One of my favorite activities is finding interesting juxtapositions in newspapers- articles where the editors clearly did not (and had no reason to) realize how funny and/or ironic the two appear when viewed together. In fact, one of my two letters in the New York Times was based on that very concept.

With that in mind, I present, without comment, two headlines from today's English Haaretz. They appear right next to each other on the first page, below the fold:

Supreme Court to rule on Palestinian hunger striker

Israeli cabinet supports involuntary hospitalization of anorexia patients 

To which I can only say, "Ha!"

By the way, speaking of Haaretz (it's my better half who pays for it, before you ask- I personally can't wait for them to go under, and I suspect she can't either), one thing I love (not) is the way they present stories as if the point is just so obvious they don't have to spell their outrage out. Witness:

Education Ministry school program presents Gush Katif as the epitome of Zionism

It's pretty obvious that the newspaper's intention is that we get the vapors and reach for the smelling salts. My reaction, of course, is "BOO-YA!"

Peace out, friends.

"Jackie Treehorn treats objects like women, man!"

"How's the smut business, Jackie?"

“I wouldn’t know, Dude. I deal in publishing, entertainment, political advocacy.”

“What one was 'Logjammin'?”

“Regrettably, it’s true. Standards have fallen in adult entertainment."

Ben Gazzara, RIP.

During Pesukei D'Zimra today, a young man came in with a Sephardi Sefer Torah- the ornate kind in a wooden box, heavily decorated in silver. They put it in the Aron, and then took it out later for keriyat  hatorah. The gabbai announced that it's a very old Sefer- another man said over two hundred years old- that was captured in the Old City by the Jordanians in 1948. King Abdullah (great grandfather of the current King Abdullah) then gave it back after someone told him it was bad luck to take a Sefer Torah, and it is on display in the museum upstairs from the Beit Knesset (in Heichal Shlomo). Once a year they take it down to layn from it. Isn't that nice?