Monthly Archives: April 2009

A Rational, Scientific God?

Posted on April 30, 2009 by

Hardly. There has been a wave of  books lately intent on neutralizing the “Dawkins effect”. They are invariably books with titles like “There Is Not a God” or “God: the Proof“. At times they are written by men (why only men?) … Continue reading →

Posted in Bookmarks, Freethought, Identity, Religious Faith | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

A Free People in Our Land

Posted on April 28, 2009 by

Today is my favorite Jewish holiday, Israeli Independence Day. It’s the only one that’s still controversial in much of the world, and has the dubious honor of having spawned a counter-holiday–Nakba Day. Of course, they aren’t celebrated on the same day, … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel and the Middle East, Religious Faith | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Jews, the Ever-in-the-Way People

Posted on April 28, 2009 by

From Operation Shylock: The father is superseded by the rivalrous, triumphant firstborn–rejected, suppressed, persecuted, expelled, shunned, terrorized by the firstborn and reviled as the enemy–and then, having barely escaped extinction for the crime of being the father, resuscitates himself, revives … Continue reading →

Posted in Anti-Semitism, Bookmarks, Israel and the Middle East, Shoah | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Torture, Back With a Vengeance

Posted on April 26, 2009 by

The debate rages. Last night we went out for Mexican food. We arrived in the middle of a conversation inspired by this article in Slate Salon. Oops. The gist of the article is this: “No torture today, no torture tomorrow, … Continue reading →

Posted in America, Human Rights | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Most Serious Thing in Italy

Posted on April 26, 2009 by

Yesterday’s Corriere della Sera had an interview with the openly gay actor Paolo Poli, which is relatively rare in Italy. Now, I don’t know much about Poli’s acting career, nor do I think an actor’s opinions matter much. But when an … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Italy, Pope and the Vatican | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Ilan Ramon and the Second Holocaust

Posted on April 24, 2009 by

Ilan Ramon’s diary This isn’t a new story, of course, but I’ve been intrigued by it ever since I first heard about the Ramon diary on the radio a couple of years ago. The above page was found almost two … Continue reading →

Posted in Anti-Semitism, Europe, Israel and the Middle East, Shoah, Terrorism | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Recognizing Israel

Posted on April 23, 2009 by

I’m already tired of quoting Ahmadinejad. He always says the same things. Ynet has two articles worthy of more attention than anything I could post. The first, by Sever Plocker, concerns lawfare and caused me to lose a bit of … Continue reading →

Posted in Anti-Semitism, Israel and the Middle East, Judaism, Lawfare, Terrorism | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Zio-Nazi?

Posted on April 22, 2009 by

Because not everyone who might stumble upon this blog reads Israeli papers, and most of the people I know haven’t been  following the Durban 2 circus in Geneva, I’m linking to this video which I saw in Haaretz. On the … Continue reading →

Posted in Anti-Semitism, Human Rights, Israel and the Middle East, Terrorism | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

“Racist! Racist!”

Posted on April 21, 2009 by

Things aren’t going so well after day one up in Geneva. Clowns were arrested, Ahmadinejad called Israel all sorts of bad things and was called a racist himself (but only by the clowns, mind you). There was apparently a move … Continue reading →

Posted in Anti-Semitism, Europe, Israel and the Middle East, Lawfare, Pope and the Vatican | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Pope Blesses Durban 2

Posted on April 20, 2009 by

This morning’s Corriere della Sera, one of Italy’s leading newspapers, has a snippet article on Durban 2. Germany and Sweden have pulled out at the last minute, while France and Great Britain are attending. The Pope chimed in with a blessing … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Human Rights, Italy, Pope and the Vatican | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment