I wasn't sure what to think of the latest Michael Jackson saga, but if this article about the accuser's family is true - the legal system has more than "Wacko Jacko" to deal with.

There's a very interesting difference between the covers of Times columnist Paul Krugman's "The Great Unraveling" as sold in the U.S. versus Europe. Even the Times itself published an article about the difference.

Here's the U.S. version:



Here's the UK version:

I just sent the following letter to the New York Times' based on Frank Rich's op-ed piece, "When You Got It, Flaunt It".

Mr. Rich seems to imply that Bill O'Reilly cannot claim significant career achievement because he has commented that he hails from "lower middle class" Levittown when perhaps it was really "middle class" Westbury instead. In fact there is only a 10% difference in per capita income between those two places according to the Census Bureau. Regardless of his past address, by no stretch of the imagination did Bill O'Reilly come to his wealth and influence through a large inheritance or family connections.

In addition, I think there may a case of sloppy reporting. Mr Rich claims that O'Reilly "wrote that he had grown up in lower middle-class Levittown, N.Y. only to be corrected by Newsday, which reported that Mr. No Spin Zone grew up in Westbury, a middle-class suburb near Levittown". In fact a recent Newsday article just this week says that "O'Reilly claims Levittown; others say he lived closer to middle-class Westbury". Therefore it seems that Newsday is just reporting what others have said - Newsday did not, in fact, correct O'Reilly at all or do any research on either claim.

Very nice the way the BBC puts sneer quotes around the word killed in this article:

Israeli barrier guards 'killed'

Two Israeli security guards have been shot dead at the controversial security barrier being constructed by the Jewish state, medical sources say.

Given that the actual reportage says they were shot dead, one would assume that they were actually killed instead of "killed". Perhaps they think that Jews, like vampires, can't actually be "killed".

Hat Tip to Little Green Footballs.

UPDATE: It's been changed - they took away the quotation marks.

So how much do YOU like hockey? Enough to watch a game outdoors with 57,000 other fanatics in late November in Canada? As one of the spectators said:

“When I was 11 or 12 years old I remember my mom always said, ‘Put a tuque on, you’ll catch a cold,” Theodore said of his cap. “I just wanted to make sure she’s not going to say anything when I go back home, so I put a tuque on.”

Then I asked myself, what the hell is a tuque? Now I know and so can you.

The ultra-liberal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (otherwise known as the Ninth Jerk-It Court of Schlemiels) has decided that perhaps gunmakers should be held liable when people commit crime with guns. Now, I can never imagine owning a gun myself, but should kitchen knife makers be worried?

The European Union is afraid to issue a report on anti-semitism in Europe because it found that Arabs and Muslims are the main culprits. There also seems to be some discussion as to whether beating a Jew is anti-semitism if you claim you're upset at Israel.

"When the researchers submitted their work in October last year, however, the centre's senior staff and management board objected to their definition of anti-semitism, which included some anti-Israel acts. The focus on Muslim and pro-Palestinian perpetrators, meanwhile, was judged inflammatory."

I guess if Israel leaves the West Bank and Gaza, Muslims won't need to blow up or torch synagogues and schools in Turkey, France and the Bronx anymore.

Great news! The PATH station at the World Trade Center site will be re-opened this Sunday. I really wish they would have designed the new station entrance in the form of a giant middle finger - pointed at Mecca of course.

Iraqi insurgents are now using donkeys and dog carcasses to deliver or hide explosive devices.

I am totally against the use of animals in such a heinous way. However, I do agree that they can be put to good use to promote military objectives by less violent means. For example, what if we trained 1,000 parrots to sing God Bless America in Arabic and released them into the Sunni triangle. Then, when the insurgents try shooting the birds, they will reveal their positions and we can kill them.

Laugh if you must, but it can be done. I knew I should have been a military strategist instead of a CPA.

The finalists for the 9/11 Memorial Competition have been released to the public. Spend some time. Reflect.

My inital favorite is "Dual Memory" - just beacuse seeing the victim's faces made me cry. That's what this memorial is about - not the buildings. No matter how big a hole in the ground you leave or make into a pond or a park, it will never capture the enormity of what was physically destroyed.

I'm no Jewish Defense League or Kahane Chai supporter, but the Chief Rabbi of France has basically announced that Jews must go into hiding to protect themselves against attack. I would like to provide some links to my fellow Jews in that country which might provide a better alternative that is acceptable, as I understand it, under Torah law:

Wal-Mart

E-Bay France

And a little history from Amazon.fr

Here's France's formula for controlling anti-Semitism. Invest $8bn in Muslim neighborhoods. I guess that French Muslims must have the same level of despair and hopelessness as the Palestinians - which as we all know is the primary cause of anti-Semitism in the world.

I'm sure that in the near future we will hear Muslim parents telling their children, "See we have a new school in our neighborhood - now we don't need to beat Jews in the street anymore!".

The New York Times, in an effort to discredit the Bush Administration, quotes two army officals under the banner "Few Signs of Infiltration by Foreign Fighters in Iraq"

Follow this twisted logic - becuase "most of the attacks on our forces are by former regime loyalists and other Iraqis, not foreign forces" and that it one region the army "had captured perhaps (only) 20 foreign fighters trying to slip into the country" therefore it's impossible that Bush could be telling the truth about 1,000-3,000 foreign fighters in Iraq. What does who perpetrates these attacks and a slow trickle of recent arrests translate into a headcount of the existing population of foreign fighters already in Iraq?

If the U.S. Border Patrol arrests 100 Mexican illegals this month, does that disprove that there are millions already living here?

The Times then claims that "the White House has been suggesting that foreign fighters are continuing to enter the country" in order to link "the war in Iraq to the global campaign against terror".

First of all the White House have said that foreign fighters and terrorists have been infiltrating Iraq for a long time and are still trying to get in, not that they are still successful at getting in since obviously we've tightened the border patrols in recent months.

Also, according to an MSNBC report on November 4th: "Senior American officers in Iraq believe foreign fighters are involved in the insurgency now along with Saddam loyalists, but have no firm reason to link them to al-Qaida or any other international terrorist group. Asked at the Pentagon last week about fighters in Iraq from other countries, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said between 200 and 300 people believed to be foreigners have been captured, with a “high percentage� from Syria and Lebanon." That's only who's been captured - Add a multiple for those who haven't been and you easily come to the 1,000 to 3,000 estimate.

Somehow the Times has twisted a story about the success of our border controls in Iraq to prove that the Bush administration is "lying" for the sake of expanding the war on terrorism.

Are there words to describe the evil behind torching a Holocaust museum? Once the police find the people who did this - and they will becuase the arsonists are probably idiots - what kind of programs could possibly exist to transform these "people" into human beings?

It's funny, I've read several reviews about "Full Court Miracle", a new Disney Channel production involving a down on their luck Jewish academy basketball team who hires a down on his luck African American to coach them. They all seem to like it (in the B, B+ range), but they also tend to say it's schmaltzy and predictable. Also, something which I can't stand (a la CBS and Reagan) - this is "based on" a true story. If the real story is so heartwarming, why fix it?

Ironically, it's first showing is on a Friday night, so religious Jews won't be able to watch until it's in repeats.

One of ours showing his respect for the press corps. Did Dan Rather ever elicit this reaction in Vietnam? Hat Tip: Little Green Footballs.

I don't think this is considered free speech - is it? I mean, can't they be arrested and hanged for treason of some sort?

There's a pretty obvious line between protesting your country's actions and supporting the enemy directly with funds, and these people have crossed it in a Fonzie-like leap over the bodies of their countrymen.

Italian group backs Iraq fighters

Another house in my new hometown has been designated as a historical landmark. In the article, there is a description of how the home, built in 1898 was lovingly restored by the current owners.

It kind of makes me wonder if anyone would ever want to preserve the modern homes we live in now. Can you imagine the articles 100 years from now? "Mr and Mrs Smith were meticulous in replacing the early 21st century Corian countertops and garden wallpaper in the kitchen. Perhaps most fascinating was the reconstruction of the 'entertainment center' where the original owners used to watch something called 'television' and play music on 'stereos'. Luckily, much of the orignal Bose wiring was found in the attic....."

What type of card do I get my wife for World Toilet Day, November 19?

Although I love you tenderly,
I have to say that when I pee
I would do so more merrily
If the seat you would leave up for me.

Copyright - Go Blog and Multiply 2003

A new group in England called Shechita UK is trying to prevent the ban of ritual kosher slaughter in that country. Many animal rights organizations in Europe are trying to ban kosher slaughter, as they believe non-kosher methods are more humane (although there is conflicting science on the matter). PETA seems to have nothing to say about this - I guess they're against killing animals for food whatever the method. Here are some other links of note on the subject:

Europe's new face of anti-Semitism: 5 countries now ban production of kosher meat

Fear over European Kosher bans

Halal and Kosher slaughter 'must end'

Swiss retain kosher slaughter ban