Jordan is Palestine

Social Media Monopoly

Rep Weiner fights for the heroes of 9/11

Wow, this is a passionate Congressman.  It is a breath of fresh air in the midst of the ongoing boring and uninspiring speeches delivered within congress.

Clearly Rabbi Weiss has changed his mind...

R' Josh Yuter found this, and wow what a difference a decade makes.

New York Times, February 6, 1998
Unusual, but Not Unorthodox; Causing a Stir, 2 Synagogues Hire Women to Assist Rabbis
Money quote:
And at the Hebrew Institute, Rabbi Weiss said, ''I think the call for women rabbis is unhelpful, because there are roles that rabbis play that women, by Jewish law, are prohibited from doing. That's very clear. In the same breath, there are many other roles that women can perform.''

Put your money to better use

Josh Richton posted this video and it is both amazing, and incredibly sad.  Foreign aid that goes to the PA not only does not get used for help build a Palestinian state, but could be used to help so many millions of people in Africa.   Below are some facts and figures.

1948 Israel in color

h/t Yitz Glass

Check out Israel in color in this ten minute preview of a documentary being created.  It is incredible:
http://www.blip.tv/file/2915188

Michael Savage meets frum girls

(h/t Josh Richton)

On Monday, July 12, radio host and conservative political commentator Michael Savage discussed a recent encounter he had with a few frum counselors he had met at a Shabbos dinner in California. Savage is effusive in his praise of the girls, their religious lifestyle, and their faith in G-d.
Michael Savage, whose real name is Michael Alan Weiner, is the host of The Savage Nation, a nationally syndicated talk show that airs throughout the United States on Talk Radio Network. The Savage Nation has 3rd largest audience of 8 to 10 million listeners on 400 stations across the United States, making it the 3rd most listened to radio talk show in the country.  Check out the audio here

Apple Store line on the UWS for the new iPhone 4

This is dedication...

Parshat Balak

Parshat Balak from G-dcast.com
More Torah cartoons at www.g-dcast.com

What happens when you drink a Coke?

Great find by Adam Steiner. As someone who has consistently worked at removing soda from my diet, I found this inspiring:

What Happens to Your Body If You Drink a Coke Right Now
by Liz Lewis
• Have you ever wondered why Coke comes with a smile? Because it gets you high. They removed the cocaine almost 100 years ago. Why? It was redundant. • In the first 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100% of your recommended daily intake.) You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor, allowing you to keep it down.
• 20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get its hands on into fat. (And there’s plenty of that at this particular moment.)
• 40 minutes: Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dilate; your blood pressure rises; as a response, your liver dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked, preventing drowsiness.

• 45 minutes: Your body ups your dopamine production, stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way.
• > 60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium, and zinc in your lower intestine, providing a further boost in metabolism. This is compounded by high doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners also increasing the urinary excretion of calcium.
• > 60 minutes: The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. (It makes you have to pee.) It is now assured that you’ll evacuate the bonded calcium, magnesium, and zinc that was headed to your bones as well as sodium, electrolytes, and water.
• > 60 minutes: As the rave inside you dies down, you’ll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You’ve also now, literally, pissed away all the water that was in the Coke. But not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like hydrating your system, or building strong bones and teeth.
• This will all be followed by a caffeine crash in the next few hours. (As little as two if you’re a smoker.) Want to know what happens after that? Check out what happens to your body after you drink a coke, every day for a long time.
• Coke itself isn’t the enemy here. It’s the dynamic combo of massive sugar doses combined with caffeine and phosphoric acid, which are found in almost all sodas. Moderation, people!

Heart attack Cafe

If you gotta go, go deep fried!

Parshat Chukat

Parshat Chukat from G-dcast.comMore Torah cartoons at www.g-dcast.com

Words from the Spaniards

Thank you Dovid Green for finding this. José María Aznar, who was the Prime Minister of Spain between 1996-2004, has created a "Friends of Israel Initiative." Recently, British newspaper, The Times, published his op-ed. It is a very good read, and the general theme as quoted by Aznar is "If Israel goes down, we all go down." Check out the full article here.  

OUr seal is on there too

While this blog focuses on interesting and humorous posts, I could not pass up posting this story. Recently, in my Digital Media Marketing class at NYU we had a representative of ExactTarget come in and give a presentation on email marketing. He also had with him three autographed copies of Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers. As luck would have it, I won one of the three copies by guessing that a numerical figure posted in the course of the presentation represented the total annual revenue generated by email marketing campaigns. When I received the book, I also received a pen and a pack of specially designed M&Ms with ExactTarget's name stamped across the package, and of course the M&Ms were color coordinated with ExactTarget's colors. Almost immediately after receiving them, I noticed an OU-D on the back and raised my hand and announced that my company's logo is on the package of M&Ms as well.

I like that story, but the reason I am posting it is because it will now be shuffled around the OU as the second of its kind. The first time is when Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb met President Bush, he was handed a pack of red, white and blue M&Ms with the seal of the president on the package, and he smiled, flipped over the package to show that his seal, the seal of the OU was on the package as well.

Who is this guy?

It is so refreshing to see a member of the House of Representatives boldly and proudly show America's support for Israel. Now if we could only get our president to.



and then I saw this, which suddenly makes me ask, who is this guy? Rep Pence from Indiana, I salute you!

Real Men of Genius

Thank you for posting this Josh Richton. These are oldy but goodies.

Top Ten Reasons Israel did not make the World Cup!

10. Team's strong defense constantly confused with unnecessary offense
9. Only allowed to score proportionately to opponent
8. Kicking anything is immediately considered state sponsored terror
7. Chief Referee: Richard Goldstone
6. Constantly occupying opponents net
5. When team calls time out, UN calls emergency session
4. Whole team given red cards just for showing up
3. The Black and White ball is grey to rest of the world
2. Always considered off sides
1. Who needs a World cup when you've already got a Yiddishe one?

Thanks Bangitout for another great top ten...

The lower case a-Team

To quote one commenter on Youtube: "There are no words to describe how awesome this is"

this is a shopping list

New Mortal Kombat movie?

Wow this movie looks quite graphic. It is amazing what they have done with it. It's like the movie Se7en  merged with the video game Mortal Kombat...



...

Portion Pac chosen by Inc Magazine

I am happy to announce that my Uncle, Marvin Klein's company PortionPac has been honored by Inc Magazine as one of the best places to work in the U.S.
You can read about it here

A Look Inside the Un-Factory

Irma Carrillo (left) and plant supervisor Mary Jaramillo sit awhile with PortionPac's owners. Marvin Klien and Warren Weisberg(far right). The factory is full of beach umbrellas; workers unfurl them when the sun coming through the skylights becomes too strong.

Weisberg, Marvin, and Burt Klein, the company's president (right), have rescued employees in every kind of trouble

 

Song of the day

Great comment found below this clip:
"Aint no american idol wimps here, this is where the BIG DOGS bark"

Steven Spielberg on the Shema

Towel heads

easy on the toner

The green mullet returns

Pun!

On Helen Thomas

By now I am sure you have all seen the video in which veteran White House Press journalist Helen Thomas said that all Jews should get out of Palestine and go back to Poland and Germany.  As shocking as it is to hear, I am certainly glad the left wing liberal biased media's colors are finally showing in true form. Bill Maher said "If you are a racist, you are probably Republican." I think not. The old ideology of antisemitism being a social norm is sadly quickly creeping back into the mainstream. Anti-Israel Jews are doing nothing to help that mindset I might ad. In any case, see the following:


Also, check out the following articles:
Washington Post
Helen Thomas agrees to bow out as commencement speaker at Walt Whitman High

Jerusalem Post
An Open Letter to Helen Thomas 

The Huffington Post
Ari Fleischer: Fire Helen Thomas

Media Bistro
WHCA Outraged by Helen Thomas, Considers Punishment

CNN-The end! 
Helen Thomas Retires


Jon Stewart-Hilarious!
Jon Stewart Takes on Helen Thomas for Israel Remarks (Video)

Love this guy

Than you Adam Steiner, great find. This is the type of politician people envision when they cast their vote. Thankfully, NJ elected Gov Christie.  Maybe just maybe his positive and effective attitude in policy will spread throughout the country.

A Lesson in History

Krauthammer: Those troublesome Jews

Charles Krauthammer
Friday, June 4, 2010; A19


The world is outraged at Israel's blockade of Gaza. Turkey denounces its illegality, inhumanity, barbarity, etc. The usual U.N. suspects, Third World and European, join in. The Obama administration dithers.
But as Leslie Gelb, former president of the Council on Foreign Relations, writes, the blockade is not just perfectly rational, it is perfectly legal. Gaza under Hamas is a self-declared enemy of Israel -- a declaration backed up by more than 4,000 rockets fired at Israeli civilian territory. Yet having pledged itself to unceasing belligerency, Hamas claims victimhood when Israel imposes a blockade to prevent Hamas from arming itself with still more rockets.
In World War II, with full international legality, the United States blockaded Germany and Japan. And during the October 1962 missile crisis, we blockaded ("quarantined") Cuba. Arms-bearing Russian ships headed to Cuba turned back because the Soviets knew that the U.S. Navy would either board them or sink them. Yet Israel is accused of international criminality for doing precisely what John Kennedy did: impose a naval blockade to prevent a hostile state from acquiring lethal weaponry.
Oh, but weren't the Gaza-bound ships on a mission of humanitarian relief? No. Otherwise they would have accepted Israel's offer to bring their supplies to an Israeli port, be inspected for military materiel and have the rest trucked by Israel into Gaza -- as every week 10,000 tons of food, medicine and other humanitarian supplies are sent by Israel to Gaza.
Why was the offer refused? Because, as organizer Greta Berlin admitted, the flotilla was not about humanitarian relief but about breaking the blockade, i.e., ending Israel's inspection regime, which would mean unlimited shipping into Gaza and thus the unlimited arming of Hamas.
Israel has already twice intercepted ships laden with Iranian arms destined for Hezbollah and Gaza. What country would allow that?
But even more important, why did Israel even have to resort to blockade? Because, blockade is Israel's fallback as the world systematically de-legitimizes its traditional ways of defending itself -- forward and active defense.
(1) Forward defense: As a small, densely populated country surrounded by hostile states, Israel had, for its first half-century, adopted forward defense -- fighting wars on enemy territory (such as the Sinai and Golan Heights) rather than its own.
Where possible (Sinai, for example) Israel has traded territory for peace. But where peace offers were refused, Israel retained the territory as a protective buffer zone. Thus Israel retained a small strip of southern Lebanon to protect the villages of northern Israel. And it took many losses in Gaza, rather than expose Israeli border towns to Palestinian terror attacks. It is for the same reason America wages a grinding war in Afghanistan: You fight them there, so you don't have to fight them here.
But under overwhelming outside pressure, Israel gave it up. The Israelis were told the occupations were not just illegal but at the root of the anti-Israel insurgencies -- and therefore withdrawal, by removing the cause, would bring peace.
Land for peace. Remember? Well, during the past decade, Israel gave the land -- evacuating South Lebanon in 2000 and Gaza in 2005. What did it get? An intensification of belligerency, heavy militarization of the enemy side, multiple kidnappings, cross-border attacks and, from Gaza, years of unrelenting rocket attack.
(2) Active defense: Israel then had to switch to active defense -- military action to disrupt, dismantle and defeat (to borrow President Obama's description of our campaign against the Taliban and al-Qaeda) the newly armed terrorist mini-states established in southern Lebanon and Gaza after Israel withdrew.
The result? The Lebanon war of 2006 and Gaza operation of 2008-09. They were met with yet another avalanche of opprobrium and calumny by the same international community that had demanded the land-for-peace Israeli withdrawals in the first place. Worse, the U.N. Goldstone report, which essentially criminalized Israel's defensive operation in Gaza while whitewashing the casus belli -- the preceding and unprovoked Hamas rocket war -- effectively de-legitimized any active Israeli defense against its self-declared terror enemies.
(3) Passive defense: Without forward or active defense, Israel is left with but the most passive and benign of all defenses -- a blockade to simply prevent enemy rearmament. Yet, as we speak, this too is headed for international de-legitimation. Even the United States is now moving toward having it abolished.
But, if none of these is permissible, what's left?
Ah, but that's the point. It's the point understood by the blockade-busting flotilla of useful idiots and terror sympathizers, by the Turkish front organization that funded it, by the automatic anti-Israel Third World chorus at the United Nations, and by the supine Europeans who've had quite enough of the Jewish problem.
What's left? Nothing. The whole point of this relentless international campaign is to deprive Israel of any legitimate form of self-defense. Why, just last week, the Obama administration joined the jackals, and reversed four decades of U.S. practice, by signing onto a consensus document that singles out Israel's possession of nuclear weapons -- thus de-legitimizing Israel's very last line of defense: deterrence.
The world is tired of these troublesome Jews, 6 million -- that number again -- hard by the Mediterranean, refusing every invitation to national suicide. For which they are relentlessly demonized, ghettoized and constrained from defending themselves, even as the more committed anti-Zionists -- Iranian in particular -- openly prepare a more final solution.
letters@ charleskrauthammer.com

 

A little humor

Glenn Beck on the Flotilla ...

Flotilla Facts

Thank you StandWithUs...

Flotilla Facts

• Israel transfers about 15,000 tons of supplies and humanitarian aid every week to the people of Gaza.
  
• Lawyers representing the family of Gilad Shalit, the kidnapped Israeli soldier held in isolation, had asked the protesters to take aid for him, they refused.
  
• Israel offered the ship to dock in Ashdod port and they would transfer the aid to Gaza. This offer was made again and again - they refused.
  
• Israel has said that it will deliver any humanitarian aid that was in the boats to Gaza, as it does daily.
  
• Israel left Gaza in hopes of peace in 2005 and in return received more than 10,000 rockets and terrorist attacks. Israel has sought peace and compromise with its neighbors for all of its 62 years and it will continue to do so.
  
• Israel maintains a maritime blockade to ensure that weapons are not brought in by Hamas to use in attacks against Israel.
  
• "We fully intend to go to Gaza regardless of any intimidation or threats of violence against us, they are going to have to forcefully stop us," said one of the flotilla’s organizers.
  
• In the past, terrorist sympathizers have used aid deliveries to smuggle items like potassium nitrate in sugar sacks and used it to make bombs. Israel cannot afford to let goods get to Hamas unchecked.
  
• Five boats were boarded, the protesters complied and they were safely let to shore.
  
• One boat – the Mavi Marmara – did not comply. That is the boat where the violence took place.
  
  To read more facts including  videos, images, and more click here
  

Hooray France...I'm sorry what?

Either there is something in the air, or fair and unbiased leaders of France are sloooooly trickling out.  Recently France's former top anti-terrorism judge was quoted as saying "The Turkish Islamic charity behind a flotilla of aid ships that was raided by Israeli forces on its way to Gaza had ties to terrorism networks, including a 1999 al-Qaida plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport" read more...

Our fearless leader

What would we do without Bibi Netanyahu? He is the leader of Israel. He sees the facts for what they are and consistently maintains his bold message in support of the chayalim and the people of Israel in the face of pure evil that masks itself as liberalism. Here is his response to the world on the flotilla
raid:

My hat is off to you...

This kid has guts. Kudos for him.  May we all have the courage and the constitution to stand strongly and proudly for what we believe in.

Shebbing nachas

The Chicago Tribune has traditionally taken the standard liberal approach to Israel:holding them to a higher standard then anyone in the world, and continuing the narrow minded view that "Israel is guilty until proven guilty(Bibi)."  But they finally saw the flotilla situation for what it was.  This is a very enjoyable read, especially as a Chicagoan.

Israel and the flotilla

For pi lovers...

Are you serious?

In recent news, NYC Government approved allowing a mosque to be built two blocks from ground zero, the former World Trade Center. This seems like pouring salt on the wound.  I realize that it sounds racist if you are opposed to such a move because to do so indicates that all Muslims around the world and here in NY are complacent for the 9/11 attacks but seriously people have a little tact.  I am sorry to all the the peace loving, America loving Muslims out there, but this seems ridiculous.  Anyway, you can read about here.

something is very wrong here

1. Go to Google Translator 
2. Translate AIDS from English to Yiddish 
3. Copy that word back into the translation box
4. Translate that word from Yiddish to English
5. Now what?

on grammar

a href="http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1891">

This is beautiful

Thank you Mor for posting this.  I think this an incredible story that is clearly far from over...

Happy Birthday to me...

Friday night, I made a 4 pound roast from Romanian, thanks mom. I had 6 incredible guests over for Shabbos Friday night and among the many things on the menu, this roast was the center of it all. Thank G-d for leftovers. Today, I brought leftovers to work and somehow they tasted better then coming out of the oven. I am not sure how, but today, the meat was so soft and juicy. Anyway, since I obviously could not take a picture Friday night as I took it out of the oven, below are the leftovers, gorgeous as they are...

 

"You Lied to Me, Jew Producer": Comedy Central Shocker

I would say that I cannot believe I am reading this, but of course I can. Hatred of Israel and antisemitism is sadly once again becoming mainstream. Recently Comedy Central launched a game on their website called: "I.S.R.A.E.L. Attack!" Please do not be fooled into thinking I.S.R.A.E.L. has anything to do with the geographical location. check out the Honest Reporting article
This is ample proof how skewed American satire has gotten. Making fun of Muslims is taboo, but Jews? What's the problem? Let's not for a second forget that this type of thing only adds to propaganda and the education of a new generation of impressionable youth. Any parent that lets their child go online and plays a video game like this is probably not going to sit down have and have a lesson on tolerance and racism.

FAIL

I was present when this was take...it actually exists.  Naming the FAIL is the tricky part...

.

Can't sleep? Maybe your head thinks it's daytime..

Thank you Yehuda Brum for posting this very interesting article about technology hurting our sleep patterns.
click here to check out the link.  Watching a movie or checking your email from your ipod, ipad, computer, etc. just before hitting the sack may in fact be inadvertently telling your mind that it is daytime and therefore keeping you up.  I strongly encourage you to read this article as it probably effects us all.

This is refreshing

If Gov Chris Christie is half as good as a Govorner as this speech, New Jersey has a great chance of new leadership. Yitz Glass found this video and it is amazing.
 
The speech seems to surreal it reminds me of a movie, hmm...

When you say "Kadhafi" I say...Human Right Council?

In recent news, the UN Human Rights Council has proven once again how absolutley pointless they are.
Libya has been elected to UN Human Rights Council.

Libya? Are you kidding me? What exactly is the litmus test for being a member of that council? I thought they were a council with the goal of preventing Human Rights violations? Did I get that wrong, or is the new focus to gather all of the world's greatest violators and charge them with the responsibility of enforcing human rights. It's as tactful as putting oil tycoons in charge of preventing global warming: a good joke around the office but nothing you would dare put into practice. The UN Human Rights Council has proved once again, they lack any sense of effectiveness and purpose.  The only good one can cite from this situation is that this serves as a prime example why any criticism coming out of the the HR Council lacks any legitimacy.

How funny is Lewis Black, let me count the ways...

Elie Klein posted this to Facebook. I didn't realize that Back in Black was back on the Daily Show.  What's great about it is that it forces Lewis Black in his unique comic style to keep his material clean.  Below is Elie's find and then one of my favorites from years ago. 

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Back in Black - Glenn Beck's Nazi Tourette's
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Aaaah Harry Potter Camp, and wait for the Jewish joke at the end...

This is what we are up against

Thank you for posting this Shella.  It is a little scary to think about the fact that right here in America we are surrounded by people who would like nothing more then for the Jewish people to be swept up in a second holocaust.  It also serves as a reminder that we must never allow ourselves to feel completely safe here in chutz l'aretz.  There is and has always been only one place a Jew can call home and that is Israel.

The Downfall-A Reenactment

The original trailer for The Downfall can be found below: Some of the bunker scene is in the trailer...


The next clip is a reenactment of the bunker scene which is the most famous scene in the movie.if you have never seen the entire scene, you may not appreciate is as well, but it's good...

Happy Mother's Day

This is just hilarious...

Obama the Muslim? You decide...

This is probably about to get pulled from youtube:

MTV Holocaust Warning

Thanks Reb Moshe Goldfeder for finding this. I think it is incredible that MTV who represents modern culture in many ways made an awareness campaign such as this. 

Where's Waldo? As told by Werner Herzog

 

What a great Israel PR video, thanks Aish

Josh Richton found this which is one of the best PR videos I have ever seen for Israel:

JM in the Garden

Last night I saw John Mayer in Madison Square Garden, it was an incredible show. Even though, we were stage left, our seats were great.

I am still one song short, but the set list was as follows:

1. Heartbreak Warfare
2. Crossroads (Eric Clapton cover)
3. Vultures
4. No Such Thing
5. ??
6. Slow Dancing in a Burning Room
7. Assassin
8. Medley of lines from songs: Daughters/Song of Silence/etc.
9. Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone (Bill Whithers cover)
10. Waiting on the World to Change
11. Bigger Then My Body
12. Half of My Heart
13. Georgia
14. Gravity
15. Who Says (music video being played on screen around stage)
16. Friends, Lovers or Nothing

His Twitter from last night:
"MSG crowd, will you tweet me when you get home safe? It's bad out. Oh, and HOLY SHNIKES. You were unreal tonight."

I ride for Kevin

Well maybe I dont because who cares about the two times I have gone this year, but most American professional snowboarders do.  In any case, Kevin Pearce is (or was) an incredible snowboarder.  If Shaun White is number 1 then Kevin(KP) is number 2.  I am posting this because I just found an NBC Kevin Pearce Tribute which I had to post.  Check out his X Games performance where he narrowly lost to Shaun White...clearly he should have gone for that last hit. Or his Burton European Open run.

Snowboarding takes out American Idol

According to NBC, Snowboarding beats American Idol in ratings...love it: http://www.thrfeed.com/2010/02/reversal-olympics-tops-idol-for-wednesday-gold.html   Here is the thing though, they state that: "An estimated 29.4 million viewers tuned in as U.S. stars Lindsey Vonn, Shani Davis and Shaun White won Olympic gold." Which is great but Shaun White didn't win until almost 11pm. In any case, winter sports beating out the next American Idol is a big win in my book.

Also, Torah Bright won the gold-no surprise there, but Hannah with the silver? I did not see that coming. Out of the big 4: Torah, Gretchin, Kelly, and Hannah, I do not think anyone had their best runs. I have seen much better runs at the X-Games, but alas, it was a good night. Poor Gretchin, who fell both runs.  And a final Thanks so Sara and her blog for the shout out.

Back to back Gold

What a beautiful performance. And to quote Sara Saidlower, "I love how he(Shaun White) got 48 out of 50 on a throwaway run"

Check out the Shaun's Gold medal run here

George B. McClellan

After seeing a great documentary last night I learned that George B. McClellan single handily prolonged the Civil War  several times.  After doing a little research, it turns out he was a NJ governor, how classic is that? At least now we know where the tradition started. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_B._McClellan

I just love this

First of all, how great is it that there is an NBC Olympic ad with Matisyahu's "One Day" playing in the background? What could make it better? How about featuring Shaun White and Gretchin Bleiler in the clip:

"A Light Unto the Nations"

It is not every day that the Jewish Nation Truly shines before the world.  It is hard to ignore the abundance of compassion the Israelis have shown they have. It is a real credit to the human spirit and what we are able to achieve. Even the United States with all of our money, (well it is probably technically China's money) and our  close proximity to Haiti have been unable to set up a medical camp like the Israelis shown in the following clips.

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