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10/05/07--18:18: We are a nation of hypocrites and it's time we stopped (chan 1285708)

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

And so the founding of our country was declared, with a statement of the universality of basic human rights. Yet even then, we did not practice what we preached. We denied women basic rights, including the franchise, for most of our national history, and in many ways we continue to do so today; for instance, women's wages are still just 76.5% that of men in the US (warning: big PDF file). And we denied even the basic personhood of black folks, counting them as 3/5 of a person for the purposes of congressional representation in Article I Section 2 of the Constitution until the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment.

And we continue to deny basic rights to our LGBT brothers and sisters.




10/21/07--15:57: Brothers and sisters, (chan 1285708)

(Yes, I'm filling in at PD's request tonight. Just go with it...)

Let us pray* for the welfare and wisdom of the leaders of the United States of America, for too many of them either know not or care not what they do.




11/01/07--17:51: Kossacks Under 35: Voter Registration (chan 1285708)

kath25 asked me to write about voter registration for this week's diary; I selected this week because Election Day is this coming Tuesday. Granted, we're not even in a midterm election year for federal offices, but some states, notably Kentucky and Mississippi, have gubernatorial elections (go Steve Beshear and John Eaves, Jr.!), and some major US cities also have mayoral elections, notably San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Houston. In any case, if you want to vote, you have to register first. Follow me as I cover why it's so important for us under-35 types to vote, and then a little bit about the confusing variation in registration standards.




12/20/07--20:10: Yes, Virginia, there is a Constitution (chan 1285708)

Dear Editor,

I am a citizen of the United States. Some of my fellow citizens say there is no Constitution. My congressional representative, a good liberal sort, tells me, "If you see it on Daily Kos, it's so." Please tell me the truth, is there a Constitution? - Virginia O'Hanlon




12/22/07--16:09: "Merry Christmas, terrorist sympathizer!" (chan 1285708)

Ah, the joys of the season! When various groups celebrate Chanukah, Solstice, Eid ul-Adha, Kwanzaa, Christmas, or other holidays, you'd think it would be a more festive, peaceful time.

You'd think that. But you would be wrong. Perhaps I should start at the beginning.

My fiancee and I are moving soon from our comfortable home here in Madison, Wisconsin, so we decided to have some close friends over tomorrow, before we really start packing everything to ship to Boston. Of course, we needed a few things for the gathering, so I was sent on a little shopping trip. I suppose it was inevitable, then, that I would come across one of the Salvation Army pots with accompanying bell ringer, asking for a donation.




12/24/07--19:02: 'Twas again the night before Christmas, and all through the blog... (chan 1285708)

...not a creature was stirring, not even a dog.



Our traffic decreased, though our rants weren't suspended,
Lamenting the knowledge that candidate diaries are never ended.




01/02/08--19:25: On the eve of the first caucus, your candidate is still teh suck (chan 1285708)

Tomorrow is the first step in retaking the White House. It is often said that primaries are for purity, while the general election is for consensus. That being the case, I'm opting for purity: your candidate isn't good enough.

Yet.




01/19/08--07:26: Huckabee competing with Paul for racist vote (chan 1285708)

And in doing so, he conveniently ignores Arkansas history.

Many of you will probably recall this story from just a couple of days ago:

Republican Mike Huckabee said the government should stay out of disputes over the Confederate flag in South Carolina.

"You don't like people from outside the state coming in and telling you what to do with your flag," Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, told supporters Thursday in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

"In fact, if somebody came to Arkansas and told us what to do with our flag, we'd tell 'em what to do with the pole, that's what we'd do," Huckabee said.

Or as Eternal Hope put it the other day, "Go shove it up your ass."




01/28/08--15:27: State of the Union Drinking Game (chan 1285708)

Since we know there won't be any actual substance in tonight's State of the Union address, we need something to keep it interesting. Accordingly, I present to you the 2008 State of the Union Drinking Game!

The general rules of the game are simple: every time Chimpy utters certain phrases (or variations thereof), you down a certain number of drinks. If you're a lightweight, make it a sip; if you're alcoholic, stick to juice or water; if you can drink most of your friends under the table, that's not really anything to be proud of -- remember, this is in good fun and not at all serious, but you don't want to humiliate yourself in front of your friends by getting drunk and doing something stupid, like applauding Chimpy.

Without further ado, some rules:




02/05/08--08:49: An open letter to the two candidates left standing (chan 1285708)

For months, I've been trying to decide who I was going to vote for today. One by one, the various candidates dropped out, and though their names remained on the ballot I cast about three hours ago here in Massachusetts, only two really mattered anymore.

And so I was left with a difficult decision. You see, based on the way they have run their campaigns, the policies they have been promoting and promising, their conduct and the conduct of their staffs, their voting records, their rhetoric, and myriad other concerns, I felt like I could choose to decide between the better of two adequate candidates, or I could write in "Russ Feingold" as a protest, as a mark of what kind of Democrat our eventual nominee should be.

Because the worst rhetorical excesses and abuses of the most rabid partisans notwithstanding, what Senator Obama's supporters have criticized so loudly about you, Senator Clinton, is largely true, and what Senator Clinton's supporters have criticized so loudly about you, Senator Obama, is also largely true.




02/19/08--15:17: "You are a cult member" (chan 1285708)

There was a time not so long ago when certain certified idiots in the media and the GOP promoted an idea about this site that it was a cult, and its members were called extremists who blindly follow kos' every whim as if he was our god.

Today, it seems this nonsense is spouted more from within, directed either at the supporters of Barack Obama or, to a slightly lesser extent, the supporters of Hillary Clinton. Generally, the charge is made in context that, translated into English, goes something like this:

I disagree with you, so you must be a cult member.




03/21/08--14:25: Nazi -- Not Nazi (warning: some graphic images) (chan 1285708)

I feel like I've been repeating myself every few months, so you'll pardon me if I don't put in quite the same effort this time around, even if this is a message that apparently needs to be repeated constantly for some of the more puerile users of this site.

My standard backgrounder for this message:

All four of my grandparents were survivors of the Holocaust, three of them the sole survivors from their own very large families. My mother's parents met in Auschwitz shortly before liberation; my father's parents met in a displaced persons camp not long after the war ended. They all eventually made their way to safety and freedom in the Milwaukee area.

And I have had more than my fair share of confrontations with contemporary Nazis, some of which I wrote about here.

So I think I'm pretty qualified to judge who and what deserve the Nazi label and who and what don't. A simple primer:




04/30/08--18:19: May 1, 2003: President Bush Announces Major Combat Operations in Iraq Have Ended (chan 1285708)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/...

Thank you all very much. Admiral Kelly, Captain Card, officers and sailors of the USS Abraham Lincoln, my fellow Americans: Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. (Applause.) And now our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country.

April 30, 2008

Fighting in Baghdad's Shi'ite slum of Sadr City made April the deadliest month for Iraqi civilians since last August and for U.S. troops since last September, figures obtained on Wednesday showed.

http://www.nytimes.com/...




05/21/08--17:26: How I decided, finally, to endorse Barack Obama (chan 1285708)

I make no apologies for it: I'm a Russ Feingold man. Feingold for President! I still believe he is the best person for the job, but he decided before the primary clusterfuck process began that he could do more good in the Senate. Another point in his favor -- he's too concerned with doing the most good he can for his constituents and the American people to gamble on the possibility of a promotion.

So with Feingold out and the contenders dropping like flies, I was left with two choices when I cast my ballot in the Massachusetts primary back in February: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Sure, other candidates were on the ballot, but even the ones who hadn't officially dropped out yet knew they were done. I was distinctly unimpressed with both Clinton and Obama -- I'm still not thrilled with either -- but I decided the responsible thing to do was to choose one of them.




07/01/08--17:19: How to Read a Poll: Why "Margin of Error" Probably Doesn't Mean What You Think (chan 1285708)

I'm a social scientist. I study all kinds of things and use lots of different methods in my research, but mostly I make my living analyzing large amounts of data collected through surveys. By necessity, that means I'm pretty good at using advanced statistical techniques to figure out what large populations think and how they behave.

A political poll is essentially nothing more than a public opinion survey. Lots of people think conducting a survey is easy. Lots of people are mistaken.

Below the jump, I'll explain what I mean, and I'll also explain (without resorting to the technical jargon characteristic of my field) why margin of error is important, how it works, and why so many people misinterpret it.




07/03/08--10:54: Seven score and five years ago... and the 2008 presidential election (chan 1285708)

One hundred forty-five years ago today, Confederate forces made their last-ditch effort to win the Battle of Gettysburg, a key turning point in the Civil War. After their attacks the previous day had failed, Confederate General Robert E. Lee ordered this final assault on Cemetery Ridge against the advice of the attack's commanding officer, who correctly predicted that it would result in a decisive defeat.

Four-and-a-half months later, on November 19, 1863, President Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg Address. In the spirit of the Fourth of July holiday tomorrow (and because I think all Americans ought to be more familiar with the seminal documents of our country), the Address is reproduced below:




08/25/08--08:38: McCain is going to snub Hillary because she told the truth (chan 1285708)

The latest example of Sen. John McCain's lack of fitness to serve as President of the United States is served up in this ad:

Here's a partial transcript:




08/27/08--18:25: I have a dream (chan 1285708)

Forty-five years ago tomorrow, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke these famous words on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial:




08/28/08--08:28: Show this picture everywhere (chan 1285708)

Tomorrow, the whole world will watch as John McCain introduces and appears with his running mate as the Republican ticket in public for the first time. The timing of the announcement is meant to achieve four key goals for the McCain campaign:

1. Keep Obama/Biden from getting the kajillion point bounce they need for the Democratic National Convention to be considered a success.

2. Dominate the weekend news cycle.

3. Generate a little excitement for the moribund Republican Party heading into their dirgefest national convention.

4. Distract us all from an important anniversary.




08/29/08--11:08: A Tale of Two Brothers (chan 1285708)

Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, "With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a son." Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

Then the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."

Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?"

"I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?"

Genesis 4:1-9

Somehow, Cain's presumptuous question has become the central political question of our time.




09/11/08--08:32: What really matters on 9/11 (chan 1285708)

Every year, this date is politicized.

Every year, I hear more and more idiots trying to use the memory of what happened seven years ago today to scare people into giving up their civil liberties in exchange for becoming a little less safe.

Every year, I hear a lot of cheap talk about the import of this day.

Every year, I am angry that so many people forget what really matters. Here is what really matters:




10/16/08--14:49: John McCain thinks my mother should be dead (and other reasons not to vote for him) (chan 1285708)

Remember this from last night?

Again, just again, an example of the eloquence of Senator Obama, health (indicates air quotes) of the mother. You know that's been stretched by the pro-abortion movement to mean almost anything.

I've written about this here before, but what John McCain is saying is that he thinks my mother should have died when I was an infant, and that it should have been a crime to save her life.




11/05/08--08:33: Hypocrisy and the difference between rights and privileges (chan 1285708)

Imagine how different our world would be if Thomas Jefferson penned these words:

We hold these truths to be somewhat apparent, that some men are created more or less equal, that they are endowed by their leaders with certain alienable Privileges, that among these are Life, Malaise and the pursuit of Melancholy.

Sounds pretty silly, doesn't it? Certainly not the kind of rousing rhetoric with which to declare the founding of our country. Fortunately, Jefferson wrote this instead:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.




02/22/09--10:06: The A**h0le in the Red Car (chan 1285708)

There's a story, typically called "The Asshole in the Red Car," that I often hear from people who are trying to explain a particular phenomenon in social psychology.

You're driving down the road. You're in a bit of a hurry, but traffic is heavy and there's nothing you can do about it. All of a sudden, you see a red car in your rear view mirror, weaving in and out of traffic. It's moving much faster than every other car on the road and you worry that it will cause an accident. The red car comes closer and closer to you and the driver swerves to pull up next to you and pass you. The red car passes you and cuts you off, nearly hitting you. As it passes, you get a quick look at the driver, a man who doesn't appear to be worried about the stress and danger he is causing you.

What do you think about the driver of the red car?




02/24/09--07:08: Job Loss Resources? (chan 1285708)

Yesterday I had two interesting encounters, one here and one offline. Here, I ran into a person who has been hit by hard luck for the past two years. He or she had looked high and low for a job but couldn't find one in his/her field and finally was left with what s/he called the "humiliation" of having to move back in with a parent. (I know that's not unusual these days, but it is truly humiliating for a lot of people not to be self-sufficient anymore and to have to rely on their parents for help.) S/he said that everything would have been different if only s/he had had a single lucky break in the past two years, but it was not meant to be. S/he indicated that s/he had no hope left and had given up altogether.




05/31/09--11:14: Planned Parenthood and NARAL's job just got a little harder (chan 1285708)

Just about three hours ago, as he was walking into his church for Sunday services, Dr. George Tiller was murdered. Tiller was a hero, a doctor who was willing to perform abortions in a part of the country where a large proportion of the population doesn't care that it is a legal medical procedure, preferring to think of it as murder, no matter the circumstances. Earlier this month, his clinic was severely damaged by vandals, almost certainly because of his insistence on providing the women of Kansas with reproductive choice. Dr. Tiller has been a victim of violence before -- he was shot in both arms outside his clinic in 1993 by an anti-choice terrorist. And now the so-called "pro-life" movement that doesn't appear to give a damn about life outside the womb has murdered him.

And that makes Planned Parenthood and NARAL's job a little harder.




06/11/09--17:28: Has anyone checked to see if anyone at RedState has a brain? (chan 1285708)

I thank volleyboy1 for alerting us to the latest psychological projection from RedState, "wondering" whether James von Brunn, the neo-Nazi terrorist who murdered Stephen Tyrone Johns, a guard at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, had an account here on dKos.

As if he wasn't the kind of lunatic, right-wing extremist, psychopathic, paranoid, racist asshole with delusions of grandeur who posts regularly at sites that cater to such people. You know, sites like Free Republic and RedState.

And as the cherry on top of the bullshit sundae, they add this video:




06/24/09--17:42: When Politicians Are Caught With Their Pants Down (chan 1285708)

Politician: Mark Sanford
Position: Governor of South Carolina
Party: Republican

"I've been unfaithful to my wife," the Republican governor told a news conference in Columbia, the state capital. "I developed a relationship with what started as a dear, dear friend from Argentina."

...

"All I can say is that I apologize," he said, adding that he would appreciate a "zone of privacy" for the sake of his family.

...

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour immediately takes over as head of the Republican Governors Association, CNN has learned.

-- June 24, 2009

Source

Consequences of being a lying, cheating jerk: resigned from position as chair of Republican Governors Association; still governor of South Carolina

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *




08/09/09--10:27: Republicans wouldn't know a Nazi if one joined their teabagging parties (chan 1285708)

I can hardly read an account of a healthcare town hall meeting without seeing a reference to Republican teabaggers calling President Obama a Nazi for daring to try to use his position to improve the lot of all Americans. It's gotten so widespread that the New York Times is writing about it. Never mind the obvious hypocrisy of Republican teabaggers referring to proponents of healthcare reform as Nazis when they reacted so heavyhandedly (though not without justification) when one submission to MoveOn.org's contest to submit 30-second ads critical of the Shrub tastelessly did the same thing, as Glenn Greenwald recently noted here and here. Greenwald's take is right on the money:

It's really amazing -- though not at all surprising -- that when an anonymous Internet user compares Bush to Hitler, the media goes into Full Hysteria Alert, but when the most influential conservative figure in the country does the same thing, they utter barely a peep of recognition.




08/28/09--15:03: I have a dream too (chan 1285708)

Forty-six years ago today, Reverend Martin Luther King, Junior, gave a very famous speech in Washington, DC, in a cry for basic civil rights and dignity denied to a class of people on the basis of the color of their skin:




10/08/09--15:49: On "hysteria," or why I was an abortion clinic escort (chan 1285708)

There is a diary currently sitting on the rec list -- and rightfully so -- about an abomination of a law the state of Oklahoma is going to implement next month that will require women who have abortions to have specific, intimate details of their lives posted on a public website. The author, Dirk McQuigley, cites Amanda Terkel at ThinkProgress, who writes:

Here are the first eight questions that women will have to reveal:

1. Date of abortion

2. County in which abortion performed

3. Age of mother

4. Marital status of mother

(married, divorced, separated, widowed, or never married)

5. Race of mother

6. Years of education of mother

(specify highest year completed)

7. State or foreign country of residence of mother

8. Total number of previous pregnancies of the mother

Live Births
Miscarriages
Induced Abortions




11/04/09--08:04: It is that simple (chan 1285708)

Would you deny President Obama any of the basic civil rights that ought to be accorded to all human beings by virtue of being rights because of the color of his skin?

Would you deny an immigrant any of the basic civil rights that ought to be accorded to all human beings by virtue of being rights because or his/her national origin?

Would you deny someone who doesn't speak English any of the basic civil rights that ought to be accorded to all human beings by virtue of being rights because of a language barrier?

Would you deny my wife, my sisters, my mother, or any other woman any of the basic civil rights that ought to be accorded to all human beings by virtue of being rights because of their gender?

Would you deny me, a Jew, any of the basic civil rights that ought to be accorded to all human beings by virtue of being rights because I am a Jew? Would you deny a Muslim, an atheist, a pagan, a Hindu, or a member of any other religious (or not, as you please) minority group any of the basic civil rights that ought to be accorded to all human beings by virtue of being rights because of their faith or lack thereof?

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, it is that simple: you are a bigot.




11/10/09--14:51: How to tell a real man from a misogynist (chan 1285708)

It would come as no surprise to people here that so-called "men" dominate the halls of power in this country and so have the ability to dominate public policy regarding women's rights and equality. And so it has repeatedly come to pass that "men" seek to impose their judgment and control on women's bodies through public policy.

As a man, I don't want to be judged alongside these people who share my gender. I don't want to be judged alongside those who would seek to impose their own control over women's bodies. I don't want to be judged alongside those who would deny women the autonomy over their own bodies that men take for granted.

And I suggest to you that these people are not real men. Real men would not do such things.




01/19/10--06:26: A refresher on Nazis for the ignorant, insensitive, and teabagger equivalents (chan 1285708)

I feel like I've been repeating myself every few months, so you'll pardon me if I don't put in quite the same effort this time around, even if this is a message that apparently needs to be repeated constantly for some of the more puerile users of this site.

My standard backgrounder for this message:

All four of my grandparents were survivors of the Holocaust, three of them the sole survivors from their own very large families. My mother's parents met in Auschwitz shortly before liberation; my father's parents met in a displaced persons camp not long after the war ended. They all eventually made their way to safety and freedom in the Milwaukee area.

And I have had more than my fair share of confrontations with contemporary Nazis, some of which I wrote about here.

So when I say I have some experience with Nazism, it is only because I have been in the unfortunate position to have forgotten more about Nazism than most people are ever going to learn. And of all the things I've learned about Nazism, one lesson stands out above all others when it comes to partisan politics:




01/04/11--09:26: Scalia says sex discrimination is constitutional (chan 1285708)

Occasionally, random things come across my desk. This morning, this was the random thing waiting for me when I got to the office. It's an interview by a legal blog with Supreme Court Justice (and resident "activist judge," to use the parlance of the hypocrites on the right) Antonin Scalia, in which Scalia pontificates on the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment. For those not able to identify all the amendments off the top of their head, that's the one that, among other things, says this:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Got that? No state is permitted to deny to any person the equal protection of the laws. And what does Scalia take that to mean?




02/04/11--15:05: Republicans would have let my mother die; somehow that's "pro-life" (chan 1285708)

I've written about this here before, but it bears repeating given the introduction of HR 358, the Republicans' latest attempt to make sure that no woman anywhere ever has access to an abortion, even when it's necessary to save her life.

My mother had a life-saving abortion when I was little. Republicans would have let her die. Somehow they think that makes them "pro-life."




03/10/11--11:00: Shabbat Dinner (chan 1285708)

Welcome to the fourth weekly dKos Shabbat Dinner. For those of you who haven't been following along as this series started, this is what it's all about:

For Jews (at least traditionally), Shabbat is the day of rest. Think of it as the first historically recorded weekend: God spent six days* creating the world and rested on the seventh. Accordingly, we work for six days and emulate God by resting on the seventh. We spend the day with our families, putting aside for the day the concerns of our professional lives. And one of the ways we mark the day as special is with special meals, like the Shabbat dinner.

Mets102 had the idea of a weekly diary, a sort of "what's for Shabbat dinner" to be posted on Thursday afternoon to give people the opportunity to incorporate any of the recipes they read here into their Shabbat plans if they wish to do so. Below the jump, you can read all about some of what I'm planning to cook for Shabbat dinner this week. (And JayinPortland -- you're up next week!)

* But not six literal days -- we're not fundamentalists, you know.




04/01/11--14:42: Introducing the Elders of Zion (chan 1285708)

Chevre,

I begin with Chevre for a reason. It's a word that doesn't translate exactly into English -- the translation loses some nuance -- but it essentially refers to a community, frequently closely knit, that gathers together for some essential task. Over at Street Prophets, a group of us have been discussing for the past week or so the creation of a general Jewish group here at Daily Kos. We were a little hesitant to do it for a variety of reasons, but ultimately decided it was worth the effort.

This is the essential task for which I began with chevre.

Accordingly, we would like to introduce you to the Elders of Zion.




04/17/11--16:00: Closing the Passover Seder: Hallel and Nirtzah (chan 1285708)

And so we end the Passover seder according to law.
We have conducted it according to tradition, according to statute.
Just as we have merited the privilege of conducting it this year, so may we be worthy of performing it in the future.
Oh Pure One Who dwells on high, raise up your numberless people!
Speedily lead the shoots of Your stock, redeemed, to Zion with joyous song!

Next year in Jerusalem!

This poem (it rhymes in the original Hebrew), originating in France roughly 1,000 years ago, marks the beginning of Nirtzah, the final section of the Haggadah. It seems fitting, therefore, to begin the concluding diary in our series about the Haggadah (itself part of a series of diaries about Passover) with it.

But of course, before we get to Nirtzah, we still have one more section of the Haggadah to address: Hallel.

Elders of Zion is a general Jewish interest group, open to anyone who wants to learn about Jews and Judaism. The group was created in order to facilitate such a space. Discussion of and questions about Jewish religion, ethnicity, history, culture, language, cuisine, music, literature, and identity are encouraged. Please keep this purpose in mind when commenting in our diaries. Antisemitism, diary hijacking, and I/P pie fights will not be tolerated and will be troll rated. For more information, see the inaugural diary.




04/24/11--19:17: "Shylocks" (chan 1285708)

There is a diary on the recommended list right now that, I'm told, has been on the rec list for most of the day. I've been through the diary and I can see why -- it's a good diary. But it has one little problem that actually isn't so little: it uses the word "Shylocks" in its poll. I'll take the diarist at his word that he didn't mean any offense by it and that he meant the word only in the contemporary sense in which it is frequently used. But the word has a nastier meaning -- it is historically an antisemitic slur, intended to convey the sense that Jews are greedy, avaricious, conniving, and evil.

It does not take a genius to figure out why Jews would be offended by that.

So I'll take the diarist at his word that he did not mean any offense. I'd even believe him if he said he didn't know the etymology of the word. But he doubled down with this:

I intend to offend Shylocks but not Jews...

I have no ill will towards the jewish people, and,
i admire their best qualities.

Not every shylock is  jewish, and, not every Jew is a
shylock.

Sounds a bit too much like "some of my best friends are Jews" for my comfort. And now we have a problem.

Elders of Zion is a general Jewish interest group, open to anyone who wants to learn about Jews and Judaism. The group was created in order to facilitate such a space. Discussion of and questions about Jewish religion, ethnicity, history, culture, language, cuisine, music, literature, and identity are encouraged. Please keep this purpose in mind when commenting in our diaries. Antisemitism, diary hijacking, and I/P pie fights will not be tolerated and will be troll rated. For more information, see the inaugural diary.




05/26/11--18:00: D'var Torah: B'midbar (chan 1285708)

Parashat B'midbar
Numbers 1:1-4:20

This week's Torah portion, the first in Sefer B'midbar, the Book of Numbers, focuses on two topics: a census of male Israelites (excluding Levites) between the ages of 20 and 50 (and thus eligible for military service) and a summary of some duties of the priests.

By coincidence, the last drash I wrote for this series, for Parashat Shmot, also begins with a census, though that one resulted in a count of 70 while this one yielded a count of 603,550. "Be fruitful and multiply" indeed!

Elders of Zion is a general Jewish interest group, open to anyone who wants to learn about Jews and Judaism. The group was created in order to facilitate such a space. Discussion of and questions about Jewish religion, ethnicity, history, culture, language, cuisine, music, literature, and identity are encouraged. Please keep this purpose in mind when commenting in our diaries. Antisemitism, diary hijacking, and I/P pie fights will not be tolerated and will be troll rated. For more information, see the inaugural diary.




06/30/11--16:00: D'var Torah: Chukat (chan 1285708)

Parashat Chukat
Numbers 19:1-22:1

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.

-- From Shakespeare's As You Like It, Act 2, Scene 7

Elders of Zion is a general Jewish interest group, open to anyone who wants to learn about Jews and Judaism. The group was created in order to facilitate such a space. Discussion of and questions about Jewish religion, ethnicity, history, culture, language, cuisine, music, literature, and identity are encouraged. Please keep this purpose in mind when commenting in our diaries. Antisemitism, diary hijacking, and I/P pie fights will not be tolerated and will be troll rated. For more information, see the inaugural diary.




07/28/11--16:00: D'var Torah: Mas'ei (chan 1285708)

Parashat Mas'ei
Numbers 33:1-36:13

This is the final Torah portion in the Book of Numbers. Numbers is essentially a chronicle of the Israelites' 40 years of wandering in the desert between the Exodus from Egypt and the conquest of Canaan. At the beginning of the book, the Israelites had essentially just escaped from Egypt; here, at the end, they are about to enter Canaan.

And so it is that Mas'ei begins with a summary of all the Israelites' stops along the way: Rameses, Succoth, Etham, Pi-Ha'hiroth, Marah, Elim, the shores of the Red Sea, the wilderness of Sin, Dophkah, Alush, Rephidim, the Sinai Desert, Kibroth-Ha'ta'a'vah, Hatzeroth, Rithmah, Rimmon-Peretz, Libnah, Rissah, Kehelath, Mount Shepher, Haradah, Makheloth, Tahath, Terah, Mithkah, Hashmonah, Moseroth, Bene-Ja'akan, Hor Ha-Gidgad, Jotbath, Abronah, Etzion-Gever, Kadesh, Mount Hor, Tzalmonah, Punon, Oboth, Iyim, Divon-Gad, Almon-Divlotayim, the hills of Avarim, and the steppes of Moab at the Jordan River from Beit HaYeshimoth to Avel-Shittim. Forty-two stations in all.

Elders of Zion is a general Jewish interest group, open to anyone who wants to learn about Jews and Judaism. The group was created in order to facilitate such a space. Discussion of and questions about Jewish religion, ethnicity, history, culture, language, cuisine, music, literature, and identity are encouraged. Please keep this purpose in mind when commenting in our diaries. Antisemitism, diary hijacking, and I/P pie fights will not be tolerated and will be troll rated. For more information, see the inaugural diary.




08/12/11--16:01: D'var Torah: Va'Etchanan (chan 1285708)

Parashat Va'Etchanan
Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11

With apologies, I didn't realize until this afternoon that no one had signed up to write this week's d'var Torah. This week's portion is very complicated so last minute volunteers were unlikely, but I'd written about it before. In other words, what follows isn't really new material, but I think it's a pretty decent representation of Parashat Va'Etchanan.

Also, in part due to the last minute nature of this, I'm probably not going to be around to moderate. So usual rules/norms/customs apply. Shabbat shalom!

Elders of Zion is a general Jewish interest group, open to anyone who wants to learn about Jews and Judaism. The group was created in order to facilitate such a space. Discussion of and questions about Jewish religion, ethnicity, history, culture, language, cuisine, music, literature, and identity are encouraged. Please keep this purpose in mind when commenting in our diaries. Antisemitism, diary hijacking, and I/P pie fights will not be tolerated and will be troll rated. For more information, see the inaugural diary.




09/10/11--20:59: Remembering (chan 1285708)

I don't know what it is about our culture that requires that everything be sensationalized. I intend to spend the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks avoiding the media as much as possible. Any of us who were at any of the key landmarks that day have our own stories, and I've spent the past week hearing about them over and over and over again. What I haven't heard much of are the roughly 3,000 stories we'll never know in their entirety; these are the stories that matter most to me today.

These are the people I'll be remembering today. The rest of us can be remembered tomorrow.




09/11/11--18:28: Jewish Holidays: Calling for Volunteers (chan 1285708)

It occurs to me that with so many folks boycotting the site this week (fight the good fight, my friends!), I'd better get this out tonight. The Jewish holiday season begins in just a couple of weeks and it's time to start organizing our series of diaries. We're looking for a little bit of anything and everything having to do with Rosh HaShana, Tzom G'daliah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Shmini Atzeret, and Simchat Torah. We need explanations of what the holidays are all about, divrei Torah, recipes appropriate to the holidays, traditions, anecdotes, etc., etc., etc.

Elders of Zion is a general Jewish interest group, open to anyone who wants to learn about Jews and Judaism. The group was created in order to facilitate such a space. Discussion of and questions about Jewish religion, ethnicity, history, culture, language, cuisine, music, literature, and identity are encouraged. Please keep this purpose in mind when commenting in our diaries. Antisemitism, diary hijacking, and I/P pie fights will not be tolerated and will be troll rated. For more information, see the inaugural diary.




09/22/11--10:18: This was cold-blooded murder (chan 1285708)

A little over four years ago, I posted this diary:

Q: What do you call it when a person kills another person, with full intent and premeditation?

A: Murder.

Q: What do you call it when the government kills an innocent man, with full intent and premeditation?

A: Read the diary to find out.

This, among other reasons, is why I oppose the death penalty on principle.




12/15/11--15:08: D'var Torah: VaYeshev (chan 1285708)

Parashat VaYeshev
Genesis 37:1-40:23

✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡

I'm traveling for work this week and haven't had time to write anything new, so most of what follows is something I wrote last year for this parasha.




12/27/11--13:23: It only took 1,500 years (chan 1285708)

The internet is still relatively young, not even 50 years even if you count precursors, but the concept of hypertext is much older. One of the earliest written examples of hypertext is the Talmud, the 63-volume compendium of wisdom, law, and guidelines for life used by traditional Jews since its compilation over 1,500 years ago. Virtually every page of the text refers readers to other sources -- in fact, if you use some electronic versions of the Talmud, links to those references are included, though traditional Jews wouldn't use such a version on Shabbat or during chagim, good times for studying -- and if the text doesn't do it, the commentary will. A typical page of Talmud in contemporary volumes includes commentary from Rashi (11th century French rabbi known as the definitive commentator of virtually all Jewish texts to that time), Tosafot (medieval critical and explanatory commentaries), a series of cross-referencing tools, and sometimes a few other commentaries.

The Talmud was originally passed down orally; it wasn't redacted until about 1500 years ago, but even then it still had to be memorized -- it's not like there were enough copies for everyone to have their own. But even with the advent of the printing press, there has never been a widely recognized, accepted index.

Until now:




12/29/11--21:33: D'var Torah: VaYigash (chan 1285708)

Parashat VaYigash
Genesis 44:18-47:27

With apologies if anyone else was planning on posting something; the schedule didn't show anyone for this week. I also haven't had time to write anything new, so here's a recycled drash from a couple years ago.