mentalblog.com: June 2008

it has come to this

Taliban fever via theantitzemach: Waterlogged Judaism?

definition of confusion

Confusion is the inability to debate, discuss and advance ideas with others who are capable of thinking on your own level of misunderstanding.

the greatest book ever written - "REDUNDANT MATERIAL"

faruq commenting to mentalblog.com: Finding the 3rd volume of The Family Mashber.

"i purchased a used copy withdrawn from the Palm Beach County library. the book is stamped in red: "DISCARDED: OUTDATED, REDUNDANT MATERIAL"

España

Euro 2008 - Fernando Torres - Gol [Alemania vs España], originally uploaded by BLOGARJONA.

Minuto 34 del primer tiempo: Fernando 'el niño' Torres = Gol . España a un pie de alcanzar el trofeo de campeones de Europa.

The German goalie was not really trying to catch the ball, he was trying to form a swastika with his legs...

Literally Sephardim and Ashkenazim are set to battle for Euro 2008 in Vienna

Germany - Spain, 2:45 EST on Sunday. ESPN soccernet: UEFA Euro 2008.

Statistics of Immigrants in Massachusetts

Three decades worth of immigration statistic for MA. FAIR: Massachusetts: Census Bureau Data and Projection. (via Boston condos for sale - Boston real estate.)
Rank Country 1980
1 Canada 78,211
2 Portugal 75,077
3 Italy 55,461
4 U.K. 30,610
5 Ireland 23,155
6 Greece 17,801
7 Poland 16,923
8 Sov.Un. 16,170
9 Germany 15,158
10 China 9,868
All Others 162,548
Total 500,982

Rank Country 1990
1 Portugal 70,814
2 Canada 52,438
3 Italy 38,288
4 U.K. 26,807
5 China 20,367
6 Ireland 20,224
7 Dom.Rep. 19,514
8 Haiti 18,804
9 Sov.Un. 15,350
10 Germany 14,229
All Other 276,898
Total 573,733

Rank Country 2000
1 Portugal 66,627
2 Dom.Rep. 46,744
3 Canada 40,247
4 China * 39,255
5 Brazil 36,669
6 Haiti 33,862
7 Vietnam 30,457
8 Italy 28,319
9 India 28,086
10 U.K. 25,403
All Others 397,314
Total 772,983

Comments. I knew that there are a lot of immigrants here from Portugal but I had no idea that they dominated immigration into this sate for three decades. This means that they live mostly outside of Boston. I don't think I met one, ever, amazing. Even in the 80s a surprisingly high number from Italy. A surprisingly low number from Sov. Un. (the Jewish immigration) in the 80s and 90s, just a little over 30 thousands, a big surprise compared to how much noise they make and how ubiquitous they are. In reality they are just above Germans (80s). I am yet to meet a single German immigrant in MA. Amazing! 36,669 Brazilians in the last decade? This means only one thing, that there are a lot of them here illegally, because they are everywhere (this probably also applies to Chinese). OK there are a lot of high tech Indians who came to MA in the last decade, but almost the same number from UK??? Still the total number is very significant, over 1.8M during the three decades in this small state.

Blue State Digital and Obama Campaign

Silicon Alley Insider: How Obama Won The Internet.

The "Teheran" Children

Members of the Teheran children's transport look out the windows of their train as it pulls into the station in Athlit, originally uploaded by ~~*♥♥♥Michelle♥♥♥*~~~.

The "Teheran" Children were a group of about one thousand Jewish children who had fled eastward from Poland with their families at the outbreak of World War II. Many of them had lost their parents during their flight. These orphans were allowed to emigrate from the USSR along with 23,000 Polish soldiers and refugees, under an agreement signed by the Polish Government-in-exile and the Soviet government allowing for the enlistment of Polish refugees in the Soviet Union in the (Polish) Anders Army. In the spring and summer of 1942, the children were taken to Teheran along with the other refugees and soldiers. After immigration permits were obtained from the British, the children were brought to Palestine via Karachi and Suez on February 18, 1943.

Photoshopping women out of the Chofetz Chaim's vicinity

Mississippi Fred MacDowell: On the Main Line: Photoshopping women out of the Chofetz Chaim's vicinity.

Len Blavatnik and Sheldon Adelson refuse to learn from Sam Zell

From the department of I don't get it. Globes: US billionaire [Len Blavatnik] to match Adelson’s previous Ma’ariv offer.
Silicon Alley insider: Tribune Owner Sam Zell: I Bought A Terrible Business.

Freak: Google Toilets

techcrunch: Google Employees Even Get Japanese Space Toilets. Not sure what this "cleaning wand" is but who would use it in a public water closet? If you need more information its here at Toto Washlet.

Matisyahu pro-Burma

Terrible new song, never mind the peyos:

Freak: Israel bans Texas Hold'em

Glasses, originally uploaded by Yannig Van de Wouwer.

Could someone explain this to me?

"The Tel Aviv Magistrates Court has convicted Eran Rock, a well known figure in the Israeli poker community, of organizing and conducting an illegal game. The court ruled that the Texas Hold 'em game is not legal.

According to the indictment, in Texas Hold 'em, each player deposits money with the dealer, who opens five cards and distributes two jettons to each player. The player decides whether to fold or participate and the winner is the player who creates the highest series of cards. The state argued that the game depends on luck, rather than understanding or skill."

Globes: Court rules Texas Hold’em illegal. This is so preposterous on so many levels there is no place to begin. All I would say is that they should outlaw Israeli political and financial support from Adelson who made his money on casinos. They should also outlaw all business activities in the country since "the game [of business] depends on luck, rather than understanding or skill."

Terminator Robotic Exoskeleton

(via Defense Tech: Another Good Look at the Sarcos Exoskeleton)

Raffaello Follieri Charged

That takes balls: “Follieri misrepresented himself to investors as the Vatican's official financial manager, and he claimed that in that capacity he was able to buy unwanted real estate from the Catholic Church at below-market prices.” Portfolio.com: Anne Hathaway and the $30,000 Housecall.

1977 baby switch in Jerusalem hospital

"The two children were born in 1977, and in 1999, at the age of 22, DNA testing confirmed beyond reasonable doubt they were not the offspring of the parents they knew. Haaretz: Baby switch cost Jerusalem hospital NIS 2 million.

Fast 18

He is using a tune from a Russian song. I can sing it but can't remember it completely.

One thousand new millionaires in Israel

"The World Wealth Report defines a millionaire as a person with at least $1 million in liquid assets, excluding capital invested in assets and after deducting liabilities. The average wealth of the millionaires worldwide is $4 million.

Israel had 1,000 new millionaires in 2007, according to the Merrill Lynch and Capgemini 2008 "World Wealth Report", bringing the number to 8,200, 13.6% more than a year earlier. The aggregate wealth of the millionaires was $38.5 billion, 10% more than in 2006."

Globes - One thousand new millionaires in Israel.

A Cab Driver's Lament

17-0790a, originally uploaded by bpx.

"So it's not an easy way for a single mother to make a living - especially one who's going through a complicated life transition. When Bat Sheva embarked on her current career, she was a wife and mom living in ultra-Orthodox Telz Stone, a 20-minute drive west of Jerusalem. Being a cab driver didn't go over well in that community nor did her divorce. "People wouldn't talk to me, as if they were afraid it was infectious." With bitterness in her voice, she calls the town, "Sin City."

"As the cab driver goes, so goes the nation." Haim Watzman wrote an new article for the Jerusalem Report. A Cab Driver's Lament -Jerusalem Post.

"Times may be tough for single moms, and many others, but when times are tough, the cab drivers keep on driving. For Bat Sheva, it's not just a job, it's a passion." (via South Jerusalem)

I give credit to Haim for his choice of the subject, but alas he just scracthed the surface.

Taipei 101 Tuned Mass Damper

Deputydog: a skyscraper’s amazing 728-ton stabilizing ball. Background: Taipei 101 and Tuned mass damper – Wikipedia.

On may 12th, as the horrendous earthquake occurred in china’s Sichuan province, tremors were felt for miles, including in Taipei 101. YouTube user phuaalvin was in the building at the time and said that as the building started to shake, dozens of people ran to the damper to watch it in action. Here’s the video he took…

Barak Obama borrows a page from Baal Shem Tov

Jews for Obama web button (2), originally uploaded by BlueHairGroup.

David Brooks penned anther noteworthy article about Obamas’s 180 on the public financing, definitely a must read: The Two Obamas - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com “Even Bill Clinton wasn’t smart enough to succeed in politics by pretending to renounce politics.”

I was thinking about the remarkable hypocrisy of Obama who vowed "to stop the politics of Washington as we know it". He is following in the footsteps of Chassidim and their successors in the Kremlin. The students of the Maggid hired the best PR agency in Podolia with the task of spreading the word about the rescue of the simple, poor man and then they promptly established absolutist monarchical, feudal, hereditary kingdoms in collusion with the oligarchs of the time. Similarly the Kremlin communists came to bail out the proletariat and promptly established the dictatorship where you can be imprisoned if you are 15 minutes late to your obligatory work. It seems that Obama is going down the same proven path.

Pastor preaches politics, dares IRS to investigate

PR Genius! wnd.com: Pastor preaches politics, dares IRS to investigate

"In 1954 the IRS tax code was changed to forbid churches "from directly or indirectly participating or intervening in any political campaign on behalf of, or in opposition to, any candidate for public office."

Gus Booth, a pastor in Warroad, Minn., preached from the pulpit, "If you are a Christian, you cannot support a candidate like Barack Obama," knowing that he was violating federal tax code and jeopardizing his church's tax-exempt status by speaking against a specific candidate."

This law could be great for Israel! Would this prevent the New Square from voting for Hillary, as they did?

Euro 2008 Soccer Championship Bracket

ESPN: Quarter-finals, Semi-finals, Finals.
~~Good luck to Portugal in Portugal~~ – Germany (2-3 final)
Good luck to Turkey in ~~Croatia~~ – Turkey (1-1: penalties final)
~~Good luck to Netherlands in Netherlands~~ – Russia (1-3 in overtime)
~~Good luck to Italy in~~ Spain - ~~Italy~~ (0-0: penalties final)

June 25: Germany - Turkey
June 26: Russia - Spain

Livre de la Vigne

Fifteen Signs of the Last Judgment'. Manuscript page from the Livre de la Vigne nostre Seigneur, dated 1450-1470., originally uploaded by peacay.

(via BibliOdyssey)

suburbia sucks

So I am walking in Newton, MA today. The houses are awesome. Gardens are perfect. June flowers and sun but nobody is on the streets. Occasionally you see landscapers, occasionally a car. But then suddenly there is a real person walking down the street. As you pass this person, they pretend they don’t see you. This is all you need to know about the culture of the American suburbia.

Zürich Chamber Orchestra - Roller Coaster

I think I always had this in mind, when listening to a music. Although roller coasters are limiting to the same route and music is imaginative free flight in any direction.

Do you know what music is this?

antique dreidel sold

menachemmendel: Dice Players in Antiquity.

the na nach swipe

I imagine Sruli Gol looks like this:

(via 7fatcow.com)

Iyov takes Jay Michaelson behind the shed

Iyov: Jay Michaelson on Kabbalah.

Big crash today on Harvard St. near Coolidge Corner

fat Jewish chick is Miss London

"Leah Green has defied the odds." Forward.com: London's Newest Beauty.

INXS - never tear us apart from Prague Beis HaChaim

Dont ask me
What you know is true
Dont have to tell you
I love your precious heart
I
I was standing
You were there
Two worlds collided
And they could never tear us apart

We could live
For a thousand years
But if I hurt you
Id make wine from your tears

I told you
That we could fly
cause we all have wings
But some of us dont know why

Gloucester, MA High School Teens Had Pact To Get Pregnant

wbztv.com: Time Magazine Report: Gloucester High School Teens Had Pact To Get Pregnant.

Evergreen Solar signs $600M in new orders

Evergreen Solar Inc. of Marlborough, where Dr. Yaakov (Jack) Hanoka is (was) Chief Technical Officer and VP, has signed two new long-term sales contracts for its string ribbon wafer technology valued at $600 million. The deals bring the company’s backlogged orders to $1.7 billion over the next four years. Evergreen Solar signs $600M in new orders.

Army orders $73M of BBN’s Boomerangs

Massachusetts Biotech and Technology News and New England Local Business News: Army orders $73M worth of BBN’s Boomerangs.

How Boomerang Works: "The Boomerang units attach to a vehicle and use seven small microphones, arranged like the spine of a sea urchin, to detect both the muzzle blast and the shock wave from a speeding bullet. Once a sniper’s bullet is detected, Boomerang’s display panel, which is located inside the vehicle, alerts soldiers through an LED 12-hour clock image display panel and speaker mounted inside the vehicle that a bullet has been fired, and gives its direction and elevation. The system resets for subsequent shot detection.

Incoming fire detection and shooter position are determined and reported in less than 2 seconds, and the system is accurate for shots taken up to 1/4 mile away – a range that covers almost all urban combat situations. False shot detections are less that 1 per 1,000 hours of system operation at vehicle speeds under 50 miles per hour. Missed shots are less than 1 per 500 shots at vehicle speeds under 50 miles per hour. The system is especially calibrated to detect the 7.62 39 mm round, which is the round fired by the AK-47 and similar small arms common to Iraq and Afghanistan; nevertheless, the system has been tested and proven to perform successfully with 5.56 NATO and .50 caliber machine gun rounds"

Brookline based JazzD raises $8M in first funding

Massachusetts Biotech and Technology News and New England Local Business News: Report: JazzD pulls in $8M in first funding.

Inmate wins case vs. state over vegan diet

The Boston Globe: Inmate wins case vs. state over diet.

"Fourteen years ago, Henry K. Boateng was sentenced to life in prison without parole after a Worcester jury convicted him of beating his 5-week-old son to death and viciously attacking the baby's mother.

Now, Boateng, who has changed his name to Daniel Yeboah-Sefah and identifies himself as a Buddhist, has won a significant legal victory: A federal judge found that the state prison system violated his civil rights by denying him a vegan diet.
---
In the case of Yeboah-Sefah, Wolf did side with the prison in another claim. The judge ruled that the prison had not violated the inmate's rights by denying him a meditation cushion and pillow, called a zabuton and a zafu, for use in his cell."

Chasam Sofer's hair, Sdei Chemed's shoes

I am amazed at how Jewish nerds look at the objects of art, shoes, etc. What about the personalities, the eyes? Have Americans completely lost the ability to read a character in a face? CS is a portrait, I don't think it's a photo? Can you recognize that CS doesn't look like a cannnoy at all, rather like a man in his own world, with the eyes full of fear. He doesn’t have that peasant Hungarian look of the Rebbes that follow him, rather he looks like a nobleman of his time. Rashash looks like a very kind man with smiling eyes. He must have been full of humor. SD is a gentlemen with an intense stare. You can see that if he was Shimon Hatzadik, even Alexander The Great can fall on his knees seeing him, and not because of his shoes. On the Main Line: From the Chasam Sofer's hair, to the Sdei Chemed's shoes

Shmarya has no shame belives in loshen hora like a snag

FailedMessiah.com: PETA, Union Behind It All

Russian BTs

Is there a creature that is more conflicted, more annoying and more hopelessly disjointed in its logic than a Russian BT? I can't stand them. It’s a creature that floats adrift without any foundation. Their identity is with culture they don't understand based on the negation of culture that was in fact an incomplete and cruel reaction to something else. Just ponder this for a moment. They are adrift and their only sure thing is the rage, neurosis, ambivalence and the secret hope that everyone around them is even more confused.

Finding the 3rd volume of The Family Mashber

In the dairies Sholem describes how he and Walter Benjamin were reading a book by Agnon. They were both so taken by the book that Walter exclaimed – “If we have this, why do we need Tanach?” My sentiment exactly about The Family Mashber. Could there be a more important project for our culture than finding the third volume of this book? This book is the most significant spiritual undertaking and statement in the last 100 years (or more).

"Firefox has become one of the most important pieces of software around today as consumers shift from using their PCs to run applications living on their hard drives to a communications device able to connect with applications living on distant servers."

On the subject of mentalblog.com: Totalitarian structures and podia. They can’t even free a donkey without building a “head table” with a big “ass” sign behind them. Amazing, where did they pick it up? From the fascist Chassidik tradition or from their Islamic masters? They might be redeeming the lucky ASS but they themselves will not be free anytime soon… HNN שדרות: טקס קיום מצוות פדיון פטר חמור התקיימה אמש בעיר (via asimplejew)

A.P. has thrown the gantlet to the top bloggers threatening litigation for just quoting their stories even though it clearly contradicts the copyright law that allows "fair use". The Associated Press to Set Guidelines for Using Its Articles in Blogs - NYTimes.com

"The A.P.’s effort to impose some guidelines on the free-wheeling blogosphere, where extensive quoting and even copying of entire news articles is common, may offer a prominent definition of the important but vague doctrine of “fair use,” which holds that copyright owners cannot ban others from using small bits of their works under some circumstances. For example, a book reviewer is allowed to quote passages from the work without permission from the publisher."

Everyone agrees that republishing entire articles (without permission) is against the law. But now AP will try to define what is an acceptable quotation. A very difficult task..

Yiddisher Mazal for free

Screening of the Sholem Aleichem silent movie. 7fatcow.com: FREE!!! tonite at the chulent shul at 7pm.

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