The Passion of the W

No, that's not a Sesame Street episode (much to my dismay), but a sad assessment of the popularity of the current President and why he is held in esteem by many. Just as Jews, secularists, and other non-Christians misjudged the eye-bulging power of Gibson's theocide fantasy "The Passion" so the popularity of the first Christian Right President has been misjudged.

George W does not seem to have much of an overt personality; his whole life he's been defined by someone else and by golly he's good at that. He was defined by Mommy, his Daddy, and Jack Daniels. Many non-Christian republicans (I think I know most of them personally) see him as the flag-draped defender of America after 9/11. He isn't, but he fills out a role well. It's the advantage of having an arid brain.

But for most of his rabid followers, and the core of the Republican party, George W is the embodiment of a devout Christian; and that makes him durn near infallible. The closest I can get to this view is if I were a Chassid and a fellow Chassid became President.

I say Chassid and not a fellow Jew because we Jews are notorious for attacking our own when they are in prominent positions (we may vote exclusively for Jewish candidates, but I heard too many people shy away from Gore in '00 because they didn't want Lieberman to be VP for "they may hate us" reasons)

The Christians in this country feel like an abused minority even though they consider themselves the "moral majority." They think the media is liberal and antagonistic and they believe there's no voice for them (despite the rabid vapid Right Wing press which is powerful and unapologetically partisan).

Again, see the "Passion" reaction - any attack on the movie was seen as an attack on Jesus H. himself. No matter that the movie - according to reliable reports - was badly made. Who cares about quality?! It's about Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezuz. I see the exact same reaction about Bush. He's a devout Thumper and if you attack his idiotic worldview, his inability to handle contrary information, his profligate past before his rebirth in the blood of the lamb - these are all traits that the Christian Right considers positive signs of a true believer!

Bush's support should thus be seen as rabid. His reaction to 9/11 is seen as a holy war, a crusade, and in the mind's of the Christian Right, that's a good thing! When Bush says that he's following the (direct) orders from God, the XR thinks that's accurate and wonderful. Catholics have the Pope, American Protestants have their Papist-President, Bush II.

Kerry has no chance against that. First, he's an unholy papist… and he's not even that frum! Again, showing that Edwards would have been a smarter choice. And I'm just assuming because he's a smiley gentile from North Carolina that he's frum.

I've said again and again that Jews need to be very careful with the Christian Right. They do what they want and that often means Holy War against those they consider unholy. They appear to celebrate ignorance and intolerance. And Bush is their prophet.

Pic found in 2009 here.

Patriotism, Yay

Just in case I am considered less of a patriot because I consider our president, and the current government, a pack of reprobate thugs, help support our troops. Patriotism is fun, nutritious, and the right thing to do.

The Lost Generation

I remember, barely 5 years ago, during the doldrums of Clinton, when all people could complain about was a President with a roving eye and moderate politics, the Youth of America needed to find a cause to complain about. They chose globalization as the bad-boy bugaboo - for reasons that were not adequately explained to me at the time. Oh, how they huffed and puffed, they demonstrated and wept, they toked and popped as one.

Where are these weenies now? The current conflict is our generation's Vietnam! If they wanted a fight, why aren't they taking to the streets. It's not like I want a redux of the 60s - what I know of the era, the music was the only thing decent to survive - but I am calling for ideological consistency and accountability.

Hebrew Democrats Merchandising

Buy Kerry '04 T-shirts, buttons, hats, etc. in Hebrew

Also, check out this important site, for the faithful (Jews for Kerry)

Healthcliff: Gambling

Obscure reference today to the "football pool" - something that I would clearly have understood at age 9.

The Story of the Campaign So Far

The polling numbers are inconsistent across the board. No one poll even slightly agrees with another.

For example:

June 12

ICR, Bush: 52, Kerry: 44, Undecided: 2

June 9

Zogby, Bush: 47, Kerry: 45, Undecided: 8

Time, Bush: 54, Kerry: 42, Undecided: 4

June 5

CNN/USA Today/Gallup, Bush: 52, Kerry: 45, Undecided: 3

Besides the maddening concept that there can be undecided at this point - that there's some psychological profile in 2-8% of the nation of people who are willing to vote yet incapable of making a decision (I always thought that the percentage of people in America who have an opinion is greater than those who are willing to vote. I guessed wrong), there’s no consistency in the poll except Bush being ahead (maddening in its own right). The conventional wisdom is that the incumbent’s numbers are solid, that the undecideds will either vote for the challenger or stay home. Bu there’s another even more important poll, the ‘direction of the country.’

The problem with polls in general is the same problem with all language/communication – what means one thing to me, means another to you. The more refined a question, the more accurate. To ask someone who they will vote for is a complicated request that is based on a number of factors (do I like X enough, hate W enough, plan to be sober on a Tuesday, etc.) Whether you like the way the country is at the very moment is a direct question and is much more accurate in determining how the vote will be in November.

Polling Report - Direction of Country

September 7-10

• Newsweek: Satisfied: 39, Unsatisfied: 53, Undecided: 8
• AP: 44, 52, 4
• Gallup: 44, 55, 1

September 2-3

• Newsweek: Satisfied: 43, Unsatisfied: 49, Undecided: 8
• Time: 45, 50, 4

August 3-5

• AP: Satisfied: 39, Unsatisfied: 59, Undecided: 2
• Time: 44, 51, 5

July 29-30

Newsweek: Satisfied: 36, Unsatisfied: 58, Undecided: 6

July 5-7,

• AP: Satisfied: 41, Unsatisfied: 56, Undecided: 3
• Gallup: 41, 57, 2

OK, yeah, how there can be undecided about *this* is even crazier. It demonstrates that drug use must be worse than obesity in America. Anyhoo, these numbers should make Bush wake up screaming in the middle of the night for Cheney and warm milk. To hover around 40% for satisfaction? Egads.

And for comparison on these, there were 60s for good chunks of 2002 and 2003.

A conclusion I make from this, as a die-hard Democrat, is that my fellow party-voters are a collection of fumbling chuckleheads. Back in the primaries they voted not for the candidate they wanted, but for somebody they thought “Swing Voters” would vote for. In general, as an anthropologist, I am reluctant to call a group of people, a culture, idiotic. Generally, a mass of people do something that is in their best interest. Not in this case.

I said it back then, too, Kerry is a poor candidate. He has the charisma of untanned leather. He makes Gore look like P Diddy. He also has gaping gaps in his trained moral reasoning. How could he support the Iraq war? I’m not talking about flippy-flops, and despite my support for the war (see my post on 9/11/03 for nuances) – if Kerry were any fashion of real deal he would have voted against the war. The comparisons to Vietnam are clear for a sidelines observer, for someone who ostensibly based his youth on ‘Nam-opposition, he should have been the first to vote against. He didn’t. He’s a weenie.

The Democrats primaried Kerry because of what they thought someone else would want. This is stupid because of a countervailing psychological rule: when in doubt choose real over potential. Put simply, the Democrats liked Edwards, but thought a Swinger will like Kerry better. Except that Edwards had inherent and established value while Kerry had potential value. Is it any surprise that people still like Edwards and nobody – even Democrats – like Kerry?

If I had a chance to talk to the Democratic leadership (alert me next time a pig flies) I’d tell ‘em straight out – the only way a Democrat wins is with charisma. That is it. Yet the party keeps nominating these policy robots (Stevenson, Humphrey, McGovern, Mondale, Dukakis, Gore, Kerry) as if the power of ideas will outweigh the natural human desire to look up to a leader.

Successful Democrats? All charismatic bastards. JFK, Clinton, LBJ, even Truman. A Republican doesn’t need charisma in America, despite the majority of the country’s population being democrats, the state-electoral college thang makes the states significant, and there are more Republican states. The GOP can run moral reprobates (Nixon, Bush II) and spineless crackers (Bush I) and win as long as the opposition is a standard Democrat weenie.

Both parties know these heuristics:

• Evil GOP vs. Robot Dem, GOP wins
• Weenie GOP vs. Robot Dem, GOP wins
• Charisma, no matter whom, always wins.

1960: JFK v. Nixon – Charisma/evil
1964: LBJ v. Goldwater – Charisma
1968: Humphrey v. Nixon – evil/robot
1972: McGovern v. Nixon – evil/robot
1976: Carter v. Ford – the only exception which is manifest evil is hard to win
1980: Carter v. Reagan – doofus/Charisma
1984: Mondale v. Reagan – Charisma
1988: Dukakis v. Bush – possibly the worst election in my lifetime; gads what a waste
1992: Clinton v. Bush v. Alf – Charisma
1996: Clinton v. Dole v. Alf – Charisma
2000: Gore v. Bush v. Nader – don’t get me started on the election results

If the Democrats had only nominated any one of the candidates with charisma – this would have been no contest. E.g. if the ticket were flipped and you had Edwards as the candidate with Clark, Dean, or even Kerry as VP, then we'd be having red-terror alerts every day of the summer just for Bush to barely catch sight of the donkey's rear.

Map of Springfield

As has been forwarded to me by an avid Slashdot reader, the detailed map of Springfield, USA (United Simpsons of America): map of Springfield

P.S. I don't see "Springfield Heights" on the map (place of Apu's alma mater, Springfield Heights Institute of Technology)

Heathcliff Watch

Naturally, I take comics seriously. Yeah, who doesn't. But my childhood dreams of making drawing a comic strip are irrepressible, and I have channeled that creative drive into reading pages and pages of them. I subscribe to two lists: Mycomics.com and Ucomics.com. I will bore you later with my lists of the good, bad, and ugly but I was struck, yet again, by the inexplicable presence of the comic "Heathcliff"

Those who lump all long-running animal comics in a pile (e.g. Garfield, Marmiduke) think that Heathcliff is just another wacky personification with zany antics. Except that Heathcliff is almost R rated. The cat has a bookie, a parole officer, and a convict father; he drinks and gambles, and if ethnic stereotypes persist, he hangs out with mobsters. Great stuff, yep, but for kids?

Yet again proof to me that either I was an exceptionally dim child (that I didn’t catch on) or I had *nooooo* idea what these symbols/pictures/implications meant.

Anyway, whenever a daily Heathcliff strip demonstrates these illegal and/or immoral activities in front of our nations youth and illiterates, I will let you know. (Also, if anyone has evidence of Marmaduke shooting craps, drop me a line).

Computer Music

Recently, I took possession of a new computer - state of the art, the whole nine bits. There's a fallacy floating around that an old computer is perfectly fine for standard actions (word processing, surfing the net), except that software is constantly getting more complicated and memory intensive - to match the progress in hardware. It's a sad cycle, but often to read a normal website you need a new computer.

Moreover, my normal computer consumption requires 7 to 8 programs open at once - which also requires the most advanced technology commercially available.

I got a Dell even though I personally endured their horrible customer service (long story) - 2 hour long phone calls with sub-continent illiterates, surly and stupid American counterparts, you name it. Dell also was hundreds of dollars cheaper than the nearest competitor, so I fear I was thinking with the pale dollar signs in my eyelids.

I *would* have bought a Macintosh, as I am a loyal Macophile (Machead? Macaninny? Macadoolde?) since 1986. But the key Torah software does not work on the Mac. And I need the Bar Ilan disc and Dagesh. Grrr.

One benefit of my voluminous hard-drive (370 Gigabytes, so large I could store a rhino) is that I can stockpile and play my entire CD collection. A genetic flaw I inherited from my father is the need to acquire the latest audio/video venues for my favorite artists. I remember my father’s 8-track tape player and the day we upgraded to CDs. I owned an extensive VHS collection which I now have almost completely replaced by DVDs.

When MP3s were invented, my CDs were shelved. I was never much of an album listener; I preferred singles and hours of random variety, making MP3s perfect. However, I lacked the technology to rip and store CDs, and people weren’t making MP3s of my favorite stuff. Now I have the power (add the He-Man reverb).

It took a while, but I entered and copied my CDs into my computer. It’s 21.7 Gig if you’re curious. And I now can use my computer for its most mundane, but for my tastes most necessary task – playing music.

Archive Overboard

Had to eliminate the archive... for some Java freak reason the Blog wouldn't publish with it.

Gush News

According to last night's special announcement:

"Ben Shemonim LeGevura " (Avot 5:25)

In light of HaRav Amital's upcoming 80th birthday, and upon HaRav Amital's request, the Roshei Yeshiva and the Administration have decided to choose Rav Yaakov Medan and Rav Baruch Gigi to serve as Roshei Yeshiva alongside HaRav Amital and HaRav Lichtenstein - may they continue to serve many more years. The appointment of Rav Y. Medan and Rav B. Gigi as additional Roshei Yeshiva will go into effect during the 5766 academic year.

This isn't surprising - although I'm not sure how the yeshiva will have 4 roshim- and I don't know how welcoming Gush will be when those two will be the main heads. We knew this day would come; somehow I thought they'd keep one RY who spoke English...

Not AWOL, not a deserter, but not good by any means

The analysis of some of Bush's 'missing' documentation

The Sandman

Long have I been interested in Neil Gaiman's Sandman. I can't say it is the best graphic novel ever made, that distinction goes to the yin/yang of the Dark Knight Returns and The Watchmen (the debate over which one is greater is unwinnable). Yet the Sandman transcends that all because it was commissioned by DC comics to be a standard piece of work and it just blew the doors off. It raised the level of graphic novels to the level of mid-range literature; there's more in there than in Dickens and Melville (although Gaiman would hate me saying that).

Anyhoo, I have wanted to acquire the books for some time now, and nobody sells them for under $20 in good condition. Three weeks ago, in a stroke of good luck, some dude was selling the collection of 10 books for under $10 each - and I was able to grab it before the first bid with a 'buy me now' (for those who frequent Ebay, this is a great thing... true, some ebay ghouls out there might advise waiting until the last moment and snipe some fool... but I am often that fool and auctions are for chumps).

For fellow fans:

• Sandman FAQ [Alas, dead]
• The Annotated Sandman [Link Updated]

(Pic link from here, found in 2009)

New Haven Police Blotter

We're told that a few weeks ago a house was robbed pretty close to ours. Naturally this is very disturbing news. We feel pretty vulnerable in general because we're new to this place and while it looks green and suburbyish, there's urban blight oozing out of the streets every few feet. Nice well kept houses next to disgusting decrepit embarrassments.

Update: Note, since then, there have been a few drug busts on our corner. The Police sergeant says it was only heroin, so I'm not too worried about it. That and I am told that it's worse in other areas of New Haven.

Backpost finished 2/16/05 from an incomplete post

Saw You At Sinai

On Friday, I was accepted to be a matchmaker on Saw You At Sinai. It's a very good resource that emphasizes the privacy of the members (it's matchmaker driven). It needs more men on the network (the female-male ratio is insanely skewed) - so tell your friends to join!

If they are reluctant, then tell them to choose one matchmaker that they feel they can trust (like, uh, me) and then exclude the option of having other matchmakers see the information. This way the trusted shadchan can work closely with them and not waste their time.

If you know someone who is single and you get so frustrated at seeing them in distress and they seem to ignore you (I'll explain why they do that later), then this is a good option. We need to get the word out.

Movie Review: Paycheck (2003)

The worst thing about Paycheck (2003) is the title - it means nothing; has no traction in yer brain; and does not inform you that this is a really good film. The most watchable John Woo film for the population at large. You know I love the Woo - but "a thousand bullets" works for only certain mentalities. Moreover, he has a poor ability to choose his American actors. While still in Hong Kong, Woo's finest work was with Chow Yun-Fat (called the "Chinese John Wayne"). Fat (Chow?) was strong, funny, emotive, smart - a great leading man and perfect for the Woo heroic model.

In America, Woo has used: Jean Claude Van-Damme, Christian Slater, Nick Cage, John Travolta, and Tom Cruise. Yuccch. Not one of those bozos can act nor think their way out of a paper bag. In "Paycheck" we get the dullest of them all, Ben Affleck (which naturally is the second worst thing about the film).

But the movie's smart, quick, fun, and not extremely violent (even by regular movie standards) and only one dove appears. In fact, I was wondering when the doves would arrive (which are the equivalent of Woo making a cameo) and when it finally flew into view it was actually appropriate and exciting.

Backpost finished on 2/16/05, from an incomplete movie review]

Bushism of the Day

By Jacob Weisberg. Aug. 25, 2004:

"So community colleges are accessible, they're available, they're affordable, and their curriculums don't get stuck. In other words, if there's a need for a certain kind of worker, I presume your curriculums evolved over time."—Niceville, Fla., Aug. 10, 2004

{2009 update: pic from here.}

Happy Birthday Sean

The Official Website of Sir Sean Connery

Further in the Fischer Saga

I've gotten more responses to the Fischer comments than I have on any other topic (second place is the Mr. Inky tefillin question).

According to this piece today (Bobby Fischer's deportation not imminent):

The 61-year-old chess master has been wanted by the United States since 1992 for earning over three million dollars in a chess match staged in the former Yugoslavia in defiance of an international embargo.

I have to admit it, that is a strange crime.

New Haven Updates

1. The dirt on the roads is gone... not sure why, I saw no road crews. Maybe dirt evaporates in Connecticut to be made into Acid Mud.

2. The garbage people did a nice thing - they fell for my little ploy. I have two entrances to the house: the front (shared with the first floor neighbor; two doors needing two separate keys; internal door to our house badly made so glass rumbles inside antique doorframe such that guests are afraid the 20 pound pane will wrench loose and bounce off their skulls), or the side (accessible only to us, has outside screen door with no discernible value and a lock with no key). The side door's stairway goes straight up to our kitchen area - where we produce most of our garbage. Basically, I'd like to leave the garbage outside the side door rather than shlep our bags half-a-block to the front entrance. I called the sanitation department, which is populated by the cranky receptionists - who should wake up every day realizing they are in the glamour end of the trash business - and they were confused by my request to change my garbage pick up location. After a few futile conversations, they directed me to the superintendent of Waste (how would you like that on your resume?) who was on vacation... three weeks ago... still no call back. Taking matters into my own perfumed hands like the sanitation vigilante society has forced me to be, I left one bag of experimental garbage on the alternate curb... and they picked it up! We'll see if I can keep this up.

3. Red Light Alert. I forget if I mentioned the stunning fact that in Connecticut you can make a right on red! Unless they don't want you to, which can be a random occurrence. But it beats the NY law which allowed rights on red only if you had a gun.

4. Starbucks vs. Dunkin Donuts. I don't know when it happened, but it appears that Dunkin Donuts won a war and kicked out Starbucks from New Haven. There is one lone 'Buck, I'm told, near campus, that stays alive solely on the padded pocketbooks of dewy freshmen. The rest of this, the newest of Havens, is donutland. And I think it's a good thing. Here's a comparison:

Nickname:

• DD: The Big Double D, Dunkizzle Donizzle, Dunkin' Ho-nuts
• SB: Sloshbucks, Star-too-many-bucks, The Green Diuretic

Decor:

• DD: rows and rows of glorious donuts; all items in store dedicated to food, pure white color scheme offset by rainbow-sprinkle colors; food titles are down-to-earth (e.g. Donut, Big Donut; Chocolate Donut)
• SB: green faux-grunge aesthetic, frou-frou sentimentalities with food hermetically wrapped and given bourgeois titles (e.g. Dillweed Camembert on bagette with honey-pork marinade)

Coffee Names:

• DD: small, medium, large, x-large (24 oz!)
• SB: tall, grande, venti (whoever invented these asinine titles should be whacked)

Prices:

• DD: largest coffee is $2.50
• SB: smallest coffee is just under $2.00

Store Name:

• DD: startlingly functional - the donuts are made to be dunked in coffee
• SB: named after strange fictional character in horrible book

As you can see, I'm glad the Donizzle won the war.

Israel Wins First-Ever Olympic Gold

WAAAAAAHOOOOO!

The Pinguthalon!

Awright! The makers of the Pingu penguin slap game have created a series of 5 yeti-penguin sports events to play: YETI SPORTS by chris hilgert powered by edelweiss medienwerkst.at

Excellent Anti-Bush Ad

The 2004 Election is clearly between the Love Bush vs. Hate Bush crowd. Kerry is a convenient empty suit who was lucky enough to have his turn this year. The attacks on Kerry's heroism are craven and disgusting and anyone who supports the president should be condemning them. Kerry has plenty of weaknesses; he is not much of a leader; attack those traits.

The Kerry campaign has put out a powerful ad against Bush's tactics (Old Tricks) which has the line "you should be ashamed" from the 2000 primary debate between McCain and Bush.

Worthwhile Campaign Analysis

I am starting to read Knight-Ridder news more often recently because a American Journalism Review article showed they were the ONLY news source willing to question the government about the build-up to the Iraq war. They were and still are being punished for the temerity of doubting Lord George.

Anyhoo, for you politics watchers who like to know strategic minutia, here's a good KR piece on the Democrats campaign strategy: Saturation coverage greets Kerry's tour through 82 small media markets

Presidential Debate Schedule Announced

These should be fun!

Quick breakdown:

1. First presidential debate: Thursday, September 30
2. Vice presidential debate: Tuesday, October 5
3. Second presidential debate: Friday, October 8
4. Third presidential debate: Wednesday, October 13

Each debate shall begin at 9:00 p.m. EDT.

New Haven Dirt Update

Nothing to update; the dirt is still there.

New Haven Customs, Part 3

Another in the continuing series of quaint tidbits of my new hometown. For those keeping score: #1: people give directions by removing one detail, #2: garbage rules make no sense.

#3: August is Road Dirt Month. I think. Ya see, on August 1st or thereabouts, a road crew came by and squirted motor oil on the street followed by major shovelfuls of dirt from a dump truck. Then they left. It's been 10 days and there's still just piles and piles of dirt on the road. We think it could have to do with roadwork or repaving but 2 weeks seems like a long time to leave oil and dirt on the road. My theory is that it's just "Road Dirt Month." Could also be a Yale thing for all I know.

Movie Review: Searching for Bobby Fischer

Finally saw Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993) about chess poobah Josh Waitzkin. Great film; it reminds me of the book "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" because both are about the difficulties of genius and the moral questions of extraordinary achievement. I wanted to find the truth behind the assertions, specifically about the cute, ethical hero Josh and the steely irritating Bobby Fischer.

Turns out (according to Wikpidia), Fischer is a huge shkutz. To quote:

Fischer has had some deeply controversial political views, including a rabid and unapologetic anti-semitism. In 1984, Fischer wrote to the editors of the Encyclopaedia Judaica asking for his name to be removed from the publication on account of him not being Jewish [3]. By Jewish Law standards he would be considered Jewish since his mother was. In recent years he has given interviews ... in which he has confirmed his fanatical anti-Semitism - among other things, he has spoken of a worldwide Jewish conspiracy, and has denied the Holocaust happened.... In another Philippine broadcast, he applauded the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. In 2003, Fischer's United States Chess Federation membership was revoked following his criticism of US foreign policy and anti-Zionist comments.

Other quotes:

• [About 9/11]"This is all wonderful news. It's time ... to finish off the U.S. once and for all."
• "The United States is a farce controlled by dirty, hook-nosed circumcised Jew bastards."

Aaand, according to the Bobby Fischer website, as of TODAY (Aug 10) he has renounced his U.S. citizenship. Thank God.

Waitzkin, on the other hand, seems to have grown up as a cool guy. Check out his website and the pictures. First of all, he's a hunk. Second of all these pictures show that the movie was pretty accurate in the child actor (although his parents look nothing like Joe "Fat Tony" Mantenga or Joan "WASP Queen" Allen). Josh is also the reigning Tai Chi champion and raises money to cure Muscular Dystrophy.

Hey, the movie was right!

Rick James Dies!

B----!

Terror Alert Levels

In compliance with the president's paternal watch over the homeland's welfare, I have decided to put the, albeit fictional, terror alerts on the blog.

(2009 Update: this was removed after the flash/Java weirdness kept slowing the page down; I've included a picture of the alert as nostalgia, though).