Why is the Israeli government pleased?

Because the U.N. put out a report that acknowledges that Syria has helped Hizbullah rearm, in violation of UNSCR 1701 and that Hizbullah is not only back to its pre-war strength but has exceeded it with a larger arsenal of rockets with longer ranges.

The U.N. is certainly even-handed because while they have permitted Syria and Hizbullah to violate the resolution flagrantly right under their noses, the organization admonishes Israel for continuing to fly over parts of Lebanon and for not providing more assistance with the cluster bombs. Israel has no choice but to continue the fly-overs since the U.N. is permitting Israel’s enemies to prepare for the next war. The cluster bomb issue is more complex but Israel should be trying to put this issue behind it by coming clean even if it means handing a victory to its enemies.

Where is Olmert in all of this? He continues to govern and create policy despite this fiasco of a war he managed and the lousy outcome – UNSCR 1701 – which he helped to father and which he declared a benefit and perhaps even outright victory for Israel. At the time I wrote that this was a serious error in judgement because having foreign troops serve as a buffer hinders Israel and its established military far more diplomatically, politically and even militarily than a guerrilla group that experiences few repercussions when they do not comply. This sets a bad precedent and will return to haunt Israel in the future when peace arrangements are being considered with the Palestinians and the Syrians.

As smart as Olmert may be about political survival, he is not the person I would trust to lead Israel into any upcoming talks with the Palestinians at a time when the US is applying pressure on Israel to “settle” the conflict. You need someone who can navigate the difficult straits of appeasing the American government (with the State Dept. taking the lead) while protecting Israeli interests and future security needs. What Olmert gave up for 1701 does not bode well for future negotiations and dealmaking.

The Israeli government should be concerned, not pleased.

Ha’aretz has a different take about why Israel is pleased than the Jerusalem Post. They believe Israel is pleased that the UN isn’t forcing them to relinquish control or enter into negotiations to relinquish control of the Shaba Farms area to the Lebanese or Syrians. Israel should not be pleased about this either. It does postpone the problem indefinitely, but there is no indication of who actually controls it because despite the U.N. cartographer’s best intentions, since Syria withheld important data, his conclusions may not be the last word. Part of the Ha’aretz article:

(more…)

Scariest Halloween costume ever…

Amy Winehouse is already pretty scary, but this young woman’s Hebrew-Halloween costume rendition of Winehouse is really scary – well it would be if you were, say… her big brother. Tiffy even added some cute tattoos but thankfully omitted the track marks.

Boo!

Author, globetrotter, and now policy maker, Jared Cohen’s latest book caught my eye. Cohen’s first book, 100 Days of Silence, covers the failure of the US to do anything for 100 days during the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. His recent book, Children of Jihad: A Young American’s Travels Among the Youth of the Middle East , is bound to break some stereotypes.

…Cohen charms his way through Middle Eastern countries typically thought of as unfriendly to the West. This type of travel is not without its problems: he suffers intimidation, unauthorized searches and other threats over the course of his two years spent among the twentysomethings of Lebanon, Syria and Iran… Cohen drops in on Palestinian refugee camps, chats up Hezbollah members at a McDonalds, talks nuclear power with Iranians over illegal moonshine and meets “Iraqis who like us” in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Ask him your questions as CNN’s Young People Who Rock,an online interview with him is this Friday. Cohen will join [CNN] live from New York on Friday, November 2 to talk about his fearless quest into the wild-middle east. You can submit your questions over at CNN.com.

Olmert’s plan to hand over parts of Jerusalem — or in the current regime’s double-talk it is reffered to as “share” — is totally ludicrous and highly dangerous. Some might even call it suicidal. With pressure from the Staff Department, White House, Israel is reviving one of the dumbest plans floated to solve the current conflict.

Imagine: with a barrier constructed that puts Arab neighborhoods under Palestinian jurisdiction and connected to a Palestinian entity in the West Bank, it will be only a matter of minutes before missiles are raining down on the Knesset. Has Olmert’s prostate cancer spread to his brain? Casting logic, religion, history and reason aside, we even have some Jewish groups along for the Olmert head-trip, (most recently Rabbi Kanefsky from LA.)

According to the Washington Post:

Under the plan, which would be executed unilaterally if efforts to resume peace talks fail, Jerusalem’s Old City, its holy shrines and the adjacent neighborhoods, would become a “special region with special understandings” but remain under Israeli sovereignty, said Schneller.

Special, as in Special K? So they start handing over the deeds to Jerusalem and the Arabs just say, “Yeh, thats cool, keep that Old City under Special Jurisdiction”. They must be eating infected mushrooms.

The Old City and the adjacent “holy basin,” which includes the predominantly Arab neighborhoods of Silwan and Sheik Jarrah, would fall on the Israeli side of the separation barrier Israel is building in the West Bank, another Israeli official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because plans are not final.

Silwan, a place where I was stoned during the first Intifada. A place that makes Watts seem hospitable. Oh and Seik Jarrah, is a regular Neve Shalom!

The plan also calls for moving the barrier westward. That means much of East Jerusalem would no longer be cut off from the West Bank and most Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem could become part of a future Palestinian state on the eastern side of the barrier, the official said.

So all the weapons that are being stockpiled by Hamas in the West Bank, and the missiles that are being produced in Nablus and other towns, will be able to be transported without interference to the front lines and aimed at Jewish Jerusalem.

One struggles to understand how anyone who cares about the future of Israel, who cares about Jewish lives, who cares about preventing Hamastan from replacing Israel, can let this happen.

Once upon a time, a long time ago, people of different ethnic groups could share major cities, establish neighborhoods with local character, cultural resources, schools, and restaurants. One could live in these islands of culture, immersed in your own language, for an entire lifetime if you chose. However these work only when there is a desire of the inhabitants to build peaceful lives, and respect the rule of law.

When Jordan controlled the other side of a Jerusalem fence from 1948-1967, Jews were victims of snipers on a regular basis. Instead of being in the cross hair’s of Jordanian snipers, all of Jerusalem will be at the mercy of gangs of Hamas terrorists, bent of destruction and chaos, the imposition of Muslim law throughout the city, and the subjugation and murder of its Jewish inhabitants. Hamas is waiting for Olmert to hand over the deed to half of our capital, and then Hamas will do to “Al Quds” EXACTLY what they have done to Gaza. Lay waste to the PA, murder its opponents, set up squads of missile launchers, and build Hizbollah style bunkers on the other side, lest Israel get any ideas of returning.

However, if there is no outcry from Christians and Jews alike, Olmert’s Suicide plan is bound to stay afloat for the foreseeable future.

The Jewish music scene in LA took a nice spin tonight into diversification. Taking to the stage with his trademark cap and hard rap, Y-Love, Jake Break, and DJ Handler, capped a night of original Jewish music and performances during the Shemspeed LA Launch party, co-sponsored by JConnect LA.

There were also appearances by Dov Rosenblatt of Blue Fringe, Exodus (aka Eddie Fox – who performed at Jewlicious 3.0), and the Shaul Faulkner Band.

The Joint is a hard place to listen to music. The stage is set up in the corner, quite high, with none of the conventions of a stage, and the speakers angled in strange Daliesque directions. Parallel huge flat screen TVs provide some kind of decoration. Luckily, each table was loaded with delicious cookies, cakes, and treats, all under kosher supervision. Thanks to JConnect, there was food a plenty, and a healthy crowd eager to be entertained. (And some nifty giftbags with Nascar brand Bubble Bath, magazine, pushka for Meir Panim and some other stuff.)

If you caught Exodus at last year’s Jewlicious Festival, you remember his brilliant slam poetry style, eloquent observations on Jewish life, and a poem all about old TV Shows. The crowd was glued to his every word. He’s just getting better and better.

Y-Love, in town for the Professional Leaders Project too, is an extremely serious rapper, with a message born from his observations and investigations of the many worlds he straddles. He is pre-occupied with justice and spirit, and hopes that we can replace the gods of Hollywood with connections to Torah. To unify the Jewish people is one of his major themes, in the hope that we can erase the sorrow of Tisha B’Av. His song about the state of American Jewry was really mesmerizing, and his duet with Dov was my favorite song of the night.

You have to hand it to Erez a.k.a. dj handler – who has created a virtual shuk covering the landscape of new Jewish music. The site is ripe with tasty treats of musical inspiration and music to suite nearly every neshama. L’CHaim to Shemspeed!

Thanks to the Sydney Morning Herald via Jezebel via Heeb, I now know that Maxim Magazine considers the following 5 women the world’s unsexiest:

1. Sarah Jessica Parker
2. Amy Winehouse
3. Sandra Oh
4. Madonna
5. Britney Spears

Sarah’s father is Jewish, she considers herself a cultural Jew and she’s married to Jewish actor Mathew Broderick. Winehouse is of course Jewish, and Madonna? Well, she’s been to Israel. In light of the recent brouhaha regarding actress Halle Berry’s Jewish-nose joke on The Jay Leno Show, it’s understandable that one might be sensitive to further disses on semitic sexuality. But none of that really matters. What’s important to take away from all of this is that Maxim Magazine is made by and for morons. I don’t care that it’s the official organ of Israeli propaganda efforts aimed at 18-35 year old men.

One of the Jezebel commenters sussed out what made these women so unsexy to the Neanderthals at Maxim:

And we have to consider the source. SJP’s nose is probably bigger than the average Maxim employee’s dick, so of course it threatens them… And notice one other thing: SJP is the star in her house, not Matthew. Madonna has never taken shit from any guy. Sandra Oh’s character on Grey’s is also totally independent. Even crazy ass Britney is not to be tamed (Amy I cannot defend because I know what she used to look like and is obviously killing herself).

So these aren’t women that the folks at Maxim wouldn’t sleep with – these are women your average Maxim moron couldn’t sleep with in a million years. They are essentially women too smart/assertive/dangerous etc. to ever want to sleep with the kind of wanker who reads (?) and enjoys Maxim.

Judean Desert
Collage, 70×100 (x2) cm, 1997

I came across Judith Yellin Ginat’s work and found a lot of it to be interesting. Click on the link to see her biography and some of her work.

Shabbat shalom!!

Apparently M. A. Muqtedar Khan is.

Kahn has authored a bunch of books and is perceived as a scholar and expert on Islam and the West. He also seems to suffer from IDF-phobia.

Yesterday, the University of Delaware asked Asaf Romirowsky to step down from an academic panel at the University of Delaware because another panelist, University of Delaware political scientist Muqtedar Khan, didn’t want to share the podium with anyone who served in the Israeli Defense Forces.

It reminds me of the tactics used here in California by the Muslim student groups who refuse to participate in any discussions, let alone programs, with Jewish groups because they are Zionists.

scores with an of-age, legal member of any of the following groups.

True Love Waits.

Worth the Wait.

Operation Keepsake.

There’s even a jewish group for such lame behaviour:
Negiah.org.

Don’t get Muffti wrong: abstinence is a respectable choice and he begrudges no one their right to keep their virginity until they grow old and whither if such be there choice; but to promote it as a cool is just disturbing and trivializes the sacrifice an abstainer makes. Or so says Muffti.

Holy cow – Tribe: The Film is the short that could. It has just hit #2 in the most downloaded Short Film category on iTunes, beating out other contenders from Disney and Pixar and at least one Oscar winner. We’ve written about this film so often that if you search for “Tribe the Film” or “Tribe the Film iTunes” on Google, Jewlicious appears in 2nd or 3rd place. But, our fondness for this project aside, Tiffany Shlain and her team have done a great job getting the word out on the film. And the film is fun and a great conversation starter. I’d love to see some sort of forum where folks can come in and talk about their particular tribe or sub-tribe. The film is ostensibly Jew-ish but I think the themes are universal and issues of identity and what that means in our ever shrinking world… well, I don’t know, I think that’s cool. Or we can talk about Amy Winehouse again… OR we can talk about WHY we talk about Amy Winehouse…

In any case, Tiffany Shlain has accomplished a text book case of using all means at her disposal to promote her short film. It’s a case study in the evolution of media distribution – as noted in this article in the San Francisco Chronicle and this one in the New York Times.

“It’s one of these beautiful moments in time,” Ms. Shlain said.

Indeed it is. With the help of other blogs, great press and the newly minted JewTube, let’s see if the Tribe makes it to number 1 … You can get your own copy of Trbe: The Film from the link to iTunes on the Tribe web site – a bargain at only $1.99!

*UPDATE* (Oct. 27) Tribe: The Film has indeed just made it to #1!! Sweet!

Ever wonder how a Jew-by-choice finds his or her way in the age of technology?This issue of PresenTense (get your copies now!!) is about the many faces of today’s Jewish twenty- and thirtysomethings, including those were not born Jewish but who made the painful, but hopefully rewarding, choice to join our community. In Issue 3, the prolific Leah Jones, who seems to found or join the staff of another blog every week, wrote about Converts Who Blog, noting the lack of online support options for Jews-by-choice.

But now Jews-by-choice have yet another choice. Thanks to TikkunGer and many other blogging NewishJews, there’s a new blog called–what else?–JewsByChoice.

Check it out, read Leah’s piece in PT.

Plus, for a different take on the online Jewish community, check out this other article about Jewish life in Second Life.

The Jerusalem Post gives us an article about Turkish officials placing the blame on Congress’ Armenian genocide bill at the feet of American Jewish groups. In other words, if something bad happens to somebody, it is the Jews’ fault.

In an interview with the liberal Islamic Zaman newspaper on the eve of the resolution’s approval October 10 by the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said he had told American Jewish leaders that a genocide bill would strengthen the public perception in Turkey that “Armenian and Jewish lobbies unite forces against Turks.” Babacan added, “We have told them that we cannot explain it to the public in Turkey if a road accident happens. We have told them that we cannot keep the Jewish people out of this.”

The Turkish public seems to have absorbed that message.

An on-line survey by Zaman’s English-language edition asking why Turks believed the bill succeeded showed that 22 percent of respondents chose “Jews’ having legitimized the genocide claims” – second only to “Turkey’s negligence.”

This is not so different than the recent articles proposing that Putin is giving favor to Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, “an associate of Arcady Gaydamak” and who is from the Russian Jewish Congress over his previous favorite, Chabad’s Rabbi Berel Lazar, an associate of Lev Leviev. because Lazar had not “produced” more favorable results in the US.

However, the Jewish community in Russia believes that Lazar was passed over because he did not do a good enough job improving Russia’s image in the eyes of the United States Congress and American Jewish communities, failing to portray Russia as a nation that is not anti-Semitic.

This is the same theory proposed to us by the Americans Walt and Mearsheimer, who conveniently forget all mention of Arab, Saudi, defense industry or big oil influence on US foreign policy and instead focus their attacks on the Jewish community and its influence. According to this theory, Jewish influence can move mountains, and certainly the American government. Of course, this influence is considered positive when things go the way these folks want, and pernicious when things go against their wishes.

Jews, Jews, Jews!

Anybody else getting a pit in their stomach?

This story has so many layers.

West Papua Delegation Donates Gold For Holy Temple
25 Tishrei 5768, 07 October 07 07:00
by Ezra HaLevi

(IsraelNN.com) On Wednesday, the last day of the Sukkot festival, a 34-person delegation from West Papua presented a large amount of gold to be used in the building of the Holy Temple.

The delegation, including representatives of the nation’s government, explained that they study the Bible regularly and recently came upon a verse in Zecharia (6:16) reading “And the distant ones will come and build the Temple of G-d.” They discussed the passage among themselves and decided that their faith obligates them to fulfill the verse.

West Papua, located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, is rich in gold mines, so the delegation thought it natural to donate gold for the Holy Temple. The Holy Temple will be built in the place where the First and Second Temples once stood – on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount.

The group heard of the Temple Institute in Israel, which deals with advancing the building of the Temple, and on Hoshana Raba – the 7th day of Sukkot – the delegation arrived at the Institute’s headquarters in Jerusalem’s Old City and presented the gold to Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, a founder of the institute, and Yehuda Glick, its director.

The group presented a kilogram of gold and a large sum of money. They requested that the gold be used to construct vessels for the Temple and that the funds be used by the institute for any purpose it sees fit….

Meanwhile if we would consider giving Trump naming rights, we could have had the thing built already.

Tip to LM

A recent survey conducted by Yediot Aharonot, a newspaper known for some sensationalism but by no means a tabloid, shows that almost a third of Israel’s population believes Yitzhak Rabin’s murderer, Yigal Amir, should be pardoned. The breakdown shows greater support among those affiliated with Israel’s political Right, and especially among those who identify themselves as “religious.”

According to the poll data – five percent of the Israeli public supports pardoning the killer already at this point in time, while 25 percent believes that he should be pardoned in 25 years from now. Some 69 percent of respondents replied that they oppose a future pardoning. This marks a significant change compared to a similar poll conducted last year by the newspaper. Figures in 2005 showed that 76 percent of Israelis opposed any pardoning, while 18 percent believed the killer should be set free.

Among respondents defining themselves as right-wing, 54 percent support a pardoning, with 47 percent setting the pardon in 25 years. Among respondents defining themselves as religious the numbers jump again – 64 percent support a pardoning: 50 percent in 25 years and 14 percent today.

On the left only one percent of those polled believes that a pardon should be granted today. 12 percent support a pardoning in 25 years.

Participants were also polled about vacations for the Prime Minister’s killer. Twenty percent of the public believes that Amir should be granted vacations from prison, while 78 percent opposed. Questions were also put in the field regarding the hotly debated issue of conjugal visits – 38 percent of respondents agreed that Amir should be allowed conjugal visits with his wife, Larissa Trimbobler, 56 percent oppose such visits.

This is disappointing to say the least. Somebody at Israel’s police headquarters must have been paying attention, though, because the police have now released an interrogation tape conducted with Amir near the time of the murder.

“I decided to kill [former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin] and I do not regret it,” Rabin’s assassin Yigal Amir was heard telling police in a tape of his interrogation released for the first time Monday.

“I approached him before he got into his car and shot him with three bullets,” Amir calmly told his interrogators.

When Amir was asked if he regretted what he did, the assassin responded: “God forbid.”

“My aim was to kill Rabin and silence him politically,” he told police.

When Amir was asked when he decided on the idea, he said: “after the first Oslo agreement.”

This man has been permitted conjugal visits with a woman who married him after he was incarcerated. He has fathered a child and demanded to be allowed to attend the child’s brit millah (circumcision). He is the beneficiary of sordid conspiracy theories where he is claimed to be nothing more than a falsely accused victim of an Israeli government plot to kill Rabin. He receives regular media attention and apparently has a growing group of supporters who believe that what he did was bad, but deserves some limitation of punishment even if Amir has not expressed the smallest regret for his actions.

Amir, a Jew, murdered another man. He has not atoned in any way and continues to proudly express views from an ideology that justifies this murder on nationalistic and perhaps even religious grounds. There is no hint that he is or was insane, brainwashed, or anything but a cold, calculating murderer who did what he did for political gain.

He deserves to rot in jail for the remainder of his life, without any conjugal visits, and rare visits from his son who should not be punished for his father’s sin. Those who support him or who give him cover by shifting the blame to others, should read his chilling words from that interview and remember that he murdered another man in cold blood.

I’ve been owing readers a recap of the Regina Spektor concert I attended last Sunday for roughly a week now, so here goes. In my defense, I turned the big 3-0 last week and was slightly preoccupied with birthday shenanigans. So now I’m back and ready to give Regina Spektor, experimental folk-acoustic, seductive songstress du jour (du semaine) a proper ode.

Headlining the Regina show was Only Son, aka iPod Man. His act was decent enough, but he went on for way too long and his shtick involved an iPod, which he used in lieu of a band. It got a little irksome after a while and as he came onstage drunk and saying a little too many “F*cks,” I quickly realized that a) I’m too old to find this MySpace-generated Mick Jagger/Bono wannabe remotely appealing and b) My generation (X) is WAY cooler than the 18-year-olds bopping along to the Yeah, like, that’s so f*cked man. Shit, ya know. Yeah, f*ck. Then again, maybe I’m being way too hard on our nation’s youth and even more frightening, maybe my generation sounded like that 12 years ago.

But then again, why were all these youngsters who I couldn’t envision really “getting” Regina’s brand of music, the overriding demographic present at her show?

Regina came out onstage 1.5 hours after the 7:30 starting time. While one can argue that the wait augments the level of anticipation, being stuck in the auditorium seating in Boston’s Orpheum Theater- whose seating was constructed and hasn’t been renovated since the early 20th Century when my height of 5′3 was the average height of a male, you can imagine the physical comfort level by the time the illustrious Ms. SpeKtor finally came onto stage.

Don’t get me wrong. Regina is a force to be reckoned with and well worth any wait. Coming onto stage, bright curly red hair, bright royal blue babydoll dress, with intermittent sprinklings of softspoken “thank you(s)” between belting out “Mary Anne is a B*tch” (it’s a song) and songs about people f*cking to her music, she carefully positions herself as the naughty nice girl. Others have gone down this road before in more gimmicky fashion, but Regina successfully avoids the common pitfalls of her peers and predecessors, salvaged by her musical range (high-pitched, discordant elongated shrieks a la Laurie Anderson to heavy, bluesy spirituals) and well, her, incredibly diverse RAW talent. (Norah Jones may also sing to the tune of the sweet songstress, but doesn’t manage the same sub-alt following, perhaps limited by range and level of experimentation. ) The difference being Regina owns her music, even when it’s not her music. Take her cover of John Lennon’s “Real Love” or her recent gig covering “Little Boxes” for the show “Weeds.” You can’t imagine (no pun intended) either song wasn’t written by her for her.

But back to the concert’s finale, Regina gave us our encores (”Samson”/”Fidelity” et al) and didn’t hold out on her audience, instead generously playing to the crowd, amidst delayed starts and iPod men that read more like boys. Oh, yeah. And really young kids yelling, That’s the f*ckin sh*t iPod Man!

Despite the fact that I am on vacation, I am always looking for good, important content. Sometimes, important content finds me as demonstrated by this important guest post by David Kelsey aka The Kvetcher:

One of the tragedies of the Iraq War–and there are so many tragedies of this war—is the final destruction of the Mandaean people. Estimates of how many lived in Iraq at the start of the war vary. What everyone agrees upon is that far fewer of them live there now. Only 5,000 Mandaeans are thought to survive in Iraq.

I will not use the word “genocide,” since in the Jewish community, this is apparently a divisive term, and I sure don’t want to upset the ADL’s Abe Foxman or others who gets quite irate over the unapproved use of such a term. The NY Times, who has historically always had more pleasant issues to discuss in polite company than the destruction of a small people, finally wrote about their situation. More disappointingly (as one should expect nothing moral from the ADL), the American Jewish World Service has been silent. The U.S. Holocaust Museum has nothing to say about what is happening to them either. It’s almost bizarre that a situation this clear cut has never the less not surfaced on the radar of those who are entrusted to be concerned about such things.

Anyway, I dare not use the politically charged term “genocide” for what is happening to the Mandaeans. What I will say is that at the beginning of the war, there was a community in the tens of thousands in Iraq, the largest community of Mandaeans in the world, and it seems in not too long, if the situation is allowed to continue, there will be no Mandaean community in Iraq at all. This is because the Iraqi Mandaeans are being burned, forcibly converted, killed, and their women–who are forced to wear veils in accordance with Muslim fundamentalist law–are targets for rape. Whoever can get out is doing so. The problem is, the alternatives for getting out are not terribly good. It is never fun to be civilians in the crossfire of a civil war, and it is particularly unpleasant to be a non-Muslim community in the crossfire of two competing and dominant Muslim communities. Other Muslim nations and communities have not been terribly hospital to the Mandaeans. For instance, the Kurds, who one would think would be sensitive to their plight in light of their own horrific treatment by Iraqis, apparently have been not quite as hospital as one might have hoped and are in the habit of “persecuting” them for being infidels when they seek refuge in Kurdish areas.

Saddam Hussein protected these people in ways the U.S. cannot or will not. My point is not to reminisce fondly over Saddam Hussein, but rather, to point out the horrifying reality that this is happening under our watch.

I propose we scream for them, and don’t stop screaming until someone does something. These people must be rescued, and taken to a safe place. No one cares about them, because they are not part of a larger group. They are their own thing.

We should concern ourselves over this Aramaic speaking group of Semites, who are partially as small as they are because they are committed pacifists. If we do not speak up for them, I fear no one will. This will be the end of an ancient, Judaean people, who appeared to have left when the Babylonians conquered Judea. You may read their defense against the Rambam’s accusation here, where they also attempt to interpet his words to prove that Abraham was himself originally a Sabatian (Mandaean) before becoming a Jew, a popular Mandaean narrative. There is good reason to speculate a historic Jewish connection to the Mandaeans at some point.

For more on Mandaeans, including an informative video, check out this article.

You all may or may not have noticed that I haven’t been blogging much lately. Yes, I’ve been on a bit of a vacation – but mostly I’ve been putting out Internet fires. Server migration issues, messed up databases, tweaking new installs – it’s all been a hoot and a holler running around looking for high speed wifi connections in some fairly odd places. As a result, sites like roi120 and jdaters anonymous are updated and speedier than ever. I also managed to get jewtube.com redesigned and online – go check it out!

But in the midst of all that I still managed to get some, you know, vacationing done. I started off in Bangkok and found these awesome stickers all over Kao San road, near the Chabad House. The sticker says “It’s so great being Jewish! Thank blessed God” (You’d know that if you paid attention at Hebrew School). I know, I know – it may seem a tad chauvinistic and perhaps a little politically incorrect, but really, as long as you’re not knocking anyone else, is it wrong to be proud of who you are? I can’t help it, especially in South East Asia, the land of idol worship and treiff galore!

Seems like, amidst the poverty and the filth, there are all these elaborate and immaculate Buddhist temples on everywhere! Giant Buddhas! Reclining Buddhas! Emerald Buddhas! And I know I ought to show respect but every time I visited these places, I had to resist the temptation to, you know, laugh out loud. But I behaved. And then there was Vietnam, the most capitalist communist country ever! You think Charlie won the war? Hell no – corporate America did – the country is awash in logos and the factories are kept buzzing churning out Nikes, Adidas, North Face, Hilfiger and every type of crappy, logo covered piece of sweat shop generated apparel you can think of. And NOTHING is kosher. Nothing. All you can eat are Pringles, cereal, tabasco sauce and chocolate – the only products I found with any hecsher at all. That was a fun Shabbat meal let me tell you. Yeah the OU travels pretty far – but I wish there was just a little more variety…

Anyhow, yeah, Bangkok, Hanoi, Sappa, Ha Long Bay and Catbah Island. Fun! Off to Koh Samet next. I’ll try to blog something less idiotic next time. Sorry this was so lame. Anyhow, Shavuah Tov y’all.

Cross-posted at WWPD.

NYU must have a massive Modern Orthodox population. The huge auditorium at Cooper Union was filled with college-age women in long-enough skirts and guys in kipot. It was the same crowd, at least in terms of visible demographics, as at the Netanyahu talk at the beginning of last year. Young women who, for ethnic and regional reasons, look quite a bit like me, filled half the room, making me think I might in fact be in 1860 Poland (Israel, of course, being far too diverse to be a point of comparison). The speakers all referred, indirectly, to an assumption that they were speaking to a Jewish audience. For the most part, but not entirely, they were. I expressed to Jo my slight concern that an event like this would be blown up. I am happy to report that this did not happen.

For most of the evening, everyone including The Noah Feldman talked around The Article, in particular the part in which he expresses his anguish over the fact that he and his non-Jewish wife were cropped out of a yeshiva alumni newsletter photograph… that they were not actually cropped out of. But for a topic treated as the elephant in the room, it’s a bit odd that the event was promoted as follows, from the NYU Bronfman Center website: “The panel will discuss Noah Feldman’s article ‘Orthodox Paradox’ which appeared in the New York Times Magazine and questions related to intermarriage and mainstreaming Jewish culture.” The panelists acted as though anyone who wanted to discuss this was veering off-topic and, perhaps, maligning Feldman, who should be known and looked up to for so much more than this one controversial article. But Feldman himself, when asked a completely unrelated question, switched to mentioning his article from the summer, acknowledging that this was what had brought the crowd.
(more…)

From The Tibet Lobby
Honoring the Dalai Lama with the Congressional Gold medal was yet another saga in the Tibet Lobby’s stranglehold on common sense in our foreign policy. This medal angered one of our best allies, one billion Chinese, for a tiny minority group that has its tentacles wrapped around congress. The authors, Shmearsheimer and Dolt, argue that Tibet’s Foreign Policy has replaced American Foreign Policy. Unless Tibet’s influence is mitigated, America is bound to go down the road to self-destruction.

Publisher’s Weakly:

Starred Review. Expanding on their notorious 2007 article in the Bejing Review of Books, the authors increase the bang of their firecracker claims about the malign influence of the pro-Tibet lobby on the U.S. government. Shmearsheimer and Dolt, political scientists at the University of Chicago and Harvard, respectively, survey a wide coalition of pro-Tibet groups and individuals, including American Tibetan organizations and political donors, Buddhist fundamentalists, ultra-liberal officials in the executive branch, media pundits who smear critics of an independent Tibet as anti-Buddhist and the American-Tibet Public Affairs Committee, which they characterize as having an unchallenged hold on Congress. This lobby, they contend, has pressured the U.S. government into Far East policies that are strategically and morally unjustifiable: lavish financial subsidies for Tibetan strongman the Dalai Lama despite his occupation of Indian territory; needless American confrontations with Tibet’s foes China and Outer Mongolia; uncritical support of Tibet’s 1959 militant uprising, which violated the laws of war; and the Cold war, which almost certainly would not have occurred had [the Tibet lobby] been absent. The authors admit heavy conspiracy mongering, noting that the lobby’s activities constitute quasi-legitimate, if misguided and immoral, interest-group politics, as American as obesity. Considering the authors’ academic credentials and the careful reasoning and meticulous documentation with which they support their claims, the book is bound to rekindle the controversy. (Nov.)
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Following up on the good Rabbi’s post is a feakish story from USA Today:

Most fake bombs missed by screeners
75% not detected at LAX; 60% at O’Hare

WASHINGTON — Security screeners at two of the nation’s busiest airports failed to find fake bombs hidden on undercover agents posing as passengers in more than 60% of tests last year, according to a classified report obtained by USA TODAY.

Screeners at Los Angeles International Airport missed about 75% of simulated explosives and bomb parts that Transportation Security Administration testers hid under their clothes or in carry-on bags at checkpoints, the TSA report shows.

At Chicago O’Hare International Airport, screeners missed about 60% of hidden bomb materials that were packed in everyday carry-ons — including toiletry kits, briefcases and CD players. San Francisco International Airport screeners, who work for a private company instead of the TSA, missed about 20% of the bombs, the report shows. The TSA ran about 70 tests at Los Angeles, 75 at Chicago and 145 at San Francisco.

The report looks only at those three airports, using them as case studies to understand how well the rest of the U.S. screening system is working to stop terrorists from carrying bombs through checkpoints.

The failure rates at Los Angeles and Chicago stunned security experts.

“That’s a huge cause for concern,” said Clark Kent Ervin, the Homeland Security Department’s former inspector general. Screeners’ inability to find bombs could encourage terrorists to try to bring them on airplanes, Ervin said, and points to the need for more screener training and more powerful checkpoint scanning machines.

In the past year, the TSA has adopted a more aggressive approach in its attempt to keep screeners attentive — the agency runs covert tests every day at every U.S. airport, TSA spokeswoman Ellen Howe said. Screeners who miss detonators, timers, batteries and blocks that resemble plastic explosives get remedial training.

The failure rates at Los Angeles and Chicago are “somewhat misleading” because they don’t reflect screeners’ improved ability to find bombs, Howe said.

TSA chief Kip Hawley, responding to previous reports about screeners missing hidden weapons, told a House hearing Tuesday that high failure rates stem from increasingly difficult covert tests that require screeners to find bomb parts the size of a pen cap. “We moved from testing of completely assembled bombs … to the small component parts,” he said.

Terrorists bringing a homemade bomb on an airplane, or bringing on bomb parts and assembling them in the cabin, is the top threat against aviation. “Their focus is on using items easily available off grocery and hardware store shelves,” Hawley said.

A report on covert tests in 2002 found screeners failed to find fake bombs, dynamite and guns 24% of the time. The TSA ran those tests shortly after it took over checkpoint screening from security companies.

Tests earlier in 2002 showed screeners missing 60% of fake bombs. In the late 1990s, tests showed that screeners missed about 40% of fake bombs, according to a separate report by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress.

The recent TSA report says San Francisco screeners face constant covert tests and are “more suspicious.”

OneVoice had a plan. It was a good plan: Israelis and Palestinians (and supporters of both worldwide) who wanted peace all getting together separately, in different cities, to vocalize their desire for a peaceful resolution to the strife in the Middle East. Together (even apart), they’d demand progress from their leaders, and create a loud, strong voice that the politicians couldn’t ignore. There was a blogger meetup in New York with real blogebrities (like Arianna Huffington and Craig Newmark) and faux blogebrities (like, um…) Heck, Bryan Adams was even slated to perform at the events, which were to be held today, October 18.

But then something unexpected happened. The events in Jericho were canceled because of security threats. And in solidarity with that cancellation, the Tel Aviv and London components were also called off.

While this is certainly a setback for the peace process and a disappointment for those who have been involved in trying to make this multi-national voice heard, all hope for a peace organized by the populace is not completely shattered. In place of in person events, OneVoice will make an online presentation at 1PM EST or 7PM Israel time, and the link for the event is: http://video.yahoo.com/onevoice

I guess we just have to believe that peace is still coming, for us and for everyone else. Or as I heard all the taglit-birthrighters sing recently, “Od yavo shalom aleinu, v’al kulam.”

Update, October 17:

Now they’re saying it was a translator’s error. I guess I waited all that time but needed to wait one more day.

The United Nations on Wednesday blamed an interpreter’s error for an erroneous report that Syria claimed an Israeli airstrike hit a Syrian nuclear facility, a mistake that made headlines in the Middle East and heightened concerns over Damascus’ nuclear ambitions.

Syria denied on Wednesday that one of its representatives told the UN General Assembly’s committee that deals with disarmament on Tuesday that Israel had attacked a Syrian nuclear facility and added that “such facilities do not exist in Syria.”

The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency, SANA, quoting an unnamed Foreign Ministry source, said its representative was misquoted – and after more than seven hours of investigation the United Nations said that was indeed the case.

===========

For weeks I have been avoiding the story of the attack on Syria by Israel until some credible news appears from somewhere. The Israeli government has been relatively quiet about the matter and so has the Israeli press. The syrians have been sending out a number of different versions, and the international press kept providing information that could easily have been fed to them.

Today, Syria’s ambassador to the UN apparently admitted that Israel attacked a nuclear facility in Syria.

In its first admission by a state official, Syria’s ambassador to the UN confirmed that an air raid carried out by Israeli fighter jets deep in Syrian territory on September 6 was, indeed, an attack on a Syrian nuclear facility, Israel Radio reported Wednesday morning.

A senior source in the Foreign Ministry confirmed that the statement was made in New York by the Syrian official.

The Syrians were building a nuclear facility.

I can understand them keeping it quiet, just as I understand Israel bombing it. It also seems plausible that the North Koreans were the source of the technology. While I don’t want to sound like Bush’s speechwriters, the Iran-North Korea-Syria axis is no longer some mythical enemy but is a true source of friction, potential war and increasing threats to Israel. These threats now cover not only conventional warfare, as we saw with the arming and support for Hizbullah by Syria and Iran, but now unconventional technologies beyond the advanced chemical arsenal already in Syria’s possession. We are now in the true nuclear age. It isn’t just Iran that is developing nuclear technology. Egypt and Jordan are both seeking to develop nuclear capability and now Syria has admitted to doing so as well.

The problem the world faces is that nuclear technology is used in the first world, often as a source of energy and not always for military purposes. This makes the West’s cries about third world countries’ development of this technology appear hypocritical. This should not matter in this case. Iran is a theocracy that has expressed a desire to destroy another country, and has expressed severe anger at America. Egypt is a dictatorship where underlying Islamist forces such as the Muslim Brotherhood are waiting for a chance to pounce on the leadership and take power. Syria remains a dictatorship and an agitator in the region. Jordan is peaceful and has behaved reasonably, but remains a country where the majority of the population is different from the ruling class and king.

As long as those countries are not true democracies with peaceful values, they remain a threat to peace in the region and the world. Having theocracies, countries with the potential of becoming theocracies or politically unstable states control the technology for making nuclear weapons is dangerous and terrifying. The West must do everything in its power to prevent the development of these technologies in these countries. I am not advocating war, but that threat should hang over any talks because it is persuasive. While it is true that the US is in a quagmire, all of these leaders know that Hussein did not survive and neither did his family. That can be effective deterrence and the West should have the courage to make the threats if it will lead to an end of this pursuit of nuclear technology.

Otherwise, Israel, as the first and closest country to be threatened by the existence of these plants or weapons, will have to continue to launch these attacks against nuclear facilities. It is in everybody’s best interest to solve the problem diplomatically first, especially Israel’s.

I purchased a bottle of this stuff at store in the H terminal at O’Hare. Isn’t that just a little bit scary? I couldn’t believe that they sold something so dangerous. They cart away buckets and garbage cans full of juice and water and mayo and other harmless liquids before security. Then you walk through TSA security and you find impliments of destruction way worse than anything you are allowed to bring into the airport. You are not permitted to bring flammable things onto the plane…so why do they sell them in the terminal?

According to Wiki:

Transparent, colorless or colored as desired, mobile, volatile liquid, with an extremely bitter taste, and in the absence of added odorous substances, a characteristic odour; flammable; specific gravity of Formula 23-H is between 0.8691 and 0.8771 at 15.56°.

Rubbing alcohol should be used in a well-ventilated area. Some cautions go so far as to say protective gloves should be worn while using it. Poisoning can occur from ingestion, inhalation, or absorption of rubbing alcohol.

Isopropyl rubbing alcohol is poisonous and can cause permanent disabling illness or death if consumed.

Mixing rubbing alcohol with pool chlorine can result in a Haloform reaction [1], generating lots of heat and boiling off its products as excess gas. If this chemical reaction is done inside a closed plastic container, the gas can build up until it ruptures violently. This can pose a serious risk of injury as the chemicals (such as bleach) and shrapnel from the container are thrown outward by the explosion.

Cross-posted at WWPD.

The New York Times Magazine “Money” issue profiles a group of Jews who manage to be simultaneously rich, materialistic, and exclusionary on a level even Hasids would find baffling, thus confirming three Jewish stereotypes all in one. They are not only corrupt financially but, as it happens, behind the Iraq war. They’re presumed to have voted for Bush in the last election because they are “hawkish on Israel and security.” Thank you, Zev Chafets. You have singled out the group that is soon to be the most-despised community in America.

I was not caught entirely unawares by this exposé. As it happens, my father grew up within the geographic bounds of the profiled community, but his family, as Ashkenazim and non-oligarchs, were of course not a part of it. Plus, my grandmother was a teacher, and having a job outside the home is apparently as taboo as cheeseburgers to the Syrian Jewish community, where women are princesses. (Um, sign me up?)**

If the story of Harvard Law-educated Lance Suede, whose turn away from Tradition, Tradition! and towards the lures of the non-Jewish woman led to his being ostracized from the community, sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the Magazine’s Sephardic sequel to Noah Feldman’s Complaint. Almost a reprint with names changed. There’s nothing different about the two stories, other than the admittedly odd intolerance in this case of even Orthodox conversion. Both stories are told from the perspective of someone who clearly puts liberalism and open-mindedness above all else. Why can’t these Jews just be like normal people, vote in ways that match the patterns of the Average American, and have attitudes about religion that in no way differ from mainstream Protestants? Sure, it’s not as if they’re burning non-believers at the stake, or forcing 12-year-olds to marry 70-year-old uncles, but they really need to learn the value of turning the other cheek. Who do they think they are?

* -Montesquieu, Lettres persanes
**I kid. Spending the weekend in an Ashkenazic frenzy of reading for grad school is far superior.

This week I represented Jewlicious at the Launch Party for Slingshot 07/08: A Resource Guide to Jewish Innovation. Slingshot is an annual compilation of 50 of the most inspiring and innovative organizations, projects, and programs in the North American Jewish community today.

In a trendy NY dining destination, the launch had loads of buzz and energy. The party itself was low key and not flashy. Jewpros of all kinds, board members, philanthropists, friends, all there to celebrate the release of the third edition of THE bible on programs and organizations that redefine and build Jewish life in North American Jewish Life.

And there was Jewlicious. Yes, Jewlicious. Jewlicious is listed as number 33 in the guide (listed alphabetically), and we are honored and proud to be part of Slingshot. Download Slingshot as a PDF and check out the amazing diversity and quality of the 50 groups.

Let me share one of the evenings highlights: when Dr. Jeffrey R. Solomon, President of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies, told me that he has Jewlicious as a quick link. The evening also maintained the simcha from the Holidays, it was an after party of Simchat Torah, a Simchat Tochnit, a festive and joyous time to celebrate Jewish life and commitment to the Jewish people.

And we met a lot of people!

Met Limmud NY’s new Director, Sara Shalva, and we chatted blog-talk. LimmudNY 2008 is on MLK weekend. Spotted Rebooters and spoke with the legendary Roger Bennet, great friend of the blog and festival, who introduced me to Alana Newhouse, Arts and Culture Editor at the Forward. We just received as a gift her amazing book, A Living Lens: Photographs of Jewish Life from the Pages of the Forward. Esther Safran Foer explained the Sixth and I Historic Synagogue community project for young professionals in DC. Put on list of Must See Jewish Institutions.

Dava Schub, the new associate executive director, programming at the Manhattan JCC let me talk all about our festivals. I just missed her in Irvine where she went for the JCC Maccabi Games ®. Dr. Ruth Pinkerson Feldman, Director of Early Childhood Services of the JCC’s of North America told me about An Ethical Start – which is a novel program introducing Pirkei Avot for Jewish family education at JCC’s nationwide, and here in Long Beach. Bumped into our friend Michael Dorf — Oyhoo, Knitting Factory, Downtown Seder — who I last saw on another rainy NYC night last year. Oyhoo Jewish Music Festival which has really expanded, is in Slingshot (and a Natan!)

Encountered the citizen peace-building effort Encounter. Met Malkie Schwartz who founded Footsteps, helping ex-chassidic brothers and sisters adjust to life on another planet. Matt Levine’s Four Seasons Lodge film and Holocaust education project will be a must see in January. Chaim Motzen (panelist at the third Jewlicious Festival) was there on behalf of the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation, where he serves as a board member.

Aaron Bisman and Jacob Harris from JDub (perennial sponsors of the Festival) told me that Socalled’s new video [see below] has over 300,000 views. Sick! [Ed-It has over 800k now] JDub received one of the eight surprise instant grants from the new Slingshot Fund, that has over 400k for innovative program available to the groups in Slingshot. Mazal Tov!

The new Publisher of New Voices from the Jewish Student Press Service, Elizabeth Alpern (McGill grad, and friend of the Jewlicious Ghetto Shul Hunderts) and their new Editor, are funny, dynamic, and passionate. They are certain to take New Voices – the only nationwide magazine for Jewish college students – to new heights. [Liz- did you fin my old articles ☺?]

Went online with Judith and Jordan from the Jewish Women’s Archives to see their Jewesses Blog from my cell phone. Jordan Namerow, communications specialist, was stationed in Poland with the JDC a few year’s ago – so we conversed in a little Polish for fun.

On behalf of Jewlicious, we want to thank the organizers and the coordinators who make Slingshot happen, and the committee that picked us out from the large haystack of great Jewish stuff happening all over N. America. We wish them continued success in their work at Grandstreet, 21/64 and beyond, as they support Jewish creativity and continuity.