Mishegas

Too Much To Blog, Not Enough Time

  • Forbes intimates that Halliburton is moving to Dubai to avoid U.S. sanctions against conducting business with Iran.
  • Reaganite conservative economist and former Bush-cheerleader Ben Stein says that thanks to rank, unbridled capitalism, America’s economic situation is fux0r3d.
  • Rolling Stone asks a panel of foreign policy experts what to expect after the U.S.’s withdrawl from Iraq.
  • YouTube user shosh34 has uploaded over 200 Holocaust-related video clips, including film reels of pre-war Jewish enclaves like Bialystok, Muncacz and Vilna.
  • Using The Cure’s “Killing an Arab” as a stepping-stone, Joshua Gross talks about the impact of the Israel-Lebanon war on his relationship with his Lebanese girlfriend.
  • Reform movement to invest $100 million in expanding its programs in Israel. Where the hell did the Reform movement get $100 million, and how can you call yourself a Progressive Jewish movement when you’re spending $100 million on expanding your own institution instead of helping the 1.6 million Israelis living below the poverty line? Could you imagine the community co-op you could build with $100 million?
  • The World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS) is on the brink of financial collapse and its closure is imminent.
  • NY Magazine’s story on rabbinic sex offender Yehuda Kolko has been nominated for a National Magazine Award.
  • 770’s anti-mashichists are taking the mashichists to court over whether or not the Rebbe is Moshiach.
  • A new book explores the concept of Shabbos in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
  • Beverly Hills got its first Iranian Jewish mayor.
  • “Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez does not agree with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s calls to wipe out Israel.”
  • Data shows atheists are smarter than religious folk.

9 thoughts on “Too Much To Blog, Not Enough Time

  1. the reform movement is the biggest synagogue movement in america. that’s where they got the 100 mil from, and the progressive jewish movement is the name of the reform movement outrside of america. the “progressive” in its name refers to its theology and theory of social action. however, you know that the liberal jewish movements in israel (eg prog., masorti) are in a beleaguered state because of the orthodox stranglehold on jewish life. while ideally, it would be amazing if they did the co-op thing, it’s understandable that they’d use their resources to help out their programs which need all the help they can get. you can ask instead: why aren;t entire swaths of the jewish population in israel paying their taxe, so the gov’t has more resources for social programs?
    and ps: i am actually featured in the book about the sabbath.

  2. you can ask instead: why aren;t entire swaths of the jewish population in israel paying their taxe, so the gov’t has more resources for social programs?
    wrong: the Israeli government has a *budget surplus* of 2bil. NIS. The people are paying taxes OK – its the damn capitalists who use the money for wars instead of healthcare and universities.

  3. wrong: the Israeli government has a *budget surplus* of 2bil. NIS
    Since Israel receives three billion from the USA one might more accurately say they have a deficit of one billion.
    BTW, what kind of clowns are running the show in that country? Can’t they get rid of their dependancy on some measly three billion? They have had the fair share of the centruy to do that. I guess this alone disproves the line about atheists being smarter.
    The line about the reform confirmed to me my suspicion about their relation with “”””””social justice””””””. They talk the talk….the end.

  4. on another topic. I strongly commend Josh Gross’s article. He’s a friend of mine, and a sensitive writer as well. His piece tackles a part of this conflict we don’t usually see.

  5. You guys are right. The URJ should just fly a plane over over Israel, and drop that 100M for people to scrabble for on the street.
    How selfish of them to want to put into place infrastructure through which they might actually DELIVER assistance.
    And can anyone forgive Progressive congregation Kehillat Tzur Hadassah, which recently engaged in the major capital investment of ugrading their their stately trailer to a DOUBLE-WIDE, for housing and feeding families from the north during the Lebanon war?
    Mobius, I know you’re down on anything smacking of institutions, but remember, a big enough “indie minyan” has a way of becoming a movement. Some day, some young buck is going to be kvetching about one or another of the institutions you will have founded by then.
    But Former Muslim, you are all too eager to jump up and down and cry “Hypocrite!” just because Reform wants to build infrastructure before it tries to deliver services? Give it a rest – the Congregations we have in Israel, and there really are only a few because it’s very difficult for a non-orthodox community to even get land for a synagogue, are certainly pulling their weight on social justice.

  6. “data shows atheists are smarter” no data shows the non-religious are smarter. Albert Einstien believd in god!

  7. They have had the fair share of the centruy to do that
    wrong. Israel only began receiving substantial aid from the US around 1973. Before that, we were buddies with the French. Also, since we’re running so many wars for the US, I think we should at least get paid for it. when the stupid Americans finally let us negotiate peace with Syria, then we’ll have less of a reason to take their money.

  8. Israel only began receiving substantial aid from the US around 1973.
    Exactly, they had 35 years to get rid of it (1/3 of a century, 1 point for you) . For the love of G-d, that’s almost nine election cycles. There hasn’t been a single government who said, “it’s nice america is helping us but we should really try to stand on our own two feet as soon as possible”.
    Three billion dollars isn’t THAT much money. Plus it makes look Israel look weak. It makes the arabs say, “we could defeat Israel if only america didn’t help them”. It’s part of the reason the arabs still have hope of defeating Israel. Hope that the moronic government of Israel gave them.
    Also, since we’re running so many wars for the US, I think we should at least get paid for it. when the stupid Americans finally let us negotiate peace with Syria, then we’ll have less of a reason to take their money.

    Don’t be so ungrateful Amit. The US takes plenty of heat from arabs and muslims because of it’s support for Israel. Don’t try to exaggerate your “contributions” in order to justify your ingratitude. America deserves better than that.

  9. “Einstein belived in g-d”
    Yeah, but not the religious person’s god, that is, he used God language to talk about the universe, but didn’t hold by, quote, or promulgate any kind of scripture or religious tradition. Does that count as religious? To believe in God, but not anything he was supposed to have commanded? some say yes.

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