The George W. Bush Loyalty Quiz
http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/blgeorgewbushquiz.htm
"10 Questions to Test Your Allegiance to President Bush
Are you a true believer in George W. Bush, or do you think he has been a miserable failure? Perhaps you're still struggling to make up your mind. Take this quiz and we'll gauge your level of support for the 43rd president. "
RESULT:
Your score is 0 on a scale of 1 to 10. You hate Bush with a writhing passion. You think he is an idiot, a liar, and a warmonger who has been an utterly incompetent, miserable failure of a president. Nothing would give you greater pleasure than seeing him impeached and run out of the White House, except maybe seeing him dragged away in handcuffs.
Top of my class.
I must say I'm very surprised.
I always thought I was filled with love.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Monday, August 06, 2007
ONLY CHRISTIANS
An article on the BBC webpage caught my attention.
It appears that historical revisionism is alive and well in Russia.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6933401.stm
Quote:
"A giant cross commemorating the victims of Stalin's terror 70 years after the worst of the purges has reached Moscow after a journey from northern Russia.
-----
Russian human rights activists fear that the Gulag and Stalin's crimes are not being properly commemorated by the Russian authorities, and the memory of the victims may be lost to future generations. "
A large number of Stalin's victims were Jewish or Muslim.
In that, he followed in the footsteps of Lenin (and the Czars).
His successors did not deviate from his example.
Erecting a cross to commemorate victims of Russia's communist dictators implies three things:
1. Only Christians were victims.
2. Only Christians are worth commemorating.
3. Only Christians are Russian.
I am not entirely convinced that any of those implications have any validity.
And, given what the Russians are known for (Vodka and Pogroms), I do not think it wise to give Russia's dominant ethnicity of depressed and bloody-minded Slavs yet another reason to drink...... we've seen what happens when they get into a funk.
PS. Any implied stereotype or snarky subtext in the text above applies not just to Russians, but also liberally to Byelorussians and Ukrainians. I'm not biased.
It appears that historical revisionism is alive and well in Russia.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6933401.stm
Quote:
"A giant cross commemorating the victims of Stalin's terror 70 years after the worst of the purges has reached Moscow after a journey from northern Russia.
-----
Russian human rights activists fear that the Gulag and Stalin's crimes are not being properly commemorated by the Russian authorities, and the memory of the victims may be lost to future generations. "
A large number of Stalin's victims were Jewish or Muslim.
In that, he followed in the footsteps of Lenin (and the Czars).
His successors did not deviate from his example.
Erecting a cross to commemorate victims of Russia's communist dictators implies three things:
1. Only Christians were victims.
2. Only Christians are worth commemorating.
3. Only Christians are Russian.
I am not entirely convinced that any of those implications have any validity.
And, given what the Russians are known for (Vodka and Pogroms), I do not think it wise to give Russia's dominant ethnicity of depressed and bloody-minded Slavs yet another reason to drink...... we've seen what happens when they get into a funk.
PS. Any implied stereotype or snarky subtext in the text above applies not just to Russians, but also liberally to Byelorussians and Ukrainians. I'm not biased.
Friday, August 03, 2007
RANDOM TESTS
The company I work for requires applicants to submit to a personality analysis test before making a decision about employment (they want to know what they're dealing with).
I took the test about three months after they hired me.
It turns out I have the same simplistic personality graph as the psychopath I replaced.
And I'm feeling good about that.
Here's some tests I took recently. As indicators of my character and emotional state they are just as reliable.
"Gratulerar! Du foljer med din tid och far nog raknas som mer postmodern an modern."
About the only thing these tests really say is that I'm full of coffee, and it's Friday afternoon.
Yay!
A gitn und gebentshte shabbes, y'all.
I took the test about three months after they hired me.
It turns out I have the same simplistic personality graph as the psychopath I replaced.
And I'm feeling good about that.
Here's some tests I took recently. As indicators of my character and emotional state they are just as reliable.
"Gratulerar! Du foljer med din tid och far nog raknas som mer postmodern an modern."
About the only thing these tests really say is that I'm full of coffee, and it's Friday afternoon.
Yay!
A gitn und gebentshte shabbes, y'all.
YOU'RE LOLITA!
While reading Midianite Manna (http://www.midianitemanna.blogspot.com/), I stumble across the Book Quiz................
And it tells me:
"You're Lolita! by Vladimir Nabokov
Considered by most to be depraved and immoral, you are obsessed with sex. What really tantalizes you is that which deviates from societal standards in every way, though you admit that this probably isn't the best and you're not sure what causes this desire. Nonetheless, you've done some pretty nefarious things in your life, and probably gotten caught for them. The names have been changed, but the problems are real. Please stay away from children. "
Take the quiz here: http://bluepyramid.org/ia/bquiz.htm
Oh, and by the way. Midianite Manna is the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
Are you surprised?
--------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
But on the other hand....
"Congratulations. You're Modern Orthodox all right, but wait! Just when you were ready to live an idyllic happily-labeled life they announce Left Wing and Right Wing Modern Orthodoxy. What the heck is up with that? Maybe you need to rethink and refine some of your positions, and then take the test again so I can put you in a little box. "
http://www.nerdtests.com/mq/take.php?id=200
I'm farklempt. Or conflicted. But not confused. Talk among yourselves.
And it tells me:
"You're Lolita! by Vladimir Nabokov
Considered by most to be depraved and immoral, you are obsessed with sex. What really tantalizes you is that which deviates from societal standards in every way, though you admit that this probably isn't the best and you're not sure what causes this desire. Nonetheless, you've done some pretty nefarious things in your life, and probably gotten caught for them. The names have been changed, but the problems are real. Please stay away from children. "
Take the quiz here: http://bluepyramid.org/ia/bquiz.htm
Oh, and by the way. Midianite Manna is the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
Are you surprised?
--------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
But on the other hand....
"Congratulations. You're Modern Orthodox all right, but wait! Just when you were ready to live an idyllic happily-labeled life they announce Left Wing and Right Wing Modern Orthodoxy. What the heck is up with that? Maybe you need to rethink and refine some of your positions, and then take the test again so I can put you in a little box. "
http://www.nerdtests.com/mq/take.php?id=200
For a "second opinion", I took the 'Belief-O-Matic' quiz.
Apparently I fit as follows:
1. Reform Judaism (100%)
2. Sikhism (89%)
3. Orthodox Judaism (86%)
2. Sikhism (89%)
3. Orthodox Judaism (86%)
4. Islam (83%)
I'm farklempt. Or conflicted. But not confused. Talk among yourselves.
ANTI-SEMITES IN CORPORATE AMERICA
Note: the following is a guest-post from a friend who lives in the South.
================================
About 4 months ago I took a new job. All bright and shiny I arrived to a sales meeting where I found some particularly loud and robust sales guys. Not at all unusual as this is often the type of personality that you find in sales and they are harmless.
At one point they started really bagging in a newly fired President for the North American Operations. To my shock and horror one of the guys said "well what do you expect, he's a Jew! This drew hoots and tsk tsk sounds from the other guys.
Later and not wanting to make a big deal of it (mostly because of fear) I casually asked about the comment to my boss. I think I said, "what's up with the Jew comment?". To which he replied "why, are you a Jew?".
My inclination was to say oh no, of course not, not me. But sometimes valor overcomes discretion even in cowards like myself and so "Yes, I am a non-practicing Jew". The words came out of my mouth before I could think to lie and so I braced myself for the worst.
To my surprise he said something to the effect of sorry and I hope you were not offended. I told him no problem and let's forget about the whole incident. He agreed and I did not forget but decided to let a sleeping dog lie.
However, in the next meeting (one week later) the boss, my boss made a point to tell the whole crew that I'm a Jew. My normally almost translucent skin turned about four shades of Pantone red. The guys all looked at me with this awful maniacal grin and one guy actually said " prove it, drop your pants. Another threw a penny that bounced off my face and said are sure your a Jew? A real Jew would have caught that penny before it hit the ground.
They all laughed at me.
I guess this is the price you pay for living in the south. Can I please come home? I don't recall anybody throwing pennies at me in Portola Valley.
================================
For once I do not know what to say.
================================
About 4 months ago I took a new job. All bright and shiny I arrived to a sales meeting where I found some particularly loud and robust sales guys. Not at all unusual as this is often the type of personality that you find in sales and they are harmless.
At one point they started really bagging in a newly fired President for the North American Operations. To my shock and horror one of the guys said "well what do you expect, he's a Jew! This drew hoots and tsk tsk sounds from the other guys.
Later and not wanting to make a big deal of it (mostly because of fear) I casually asked about the comment to my boss. I think I said, "what's up with the Jew comment?". To which he replied "why, are you a Jew?".
My inclination was to say oh no, of course not, not me. But sometimes valor overcomes discretion even in cowards like myself and so "Yes, I am a non-practicing Jew". The words came out of my mouth before I could think to lie and so I braced myself for the worst.
To my surprise he said something to the effect of sorry and I hope you were not offended. I told him no problem and let's forget about the whole incident. He agreed and I did not forget but decided to let a sleeping dog lie.
However, in the next meeting (one week later) the boss, my boss made a point to tell the whole crew that I'm a Jew. My normally almost translucent skin turned about four shades of Pantone red. The guys all looked at me with this awful maniacal grin and one guy actually said " prove it, drop your pants. Another threw a penny that bounced off my face and said are sure your a Jew? A real Jew would have caught that penny before it hit the ground.
They all laughed at me.
I guess this is the price you pay for living in the south. Can I please come home? I don't recall anybody throwing pennies at me in Portola Valley.
================================
For once I do not know what to say.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
EVERY WORD IS TRUE
Four fundamental ikkarim:
On Har Sinai Moshe received a copy of the Vilna Shas and the complete Mikraos Gedolos.[On Har Sinai Moshe also received a black hat, a beckishe, and chulent; "Ir solt essn tsholnt" was written on the original tablets, but they broke.]
Soon after Akiva started learning Torah he was introduced to the Gemarah, at which point he was pleased and amazed to discover that he would one day engage in argument with some guy named Tarfon.
Rashi is always right.
[If Rashi is proven wrong, chosvesholom, please repeat these ikkarim, starting with the first. You'll be surprised at how soon you can overlook Rashi being wrong. There now, wasn't that comforting?]
Midrash is always literal, and always history.
Dovbear disagrees with the above. And it disagrees with him.
There is a similar nauseating relationship between some of his readers and him as there is between him and the above. You could draw a Venn-diagram. Or you could rush over to the post in question, tzitzis aflutter and payes quivering in outrage, to contribute your shekeleim worth to the discourse. It is here: http://dovbear.blogspot.com/2007/08/some-questions-for-ed-bray-yus-and.html
Personally, I believe that if you disagree, the inquisition will burn you at the stake.
Oh wait. That's the Christian response.
Very well then, if you disagree, you'll be put in cherem, your parents will say kaddish and rend a garment, you'll be cast out to wander the lonely roads of middle Europe, and you'll snuff it in one of the many civil wars of the period.
----------------------------------------------
The world is not round, it is actually Burrito-shaped.
On Har Sinai Moshe received a copy of the Vilna Shas and the complete Mikraos Gedolos.[On Har Sinai Moshe also received a black hat, a beckishe, and chulent; "Ir solt essn tsholnt" was written on the original tablets, but they broke.]
Soon after Akiva started learning Torah he was introduced to the Gemarah, at which point he was pleased and amazed to discover that he would one day engage in argument with some guy named Tarfon.
Rashi is always right.
[If Rashi is proven wrong, chosvesholom, please repeat these ikkarim, starting with the first. You'll be surprised at how soon you can overlook Rashi being wrong. There now, wasn't that comforting?]
Midrash is always literal, and always history.
Dovbear disagrees with the above. And it disagrees with him.
There is a similar nauseating relationship between some of his readers and him as there is between him and the above. You could draw a Venn-diagram. Or you could rush over to the post in question, tzitzis aflutter and payes quivering in outrage, to contribute your shekeleim worth to the discourse. It is here: http://dovbear.blogspot.com/2007/08/some-questions-for-ed-bray-yus-and.html
Personally, I believe that if you disagree, the inquisition will burn you at the stake.
Oh wait. That's the Christian response.
Very well then, if you disagree, you'll be put in cherem, your parents will say kaddish and rend a garment, you'll be cast out to wander the lonely roads of middle Europe, and you'll snuff it in one of the many civil wars of the period.
----------------------------------------------
The world is not round, it is actually Burrito-shaped.
LET US FUME
Yes, this is another post about tobacco.
G. L. PEASE - WESTMINSTER
A while back I had the tobacconist acquire some of G. L. Pease’s new blend (Westminster). The things I had heard and read about it made it seem like the first coming of the Moshiach as far as English style blends were concerned. And it sounded so very intriguing.
I have been smoking it for over a month now. And I am not disappointed. It is very good indeed.
I’m guessing slightly over forty percent Latakia, twenty five percent Turkish. The remainder mostly straight cavendish and aged red Virginia with touches of gold and stoved. It covers all bases, and if like a certain person in Basel you appreciate blends such as these, you will like this one too.
On the other hand, this is one of those blends that even though you think it smells divine (and it does), your eishes chayil will not fully appreciate the resinous sooty fragrance. Women are weird that way. They do not notice the fine memory-stoking flavours, and aromas broad and deep find little favour in their noses. Nostrils too tiny, I guess.
CORNELL & DIEHL
These are the people that make Greg Pease’s tobaccos for him. They also put out other mixtures and blends.
Some of the names for their products are goofy as all heck, and some raise eyebrows and quirk the interest.
Among the latter: Halav U’Dvash (red and gold Virginia with Oriental leaf and a touch of Perique, and a mysterious traditional aromatic agent), Haunted Bookshop (Burley with a little red Virginia and Perique), Old Joe Kranz (Burley, Perique, and red Virginia), Black Duck, Junkyard Dawg, Yaller Dawg.....
[NOTE: C&D doesn't just "put up" the Pease blends, he gives them the formulae and they compound accordingly with the same tobaccos that they use for their own mixtures.]
In addition to the tins of Westminster and Kensington, a few of Cornell & Diehl's own tobaccos showed up on the shelves at the tobacconist.
So, out of a sense of polite interest (they do Greg's stuff, might as well see what they do for themselves) I invested in two tins of what appeared to be flaked Virginia (and I am not normally a Virginia smoker).
I purchased 'Opening Night' (red and bright Virginia slices) and 'Manhattan Afternoon'.
Holy smokes!
The next day I went back and bought more.
Craig Tarler (owner of Cornell & Diehl) knows what he is doing. Opening Night is particularly nice, and bears near constant refilling, frequent indulgence. I have several times now had three or four bowls of an evening, instead of the normal one or two. Opening Night is reverie inducing, smooth, sweet, yet complex and intense. A deeply satisfying smoke, which leaves the bowl clean and dry. It yields a velvety ash of pale grey dust.
An added benefit is that Savage Kitten does not notice that I am smoking this in the teevee room until I have nearly finished. It is a slow old-fashioned smoke, rather than the brash 'kick-yer-nose-in-the-pants' Oriental mixtures I normally shove in my pipes. No sudden nasal assault, but rather a subtle and pleasant invasion. Nice, and sneaky.
Once the gentlemen at the local tobacconists return from the convention in Houston, I will ask them to order more. In addition to Opening Night and some of the other recent flakes, I should also experiment with Halav U'Dvash, Haunted Bookshop, and Old Joe Kranz.
Cornell & Diehl are definitely company worth keeping.
Note: two whiskeys at the Occidental yesterday evening, with one bowl of Westminster, and two of Opening Night. When I got home I filled a bowl with Manhattan Afternoon for a final smoke of the day.
TOBACCO INDEX
==========================================================================
NOTE: Readers may contact me directly:
LETTER BOX.
All correspondence will be kept in confidence.
==========================================================================
G. L. PEASE - WESTMINSTER
A while back I had the tobacconist acquire some of G. L. Pease’s new blend (Westminster). The things I had heard and read about it made it seem like the first coming of the Moshiach as far as English style blends were concerned. And it sounded so very intriguing.
I have been smoking it for over a month now. And I am not disappointed. It is very good indeed.
I’m guessing slightly over forty percent Latakia, twenty five percent Turkish. The remainder mostly straight cavendish and aged red Virginia with touches of gold and stoved. It covers all bases, and if like a certain person in Basel you appreciate blends such as these, you will like this one too.
On the other hand, this is one of those blends that even though you think it smells divine (and it does), your eishes chayil will not fully appreciate the resinous sooty fragrance. Women are weird that way. They do not notice the fine memory-stoking flavours, and aromas broad and deep find little favour in their noses. Nostrils too tiny, I guess.
CORNELL & DIEHL
These are the people that make Greg Pease’s tobaccos for him. They also put out other mixtures and blends.
Some of the names for their products are goofy as all heck, and some raise eyebrows and quirk the interest.
Among the latter: Halav U’Dvash (red and gold Virginia with Oriental leaf and a touch of Perique, and a mysterious traditional aromatic agent), Haunted Bookshop (Burley with a little red Virginia and Perique), Old Joe Kranz (Burley, Perique, and red Virginia), Black Duck, Junkyard Dawg, Yaller Dawg.....
[NOTE: C&D doesn't just "put up" the Pease blends, he gives them the formulae and they compound accordingly with the same tobaccos that they use for their own mixtures.]
In addition to the tins of Westminster and Kensington, a few of Cornell & Diehl's own tobaccos showed up on the shelves at the tobacconist.
So, out of a sense of polite interest (they do Greg's stuff, might as well see what they do for themselves) I invested in two tins of what appeared to be flaked Virginia (and I am not normally a Virginia smoker).
I purchased 'Opening Night' (red and bright Virginia slices) and 'Manhattan Afternoon'.
Holy smokes!
The next day I went back and bought more.
Craig Tarler (owner of Cornell & Diehl) knows what he is doing. Opening Night is particularly nice, and bears near constant refilling, frequent indulgence. I have several times now had three or four bowls of an evening, instead of the normal one or two. Opening Night is reverie inducing, smooth, sweet, yet complex and intense. A deeply satisfying smoke, which leaves the bowl clean and dry. It yields a velvety ash of pale grey dust.
An added benefit is that Savage Kitten does not notice that I am smoking this in the teevee room until I have nearly finished. It is a slow old-fashioned smoke, rather than the brash 'kick-yer-nose-in-the-pants' Oriental mixtures I normally shove in my pipes. No sudden nasal assault, but rather a subtle and pleasant invasion. Nice, and sneaky.
Once the gentlemen at the local tobacconists return from the convention in Houston, I will ask them to order more. In addition to Opening Night and some of the other recent flakes, I should also experiment with Halav U'Dvash, Haunted Bookshop, and Old Joe Kranz.
Cornell & Diehl are definitely company worth keeping.
Note: two whiskeys at the Occidental yesterday evening, with one bowl of Westminster, and two of Opening Night. When I got home I filled a bowl with Manhattan Afternoon for a final smoke of the day.
TOBACCO INDEX
==========================================================================
NOTE: Readers may contact me directly:
LETTER BOX.
All correspondence will be kept in confidence.
==========================================================================
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
CHINESE POTTER NUTS
Remarkable article in the NYT:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/01/world/asia/01china.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
(Chinese Market Awash in Fake Potter Books, by Howard W. French).
“The global Harry Potter publishing phenomenon has mutated into something altogether Chinese: a combination of remarkable imagination and startling industriousness, all placed in the service of counterfeiting, literary fraud and copyright violation.”
This in reference to Harry Potter tales written in China with titles like “Harry Potter and the Young Heroes”, “Harry Potter and Leopard-Walk-Up-to-Dragon”, “Harry Potter and the Big Funnel”, “Harry Potter and the Chang-Shou blade”, “Harry Potter and the silver lute”, “Harry Potter and the grave of the Marquis of Jin”, “Harry Potter and river-flows-sideways”, and "Harry Potter sees a pink-elephant".
[That last one is made up.]
Coming soon: Harry Potter and the Butterfly Lovers, Harry Potter and the Peach Blossom Fan, and Harry Potter and White Snake – all Kun-style operas sung in a sixteenth century version of Soochow dialect.
-------------------------------------------------
For Kun Qu opera, see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunqu,
but if you're really interested in Chinese opera, you should know from this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantonese_opera.
Believe me, 粵 劇 is the only thing you need to know about the subject, there is no finer entertainment than the opera-style of Kwantung. Who can possibly forget Fong Yim-fang's resplendent presence in a multitude of romantic roles? Or the stirring cycle of plays about the women generals of the Yeung family defending the frontier against the barbarians? Rousing, indeed.
And if you're worried that the high-fallutin language might be beyond you, be not afraid - the full libretto is projected in clear characters on a long white scroll hung next to the stage, sentence for sentence as it is sung.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/01/world/asia/01china.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
(Chinese Market Awash in Fake Potter Books, by Howard W. French).
“The global Harry Potter publishing phenomenon has mutated into something altogether Chinese: a combination of remarkable imagination and startling industriousness, all placed in the service of counterfeiting, literary fraud and copyright violation.”
This in reference to Harry Potter tales written in China with titles like “Harry Potter and the Young Heroes”, “Harry Potter and Leopard-Walk-Up-to-Dragon”, “Harry Potter and the Big Funnel”, “Harry Potter and the Chang-Shou blade”, “Harry Potter and the silver lute”, “Harry Potter and the grave of the Marquis of Jin”, “Harry Potter and river-flows-sideways”, and "Harry Potter sees a pink-elephant".
[That last one is made up.]
Coming soon: Harry Potter and the Butterfly Lovers, Harry Potter and the Peach Blossom Fan, and Harry Potter and White Snake – all Kun-style operas sung in a sixteenth century version of Soochow dialect.
-------------------------------------------------
For Kun Qu opera, see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunqu,
but if you're really interested in Chinese opera, you should know from this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantonese_opera.
Believe me, 粵 劇 is the only thing you need to know about the subject, there is no finer entertainment than the opera-style of Kwantung. Who can possibly forget Fong Yim-fang's resplendent presence in a multitude of romantic roles? Or the stirring cycle of plays about the women generals of the Yeung family defending the frontier against the barbarians? Rousing, indeed.
And if you're worried that the high-fallutin language might be beyond you, be not afraid - the full libretto is projected in clear characters on a long white scroll hung next to the stage, sentence for sentence as it is sung.
I NEVER SAW SO RED A MOUTH
In a previous post I made mention of the mediaeval dukes of Brabant.
The most famous of which is Duke John of Brabant, 1254 - 1294. A great warrior, statesman, and, above all, courtly poet. A very accomplished gentleman all round. The school I attended was named after him, and the town where I grew up is particularly associated with him.
[He's also one of my ancestors, but that is no particular distinction - several million fellow-Americans can validly say the same.]
For your enjoyment, here's a poem written by him.
Ic sach noyt so roden mont
Ic sach noyt so roden mont
--I never saw so red a mouth--
Noch oec so minlike oegen,
--Nor such adorable eyes--
Als si heeft, die mi heeft gewont
--As she has, who has wounded me--
Al in dat herte dogen.
--In the depths of my heart.
Doch leve ic in hogen
--But yet I live on high--
Ende hope des loen ontfaen:
--And hope to receive reward--
Geeft si mi qualen dogen
--If she lets me suffer so,
Si mach mis beteren saen.
--She can also make me better.
Lief, mi hevet u minne
--Love, I have you dear,
So vriendelike bevaen,
--So amicably founded--
Dat ic u met sinne
--That I, with all capabilities--
Moete wese onderdaen.
--Must be your subject.
Mi es wale, als ic mach syn
--It is well with me if I may be--
Bi min're scone vrouwen,
--By my beautious lady--
Ende ic danne haer claer anscyn
--And I then, her clear panim--
Ende haer gelaet mach scouwen.
--And her visage may enjoy.
God verde si van rouwen!
--God ware her from rueing!
Si es so wale gedaen,
--She is so well favoured--
Dat ic haer bi trouwen
--That I loyally--
Moete tallen dienste staen.
--Must do much for her.
Lief, mi hevet u minne
--Love, I have you dear,
So vriendelike bevaen,
--So amicably founded--
Dat ic u met sinne
--That I, with all capabilities--
Moete wese onderdaen.
--Must be your subject.
Notes on orthography: The double vowels look harder than they are. Ae is a long A, ie is like ee in English, oe is pronounced like o in English. In modern Dutch they are written aa, ie, and oo respectively. The double E is similar to ay in English, the Y is the ey in hey.
One peculiarity of which you must be especially observant is that single vowels followed by a single consonant which is followed by a vowel are pronounced like the double vowels, but if in front of double consonants OR an ending consonant are short: ah, ih, eh, oh, etcetera.
The C is pronounced like a K (well, it didn't used to be - but it is best to think of it as a K).
The CH is like in German or transcribed Yiddish - a northerner would pronounce it like he's retching out his guts XKHGGXHXKHXXCCCCHH!, but a civilized person, such as Brabander, Limburger, or Fleming, would give it a soft Hhhhhhh sound. If you speak Yiddish, pronounce it like you normally would.
The most famous of which is Duke John of Brabant, 1254 - 1294. A great warrior, statesman, and, above all, courtly poet. A very accomplished gentleman all round. The school I attended was named after him, and the town where I grew up is particularly associated with him.
[He's also one of my ancestors, but that is no particular distinction - several million fellow-Americans can validly say the same.]
For your enjoyment, here's a poem written by him.
Ic sach noyt so roden mont
Ic sach noyt so roden mont
--I never saw so red a mouth--
Noch oec so minlike oegen,
--Nor such adorable eyes--
Als si heeft, die mi heeft gewont
--As she has, who has wounded me--
Al in dat herte dogen.
--In the depths of my heart.
Doch leve ic in hogen
--But yet I live on high--
Ende hope des loen ontfaen:
--And hope to receive reward--
Geeft si mi qualen dogen
--If she lets me suffer so,
Si mach mis beteren saen.
--She can also make me better.
Lief, mi hevet u minne
--Love, I have you dear,
So vriendelike bevaen,
--So amicably founded--
Dat ic u met sinne
--That I, with all capabilities--
Moete wese onderdaen.
--Must be your subject.
Mi es wale, als ic mach syn
--It is well with me if I may be--
Bi min're scone vrouwen,
--By my beautious lady--
Ende ic danne haer claer anscyn
--And I then, her clear panim--
Ende haer gelaet mach scouwen.
--And her visage may enjoy.
God verde si van rouwen!
--God ware her from rueing!
Si es so wale gedaen,
--She is so well favoured--
Dat ic haer bi trouwen
--That I loyally--
Moete tallen dienste staen.
--Must do much for her.
Lief, mi hevet u minne
--Love, I have you dear,
So vriendelike bevaen,
--So amicably founded--
Dat ic u met sinne
--That I, with all capabilities--
Moete wese onderdaen.
--Must be your subject.
Notes on orthography: The double vowels look harder than they are. Ae is a long A, ie is like ee in English, oe is pronounced like o in English. In modern Dutch they are written aa, ie, and oo respectively. The double E is similar to ay in English, the Y is the ey in hey.
One peculiarity of which you must be especially observant is that single vowels followed by a single consonant which is followed by a vowel are pronounced like the double vowels, but if in front of double consonants OR an ending consonant are short: ah, ih, eh, oh, etcetera.
The C is pronounced like a K (well, it didn't used to be - but it is best to think of it as a K).
The CH is like in German or transcribed Yiddish - a northerner would pronounce it like he's retching out his guts XKHGGXHXKHXXCCCCHH!, but a civilized person, such as Brabander, Limburger, or Fleming, would give it a soft Hhhhhhh sound. If you speak Yiddish, pronounce it like you normally would.
MINHAG LIBERATION FRONT
Rav Ovadia Yosef (ROY), spiritual head of SHAS, recently said: "women should not listen to the voice of their mothers or grandmothers".
This in the context of when the shabbeslichten-brocha should be said.
He paskens that it should be BEFORE lighting the candles, and states that any opinion otherwise was merely the idea of "a few stupid women. A woman's knowledge is only in sewing --- women should find other jobs and make hamin but not deal with matters of Torah."
[For article, see here:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1185789791242&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull.
It been discussed at great length on the ursine blog (see here: http://dovbear.blogspot.com/2007/07/rabbi-ovadias-latest-outrage.html) with both the pros and cons debated in detail.
The argument for bentshing before kindling is that with all other broches one says them before the act one is blessing (a blessing performed post-facto being a brocha levatulah, in this case al pi Rambam), the argument for bentshing afterward is that kindling is issur on shabbes, and saying the blessing makes one mekabel shabbes - in addition to it being a custom of long standing that the lighting precedes the brocha. Both the Ben Ish Chai and the ReMA hold the latter view. And it should be noted that lighting the candles must be done before sundown, hence the practice is to anticipate shabbes, just as with havdalah we seek to prolong the sense of sacred time.]
THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!
He's bashing the minhag of pretty much the entire world!
And how typical!
Minhag bashing is something only a Jew could do.
Friends, comrades, chaverim, let us stand up for the rights of oppressed minhagim everywhere - please join the 'Minhag Liberation Front' today. Give me your personal data (in the comments section, helpfully left blank for your benefit), and let me know how much you are pledging to this noble cause (US currency only, please).
On behalf of minhagim everywhere (and, it is hoped, especially in Tahiti and Bora Bora for an extended period of time) I thank you in advance. You are all doing a great thing.
This in the context of when the shabbeslichten-brocha should be said.
He paskens that it should be BEFORE lighting the candles, and states that any opinion otherwise was merely the idea of "a few stupid women. A woman's knowledge is only in sewing --- women should find other jobs and make hamin but not deal with matters of Torah."
[For article, see here:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1185789791242&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull.
It been discussed at great length on the ursine blog (see here: http://dovbear.blogspot.com/2007/07/rabbi-ovadias-latest-outrage.html) with both the pros and cons debated in detail.
The argument for bentshing before kindling is that with all other broches one says them before the act one is blessing (a blessing performed post-facto being a brocha levatulah, in this case al pi Rambam), the argument for bentshing afterward is that kindling is issur on shabbes, and saying the blessing makes one mekabel shabbes - in addition to it being a custom of long standing that the lighting precedes the brocha. Both the Ben Ish Chai and the ReMA hold the latter view. And it should be noted that lighting the candles must be done before sundown, hence the practice is to anticipate shabbes, just as with havdalah we seek to prolong the sense of sacred time.]
THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!
He's bashing the minhag of pretty much the entire world!
And how typical!
Minhag bashing is something only a Jew could do.
Friends, comrades, chaverim, let us stand up for the rights of oppressed minhagim everywhere - please join the 'Minhag Liberation Front' today. Give me your personal data (in the comments section, helpfully left blank for your benefit), and let me know how much you are pledging to this noble cause (US currency only, please).
On behalf of minhagim everywhere (and, it is hoped, especially in Tahiti and Bora Bora for an extended period of time) I thank you in advance. You are all doing a great thing.
IBN YA'ISH
On MarGavriel's blog (here: http://margavriel.blogspot.com/), in the comments to 'Ooh, this is cool' (here: http://margavriel.blogspot.com/2007/07/ooh-this-is-cool.html), which is about a lack of ritual speech concerning the whacking of willows, one of the most prolific backfeeding writers appears to be a mysterious scholar going by the handle 'Ibn Ya'ish'.
This blog commenter is new to me, and, I suspect, to many.
It is not uncommon for talmidim to write semi-anonymously under the name of a famous person from the past (though at the moment, the only one that springs to mind is Rabban Gamliel (blog here: http://rabbangamliel.blogspot.com/), who as you may have guessed is probably not the well-known tanna.
The name Ibn Ya'ish in a talmidish context is of Andaluthian origin. One of the more well-known bearers of this nasab was Baruch ben Isaac Ibn-Ya’ish, exact dates unknown to the internet, fifteenth century philosopher, medical scholar, and translator from Spain who settled in Italy.
A commentary on canticles, ecclesiastes, and proverbs entitled 'Mekor Baruch' was also from the hand of Baruch ben Isaac Ibn Ya’ish, though it is unclear on the internet whether this is the same Ibn Ya’ish. The author was from Cordoba, and may have been Yahi’a Ibn Ya’ish, the first Chief Rabbi of Portugal, who was born in the 12th century.
[This Mekor Baruch ('source of brocha') is not to be confused with the Mekor Baruch written by Rav Baruch ben Yisroel Hager of Vishnicz (1895 - 1963, Seret-Vishnitz chassidic dynasty), who shtams af from Ya'akov Koppul, disciple of the Ba'al Shem Tov. Nor is it the Mekor Baruch written by Rav Baruch HaLevi Epstein mi Pinsk (1860 - 1941).]
Concerning the name Ibn Ya’ish, it should be mentioned that this was a notable Jewish family of Babylonian origin, being descendants of Reish-galuso Hezkiyahu, and thus also descendent from King David (and so alledgedly relatives of the mediaeval dukes of Brabant, but this is by no means certain).
[The name Ibn Ya'ish means 'son of the one that lives'; ibn means 'son' or 'son of', ya'ish means 'he lives'. It is a patronymic or descent-group nomen, rather than an ism (name) or laqab (descriptive of a characteristic or a place-attribution).]
After the expulsions, many members of the Ibn Ya'ish family ended up in the Ottoman Empire.
Among them: Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ya'ish, died in 1554; and Don Solomon Abenaes (Ibn Ya'ish), who was also named Alvaro Mendes (born 1520 in Portugal, died 1603 in Turkey. He may have been the brother of David ben Avraham Ibn Ya'ish.
So, the Ibn Ya'ish referenced in the name of the commenter on MarGavriel's blog is NOT the Islamic scholar Muhammad Ibn Ya’ish who wrote ‘Madrasat Al Imam 'Umar Ibn 'Abd Al Barr’ (School of Imam Omar ibn Abd el Barr – about the contribution of Imam Omar ibn Abdelbarri the Andalusian and his followers on the development of the Maliki school of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence), nor the mediaeval Ibn Ya’ish who wrote a commentary on the Kitab al Mufassal (book of elaboration – a treatise on grammar by Abulkassim Mahmud ibn Umar ez-Zamakhshari, also known as Jarullah).
Nor is it in reference to Ubayd Ibn Ya'ish, whom Al-Khatib quoted as saying "thirty years I did not eat from my own hand - my sister fed me while I wrote Hadith".
But it may be some other Ibn Ya'ish after whom our pseudonymous commenter has called himself.
In which case all of this post is of no help whatsoever.
This blog commenter is new to me, and, I suspect, to many.
It is not uncommon for talmidim to write semi-anonymously under the name of a famous person from the past (though at the moment, the only one that springs to mind is Rabban Gamliel (blog here: http://rabbangamliel.blogspot.com/), who as you may have guessed is probably not the well-known tanna.
The name Ibn Ya'ish in a talmidish context is of Andaluthian origin. One of the more well-known bearers of this nasab was Baruch ben Isaac Ibn-Ya’ish, exact dates unknown to the internet, fifteenth century philosopher, medical scholar, and translator from Spain who settled in Italy.
A commentary on canticles, ecclesiastes, and proverbs entitled 'Mekor Baruch' was also from the hand of Baruch ben Isaac Ibn Ya’ish, though it is unclear on the internet whether this is the same Ibn Ya’ish. The author was from Cordoba, and may have been Yahi’a Ibn Ya’ish, the first Chief Rabbi of Portugal, who was born in the 12th century.
[This Mekor Baruch ('source of brocha') is not to be confused with the Mekor Baruch written by Rav Baruch ben Yisroel Hager of Vishnicz (1895 - 1963, Seret-Vishnitz chassidic dynasty), who shtams af from Ya'akov Koppul, disciple of the Ba'al Shem Tov. Nor is it the Mekor Baruch written by Rav Baruch HaLevi Epstein mi Pinsk (1860 - 1941).]
Concerning the name Ibn Ya’ish, it should be mentioned that this was a notable Jewish family of Babylonian origin, being descendants of Reish-galuso Hezkiyahu, and thus also descendent from King David (and so alledgedly relatives of the mediaeval dukes of Brabant, but this is by no means certain).
[The name Ibn Ya'ish means 'son of the one that lives'; ibn means 'son' or 'son of', ya'ish means 'he lives'. It is a patronymic or descent-group nomen, rather than an ism (name) or laqab (descriptive of a characteristic or a place-attribution).]
After the expulsions, many members of the Ibn Ya'ish family ended up in the Ottoman Empire.
Among them: Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ya'ish, died in 1554; and Don Solomon Abenaes (Ibn Ya'ish), who was also named Alvaro Mendes (born 1520 in Portugal, died 1603 in Turkey. He may have been the brother of David ben Avraham Ibn Ya'ish.
So, the Ibn Ya'ish referenced in the name of the commenter on MarGavriel's blog is NOT the Islamic scholar Muhammad Ibn Ya’ish who wrote ‘Madrasat Al Imam 'Umar Ibn 'Abd Al Barr’ (School of Imam Omar ibn Abd el Barr – about the contribution of Imam Omar ibn Abdelbarri the Andalusian and his followers on the development of the Maliki school of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence), nor the mediaeval Ibn Ya’ish who wrote a commentary on the Kitab al Mufassal (book of elaboration – a treatise on grammar by Abulkassim Mahmud ibn Umar ez-Zamakhshari, also known as Jarullah).
Nor is it in reference to Ubayd Ibn Ya'ish, whom Al-Khatib quoted as saying "thirty years I did not eat from my own hand - my sister fed me while I wrote Hadith".
But it may be some other Ibn Ya'ish after whom our pseudonymous commenter has called himself.
In which case all of this post is of no help whatsoever.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
SEEING THINGS FROM AN ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE
Strange as it may seem, there are times when I can almost see things from the Islamist perspective.
Almost.
They aren't all nuts. At least, not all the time. Sometimes they make sense and actually have something rational to say.
But then there are things like this:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123239
QUOTE:
"In an Iranian publication, the worldwide Harry Potter phenomenon was declared a global Zionist conspiracy....
--------
Kayhahn, an Iranian publication closely affiliated with the ruling mullahs and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called the Harry Potter series "a billion-dollar Zionist project." The Potter books were designed by Zionist plotters, according to the Kayhahn editorial, to "disrupt young minds." ."
Dudes, you might as well call literacy and intelligence Zionist conspiracies. Apparently you lot are missing the point of both of those things.
Look, just because it's more readable than either the Quran or the rabid rantings of that depraved old pervert does not mean it's going to disrupt young minds - that's your job. The writings of Khomeini are a good start on that task in any case, but you don't hear us kvetching about it, do you?
[Regarding the Ayatollah Khomeini, the very same thing could be said about him and his heirs as my mother yelled when informed for the so-manieth time that Gandhi had been killed, in the bar on Telegraph Avenue where she was working on her thesis: "If I hear one more word about that dirty old man in a bed sheet, I shall scream!" Just thought you should know. Y'all should have put that sicko down when he returned from France. And hurriedly buried him out behind the midden. Or was that just too intuitive?]
Not everything is a Zionist plot. Heck, not even half of the things you lot call Zionist plots have anything to do with Zionism. Not even a fraction.
[If all the things which are called Zionist plots actually were Zionist plots, the Arab world would no longer exist, the alleged Palestinians would all be running Vodka concessions in Russia and Siberia, and Iran would be a minor agricultural province of India known for occasional tribal violence, incest, and syphilis. Kinda like Kentucky.]
The more you folks keep screaming about Zionist plots, the more likely it is that reasonable people will write y'all off as hopelessly insane, totally irredeemable, and just too much bother to ever deal with.
Are intelligence, perspective, common sense, rational behaviour, sanity, and reflection all just meaningless concepts in your world? Is it the climate? Is the mid-summer heat frying your brains?
Seriously, if you don't want to be treated as a bunch of whackjobs, consider medication. Valium. Or Librium. Heck, use both. It will help.
Oh, and by the way.... This blog is a Zionist plot. Seriously.
Almost.
They aren't all nuts. At least, not all the time. Sometimes they make sense and actually have something rational to say.
But then there are things like this:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123239
QUOTE:
"In an Iranian publication, the worldwide Harry Potter phenomenon was declared a global Zionist conspiracy....
--------
Kayhahn, an Iranian publication closely affiliated with the ruling mullahs and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called the Harry Potter series "a billion-dollar Zionist project." The Potter books were designed by Zionist plotters, according to the Kayhahn editorial, to "disrupt young minds." ."
Dudes, you might as well call literacy and intelligence Zionist conspiracies. Apparently you lot are missing the point of both of those things.
Look, just because it's more readable than either the Quran or the rabid rantings of that depraved old pervert does not mean it's going to disrupt young minds - that's your job. The writings of Khomeini are a good start on that task in any case, but you don't hear us kvetching about it, do you?
[Regarding the Ayatollah Khomeini, the very same thing could be said about him and his heirs as my mother yelled when informed for the so-manieth time that Gandhi had been killed, in the bar on Telegraph Avenue where she was working on her thesis: "If I hear one more word about that dirty old man in a bed sheet, I shall scream!" Just thought you should know. Y'all should have put that sicko down when he returned from France. And hurriedly buried him out behind the midden. Or was that just too intuitive?]
Not everything is a Zionist plot. Heck, not even half of the things you lot call Zionist plots have anything to do with Zionism. Not even a fraction.
[If all the things which are called Zionist plots actually were Zionist plots, the Arab world would no longer exist, the alleged Palestinians would all be running Vodka concessions in Russia and Siberia, and Iran would be a minor agricultural province of India known for occasional tribal violence, incest, and syphilis. Kinda like Kentucky.]
The more you folks keep screaming about Zionist plots, the more likely it is that reasonable people will write y'all off as hopelessly insane, totally irredeemable, and just too much bother to ever deal with.
Are intelligence, perspective, common sense, rational behaviour, sanity, and reflection all just meaningless concepts in your world? Is it the climate? Is the mid-summer heat frying your brains?
Seriously, if you don't want to be treated as a bunch of whackjobs, consider medication. Valium. Or Librium. Heck, use both. It will help.
Oh, and by the way.... This blog is a Zionist plot. Seriously.
DISENGAGEMENT, GUNS, AND GAZA
[Note: I first posted this as a comment in a slightly different form on Chardal's blog (here: http://chardal.blogspot.com/ , this post: http://chardal.blogspot.com/2007/07/well-its-start.html ).
Chardal means mustard, but stands in this case for Chareidi Leumi. He is both.]
I prefer Arabs in the gunsights to Arabs in the land.
Gaza is a cesspool. But Gaza shows what a disaster giving land to the Arabs will be. It is a perfect and necessary example of what is wrong with the disengagement option.
And as such, Israel leaving Gaza served an essential purpose - the testcase that proved that land for peace is a chimera.
I do not see much significant benefit remaining in negotiation with the Arabs either. Like disengagement it has reached its limits.
I am, despite knowing that in the modern world it cannot be done, becoming more and more inclined toward the idea of creating a several-mile wide no-man's land on the Arab side of the wall.
I supported Oslo at the time. In retrospect that was utterly wrong.
[I am not sadder and wiser, merely angry and bitter.]
I have always been opposed to any division of Jerusalem. Or any need to come to an agreement with the Arabs, Christians, or the UN on the status of Jerusalem.
The prospect of Hebron reverting to the Arabs is more galling with each month.
David Wilder (spokesperson for the Hebron Jewish Community) is at times far too strident. But without a large reserve of stridency there would be no Israel, no Jews in the land, and quite probably no Jews left at all. He's usefull, and I will only criticise him and his type mildly and intramurally. If at all.
----------------------
On a different subject - weekly counterprotesting of the Bay Area Women In Black (notorious for backing the right of Arab return folks and supporters of Hamas and Hezbollah, sponsoring extreme anti-Israel speakers and events, and co-chanting 'falastin baladna w'al Yahud kalabna' at several rallies last year) is heading into it's fourth month. The tide may not be turning, but they aren't making any progress with the public in that neighborhood.
I believe that we are slowly making a difference. Being for something is so much more inviting and passer-by friendly than being against something.
Chardal means mustard, but stands in this case for Chareidi Leumi. He is both.]
I prefer Arabs in the gunsights to Arabs in the land.
Gaza is a cesspool. But Gaza shows what a disaster giving land to the Arabs will be. It is a perfect and necessary example of what is wrong with the disengagement option.
And as such, Israel leaving Gaza served an essential purpose - the testcase that proved that land for peace is a chimera.
I do not see much significant benefit remaining in negotiation with the Arabs either. Like disengagement it has reached its limits.
I am, despite knowing that in the modern world it cannot be done, becoming more and more inclined toward the idea of creating a several-mile wide no-man's land on the Arab side of the wall.
I supported Oslo at the time. In retrospect that was utterly wrong.
[I am not sadder and wiser, merely angry and bitter.]
I have always been opposed to any division of Jerusalem. Or any need to come to an agreement with the Arabs, Christians, or the UN on the status of Jerusalem.
The prospect of Hebron reverting to the Arabs is more galling with each month.
David Wilder (spokesperson for the Hebron Jewish Community) is at times far too strident. But without a large reserve of stridency there would be no Israel, no Jews in the land, and quite probably no Jews left at all. He's usefull, and I will only criticise him and his type mildly and intramurally. If at all.
----------------------
On a different subject - weekly counterprotesting of the Bay Area Women In Black (notorious for backing the right of Arab return folks and supporters of Hamas and Hezbollah, sponsoring extreme anti-Israel speakers and events, and co-chanting 'falastin baladna w'al Yahud kalabna' at several rallies last year) is heading into it's fourth month. The tide may not be turning, but they aren't making any progress with the public in that neighborhood.
I believe that we are slowly making a difference. Being for something is so much more inviting and passer-by friendly than being against something.
Friday, July 27, 2007
JEWISH SENSE OF HUMOUR
Sometimes you run across a perfect exemplification of a stereotype.
Such as, for instance, a Dutchman making a narrowminded comment, or objecting to the expenditure of his money (but not yours).
Or an Englishman who is sodden-drunk, obnoxious, and ready to pound your head in because you said something that was intellectually beyond him.
Or a German who just does not understand a joke.
Or.... Jewish gallows humour.
In Yeshiva World News (http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/), under an article about an attack on a frumme Parisian Yid by a Maghrebi with an iron pipe, reader SammyGol writes:
"Antisemitism in France??? Impossible!! The Jews must have antoganized the driver by looking Jewish. "
And: "France is the most democratic Muslim country in the World. "
[This article: http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/General+News/9016/Paris:+Jewish+Man+Violently+Attacked+With+Iron+Pipe.html]
He ends his polite and peace-loving commentary with "Please respect the frogs, unless you do not freedom clean that greese from freedom fries off your freedom cuffed shirt. "
[One might think that 'Freedom cleaning' a shirt would qualify as tumah. But that entirely depends on who does the freedom cleaning. If it is a Chinese or Korean person, it is tahor.
If it is a Frenchman, there is a definite chezkas tumah.]
---------------------------------------
Addendum: Please note that aliyah from France is proceeding apace, with six hundred Olim returning to their ancestral land from golus in 'La Belle France' this past Wednesday.
[See this article: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123182]
It was the largest single arrival of Tzarfatim in a long time. Over four thousand people have left France for Israel since January 1, 2006.
I guess this means that they've more-or-less told the French to go 'French' themselves. A sentiment that for several reasons I can find no fault with.
Such as, for instance, a Dutchman making a narrowminded comment, or objecting to the expenditure of his money (but not yours).
Or an Englishman who is sodden-drunk, obnoxious, and ready to pound your head in because you said something that was intellectually beyond him.
Or a German who just does not understand a joke.
Or.... Jewish gallows humour.
In Yeshiva World News (http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/), under an article about an attack on a frumme Parisian Yid by a Maghrebi with an iron pipe, reader SammyGol writes:
"Antisemitism in France??? Impossible!! The Jews must have antoganized the driver by looking Jewish. "
And: "France is the most democratic Muslim country in the World. "
[This article: http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/General+News/9016/Paris:+Jewish+Man+Violently+Attacked+With+Iron+Pipe.html]
He ends his polite and peace-loving commentary with "Please respect the frogs, unless you do not freedom clean that greese from freedom fries off your freedom cuffed shirt. "
[One might think that 'Freedom cleaning' a shirt would qualify as tumah. But that entirely depends on who does the freedom cleaning. If it is a Chinese or Korean person, it is tahor.
If it is a Frenchman, there is a definite chezkas tumah.]
---------------------------------------
Addendum: Please note that aliyah from France is proceeding apace, with six hundred Olim returning to their ancestral land from golus in 'La Belle France' this past Wednesday.
[See this article: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123182]
It was the largest single arrival of Tzarfatim in a long time. Over four thousand people have left France for Israel since January 1, 2006.
I guess this means that they've more-or-less told the French to go 'French' themselves. A sentiment that for several reasons I can find no fault with.
PROOF FROM CHOLENT AND OTHER ODDITIES
The XGH wrote:
"6 days of creation took 15 billion years. Thats roughly 2.5 billion years per day. So the next shabbos is not till another, well, about 15 billion years actually. That's the good news. The bad news is that shabbos will last for about 2.5 billion years, so better make lots of cholent."
AHA!
That actually PROVES the seven days! Cooked food will start going bad within a few days (real earth days, our time), ergo no matter how much tsholnt you make, it will NOT last for the amount of time a cosmic (2.5 billion years) shabbes would take, or even a fraction of that time.
Proof that a day can only be within the same set of parameters that we are used to. No more than about eighty hours (approximate full-fermentation of cholent), no less than twenty hours (eighteen hours of cooking, and at least two hours for your acid-indigestion to hit its stride).
Unless, of course, the Master of the Universe intends to drop tsholnt from the sky at regular intervals (which suggests that mon and tsholnt have much in common, and that you should eat twice as much as normal during that period). Or twice as often if that is your minhag.
-----------------------------------------
The above is pursuant a discussion of Torah truth versus Scientific truth taking place on Dovbear's blog (blog here: http://dovbear.blogspot.com/ post in question here: http://dovbear.blogspot.com/2007/07/science-vs-torah.html).
-----------------------------------------
Nuggets comment-mined:
" But if we actually SAY this, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (formerly known as 'Congregation of the Holy Office', inter alia) will undoubtedly have us burned at the stake."
BOTH
" We were the people of the book. Now we are the people of the dogma."
SM
" Does it follow that any word whatsoever that anyone has ever said about the Torah is true?"
XGH
" Since you seem fascinated in adopting a relationship with G-d which is based on scientific fact, rather than Torah truths, I'm curious how you handle this."
Yus
" Hey, maybe God did give the Torah at Sinai but he's an omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent trickster God and nothing he wrote in the Good Book was true. I wonder if he would be impressed by our absolutely insane Kiruv proofs and rationalizations..."
Yair
" So, yes, "facts" can't contradict the "True" Quran, but they can contradict human, fallible perceptions of the Quran, and that, rather than the Quran itself, is what (often) needs to be reworked in light of newly discovered facts."
JewishAtheist
" And if you don't like Cholent, we might have to check and see if you're actually Jewish..."
Barak
" Ramban Shmos 21:2
Also discussing shmita, and the significance of seven cycles, he says: And the seventh was chosen for days, for years, and for shmita but it all relates to another matter and this is the secret of the age of the universe (sod y'mos ha'olam)
Also, in the Disputation, the Ramban says he does not believe that the word Yom always means Day in Hebrew."
DovBear
I was planning to not attribute these quotes and tell you to cruise over there to read the entire comment thread instead. But then I bethought me that if I did that, you would stay there for hours and forget to read my blog. Which does not accord with your purpose in being here, or my intention in writing this.
A gittn & gebentshte shabbes oder wochnende, y'all.
"6 days of creation took 15 billion years. Thats roughly 2.5 billion years per day. So the next shabbos is not till another, well, about 15 billion years actually. That's the good news. The bad news is that shabbos will last for about 2.5 billion years, so better make lots of cholent."
AHA!
That actually PROVES the seven days! Cooked food will start going bad within a few days (real earth days, our time), ergo no matter how much tsholnt you make, it will NOT last for the amount of time a cosmic (2.5 billion years) shabbes would take, or even a fraction of that time.
Proof that a day can only be within the same set of parameters that we are used to. No more than about eighty hours (approximate full-fermentation of cholent), no less than twenty hours (eighteen hours of cooking, and at least two hours for your acid-indigestion to hit its stride).
Unless, of course, the Master of the Universe intends to drop tsholnt from the sky at regular intervals (which suggests that mon and tsholnt have much in common, and that you should eat twice as much as normal during that period). Or twice as often if that is your minhag.
-----------------------------------------
The above is pursuant a discussion of Torah truth versus Scientific truth taking place on Dovbear's blog (blog here: http://dovbear.blogspot.com/ post in question here: http://dovbear.blogspot.com/2007/07/science-vs-torah.html).
-----------------------------------------
Nuggets comment-mined:
" But if we actually SAY this, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (formerly known as 'Congregation of the Holy Office', inter alia) will undoubtedly have us burned at the stake."
BOTH
" We were the people of the book. Now we are the people of the dogma."
SM
" Does it follow that any word whatsoever that anyone has ever said about the Torah is true?"
XGH
" Since you seem fascinated in adopting a relationship with G-d which is based on scientific fact, rather than Torah truths, I'm curious how you handle this."
Yus
" Hey, maybe God did give the Torah at Sinai but he's an omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent trickster God and nothing he wrote in the Good Book was true. I wonder if he would be impressed by our absolutely insane Kiruv proofs and rationalizations..."
Yair
" So, yes, "facts" can't contradict the "True" Quran, but they can contradict human, fallible perceptions of the Quran, and that, rather than the Quran itself, is what (often) needs to be reworked in light of newly discovered facts."
JewishAtheist
" And if you don't like Cholent, we might have to check and see if you're actually Jewish..."
Barak
" Ramban Shmos 21:2
Also discussing shmita, and the significance of seven cycles, he says: And the seventh was chosen for days, for years, and for shmita but it all relates to another matter and this is the secret of the age of the universe (sod y'mos ha'olam)
Also, in the Disputation, the Ramban says he does not believe that the word Yom always means Day in Hebrew."
DovBear
I was planning to not attribute these quotes and tell you to cruise over there to read the entire comment thread instead. But then I bethought me that if I did that, you would stay there for hours and forget to read my blog. Which does not accord with your purpose in being here, or my intention in writing this.
A gittn & gebentshte shabbes oder wochnende, y'all.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
TOUR DE FRANCE REVISITED: 2007 IS DIFFERENT
Last year, after the Tour De France, there were some staggeringly vicious things in the European press and on Eury message boards about Floyd Landis.
I reacted.... nay, I over-reacted. See here:
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2006/07/floyd-landis-and-effects-of-venereal.html
In particular, I cited several commentators from the weblog of Jan Marijnsen, member of parliament for the SP (Socialist Party - the rebranded Stalinists of Holland), and from the general readership of the Algemeen Dagblad, Holland's premier news rag for the vast and barely sentient Dutch middleclass.
SAMPLE QUOTES:
"Oh well, those Americans just do things in the way they've done them for years. Only difference is that by now they're so stupid that they get caught."
"such a damned sleazy nation, eh, Carl Lewis was also caught using dope but didn't have to turn in his medals. But the life of Ben Johnson (Canadian by birth) was ruined by the Americans. Armstrong, as should be abundantly clear by now, used dope in order to win the tour seven times. According to the Americans, he won on his strengths and no dope! Well, who doesn't remember the racket when Pieter van Hoogenband whupped the American favorite in Sydney? Per the Americans it was impossible without dope to deliver such a splendid achievement. Now and then they're just like children"
"Yeah, Greg Lemond also didn't achieve his three victories cleanly, then Armstrong though now the moron Floyd Landis, if I were in charge of the tour, boycott all those Yankee Doodles, they use doping like it was candy in the States"
There was more. The gist of which was that using performance enhancing tricks is typical of those cheating Americans, who are sleazy besides. Americans are so very very un-European.
Very well then.
THIS YEAR'S TOUR DE FRANCE IS DIFFERENT!
Rasmussen out.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/6916698.stm
"Race leader Michael Rasmussen has been kicked out of the Tour de France and sacked by his Rabobank team."
Moreni out.
http://sport.guardian.co.uk/breakingnews/feedstory/0,,-6804990,00.html
"Cofidis cycling team's future looks in jeopardy after Cristian Moreni's positive test for testosterone prompted the French outfit to pull out of the Tour de France on Wednesday."
Vinokourov out.
http://www.cyclingpost.com/team/article_005160.shtml
"Team Astana has denied that it will fold in the wake of Alexandre Vinokourov's doping case."
Sinkewitz out.
http://cbs.sportsline.com/cycling/story/10263092
"German prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into T-Mobile rider Patrik Sinkewitz, who tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone before the Tour de France."
I am quite enjoying this year's tour.
I seldom pay any attention at all to sports, but I frankly cannot wait until the next sleazy cheating " " " American " " " gets kicked out for doping.
I am anticipatorily quivering, even.
You are all winners, guys.
Bravo.
---------------------------
By the way, I put the word "American" in triple quotes, because I can't figure out how to do a strike-through here. It is meant ironically and sarcastically. I actually don't mean American in that sentence. I feel I need to clarify this, because some of my Dutch readers are incapable of "getting" the nuances of English. Or, at least, of American English.
I reacted.... nay, I over-reacted. See here:
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2006/07/floyd-landis-and-effects-of-venereal.html
In particular, I cited several commentators from the weblog of Jan Marijnsen, member of parliament for the SP (Socialist Party - the rebranded Stalinists of Holland), and from the general readership of the Algemeen Dagblad, Holland's premier news rag for the vast and barely sentient Dutch middleclass.
SAMPLE QUOTES:
"Oh well, those Americans just do things in the way they've done them for years. Only difference is that by now they're so stupid that they get caught."
"such a damned sleazy nation, eh, Carl Lewis was also caught using dope but didn't have to turn in his medals. But the life of Ben Johnson (Canadian by birth) was ruined by the Americans. Armstrong, as should be abundantly clear by now, used dope in order to win the tour seven times. According to the Americans, he won on his strengths and no dope! Well, who doesn't remember the racket when Pieter van Hoogenband whupped the American favorite in Sydney? Per the Americans it was impossible without dope to deliver such a splendid achievement. Now and then they're just like children"
"Yeah, Greg Lemond also didn't achieve his three victories cleanly, then Armstrong though now the moron Floyd Landis, if I were in charge of the tour, boycott all those Yankee Doodles, they use doping like it was candy in the States"
There was more. The gist of which was that using performance enhancing tricks is typical of those cheating Americans, who are sleazy besides. Americans are so very very un-European.
Very well then.
THIS YEAR'S TOUR DE FRANCE IS DIFFERENT!
Rasmussen out.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/6916698.stm
"Race leader Michael Rasmussen has been kicked out of the Tour de France and sacked by his Rabobank team."
Moreni out.
http://sport.guardian.co.uk/breakingnews/feedstory/0,,-6804990,00.html
"Cofidis cycling team's future looks in jeopardy after Cristian Moreni's positive test for testosterone prompted the French outfit to pull out of the Tour de France on Wednesday."
Vinokourov out.
http://www.cyclingpost.com/team/article_005160.shtml
"Team Astana has denied that it will fold in the wake of Alexandre Vinokourov's doping case."
Sinkewitz out.
http://cbs.sportsline.com/cycling/story/10263092
"German prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into T-Mobile rider Patrik Sinkewitz, who tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone before the Tour de France."
I am quite enjoying this year's tour.
I seldom pay any attention at all to sports, but I frankly cannot wait until the next sleazy cheating " " " American " " " gets kicked out for doping.
I am anticipatorily quivering, even.
You are all winners, guys.
Bravo.
---------------------------
By the way, I put the word "American" in triple quotes, because I can't figure out how to do a strike-through here. It is meant ironically and sarcastically. I actually don't mean American in that sentence. I feel I need to clarify this, because some of my Dutch readers are incapable of "getting" the nuances of English. Or, at least, of American English.
DUNHILL IS NOT DUNHILL
[Warning: This post is about tobacco. Which might not be your cup of tea. In which case it would be slightly pointless to read this, wouldn't it? But don't worry, the regular mix of activist indignation, amateurish Talmudic references, and zany food posts may return shortly.]
The Dunhill pipe tobaccos which we fondly remember from our misspent youths are not the same as the Dunhill pipe tobaccos which are available today.
[I’m using the editorial we, because I’m assuming that you, dear reader, also have a misspent youth during which you scrimped your meagre funds to purchase fine pipe tobaccos.]
DUNHILL, CARRERAS, ROTHMANS, AND THE ABORTION CLINIC OF BELFAST
Alfred Dunhill Ltd was bought by Carreras International in 1967. Rothmans bought Carreras in 1972. The Dunhill manufacturing plant was kept in operation until 1981, when Rothmans consolidated all their pipe tobacco manufacturing at the Belfast plant (formerly Murray Sons & Co., acquired by Carreras in 1953). Other than minor changes in sourcing tobaccos, and substitutions for specific tobaccos which had become unavailable or prohibitive, there had been almost no change whatsoever up to that point.
But by 1982 the Murray’s versions hit the market, and it was clear that any considerations of quality had been thrown out the door.
During the eighties and nineties a large portion of each tin consisted of twigs and crud, and buying a tin of Dunhill meant mounting frustration for the next few days, until, grumbling and swearing that one would NEVER buy that muck again, one chucked the contents of the tin into the garbage chute and switched to something palatable.
Even with far less twigs and crud it would not have been particularly worth smoking. Mediocre is as good a descriptive term as any....... though that may be an overestimation. The degree of desperation needed to improve the experience was hard to achieve.
The name 'Murray' does not give me a warm fuzzy feeling, instead more like feverish fits of shuddering ague.
[I started smoking fine Oriental blends in the seventies; it is the pre-Belfast Dunhill mixtures which I remember. They were very nice. But it should be noted that Dunhill themselves also introduced changes occasionally – the blends were not quite the same as they had been in the fifties and sixties, due to supply lines shifting and some ingredients becoming unavailable.]
BAT AND ORLIK
In 1999, Rothmans was bought by BAT (British American Tobacco), who closed down the Murray Sons & Co. factory and outsourced all pipe tobaccos to Denmark’s Orlik Tobacco AS.
That last was a considerable improvement – the sourcing of tobaccos was better, and quality control improved immensely.
Orlik did not produce the Dunhill mixtures as we remembered them. Syrian Latakia had been replaced by Cyprus leaf, and varietal Turkish types such as Yenidje, Samsoun, Izmir, and Djubec had largely been consolidated as 'Basma'.
But Orlik did produce mixtures labeled Dunhill that once again were worth smoking. Good stuff. Some darned good stuff.
Then in 2006 BAT and Orlik started going all Byzantine over the pipe tobacco brands, leading to diminished supplies of Dunhill. A few varieties were also discontinued – Aperatif, Elizabethan Mixture, and Standard Mixture Mild.
Three Year Matured and Light Flake also disappeared, though they may have been phased out earlier than the others. If Durbar Mixture is still being made, which I doubt, it is almost inevitable that it, too, will go the way of all flesh - none has been available in the Bay Area for half a year.
NOW
On February 20, 2007 British American Tobacco and Orlik Tobacco AS announced the sale of all pipe tobacco brands to Orlik, excepting Dunhill and Captain Black. What this means for the manufacture of the Dunhill mixtures remains to be seen, but as BAT is not geared towards boutique brands, it would not surprise me if they ended up selling the right to use the Dunhill name to some other company. Dunhill mixtures are now nearly impossible to find, however, and nobody seems to know when they will be available again. Or who will put them up.
---------------------------------------------------------
APPENDIX
My stockpile of Dunhill Pipe Tobaccos (as of July 25th., 2007):
London Mixture - 112 Tins.
Durbar - 83 Tins.
EMP - 82 Tins.
Standard-Medium - 81 Tins.
Standard-Mild - 15 Tins.
My Mixture 965 - 39 Tins.
Aperatif - 17 Tins.
Nightcap - 10 Tins.
Three Year Matured - 10 Tins.
Elizabethan Mixture - 13 Tins.
Light Flake - 3 Tins.
Four hundred and sixty six tins. Should last me nearly a decade.
London Mixture through Nightcap are English-style mixtures, meaning that they have Turkish and Latakia in addition to Virginias (also called 'Flue-cured'). London, Standard, and 965 are the medium-full range, Aperatif is heavy on the Turkish, Nightcap is about fifty percent Latakia augmented by Black Virginia and Cavendish.
Three year matured is a very fine Virginia whored up with of all things a berserk essence. Elizabethan is somewhat unremarkable. The light flake should be a medium Lakeland style aged press - but the last time I smoked any Dunhill flakes was in 1979, so who knows what is in those three tins.
TOBACCO INDEX
==========================================================================
NOTE: Readers may contact me directly:
LETTER BOX.
All correspondence will be kept in confidence.
==========================================================================
The Dunhill pipe tobaccos which we fondly remember from our misspent youths are not the same as the Dunhill pipe tobaccos which are available today.
[I’m using the editorial we, because I’m assuming that you, dear reader, also have a misspent youth during which you scrimped your meagre funds to purchase fine pipe tobaccos.]
DUNHILL, CARRERAS, ROTHMANS, AND THE ABORTION CLINIC OF BELFAST
Alfred Dunhill Ltd was bought by Carreras International in 1967. Rothmans bought Carreras in 1972. The Dunhill manufacturing plant was kept in operation until 1981, when Rothmans consolidated all their pipe tobacco manufacturing at the Belfast plant (formerly Murray Sons & Co., acquired by Carreras in 1953). Other than minor changes in sourcing tobaccos, and substitutions for specific tobaccos which had become unavailable or prohibitive, there had been almost no change whatsoever up to that point.
But by 1982 the Murray’s versions hit the market, and it was clear that any considerations of quality had been thrown out the door.
During the eighties and nineties a large portion of each tin consisted of twigs and crud, and buying a tin of Dunhill meant mounting frustration for the next few days, until, grumbling and swearing that one would NEVER buy that muck again, one chucked the contents of the tin into the garbage chute and switched to something palatable.
Even with far less twigs and crud it would not have been particularly worth smoking. Mediocre is as good a descriptive term as any....... though that may be an overestimation. The degree of desperation needed to improve the experience was hard to achieve.
The name 'Murray' does not give me a warm fuzzy feeling, instead more like feverish fits of shuddering ague.
[I started smoking fine Oriental blends in the seventies; it is the pre-Belfast Dunhill mixtures which I remember. They were very nice. But it should be noted that Dunhill themselves also introduced changes occasionally – the blends were not quite the same as they had been in the fifties and sixties, due to supply lines shifting and some ingredients becoming unavailable.]
BAT AND ORLIK
In 1999, Rothmans was bought by BAT (British American Tobacco), who closed down the Murray Sons & Co. factory and outsourced all pipe tobaccos to Denmark’s Orlik Tobacco AS.
That last was a considerable improvement – the sourcing of tobaccos was better, and quality control improved immensely.
Orlik did not produce the Dunhill mixtures as we remembered them. Syrian Latakia had been replaced by Cyprus leaf, and varietal Turkish types such as Yenidje, Samsoun, Izmir, and Djubec had largely been consolidated as 'Basma'.
But Orlik did produce mixtures labeled Dunhill that once again were worth smoking. Good stuff. Some darned good stuff.
Then in 2006 BAT and Orlik started going all Byzantine over the pipe tobacco brands, leading to diminished supplies of Dunhill. A few varieties were also discontinued – Aperatif, Elizabethan Mixture, and Standard Mixture Mild.
Three Year Matured and Light Flake also disappeared, though they may have been phased out earlier than the others. If Durbar Mixture is still being made, which I doubt, it is almost inevitable that it, too, will go the way of all flesh - none has been available in the Bay Area for half a year.
NOW
On February 20, 2007 British American Tobacco and Orlik Tobacco AS announced the sale of all pipe tobacco brands to Orlik, excepting Dunhill and Captain Black. What this means for the manufacture of the Dunhill mixtures remains to be seen, but as BAT is not geared towards boutique brands, it would not surprise me if they ended up selling the right to use the Dunhill name to some other company. Dunhill mixtures are now nearly impossible to find, however, and nobody seems to know when they will be available again. Or who will put them up.
---------------------------------------------------------
APPENDIX
My stockpile of Dunhill Pipe Tobaccos (as of July 25th., 2007):
London Mixture - 112 Tins.
Durbar - 83 Tins.
EMP - 82 Tins.
Standard-Medium - 81 Tins.
Standard-Mild - 15 Tins.
My Mixture 965 - 39 Tins.
Aperatif - 17 Tins.
Nightcap - 10 Tins.
Three Year Matured - 10 Tins.
Elizabethan Mixture - 13 Tins.
Light Flake - 3 Tins.
Four hundred and sixty six tins. Should last me nearly a decade.
London Mixture through Nightcap are English-style mixtures, meaning that they have Turkish and Latakia in addition to Virginias (also called 'Flue-cured'). London, Standard, and 965 are the medium-full range, Aperatif is heavy on the Turkish, Nightcap is about fifty percent Latakia augmented by Black Virginia and Cavendish.
Three year matured is a very fine Virginia whored up with of all things a berserk essence. Elizabethan is somewhat unremarkable. The light flake should be a medium Lakeland style aged press - but the last time I smoked any Dunhill flakes was in 1979, so who knows what is in those three tins.
TOBACCO INDEX
==========================================================================
NOTE: Readers may contact me directly:
LETTER BOX.
All correspondence will be kept in confidence.
==========================================================================
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
IT'S A BIRD! IT'S A PLANE! IT'S .... A CHRISTIAN FEMALE NOVELIST!
Amazon occasionally sends me information about books based on what they think they know about my tastes. Their guesses are founded upon my previous purchases, and they fervently hope that I will buy again. And again. Prompted by a friendly bit of attention.
Their recommendations are tailored to the individual consumer.
It is both a clever marketing ploy and good customer service, and as regards suggested volumes, sometimes they’re spot on.
So I opened today’s e-mail from Amazon happily.
"Dear Amazon.com Customer,
As someone who has purchased Christian books...."
Say what? The heck you say!?! I did what now? Huh? When?
My last order consisted of two authors who could not possibly have caused any confusion on that score: Rabbi Jeremy Rosen and Abdelkader Benali.
The order before that, back in 2005, was the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch - a two volume translation.
Before that, Sabbatai Sevi by Gershom Gerhard Scholem in mid 2005, Xena Warrior Princess and Forever Knight (two tv series cd sets for Savage Kitten's birthday), a translation of Ramban's commentary on the Torah, plus a copy of The Religious Thought of Hasidism: Text and Commentary (Sources and Studies in Kabbalah, Hasidism, and Jewish Thought) by Norman Lamm, and Halakhic Mind, by Joseph B. Soloveitchik.
I also bought some light reading about the Sfas Emes at that time.
Oh, and about four years ago I bought On Thrones of Gold: Three Javanese Shadow Plays.
Maybe it was that last item. Yeah for sure, Hindu-Javanese puppet epics look a lot Christian to the casual observer, I bet.
So anyhow, Amazon cheerily continues their e-mail with:
"you might be interested to know that the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) has announced the 2007 winners of the Christian Book Award, with Karen Kingsbury's "Ever After" taking home the Christian Book of the Year."
Christian book awards? There is such a thing?
Oddly, I find myself indeed interested.
Curiosity at peak, I click on the icon and am taken directly to the Amazon page.
"In this moving sequel to Even Now, Emily Anderson falls deeply in love with a young Army reservist who is about to serve in Iraq. At the same time, Emily’s parents seem on the verge of losing all they had gained. Will heartbreaking tragedy be the turning point for all of them? ---[CUT]--- In Ever After, bestselling author Karen Kingsbury has created a moving sequel to Even Now. The book opens as Emily Anderson, now twenty years old, attends college on a soccer scholarship. Through an off-campus job at Fort Lewis, Emily meets a young Army reservist, Justin Baker. Their love—deep, emotional, and built on the foundation of a shared faith.........."
Amazon really thinks that I'm likely to buy this book?
A patriotic fundamentalist Christian tearjerker is the best guess they can come up with for my tastes and preferences?
Gentlepersons, the definite suspicion that there is probably NO SEX in this book is the least of my objections.
Their recommendations are tailored to the individual consumer.
It is both a clever marketing ploy and good customer service, and as regards suggested volumes, sometimes they’re spot on.
So I opened today’s e-mail from Amazon happily.
"Dear Amazon.com Customer,
As someone who has purchased Christian books...."
Say what? The heck you say!?! I did what now? Huh? When?
My last order consisted of two authors who could not possibly have caused any confusion on that score: Rabbi Jeremy Rosen and Abdelkader Benali.
The order before that, back in 2005, was the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch - a two volume translation.
Before that, Sabbatai Sevi by Gershom Gerhard Scholem in mid 2005, Xena Warrior Princess and Forever Knight (two tv series cd sets for Savage Kitten's birthday), a translation of Ramban's commentary on the Torah, plus a copy of The Religious Thought of Hasidism: Text and Commentary (Sources and Studies in Kabbalah, Hasidism, and Jewish Thought) by Norman Lamm, and Halakhic Mind, by Joseph B. Soloveitchik.
I also bought some light reading about the Sfas Emes at that time.
Oh, and about four years ago I bought On Thrones of Gold: Three Javanese Shadow Plays.
Maybe it was that last item. Yeah for sure, Hindu-Javanese puppet epics look a lot Christian to the casual observer, I bet.
So anyhow, Amazon cheerily continues their e-mail with:
"you might be interested to know that the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) has announced the 2007 winners of the Christian Book Award, with Karen Kingsbury's "Ever After" taking home the Christian Book of the Year."
Christian book awards? There is such a thing?
Oddly, I find myself indeed interested.
Curiosity at peak, I click on the icon and am taken directly to the Amazon page.
"In this moving sequel to Even Now, Emily Anderson falls deeply in love with a young Army reservist who is about to serve in Iraq. At the same time, Emily’s parents seem on the verge of losing all they had gained. Will heartbreaking tragedy be the turning point for all of them? ---[CUT]--- In Ever After, bestselling author Karen Kingsbury has created a moving sequel to Even Now. The book opens as Emily Anderson, now twenty years old, attends college on a soccer scholarship. Through an off-campus job at Fort Lewis, Emily meets a young Army reservist, Justin Baker. Their love—deep, emotional, and built on the foundation of a shared faith.........."
Amazon really thinks that I'm likely to buy this book?
A patriotic fundamentalist Christian tearjerker is the best guess they can come up with for my tastes and preferences?
Gentlepersons, the definite suspicion that there is probably NO SEX in this book is the least of my objections.
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GRITS AND TOFU
Like most Americans, I have a list of people who should be peacefully retired from public service and thereafter kept away from their desks,...
