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Touching Base

Unfortunately, I am too busy to blog about anything of substance.  Have begun a several times per week yoga class which is taking up a lot of time and am elbow-deep in Sunday school related activities.  Have to rouse the parents of my students to help plan a Chanukah party.  I sent an email out with some suggestions of activities for the kids, depending on what the parents want to do:

- We could pre-bake cookies cut out in Chanukah shapes, and have the kids decorate them.

- Latkes with apple sauce - best to have parents make them and kids bring them in.

- Play the dreidel game with chocolate gelt for those who win. (and plenty of extra for those who don't)

- Make their own menorahs - - I have books with ideas in them.  They do require materials such as blocks of wood, thread spools, nuts and bolts, paint, plastic cups, colored sand, etc.  It would be work, but they are a nice keepsake remembrance. (I still have the ones my kids made)

- Something a bit easier is to make Chanukah decorations.  For example, they place their hands, palm side down, with thumbs touching, on a poster board.  Their hands are outlined with a marker.  They can use the outline to make a picture of a menorah and make flames with glue and glitter, etc.

- Sponge painted Chanukah wrapping paper

- They could make Chanukah picture frames as gifts for family.  Glue tongue depressors or popsicle sticks together, mount on cardboard and decorate.

-They could make coupon books for family: Back massage, wash dishes, offer an hour of play with a younger sibling, etc.

At back to school day, one of the concerns the parents had was that their kids get to know one another better, because for most of them, Hebrew school is the only opportunity they have to make Jewish friends.  So, last week I had them all write down different things about themselves on index cards - hobbies, favorite books, TV shows, favorite foods, etc etc.  I took a picture of each student with a digital camera and will print them out and make a big poster with their name, their index cards of information, and their picture. This way, they can browse and look for others who have similar interests, likes and dislikes. But the poster won't make itself...do I have enough ink in my printer...? 

The two and a half hours a week they spend with me is very short.  Not much time to do all the things I'd like to do.  This week, I will do a brief run through of the exodus from Egypt (we will revisit it at Passover and pay it the justice it deserves), an end to wandering, settling in the land of Israel, an into to the concept of Prophets and Judges, and the story of Deborah and the role of women during biblical times. 

Plus, we are making Tzedakah boxes in preparation for our next unit:  Tikkun Olam/Mitzvot.

No way I will get to it all, but we are running behind schedule because they decided to stick a Mitzvah Mania program mittendrin (in the middle of everything) a couple of weeks ago.  It was a terrific program, but we lost a week, and now Chanukah is approaching and so, we're doing the Evelyn Woodstein speed method of Torah study until we catch up. No time for any kind of reinforcement of lessons.  Just throw it out there and hope it sticks.  Not the way I like to do things, but there's no choice at the moment. 

I am making study guides and giving them to the kids to put into a notebook.  Maybe I will have them use their notebooks to pick through for ideas in order to write epic poems explaining "everything I've learned so far" when we have a moment to breathe - hopefully we will have a moment to breathe somewhere down the line...

And my house somehow became a mess over Thanksgiving, and I have to balance the checkbook oh, and I just remembered a very important phone call I forgot to make. Yikes.

Better run.

Comments

I don't know if anyone else is having any trouble, but I've been unable to answer anyone's comments on the blog today.  The comments feature just isn't working for me.  Sorry.

It's Very Simple, Tutu - - Updated

Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu has been named to head a United Nations fact-finding mission to the Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanun, where at least 18 civilians were killed earlier this month, UN officials said Wednesday.

The South African anti-Apartheid campaigner and former Anglican archbishop of Cape Town will travel to the Palestinian territory to "assess the situation of victims, address the needs of survivors and make recommendations on ways and means to protect Palestinian civilians against further Israeli assaults," according to the president of the UN Human Rights Council, Luis Alfonso De Alba.

There is a very simple 100% guaranteed way to protect Palestinian civilians against further Israeli "assaults."

Stop killing Israelis.

It takes neither a rocket scientist nor a Nobel laureate to figure it out.

UPDATE:

Yid With Lid has links to many bloggers who are discussing le Tutu and his new job as meddler in affairs that he has nothing to do with. Come to think of it, Nobel laureates are perfect for such tasks.  First, they visit and stick their noses here and there, then they make a speech or two.  Then, they preen and display their tail feathers.

The Nobel Laureate struts and spreads his feathers

Providing Cover to the Heirs of Anne Frank's Killers

Why Rachel Corrie Is Not the New Anne Frank - James Kirchick (New Republic)

• In the 90-minute, one-woman show "My Name is Rachel Corrie," playing in New York, Corrie looks either like one of the upper-middle-class kids who take Latin American latrine-digging vacations to buff up their college resumes, or one of the "political pilgrims" who ventured to totalitarian lands and returned to boast of slumming it with the liberated natives.
• In a photo circulated after her death, Corrie flaunts her hatred of the U.S. by burning a mock American flag while Palestinian children crowd around her.
• In prostrating herself before an Israeli bulldozer, Corrie actually became that which she was (unwittingly, perhaps) protecting: the Palestinian suicide martyr. She received the martyr treatment, becoming a pieta of the anti-Israel movement.
• Due to the epistolary basis of "My Name is Rachel Corrie," comparisons have been made to "The Diary of Anne Frank." Anne Frank was a probing character whose blameless observations of fascist Europe demonstrated the cruelty of a period in which children were perfunctorily murdered. Rachel Corrie was a know-it-all who deliberately placed herself in the wrong place at the wrong time.
• What's more, there is an issue of moral culpability among antagonists. Obviously, Frank's murderers had it. But Corrie died, accidentally, after giving intellectual (and actual) cover to those who are, essentially, the heirs of Frank's killers.

Liberalism vs Zionism

If allowed, ultimately liberalism would murder Judaism.  Benjamin Kerstein writes:

Zionism proposes the concrete as an answer to the failure of words. Enough with your good will, says the Zionist, give me ground underneath my feet. This is no small thing, nor insignificant. The Weimar constitution was a model of liberalism at its most sublime and beautiful, the League of Nations a fine ideal, and the French revolution the epitome of liberal utopianism. We may go further back to Christianity’s creed of love for all, the Enlightenment’s ideology of tolerance and debate, the Marxist ideals of solidarity and equality… There is, in fact, no end to this graveyard of modernism, all of it leading, for the Jewish people, to precisely the same place: the Terror. Zionism’s success rests in the fact that it recognized earlier than any other Jewish movement an essential truth about liberalism’s professed ideals: they are completely meaningless. And that, for the Jewish people, this meaninglessness would mean destruction.

...liberalism seeks to destroy Judaism because it must. Because it cannot stop and will not stop. Jewish particularism, the very existence of the Jewish people as a particular nation, a particular civilization, a particular people, is an affront to liberalism’s universalist imperialism. Judaism and liberalism are opposed not because of Judaism but because of liberalism. Judaism desires to exist and to continue to exist. Liberalism desires to subsume and become everything that exists. The result of this contradiction, and if liberalism is incapable of anything, it is accepting contradiction (Judaism, on the other hand, exists in its contradictions) are fairly plain to see. The primary concern of certain of our intellectuals appears to be, not that liberalism has turned itself against the Jews, but that the Jews are insufficient collaborators in the project of their own sublimation.

   

Very Fluffy

A recipe for Squash Souffle that I found on the internet is spreading like a virus in my family.  Everyone loves it and it's easy to make.  My 13-year old niece, who has not eaten a vegetable since sometime in the year 2000, scarfed it down over Thanksgiving to everyone's amazement. My oldest son noted that she'd doubled what she'd eaten the previous Thanksgiving.  Last year she had only turkey on her plate.  This year, she had turkey and a nice serving of the squash.  I said to her that now we know she likes it, we could try doing all kinds of veggie souffles - broccoli, asparagus, brussel sprouts, tomato, cucumber,etc.  She laughed at her crazy aunt and said no. I have such a way with the teenage girl crowd. (Frankly, I am horrified that I once WAS a teenage girl.  My word, but they are the most difficult people on earth to please.)

The recipe belongs to a former Governor of Connecticut, John G. Rowland, who despite being an excellent administator of the state, is best know for being thrown out of office and sent to prison.  I guess it needs no further introduction:

1 package frozen squash

2 cups milk or cream

3 eggs

1/4 pound melted butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

Dash of salt & cinnamon

Mix dry ingredients together. Mix defrosted squash with melted butter. Beat cream with eggs. Mix all ingredients together in blender or food processor. Pour into greased 2-quart casserole dish, sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 1 to 1-1/4 hours, then serve.

I always double the recipe.  My SIL made it with fresh squash - we figured 10 oz of fresh squash roughly equals a box of frozen.  She cut it up into chunks, boiled the hell out of it and then mashed it, and then proceeded with the rest of the recipe.  I've been lazy and skipped using a blender/mixer/food processor in the past, and it came out fine. Oh - this is very important and I almost forgot to mention it - you must also mix in 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg, and sprinkle an additional bit over the top after you've poured the batter into the baking dish.    

Here's the link.  More about the former governor and his escapades can be found here.

Battlestar Gallactica

Dark, compelling, fascinating characters, well-written, terrific acting, different from anything else I've ever seen on TV - I love this show.  It took me a few episodes to get into it, but once I did, I was completely hooked. If you like science fiction and are interested:

"Battlestar Galactica: The Story So Far"
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr00zwM1fa0
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ma1s1UlYKE
Part 3: http://youtube.com/watch?v=EBvChecBwsQ
Part 4: http://youtube.com/watch?v=wdhbQhNujXo
Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB3gQK8ghtQ

Games

Cute little games.  Mindless, but so adorable.

Oh My

Brittney Spears has a Sharon Stone moment that Paris Hilton can't quite prevent from being photographed.  Ordinarily, I would not share a faux pas like this, but if you wear a short skirt and "forget" to wear underwear, I guess you don't exactly care, do you? MNBSFW.

Saddam and Osama!

This made me laugh:

Negativity Markers Are Off the Scale

There is absolutely nothing pleasant in the news today.  There hasn't been anything pleasant for a while, actually.  The Middle East is a roiling mass of hissing snakes - - no biggie, but I thought we were supposed to be stomping them to death or charming them back into the basket or something... Israel's Olmert offers peace everything but the kitchen sink to the Palestinians, and receives bombs and ridiculous demands in return.(Surprise!)  The vulture-like media can't wait to declare defeat and begin picking over the delicate innards of the dead carcass.  The WaPo reports that Iran may have nuclear weapons by 2010 (ever see the movie 2010? F'only our worst problem was the Soviets...).  The King of Jordan is worried about three civil wars.  And Christopher Hitchens wraps everything up in a nice little bow.

In order to cancel out this depressing negativity, I plan to post nothing but comedy and fluff (lots of fluff) for the rest of the day.

Who are Most Caring and Most Giving?

Conservatives.

1948: The Birth of Modern Israel

This post was not inspired by any anniversary or anything.  I just happened to be browsing through YouTube and found some interesting films that I wanted to post. 

As the Israelis try yet one more time for a ceasefire so many years after the vote for partition in 1947, and as they offer to trade multiple prisoners in exchange for the return of just one soldier - because to Jews each and every life is uniquely precious - I look back at Jewish history, and can't help wondering - when will Jews ever be free to live in peace?

"I hold out my hand in peace to our Palestinian neighbours in the hope that it won't be returned empty," 

"We cannot change the past and we will not be able to bring back the victims on both sides of the borders. All that we can do today is stop additional tragedies."

-Ehud Olmert, November 28, 2006

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Holocaust survivors, imprisoned, beaten down, used as slave labor, family and friends murdered, starved, sick, chased out of Europe, nowhere to go - - and  attacked by the arabs from moment one. 

Yet it must not be forgotten that not all Israelis were Europeans. There has been a continuous presence of Jews in Israel from Roman times up until the formation of modern day Israel.

From the Jerusalem Center For Public Affairs:

Israel is the only state that was created in the last century whose legitimacy was recognized by both the League of Nations and the United Nations.⁴ The League of Nations Mandate that was issued by the victorious powers of World War I did not create the rights of the Jewish people to a national home in Palestine, but rather recognized a pre-existing right, for the links of the Jewish people to their historic land were well-known and accepted in the previous century by world leaders from President John Adams to Napoleon Bonaparte to British Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston.⁵ These rights were preserved by the successor organization to the League of Nations, the United Nations, under Article 80 of the UN Charter. The ancient, even biblical, association of the Jewish people with the Land of Israel was accepted in the Judeo-Christian tradition as a historical axiom.

From a legal standpoint, an opportunity arose to assert these historically recognized rights. Since 1517, Eretz Israel had been under the sovereignty of the Ottoman Empire; when the Ottomans lost to the British in 1918, in the Treaty of Sevres they surrendered sovereignty over their Asiatic territories outside of Turkey. A vacuum of sovereignty was created in which the historic claim of the Jewish people could be raised. Yet the Jewish people themselves had begun raising it much earlier.

Since the loss of the Second Jewish Commonwealth to Roman legions in 70 CE, and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, the Jewish people never lost their connection to the Land of Israel (Palestine). The land, in fact, was never claimed to be the unique home of another nation, but rather was a province of other larger empires. As the renowned historian of the Middle East, Bernard Lewis, has written:

From the end of the Jewish state in antiquity to the beginning of British rule, the area now designated by the name Palestine was not a country and had no frontiers, only administrative boundaries; it was a group of provincial subdivisions, by no means always the same, within a larger entity.⁶

In the interim, the Jewish people never stopped exercising their claim to the land. Lewis, in fact, notes "there had been a steady movement of Jews to the Holy Land throughout the centuries."⁷ In 135 CE Jews took part in the Bar Kochba revolt against imperial Rome and even re-established their capital in Jerusalem. Defeated by the most brutal of the Roman legions under the command of the emperor Hadrian, Jews were forbidden to reside in Jerusalem for nearly five hundred years. Once a year on the ninth of the Hebrew month of Av, they were allowed to weep at the remains of their destroyed Temple at a spot that came to be called "the Wailing Wall." In the meantime, the Roman authorities renamed Judea as Palestina in order to obliterate the memory of Jewish nationhood.

During this period, the Jewish national center shifted from Judea to the Galilee, where hundreds of synagogues were erected from the Mediterranean to the Golan Heights. Jewish law was then codified in the Mishnah by Judah Ha-Nasi. Despite the catastrophic losses in Jewish lives during the wars against the Romans, Jews still constituted the majority of the population of the Galilee in the fourth century. In the Upper Galilee village of Pek'in there remained a continuous Jewish presence from the Roman era to the rise of the State of Israel.

With the defeat of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine) by Persian armies in 614, the Jewish people recaptured Jerusalem and made it again their capital briefly. Yet Byzantine rule was soon restored and Jews were forced again to vacate Jerusalem until the defeat of the Byzantines in 638 by the Islamic armies of Caliph Omar, who again opened the city for Jewish resettlement. Eretz Israel became a part of successive Muslim empires - the Rashidun (the immediate followers of the Prophet Muhammad, who ruled from Medina), the Umayyads (who ruled from Damascus), the Abbasids (who ruled from Baghdad), and the Fatimids (who ruled from Cairo).

Under Islam, Jews were to be protected as a "people of the book," but were nonetheless forced to pay discriminatory taxes like the jizya (poll tax) and the kharaj (land tax). The crushing burden of these land taxes led to a loss of Jewish land control in the Galilee during the first several centuries of Islamic rule. During the Crusader occupation of Eretz Israel, many Jews were physically slaughtered, especially in Jerusalem. Nevertheless, the great Jewish scholar and poet Rabbi Yehuda Halevi (1075-1141) still called for the mass immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel.⁸

The beginnings of Jewish recovery in Eretz Israel started with the defeat and expulsion of the Crusaders in 1187 by the Kurdish Muslim warrior Salah ad-Din who, like Caliph Omar, allowed the Jews to resettle in Jerusalem. For example, between 1209 and 1211, three hundred rabbis made their way from France and southern England to settle in Jerusalem, once it was safe again to do so. They were joined by rabbis from North Africa and Egypt. The great Jewish scholar Nachmanides (Ramban) erected a synagogue in Jerusalem in 1267 that still stands in the Old City.

In the thirteenth century, Jewish families restored the community of Safed, which would become the international center for the study of Jewish mysticism by the sixteenth century. Reinforced by their rising numbers, Jews became assertive again about their claim in Jerusalem, so that the pope forbade sea captains from transporting Jews to Palestine in 1428.⁹ Despite the hardships, Jews continued to return. The great commentator of the Mishnah, Ovadia Bartinura, left Italy to settle in Jerusalem in 1488; his tomb is at the foot of the Mt. of Olives.

The influx of Jewish refugees from the Spanish Inquisition in 1492 into the Ottoman Empire, which took control of Eretz Israel in 1517, led to a substantial expansion of the Jewish presence in Safed, Hebron, and Tiberias, where Sultan Sulaiman the Magnificent allotted his Portugese Jewish advisor, Don Joseph Nasi, land grants for Jewish resettlement. Even before the rise of modern political Zionism, Jews continued to stream into the land from Yemen and Lithuania, whose numbers included the students of the halakhic scholar the Vilna Gaon in 1809-1811. By 1864, a clear-cut Jewish majority emerged in Jerusalem, more than half a century before the arrival of the British Empire, the issuing of the Balfour Declaration, and the establishment of the League of Nations Mandate.

*************************

The Vote For Partition:

The partition plan was approved by 33 to 13, with 10 abstentions.

The 33 countries that cast the “Yes” vote were: Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Byelorussia, Canada, Costa Rica, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Guatemala, Haiti, Iceland, Liberia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Sweden, Ukraine, Union of South Africa, USSR, USA, Uruguay, Venezuela. (Among other countries, the list includes the US, the three British Dominions, all the European countries except for Greece and the UK, but including all the Soviet-block countries.)

The 13 countries that chose the Hall of Shame and voted “No” were: Afghanistan, Cuba, Egypt, Greece, India, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Yemen. (Ten of these are Moslem countries; Greece has the special distinction of being the only European country to have joined the Hall of Shame.)

The ten countries that abstained are: Argentina, Chile, China, Colombia, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Honduras, Mexico, United Kingdom, Yugoslavia.

On November 30, 1947, the day following the vote, the Palestinian Arabs murdered six Jews in a bus making its way to Jerusalem, and proceeded to murder another Jew in the Tel-Aviv - Jaffa area. This was a prelude to a war that claimed the lives of 6,000 Jews, or 1% of the total Jewish population in 1948. This toll is the per capita equivalent of today’s Canada losing 300,000 lives, or the US losing 3,000,000. In addition, immediately after the UN vote, Arabs attacks their Jewish neighbours in a number of Arab countries, the murders in Syria’s Aleppo being the best known.

Translation:

The Hope

As long as the Jewish spirit is yearning deep in the heart,

With eyes turned toward the East, looking toward Zion,

Then our hope - the two-thousand-year-old hope - will not be lost:

To be a free people in our land,

The land of Zion and Jerusalem.

Afghanistan Loves Rumsfeld and the US

US Centcom reports:

Afghanistan’s defense minister thanked the United States today for its steadfast support for his country, specifically recognizing the U.S. troops who have served and sacrificed there and outgoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak told Pentagon reporters Afghanistan is indebted to the United States for the progress it’s made during the past five years. “These achievements would not have been possible without the advice, guidance and generous support we have received from the United States,” he said.

Wardak gave special thanks to Army Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, commander of Combined Forces Command Afghanistan, who joined him at the podium, as well as Rumsfeld, whom he met with before today’s news conference.

“Secretary Rumsfeld has been a great support of the Afghan cause as a whole,” he said. “He played a fundamental role in delivering Afghanistan from years of destruction, occupation and civil war.”

Afghanistan as a nation “has all the love, respect and admiration for him,” Wardak said of Rumsfeld. “He founded a security relationship that will endure, and we have every intention to build on those relations.”

Wardak expressed “the profound and everlasting gratitude of the Afghan government and people for everything the United States government and people are doing to help deliver Afghanistan from years of terror and destruction.”

The Afghan defense minister also recognized the U.S. forces who have served in Afghanistan, noting the commitment they have shown and the sacrifices they have made.

“They are representing your great nation proudly and demonstrating the high standards of service and professionalism,” he said. “I pray that their sacrifices will one day no longer be necessary, and that my own nation will be able to repay its debt through our enduring partnership with the United States.”

Sometimes I Wonder if...

...my sense of humor is too subtle.

Regarding Ex-President Carter's New Book

It is distorted (euphemism for "dishonest") and Alan Dershowitz explains how, with references and supporting evidence.  Dershowitz writes:

Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid is so biased that it inevitably raises the question of what would motivate Jimmy Carter to write such an indecent book.

...Palestinian-Arab terrorism is virtually missing from Mr. Carter's entire historical account, which blames nearly everything on Israel and almost nothing on the Palestinians. Incredibly, he asserts that the initial violence in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict occurred when "Jewish militants" attacked Arabs in 1939. The long history of Palestinian terrorism against Jews -- which began in 1929, when the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem ordered the slaughter of more than 100 rabbis, students, and non-Zionist Sephardim whose families had lived in Hebron and other ancient Jewish cities for millennia -- was motivated by religious bigotry. The Jews responded to this racist violence by establishing a defense force. There is no mention of the long history of Palestinian terrorism before the occupation, or of the Munich massacre and others inspired by Yasser Arafat. There is not even a reference to the Karine A, the boatful of terrorist weapons ordered by Arafat in January 2002.

Mr. Carter's book is so filled with simple mistakes of fact and deliberate omissions that were it a brief filed in a court of law, it would be struck and its author sanctioned for misleading the court. Mr. Carter too is guilty of misleading the court of public opinion. A mere listing of all of Mr. Carter's mistakes and omissions would fill a volume the size of his book.

Read the whole thing.

And For This We Are Truly Thankful

I was in the grocery store on Saturday, waiting for the woman in front of me to finish her order at the deli counter.  She was blonde and beautiful, and she was with three blonde and beautiful teens.  Two of them were talking, loudly enough for me to hear a snippet of their conversation from about 8 feet away.  The boy says to the girl, "Everyone sees my nose and always thinks I am Jewish.  And I have to keep telling them I am not."  Her reply was unitelligible, but after it, he yelled, "I am not a Jew, goddammit."

Ok.  Glad we have that settled.

Iraq Study Group Recommendations

Being an Amateur

Let me start by stating the plain-as-the-(for this purpose generic)nose-on-my-face obvious: I am an amateur.  I am not a writer.  I don't make my living at punditry.  I may write have written things that are totally off the wall. Hopefully, readers know by now not to take me too seriously. 

Now, paid writers who write for major publications - that's something else, is it not? What are we to think when they posit an idea that strikes us as...crazy?   

Perhaps the article I refer to below has been written tongue-in-cheek and I've totally missed the boat.  Or perhaps it's just another one of those progressive/liberal dig-type things, where they are trying to say that Bush has messed things up so badly, we'd be better off...re-instating Saddam Hussein?

Judge for yourself.  Is this serious? Jonathan Chait, professional writer, writes:

THE DEBATE about Iraq has moved past the question of whether it was a mistake (everybody knows it was) to the more depressing question of whether it is possible to avert total disaster. Every self-respecting foreign policy analyst has his own plan for Iraq. The trouble is that these tracts are inevitably unconvincing, except when they argue why all the other plans would fail. It's all terribly grim.

So allow me to propose the unthinkable: Maybe, just maybe, our best option is to restore Saddam Hussein to power.

Serious? Yes or no?

...Restoring the expectation of order in Iraq will take some kind of large-scale psychological shock. The Iraqi elections were expected to offer that shock, but they didn't. The return of Saddam Hussein — a man every Iraqi knows, and whom many of them fear — would do the trick.

The disadvantages of reinstalling Hussein are obvious, but consider some of the upside. He would not allow the country to be dominated by Iran, which is the United States' major regional enemy, a sponsor of terrorism and an instigator of warfare between Lebanon and Israel. Hussein was extremely difficult to deal with before the war, in large part because he apparently believed that he could defeat any U.S. invasion if it came to that. Now he knows he can't. And he'd probably be amenable because his alternative is death by hanging.

I know why restoring a brutal tyrant to power is a bad idea. Somebody explain to me why it's worse than all the others.

Jonathan Chait is probably a very smart guy, scholastically. He's a good writer, knows all the rules of grammar, has an excellent vocabulary, and can string words together in a smooth and professional way.  I'll bet he received lots of A's from his professors in journalism school. 

But other than that, what the hell does he know?

Perhaps not more than me, boys and girls.   

I wrote a post half in jest, half in frustration below.  Though I feel extremely disheartened with the situation in the Middle East, I nevertheless do think we can find a strategy or two for fixing things which would make a bit more sense than putting Saddam back in charge. Maybe if we put our little brains together and think for 1/2 a minute, we could find one.

Surely, Democratic leadership will not tie the US military down in such a way that bringing back Saddam would be the only choice to peace.

I don't think Iraq was a mistake. I DO think the handling of Iraq was bungled beyond recognition. I think we have not used enough strength. I think we have not grabbed enough people by the shirt collars and said, "Look you M-F, this is the way it's going to be." I am completely serious. Our enemies are deadly, they sense weakness and are exploiting it for all it's worth. They sensed it in us before the war, they have read it in our mainstream media, and they see it in the way we voted the Republican party out of power.

Things have turned out the way they have because we have allowed it to be that way. If Iraqis are mad at us for that, I can't say that I blame them. I'd like to be able to add that for their own good, they'd best not be thinking of joining the other side against us, but you know, it really isn't much of a threat because we are nothing but a bunch of soft-handed wimps and everyone knows it. 

I remember the disappointment I felt when Spain voted out Aznar after the terrorist bombings in Madrid.  Well, essentially, we've done the same thing.

But don't worry.  Just wait until they get a load of the secret weapon we've been hiding in our in our back pockets!  Then they'll know what it means to try to face down the United States of America. Yeah. Scorn and shun, babay.

Haveil Havalim #95

The latest edition of Haveil Havalim is up at Smooth Stone. It's well put together, very readable and there are many interesting links to check out.

Read it, and as my grandparents used to say, gai gesunte hait. (Go in good health.)

Pharmacy

Prescription GIF from:

My Opinion on Iraq

My opinion has changed completely over the past few weeks since the recent elections.  I would like to apologize for being wrong and to ask forgiveness.

Bush should not have sent in troops without bipartisan and most importantly, worldwide support.  The United States is a weakling and requires everyone's help to accomplish anything of importance.  No strength of any kind can be found in the US - moral or otherwise. I was very misguided and stupid to have thought we could actually accomplish anything of substance in the Middle East. I had faith in us, our economy, our history, our strength, our values, our brainpower, our ingenuity, our technology and our courage.  But I was grievously mistaken.

From this point on:

We should allow Europe to be in charge of world affairs, and we should construct a funnel of money, liberally supplied by our taxes (which should be raised). The funnel should be mounted upon a freely pivoting joint that can be turned and aimed in any direction.  The Middle East will supply the oil to keep it well greased.  Anytime anyone anywhere needs anything, we should turn it in that direction.

All US Presidents, political and government employees should have or quickly develop a crease between their brows. This should be utilized whenever they are asked any questions in order to imply great gravity of thought. They should also nod their heads.  A lot.  Unless the subject is controversial to anyone of another culture.  In this case, they should shake their heads vigorously and say, "I'm sorry, we must ask the UN's opinion on that."

The UN should determine our foreign policy.  We should have a seat at the table and a BIG IMPORTANT WEIGHTED vote, but we should only be permitted to use the vote as voted by the rest of the UN members.   

At UN meetings, all US delegates should be required to raise their hand and ask before going to the bathroom.  A lifesize cardboard  cut-out of the current president should be kept in the lobby of the UN, with its back facing those who arrive.  Everyone should be given a chance to stab it with a knife before entering the building.

The US should be required to send nuclear technology and technicians and materials at no cost to whoever wants them.   The CIA should be disbanded.  US borders should remain open to anyone and everyone. The President should sign a pledge that US culture, however, will remain strictly within the borders of the US.  Other languages and cultures should be taught in our schools by nationals from those countries.  Whenever US history is taught, a list of everything we've done wrong (to be put together by a special UN delegation) must also be taught at the same time.   

Whenever a person from another country enters the room, Americans should rise and bow deeply, with both hands together in a prayer position in front of their faces.  However, Americans must not be religious people, but confirmed, card-carrying atheists. 

Finally, every American visiting a foreign country should be required to leave very large tips in restaurants, and to wear signs on their backs saying, "KICK ME."

We made a grave mistake going into Iraq.  It was not our business.  We were much too big for our britches.  We should have known up front that we were incapable.   

Americans, learn how to grovel humbly before all. Get used to others being in charge of your fate.

Maybe (oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please) they will leave us alone to watch American Idol and read about Brit and Fed-ex in peace...

If- - we play our cards right.

If - - we don't make them mad. 

If - - we do what they say. 

Honestly - - if I'd known that we didn't have what it took to topple Saddam and also establish a peaceful Iraq up front, I'd have said, "Don't do it."

We lack will, courage and determination and have no business being involved in world events.

A half-assed attempt leading to a huge failure. Shameful.

We could still prevail.  We could pour in more troops.  We could enforce the peace.

But I don't believe it's going to happen. I think we're going to repeat Vietnam and leave in disgrace.

On that day, I will be ashamed to call myself an American.

Thanksgiving Mood Music

Oh nooooooooo!!!

Today's travel forecast.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Heading out of town.  Back in a few days. 

Haveil Havalim #94

I am Koheleth; I was king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I applied my heart to inquire and to search with wisdom all that was done under the heaven.
It is a sore task that God has given to the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.
I saw all the deeds that were done under the sun, and behold, everything is vanity and frustration.
What is crooked will not be able to be straightened, and what is missing will not be able to be counted.
I spoke to myself, saying, "I acquired and increased great wisdom, more than all who were before me over Jerusalem"; and my heart saw much wisdom and knowledge.
And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I know that this too is a frustration.
For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge, increases pain.

...The end of the matter, everything having been heard, fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the entire man.
For every deed God will bring to judgment-for every hidden thing, whether good or bad.
- Kohelet/Ecclesiastes

Welcome to Haveil Havalim, a selection of posts concerning Jewish and Israeli issues of the past week.

I could have included so much more, if only there was time.  The Jewish blogging community has grown by leaps and bounds, and there are some really terrific writers out there...

Enjoy:

Pillage Idiot provides an excellent post-mortem analysis of the Jewish vote in the recent US interim elections.

Dave of Israellycool has been invited on an all-expenses paid blogging trip to France for the launching of a new TV network.  Find out why he isn't going.

NJDC.org claims to have "The Best Jim Baker Reference Ever."

Daled Amos surveys the record of Congressman John Conyers D-MI, who is likely to become the new chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.  He notes that last year, Conyers held a "mock impeachment" trial of President Bush, just for practice.

Yaakov Menken expresses extreme disgust with Fox on for their promotion of OJ Simpson's book "If I Did it."

SoccerDad takes a very interesting look at OJ Simpson and compares and contrasts him to another murdering celebrity. (While you're there, don't miss a close up picture of a gorgeous clove-embedded etrog made by SD and his children.)

The bus schedule in Israel. Why do we care?  Because, as Ben-Yehudah explains, recent changes portend even bigger changes ahead. "...the new bus routes are also in preparation for the the next expulsion of Jews from the Shomron...With a simple snap of the fingers, the new, Line 148 can disappear, cutting Shilo, Eli, Ma'aleh Levona, Rehalim, and K'far Tapu'ah off from public transportation." Link

My Right Word objects to remarks made by former President of Israel's Supreme Court, Aaron Barak, with regard to Reform vs Orthodox Judaism. In another post, discomfort with Tony Blair's pressure on the US to resolve the Palestinian conflict is expressed.

Snoopy the Goon writes about a truce that never was.

Bagel Blogger has a way with politcal cartoons.  Check out his Bagel Strip. Well done.

Eliyahu m'Tsiyon doesn't like Presidents George Bush junior or senior, and he explains his grievances in great detail.

Yehuda hopes to achieve peace in the Middle East through board games.  Wonderful idea.  Board games are terrific ice breakers and conversation makers.

Is Olmert ready to give up Judea and Sumaria for an impermanent, unreliable Hudna - - and nothing else? Israel Matsav has the story, as well as an analysis of the weak Israeli government response to weapons smuggling in Gaza.

A Must Read:  Judith of Kesher Talk has a conversation with the parents of Rachel Corrie. Their daughter's view of Israel was skewed, and unsuprisingly, so is theirs. Hard to reconcile their polite, smiling American gothic veneer with Rachel's extremist flag burning...

Westbankmama will be observing her one-year bloggiversary shortly, and has a unique idea to celebrate it.  She is asking for people to tell "only in Israel" stories to which she is planning to link to on her anniversary day. Westbankmom has written her own story regarding the custom of truma and maaser.

Bec describes the emotional bungee jump involved in making aliyah. When she arrives in Israel, it is likely that she won't have to put up with having to witness Jews celebrating Christmas anymore.

Charles Johnson writes, "...mainstream media is an absolute disgrace—and this time we can’t even blame it on local stringers doing the work of Hizballah. These distortions were perpetrated by Western editors, sitting in comfortable offices, demonizing Israel and covering up evidence of Hizballah war crimes and collusion with the Lebanese Army." The evidence.

Speaking of anti-Israel media bias, Lynn of the InContext blog reports on a blatant case from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Meryl Yourish notes that war crimes committed by Palestinians are completely ignored, "Because, of course, the palestinians can never be anything but victims. And victims can’t commit war crimes, right? Shyeah." (That "shyeah" speaks volumes, doesn't it?) 

Esser Agaroth tackles the subject of Israeli settler footwear. (I tried to read between the lines and to understand the cultural subtext in order to derive the real meaning of this post. I have an idea, but am not entirely sure I "get it." Best for me to keep my ideas to myself under those circumstances.  Just my way of saying that I think this post is about more than footwear.)   

The Town Crier announces Zachary Baumel's 46th birthday.  Baumel is an American born Israeli who has been imprisoned in Syria since 1982. I wonder, where is the UN taskforce looking into this violation of the Geneva Conventions?

Rabbi Moshe Hauer is horrified both by the idea of a "Gay Parade" in Jerusalem and by violent Orthodox protesters, and he writes very eloquently of his concerns at Cross-Currents.

Jameel of the Muqata blog attended the funeral of Faina Sloutsker in Sderot, and writes movingly about it.  At her funeral, he notes little was said about the woman who was killed. Smoothstone writes about her life and her tragic and bloody death.

Oceanguy wonders if Israel is going to end up being turned into "Jewdetenland" and says it's not a stretch to compare today's situation to 1938.

Rafi G has a story about an adult doing a shalom zachor in order to improve his brain power.

Snoopy the Goon seriously amuses with a description of Islamic attitudes about "excessive femininity."  The post ends with an exciting new burqa fashion statement.

Jack explains why the Baal Teshuva world irritates him.

Miriam Shaviv of the Jewish Chronicle blog asks, if you had a million pounds to give to a Jewish cause, to whom would you give it?  She then proceeds to give, in my opinion, the perfect answer. 

The Jewish Blogmeister describes a controversy between a Hassidic synagogue and a next door neighbor YMCA. (In this corner, we have "I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOUR BODY, DON'T MAKE ME LOOK!"  And in this corner, we have, "LOOK AT ME, I'VE JUST DONE 1,000 ABDOMINAL CRUNCHES, YOU MUST LOOK, I INSIST!" Oy.)

Dag of No Feminists on a Sinking Ship wonders about hatwear (black hat vs powdered wig) and davening. I myself am not a hat person, though I think they look fine on others. Dag also arouses some interesting commentary from readers on the question, "Is there a difference between Aish and Jews for Jesus?"

Reb Chaim HaQoton discusses Bakol, the daughter of Abraham.

Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein condemns the unintelligent adoption of Intelligent Design on Cross-Currents.

Modern Uberdox has a detailed survey of Jewish rock n roll entitled, Jewish Rock 101.

Life of Rubin shares a video of Yosef Kaduner performing Shir Hamalos. Must see.

What's wrong with Borat? I don't know, but Letters of Thought has an idea or two on the subject.

Ezzie of SerandEz thinks Borat exposes hidden antisemitism and approves.

Bookworm has yet another take.  Anti-semites can be found anywhere.  They do exist in the American south, but so do many lovely people who like Jews and love Israel and perhaps vice versa.  Isn't it time to stop stereotyping southerners?

Muse provides a lovely description of seasonal change in Israel, along with some beautiful pictures.  Also, she provides a yummy link to the 12th Kosher Cooking Carnival.

Irina is upset that Aussie Dave is no longer going to host the JIB awards.  What are/were the JIB awards?

The word JIB, besides being an acronym for Jewish and Israeli blog, also represents the small triangular sail of a sailboat, as compared to the main sails. The jib's role is to direct the wind into the main sail, just like a role of Jewish, Israeli, and pro-Israel bloggers is to direct world opinion in favor of Israel. And to really stretch the metaphor, the object of these awards is to direct new readers towards Jewish, Israeli, and pro-Israel blogs. While weblog awards of this kind mean little in the grand scheme of things, they are a fun way to increase blog readership, and, in the case of the JIB Awards, promote Jewish, Israeli, and pro-Israel blogs.

Aussie Dave explains his reasons for no longer hosting.

Irina also notes life is short, tragic things happen, and we should pay attention while we still can.

A Mother in Israel discusses Israeli "rules" for raising toddlers.

Boker Tov, Boulder! has the story of the night that 17-year old Yosef Lepon was stabbed in the back by an Arab who "just wanted to kill a Jew," through Lepon's mother's eyes. 

Treppenwitz "lets the cat out of the bag" about two of Israel's newest citizens.

Akira of Minor Fast Days shares the very moving speech he gave at his son's recent bris. (Mazel Tov!)

AbbaGav conducts his first interview.  The topic: Globalization.

*****************

Hope I didn't miss anyone.  If I overlooked your post, feel free to email me and I will add it.  Also, if you find any broken links, let me know!

The next edition of Haveil Havalim will be hosted by Smoothstone.  You can submit an artivle via the blog carnival form or email them directly to Smooth at One_smoothstone at Yahoo.com.

Mind Games

I just lost the game.

Haveil Havalim

Haveil Havalim will be posted mid-morning eastern standard time tomorrow (Monday).  Sorry for the delay.  It will be jam-packed with fabulous posts and well worth the wait, I promise.

Dear Mr. Bolton

Thank you for everything you do.

Bolton is the anti-Carter, a competant man kept by outside forces from rising to the position he deserves.

Dear Liberals

Be careful what you wish for.

While We're at it...

Neil Young

I saw CSNY this past summer and I'd seen them 3-4 times prior to that over the past 5 years or so. 

This last time around, Neil Young sang his infamous let's impeach Bush song (the crowd reaction was mixed - some cheered, but more booed) and there were political references that had been missing in previous CSNY concerts I'd been to. 

I don't think much of Young's politics, but I can't help liking his music.

What is Judaism?  It is one continuous sacred text, founded on the written Torah (or Bible) and the spoken Torah (or Talmud), continuing through several millennia's worth of discussion and commentary laid in translucent leaves over the foundation.  One generation's work of study and understanding never obscures, only colors, the previous generation's.  Israel developed its religion by successive glazes. You are always catching glimpses - as if you were a scuba diver gazing downward at submerged ancient cities - of older worlds beneath the surface. 

-David Gelernter, Commentary, May 2002

Poster made here.

Addendum:

LGF has the best Carter-related blog title:

UN hits bottom, finds Jimmy Carter waiting

If Carter Does this...

...in my mind, he will forever be an antisemite. Not kidding. This would just be the last straw:

As Palestinian Arab rockets struck two Israeli towns yesterday, U.N. bodies prepared to launch no fewer than two overlapping "fact-finding" missions to second-guess Israel's anti-terrorist tactics. President Carter could head one of those missions.

The U.N. General Assembly is expected to convene a special emergency session tomorrow to deal with the November 8 Israel Defense Force artillery strike on the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, which killed 19 civilians. A draft resolution for the assembly session calls on the U.N. secretary-general to establish a fact-finding mission into the event and requests that he report back to the assembly in a month.

And yesterday in Geneva, the U.N. Human Rights Council, which in its five months of existence has failed to pass one resolution on any country other than Israel, concluded its third emergency session on the Jewish state. In the session's resolution, the council called on its president, Ambassador Alfonso de Alba of Mexico, to establish a fact-finding mission to investigate the incident at Beit Hanoun.

A diplomat in Geneva who requested anonymity said the sponsors of the resolution are planning to ask Mr. Carter to head the investigation. Other candidates include the diplomats Martti Ahtisaari of Finland and Sadako Ogata of Japan.

Israel, which is conducting its own investigation into the incident, has yet to decide on its level of cooperation with the U.N. probes.

"I wish there was some coherence at the U.N.," a U.N. official who requested anonymity said yesterday. As things stand, he added, no rule exists to prevent system-wide redundancies where separate bodies can create missions to investigate the same event.

The proposed resolution for tomorrow's General Assembly session draws most of its language from a Security Council resolution proposal that was vetoed on Friday. In addition to the fact-finding mission, the new proposal calls on "the international community, including the Quartet" — America, the United Nations, the European Union, and Russia — to establish "an international mechanism to protect civilians."

Ha.  What they meant to say is "to protect non-Jewish civilians."  The UN does not give a rat's ass about Jews. They can kiss mir in tuchas.

Heartbreak

The debilitating Iku Iku Byo leaves women not knowing if they are coming or going.

No One to Blame But Ourselves

Truth:

America is the world's hyperpower. No other nation or group of nations can challenge us militarily or economically. Unlike sickly Europe, we are growing, not contracting. But we are about to be defeated in Iraq by a few thousand cutthroats.

How did this happen? It's simple: The only thing powerful enough to defeat us is ourselves, and we've done it.
- Mona Charen