Feb 19 2012

Christmas Quality – Hanukkah Pricing

Whatever happened to the much vaunted Jewish sense of humour?

Over sensitivity to jokes involving Jews reached a peak a few months ago in New York when a company advertising its Vodka was forced to remove this billboard advertisment:

I think it’s witty, clever and gently amusing.

The New York Regional Director of the Anti Defamation League, Ron Meier, didn’t agree. He is quoted as saying: “To use the Jewish Holiday in dealing with issues of money is clearly insensitive and inappropriate.” He obviously hasn’t heard of  “Hanukkah Gelt.” Due to pressure from him, and other organisations, the billboards were taken down in less than 24 hours.

English: Chocolate, gold-foil covered coins. M...

"issues of money are insensitive" - and what about Hanukkah Gelt?

Brian Gordon, the advertisement designer, who also happens to be Jewish, said: “We thought people would perceive it as ha ha quirky.” Well, I do – but that’s me.  Sometimes I think we Jews are just too damn thin skinned. After all, between ourselves  we tell many jokes against ourselves, and make fun of real or imagined Jewish traits. We just get so uptight if non-Jews tell the same jokes.

Were it not for racial or ethnic jokes about Jews, Blacks ,Poles, Irish, Italians and maybe half the peoples of the world, where would stand up comedians get their material? One of the most successful films and shows of recent times was “The Producers.”  Not only does it highlight the dishonest actions of two Jewish characters, but the musical , within the plot,  features the classical number “Springtime for Hitler“ which pokes fun at Nazism and World War Two, in a song and dance routine. Of course, there have been complaints that this trivialises the suffering and tarnishes the memory of the dead. Is parody only acceptable if it doesn’t involve Jews?

Anyway, this particular billboard thing happened last November, so why am I mentioning it now? It’s only because the same company previously attracted a lot of media coverage with this gem:

picture credit: ABC New York

Given the recent obsession of certain members of the Knesset with the evils of prostitution, I am just waiting for the posting of defamatory billboards to be added to the list of criminal activities.

Andyboy – Telling it as it is!

Do YOU think this is funny?

Related articles
Feb 16 2012

So – What’s So Wrong With Profiling?

English: Malpensa New Check-In Area

Israeli Arab journalist switches airline after ‘humiliating’ El Al security check

Nazareth-based women’s magazine editor Yara Mashour tells Haaretz she felt as if she was ‘raped’ by airport security agents in Milan airport.

From an article by Jack Khoury ( Ha’aretz  headline today)

____________________________________________________________________________________
Now this young lady’s profession indicates that she is good with words – so her description of the incident is very graphic. It may well be that the events unfolded exactly as she described them – there is no reason to doubt her. The response from El Al security is also predictable;  El Al said it operates ”in accordance with the instructions of Israeli security agencies,”
Of course, this is not the first time that there have been complaints about treatment by security staff, and for sure it will not be the last. For those on the receiving end, the security clearance experience can be humiliating, degrading, insulting, or just plain tedious. But the questions that must be asked are:  who is to blame, and how did we arrive at this situation?
The answer is, regrettably, simple, and can be summed up in the aphorism:
” Whilst it is true that not all Muslims are terrorists, it is also true that most terrorists are Muslim.”  
 
From this basis arises the necessity of profiling. The logic is so obvious that all the screaming about human rights abuses won’t change it. In the ” Politically Correct”  atmosphere of the Western World, the security agencies are seeking a technological solution; machines that will replace people. In this scenario, everyone will be screened by the machines, thus ensuring that everyone is inconvenienced equally.
The reaction of the security agencies – outside of Israel – to each new attempt to ” beat the system” would  be laughable if the circumstances were not so potentially tragic. The paranoia that gripped America after 9/11 resulted in the introduction of new levels of airline security – presumably the thinking was ” better late than never.”  But the obsession with personal rights and freedoms prevented, and is still preventing, the systems from operating  efficiently. How can they, if they don’t adopt fully the Israeli system? Their actions are always re-active, rather than pro-active. Three examples:
A mugshot of shoebomber Richard Reid

The shoe bomber

In December 2001, Richard Reid, a British Muslim,  flying from Paris to Miami, attempted to set off explosives concealed in his shoes. As result, all future passengers were obliged to remove their shoes for inspection at check in. (in America I think even to this day)

In August 2006, British police uncovered a plot by other British Muslims to blow up 10 aircraft using a sophisticated mixture of liquid chemicals. Immediately people were prevented from taking liquids on board – even the mineral water they had just purchased in the airport was confiscated. (It happened to me)

English: Photo 2 of Umar Mutallab

the underwear bomber

In December 2009 (on Christmas Day!), Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian Muslim, on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, attempted to detonate explosives concealed in his underwear. Surprisingly, in this case, the agencies did not respond with a demand that passengers submit to an inspection of their underwear – while they were still wearing it! On the other hand, external body “patting down” became more intrusive, giving rise to the phenomenon known as ” Groin Groping” by the security staff.

The Israeli system operates from a different perspective – more psychological than physical. Much reliance is placed on intelligence, meaning advance knowledge of as many personal details of each passenger as possible. Also there are many “rings of observation and studies of the individual” starting from the moment of entering the terminal to the moment of being seated on the plane. And, after that, there are still the Sky Marshals travelling on every flight.

English: Transportation Security Administratio...
seeking to adopt the Israeli system

In May 2008, the US Department of Homeland Security announced that it would adopt many of the Israeli measures. A number of US domestic airports have already done so – but they are still hung up on the profiling issue.

The fact is that no plane departing from Ben Gurion Airport has ever been hijacked. The attack inside the terminal in 1972 by Japanese terrorists which killed 24 people, and the attack in 1985 on the EL AL ticket counters in Rome and Vienna Airports which killed 19, led to an upgrade and rethinking by Israeli security agencies. Who knows how many other attempts have been thwarted by the application of procedures that unashamedly include profiling?

English: The entrance to Eilat's Airport

You can still get hassled here.......

And the complaint that Israelis don’t suffer in the same way is not totally true, although the degree might be different. Maybe it’s because I’m a “New Immigrant” (of 25 years and counting) but I still get hassled almost every week by security when I’m flying domestically. Only last week in Eilat airport - after my (Israeli!) ID card had been taken to a supervisor for inspection, and the details checked against his handheld computer, was I given an ultimatum by the young officer checking me. If I would not agree to have my small hand luggage checked in for storage in the hold of the plane, it would have to be opened. For me this was no problem, and certainly better than waiting at the baggage carousel  in Tel Aviv. Thus it was subject to a chemical inspection and the contents displayed for all who might be interested. This after the regular plethora of questions about who packed the bag, did anyone give me anything to deliver, was it all my own stuff, where had it been since I packed it, did I understand why I was being asked these questions etc.

Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that my Hebrew is still so bad. But it does seem to contradict everything that I have said, and believe, about profiling. After all, I’m a grandfather with a son and a daughter and grandchildren all living in Israel. My daughter is even in the Air Force!

Maybe the profile now includes Anglo-Saxon septuagenarians? Who knows?

One benefit of not being in the first flush of youth is that I can still remember the days when there was no such thing as airport security. I suspect that not too many people have had the experience of just turning up at the airport and getting on a plane, as if it were a bus. No hassle, no questions. no three hour pre-checkin time. Can you believe that life was once like that?

Those were the days before ” the cousins” created the hijacking threat. They have much to answer for!

Andyboy – Telling it as it is!

Related articles

Update 17th February 2012

Umar Farouk Abdulmutalla sentenced to life imprisonment in America after pleading guilty to all charges. He showed no remorse and said he would do the same thing again, given the opportunity. Truly deserving of this front page:
Feb 11 2012

“Andyboy Has Been Banned” – Again!

Well, I don’t really make a habit of it. This is only the second time!

Since discovering the Blogosphere, about  six months ago, I found myself drawn to sites having a large number of contributors dedicated to attacking Israel, Zionism and Jews. I am not sure how many of you are aware of the battles taking place every hour of every day in Cyberspace.

I am not referring to the recently highly publicised “Wars of the hackers”, but to the long-term insidious phenomenon of anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli rhetoric saturating the internet. I discovered this quite by accident, and was horrified to slowly learn the extent and depth of the hatred being spewed out so regularly.

Al Jazeera English

A forum not for the faint hearted

Somehow I felt an obligation to reply to the (mainly venomous)  talkbackers, and to put the alternative viewpoint. I started slowly, with what I might define as the “soft porn”  forum in Ha’aretz. I graduated to the harder stuff produced daily in Aljazeera, and then found myself in the “hardcore” website of Robert Lindsay. This was interesting to the extent that Robert allowed people the freedom to use whatever language they liked, with virtually no limits, just a few restrictions on subject matter.

It quickly became clear that I was dealing with a different breed of commentators. All, apparently, highly educated, and exuding the kind of intellectual superiority that a university education seems to inspire, well, at least in America. Of course, their “gurus” were the likes of Ilan Pappe, Norman Finklestein, Noam Chomsky, Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer, so you may imagine their perspective on the Israeli – Palestinian conflict.

It disclaims state of Israel

Zionists not welcome

To be fair the exchanges were, in the main, reasonably civilised and much of the banter was not vicious. I don’t think that I succeeded in influencing mindsets one iota. They had, without exception, swallowed the Palestinian narrative,“hook,line and sinker.” Their viewpoint of the situation was the only valid one. Any opposing  view was simply Zionist propaganda, or Hasbara, having no merit.

As we all know, historical narrative is never absolute truth; it is always open to interpretation. Since their interpretation depended, to a large extent, on the writings and teachings of the left wing protagonists listed above, their position on the issue was fixed and inflexible.

Apart from the conflict itself, there were two other subjects which constantly recurred. The first was about world domination by the Jews. The usual canards about Jewish power, control of the banking and finance sectors, control of all media – the regular rubbish. Secondly, as an extension of the first, was the Jewish influence on American politics, particularly in the sphere of foreign affairs. There was really great resentment about the perceived actions of the”Jewish lobby” and their results.

English: Governor Mitt Romney of MA

"Obama threw Israel under the bus"

My standard response was that each nation acts only in its own best interests. For as long as those interests are satisfied, the nation will continue to do what it feels is right for it. The moment it stops feeling that, it will do something else. In the case of Israel, even America, or its President, will, as Republican presidential hopeful, Mitt Romney so eloquently expressed it “throw Israel under the bus” when it considers the time is right. No amount of lobbying will prevent that.

I mentioned that the exchanges were reasonably civil most of the time. But not all of the time. The site hosted a fair number of hostile anti-Semites, not afraid to express themselves in the most primitive language. I was invited to “fuck off and die” and to “fuck off back to Jew-land”. One commentator volunteered the information that he“spent all last night ripping up pieces of toilet paper…  it has the Israeli flag printed on every piece”. I was also variously described as a “gonorrhea dripping penis”and a “gay ass fucker.” If you decide to enter the internet world to speak on behalf of Israel, you need a thick skin.

After a few months of this I decided that my time could be more usefully utilised on developing my own blog and writing elsewhere, and this what I did. From time to time I would glance at Robert’s site, but it was pretty much “same old, same old” so didn’t feel that I had much to add. But a few days ago I came across this gem:

“The black slave trade over the Atlantic from Africa to America was a JEW ONLY monopoly. All the slave ships was  owned by jews.All the captain’s on all the slave ships was jews.  The biggest slave owner was jews. 

Watch any jew made jewish propaganda bullshit movie made in jew ruled Hollywood and what do you get? Jewish bullshit telling ignorant and stupid white people that is was the white man behind the black slave trade” (his grammar) .

I could not resist the desire to respond. Robert had written a piece about political correctness, with which I agreed, and I told him so. I then said: “On the other hand I see that you have acquired another raving lunatic, foaming at the mouth anti-Semitic nutcase. Well, I guess there’s no shortage of those – I just wonder why they gravitate to your site. I suppose it’s because you don’t mind providing a forum for the “Jews are the cause of every evil that has ever befallen the world brigade.”

Robert’s response was the following:

“Andyboy Has Been Banned

Andyboy, the beloved British-Israeli commenter who charmed and delighted so many of you on this blog, has been banned for “hostile attitude.” This was a very difficult decision. I realize that most commenters were endeared to him, and the longtime commenters especially loved him very much. I realize that by doing this I will enrage many of my commenters, and even many longtime commenters will probably leave, but I had to do it anyway. He got too nasty with me one too many times, so it’s back to Tel Aviv or wherever for him.

I hope some of you will stick around. As the rest of you don’t live in Tel Aviv, I doubt a similar fate awaits you. The rules are the rules, and they have to be enforced. I hope you all will forgive me for this necessary but very painful action.”

Last time I checked, there were 50 responses to his decision: Not all them negative towards me.

You can judge for yourself the nature of his blog, and the level of the discussion as I’m giving him a free “Plug”.  Just click on these links:

http://robertlindsay.wordpress.com/2012/02/08/andyboy-has-been-banned/

http://robertlindsay.wordpress.com/2011/10/19/the-zionism-thread/#comment-65971

Feel free to form your own conclusions – and let me know your thoughts.

Oh – the other “banning”?

English: The Daily Mail clock, just off Kensin...

Times have changed in the UK!

That was 6 months ago and had nothing to do with Jews or Israel. I commented on the London Daily Mail website about the London riots which had just ended. I pointed out that political correctness in the UK had reached such a level that the media studiously avoided mentioning the self evident fact that most of the rioters, arsonists and shoplifting thieves were, actually, Black. Or Brown.

I was unaware that it was no longer possible in 21st century Britain to call a spade a spade. (Pun intended). So I was surprised to receive a notification that I was “banned for life”  from their site with the threat of serious reprisals if I ever tried to comment again. To this date I have been unable to obtain from the Mail any explanation, or justification for their action. My assumption is just an assumption. You can click on the link below for fuller details:

http://andyboy1.com/2011/08/31/banned-for-life-with-no-explanation-2/

Andyboy – Telling it as it is!

(or trying to if not banned!)

 

Related articles
Feb 10 2012

Ofer Eini – On The Way To Another Pyrrhic Victory!

Definition: A Pyrrhic victory is a victory with such a devastating cost to the victor that it carries the implication that another such victory will ultimately cause defeat…

Part of the price we all pay for this futile battle

Of course, Mr Eini and his cohorts in the Histadrut are not personally affected financially by the outcome of this pointless strike, nor will they be in the future. The same cannot be said for the poor unfortunates whose interests he claims to represent.

English: Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steini...

Yuval Steinitz - a dick measuring contest?

Whilst he continues to be engaged in this ridiculous dick measuring contest with Yuval Steinitz and the Finance Ministry, the country suffers. Steinitz said: “The strike is costing the Israeli economy 2.5 billion shekels a day”. The Israeli Chamber of Commerce estimated the cost at $100 million a day. Whatever the true figure, the result is a disaster for the country and its financial reputation. (1)

Why do I say the victory will be “Pyrrhic”? Because in the long term, as a direct result of Mr Eini’s valiant efforts, hundreds – if not thousands – of the workers he claims to represent will be out of a job. The reason is very simple. It’s REALLY Economics 101; every increase in the minimum wage, or improvement in working condition resulting in higher costs, reduces the demand for labour. It’s a pure profit and loss, or supply and demand equation.

Either the reduced workforce will have to work harder for their meagre gains, or the services they provide to the customer will be of a lower standard. There is no other option. There is never any other option.

“The impact of raising the minimum wage has been studied since its inception. All credible research has come to the same conclusion: raising the minimum wage hurts the poor. It takes away jobs, keeps people on welfare, and encourages high-school students to drop out. Policy makers should be clear on the consequence of higher minimum wages.”(2)

Average estimate by labor economists is that for a 10 percent increase in the minimum wage, employment among those affected drops by 5 percent. If the minimum wage is increased …. demand for unskilled labor could drop by as much as 15 percent in jobs that earn the minimum wage, resulting in the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs and making it more difficult for poor families to take this escape route out of poverty. (3)

A 10 percent increase in the minimum wage is associated with a 4.6 to 9.0 percent decline in teenage employment in small businesses and a 4.8 to 8.8 percent reduction in hours worked by teens in the retail sector. (4)

סמל הסתדרות העובדים הלאומית יצרתי אותו בעצמי Y...

the power to destroy the economy - oy vavoy!

The conclusion of many studies is incontrovertible: higher wages = fewer jobs. The Histadrut leadership knows that as well as anyone. They may be opportunists, but they are not stupid. So why do they do what they do?

It’s the power, stupid! It’s all about power. The workers are simply the pawns in the game. Of course, Israel didn’t invent the game; we just learned very quickly from others. Italy,France,the UK and Spain, amongst others, are noted for the number of working days lost through strike action. In the UK they call it “the Italian disease.” This is strange, because in Italy they call it “the English disease.”

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher - truly the"Iron Lady

In the UK, during a period from the end of the Second World War until the 1980′s, the trade unions, through their incessant strikes, succeeded in decimating much of British industry. The major industries of coal mining, steel making, motor manufacturing and shipbuilding were effectively destroyed. Only when the country finally elected a Prime Minister with balls was the situation confronted, dealt with and solved. The Prime Minister was, of course, Margaret Thatcher. Her determination finally broke the stranglehold of the unions, and set the UK on a path of recovery which sustained it for decades after.

In a similar action, President Ronald Reagan took on the air traffic controllers, would not accede to their demands and fired them. All of them. Air traffic controllers! I guess his balls were only sightly smaller than Thatcher’s. Oh for such leaders today!

But we don’t have them. As one who lived through the “winter of discontent”in the UK in the late 1970′s when virtually ALL public sector workers went on strike I can attest that it’s not a pleasant experience. Never mind the uncollected garbage; think about no ambulance drivers, doctors, nurses and firemen. Yes – firemen! Buildings simply burned down, and people died, despite the best efforts of the military to bridge the gaps. But it was price worth paying because the subsequent result was stronger economy, once it was outside the grasp of the unions.

Will that ever happen in Israel?

I’m not holding my breath!

Andyboy – Telling it as it is!

References

1. http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=3043
2. http://www.house.gov/jec/cost-gov/regs/minimum/against/against.htm
3. http://www.heritage.org/research/testimony/the-economic-effects-of-the-minimum-wage
4. http://epionline.org/study_detail.cfm?sid=98

Related articles
Feb 8 2012

“There You Go Again”

40th President - even he was married twice!

This famous phrase of Ronald Reagan comes to mind when looking at today’s headlines in the Israeli media.

  • Renowned Jewish film director questioned at Israel airport for sexual harassment

  • Eshel denies harassment allegations

Claude Lanzmann

The first report in Ha’aretz is about Claude Lanzmann, “who is Jewish and was in Israel for a visit, arrived at the airport accompanied by two others in order to return to Paris, when he hugged and kissed a female security worker against her will”  The second comes from YNet ( Yediot Aharanot) and refers to Natan Eshel the “PM’s bureau chief questioned for nine hours but sources say he failed to provide ‘all the answers”; inquiry to continue Wednesday”

What is it about these allegations that generate such sensational headlines? The cynics amongst us might suspect it has more to do with circulation and ratings than anything else. Not for the first time are the media publicising allegations as fact. Trial by media is the scourge of the 21st century. Guilty until proven innocent is the harsh reality of the new world order. Political correctness rules!

Just looking at the details of the two cases above is enough to prove my point. Lanzmann is accused of hugging – not a crime in his country. The French kiss each other in public all the time – it’s a cultural thing. The Japanese bow in greeting, hand shaking is frowned upon. The Inuit (Eskimos) rub noses. I saw a documentary once about an African village in which the custom is for women to offer a naked breast to guests! Good job political correctness hasn’t permeated there yet!

The case of Eshel is even more bizarre. The alleged “victim” refuses to press charges, or even testify. Calls are being made for her to be forced to testify. This is rapidly becoming the theatre of the absurd.

What is it about sex that gets people so worked up? (No pun intended).

English: Official White House photo of Preside...

If the criteria being applied today had been around in past generations I’m not sure that anyone would have wanted public office. Certainly not to be President of the United States. It is now known that the following holders of that office did things they would have preferred not to become public property:

  • Thomas Jefferson
  • Warren Harding
  • Franklin Roosevelt
  • Dwight Eisenhower
  • John Kennedy
  • Lyndon Johnson
  • Bill Clinton
Did their private lives make them any less good at their jobs? This list includes not only good presidents, but great ones. The same is true for many other figures in the public eye whose success is now judged more by their performance in the bedroom than their performance in the office.
Israel now has some of the most draconian sexual harassment rules in the world. Our media are becoming addicted to sex, even more than the worst of the UK tabloids. You can’t get much lower than that!
English: Dominique Strauss-Kahn (French social...

 

Most cases inevitably end up in a “he said, she said” situation. Ask Mr Strauss-Kahn how he feels about losing the possibility to be French President because of the hysterical media reporting and pre-judgment. And Israel has one aggrieved ex-President sitting in jail, convinced that he has been unfairly convicted.

It’s time to call a halt to this nonsense – otherwise we will end up with a leadership of wimps and nerds, frightened to put a foot wrong and frightened of their own shadow.
You think this viewpoint is too extreme?
Just pray it never happens to you!

Andyboy – Telling it as it is

Related articles
Feb 7 2012

“Till Death Us Do Part” – Literally!

A couple of 14-carat gold wedding rings. Pictu...

Chained for life?

10-year sentence is stretched to ‘indefinite’

In groundbreaking ruling, rabbinical courts decides Meir Gorodetzki will not leave prison until he grants wife a ‘get.’

(Headline from an article by Jeremy Sharon in today’s Jerusalem Post)

So, here we are in the second decade of the 21st century, and a man is sentenced to life imprisonment for the “crime” of not granting his wife a divorce.

A Sefer Torah rolled to the Song of the sea.

This law controls all personal life in Israel - and it is rigidly enforced!

If further evidence were needed of the absurdity of religion, created and controlled by men, then this is surely it. Having developed a framework of rules, over many centuries, for defining every single aspect of daily living, the Rabbis now find themselves in 21st century Israel with the power of enforcement. They are also fortunate to have the political support that prevents the separation of religion and state.The state has placed the control of matters pertaining to birth, marriage, divorce and its consequences and, even, death, in the exclusive hands of the Rabbinate.

In this particular case, the couple were originally married in a civil ceremony. Only some years later, after they emigrated to Israel and became religious, did they have a second formal Jewish wedding. In reality, it would have made no difference to the present situation. In a masterstroke of even further absurdity, the state – while recognising civil marriage OUTSIDE of Israel for the purposes of status – still granted the Rabbinate sole control over divorce, even over civil marriages!

According to Jewish Law the man has to hand to his wife the “Get” or document of divorce in a bizarre ceremony which includes the following:

  • the writing of the get takes place, a process that takes about an hour, and involves the man who is getting divorced and the scribe. The scribe is an expert in writing holy texts, such as Torah scrolls, tefillin, and mezuzot. The scribe writes the get with quill and ink on a parchment that is prepared ahead of time in the appropriate size, 

  • the woman places the get under her left armpit, next to her heart, takes 2-3 steps forwards, turns around, and retraces her steps (walking altogether a distance of 4 amot, approximately 2 meters). By holding the get under her arm and walking with it the woman proclaims her acceptance of her divorce

  • The judge then rips the parchment of the get, lengthwise and widthwise, so that it is no longer possible to find any mistakes in it  (1)

Why is a “Get” so important?

Without this, the woman becomes an “agunah” – literally “chained to her husband” and cannot remarry. Should she do so, any children of such a union would be regarded as “mamzerim”, a specific form of “bastards”, and they, themselves, could never marry under Jewish Law. (2)

LOL Just divorced. And no, that's not my car.

Not so easy in Israel - no wonder the celebration!

It is known that there are hundreds of women in Israel in this unfortunate situation – but not always because the husband will not divorce them. They are in this position even if the husband simply disappears, or suffers from a mental condition preventing rational action. The worst situation of all affects women whose husband died in battle, but the body was never found. Without absolute proof of death she can remain “chained” for life.

Since the divorce agreement must be mutual, there are cases where women have refused to accept the “Get”  thus, effectively, preventing the men from remarrying. These situations are much rarer, but they do exist. The grotesque reality of Jewish Law affects everyone.

It is true that during the wedding ceremony, the man declares that he understands that the marriage takes place “according to the Laws of Moses and Israel.”

The words “Till death us do part” are not included in Jewish weddings.

They might as well be!

Andyboy – Telling it as it is

References

(1) For a full description of the ceremony you may refer to:

http://eng.itim.org.il/?CategoryID=206&ArticleID=283)

(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agunah

http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=256634


Feb 6 2012

In Defence of the “Oldest Profession”

“Proposed Israeli law would jail prostitute clients”

(Jerusalem Post headline)

English: Knesset Israel 61 years. עברית: מליאת...

Knesset to vote - "no more hookers" (don't hold your breath)

In a few days time a Knesset committee will consider a law which, among other things, proposes criminalising the clients of prostitutes. This is manifestly absurd and unreasonable, and is a desperate attempt to regulate a situation which requires a totally different approach.

Prostitution, until now, has been treated by successive governments as an activity which requires control within a criminal framework. Being a prostitute is not, in itself, illegal. The crime is living off the earnings of a prostitute. As with all previous attempts to control activities deemed to be against the best interests of society, this current plan is also doomed to fail. One only has to consider what happened to the prohibition on the sale of alcohol in America in the 1920′s, and now the failure of all efforts to control drug trafficking, to understand that more legislation simply drives the problem underground.

What is needed is a radically different approach. Rather than criminalising the prostitutes and/or their clients, it is time for us to face up to the reality. These women (or, sometimes, men) provide a much needed service in a professional manner, for which they charge a fee. That service will continue to be required, no matter what laws are passed. Consequently, a far better, and more realistic approach, would be to acknowledge openly that fact, and deal with it accordingly.

English: Prostitute waiting for customers. Esp...

waiting for clients..................

Government bodies, social services and the police should combine to provide support, and a comfortable working environment in which the services could continue to be provided, without threat of criminal prosecution. Rather than being harassed, these working ladies should be protected, provided with appropriate health services and controlled, perhaps even to the point of paying tax on their earnings. This is not as absurd as it might sound: a similar scheme is already in operation in parts of Germany.

The main problem will arise from the pimps, and others who make money from the activities of the prostitutes. This aspect is, and should be, criminal, and it is THIS that the police need to control and eliminate, as far as possible. What is unacceptable to society is the human trafficking aspect. Since that has not been controlled to date, it is that element that requires the energies of the legal services. Not the girls, and certainly not their clients.

חרדים ירושלמים. צולם על ידי אפי ב.

Potential clients?

It seems extraordinary to me that, in a society containing large numbers of ultra-orthodox Jews and Muslims, whose religious beliefs preclude pre-marital sex, the thought of eliminating prostitution should even arise.  It is a grossly unrealistic premise. A few nights spent in the area of Tel Baruch beach in Tel Aviv will suffice to show the reality, and the necessity of the services the ladies provide. There is even a body of opinion that claims that the very existence of open prostitution reduces substantially the incidence of rape.

One thing is absolutely certain. No matter the legislation, Prostitution will not disappear. It is not called “the oldest profession” for nothing. It has endured for thousands of years, and will continue for as long as mankind inhabits this planet.

Why is it considered evil? Is a prostitute less of a person than the wife in a loveless marriage who endures sex to maintain her financial security? Or a young girl marrying a wealthy old man, decades her senior? Prostitution is not just about money for a specific act for a limited amount of time with a total stranger. It is also a state of mind in so-called “normal”relationships.I

And what about “recreational”sex? Sex just for the hell of it? Or sex for relief?  It’s true that the internet today has many sites where sex is offered for free, but not everyone is into computers, especially the Haredim. What are they supposed to do? If I’m not mistaken, even masturbation is Biblically forbidden.

( Full disclosure)  

1. I, myself, have in the past, engaged the services of these working ladies in a number of different countries. I think the experiences were mutually satisfactory, as far as I could tell. Only in Israel did the  girls arrive with credit card machines at the ready. Strange, but organised at least. Unfortunately, the advent of AIDS caused me to no longer pursue this line of recreational activity, as I am sure it has for many people. The fear of disease is a far more potent controller than any man-made laws.

2. Many years ago I discovered that I had a pimp on my payroll! Needless to say, I was totally unaware of the fact that the company chief accountant was pimping out his wife and using our office facilities in the process. Only after the police arrived and arrested him did I learn what had been going on. After due process, he was fired – and promptly sued the company for wrongful dismissal. At the Industrial Tribunal he claimed that his private life had nothing to do with his professional abilities. Privately, I sympathise with this view, but as CEO of a large company in the retail field serving multinational conglomerates , I was left with no option from the position of corporate responsibility.

For your interest, the Tribunal dismissed his claim. He might have improved his chances for success had he not turned up at the hearing with his pregnant Black girlfriend, looking every inch a hooker!

But I digress.

As I said before, the ladies are in a respectable profession, provide a service and do so for a mutually negotiated fee. Much like lawyers. So what’s the difference between a prostitute and a lawyer? There are a number of comparisons available:

  • One you look forward to visiting, the other one you wish you’d never met.
  • One is illegal, and shouldn’t be; the other one is legal, and shouldn’t be.
  • One walks the street openly; the other one hides in an office.
  • One lets you lie back and enjoy it; the other one bends you over, and you don’t enjoy it.
  • One gives you what you paid for; the other one, you never stop paying.
  • A prostitute will stop screwing you after you’re dead.

Andyboy – Telling it as it is

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Feb 5 2012

Fatal Attraction

Question: What are Jewish women permitted to have a maximum of 3 times only, according to Halacha?

Answer: ( No, it’s not what you were thinking!) – the answer is: husbands (deceased)

Preparing for the next victim? (photo from life123.com)

Just when you thought that there could be no more requirements of Jewish Religious Laws, restricting the rights of women, of which you were not aware – a new one emerges. Well, the law itself is not new, but it’s existence remained known to very few, I would say the very unfortunate few, to whom it applied.

I learned of it through a recent article in Ha’aretz, written by Irit Rosenblum.  She revealed that a woman, whose second husband had recently died in a motorcycle accident, could expect the Rabbinate to add to her anguish at some time in the future. As Rosenblum points out, the young lady was married “according to the laws of Moses and Israel” and could be denied the right to re-marry under those very same laws. The restriction is apparently defined both  in the Babylonian Talmud and the Shulchan Aruch, and is part of the law of Israel to this day.

English: A complete set of the Babylonian

The Babylonian Talmud - so many laws..............

Not having been an avid reader of these publications in the past I felt an obligation to check on this bizarre piece of information  for myself. After finding the relevant Tractate ( Yebamoth 64B) I glanced through a few other pages. I decided that it is just as well that I had not looked before, since the wealth of material for a non-believer, such as myself, could saturate the blogosphere for years to come.

Mind you, it isn’t all negative. The warning not to marry someone known to be a leper, or to suffer from fits and seizures, is not without practical merit. There is also a limitation placed on sisters of a bereaved mother whose son died following the ritual circumcision. Should this happen to the son of another sister, then all other sisters are forbidden to allow their sons to be circumcised. I doubt that the Rabbis knew of the existence of the condition of haemophilia, in which the blood does not clot, or that it could be inherited. Nevertheless, the advice was fortuitous.

As far as the particular issue of re-marriage is concerned, the law is fairly clear: “If a woman was married to one husband who died, and to a second one who also died, she must not be married to a third.” Of course, the Rabbis could not agree absolutely, so there is another interpretation from Rabbi Gamaliel, who was obviously more liberal in his outlook than the others. He opined that: “She may be married to a third, but she may not be married to a fourth.” So, there being no advance on three, that was set as the maximum. But the disagreement on numbers exists to this day and the current prevailing view, attributed to Rabbi Yehudah Hanasi, is that a woman is deemed to be ”fatal”after the loss of just two husbands.

First Edition

Alive and well - and practiced in Israel? Ask the Rabbinate!

To marry such a “fatal wife” is considered a life threatening situation for the husband. The assumption being that she might have killed the first two (or three) either actively, or passively, by placing a curse on them. And you thought witchcraft was outdated?

Naturally, the situation does not apply in reverse. A man is entitled to any number of dead wives, without limitations on marrying again (other than the trepidation of prospective brides).

Whatever the outcome of this case may be, note that the Rabbinate has total control over the implementation of this law, as it does over so many laws controlling the rights and freedoms of the individual, especially women. And it matters not whether those individuals are Jewish, non-Jewish or even Atheists.

In the area of fundamentalist religious interpretation no-one can teach us anything.

Not even Iran!

Andyboy - Telling it as it is!

Reference

http://www.come-and-hear.com/tcontents.html

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Feb 4 2012

If it Quacks Like a Duck and Walks Like a Duck – it Must be a Duck

A cult needs leaders.............................

If it acts like a cult and fits the definition of a cult – it must be a cult.

There are some people who consider that ALL organised religion is a series of cults. Generally, I concur with that view. Within Judaism there are a number of groups within the ultra-orthodox sector that match the definition almost exactly.

So how do we define a “cult”?

The strict dictionary definition is: “a relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister.”  Various commentators have extended this to include such elements as:

  • An ideological organisation held together by charismatic relationships and the demand of total commitment. (1)
  • A group exhibiting excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea or thing. (2)
  • A group encompassing all that is involved in worship, ritual, emotion and attitude.

These sects utilise social and psychological pressure to restrict normal human rights and freedoms. They place great emphasis on loyalty to the manner of living within the group and strict adherence to its customs and traditions. Internal dissent is actively discouraged. Obedience to the teachings of its leader is mandatory. Criticism of the group or its actions is regarded as persecution.

If all the above sounds familiar, it should, since it applies to many of the “Super Religious.”

And none more so than the sect known as the Gur Hassidim, according to a recent study carried out by Nava Wasserman. According to press reports, much of what she found matches the criteria above almost exactly. Being religious herself, she does not interpret all of her findings in a negative light. On the contrary, she  finds much of the life style to be even empowering for women. But the sacrifice they make is beyond the comprehension of mere mortals.

The sect operates on the basis that love for the Lord and love for a women do not go together. She reports that in the conflict between spirituality and sexuality, sexuality has to be abolished. She defines the marital relationship as “the art of drawing apart.”  The exact antithesis of the secular concept of marriage being an experience to be shared on all levels.

How does this come about?

Brain washing is child abuse..............( Photo: religionandstateinisrael.blogspot.com)

My interpretation is that it arises through a constant process of “brain washing” and manipulation.Children born into this society are taught from a very early age the required roles of men and women. This confinement within the group and its philosophy leaves no chance for individual free thought. Considering the lives they are destined to live, I think that the teaching they receive could reasonably be regarded as child abuse.

If this view seems too extreme, consider some of the examples given in the study about their way of life as they grow to adulthood. Considering that the sect seeks to abolish sexuality, they appear to be very preoccupied with the subject on a day to day basis. Here are few examples:

The Ten Commandments, In SVG

The 11 th Commandment - "Thou Shalt Not Enjoy Sex!" ( especially if you're a woman)

  • They are obliged to prevent themselves from seeing images that could lead to sexual arousal. A Gur Hassid will only direct his gaze downwards. On a bus, for example, he might remove his glasses to prevent awareness of his surroundings.
  • Men do not kiss or embrace.
  • A man may not sit on his friend’s bed
  • A young man is forbidden to hold a conversation unless he is wearing his overcoat
  • Gur Hassidim must walk around in their overcoats at all times
  • Separation between the sexes even applies to weddings. Young men do not attend in order to reduce their consciousness of the marital state, and to prevent the possibility of meeting young women.
  • In many families, men and women eat at separate tables.
  • Young men will speak only to women of their immediate nuclear family ( not with his sisters-in law).
  • A man will not call his wife by name. If there are children, she is referred to as “mother.”  In order to attract her attention, he will knock on the table, or make some other noise.
  • Men and women do not walk on the street together.
  •  A married couple act as if the woman is permanently in a state of niddah  (impure) and thus will not pass objects from hand to hand.

In spite of living within such constrictions, Wasserman insists that most of the women are not embittered and regard their role with resignation and, even, acceptance. They have agreed to forgo earthly pleasures for God knows what. Well, maybe He (or She) does know. Personally, I think the sacrifice is too great.

But, as the saying goes, “what you’ve never had, you’ve never missed.”

For me, cults, such as the Gur Hassidim, are simply a conglomeration of victims. All of them, men, women and children alike, doomed to a lifetime of insularity, sacrifice and obedience.

And what if there is no God?

 

Andyboy – Telling it as it is

References

  1. Benjamin Zablacki – Professor of Sociology at Rutgers University.
  2. Louis Jolyn West – renowned psychiatrist USA.

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Feb 2 2012

plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose

Jews need to read " the writing on the wall".......

“The more things change – the more they stay the same”

And this is certainly true for anti-Semitism in the UK.  A Jewish charity, the Community Security Trust, monitors anti-Jewish incidents in the UK and reported a slight drop in 2011 compared with 2010.

The way in which the changes were announced, according to a report in the Jerusalem Post today, proves that percentages in statistics are meaningless if the total numbers are relatively low. For example, a drop of 9% in direct anti-Semitic threats is, in reality a difference of 3 – down from 32 to 29. Hardly statistically significant. Similarly a fall of 19% in “violent”anti- Semitism is a difference of 22 incidents, and so on.

The last paragraph of the report is, perhaps, a more realistic way of looking at the figures. There it is revealed that the last 6 years have produced the 6 highest totals of incidents since the monitoring began.

I am not sure that presenting the results on the “glass half full” basis benefits anyone. It seems to me that nothing has changed in the way the community, and especially its leadership, tends to minimise bad things that happen to Jews. All this in the best tradition of trying hard not to do or say too much to annoy the goyim. Of course the incidents are reported, but their effects are played down and straws are grasped to place the best possible interpretation on the figures.

I am convinced that anti-Israel feelings are inextricably entwined in the anti-Semitic actions, and the report supports this contention. Given the ever-increasing growth of the Muslim and Eastern European populations in the UK, there is no chance of these sentiments ever-changing.

English: George Santayana, a Spanish American ...

It seems that UK Jewry does not wish to pay attention to the saying ” those who fail to learn from the lessons of history are doomed to re-live them.”

They can only live in the hope that George Santayana was wrong!

Andyboy – Telling it as it is

Related articles

http://andyboy1.com/2011/10/01/england-home-of-genteel-anti-semitism/

UK anti-Semitic incidents f… JPost - Jewish World – Jewish News.

Quotations

Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Santayana