn't even evacuate Americans from New Orleans. (Jay Leno)

The United States is trying to evacuate 5,000 of our citizens from Lebanon, but the Pentagon says it's hard to move people across the border without any paperwork. You know what we should do? Ask the Mexican government to help. They moved 12 million people over the border with no paperwork. (Jay Leno)

There was one embarrassing moment today for President Bush when they phoned the Pentagon about evacuating Lebanese-Americans. He said, "I didn't even know Dick Cheney's daughter was over there." (Jay Leno)

A lot of military experts are wondering how the U.S can stop Israel from getting bombed. Israel? We can't even stop Pete Coors from getting bombed. (Jay Leno)

Hezbollah rockets killed 8 people in the Israeli city of Haifa this morning. The U.N. is castigating the victims for not restraining themselves from dying. (Jake Novak)

More rockets were fired into Israel today. Israel responded by bombing more targets inside Lebanon. Now there's talk the US might send some troops over there to help with border security. See, that's how you know the people over there are in trouble when they start asking our advice on border security. (Jay Leno)

Lebanon asked President Bush to intervene Sunday and halt the war that broke out last week. Lebanon is a French possession, like Vietnam and Haiti. Being an ally of France is a lot like having a brother-in-law with a gambling problem and no car. (Argus Hamilton)

Hezbollah guerrillas launched long-range rockets Sunday which carried all the way down to Nazareth in central Israel. It's the boyhood home of Jesus. To anger more Americans they would have to shell the North Pole and kill Santa Claus. (Argus Hamilton)

Quote is from Wild Wild West(1999)
------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"I am not a computer nerd. I prefer to be called a hacker!"

2006-07-24T11:57:00.000+03:00

Israeli Hackers Join The War Vs. Palestinian Sites

Israeli hackers have decided to help and join the war against the Palestine.

The hackers group that calls itself "IDF" (which also means Israeli Defence Force) hacked dozen of sites by now, erased the site content and left it running with a picture of the Lebanon destruction that is made by Israeli Defence Force as an answer for the Palestinian terror in the past few days. Above the picture they left a text saying "You touch Israel, We touch you"

Here are some of the hacked websites:

http://www.attilaortho.com
http://aboualisina.com/
http://azarmabna.com/
http://abrahgostar.com/
http://airsystemco.com/
http://ajandriz.com/
http://anahitco.com/
http://ariadisc-co.com/
http://www.armanchemie.net/
http://www.arsiarakhshanfar.com/
http://www.asiaautopart.com/
http://www.asiaelectronics2000.com/
http://bararpour.com
http://bahador-ameri.com
http://www.attilaortho.com
http://irantrader.net/
http://www.oitc.ir/
http://anahitco.com
http://ajandriz.com
http://airsystemco.com
http://abrahgostar.com
http://azarmabna.com
http://aboualisina.com/Main/Default.asp
http://www.armanchemie.net
http://www.armanchemie.net
http://www.asiaelectronics2000.com
http://www.asiaautopart.com
http://www.arsiarakhshanfar.com
http://www.armanchemie.net
http://bargsoft.com
http://www.attilaortho.com/
http://bahador-ameri.com/
http://bararpour.com/
http://bargsoft.com/
http://ww.hizbollah.org
http://www.arab-book.com/
http://www.tana.ir/
http://qassim-health.com/
http://www.iran2world.net/
http://www.iranbehkar.com/
http://iranseptaco.com/

Quote is from Jurassic Park (1993)
------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

That's where the real fun is 'cause these days it's all about the trial...I'll get Dershowitz or Cochran to represent me."

2006-07-20T23:54:00.000+03:00

This amazing op-ed appeared in a number of newspapers including the Wall Street Journal yesterday.

Enjoy

J.

Arithmetic of Pain

By ALAN M. DERSHOWITZ
July 19, 2006; Page A12

There is no democracy in the world that should tolerate missiles being fired at its cities without taking every reasonable step to stop the attacks. The big question raised by Israel's military actions in Lebanon is what is "reasonable." The answer, according to the laws of war, is that it is reasonable to attack military targets, so long as every effort is made to reduce civilian casualties. If the objectives cannot be achieved without some civilian casualties, these must be "proportional" to the civilian casualties that would be prevented by the military action.

This is all well and good for democratic nations that deliberately locate their military bases away from civilian population centers. Israel has its air force, nuclear facilities and large army bases in locations as remote as anything can be in that country. It is possible for an enemy to attack Israeli military targets without inflicting "collateral damage" on its civilian population. Hezbollah and Hamas, by contrast, deliberately operate military wings out of densely populated areas. They launch antipersonnel missiles with ball-bearing shrapnel, designed by Syria and Iran to maximize civilian casualties, and then hide from retaliation by living among civilians. If Israel decides not to go after them for fear of harming civilians, the terrorists win by continuing to have free rein in attacking civilians with rockets. If Israel does attack, and causes civilian casualties, the terrorists win a propaganda victory: The international community pounces on Israel for its "disproportionate" response. This chorus of condemnation actually encourages the terrorists to operate from civilian areas.

While Israel does everything reasonable to minimize civilian casualties -- not always with success -- Hezbollah and Hamas want to maximize civilian casualties on both sides. Islamic terrorists, a diplomat commented years ago, "have mastered the harsh arithmetic of pain. . . . Palestinian casualties play in their favor and Israeli casualties play in their favor." These are groups that send children to die as suicide bombers, sometimes without the child knowing that he is being sacrificed. Two years ago, an 11-year-old was paid to take a parcel through Israeli security. Unbeknownst to him, it contained a bomb that was to be detonated remotely. (Fortunately the plot was foiled.)

This misuse of civilians as shields and swords requires a reassessment of the laws of war. The distinction between combatants and civilians -- easy when combatants were uniformed members of armies that fought on battlefields distant from civilian centers -- is more difficult in the present context. Now, there is a continuum of "civilianality": Near the most civilian end of this continuum are the pure innocents -- babies, hostages and others completely uninvolved; at the more combatant end are civilians who willingly harbor terrorists, provide material resources and serve as human shields; in the middle are those who support the terrorists politically, or spiritually.

The laws of war and the rules of morality must adapt to these realities. An analogy to domestic criminal law is instructive: A bank robber who takes a teller hostage and fires at police from behind his human shield is guilty of murder if they, in an effort to stop the robber from shooting, accidentally kill the hostage. The same should be true of terrorists who use civilians as shields from behind whom they fire their rockets. The terrorists must be held legally and morally responsible for the deaths of the civilians, even if the direct physical cause was an Israeli rocket aimed at those targeting Israeli citizens.

Israel must be allowed to finish the fight that Hamas and Hezbollah started, even if that means civilian casualties in Gaza and Lebanon. A democracy is entitled to prefer the lives of its own innocents over the lives of the civilians of an aggressor, especially if the latter group contains many who are complicit in terrorism. Israel will -- and should -- take every precaution to minimize civilian casualties on the other side. On July 16, Hasan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, announced there will be new "surprises," and the Aska Martyrs Brigade said that it had developed chemical and biological weapons that could be added to its rockets. Should Israel not be allowed to pre-empt their use?

Israel left Lebanon in 2000 and Gaza in 2005. These are not "occupied" territories. Yet they serve as launching pads for attacks on Israeli civilians. Occupation does not cause terrorism, then, but terrorism seems to cause occupation. If Israel is not to reoccupy to prevent terrorism, the Lebanese government and the Palestinian Authority must ensure that these regions cease to be terrorist safe havens.

Mr. Dershowitz is a professor of law at Harvard.

Quote is from Scream 2 (1997)

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security"

– Benjamin Franklin

"Why don't you say it in the microphone. I got a backup mike right here."

2006-07-18T13:04:00.000+03:00

Once again, yesterday George was caught being George. (all pics besides the one with Blair have no connection to the current story)

Thanks to sobersubmrnr for the tip

Enjoy the laugh.

J.

Bush Curses Hezbollah on Live Microphone

By JEANNINE AVERSA
AP Economics Writer

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia

It wasn't meant to be overheard. Private luncheon conversations among world leaders, picked up by a microphone, provided a rare window into both banter and substance _ including President Bush cursing Hezbollah's attacks against Israel.

Bush expressed his frustration with the United Nations and his disgust with the militant Islamic group and its backers in Syria as he talked to British Prime Minister Tony Blair during the closing lunch at the Group of Eight summit.

"See the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this s--- and it's over," Bush told Blair as he chewed on a buttered roll.

He told Blair he felt like telling U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who visited the gathered leaders, to get on the phone with Syrian President Bashar Assad to "make something happen." He suggested Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice might visit the region soon.

The unscripted comments came during a photo opportunity at the lunch. The leaders clearly did not realize that a live microphone was picking up their discussion.

Asked about the microphone mishap during his final briefing of the summit, Blair quipped that it was "all about transparent government." He smiled and tapped the microphone in front of him.

Bush "sort of rolled his eyes and laughed" when told the comments had been audible and a copy had been made, said Press Secretary Tony Snow. "Actually his reaction first was, 'What did it say?' So we showed him the transcript, then he rolled his eyes and laughed."

Bush also spoke to other leaders, and his unscripted comments ranged from the serious topic of escalating violence in the Mideast to light banter about his preference for Diet Coke and a gift he received from another leader.

Blair, whose remarks were not as clearly heard, appeared to be pressing Bush about the importance of getting international peacekeepers into the region.

Bush expresses amazement that it will take some leaders as many as eight hours to fly home _ about the same time it will take Air Force One with Bush aboard to return to Washington.

"You eight hours? Me, too. Russia's a big country and you're a big country," Bush said, at one point telling a waiter he wanted Diet Coke. "Takes him eight hours to fly home. Russia's big and so is China. Yeah Blair, what're you doing? Are you leaving."

Bush thanked Blair for the gift of a sweater and joked that he knew Blair had picked it out personally. "Absolutely," Blair responded, with a laugh.

A stickler for keeping to his schedule, Bush could also be heard telling Russian President Vladimir Putin, "We've got to keep this thing moving. I have to leave at 2:15. They want me out of town so to free up your security forces."

Bush also remarked that some speakers at the meeting talk too long.

It was the second time in less than a month that remarks at a G-8 event in Russia ended up being heard over an audio system officials thought was off.

Last month, an inadvertent audio feed from a closed-door lunch in Moscow between Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov exposed their sometimes testy discussion about the security situation in Iraq.

Quote is from Joe Dirt(2001)
------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security" Benjamin Franklin

– Benjamin Franklin

"There are many kinds of victory...for us to remain in uniform - that is our victory...the world is not going to get rid of us after all."

2006-07-18T10:52:00.000+03:00

Saw this on The Muqata.

I think you will all enjoy sharing in the pride and courage of our soldiers and pilots fighting the terrorists in the north and in Gaza.

Stay Safe.

J.

Quote is from Battle of the Bulge(1965)

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

Thanks to Jameel and the whole Muqata crew

2006-07-17T13:47:00.000+03:00

I have been a bit busy and have had little time lately to post, so I just want to say a big thanks to Jameel for his constant updates on what's been goin on.

Kol Hakavod to the Muqata gang.

BTW, I found a more appropriate quote for my tag, so goodbye (for now) Abe (lincoln) and welcome Ben (Franklin)

Keep safe.

J.

------------------------------------------------
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security" Benjamin Franklin

– Benjamin Franklin

"You take someone to the airport, its clearly the beginning of the relationship. That's why I have never taken anyone to the airport at the beginning

2006-07-13T07:54:00.000+03:00

Full Quote: "You take someone to the airport, its clearly the beginning of the relationship. That's why I have never taken anyone to the airport at the beginning of a relationship."

I know this is a fake picture, but I thought it was funny

J.

Where is this quote from? The quote from Monday was from St. Elmo's Fire (1985)
------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

This just in!!!

2006-07-12T11:24:00.000+03:00

Israeli confirms Hizballah TV al Manar report of two Israeli soldiers kidnapped to trade for prisoners in Hizballah cross-border raid Wednesday morning

July 12, 2006, 11:16 AM (GMT+02:00)

Hizballah covered the abduction with heavy rocket-mortar fire into Israel, in which 11 Israeli civilians injured. Israeli air force is bombing bridges and Hizballah command posts in south Lebanon to block path of the Hizballah raiders with Israeli hostages. Israeli troops injured in earlier exchanges of fire on both sides of the borfer. The civilians were wounded in Lebanese rocket attacks on Zarit and Shetula. Northern Galilee residents ordered to bomb shelters.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Last update - 11:01 12/07/2006
Hezbollah claims to have kidnapped 2 IDF soldiers during clashes on Israel-Lebanon border
By Amos Harel and Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondents

Hezbollah's Al-Manar television station claimed on Wednesday morning that the Lebanese-militia had kidnapped two Israel Defense Forces soldiers on the northern border in the midst of massive shelling attacks on Israel's north.

The IDF said it has "serious concern" about fate of the two soldiers.

Two other Israelis were wounded when gunmen in Lebanon began pounding IDF positions along the border starting around 9 A.M.

The two Israelis were wounded by projectiles that slammed into Moshav Zarit. One was lightly to moderately wounded and the second was lightly wounded. Two other people suffered from shock. The wounded were evacuated to hospital in Nahariya.

Northern residents reported hearing massive sounds of gunfire and explosions. Residents of the northern were ordered to enter bomb shelters as heavy exchanges of fire were reported in the western sector of the border area.

Israel Defense Forces responded to the attacks from Lebanon with heavy artillery and tank fire. Al-Manar, the Hezbollah TV station, reported that IDF artillery was pounding the fringes of the villages of Aita el-Shaab, Ramieh and Yaroun in the hills east of the coastal border port of Naqoura. Israel Air Force aircraft were also striking Hezbollah positions in Lebanon.

The fighting apparently began when at least two rockets fired from south Lebanon exploded near Shlomi, located about 15 kilometers east of the Mediterranean coast, Reuters reported. Hezbollah guerrillas also attacked IDF positions in the Shaba Farms area to the east, Lebanese security sources said.

The exchanges of fire are the biggest upsurge of fighting on the Lebanese-Israeli border since May 28.

The possibility of border clashes in the north was raised during security situation meetings over the past two weeks since the kidnapping of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit next to the Gaza Strip.
------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"He's operating on his own. He's cut off from his chain of command. He's showing signs of pressure-induced psychosis and he's got a nuclear weapon"

2006-07-11T22:08:00.000+03:00

Looks like our good friends the Iranians are back in the news...

Saw this on the Jpost

A series of technical problems at the central Iranian nuclear facility at Natanz appear to have slowed down its nuclear fuel-enrichment program and put on hold plans to expand it, it was reported on Tuesday.

In April, Iran succeeded in operating a cascade of 164 centrifuges, an amount sufficient to fuel nuclear power plants, but far short of the threshold of several thousand needed to build a nuclear bomb. A second round of feeding uranium into centrifuge enrichment machines began on June 6.

According to one diplomat, several unconfirmed reports state that the first cascade, basis for Iranian plans to install 3,000 centrifuges by 2007, had a failure rate of up to 50 percent, Channel 2 reported.

He said the centrifuges seemed to be showing fragility after being spun at supersonic speeds, and the nature of materials injected into them - which could involve impurities in the uranium - could be damaging too.

Meanwhile, Iran ruled out responding this week to international incentives to suspend its nuclear program, saying Tuesday that the offer contains too many "ambiguities."

Ali Larijani, Teheran's top nuclear negotiator, said after meeting with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana that the "ambiguities must be removed first in order to have serious talks."

His comments dashed any hope that that Iran would meet a Wednesday deadline on a six-nation offer of incentives aimed at dissuading Tehran from uranium enrichment.

Foreign ministers from the six powers that crafted the proposal - the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany - are to meet Wednesday in Paris. The six are pushing for an agreement before the July 15-17 Group of Eight summit in Russia.

Iran repeatedly has said it will not respond to the offer before August and Larijani warned that talks on his country's atomic program will be a "long process."

The negotiator refused to elaborate on the nature of the perceived ambiguities, but he called on the European Union, United States, Russia and others to be patient.

"I see no reason for being skeptical. We must allow more time for negotiations to work,'' Larijani told reporters after meeting with Solana. ``All matters must be discussed and all concerns must be addressed."
Larijani warned the United States and others against sending the matter to the Security Council for possible sanctions, calling it "the wrong way" to solve the impasse.

"It is not difficult to disrupt negotiations by making harsh comments," Larijani said.

Some Western officials have threatened to restart efforts to punish Iran through possible sanctions unless Teheran stops uranium enrichment and agrees to talks by Wednesday.

Solana offered little comment on the meeting, which lasted around four hours. "We will make (an) analysis and we will see how to proceed," Solana said.

Solana had been hoping for a positive reply from Larijani on the offer of economic and trade rewards, nuclear expertise and reactors in exchange for a pledge by Iran to suspend uranium enrichment activities during nuclear talks.

Quote is from The Abyss (1989)
------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"Drunk definitely, I don't know if you could call it driving."

2006-07-10T14:08:00.000+03:00

Here's a short video that I will dedicate to my good friend Sobersumrnr. I'm sure he's had to deal with people like this before.

While in the force, I only had to deal with a DUI once and it was an older arab guy in his late 50's early 60's. We caught him because he backed into one of those movable dividers (called New Jerseys, don't know why) and me and my partner ended up spending most of the night shift babysitting him from hospital to hospital until we got all the blood samples needed. The worst part abt it was that he was cursing himself out the whole time for being a terrible person.

J.

Who knows where this quote is from, my hint is that it's from a brat pack movie from the 80's.

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"Frank, were you on this religious kick at home, or did you crack up over here?"

2006-07-09T10:16:00.000+03:00

Living in Israel has it's perks, but the kind of things that really make me feel great about living here are the ones related to feeling like a Jew. Here are four things in no particular order, that I love about being a Jew in my own country.

- Being able to open the door while having a shabbat meal and not worrying about the neighbors complianing atht you are singing too loud.

- Seeing cars parked illegally with a note on the dash stating that they are paying a shiva call and would the metermaid be kind and not cite them for parking illegally (I've actually seen cards made up to put in your windshield for these occassions)

- Being able to walk down the street on shabbat and wish everyone you pass a hearty shabbat shalom and they don't look at you as if you are crazy, even if they are clearly not dressed for shabbat.

- Having an operator wish you a shabbat shalom or a shavua tov

- Not having to use vacation days for Jewish holidays

Tell me what other reasons you love about living (or visiting) Israel.

J.

Quote is from M*A*S*H* (1970)

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"And Davis there... he's just dog crazy. He's a lot better."

2006-07-06T12:49:00.000+03:00

I was sent this site by a friend.

I think some people take their Judaism too far.

I think I would be embarrased even in Israel to walk around with a dog like this:

J.

Quote is from Magnum Force (1973)

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"Give me another one of those Bolshevik firecrackers. I think I fell asleep in the snow!"

2006-07-04T09:02:00.000+03:00

Try not to fall asleep on the 4th of July.

Happy US Independence Day

J.

Here's a nice Fourth of July tribute using the song "courtesy of the red,white, and blue"

Quote is from The Eagle has Landed (1976)
------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

Please pray for Eliyahu Pinchas Asheri and Gilad ben Aviva

2006-06-28T11:59:00.000+03:00

From the Jpost

PRC threaten to 'butcher' Asheri on TV

According to a Palestinian Resistance Committees statement Wednesday morning, the group claimed it was holding, "Eliyahu Pinchas Asheri," the 18-year-old Itamar resident who went missing on Sunday.

A spokesman for the group, known only as Abu Abir, told Al-Jazeera satellite TV early Wednesday that Asheri would be "butchered in front of TV cameras" if the IDF operation in Gaza did not stop. "Our patience is running out," said Abu Abir.

"I am announcing for the first time that the kidnapped Zionist Israel is searching for is the same settler who is being held by us. He is aged 18-and-a-half... and is a soldier in a pre-military academy," said Abu Abir, the terrorist group's mouthpiece. The claim was being taken very seriously by security forces because Asheri's middle name, Pinchas, had not been revealed to the public.

The PRC also said that no more information about Asheri would be given without a price.

Two days after IDF soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, was captured by Palestinian terrorists near Gaza, security establishment officials began assessing on Tuesday evening that the 18-year-old had, in fact, also been kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists.

Sources had revealed the assessment was based on circumstantial evidence, while the IDF and Shin Bet had no concrete proof, Israel Radio reported.

Asheri, a yeshiva student and resident of the West Bank settlement of Itamar, was reportedly seen twice on Sunday night, both times attempting to hitchhike. Rabbi Avihai Ronsky of Itamar told The Jerusalem Post that Asheri, a student at the Neveh Tzuf pre-military academy, was last seen near Beitar, attempting to hitchhike home.

A fellow student at Neveh Tzuf told police that he had spotted Asheri trying to hitch a ride at the French Hill hitchhiking post in Jerusalem on Sunday night.

Asheri's father arrived at the Ariel police station to report his son missing on Tuesday afternoon. According to police, the youth's parents had been under the impression that their son was at Neveh Tzuf, and that in Neveh Tzuf, Asheri's companions believed that he was with his family.

Asheri's disappearance was coupled with a number of alarming announcements and intelligence leads coming from Palestinian terror organizations that led security officials to fear the worst.

Shortly before midnight on Monday evening, the Palestinian Resistance Committees issued a statement announcing that they had kidnapped an Israeli settler in the West Bank, saying that the kidnapping was part of an operation called "Horsemen's Rage," intended to avenge the targeted killing of the group's leaders by Israel.

"One of our elements in the West Bank succeeded in kidnapping the settler as part of a chain of reactions against the Zionist attack, and as revenge for the blood of Palestinian martyrs," said the statement, which was issued by the Salah al-Din Brigades, the PRC's military wing.

"We have information about the attack, but we will not pass it on at this point in order to keep the ball in the Zionist court, and so that the Zionists continue in their confusion. We will allow actions on the ground to speak for us." The group also had formed a special unit to kidnap IDF soldiers and settlers in the West Bank, PRC spokesman Abu Abir said.

According to Abu Abir, the new unit, which consists of several dozen gunmen, is called Knights of Rage. "We will continue our attacks on Israel until the leaders of Israel are brought to their knees," he said. "[Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert and [Defense Minister Amir] Peretz must know that we will never be defeated and that we will continue to fight for our rights."

In addition, security sources claimed that they had received two independent pieces of intelligence information, one indicating that Palestinians had killed an Israeli on Sunday night, and one indicating that Palestinians were holding the body of an Israeli. On Tuesday night, IDF forces were reportedly combing villages in the Ramallah area.

Meanwhile, in Itamar, Asheri's neighbors were trying to do their best to search for clues that could help locate the missing teenager. In the early evening, a busload of residents, adults and youth, were sent out to comb busy intersections on Route 60, the north-south road transecting the West Bank, carrying pictures of the missing youth in the hopes that a traveler would recall seeing the student.

Other Itamar residents held a prayer vigil for Asheri, the oldest of six children, described by a neighbor as "a smiling, nice boy."

"There is a feeling here of unknowing, of concern, of wanting to do something," said resident Orit Deri. "We just discussed the fact that God tests us because he knows we can stand the test. We are strong and we are unified."

Eliyahu Asheri's father, an immigrant from Australia, and mother are veteran members of the close-knit Itamar community.

The IDF confirmed that ever since the attempted kidnapping of two teenage girls near the Tapuah Junction ten days ago, security forces have been received general warnings of kidnapping attempts in the West Bank. The IDF spokesman's office said that they had been working together in recent days with settlements' security officers in order to warn settlers as to the danger of kidnapping attempts.

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"It's all lies and false propaganda to support this antagonistic and violent government."

2006-06-27T19:51:00.000+03:00

Got sent some more propoganda for the Palestinian cause.

take a look

J.

Quote is from Rocky IV(1985)

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"People handle fear in different ways Mr. Keller, it turns some people into stand up comedians. "

2006-06-26T23:24:00.000+03:00

Tonight, I had the pleasure of attending

CROSSROADS COMEDY: Benefit Performance Stand-up comedians from America!

which was sponsored by Crossroads, the only
organization helping at-risk, English-speaking youth in Jerusalem.

They started doing this benefit last year and this year that had four very funny comedians come to Israel to perform.

The host was Avi Liberman, who has appeared on a number of US sitcoms.

Accompaning Avi on this benefit tour in Israel were:

Allan Murray, who actually came to Israel for the first time in his life to do this benefit.

Saleem who recently appeared on NBC's Last comic standing (here's a clip)

and Mary Ellen Hooper, winner of the best female stand-up award from the American Comedy Award.

They had four shows while they were here: Raanana, Tel Aviv, Efrat and Jerusalem.

All of the comedians have worked with Stand With Us which I understand helped the comedians raise money for their trip here.

Had a great time and after missing it last year, I look forward to it for many years to come.

J.

Quote is from The Interpreter(2005)

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"Don't do that with the liquor, Russ. It's so... George Bush."

2006-06-26T20:14:00.000+03:00

I saw this posted on B. Kitty's site and decided to put it up here too.

It's about 2:30 minutes and I found it quite entertaining.

J.

Quote is from My Fellow American's(1996)

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"Jay says you guys had a Star Wars themed wedding, and you tied the knot dressed as Storm Troopers"

2006-06-22T09:18:00.000+03:00

Saw this great short video.

"How to Combine Any Movie with ''Star Wars''"

Quote is from Jay and Silent Bob strike Back (2001)
------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"Are you really crazy? Or are you as good as you say you are?"

2006-06-22T08:06:00.000+03:00

MTV music awards always has some great entertainment.

Check this out

Quote is from Lethal Weapon (1987)
------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"When the moon is like that, every monkey for 200 miles thinks he's Elvis Presley."

2006-06-21T14:29:00.000+03:00

I got into an argument with my neighbor last week and look what he did

J.

Scroll down

Quote is from Congo (1995)
------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"Since the World Cup the Ministry has been intercepting more and more owls"

2006-06-20T08:18:00.000+03:00

I know I haven't been posting lately, just been busy at work. Here is my contribution to the absurdity of World Cup Soccer. (Yeah Jameel!!!)

J.

Quote is from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"Yeah, why don't we call up and find out who's in charge over there this week."

2006-06-15T11:10:00.000+03:00

Very funny clip. I actually never thought GWB was able to poke fun at himself like this. I was rolling on the floor with laughter while watching this.

It's about 10 minutes long

Enjoy

J.

Quote is from Canadian Bacon (1995)
------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"I can't believe this. They forgot my birthday."

2006-06-15T09:06:00.000+03:00

I had an interesting converstaion with a colleague yesterday. We were discussing her upcoming 34th birthday and she told me that she doesn't even acknowledge her birthday anymore, she just lets it pass like any other day of the year.

It got me thinking about what do birthdays mean to people.

Tell me your thoughts on birthdays. In your eyes are they happy occasions? nostalgic occasions? depressing?

Shabbat shalom

J.

Quote is from Sixteen Candles (1984)

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"Ronald Reagan? The actor? [chuckles in disbelief] Then who's VICE-President? Jerry Lewis?"

2006-06-14T09:28:00.000+03:00

Check out Jameel's post about the Mondial (World Cup), has a great Simpson's clip.

While reading the comments to his blog, RockofGalilee wrote "I explained to my kids that mondale was the guy who lost to Reagan, and anything that is boring and can't hack it in the US is exciting to the rest of the world."

This reminded me of a funny story I heard a few years back.

A cousin of mine works for a big Japanese Company and is one of the top American's in the company. He was taking Walter Mondale to a conference or dinner from the Corporation and after Mondale was picked up from the airport (I think JFK), he was brought to my cousin's house so that they could go together to the dinner. While there, my cousin introduced him to his children including his young daughter.

The following day, my cousins got a phone call from their daughter's teacher asking for an urgent meeting. They met with the teacher who requested that they have a long discussion with their daughter, because apparently, she is a telling lies, she even told everyone in the class that she met former VP, Walter Mondale.

The teacher's jaw is still open all these years later after hearing that it was true.

Who can guess what movie this posts quote is from?

J.

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"I never knew Canada could be this much fun."

2006-06-14T08:58:00.000+03:00

Hopefully now more people in the world will see that these are not just "isolated incidents"

J.

Canada prime minister reportedly target of plot
Government says at least one suspect planned to behead Harper
The Associated Press

Updated: 4:28 p.m. ET June 7, 2006

TORONTO - At least one member of a group of terror suspects plotted to storm Canada's parliament and behead officials, including the prime minister, if Muslim prisoners in Canada and Afghanistan were not released, according to charges made public Tuesday.

Authorities also alleged that in addition to targeting Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Steven Vikash Chand plotted to take over media outlets such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

“There’s an allegation apparently that my client personally indicated that he wanted to behead the prime minister of Canada,” attorney Gary Batasar said. “It’s a very serious allegation. My client has said nothing about that.”

Chand is a 25-year-old restaurant worker from Toronto. Charges were expected to be read against at least some of the other suspects Tuesday.

Batasar spoke outside the courthouse, where bail hearings for 10 of the 17 suspects were postponed.

He said the charges were based on fear-mongering by government officials.

Police expect more arrests, while intelligence officers sought ties between 12 men accused of scheming to blow up Canadian targets and five other teen suspects and Islamic terror cells in the United States and five other countries.

The Ontario Court of Justice in Brampton, a small city just west of Toronto, said Monday the men arrested over the weekend were charged with participating in a terrorist group. Other charges include importing weapons and planning a bombing.

The charges against the five minors were not made public.

Sermons ‘filled with hate’
Toronto Mayor David Miller said CN Tower, a downtown landmark, and the city’s subway were not targets as had been speculated in local media, but declined to identify sites that were.

A Muslim leader who knew the oldest suspect, 43-year-old Qayyum Abdul Jamal, told The Associated Press that Jamal’s sermons at a local mosque were “filled with hate” against Canada.

Authorities said more arrests were expected, possibly this week, as police pursue leads about a group that they say was inspired by the violent ideology of the al-Qaida terror network.

“We’ve by no means finished this investigation,” Mike McDonell, deputy commissioner for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, told AP. “In fact, you might look at it that, really, we’re just
starting with the arrests. We have a responsibility to follow every lead.”

‘Foreign connections’ alleged
Although both Canadian and U.S. officials said over the weekend there was no indication the purported terror group had targets outside Ontario, McDonell told AP on Monday that there are “foreign connections,” but he would not elaborate.

Responding to the arrests, the U.S. Border Patrol stepped up inspections of traffic entering the country from Canada and put agents on high alert along the 4,000-mile border.

In Washington, a spokesman for the National Security Council at the White House said President Bush spoke with Harper about the case Monday afternoon, but gave no specifics of what was discussed.

A U.S. law enforcement official said investigators were looking for connections between those detained in Canada and suspected Islamic militants held in the United States, Britain, Bangladesh, Bosnia, Denmark and Sweden.

American authorities have established that two men from Georgia who were charged this year in a terrorism case had been in contact with some of the Canadian suspects via computer, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing.

“It came to a point where our concern for the safety and security of the public far outweighed our appetite for collecting evidence,” said McDonell, the RCMP deputy commissioner.

Police: No evidence of ties to al-Qaida
Canadian police say there is no evidence the suspect group had ties to al-Qaida, but describe its members as sympathetic to jihadist ideology. Officials are concerned that many of the suspects were roughly 20 years old and had been radicalized in a short amount of time.

Each is charged with one count of participating in a terrorist group.

Three of them — Fahim Ahmad, 21, Mohammed Dirie, 22, and Yasim Abdi Mohamed, 24 — also are charged with importing weapons and ammunition for the purpose of terrorist activity.

Nine face charges of receiving training from a terrorist group, while four are charged with providing training. Six also are charged with intending to cause an explosion that could cause serious bodily harm or death.

No information was released on the five young males arrested due to federal privacy laws that protect minors.

Officials announced Saturday that the suspects were arrested after the group acquired three tons of ammonium nitrate, which can be mixed with fuel oil to make a powerful explosive. One-third that amount was used in the deadly bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building in 1995.

Some people who know the suspects said they were astonished by the arrests.

Change of behavior
But Faheem Bukhari, a director of the Mississauga Muslim Community Center, said Jamal, the oldest suspect, had taken to giving hateful sermons and preaching intolerance to young Muslims at a storefront mosque in Mississauga, a city near Toronto where six of the suspects lived.

“These youth were very fun-loving guys, soccer-loving guys, and then all of sudden they were not associating with guys they used to,” Bukhari said, referring to the younger suspects.

“People around him knew he was very extreme,” Bukhari said, adding that Jamal once told “the audience that the Canadian Forces were going to Afghanistan to rape women.”

Canada has about 2,300 soldiers in southern Afghanistan to bolster Afghan reconstruction and combat Taliban militants.
© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13150516/

Quote from Die Hard with a Vengence (1995)
------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"Exactly! Temporary. You're nothing but a wannabe, a placebo, a generic brand. Marked-down, over-the-counter, useless Tic-Tac!"

2006-06-14T05:26:00.000+03:00

Thanks to SIS for the hat-tip

Ruling: Snickers, Tic-Tac not kosher

Attention kosher keepers: Israeli Chief Rabbinate ordered to remove from shelves Tic-Tac mints as well as Snickers, Mars and Bounty ice-creams
Haim Levinson

The Israeli Chief Rabbinate ordered to remove Tic-Tac mints as well as Snickers, Mars and Bounty ice-cream from shelves in stores. The reason: The Rabbinate found that the products, branded as kosher, are in fact non-kosher.

"The products are displayed as approved by Rabbi Ralbag and the Israeli Chief Rabbinate," wrote Thursday Rabbi Yaakov Sabag, head of Kashrut Department at the Rabbinate. "But when we checked the facts with Ralbag," he added, "We learned that he didn't approve the products. It's a serious forgery."

Leimen-Shclissel, which imports Tic-Tac to Israel, said in response: "In the coming days we are about to receive a kosher certificate from an American kashrut organization, approved by the Rabbinate."

Importers of the ice-cream snacks, Moshe Sidas and Sons LTD, claimed that they are doing their best in order to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

(06.12.06, 15:03)

Quote from Osmosis Jones (2001)
------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"You know, Daddy, I like this place. All the 'gators and snakes and stuff. Why don't we move down here?"

2006-06-13T11:05:00.000+03:00

These pics are posted in honor of my new "blog-friend" Sobersubmrnr, a cop who lives in Southern Florida and deals all the time with Gators and Hurricanes (and bad guys too)

Enjoy your summer, Sobersubmrnr.

J.

Quote from Smokey and the Bandit Part II (1980)
------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"Your search is over"

2006-06-12T08:14:00.000+03:00

Here are some new and interesting google searches that have brought traffic to this site.

"cant say bomb on an airplane"
"baras israel baseball"
"look memory can change the shape of a room"
"what makes a piece of meat kosher"
"brad ausmus naked"
"israel baseball jerusalem cop"
"aharon rabinowitz"+"inspector"
"baseball in israel duquette"
"sephardic centre jerusalem hostel"
"memory can change the shape of a room"

J.

Quote is from No Way Out (1987)

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"All right! What I know is that daylight savings wasn't established until World War I. If it's 3 p.m. now that means that in 1776 it would be 2 p.m."

2006-06-11T12:37:00.000+03:00

While reading Jameel's post about Zionist time, I recalled that the winner of the 1999 Darwin award was also related to zionist time.

The darwin award is given every year and is named in honor of Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, the Darwin Awards commemorate those who improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it.

From the Darwin Awards Website

5 September 1999, Jerusalem In most parts of the world, the switch away from Daylight Saving Time proceeds smoothly. But the time change raised havoc with Palestinian terrorists this year.

Israel insisted on a premature switch from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time to accommodate a week of pre-sunrise prayers. Palestinians refused to live on "Zionist Time." Two weeks of scheduling havoc ensued. Nobody knew the "correct" time.

At precisely 5:30pm on Sunday, two coordinated car bombs exploded in different cities, killing three terrorists who were transporting the bombs. It was initially believed that the devices had been detonated prematurely by klutzy amateurs. A closer look revealed the truth behind the explosions.

The bombs had been prepared in a Palestine-controlled area, and set to detonate on Daylight Saving Time. But the confused drivers had already switched to Standard Time. When they picked up the bombs, they neglected to ask whose watch was used to set the timing mechanism. As a result, the cars were still en-route when the explosives detonated, delivering the terrorists to their untimely demises.

Have a good one.

J.

Quote is from National Treasure (2004)

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"I'm from the lost black tribe of Israel, the Yos."

2006-06-07T12:53:00.000+03:00

I was emailed this link by Elliot Cahan.

"This is a link to a short film (18 minutes) that I believe won some awards at the Sundance film festival. I found this film interesting from the perspective of dealing with being Jewish in America, but also being an immigrant what it is like to try to assimilate into a different culture." E.C.

Watch The Tribe

J.

Quote is from Clockers (1995)
------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"The shaft leads directly to the reactor system. A precise hit will start a chain reaction which should destroy the station."

2006-06-06T10:27:00.000+03:00

Full quote: "The approach will not be easy. You are required to maneuver straight down this trench and skim the surface to this point. The target area is only two meters wide. It's a small thermal exhaust port, right below the main port. The shaft leads directly to the reactor system. A precise hit will start a chain reaction which should destroy the station."

Appeared on American TV recently. 45 minutes long.
Incredible, considering what's going on now with Iran!

If you have the time, watch it, it's quite interesting.

I'm not even gonna bother saying where this quote is from. Let's see who can guess. I assume .co.il will probably be the first to answer.

Have a good one.

J.

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"All science trembles at the searing logic of your fiery intellect."

2006-06-04T13:43:00.000+03:00

Check this out.

...and they say we are out of touch with the world.

J.

quote is from Gettysburg(1993)
------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"Three thousand years of beautiful tradition, from Moses to Sandy Koufax... You're goddamn right I'm living in the past!"

2006-06-04T13:06:00.000+03:00

I know Shavuot already past, but I thought this was funny.

take a look

J.

Quote is from The Big Lewbowski (1998)
------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"It will come to you, this love of the land. There's no gettin' away from it"

2006-06-01T08:40:00.000+03:00

I was asked by WestBankMama a few weeks ago to post my aliyah story and being the procrastinator that I am, I'm only doing this at the last minute.

So here goes....

I grew up in the Midwestern US and although my family was Zionistic, it was never really pressed on us. Israel was always the place I dreamt of and I still recall how I imagined the road to Jerusalem all those years ago. I had heard that on the road to J-town there were shells of tanks from the wars along the road. I imagined a road going thru a desert with tanks stuck in the sand along the way and in the distance was the city of gold, alone in the desert.

People would bring back souvenirs from Israel and I always thought it was a real exotic place and I couldn't wait until I'd be able to go. Friends of mine had their bar-mitzvah in Israel or visited over the summer with their families, but I never had those experiences. The first time that I came to Israel was on a 6-week summer tour in the summer of 1990.

In high school, I was very active in NCSY while most of my friends from school were only interested in Bnei Akiva (The irony is that up until 3 years ago, I was the only member of my graduating class who had made aliyah). During the beginning of 1990, I argued with my parents that I wanted to travel to Israel with NCSY, but my parents were adamant in not wanting me to go with NCSY, because the trip was geared more to non-observant teens. they wanted me to get a different kind of experience in Israel. they told me that if I wanted to spend the summer in Israel, I would have to go with Achva (which was the Young Israel summer tour group). I was told that the tour would involve lots of hikes and I reluctantly agreed eventhough I knew no one going on the tour. I wanted to go to Israel and if I had to do it with Achva, so be it.

I arrived in israel for teh first time on July 12th, 1990. We arrived in the airport and one of the first things we did was meet with some Ethiopian olim that had just arrived in Israel. We then got on the buses and went in the direction of Jerusalem. I tried listening to the madricha while she told us many facts about the road. I was glued to my window and couldn't believe how different the view was from what I had imagined. When we saw the tanks, I knew that anything I thought I knew about Israel was wrong and I eagerly waited finding out the true facts.

Once we entered Jerusalem itself, I saw that the city looked modern and "normal". We entered the old city and since the bus couldn't get in, we parked near Shaar Zion (Zion gate) and had to carry our stuff to the Sephardic center, where we would stay for over a week. By now, I was very anxious to get to the Kotel, but they held off. They wanted us to go get settled in first and they promised to take us after dinner. After dinner, we left the "center" and made our way towards the Kotel. Before we got within site of it, the madrich sat us all down and we had a discussion on what Jerusalem means to us and what the Kotel itself has meant to us as Jews over the years. I really wanted to get moving, but was also intrigue by the discussion. At the end of the discussion, we were all handed a piece of paper and asked to write down what we thought we would get out of our summer in Israel. they put our messages in a bottle and told us that we would get them back the last night of the trip.

I obviously don't recall what I wrote exactly, but it was something like "I hope to get a better understanding of Israel and what it means to me".

We then were led towards the steps leading to the Kotel. I was in awe. from this vantage point, I saw something I never even realized; the Kotel is not a lone wall standing by itself. It was connected to many other parts of the outer walls of the second Temple. It had never dawned on me that there was more to it than the "wall" you see in pictures. I must've seen pictures of the mosque, but just never put two and two together. It hit me emotionally like I never thought it could. I quickly went down the steps with everyone else and as I reached those ancient stones, I felt that I was touching a part of our history. (I know this sounds corny, but thats really how I felt).

The rest of the summer was somewhat of a blur. We traveled to so many places and I began to appreciate this country more and more. Every day we went on at least one hike and sometimes even two hikes. we visited touristy places, but also spend a week on a kibbutz {pruning trees for a week made me vow that I would never want to live on a kibbutz but the clincher was that if I brought a TV with me to the kibbutz someone there would get it instead of me. :)} We were here when Saddam invaded Kuwait and I even recall that there was a fire on that morning in a tree at the hostel where we were staying in Har Gilo.

All in all, those six weeks gave me such an overwhelming appreciation for the country, that by the end of August, I knew that I wanted to eventually live in Israel. I felt so at home here and that was something I had never felt in the US.

During the summer, I made a bunch of new friends, but my best friend that summer became a lifelong friend. We are still very close after almost 16 years, and I consider him to be one of my closest friends, if not the closest.

On the night we were to leave, we once again visited the Kotel. We broke open the bottle with our wishes and we were practically all surprised that we each in our own way got more than we expected out of our summer. Whether it had to do with Israel per se or friendships or who knows what.

I vowed (to myself) that I would be back one day to live here and bring up a family here.

This is not an advertisement, but I thought I should mention that about 4 years ago, I met the organizer of the trip and whole heartedly thanked him for creating a tour that really helped cultivate my love for Israel.

Fast forward 15 months to November 1991. I was offered to go on an NCSY solidarity mission for 6 days over Thanksgiving weekend for very cheap. I knew it was an opportunity not to be missed, but my class was having it's senior year class trip to Florida that week. I debated the issue with myself for a few seconds and rationally decided to take this once in a lifetime trip. I could go to Disneyworld whenever I wanted, but how often can I go to Israel for a solidarity mission. (BTW, I have yet to be in Florida since then).

I came on the trip with 10 other teens and because we were traveling light, we were able to help a family making aliyah with their excess luggage. The most vivid memory of the flight though was how I felt when the plane was about to land and the plane started playing Hatikva, I felt like I was coming back home.

The week was amazing, we spent it entirely in the old city and as we were told before we left, Israel was in a drought and it probably won't rain, it poured the entire time from when we stepped off the plane right up until we left. The streets of the Old City were constantly flooded and being on a hill, the water was always running.

One of the seminars was delivered by an organization called F.A.I.R. (Fighting Anti- Israel Rhetoric). I was amazed at the media bias and lies against Israel. It was a real eye opener and it influenced my eventual decision to study communications. I wanted to be on the front line of what FAIR was doing.

But I digress.....

This week in Israel, helped solidify my resolve once more that this was where I wanted to live....eventually.

Fast forward once again to August 28, 1992. I arrive in Israel to study for year in Yeshiva. Finally after two "tours" visiting Israel, I got the chance to "live" here for a while. Living in Israel gave me such an amazing rush. I truly felt that I was where I belonged and the more and more I thought about it, the more I realized that I would be making a terrible mistake if I went back to live and study in the states.
I realized that I was at the point in my life where I had nothing tying me down in America. I knew many people who said they wanted to make aliyah, but because of commitments to family, education, work or a thousand other important things in life, they never made it here to live.

At that moment, I decided that I wanted to join the IDF and live my life here in Israel. I had no excuses for not making aliyah and didn't want to wait until I would have some.

My year in Yeshiva was a totally different experience for me, because I knew within a month that I was gonna be staying here for the rest of my life.

...and the rest is history

Hope you all have a great Yom Tov.

Chag Shavuot Sameach

J.

Quote is from Gone with the Wind (1939)

the full quote has nothing to do with Israel, the full quote is:"It will come to you, this love of the land. There's no gettin' away from it if you're Irish."

media manipulation can work both ways.

:)

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"If you want to understand me, watch my movies."

2006-05-30T10:01:00.000+03:00

wow! my 100th post. Woulda gotten here much earlier if I hadn't been so lax and busy.

I guess it's apropo that my 100th post be about Movies.

Here's a movie meme I found.

TOP 3 MOVIE MEME (not in any specific order, I just did them alphabetically)

The same movie can appear in more than one category.

Top 3 Favorite Action Movies:
1. Die Hard
2. Dirty Dozen
3. Reservoir Dogs
Top 3 Favorite Animated Movies:
1. Finding Nemo
2. The Incredibles
3. Toy Story
Top 3 Favorite Biographical Movies:
1. Man on the Moon
2. The Rookie (not the one with Charlie Sheen, the one with Dennis Quaid)
3. Walk the Line
Top 3 Favorite Classic Movies:
1. Best Years of Our Lives
2. It's a Wonderful Life
3. Stalag 17
Top 3 Favorite Courtroom Dramas:
1. A Few Good Men
2. Inherit the Wind
3. Twelve Angry Men
Top 3 Favorite Documentaries:
1. Moonshot
2. One Day in September
3. (Can't think of a 3rd)
Top 3 Favorite Dramas:
1. American Beauty
2. Shawshank Redemption
3. Sideways
Top 3 Favorite Historical Movies:
1. Gettysburg
2. JFK (ok, maybe not completely historical)
3. The Right Stuff
Top 3 Favorite Horror Movies:
1. Signs
2. Silence of the Lambs
3. Sixth Sense
Top 3 Favorite "Juvenile" Comedies:
1. Animal House
2. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
3. The Naked Gun
Top 3 Favorite Musicals:
1. Fiddler on the Roof
2. Sound of Music
3. West Side Story
Top 3 Favorite Romantic Comedies:
1. The Apartment
2. Four Weddings and a Funeral
3. Keeping the Faith
Top 3 Favorite Science Fiction Movies:
1. Frequency
2. Star Trek: First Contact (By far the best of the 10 Star Trek movies)
3. Star Wars (all 6, I know it's cheating)
Top 3 Favorite Sports Movies:
1. *61
2. Fever Pitch
3. Seabiscuit
Top 3 Favorite Superhero Movies:
1. Spiderman 2
2. Unbreakable
3. X-Men
Top 3 Favorite Thrillers:
1. Memento
2. Silence of The Lambs
3. Leon
Top 3 Favorite Trilogies:
1. Die Hard
2. LOTR
3. Star Wars
Top 3 Favorite War Movies:
1. Black Hawk Down
2. Gettysburg
3. Saving Pivate Ryan
Top 3 Favorite Westerns:
1. Dances With Wolves
2. Rio Bravo
3. Unforgiven

I tag Stacey, Jack, dot co dot il, Kasamba and Elie because i doubt they will all have time to do this since it's a long meme.

Have a great day

J.

Quote from Chaplin (1992)

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"Why? We're getting higher ratings for this graphic than we've ever had on this show."

2006-05-26T13:34:00.000+03:00

Just wanna thank Jameel for helping me with my new graphic.

...and just in time for Yom Yerushalayim. (He sent it to me earlier in the week, but I had techincal problems and wasn't able to upload it until today.)

Shabat shalom

J.

Quote is from The Truman Show (1998)
------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"It is a pleasure to see you, your excellency, and I would be honored to expedite your clearance through security."

2006-05-25T11:39:00.000+03:00

As I'm sure you already noticed, I haven't had much time or the inclination to post much this week. Today, I got to work and told myself that I would have to think of a topic to write about because it's about time.

I just couln't think about anything until I received a phone call from my brother a few hours ago. He went to Europe on a business trip and got back to Israel early this morning.

His first comment to me was "don't even think about trying to leave the country while the injunction is still in effect" (I don't recall if I mentioned this yet, but since the separation, my STBex got a court injunction barring me from leaving the country for 1 year and Jcop Jr. can't leave until he's 18...don't ask I can rant about that for a while if I chose to.)

Anyway...

My brother told me that he received a little extra "attention" from ElAl security both on his way to Europe and on his way back.

On the way there, they only asked him if he had any children and what their ages were. He answered and then they let him thru.

On the way back, they took him aside and first asked the children question and then things got a bit interesting...

"Do you have any siblings living in Israel?"
"yes, a brother"
"whats his name?"
"J-cop"
"and where does Jcop live?"
"I actually don't know" (laughing)
"What do you mean that you don't know where your brother lives?"
"Well, he use to live in xxxxx, but he's now in the process of getting divorced and doesn't live in a set place. He moves around a lot."
"ah"
"BTW, why are you asking me these strange questions? I've never been asked these things before."
"Your last name is red flagged"
"oooookay"
"Have a nice flight"

Now we obviously don't have any real proof that the extra questioning was due to my "situation", but after having spoken to a number of people who fly regularly, this seems a bit out of the ordinary.

Shabbat shalom

J.

Quote is from Battlefield Earth (2000)

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"He is trying to convince me that any independent contractors working on the uncompleted Death Star were innocent victims when it was destroyed"

2006-05-22T13:59:00.000+03:00

I just saw this on Jack's Shack and I had to link it.

This is great

J.

Quote is from Clerks (1994)

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"What's the matter? Steroids make you deaf?"

2006-05-22T08:21:00.000+03:00

I'm a baseball fan, but I don't like what's been going on lately...

J.

Babe Ruth vs Bonds
By John Steigerwald

What if The Babe came back for 4,000 more at bats?

How many more home runs do you think Babe Ruth would hit if he returned in his prime and played until, say, 2014? Think he'd hit 42 more home runs and finish one ahead of Henry Aaron at 756?

Henry Aaron hit 755 home runs in 12,364 at bats.

Babe Ruth hit 714 home runs in 8,398 at bats.

Who was a better home run hitter?

Would nine more seasons and 4,000 more at bats cancel out the legitimate argument that Ruth never played against a black player or that he never played in a night game?

Would nine more seasons hitting against pitchers, who are throwing off a mound that was lowered in 1968, put his numbers out of sight forever?

How about nine more seasons of hitting against, say, 150 pitchers (my quick estimate) whose ERAs wouldn't have kept them in the major leagues for a week?
How about nine more years with armor on his elbow?
How about nine more years in ballparks that were built to produce more home runs?
How about nine more years on steroids?
Are you getting the picture here?
Henry Aaron hit 41 more home runs than Babe Ruth, but it took him 3,966 more at bats.
Depending on when you're reading this, Barry Bonds has about 9,225 at bats.
That's about 870 more at bats than Ruth and 3,000 fewer at bats than Aaron.
The difference between Ruth and Bonds is about a season and a half. Give Ruth another season and a half and he's up to about 760. Think Bonds could beat that?
I don't think so.

There's a respected baseball historian named Bill Jenkinson who had a lot of time on his hands and did enough research to conclude that Bonds would have to play at least another 10 years to hit more home runs than Babe Ruth would have hit if he had played in this era. Mike Berardino wrote about him in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel on May 10.

Jenkinson says Ruth lost at least 50 home runs because of a long forgotten rule that required a ball to land in fair territory AFTER it left the park to count as a home run. If it curved around the foul pole and landed in foul territory it was a foul ball. The biggest factor, according to Jenkinson, is the difference in the size of the ballparks. He was able to track down multiple newspaper accounts of over 600 of Ruth's home runs. There was quite a bit of detail in those accounts and he was able to plot the distance and direction of almost every ball that Ruth ever hit.

I told you this guy had a lot of time on his hands.

Jenkinson took that information and put those balls into the average modern day ballpark-330 down both lines, 375 to the power alleys and 405 to center-instead of the huge parks from Ruth's era. Ruth did have a 257-foot right field line at the Polo Grounds and 296 at Yankee Stadium but Jenkinson's research showed that most of Ruth's home runs went to right center, left center or straightaway center field. He says the short right field lines were worth about three home runs per year. It was 429 to right centerfield at Yankee Stadium and 490 straightaway. Left center was 470. Because Ruth was pitched away so often, he hit a lot of fly balls to left center. That's a lot of long outs that would be home runs today.

Jenkinson told Berardino, "I really want people to know how often this happened. It was a regular occurrence."

Here's Jenkinson's clincher: Barry Bonds has hit 35 home runs of 450-plus feet. Ruth hit at least 245.

So, how many home runs would Ruth, according to Jenkinson's exhaustive research, have hit if he had played in the Barry Bonds era?

Would you believe 1,150?

Let's say he's off by 200. Bonds would still have to hit about 235 more to catch him.

I've decided to give Ruth another 15 home runs a year if he had played his last eight years juiced. That would put him at 1,270.

Let Barry put that in his syringe and shoot it.

Call me when Barry's sitting on 1,269.

Quote is from The Running Man (1987)

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"I want the name of this flying whatchamacallit to go with the Daily Planet like bacon & eggs, franks & beans, death & taxes, politics and corruption"

2006-05-21T14:25:00.000+03:00

I found these two cartoons and I thought you all might enjoy them too.

I'll hopefully have a normal post later today.

J.

Quote is from Superman (1978)

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"Did Albert ever discuss his political convictions with you?""Albert don't have no political convictions. He's an American!"

2006-05-18T09:43:00.000+03:00

I know I've gotten a bid political lately, but I just want you all to know that I dont favor either side in America (Dems or Repubs), I just like when people poke fun at both sides. I'm an equal-opportunity practitioner of political humor.

J.

In the news...(jokes)

Dick Cheney’s approval rating is 18%. That’s slightly higher than Osama bin Laden and a little lower than Mad Cow disease. Imagine how low it would be if he hadn’t shot a lawyer? Rumor has it Cheney is so desperate to get his approval rating up he is thinking about shooting an IRS agent next. (Alex Kaseberg)

Newsweek reported Friday that advertisers will spend a half billion dollars on the NCAA tournament. It's a competitive market. According to polls, basketball is America's second favorite indoor sport, but the other one has more spectators on the Internet. (Argus Hamilton)

President George W. Bush announced today that he would no longer preside over so-called town hall meetings across the United States and that those duties would now be outsourced to a "presidential customer service representative" stationed in Bangalore, India. (Andy Borowitz)

President Bush angrily responded to questions during Tuesday's news conference about whether he wanted to go to war. He insisted we didn't go into Iraq because he wanted war; we went into Iraq because he wanted to get re-elected. (Jake Novak)

President Bush said today that his plan to fight terrorism is simple and straightforward; go after the evil doers, track them down, find them where they're hiding, and sell them our ports. (Jay Leno)

Chrysler Corporation is adding a new car to its line to honor George W. Bush and Dick Chaney. The Dodge Drafter will begin production in Alabama this year. (Author Unknown)

Condi Rice flew to the Bahamas Wednesday where she was besieged by questions about her interest in the NFL Commissioner's job. She could use her experience to help bring a team to Los Angeles. She gets along great with the president of Mexico. (Argus Hamilton)

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said that his department would beef up security at the nation's chemical plants by compiling a complete list of plants that are vulnerable to attack and publishing them online. (Andy Borowitz)

Montana law students are seeking pardons for World War I seditionists. Those are people who were jailed for criticizing the government. Today those people are called "Democrats." (Jake Barach)

Quote is from D.C. Cab(1983)
------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"You do too much - college, a job, all this time with me... You're not Superman, you know."

2006-05-17T23:59:00.000+03:00

Here's a "light" post

Yesterday, I was home sick from work with a stomach virus and decided that it was the perfect day to catch up on some movie watching.

In anticipation of this summer's expected blockbuster, Superman Returns, I watched the original Superman (1978) and then its sequel, Superman II (1980). I hadn't seen either of them in over a decade and watching them brought up so many memories of my childhood and adolescence.

I recall as a child after seeing Superman II in the theater that I had trouble sleeping that night because of the battle between Superman and his 3 nemesis' over the skies of New York...I mean Metropolis. I also recall being slightly embarrased when I saw young Kal-El exit the ship that brought him to Earth, buck naked, like the day he was born.

My mother told me years later that she lost all respect for Superman once he slept with Lois Lane. I didn't lose respect for Superman, just Christopher Reeve. C'mon Margot Kidder? (ya gotta be kidding).

I also recall the awe I felt watching those movies years later in my teens and loving the fight between Supes and his rivals. Never thought III or IV were any good, but the Superman franchise was definately revived by Lois and Clark and Smallville. And soon Brian Singer and "Superman Returns" will hopefully explain whats been going on in the "real" world.

Superman has always been the "original" superhero for me. He was my first real exposure to super-humans, but until I saw Kill Bill 2 last year, I never thought the most obvious thing about him.

No not the fact that Lois and everyone else couldn't see what difference glasses make to a person, but actually the fact that Superman is one of the few Superheroes whose secret identity is a human, not the other way around. Clark Kent is his secret identity, not Batman to Bruce Wayne or Spiderman to Peter Parker (I know Spidey and Supes don't live in the same multi-universe, so don't get me started on that....)

Amazing that we need Quentin to tell us that fact.

Who was UR favorite superhero from the movies?

You now know who mine was (*lets see what happens with it in July....)

J.

Today's quote is from Spider-man (2002)

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"Bush told the people to rise up against Saddam. They thought they'd have our support. They don't. Now they're getting slaughtered."

2006-05-17T08:42:00.000+03:00

I can't help myself, found another good one.

Quote is from Three Kings (1999)

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"You wanna make the elephant fly, don't ya? Well, you gotta use a lot of 'chology. You know, psychology. Now, here's what you do. First, you, uh..."

2006-05-16T17:11:00.000+03:00

was sent this by a friend...

Tough Love vs. Spanking ~

(a psychological conundrum)

Most of America's populace think it improper to spank children, so I have tried other methods to control my kids when they have one of "those moments."

One that I found effective is for me to just take the child for a car ride and talk.

They usually calm down and stop misbehaving after our car ride together.

I've included a photo below of one of my sessions with my son, in case you would like to use the technique.

Sincerely,

A Friend

scroll down

Quote is from Dumbo (1941)
------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"No matter where you run into it, prejudice obscures the truth"

2006-05-16T12:34:00.000+03:00

Here's two more just for you Amishav

J.

Quote is from 12 Angry Men (1957)

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"I don't mean you walk around morning to night whackin' 'em upside the head like someone from the other side"

2006-05-14T10:53:00.000+03:00

Full quote: "I don't mean you walk around morning to night whackin' 'em upside the head like someone from the other side but you terrorize 'em once in a while just to keep 'em in line. Know what I mean?"

This is for Stacey from Stacey's shmata (a fellow former mid-westerner--no Texas is NOT a mid-western state) who like most of us, she also doesn't like this guy very much.

Sorry to have brought out all that anger Stacey

J.

Quote is from The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984)

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"If you build what, who will come?"

2006-05-14T10:33:00.000+03:00

There is only one thing I miss about living in the states. Maybe by next year that'll change. Saw this article from the NYTIMES.

Israel Dreams Big, as in Big League
By MURRAY CHASS

PEOPLE go to Israel for different reasons. Some go to see historic sites, some go for religious reasons, some go to visit their children and grandchildren. Larry Baras goes to Israel to build a professional baseball league.

Baras, founder and operator of a specialty baking company in Boston, is going to Israel next Thursday for the next step in getting his league ready for what he plans to be its debut next year.

"Hopefully I'm going to select some of the venues," he said in a telephone interview. "As soon as I get some of the venues in place, we'll go after sponsorships and start selling tickets."

The man has an ambitious plan, considering that baseball and Israel usually are not mentioned in the same sentence. But interest in the sport has been growing, and the country has an amateur baseball league and three softball leagues as well as youth leagues.

Given that Israel has no baseball stadiums, Baras's project, especially its estimated time of arrival, may be unrealistic, but a former major league general manager likes the idea so much that he has joined as director of player development.

"I met with Larry and was really impressed with his enthusiasm," Dan Duquette, former general manager of the Boston Red Sox, said yesterday. "The program and the objectives of the league really excited me."

Commissioner Bud Selig is also enthusiastic about the idea. "I am 100 percent not only supportive," he said, "but I have been trying to figure out ways to make it happen. It's a subject very near and dear to my heart."

Duquette, who has created a youth sports academy in the Berkshires in Massachusetts, recalled that when he worked for the Montreal Expos, the owner, Charles Bronfman, talked about "bringing baseball to Israel."

By establishing the league, Baras has another goal: getting Israel into the next World Baseball Classic in 2009.

"We would recruit some Jewish-American major leaguers and minor leaguers," Baras said. He noted that Mike Piazza played for Italy in this year's inaugural classic and said, "They did it with a bit of a stretch. We don't have that stretch. We have the law of return."

Under that concept, any Jew is eligible to become a citizen of Israel. That means an Israeli team could include Kevin Youkilis, Gabe Kapler and Adam Stern of Boston, David Newhan of Baltimore, Shawn Green of Arizona, Brad Ausmus of Houston, Mike Lieberthal of Philadelphia, Jason Marquis of St. Louis, Scott Schoeneweis of Toronto, John Grabow of Pittsburgh and Scott Feldman of Texas.

But first the Israel Baseball League has to come into existence. To achieve that goal, Baras has recruited some impressive non-playing talent.

Besides Duquette, he has Daniel Kurtzer, former United States ambassador to Israel, who is set to be the league's commissioner. As advisers, he has Andrew Zimbalist, the Smith College economist, and Marvin Goldklang, a limited partner in the Yankees and owner of five minor league teams.

"It's a project that is so intriguing to me I have to be involved," Goldklang said. "Whether we can make it happen for 2007 remains to be seen."

In his visit next week, Baras will study soccer stadiums in Israel with the thought of converting them for baseball use for what he expects to be a season of about 48 games with six teams, 20 players to a team.

"From what I have been told," Baras said, "there are some soccer stadiums that seat between 3,000 and 5,000, which is what we're looking for. We're not going to start with Jerusalem and Tel Aviv because they don't have the facilities we're looking for."

Rather, he said, he will look at towns like Bet Shemesh, which is between those two major cities.

"A lot of Americans live there," Baras said. "They have 200-plus kids playing baseball there, and they have a soccer stadium. It's near the main highway, and the train from Jerusalem stops near the stadium, I am told."

Israel may be the land of milk and honey, but it's not a land of baseball players. Where will Baras find them? He plans to model the league on the Italian league, where, he said, 60 percent of the players are from the United States.

Baras, 54, said he would advertise for players in baseball publications and seek minor league players, former players and undrafted college players. Israel has a thriving basketball league populated by many foreign players.

The long-range plan, though, is to grow their own players. Duquette's goal, Baras said, "is to develop players so that by the start of Year 6 at least a quarter of the players will be native Israelis."

Duquette said they will develop players at an academy they will build in Israel. Their timing is good. Israel has just established a sports ministry, and its head has said there will be a new emphasis on sports in the country, especially on sports other than soccer and basketball.

In trying to attract an audience, the Israeli league will also follow the model of the Italian league. There, Baras said, "a lot of the entertainment value transcends the game itself" with pre- and post-game and between-innings entertainment.

"It will be a family-oriented fun venue," he said. "Israeli spectator sports have a male-dominated audience. You seldom see women and children."

Baras, an orthodox Jew, said he came up with the idea for the league last summer.

"My first thought was what can I do to help Israel," he related. "I had reached the stage of my life where I wanted to do something. Being passionate about both Israel and baseball and having familiarity with minor league baseball, specifically unaffiliated baseball, I said, 'Why can't we do that over there?'

"Not only was I met with some skepticism, but I was skeptical," he added. "But as time went on, I realized it could be done."

Now he just has to do it.

Quote is from Field of Dreams (1989)

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"And this is all because of you. I mean, not directly, but in some far-fetched six degrees of Kevin Bacon-way."

2006-05-12T17:56:00.000+03:00

Here's a quick post before shabbat. The following is a list of some strange searches people did and came across my blog today.

Moshav Bitzaron
THE ONLY ARAB RULE FOLLOWING CONQUEST IN 633 B.C. LASTED JUST 22 YEARS
Ari Zivotofsky neuroscience
sad depressing love stories
Angolans and Israeli traveling
2 minute facts about Jerusalem

and these were all just in the last few hours

check out Chavelah's post about her one year blogiversary.

Can u believe I was so close to actually meeting the Purple Parrot, which would make me only 4 degrees of seperation from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Shabbat shalom

J.

Today's quote is from Scream 2 (1997)
------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"Can I borrow your towel? My car just hit a water buffalo."

2006-05-10T09:22:00.000+03:00

A friend sent this article from Arutz 7 to me.

Israel´s Water Buffalo Deemed Kosher
17:06 May 09, '06 / 11 Iyar 5766
by Hillel Fendel

At the behest of two Bar Ilan University researchers, Israel's Chief Rabbi has declared the water buffalo a kosher animal. A different animal, the American bison, has long been considered kosher.

The two researchers - Rabbi Dr. Ari Zivotofsky, a Bar Ilan University neuroscience researcher, and Dr. Zohar Amar, of the Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology - with the help of Dr. Ari Greenspan, a Jerusalem dentist, have been studying the topic of obscure animals and their kashrut status for years. Their research has produced much evidence that may lead to the granting of kosher status to pheasant, guinea fowl, partridge, and others - and now, the water buffalo is kosher due to their work.

Presented with a host of evidence indicating its kashrut, the Rishon LeTzion, Israel's Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar, has now agreed to issue kosher certification for the water buffalo. This will enable water buffalo breeders to market the animal's kosher meat and kosher milk under the official authorization of the Chief Rabbinate.

Speaking with Arutz-7 today, Zivotofsky was first asked to explain the significance of Rabbi Amar's ruling, in light of the fact that buffalo meat in the United States has long been considered kosher. "It's two different animals," he said. "The animal in the States is what we call bison, while the one here is water buffalo, known in modern Hebrew by its Arabic name, jamoose. Some call it by its Hebrew Biblical name te'o, but the truth we can't be sure that it's the same thing."

A-7: "Is that lack of certainty not a problem?"

AZ: "No. The Torah mentions two signs of a kosher animal: It must chew its cud, and must have split hooves. In addition, as Rabbi Amar insisted on, another sign mentioned in the Talmud is that it must have no upper front teeth. We therefore found a skull for Rabbi Amar to examine, and he found that there were no front teeth. Another condition, required by the Chazon Ish, is that there be a tradition about its kashrut status. So after a lot of work and running around, we also found several shochtim [ritual slaughterers] and m'nakrim [those who remove forbidden veins and fats] who remember dealing with this animal. We showed them pictures of the buffalo, and they remembered it; the buffalo used to roam widely here in Israel in the Huleh Valley and elsewhere. Based on this evidence, Rabbi Amar ruled it kosher."

Buffalo are currently raised in Moshav Bitzaron, just east of Ashdod, having been brought over from Italy. Zivotofsky says that these buffalo are the same as those that used to live here in Israel. "The Italian Jewish community still uses these animals today for their milk and meat," he said.

"Another sign," Zivotofsky said, "though not a conclusive one, is that the word 'buffalo' appears in the Shulchan Arukh [the seminal Jewish law code] as a kosher animal. Where did author Rabbi Yosef Karo know this word from? The answer is that he was quoting Rabbi Isaiah of Terrani, Italy, and so it is likely that he is talking about the very same animal that came from Italy and that is now being raised in Bitzaron."

Water buffalo meat has market potential within Israel and abroad. Authentic mozzarella cheese is produced from water buffalo milk, which is also noted for its medicinal uses.

Zivotofsky said that his next project is to try to ascertain the kashrut of yak: "This will be much harder, for there is no tradition regarding it, but it appears to fulfill all the basic requirements of a kosher animal. If anyone can get us a yak skull, it would help us greatly."

Busy guy, certifying kosher animals AND sueing Condaleeza Rice at the same time!!!

Nice to see that someone is watching out for us by making sure we have more kosher meat (hopefully not certified by the guy from my last post) and someone fighting for the rights of the holy city of Jerusalem.

If you want to read more about the validity of buffalo being kosher click here

Quote from Fletch (1985)

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"A cut of meat is kosher. A piece of fish, savory foods, and all kinds of dang things are kosher, but a probation report is not kosher.

2006-05-08T15:01:00.000+03:00

Full Quote- A cut of meat is kosher. A piece of fish, savory foods, and all kinds of dang things are kosher, but a probation report is not kosher. A probation report is merely a probation report.

another one from Haaretz

Kosher inspector jailed for 6 months for importing non-kosher meat
By Itim

The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court on Sunday sentenced for six months in jail a kosher inspector convicted of assisting meat importers to smuggle and import non-kosher meat into Israel.

At the time of committing the offense Aharon Rabinowitz, 56, was a slaughterhouse inspector for the Chief Rabbinate and was in charge over the inspection of imported kosher meat. The court convicted him of stealing kosher certificates from the rabbinate and selling them to meat importers, thus allowing them to bring into Israel non-kosher meat and selling it as kosher meat.

The court ruled that in 1996 Rabinowitz allowed the importation of the uncertified meat as kosher and as having been slaughtered by butchers certified by the Chief Rabbinate in Israel. But the meat was actually imported without the required supervision, with fake and stolen certificates used by importers to bring into Israel large quantities of meat.

The charge sheet stated that only two stolen certificates were seized in the investigation, which Rabinowitz sold for $10,000 to a meat importer. The prosecution could not establish how Rabinowitz used other stolen certificates.

Judge Eilata Ziskind ruled "the severity of the offenses extends beyond the financial issue when the Chief Rabbinate is the body responsible in Israel for the issuance of kosher certificates and when the majority of the public relies on these certificates."

"The defendant, as a Chief Rabinnate employee and a rabbi, who was expected to be most attentive to these sensitive issues, betrayed the principles and essence of his position and committed the severe offenses of which he was convicted," the judge said.

Despite the fact Rabinowitz committed the offenses ten years ago and was fired from his job without compensation, the court insisted that "committing fraud, breach of trust and stealing documents for money, require in the name of the public's interests a deterring punitive measure - a jail sentence - which is the appropriate punishment for the severe offenses, due to the harsh blow to the public."

Judge Ziskind sentenced Rabinowitz to six months in prison, to be converted to public service and imposed a NIS 30,000 fine.

He got off too easy. ONLY 6 months. Guess his real judgement will come from the judge of Judges who wasn't appointed

J.

Quote from City Hall (1996)

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"All this for a loaf of bread?"

2006-05-08T14:35:00.000+03:00

from haaretz

Gov't said set to put off budget vote amid bread price row
By Haaretz Service

The coalition will delay by two days a scheduled Monday Knesset vote on the 2006 State Budget, after several Pensioners and Labor legislators voiced strong objections to a hike in the price of basic bread, Army Radio reported.

The step followed a warning by a senior Pensioners party legislator that his faction could bolt the Kadima-led government over the price rise. Several Labor MKs threatened to boycott the Monday vote, citing the bread issue.

The NIS 284.2 billion budget, together with the Economic Arrangements Law, were to have been brought before the Knesset for its first reading on Monday.

But Pensioners MK Moshe Sharoni said Monday morning that if the faction was unable in the Knesset Finance Committee to overturn the decision to raise the price of basic bread, the party might leave the coalition.

"We didn't come here for the chairs. I'm asking myself where the Labor Party is in all of this, the so-socially minded party, which constantly sang the mantra of social welfare? Where are they now?"

Labor MK Shelly Yachimovich, saying that the price rise in basic bread "hurts only the poor," said that changes would be made to the budget before its final reading.

Yachimovich and fellow Labor lawmakers Nadia Hilu and Yoram Marciano all planned to boycott the Monday vote in protest, the radio said.

Sharoni called the timing of the price hike "unfortunate," adding that the government's way of thinking was "abnormal and anomalous."

"The government is giving NIS 1.3 billion to Shas, and doesn't have a few millions to allocate in order to keep from raising the price of bread.

"I'd like to ask, 'How many electronic engineers have come out of Shas to date? How many academics came out of all the billions they have wasted?"

Sharoni said he believed that the other six members of the Pensioners Knesset faction shared his views on the bread price rise. "We are an independent party, and we will decide on the basis of what is good for the pensioners. We don't make our decisions on the basis of what is good for Kadima."

...and it starts to crumble from within

J.

Quote from Aladdin (1992)

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"You can't say 'Bomb' on an airplane! "

2006-05-08T14:03:00.000+03:00

Get a load of
this

US federal security officers arrested an Israeli and four Angolans on Sunday, on suspicion of plotting an attack on a passenger plane at Newark Liberty International Airport.

The five were traveling back to their home countries on Saturday after attending helicopter training school in Texas, said Steven Siegel, a spokesman for the FBI's Newark office.

Fellow passengers on Flight 1874, which had departed from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, became suspicious of the men because they were speaking in foreign languages and had "aircraft flight materials" with them, Siegel said.

A federal marshal on the plane notified authorities at Newark Liberty about the men's behavior.

Police officers from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport, took the men into custody soon after the plane landed around 3:20 p.m., said a Port Authority spokesman. The men had no weapons.

After being questioned by authorities, the five were found to pose no threat and were released, an FBI spokesman said.

Makes you wonder in what language the Israeli was speaking to the Angolan's. Nice to know that there are Israelis who speak Portuguese or maybe he knew Kikongo, Kimbundo, Umbundu, Chokwe, Mbunda and Oxikwanyama?

So who was the Israeli REALLY speaking to and in what language?

Sounds a bit biased, doesn't it?

and since when does Steven Segal work for the FBI? ;)

J.

Today's quote is from Meet the Parents (2000)

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"How did your uneducated kind ever take Jerusalem?"

2006-05-07T14:32:00.000+03:00

Unbelievable, 3 posts in one day. I think it's a record for me.

-J

Crucial facts about israel and jerusalem...

1. Israel became a state in 1312 b.c., two millennia before islam;

2. Arab refugees from israel began calling themselves "palestinians" in 1967, two decades after (modern) israeli statehood;

3. After conquering the land in 1272 b.c., jews ruled it for a thousand years and maintained a continuous presence there for 3,300 years;

4. The only arab rule following conquest in 633 b.c. lasted just 22 years;

5. For over 3,300 years, jerusalem was the jewish capital. It was never the capital of any arab or muslim entity. Even under jordanian rule, (east) jerusalem was not made the capital, and no arab leader came to visit it;

6. Jerusalem is mentioned over 700 times in the bible, but not once is it mentioned in the qur'an;

7. King david founded jerusalem; muhammad never set foot in it;

8. Jews pray facing jerusalem; muslims face mecca. If they are between the two cities, muslims pray facing mecca, with their backs to jerusalem;

9. In 1948, arab leaders urged their people to leave, promising to cleanse the land of jewish presence. 68% of them fled without ever setting eyes on an israeli soldier;

10. Virtually the entire jewish population of muslim countries had to flee as the result of violence and pogroms;

11. Some 630,000 arabs left israel in 1948, while close to a million jews were forced to leave the muslim countries;

12. In spite of the vast territories at their disposal, arab refugees were deliberately prevented from assimilating into their host countries. Of 100 million refugees following world war 2, they are the only group to have never integrated with their co-religionists. Most of the jewish refugees from europe and arab lands were settled in israel, a country no larger than the state of new jersey;

13. There are 22 muslim countries, not counting palestine. There is only one jewish state. Arabs started all five wars against israel, and lost every one of them;

14. Fatah and hamas constitutions still call for the destruction of israel. Israel ceded most of the west bank and all of gaza to the palestinian authority, and even provided it with arms;

15. During the jordanian occupation, jewish holy sites were vandalized and were off limits to jews. Under israeli rule, all muslim and christian holy sites are accessible to all faiths;

16. united nations security council up until 1990,

97 resolutions out of 175 were against israel;

in the general assembly:

429 resolutions, out of 690 were against israel;

17. The u.n. was silent when the jordanians destroyed 58 synagogues in the old city of jerusalem. It remained silent while jordan systematically desecrated the ancient jewish cemetery on the mount of olives, and it remained silent when jordan enforced apartheid laws preventing jews from accessing the temple mount and western wall.

Quote is from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"As chairman of the welcoming committee, it's a pleasure to present a Laurel and Hardy handshake to our new [finally looks up]... nigger."

2006-05-07T12:37:00.000+03:00

Saw this article in ha'aretz. (wow two posts in one day)

Soldier ousted from unit for refusing to shake Halutz's hand

By Amos Harel and Nadav Shragai, Haaretz Correspondents

Sergeant Hananel Dayan, the decorated Israel Defense Forces soldier who caused a furor last week when he refused to shake hands with IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz "to protest the expulsion" of settlers from the Gaza Strip, was expelled from his unit.

Dayan, a resident of the West Bank settlement of Psagot, serves in the 188 Armored Corps Brigade ("Barak"). He refused the handshake during an Independence Day ceremony Wednesday at the President's Residence in Jerusalem. On Thursday, Brigade Commander Colonel Moshe Sheetrit decided on the disciplinary measure after speaking with Dayan.

Sheetrit decided that Dayan "chose to express a personal protest of a political nature and in so doing caused damage to military discipline and the value of service. In expressing his personal position, he violated the brigade's values of comradeship, mutual trust and partnership."

Meretz legislator Zehava Galon said Sunday she opposes the disciplinary action taken against Dayan.

Speaking on Israel Radio, Galon said "as an advocate for human rights I cannot approve of the measures employed against [Dayan]; this has nothing to do with being a leftist or a rightist."

This week the Head of the Personnel Directorate, Major General Elazar Stern, is to decide whether to withdraw Dayan's commendation and whether to bar him from any command positions in the IDF.

Stern also met with Dayan on Thursday in what he called a "hearing." Stern claimed that Dayan deceived his commanding officers because he had planned his protest ahead of time but denied any such intention when asked about it before the ceremony. He also refused to apologize for his action.

The Dayans' lawyer, Adi Keidar, claims that a handshake is not a military command and said the family was considering appealing to the High Court.

The Council of Rabbis of Judea and Samaria announced this weekend that it "shakes the hand" of Dayan, "who saluted properly but refused an act of friendship such as shaking the hand of a political chief of staff who is not friendly to the national-religious public, and that's an understatement."

The council called Dayan's expulsion from his brigade one more sign of the dictatorship that had taken over the country's leadership in general and had unfortunately even penetrated the IDF.

The anti-disengagement "Jew does not expel a Jew" movement plans to raise money for Dayan and to give him a commendation of their own.

The Orange Cell student movement also decided to award a commendation to Dayan for "proving his excellence both as a soldier who received the president's commendation and for sticking to his moral principles and refusing to shake the chief of staff's hand."

I think the Rabbinical council said it best "who saluted properly but refused an act of friendship such as shaking the hand of a political chief of staff who is not friendly to the national-religious public, and that's an understatement."

J.

Quote is from Blazing saddles
------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"God made countries, God makes kings, and the rules by which they govern. And those rules say that the Sabbath is His. And I for one intend to keep it

2006-05-07T12:22:00.000+03:00

Saw this interesting article today.

With the new government barely installed, times may be speedily changing in ways many voters hardly expected.

The defunct Shinui has been replaced in the present coalition by its nemesis Shas, whose leader Eli Yishai has been entrusted with none other than Ehud Olmert's old Industry and Trade portfolio. His first order of business was to announce that from now on he will "strictly enforce Saturday-closure regulations at malls and roadside shopping centers," where for the past few years weekend commerce has been booming.

Three years ago, when Olmert held that job, he suspended the activities of Druse inspectors charged with fining businesses open on Shabbat in contravention of the law. At the time, Olmert was cheered by Shinui, which set out to alter the anyway rickety status quo on religious affairs.

Yishai has announced that he will employ more Druse inspectors (Olmert's crew had dwindled to a mere three) to report on commercial enterprises operating delinquently during Shabbat. Such businesses will be fined.

Yishai declared his intention "to put an end to Saturday shopping sprees." By one ministry estimate, the phenomenon of Saturday labor has grown so rampant that an estimated 230,000 Israelis - mostly Jewish - work on the Jewish Sabbath. Brisk Saturday business means that some stores gross well over double their intake on any given weekday.

Yishai is right to note that not only religious traditions are involved but also very social-oriented legislation, which seeks to ascertain that employed personnel get Saturday off, as they are currently guaranteed.

The pro-Saturday-business lobby maintains that a midweek day off is available as compensation for Saturday employment, but this isn't as simple as it sounds. In a milestone decision last year, the Supreme Court unanimously agreed that "existing Shabbat legislation protects workers' rights and that only a universal day of rest, shared by all family members, can afford them one free day that all can spend together. Alternative time off will not achieve the same social aim." The court unequivocally determined that "a uniform day of rest is in the socio-national interest" and that "mobile days of rest serve employers, not employees." Armed with this ruling, Yishai will be difficult to oppose. Olmert may be loath to do so, and not only due to coalition expediency. He himself was severely taken to task by the attorney-general in 2003 when dropping his mini-bombshell to proclaim that he wouldn't stop Saturday business, thereby clearly violating the 1951 law that prohibits the employment of Jews on Saturdays.

While Yishai's planned crackdown will doubtless be portrayed as autocratic, reactionary, coercive and restrictive, the fact that cash registers keep ringing on Saturdays has not necessarily rung in freedom, certainly not for employees who find it harder to get jobs or keep them if they prefer not to work on Shabbat. Those not powerful enough to stand up to big businesses are easily victimized.

Thus far the main beneficiaries of lax enforcement of the law were kibbutz-owned out-of-town shopping centers and large chain outlets in some malls. Small urban stores that must stay shut are losing clientele to patently unfair competition. Shopkeepers who cannot afford hired help face a choice between working a seven-day week or going under.

Existing compromises that allow entertainment and dining out on Shabbat keep the law from being oppressive. We hope Yishai will uphold it without excesses that smack of a culture war. The flipside of Shinui provocations isn't what this nation needs, especially not at this juncture.

Ideally, what we need isn't a Shabbat indistinguishable from ordinary weekdays but a five-day workweek and a two-day weekend to offer Israelis the weekend shopping they crave. Until then, we need sensible governance that respects the diversity of our society and the status quo it has yielded on Shabbat observance.

The main question is: Do we live in an Israeli state or a Jewish one? I like the idea of a 5-day work week with a two day weekend. (shabbat-Sunday)

Have a good week

J.

Todays quote is from Chariots of Fire (1981)
------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"Tout le même, I must thank the pipe-smoking Colonel Arbuthnott for a remark which finally resolved all my confusions about this extraordinary case"

2006-05-01T08:18:00.000+03:00

I was tagged by Lady-Light for the A-Z Meme, so here goes:

Accent: I dont think I have one, but growing up in the Mid-west after living 8 years on the East Coast, made me think I did (or was it everyone else who had the accent) try pronouncing Orange, drawer and my favorte silly Mid-west word POP. IT"S SODA!!!!

Booze: Not a fan of liquer, got drunk once back when I was 23 and ended up breaking a door, not a pleasant experience (maybe a future blog topic)

Chore I Hate: Batheing,(just kidding) I really hate doing the floors (washing, sweeping)

Dogs/Cats: Not a pet person

Essential Electronics: TV, DVD, Laptop, Cellphone.

Favorite Perfume/Cologne: Right Guard ;)

Gold/Silver: White Gold. Silver is too much of a pain to clean

Hometown: Jerusalem

Insomnia: Only on Saturday nights, if I slept too much over Shabbat

Job Title: Ex-Cop and now the unofficial "computer guy"

Kids: 1 son, J-cop Jr.

Living Arrangements: Mobile for the time being 9until we come to some kinda divorce settlement

Most Admired Trait: Knowing ALOT about movies and TV shows

Number of movies I've seen since 1998 (Original q was Number of Sexual Partners): 1003...1004 (really and that isn't also the answer to the original "N" question)

Overnight Hospital Stays: Besides my own birth and my son's (he was born at 5am), had my tonsils taken out when I was 27, spent two nights in the hospital

Phobia: The fear (that we all have) that I will spend hours on a post and no one will read or comment on it

Quote:I don't swear for the hell of it. Language is a poor enough means of communication. We've got to use all the words we've got. Besides, there are damn few words anybody understands. from Inherit the wind (1960)

Religion: Jewish (or so I'm told)

Siblings: 3+3

Time I usually wake up: 5:10am

Unusual Talent: Being able to remember pointless facts about movies and the rest of the entertainment industry

Vegetable I refuse to eat: Mushrooms

Worst Habit: Procrastination and preferring to read blogs instead of work

X-Rays: X-Ray vision would be nice, but how does Superman see people, he should only see their skeletons

Yummy Foods I make: Corned Beef, Brisket, many kinds of other meat and chicken dishes...oh and I'm a vegetarian....NOT

Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

I tag My Bald Sheitel, Chavaleh, Annabel and Amishav

Todays quote is from Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

It's a sad, depressing story about a pathetic coyote who spends every waking moment of his life in the futile pursuit of a saidistic roadrunner...

2006-04-26T13:36:00.000+03:00

Full Quote: "Okay. Right now I'd like to show you one of my favorite cartoons. It's a sad, depressing story about a pathetic coyote who spends every waking moment of his life in the futile pursuit of a saidistic roadrunner who *mocks* him and *laughs* at him as he's repeatedly *crushed* and *maimed*! Hope you'll *enjoy* it!"

This is unbelievable! That a university professor can believe and spread this anti-Semitic rot is frightening in and of itself. That students can take notes and consider this the truth shows gullability beyond belief.

It is unadulterated anti-Semitism!

Click here to see a University Lecture about Tom & Jerry

Today's quote is from UHF (1989)

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"Damn. How can you give Kris Kringle a parking ticket on Christmas Eve? What's next, rabies shots for the Easter Bunny?"

2006-04-25T16:26:00.000+03:00

Saw this supposedly true story today and thought it was pretty funny.

Silly cop

J.

Todays quote is from Home Alone(1990)

------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"Do you care even about the holocaust, or do you think it never happened?"

2006-04-25T12:00:00.000+03:00

Israel is such an amazing place. Where else in the world does an entire country stop (literally) for a total of 5 minutes spread out over a week and three different occasions?

Of course, I'm referring to the 2 minutes of silence for Holocaust Victims which we remembered this morning at 10am and then the one minute of silence next monday night at 7pm for our fallen soldiers and then once again for 2 minutes the following morning (tuesday) at 11am.

Even in the US they dont have the entire city of NY come to a standstill on September 11th. This is something so special because it is something all Jews can identify with. It doesn't matter who you are (a taxi driver, garbage collector, merchant in Machane Yehuda or even a construction worker) or where you are (see photos) you stand still and observe this silence.

When I was in the army 12 years ago, I was on leave in Machane Yehuda and was amazed how everyone turned into a statue the moment that siren started to wail. The place didn't look as crowded as usual because of the fact that you could see thru the gaps of statue-like people and just see more people with solemn looks on their faces.

This morning, I left for work late, because I wanted to stop off and see J-cop Jr. I spent about 30 minutes with him, and then I headed off to work.

At 9:58, I was still on the Jerusalem-T.A. highway and decided to pull over to the side in order to be outside during the siren. Every few seconds, another car would stop and the driver (plus any other occupants) would get out and stand on the side by his/her car.

I saw religious people, non-religious people, people in taxis, people in cars with hi-tech logos on the bumper all get out and share those two minutes in silence for 6,000,000 of our bretheren who were slaughtered by our enemies in Europe.

No cars went by and the usually-busy highway was empty of any cars or trucks.

When the siren ended, I quickly snapped these two pics.

What's interesting (and sad actually)is that as soon as those two minutes are up, everything goes back to the way it was beforehand. Within a minute I was stuck in traffic and then I saw an accident (I decided not to show pics of the guy on the motorcycle sprawled out on the ground), assumedly caused by lack of patience on someone's part.

As the old saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Have a solemn one...

J.

Todays quote is from Deconstructing Harry (1997)
------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

"It ain't no mystery / if it's politics or history. / The thing you've got to know is / everything is showbiz!"

2006-04-24T13:16:00.000+03:00

I rarely deal with American Politics, but I couldn't resist after I saw this on Jack's site which was linked to The Pillage Idiot

Note: Josh Bolton is the new White House Chief of Staff

Top Ten Signs That Josh Bolten Is Jewish

10. Staff meetings last longer on Mondays and Thursdays.

9. Has his mother on speed dial, but she still says he doesn't call enough.

8. The ring on his cell phone is "If I were a rich man."

7. Came in to the office on Purim dressed as Bibi Netanyahu.

6. His office furniture is covered with clear plastic.

5. Has two file baskets on his desk -- "To Do" and "Goyishe Kop."

4. His office is referred to by staff as "The Lobby."

3. Condoleezza Rice beats him up for his lunch money.

2. W's nickname for him is "The Mohel," because, well, you know.

1. The official White House photo of Bolten (left), following a staff meeting:

Today's quote is from The Producers(2005)
------------------------------------------------
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln