The Vicious Babushka

EPIC FAIL: Morris Allen Has A Sad Nobody Wants His Faux Kosher Stamp of Approval

So righteous: He got thousands of illegals deported and a Jew sent to prison for 30 years for pissing off the 1%.

Chewish Drooly Forverts sobs:

Robert Kaiser, a science teacher from New Hampshire with an interest in finding ethically produced kosher food, was excited when he learned of Magen Tzedek, a seal that would combine Jewish values and social justice in food production, spanning from the treatment of workers to environmental impact.

But almost four years after the Magen Tzedek Commission drafted its first standards, not one product bears the initiative’s seal. Kaiser recently voiced his complaints on the organization’s Facebook page, which displayed only two posts by the group since last May.

“Your arguments for ethical meat make a lot of sense; I agree with you,” he wrote. “Yet the four years of silence on the topic… speak volumes.”

Kaiser recently told the Forward, “When I look up what they do, I don’t see very much there. At the moment it’s a bit of a disappointment.”

Five years after the federal government’s largest ever immigration raid exposed rampant worker abuse at the country’s biggest kosher slaughterhouse, Magen Tzedek, which was meant to respond to the scandal, appears hardly more active today than Agriprocessors, the plant in Postville, Iowa, that the feds’ raid shut down. There is little evidence that the project has capitalized on the calls the scandal sparked for ethically created kosher food.

That is a far cry from what Morris Allen, Magen Tzedek’s program director, predicted in 2010. By the end of the year, he said then, 15 companies would be on board with his group’s seal. In an interview May 14, Allen told the Forward that his group is currently in talks with “three or four” companies.

Allen said he has learned not to make such bold predictions anymore.

“I don’t want to say any date, I’ve been burned too often,” he said.

But personal misjudgments by Allen — a Conservative rabbi with no prior food certification experience — are not the only reasons that Magen Tzedek remains a dream: There is also wariness toward the seal on the part of kosher meat producers.

Read more: http://forward.com/articles/176814/magen-tzedek-ethical-kosher-seal-stalled-amid-orth/?p=all#ixzz2U2VNb2Vc

If Morris Allen had started out giving his stamp of righteousness to non-food products, for example clothing manufactured in fair trade conditions, he would have had much more support for his efforts. But the whining, entitled little crybaby wanted a cut of that "sweet kosher endorsement money" that "the Orthodox have a monopoly of."

Mashgichim (kosher supervisors) do not make a whole bunch of money. They get paid about the same as anyone else in the food service industry, which is to say, bupkies. Also, they have EXPERIENCE in what is required to maintain standards of halachic kashrus, something that Morris Allen knows very little about since he has made up his "all new" set of standards but want to use the old-fashioned word "kosher" thereby creating confusion. Kosher food producers wanted to avoid mixing "answering to a higher authority" with Morris Allen's "right" to have his logo on stuff.

Since he knows nothing about kosher food production, what exactly is it that he is going to monitor with his stamp of approval? "Ethical business practices"? What exactly does that even mean? Does this mean that he is an accountant and HR manager who will have intimate access to the payroll, employee time sheets and accounting books? What business, that already has a staff of accountants and HR professionals AND FREAKING LAWYERS, would even want this busybody, who is not even an IRS employee, examining their confidential records?

Chabad of Thornhill Convinced to Cancel Appearance by Hateblogger Pamela Geller

Rabbi Mendel Kaplan as Toronto police chaplain

Toronto Sun reports:

TORONTO - York Regional Police threatened to remove a rabbi as one of the force’s chaplains if he hosted a controversial anti-Islamist speaker at his Thornhill synagogue.

Insp. Ricky Veerappan, of the force’s diversity, equity and inclusion bureau, confirmed he and officers from the service’s hate crimes unit met with Rabbi Mendel Kaplan of the Chabad Flamingo Synagogue on Tuesday.

They expressed concern about an upcoming talk to be given by Pamela Geller, a vocal critic of radical Islam. She protested past plans to build a mosque near Ground Zero in New York City, and has posted anti-Jihad messages in that city’s subway system.

Subsequent to his meeting with police, Kaplan cancelled Geller’s May 13 talk, which was sponsored by the Jewish Defence League (JDL) — a hard-line advocacy group that had rented space in Kaplan’s synagogue for the event.

“I think the police are turning a blind eye to who they should be keeping an eye on,” said the JDL’s Meir Weinstein, referring to radical Islamists. Weinstein said another location will be chosen for Geller’s appearance.

Veerappan said he told Kaplan that Geller’s speech “would not be endorsed by York Regional Police” and that the rabbi’s role as a force chaplain would be thrown into question if he were to permit the event.

“If he did (host Geller), then we’d have to reassess our relationship with (Kaplan),” Veerappan said. “We serve the needs of the entire community. Some of the stuff that Ms. Geller speaks about runs contrary to the values of York Regional Police and the work we do in engaging our communities.”

Veerappan said a member of York Region's Muslim community, whom he wouldn’t identify, brought Geller’s scheduled talk to the attention of police.

York Regional Police enlist eight chaplains of different faiths to counsel police officers and their families. Among them is a Muslim chaplain, Imam Abdul Hai Patel.

Read more at Toronto Sun.

Pamela, of course, is shrieking that this is "Sharia' suppressing her "Free Speech" even though Canada has no First Amendment.

Kudos to the Toronto police for their prompt action in warning the clueless Mendel Kaplan about the piece of poison he was about to ingest.

Co-Opting the Holocaust: End Times Host Claims American Christians Are So the Next Holocaust Victims!!

End Times Rick Wiles

Right Wing Watch reports:

On Friday's radio broadcast, End Times radio host Rick Wiles and his guest, John McTernan, engaged in a long discussion about how things like abortion and homosexuality are bringing a curse on America.  Eventually McTernan and Wiles asserted that President Obama is linked "at the hip" with Kermit Gosnell before declaring that what is happening to Christians in America is just what happened to Jews in Nazi Germany, meaning that the next victims of a holocaust will be American Christians:

McTernan: We've murdered 60 million babies. And they've got the case in Pennsylvania, I don't know if you've been following or not ...

Wiles: Yes, Gosnell.

McTernan: I mean ... how do you describe this? Well, this is what Obama stands for.

Wiles: Barbaric.

McTernan: Obama is linked arm in arm, at the hip with this butcher.

Wiles: He hasn't denounced it. He's expressed no sorrow over what this butcher did to those children.

McTernan: And I must warn your listeners, that cold-heartedness that you see in Obama will translate into physical violence against us.

Wiles: That's right.

McTernan: He can't do it right now. Just like the Nazis, when they took power in Germany, the next day they couldn't kill the Jews.  They wanted to, but it took preparation and they had to get society ready for it. They had to marginalize the Jews, demonize the Jews, blame them for everything.  Well, that's the process that's going on in America now.

Wiles: And the Christians are the new Jews.

McTernan: We're the new Jews.

Wiles: The next holocaust are American Christians.  That's what's coming.

Read more at Right Wing Watch.

Of course they don't really want to be hauled away to die in gas chambers and stuff and they totally know that's never going to happen, they just want to get straight to claiming Angel Victim Status because they are, you know, so much more deserving than those Juice.

My Message to the Congregations Who Invited Pamela Geller to Speak, After She Was Turned Away by Great Neck Synagogue:

Hate Speech is Not Free Speech

I am sure that you are familiar with all the anti-Semitic myths and libels that have been going around for centuries, and the excuses that anti-Semites make for themselves.

“The Talmud says that Jews are commanded to hate Goyim!”
“Circumcision is cruelty to little babies!”
“Jews make you pay a Kosher Tax on food!”
“Jewish ritual slaughter is cruelty to animals!”
“Mikvah is degrading to women!”
“A Jew was convicted of child molesting, so all Jews must be child molesters!”
“I don’t hate all Jews but those Ultra-Orthodox sure are scary!”
“We must ban those rabbinical courts that judge according to Halachah!”

You have heard them all.

You are probably also aware that some of the people who believe in these myths are active in movements to ban brit milah [circumcision] and shechitah [kosher slaughter], to prevent Jews from constructing eruvin [Sabbath boundaries] and have joined with neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers. If they are not marginalized in society, they can do a lot of damage to our community.

Would you invite such a person into your shul, to address your congregation? Or would you say they can enjoy their right to free speech, somewhere far away from you?

Yet you invited Pamela Geller to speak at your shul, after she was turned away from another synagogue who realized that her message is identical to the myths and libels that I have listed above, yet substituting “Koran” for “Talmud,” “Halal” for “kosher” and “Sharia” for “Halachah.” Her accusations against Muslims are just as false and offensive as the same accusations that are made against us. She may have a right to free speech according to the law of the land, but that does not mean any right to any venue.

I am deeply disappointed as an Orthodox Jew, that you have offered a platform to someone who spreads hate speech and is affiliated with neo-Nazis.

We should not stand for the same hatred and intolerance towards others that we have endured for so many long centuries.

Sincerely,

The Vicious Babushka

Polish Academic Claims Jews Were Responsible for the Holocaust

KRAKOW – Krzysztof Jasiewicz, a professor at the Polish Academy of Sciences and a well known expert on Polish-Jewish relations, has caused outrage by claiming in an interview with Polish magazine Focus last week that Jews took an active part in the murder of other Jews during WWII.

The interview appeared in a special edition of the magazine focusing on the 70th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising this week.

In the interview, titled “Are the Jews themselves guilty?” Jasiewicz shared views that sound like they were taken from a Nazi propaganda bulletin.

“This nonsense about Jews being killed mostly by Poles was created to hide the biggest Jewish secret. The scale of the German crime was only possible because the Jews themselves participated in the murder of their own people,” Jasiewicz said.

Jasiewicz also said that the Jews brought the Holocaust on themselves.

“For many generations, the Jews, not the Catholic Church, worked to bring the Holocaust about. It looks like the Jews haven’t learned their lesson and haven’t come to any conclusions yet,” he said.

He continued, accusing the Jewish people of harming their relations with Poles.

“The Jews have a problem because they are convinced they are the chosen people.

They feel that they are entitled to interpret everything, including Catholic doctrine. They will always criticize whatever we did or will do. It will never be enough, it will always be wrong and not generous enough. I am convinced that there is no point in a dialogue with the Jews, because it leads nowhere,” said Jasiewicz.

Read more at Jerusalem Post.

HOW did this colossal douche bag become an "expert on Jewish-Polish relations"?

13 Annoying Things Most People Assume About Orthodox Jews

Because Juice are scary!

You likely base your knowledge of Orthodox Jews on ridiculous caricatures which were dreamed up in Hollywood and the headlines that capture the worst in our community. It's time to straighten things out.

By JewintheCity

1. You guys have sex through a hole in the sheet, right?

No, but I've been asked this numerous times — once even by my cleaning lady. Which is pretty funny because she's SEEN my sheets. I'm thinking,"Hey, lady, you make my bed! Ever seen any hole anywhere? Nuh-uh? It's cause we don't got 'em!" People assume that because we're outwardly modest that our modesty continues behind closed doors. It doesn't. (News flash: We also shower like regular people!) It's a big mitzvah for a husband and wife to be together — and not just for procreation. A wife's sexual satisfaction is actually part of her marital contract, and if her husband doesn't fulfill his end of the deal, it's grounds for divorce. Don't assume that because you don't see us being overtly sexual we aren't doing so in private places. That's the point: We believe these matters are *private.*

2. You wear a wig? Oh, so then you shave your head, right?

No, actually, I don't. And none of my friends who cover their hair do either. It's only a small segment of the Hasidic community that does. Why do I cover my hair in the first place, then, and with *gasp* a wig that makes me look beautiful? Well, that's a longer discussion than we have time for in BuzzFeed land, but I'll keep it simple: Jewish modesty is not about looking unattractive, it's about keeping certain parts of yourself private. The wig creates a barrier between me and the rest of the male population, and there's only one man who can cross that barrier. Again, there's no space to do the topic justice, but let's get one thing straight, folks: If you see a wig, assume there's hair underneath, because there usually is.

3. You're a woman, so you're subjugated, right?

No. I'm not, and I don't think any of the women in my community are either. But of course there are SOME subjugated Orthodox women in the world because there are jerky men everywhere including in the Orthodox world. Orthodox Jews have many shared values with second-wave feminists, and the vast majority of Orthodox women that I've come across feel respected and are choosing their way of life. Does Judaism consider men and women to be different physically, emotionally, and spiritually? Heck, yeah! But different in a yin-and-yang sort of way, not a in a Coke-Pepsi sort of way (Coke clearly being the superior of the two). Orthodox Jews are second-wave feminists. We believe in celebrating women's unique womanhood, not trying to make her more like a man.

But don't take my word for it! Go out and meet some Orthodox Jewish women yourself and see directly from them how they're treated. You can come to us for Shabbos, if you'd like. (Did I mention that my husband is an excellent cook?! ;) )

4. You're a woman, so you don't work, right?

Actually, I do. And most of us do. I once literally had a fight with a reporter from a major news outlet about this because she wouldn't believe me. She had no real knowledge of the Orthodox community, yet she INSISTED that Orthodox women don't (and can't) work. She noted at one point that "maybe my secular bias is getting in the way." (Ya think?!) When she finally conceded that Orthodox women could work, she asked, "Well, what do they do — run shops?" *Eye roll.* "Well," I began, "Some run shops, and some run companies" (like Rickie Freeman, CEO of Teri Jon). "And some run hospital departments" (like Dr. Laurel Steinherz, director of pediatric cardiology at Memorial Sloan Kettering.) "And some run legal cases at major law firms" (like Lydia Kess, a Hasidic Jew who was the first *female* partner at Davis Polk — one of the most prestigious law firms in the country). And frankly, there's more Orthodox Jewish woman - from all walks of Orthodox life — excelling in so many more professions than I even have space to mention. [Such as Vicious Babushka, who works in the auto industry--VB]

Read more at Buzzfeed.

George Washington Never Said That! The Zombie Fake Quotes That Can't Be Killed!

Bogus quote attributed to Thomas Jefferson, attributed here to LOLCat.

Various quotations, attributed to famous people, are frequently cited on The Internet in support of this or that popular cause. This in itself is a logical fallacy, the "Appeal to Authority." The argument is, "This famous person supports our cause! So how can you not support our cause? Do you know more than this famous person?" The argument fails if the famous person being quoted is not an acknowledged authority on the subject, or if there is disagreement among authorities, or if the famous person's quotation is taken out of context. The argument certainly fails is the famous person never even said what is attributed to him.

Here is a sample of some of the bogus quotations that are being circulated, mostly on Twitter and Facebook, attributed to various of the United States "founding fathers" on the subject of gun control.

1. "Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not." Attributed to Thomas Jefferson (spoofed above in LOLCat.)

Monticello.org has this to say:

Earliest known appearance in print: No appearances in print found.

Earliest known appearance in print, attributed to Thomas Jefferson: See above.

Other attributions: None known.

Status: We have not found any evidence that Thomas Jefferson said or wrote, "Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not."

The pro-gun website SAF.org sourly has this to say about the fake Jefferson quotes: "Thomas Jefferson has many confirmed quotes on our website. Why anyone felt it necessary to make up a quote is ludicrous. Maybe an anti-gunner did it to discredit all the real quotes."

2. "A free people ought not only be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government."--George Washington.

This is the Zombie Fake Quote that can't be killed! What makes it so pernicious is that Washington did say something very similar, but the Fake Quote has been manipulated in order to give it a meaning that is quite different from the original context. Here is the authentic Washington quote:

"A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined; to which end a uniform and well-digested plan is requisite; and their safety and interest require that they should promote such manufactories as tend to render them independent of others for essential, particularly military, supplies."

The original quotation shows that Washington clearly intended a country to have industrial independence. The bogus, manipulated quotation attempts to insinuate that people need to have weapons in order to resist their own government, a sentiment that Washington clearly did not share when he forcibly put down the Whisky Rebellion and Shay's Rebellion.

3. "Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty teeth and keystone under independence. The church, the plow, the prairie wagon, and citizen's firearms are indelibly related. From the hour the Pilgrims landed, to the present day, events, occurrences, and tendencies prove that to insure peace, security and happiness, the rifle and the pistol are equally indispensable." --another bogus George Washington quote.

Guncite.com, a pro-2nd Amendment website, warned its supporters to avoid using this fake quote. Of course nobody listens to them, this bogus quotation is all over the Internet.

This quotation, sometimes called the "liberty teeth" quote, appears nowhere in Washington's papers or speeches, and contains several historical anachronisms: the reference to "prairie wagon" in an America which had yet to even begin settling the Great Plains (which were owned by France at the time), the reference to "the Pilgrims" which implies a modern historical perspective, and particularly the attempt by "Washington" to defend the utility of firearms (by use of statistics!) to an audience which would have used firearms in their daily lives to obtain food, defend against hostile Indians, and which had only recently won a war for independence.

The "99 99/100 percent" is also an odd phrase for 18th century America, which tended not to use fractional percentages. It's clear that "Washington" is addressing "gun control" arguments which wouldn't exist for another couple of centuries, not to mention doing so in a style that is uncharacteristic of the period, and uncharacteristic of Washington's addresses to Congress, both of which exhibited a high degree of formality.

4. "1935 will go down in History! For the first time, a civilized nation has full gun registration! Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient and the world will follow our lead to the future!"--Attributed to Adolf Hitler IM"S.

From our friends at SAF.org:

This passage sometimes features different punctuation and slight wording changes including a beginning of, ‘For the first time in history, a....’ Various citations include: Adolf Hitler, April 15, 1935, in address to the Reichstag; Adolf Hitler 1935 'Berlin Daily' (Loose English Translation) April 15th, 1935 Page 3 Article 2 by Einleitung Von Eberhard Beckmann -"Abschied vom Hessenland!". "Adolf" is sometimes misspelled as ‘Adolph’ on the Internet.

While the above 'quote' makes a nice T-shirt, there are numerous problems with this alleged statement. (1) It violates the rule of not beginning a sentence with a number. (2) It isn’t phrased in Hitler’s style. (3) Major changes to the German gun laws occurred in 1928 and 1931 (under the Weimar Republic) and in 1938 (under the Nazi’s). No significant changes happened in the gun registration laws in 1935. Furthermore, the changes in 1928 and 1931 were designed to disarm the Nazis and Communists and therefore it is doubtful that Hitler would trumpet the success of any law aimed at his goon squads.

Until then, please click here for some proven Nazi Quotes. (Coming soon)
[Link never provided!--VB]

5. "It's not the people who vote that count, it's the people who count the vote!"--attributed to Josef Stalin.

This one is obviously bogus for a number of reasons. First, Stalin did not speak English, and would not have made a pun in English, but which makes no sense in Russian. Second, votes were not counted in Stalin's Soviet Union. All votes were for the Party, Stalin always received 100% of the vote. 

A similar quote was actually said by William M. "Boss" Tweed, a corrupt 19th-century New York political lord. "As long as I count the vote, what are you going to do about it?" Why don't right-wingers quote "Boss" Tweed? Maybe they don't even know who he was.

6. "You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot lift the wage-earner by pulling down the wage-payer.
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man's initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves."--attributed to Abraham Lincoln. Frequently quoted by those who would deny government benefits such as food stamps to poor people.

These silly little aphorisms were actually composed by William John Henry Boetcker, some dude that nobody ever heard of. He seems to have been a 19th-Century Bryan J. Fischer. The first person to mistakenly attribute this collection to Lincoln was none other than everybody's affable granddaddy Ronald Reagan. Snopes has the whole story.

How can you tell if a quote attributed to a famous person is fake?

Generally speaking the rule to identifying Fake Quotes is:

1. If it's on The Internet it is probably fake. (however real quotes have occasionally, although rarely, been found on The Internet)

2. If it's in a book, it is probably authentic. However fake quotes have also appeared in print before there was The Internet.

If you come across any quotes that you think might be bogus, please share them!

NJ Jewish Mother Arrested--And Her Guns Confiscated!-- After Disrupting Community Meeting

Mrs. Hart

Eileen Hart and her husband, Keith, are property owners in Newfield, New Jersey.

On Saturday, March 9 there was an informal meeting at the Gloucester Community Center, to discuss the findings on "revaluations" by Appraisal Systems, Inc.- a company which has been contracted by the state of New Jersey- to assess the fair market property values for each county or borough- for the tax assessor's offices.

There has been much derision caused by these "revaluations" by homeowners, because property values have fallen dramatically- and the real estate market has been hit very hard . There is nothing "fair" about the market or the home values that have been assessed, according to many New Jersey families.

Ms. Hart attended the meeting, armed with- as she said "her Constitution and the facts."

Said Hart "I tried to express my opinion and tell them that my Constitutional rights had been violated. I began quoting the Constitution, line by line.

Ms. Hart tried to explain, that Appraisal Systems, Inc. was attempting to inspect her property without her husband being present. As an Orthodox Jew, this is against the tenets of her religion. Her husband had to be present. According to Ms. Hart, she was unable to express this concern.

A representative of Appraisal Systems, Inc. -(<List of Appraisal System Employees at this link)apparently took offense to her objections and brought in Robyn Glocker-Hammond, the Tax Assessor - who stated that her job was to "enforce the law."

(This writer was under the impression that Tax Collectors collected taxes. They are NOT "law enforcement." But then, I am not a Tax Collector in New Jersey. )

Relates Hart: "She also wouldn't let me speak and told me to sit down and shut up and listen as well. That's when the young man came toward me. I knew he was going to put his hands on me. I saw him out of the corner of my eye. I said to him "Don't you dare touch me." Then they threw us out of the auditorium. The young man from Appraisal Systems, Inc. was the one going postal, and I believe if HE HAD A GUN, he would have shot me, Keith and Khloe on the spot. I was calm the entire time."

When the Harts left the gathering, they were followed into the parking lot of the community center, and the same young man who had been so upset by Ms. Hart's comments in the community center, started screaming and shouting at her, took down the license plate number of her vehicle and said - "See if you are able to pay your property taxes NOW!"

Eileen didn't understand what that shouted threat meant, until she returned to her home with her family.

When they arrived, there were 5 police cars from the Franklinville Police Department. They advised her that the Clayton Police wanted to talk to her about the allegations.

States Hart "For the record, both the police officers DID acknowledge that it was "an allegation."

Her purse was taken from her and she was put into a "paddy wagon," transported to the police station-

Her young daughter witnessed the events and was traumatized to see her mother being treated like a common criminal.

[VB: And now comes the fun part:]

She was arrested and booked for "terroristic threats" and "contempt."

At the police station, she was handcuffed to a chair.

The cops ran a background check- and it revealed that she had absolutely NO criminal record. It also showed that she was the lawful owner of two hand guns. She was advised to turn in the guns over to the court (surrendered or confiscated) - and they would be held for "safe keeping." If she did not- she was told by the police- her bail would be VERY high. And- if she could not make the bail- she would sit in the county jail until an unknown date.

The complaint (in part) states: The State of New Jersey vs. Eileen B. Hart -"The Defendant was yelling and screaming and making the threatening comment. "If the door is locked. I'll be back with a gun."

Ms. Hart denies she ever made this statement, as does her husband, Keith. However, this is how the complaint was written up by Clayton County Sergeant J. Dick- who, it may be noted, was not present during the meeting.

She surrendered her guns and was released on her own recognizance.

Read more at Examiner.com.

This story is currently making the rounds at Breitbart, GatewayPundit and the rest of the usual "Constitution" and "Gun-Lovers" crowd.

We assume that this event took place after sundown on Saturday night, and that Mrs. Hart did not bring her guns to the meeting.

Re-evaluations of the property may have been to inspect property damaged by Hurricane Sandy.

People who do not keep order at public meetings should be escorted from the premises.

Senate Confirms Jack Lew as Secretary of the Treasury

WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed Jacob Lew to be Treasury secretary, affirming President Barack Obama’s choice of a budget expert at a time when Congress and the White House are at odds over sharp government spending cuts.

The Senate voted 71-26 to support the nomination.

Lew, 57, had most recently served as Obama’s chief of staff. He succeeds Timothy Geithner, who completed a tumultuous four-year term in which he helped lead the administration’s response to the financial crisis and recession.

He takes over just before automatic spending cuts are set to take effect. He’s likely to take part in any negotiations to reverse the cuts, and also in key budget talks next month to continue funding the government.

Lew began his government service in the 1980s as an aide to House Speaker Tip O’Neill. He brings nearly three decades of government service to the job, including two stints as White House budget director.

“Mr. Lew is well-qualified to be the nation’s next Treasury secretary,” said Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus of Montana. “He has demonstrated time and again that he has the knowledge and expertise” to deal with the country’s budget problems.

But Republican Sen. Jeff Session of Alabama, who opposed the nomination, said Lew is the architect of the Obama’s administration’s budget. Sessions said that budget doesn’t reduce the deficit enough.

During his confirmation hearing, Lew signaled no major economic policy changes. He advocated a balanced approach to reducing the long-term budget deficit through spending cuts and additional tax revenue.

Read more at Washington Post.

Jack Lew is the first Orthodox Jew appointed as a Cabinet member.

President Obama to Receive Israel Presidential Medal

Bibi & Barack

Barack Obama will receive one of Israel's most prestigious honours during his upcoming visit to the Middle East. On Monday, the office of the Israeli president, Shimon Peres, announced that Obama will be given the presidential medal of distinction in March.

A statement said that the honour recognised Obama's "unique and significant contribution to strengthening the State of Israel and the security of its citizens".

Obama's political opponents have complained constantly that he has attempted to distance the US from its traditional support of Israel. In the lead up to the presidential election last year the Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, accused Obama of "repeated efforts" to "throw Israel under the bus". Obama's pick for defence secretary has also been criticised, due to comments allegedly made by Chuck Hagel regarding the power of the pro-Israeli lobby in Washington.

Obama's White House has always maintained its support for Israel, but the president has had a tense relationship with the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, particularly regarding West Bank settlements and the lack of a peace process with the Palestinians.

Peres and the committee behind the award noted Obama's overall friendship and backing of the Iron Dome missile defence system. Obama's visit to Israel will be his first as president.

Read more at Guardian.

Yiddish is Not a Dying Language (Forward Targets Yiddish-Speaking Hasidim)

The fate of Yiddish is something of a question mark — perhaps fitting for a culture famous for answering questions with questions.

Its use is popularly believed to be fading as Holocaust survivors and the people who learned Yiddish at the kitchen tables of their immigrant parents die off.

But scholars say not to write off Yiddish just yet. Many contend it has a brighter future as young people take up the language in some 30 college programs and institutes around the country. More significant, the ranks of ultra-Orthodox Jews, for whom it is the lingua franca, continue to mushroom.

It is this more sanguine outlook that explains why The Forward, the 115-year-old Jewish newspaper, is expanding its ambitions. Three decades ago, the paper trimmed back the schedule of the Yiddish-language newspaper from a daily to a weekly, and in 1990 it tried to win new readers by printing an entirely separate paper in English.

Now, encouraged by what it sees as renewed interest in Yiddish among younger people, The Forward will introduce a rejuvenated and enhanced Yiddish Web site (vebzaytl in Yiddish) on Feb. 4, complete with blogs and links to Facebook (Face-bukh). Because of a declining readership, however, the publication schedule of the print version of the Yiddish-language newspaper will be cut back to every other week.

In addition to featuring articles from the Yiddish newspaper, which the bare-bones Web site already does, the remodeled site will have a daily podcast of about 10 minutes rotating among Yiddish-speaking correspondents in Moscow, Jerusalem, Paris, Warsaw, Melbourne, Buenos Aires and New York.

There will be a blog called Vayter (Further) geared to students studying Yiddish, which will offer folk tales and Yiddish phrases, intended to provide lively reading matter and allow students to connect. By clicking on an unfamiliar Yiddish word, students can see a pop-up translation, something they cannot do in the newspaper.

There will also be a blog for Hasidim and other Haredim — ultra-Orthodox Jews — written by Haredim who will probably use pen names. (Haredim are discouraged from reading secular newspapers, though many privately read news on the Web). It will be called “Yiddish mit ayn Aleph” — a reference to the distinctive way Hasidim spell the language’s name.

“We’ve always had a minority of Haredi readers,” said Sam Norich, publisher of the English and Yiddish newspapers. “Some of them read the printed edition underneath the Haredi newspaper. But online there’s greater participation.”

The new Web site will continue some old traditions, like featuring videos on how to cook East European delicacies, like stuffed cabbage, and on international travel, but these will now have English subtitles. A new blog called “Yidishe parnose” (“It’s a living”) will consist of conversations with Yiddish speakers working in various professions, from cobblers to investment bankers.

Read more at NY Times.

Considering the Forward's anti-Orthodox bias, it has a tough hill to climb before it will be able to attract Hasidic readers. Maybe if they would write something nice about us once in a while I might become a subscriber. 

London "Sunday Times" Observes Holocaust Memorial Day with Ugly Cartoon

London - The Sunday Times marked Holocaust Memorial Day in a less-than-traditional manner, running a virulently anti-Israel cartoon depicting a big-nosed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu paving a wall with the blood and limbs of writhing Palestinians.

The cartoon included a caption beneath the image entitled “Israeli elections- will cementing peace continue?” Drawn by Gerald Scarfe, the cartoon appeared in the national paper on Sunday.

“This cartoon would be offensive at any time of the year, but to publish it on International Holocaust Remembrance Day is sickening and expresses a deeply troubling mindset,” said European Jewish Congress President Dr. Moshe Kantor. “This insensitivity demands an immediate apology from both the cartoonist and the paper’s editors.”

“Amazingly, as this cartoon was published days after the only democracy in the Middle East, Israel, underwent fully democratic elections, as others in the Middle East were being butchered by the tens of thousands, the Sunday Times focuses its imagination solely on the Jewish State.  This contravenes many of the criteria laid out in EUMC’s Working Definition of Antisemitism and is part of a worrying trend to legitimize the growing assault on Israel by opinion-shapers.”

British anti-Semitism has made headlines throughout the week after Liberal Democrat MP David Ward accused “the Jews” of inflicting violence on Palestinians on a daily basis,” and questioned how they could do this so soon after their “liberation from the death camps.”

He issued something of a backtrack on Saturday evening, in response to condemnation from his party and a huge backlash on social media. “I was trying to make clear that everybody needs to learn the lessons of the Holocaust,” the MP posted on his website.

“I recognize of course the deep sensitivities of these issues at all times, and particularly on occasions of commemoration such as this weekend [Holocaust Memorial Day],” he said.

He added that his criticisms of Israel “remain as strong as ever.”

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton paid a special tribute to Holocaust survivors on Sunday, in a statement released on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Read more at Jerusalem Post.

 

Your Guide to the Israeli Elections (Info Graphic)

Israel Voting Guide

"The Daily Show" Rips Detroit Bridge Troll Matty Moroun

 

Leave it to "The Daily Show' to find the absurdity in one of Detroit's oddest political battles.

A segment on the comedy news show hosted by Al Madrigal looked at the plan to build a new bridge to Canada -- free to Michigan taxpayers -- and the surreal opposition to it that's been powered by billionaire Matty Moroun, who happens to own Detroit's other bridge to Windsor.

Watch the video above to see Madrigal go where others can't, as he pokes fun at Detroit, pesters a toll booth operator in search of Moroun, calls out a "soccer mom" for her Canada hating and asks one famed local activist with the New Black Panther Nation why he's working for the man.

"Mo' bridges, mo' problems, am I right?" Madrigal says.

Read more at Huffington Post.

 

DOOFUS OF THE DAY: Columnist Blames Teh Eevil Jooz for the "War on Christmas"

Scary Jew Shadows and their Hanukkah Menorahs Everywhere!

Burt Prelutsky screeches in World Nut Daily:

I never thought I’d live to see the day that Christmas would become a dirty word. You think it hasn’t? Then why is it that people are being prevented from saying it in polite society for fear that it will offend?

Why, after 60 years, is the city of Santa Monica, Calif., no longer allowed to erect its traditional crèche in the palisades overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and why is the governor of Rhode Island insisting on calling the state’s Christmas tree a holiday tree?

Schools are being forced to replace “Christmas vacation” with “winter break” in their printed schedules. At some major retail chains, the word is verboten, replaced as a matter of policy by the generic Happy Holidays. Carols, even instrumental versions, are verboten in certain locales. All across the country, grammar schools are banning Christmas pageants.

How is it, one well might ask, that in a Christian nation this is happening? And in case you find that designation objectionable, would you deny that India is a Hindu country, that Turkey is Muslim, that Poland is Catholic? That doesn’t mean those nations are theocracies. But when the overwhelming majority of a country’s population believe Jesus to be their savior, only a darn fool would deny the obvious.

Although it seems a long time ago, it really wasn’t, that people who came here from other places made every attempt to fit in. Assimilation wasn’t a threat to anyone; it was what the Statue of Liberty represented. E pluribus unum, one out of many, was our motto. The world’s melting pot was our nickname. It didn’t mean that any group of people had to check their customs, culture or cuisine, at the door. It did mean that they, and especially their children, learned English, and that they learned to live and let live.

That has changed, as you may have noticed. And I lay a great deal of the blame at the feet of my fellow Jews. When it comes to pushing the multicultural, anti-Christian agenda, you find Jewish judges, Jewish journalists and the largely Jewish funded ACLU at the forefront. What makes them even more obnoxious is that, by and large, the Jews who are leading the crusade against what is, we should never forget, a national holiday, are secular. So it’s not even a question of their religion being shortchanged; they hate their own, as well. They’re the pinheads who pretend that “separation of church and state” appears in the Constitution.

THIS "GEM" STANDS OUT:

I am getting the idea that these self-righteous secular Jews won’t be happy until they pull off their own version of the Spanish Inquisition, forcing Christians to either deny their faith and convert to agnosticism or suffer the consequences.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2012/12/the-jewish-grinch-who-stole-christmas/#Pwu70GKGg9rKAgyo.99 (WARNING: This link goes to a site that is run by delusional stupid crazy people. You may lose brain cells.)

The mind boggles. I thought it was supposed to be Muslims and their "stealth Sharia" who were leading the War Against Christmas! There is so much wrong with this diatribe that I don't even know where to begin. Let's begin with the hysterical claim that wishing somebody "Happy Holidays" is the equivalent of burning somebody to death in an auto-da-fe. Uh, no it's not.

Also, nobody is even being FORCED to say "Happy Holidays." It's just a generic greeting, like "How are you today?" People who say "How are you today?" are not expecting a full run-down of your medical condition.

Now is is possible that some people are concerned that public funds or public space are being designated for religious objects that are not inclusive of many citizens. At the same time, the same "conservatives" who are in such horror of a "War on Christmas" also complain that the White House is spending too much money of holiday decorations during a time of recession and unemployment and OMG a Blackity Black Man is President!

I can look all around and see Christmas symbols everywhere! My favorite TV shows are either pre-empted for Christmas specials, or else have a Christmas episode, but it is very rare to see a TV program that has a Hanukkah episode. Which reminds me, "South Park" has not done a Christmas Special since the infamous "Woodland Critters" episode. I haz a sad!

 

IDF Soldiers Protest Gaza Cease-Fire With "Bibi Loser" Photo

"Bibi Loser" spelled out in Hebrew

Jerusalem - Sixteen IDF soldiers could face court-martial proceedings after posing in uniform for a photograph where their arranged bodies spelled out the phrase “Bibi Loser” in Hebrew letters. Their act is an expression of defiance against Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s decision to accept a cease-fire with Hamas instead of sending ground troops into Gaza.

The Times of Israel reports (http://bit.ly/SYd2bf) that the photograph has gone viral, and has received over 3,000 “Likes” and 400 “shares” in one Facebook group alone within just three hours of being posted. Comments on the photo ranged from those calling for the soldiers to be court-martialed to sympathy for the soldiers’ frustration.

Other comments refer to Netanyahu as a coward for keeping the IDF from “giving it to Hamas” and “getting the job done.”

Read more at Vos Iz Neias.

Support Israel! Do Your Holiday Shopping at the Zionist Mall!

Beautiful Israeli Art Menorah

You can support Israel and also get great stuff for the holidays! Hanukkah begins Saturday night, Dec. 8 but lasts for 8 days!

Shop at the Zionist Mall Hanukkah Store for the holidays and all year long. We recommend the Ahava products. 

About Those Maps of "Disappearing Palestine"

"Disappearing Palestine" as sent around all over Twitter

Yaakov Lozowick comments:

Anyone who deals with the Israel-Palestine conflict will probably have come across the nasty four-map series purporting to show how Israel is eliminating Palestine step by step. Recently some fellow in the NY area hired space on local billboards to expose them to commuters. I contacted him and asked if he’d be willing to listen to a critique; when he said he would I sent him the following analysis. You can see his brief response - and mine - at the end.

According to what I’ve read on Mondoweiss, you seem to be of the opinion that the series of four maps showing the disappearing Palestinian presence in what was once Mandatory Palestine are factually accurate. I suggest we take a closer look.

There are various problems with the series, the most obvious being that it compares apples with oranges and also with screwdrivers, meaning that the different maps present different data-sets. Some of the data-sets themselves are inaccurate.

Judging by the picture above, your version of the maps is even more problematic than some of the other versions which are out there. I’ll relate to your version as presented on Mondoweiss.

First, the map from 1946. Even standing alone without the series, it’s misleading in that it contains two distinct types of information. The outline is of the territory controlled by the British, commonly known as Palestine. Being a map of a political entity, however, the whole thing should be the same color, green in this case, since the entire territory was ruled by the British, the white parts and the green. If one wished to show privately owned land under the sovereignty of the British according to ethnic identity, the green would have been replaced by a hodgepodge of colors. Some of the land was owned by Jews, some by Arabs (today we would call them Palestinians), some by Arab absentee landlords of other nationalities (Lebanese, Syrians, Egyptians and so on), some by European churches – Catholic Protestant, Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox and others, and finally, the largest section by far would have been land registered by no-one and thus belonging to the government, i.e the British.

As far as I can see, your version has omitted the Jewish ownership of property in Jerusalem (where there was a majority of Jews), and in various pockets such as the Etzion Block, Neve Yaacov, settlements on the Dead Sea, Hebron, Safed, Naharia and its hinterland, Kfar Darom in Gaza, and so on. But the main problem with this map isn’t its omissions of Jewish property, but rather the implication that any land not owned by Jews was “Palestine”. Not true. If it’s land ownership you’re trying to depict then most of the territory was owned by the British government; if it’s political sovereignty then the entire area was British.

The second map drops the issue of land ownership, and the series never returns to it. This map is a reasonably accurate depiction of the partition plan adopted by the United Nations on November 29th 1947, with one glaring omission: the Jerusalem-Bethlehem area, which was very clearly not allocated to either side, but designated as a Corpus Separandum. I emphasize: Jerusalem and Bethlehem. So the cartographer has allocated to a notional Palestine a very important piece of territory which it never had.

Of course, this map never depicted a reality. At the time it was rejected by all the Arab states which had a vote, and also by the local Arabs themselves who did not generally call themselves Palestinians at the time, but we can agree to call them that now. I’m not going to get into the question of who foiled the UN partition plan, but I think we can agree that all sides played their roles; the Jewish Yishuv, Husseini’s Palestinian forces, Kaukji’s forces, and the Egyptian, Jordanian, Syrian, Iraqi and Lebanese forces which participated in fighting in territory which had previously been under British rule.

Read the rest at Yaakov Lozowick's blog.

Heads Explode as Orthodox Jews Vote Overwhelmingly for Obama

Scary Jew Shadow in Line to Vote

As election results have been confirmed and statistics from national polls emerge, showing that American Jews overwhelmingly supported Barack Obama - with 70% of the Jewish population voting for Obama - questions emerge about the the true sentiments of this population towards Israel and the disconnect between Jews in Israel and those abroad.

David Bedein, founder of the Israel Resource News Agency and Director of the Center for Near East Policy Research finds the disconnect between the religious in Israel and the U.S. particularly startling, saying many Republican supporters were shocked by the refusal of Orthodox leaders to throw their support behind the pro-Israel Mitt Romney.

“Those who think that orthodox Jews supported Romney and secular Jews supported Obama are wrong. This is simply not true,” said Bedein. “In New Jersey they established the organization ‘Rabbis for Romney,’ and they turned to all sectors of Orthodox Jews, and there are a million Jews like that, but their rabbis refused to join.”

In his opinion, Jewish support for Obama indicates a grave detachment from the land of Israel. “We approached the Young Israel organization, which represents hundreds of synagogues, we approached the Council of Rabbis in the U.S., the Chabad organization, Agudath Israel, all of them refused - they told us they wanted to protect their ties to the current government. We need to understand that the difference (in votes for) Obama and Romney was very slight in the key states, and if those rabbis and leaders would have done something, if they would have emphasized how dangerous Obama is for Israel, it would have changed the entire picture and Romney would have been put in the White House.”

More bitter, bitter tears at Arutz Sheva.

"Call Your Zeyde!" Another Political Ad Full of Lame Stereotypes

 

From the group that brought you 2008's ingenious voting campaign, The Great Schlep, and the most popular viral videos of the 2012 election cycle comes a new effort aimed at engaging young Jewish Americans and sparking cross-generational conversation.

The new video, “Call Your Zeyde!” combines smart politics and humor with this entertaining musical spoof featuring Michelle Citrin, the indie singer who starred in the YouTube hits, “20 Things to do with Matzah” and “Rosh Hashanah Girl.”

Read more at Huffington Post.

Babushka is voting for Obama and this little girl is very cute, but I HATE this stupid ad for these reasons:

1. Stereotypes are lame, lame, lame!
2. The song is annoying! I HATE that stupid song!
3. GAAHH!