What does the OU mean by this?

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Eh.

This story is such BS. The line about his mother being a schoolteacher is obviously meant to imply that the family wasn't well off- look, he didn't have his own car! Of course, his father (whose position had nothing to do with his success and articles- there've been others- like this) makes a bloody fortune.

Then again, his father is busy "saving the world." Riiiight. And he's getting stuff he reviews for free.

Double Eh.

Anyway, Shabbat Shalom. (Yay!)

DNC Over...

People should wonder: Whenever Kerry talks about "restoring credibility," he means, essentially, doing things other countries (well, the French and German governments, not to mention North Korea, Iran, etc.) will approve of. A problem- one of many- with this is that it denies American exceptionalism, a key feature of this country since it was first settled. Yes, we are better than most (all?) other countries. What we do is just plain right. Others should imitate us. And Democrats feel uncomfortable with that idea.

"Why doesn't Madonna convert to Judaism?" the kikes ask. Simple. She has no idea she's doing anything remotely related to Judaism (is she?), just some idea called "Kabbalah."

The YU Women's Organization is getting into the shidduch business- I got my invite for a buffet dinner (a number are being held) yesterday. They actually ask for "level of religious observance." Oh, Lord. Well, we'll see. End the Madness has interesting plans too.

Hmmm. The Sars reading. Hmmm.

You know Kahanists are involved...

...when liberals start wondering why more people aren't jailed without charges in Israel. What was that about fighting for the rights of those you disagree with? Bueller?

These articles are all over now. Never mind that there's not a shred of evidence. None. Nothing. How simple does it have to be? Well, the Jewish Week simply says, "No smoking gun." (Funny, they'd demand one of Bush.) But there's not even less than that. Eh. Sentence first, trial later, if at all. Sound familiar?

`Oh, things that happened the week after next,' the Queen replied in a careless tone. `For instance, now,' she went on, sticking a large piece of plaster on her finger as she spoke, `there's the King's Messenger. He's in prison now, being punished: and the trial doesn't even begin till next Wednesday: and of course the crime comes last of all.'

Noam Federman would laugh bitterly at that.

Good Times, Good Times

First: Mr. Brosnan, say it ain't so. Say it's a negotiating ploy or something. We need one more Bond movie out of you. Just one, at least. Casino Royale, as Tarantino wants? Why not? It'd have a nice symmetry.

My college roommate's sister's name was Margarita (in Polish). She wasn't frozen, though- she was very nice. Frozen margaritas, on the other hand, can be very nice as well...

Where was I? Oh, yes. My birthday is Saturday! Yay! There's a longstanding tradition- I could go back and count the cards if you want to know how many years- of my ("younger"- older than me, but younger of two) sister giving me a Peanuts card. And although she's in Israel now, a card showed up in the mail yesterday. A very nice card, and a Hebrew Daf Hashavua, and a nice message...she's such a sweetie. As are my other two siblings (and parents, come to think), who I know have plans as well. Family is the most important thing, you know. And we've got these nice traditions in ours. I have to be alert Friday night, but know I'll forget. Maybe I'll report more Sunday. Anyway, being a bad brother, I finally got around to writing to her there only now. Email makes it so easy- why shouldn't we be in touch?

Also got some DVDs I ordered, and some Glarkware (more of both expected, though), and three magazines I was expecting- hit the jackpot, as my father would say. (Although: Mr. Feulner should show that "Useful Idiot" is a term from history and its use does not equate to someone using the word "idiot" as an insult. Furthermore, he tries to show that "there are baddies on each side" by comparing similar language used on both sides, but hey- sometimes one side is right and one side is wrong, you know? I'm sure he does.)

Well, the Forward features the pre-bat mitzvah (but somehow already twelve- I know, I know) "Kid for Kerry" founder on its cover. So predictable (I mean that it'd be a kike, among other things). So disgusting.

Oh- and she's "preternaturally self-possessed." Kids who are described like that need a slap upside their heads.

In better political news, John Derbyshire put me up on The Corner again, as his favorite post on a subject. Yay! again. (Speaking of The Corner, K-Lo calls Ms.  Preternatural "Little Orphan Annie"- only seeing the Forward cover do I get it, as I've been avoiding convention coverage outside of NR and Rush and links from them, like Jonah Goldberg on USA Today and Drudge- and bets she'll be a conservative in ten years. Her post above that one makes a good point too.

"Chicken Abortion"

That's a condemnation of eggs from someone who, I bet, has no problem with the real thing.

The rest of the exchange is priceless, though.

The husband and wife team in the office had a granchild, and, not neglecting us, brought pastries from the bris. Always nice.

My father was unable to finish all the kinot this year. I suggested to him that there were likely hundreds of kinot, and the fifty-odd that are in our editions are just a choice of a printer from earlier this century- so we're free to select even further (as my minyan did). I know there are other "modern" knot- for the Holocaust, for the York massacres, etc.- not included, but are there many other "classical" ones?

The Yeshiva College Alumni Association wants me to be Secretary! And the Republican National Convention wants me to be right in the middle of things! To paraphrase Dr. Evil, "I haven't been this excited since I was a little girl!"

At least they're entertaining. Not that I'm watching.

First Halle Berry, now Barack Obama? This sort of stuff makes me sick.

Heh (7/28). Follow the link listed there. More breaking today, of course- see Drudge, for example.

Also, via The Corner: Captions and more (and more).

Edited to add one more.

Am I the only person who finds the fact that Connecticut's official tourism ads push a place called the Griswold Museum funny? [Dead silence.] Come on, folks- Griswold? Connecticut?

A New Title

 

Someone this morning informed me that I'm a "feminist." As Jack Benny would say, "Well!"

In any event, feminist or not, I'm still uncomfortable with this piece of PC-pap. Under discussion is a new TV show about a firehouse, and the Times (yes, again) just has to put this in:

"The firemen (there are no women in this company)..."

Oh, yes. Do apologize for not using "firefighters" by stating the bloody obvious.

Ah, a new layout, the end of a week...how can you go wrong? (Sorry I lost all the old comments.) Be well, everyone.

Interesting. Most interesting to me is this line:

"But evidence to support this has been sketchy, and many marine scientists have clung to statistical models that say monstrous deviations from the normal sea state only occur once every thousand years. "

The scientists were wrong here. And all the "global warming" hysteria is based on...computer models.

Beautiful

 
 
The Sandy Berger story isn't even a day old, and already the news media have changed the story from "What did he do?" to "Why was the news released now?" The answer, as always, is "Blame Bush."

They've done this before. It's always disgusting.

Or LaGoyim

 
 
If having a bad reaction to this makes me a prude, then sign me up for more of it. If having an especially bad reaction to the third sentence of the fourth paragraph from the bottom makes me a religious chauvinist, then sign me up for more of that.

Huh?

From the Jerusalem Report (via Protocols):

After a recent Broadway matinee performance of "Fiddler on the Roof," a small group of Orthodox matrons clustered outside the Minskoff Theater on 46th Street. I asked them what they thought of the show. "That was our world until it was destroyed," lamented one, a survivor from Hungary. "I wept," added another quickly, rolling up a sleeve to reveal an Auschwitz tattoo.

To the first person: Huh? And to the second's actions: Huh?

Well, I know what's up, but I still wonder.

"Life Goes On, Man." - The Dude

And so it does, late-night troubling phone conversations and subsequent inability to sleep aside. Speaking of the Dude, I really want to go to the NY Lebowski Fest.
 
I don't expect extensive American Jewish histories to mention Kahane and the JDL, and don't blame them if they don't, but the official 350th anniversary timeline does! Whoo-hoo!

The Jewish Defense League is established in New York City in response to what its founder Rabbi Meir Kahane sees as a rise in anti-Semitism. Two years later, the JDL is condemned for sitting in at the New York Federation and demanding $6,000,000 for Jewish education.

Did they really have to throw in the editorial comment about "condemned?" Why just say what they did? Besides, who, exactly, "condemned?" I'm sure some people approved. The Federation- which partially runs the official site- might have, but still.

Perfect

I'm making my way through The Great Gatsby now, courtesy of the Times' summer serials.  I never read it before, but since I won't get the paper tomorrow or Sunday, I'll have to think of some way to finish it.
 
Anyway, I found a great line in it today:  

"I read somewhere that the sun's getting hotter every year," said Tom genially. "It seems that pretty soon the Earth's going to fall into the sun- or wait a minute- it's just the opposite- the sun's getting colder every year."

Remind you of something?

Mmm, pretty new Blogger format.
 
A fellow Blogger just referred to me as a "Bhudda with a sword." I like that.

Shabbat Shalom, all!

"Got his head knocked off by a golf ball. Tragic! Tragic!"

As Sherlock Holmes might say, I am wondering....just wondering!

I've complained about Buckley before, but his retirement is making me wonder what, when you come down to it, is the big deal about him. Oh, sure, he may have gotten the conservative movement started way back when, done a lot, had an influence, etc. But "What have you done for me lately?" as the fella says. His columns, for example: The vast majority posit no solid point of view at all, merely present facts. (Notable exceptions involve religion. More below.) A rather annoying point about them is that he loooooves to number his points and paragraphs. It makes them look like unfinished outlines, not essays. And the big words and convoluted grammar just distract from the point he is (or isn't) trying to make.

But the recent pieces written about him reveal a few much more troubling points. Take this, for example- but the same things have appeared elsewhere as well.

First, it's quite clear that the Left likes Buckley because he allows them to posit that there is one- just one- intellectual on the Right; ergo, all other Rightists are boors. Buckley is rich, upper class, educated- all the things they like. The point is often made explicitly. And Buckley seems to encourage it, and National Review links to such pieces.

A few months back, Rush Limbaugh (disparaged by name as the "other type of conservative" in some of the pieces just mentioned) was given a similar treatment in Time Magazine. They asked him similar things- where he disagreed with Bush, ideas on the war, etc. He refused to answer, stating that he knew that if he did, that would be the headline. Buckley seems oblivious to this. Since his announcement, he's allowed all interviewers to lead him into condemning Bush. And they've highlighted it.

At least, I hope he's oblivious. He has seemed to be going out of his way to stress this, even praising the American Conservative magazine, a "paleo-con" publication. So he's either turning his back on his followers or dumber than a bag of hammers. And I don't particularly hope for the latter.

But he walks into other things too. "Do you have gay friends," they ask, and he answers, as if it were a normal question. He doesn't attack the foundation of their points. And he feels that job number one for Bush and the G.O.P. should be gay marriage. There's the Catholic, stressing religion above all. (He was educated in an English Catholic school. I wonder if there's a persecution complex imparted there- Cromwell and Henry VIII and all that.)

Anyway. Let's see how the magazine changes, if at all, without him. The drugs thing, for example, always seemed to me to be a personal crusade of his. Oddly, the articles on him now have the flavor of obituaries. Me, I hope he lives many more happy years. However, he should either (borrowing his style):

1) Get a solid conservative education, for example by reading some current stuff that's out there;

2) Learn from Rush when and how to talk to the press; or,

3) Keep his mouth shut.

On a more local level: I heard State Senator Malcolm Smith speak at a little get together in my neighborhood yesterday (his district only touches us slightly, but you get support where you can). And you know what? Sure, he's a Democrat, and all that- but a more solid point of view I've never heard. I think things are different in the black neighborhoods of southeast Queens (he's a Floyd Flake man). And a nice guy, too.

Later, people!

It occurs to me that Bush really doesn't care about the politics of it all. I was just asked to say something negative about Edwards. Well, sure, there's lots I could say, but one important thing that's been noted is how political the pick was, there not to add anything that Kerry lacks, but simply to add more political appeal. Bush, of course, picked Cheney specifically to add heft to his administration, and was pilloried for it, as if there was something wrong with that. And he's holding on to Cheney, despite all these irrational attacks and hatred. And furthermore, that means the Republicans won't have an automatic "heir" to run four years from now. But Bush, bless his innocent soul, seems to simply be in this to do a good job, not score political points. It's a disadvantage, sure, and I wish he might be just a wee bit otherwise, but it's one big reason to like him.

Have a Shabbat Shalom and a good weekend, all.

Y'know, sometimes I really wonder how Jews- Jews committed to Judaism, that is- and who are all gaga over Democrats and their ilk (and yes, here I'm thinking of Mr. Moore) can seriously- well, I won't say "live with themselves," but perhaps "intellectually justify themselves." When I first started voting, I decided to look at things this way: Who else is pulling that lever? Who else is voting for Bill Clinton? Al Sharpton? Well, my finger will not touch the same lever as him. Let's just say that in over ten years of voting, I've never voted for a Democrat.

So: Who's voting for John Kerry? Read this, and ask yourself how you can. Honestly? I've read plenty of disgusting things, but this, in light of how Mr. Moore has been lionized, is truly sickening. A full page ad in the Times today for this very book says, "Think the movie is controversial? Wait 'til you read the book." They mean the book here.

Yes, I feel there's much more to an election than Israel, and too many Jews have blinkered views on who to vote for. But statements like these betray a mindset that goes far beyond one issue. And they can't be ignored.

Im Tirtzu, Ein Zeh Agada

Tonight marks the hundredth yahrzeit of Theodore Herzl, zichrono livracha.

(Thanks to PZil for the Hebrew-Aramaic.)

The Four Chaplains

Last night, I stopped by the bookstore to look up a new book about the Four Chaplains. (Amazon also lists a novel based on the story, and a related book.) I knew the story and most of the details already, but it never fails to get to me, even reading it online. This book is quite good- the author seems to specialize in books about ship sinkings where there weren't rescues for tactical reasons, and so focuses on that as well, but he presents a good overall picture. Here are a couple of other sites on the Chaplains. More people should know their story.

-The story.

-The "official" site (for want of a better term).

-On the special medal.

New comments format, and some other tweaks. Let's see what happens...

The House of Hock takes on an attack on Ephraim Zuroff by Jonathan Rosenblum. I'd like to make a few observations about other parts of Rosenblum's column:

"That leads Modern Orthodox parents, like their chareidi counterparts, to a greater recognition of the necessity to shield their children from much of contemporary society."

This is wrong on a number of counts. First, chareidim never meant to shield their children from "contemporary society." After all, they existed before contemporary times. Rather, they meant to cut themselves off from everything outside Torah. Ergo, shielding one's children from a corrupt modern culture does not make one a chareidi. One can still, say, read Shakespeare and listen to Mozart (or watch a good modern TV show), something an honest chareidi would not.

"For instance, it is now possible for chareidim to earn their B.A. degrees without ever setting foot into a secular college."

Um, it's been possible to do that for over 75 years, through the good offices of Yeshiva University. I earned my B.A. without "setting foot" in a secular college, and I'm no chareidi.

"The Schottenstein Talmud, for example, has led to an exponential increase in Talmud learning..." [Here he is listing chareidi accomplishments.]

And the Schottensteins are anything but chareidi. And exactly what their Talmud accomplishes is another question.

"The huge resources, both human and monetary, invested by the chareidi world in kiruv work completely refute Efraim Zuroff’s claim that the chareidi world shows no concern for secular Jews, and seeks to live in total isolation from them."

Putting money into kiruv doesn't neccesarily demonstrate being open to the outside world- quite the opposite. It arguably shows you only care about others to the extent they'll become more like you.

"What these chains are doing is a horrible precedent for the movie business, and it shows exactly how fragile the First Amendment is," said Tom Ortenberg, the president of Lions Gate Entertainment, which is distributing "Fahrenheit 9/11."

No, Tom. Repeat after me: These theaters are not government. The First Amendment applies only to government. Ergo, the First Amendment is not in danger.

This, on the other hand, shows how fragile the First Amendment is, especially as it applies to Moore. But don't expect liberals to criticize the government, especially when something they pushed for turns around and bites 'em on the ass.

The House of Hock points out that Brando's accusations weren't far off: Jews do run Hollywood, and outside the whining nebbish, there aren't many Jewish stereotypes (especially the classic ones). Of course, Brando was nuts, obsessed with the Indians and feeling Hollywood was out to get them and racial minorities in general (maybe in the fifties, but not for many years). And then you read this (no mention of Star Trek, alas), and you start to wonder if Brando had a point:

Mr. MacFarlane describes himself as "an equal opportunity offender," and the series seems to take special pleasure in ridiculing Protestants, Roman Catholics, Jews, blacks, gays, feminists, Arabs, Europeans - just about everyone. Everything is also grist for the show: minority quotas, disability claims, Aunt Jemima, sexual harassment.

But then,

Although Fox programming practices executives are constantly negotiating with Mr. MacFarlane and his staff over the show's language, taste and subjects, only one episode, "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein," was killed by the network. In it Peter, a beer-swilling, porno-loving loser, decides that to make money, he has to kidnap a Jewish man and force him to act as his adviser because Jews are so smart.

By the way, today is July 2nd, the actual date of American independence. (They declared on the 2nd, and approved of the Declaration- the document- on the 4th.) So a happy and meaningful Independence Day and weekend to all.

"To have a Happy Fourth, get a fifth on the third!"

This is hi-larious.

This man has real psychological issues.

Also check out this, along with the only pieces from last night and today there. A very good piece.

Enjoy!

Marlon Brando has passed away. Sure, he had all those great roles. But to me, there'll always be The Freshman. I should buy it.

Well, as I expected, the kikes have come out of the woodwork with the inevitable catcalls. I was going to post this link anyway, but this makes it more important. Brando put up for the Jews when it was important, and that needs to be remembered.

Whew. It seem I've landed myself in a bit of a contretemps. Ah well. Makes life interesting.