Nearly my most favoritest thing about this season is the Washington Post's annual peeps diorama contest.
Read about it,
Enjoy,
Vote.
(Not to bias the contest or anything, but I kinda like the Escher homage.)
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
More on War Crimes Trials
Gene Robinson often gets things just right. He did today:
"This is barbarity with an ugly sheen of bureaucracy.... Torture -- even the torture of evil men -- is a crime. It deserves not just to be known, but to be punished.
From George W. Bush on down, individuals decided to sanction, commit and tolerate the practice of torture. They took pains to paper this vile enterprise with rationalizations and justifications, but they knew it was wrong. So do we."
Read the whole thing, here.
"This is barbarity with an ugly sheen of bureaucracy.... Torture -- even the torture of evil men -- is a crime. It deserves not just to be known, but to be punished.
From George W. Bush on down, individuals decided to sanction, commit and tolerate the practice of torture. They took pains to paper this vile enterprise with rationalizations and justifications, but they knew it was wrong. So do we."
Read the whole thing, here.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Lost in Translation
A disappointed Coca-Cola salesman returned from a sales trip to Tel Aviv.
His partner asked, "Why weren't you successful with the Israelis?"
"When I got assigned to Israel," replied the salesman," I was confident I had a great sales pitch for rural areas. But I don't speak Hebrew. So, my plan was to use photos and graphics.
Here, take a look at these posters:
"They were plastered all over the place."
"That should have worked," said his friend, genuinely perplexed.
Ruefully, the salesman explained:
"Not if you read from right to left."
His partner asked, "Why weren't you successful with the Israelis?"
"When I got assigned to Israel," replied the salesman," I was confident I had a great sales pitch for rural areas. But I don't speak Hebrew. So, my plan was to use photos and graphics.
Here, take a look at these posters:
"They were plastered all over the place."
"That should have worked," said his friend, genuinely perplexed.
Ruefully, the salesman explained:
"Not if you read from right to left."
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Purim Speil
Monkeyboy was the Mayor of Pers-Oz/Narrator of this wonderful purimspeil, performed for the residents of Greenspring Village, a retirement community where I have a number of friends.
It was filmed by the Tin Man's dad, who has my thanks.
Here are two YouTube vids.
The first is one of many star turns by an extraordinarily talented and truly sweet girl who I expect to be a star some day. She's as bright as she is talented and as kind as she is charismatic:
The second is to the finale. Monkeyboy can be seen in a bowler, vest and phosphorescent orange shirt:
It was filmed by the Tin Man's dad, who has my thanks.
Here are two YouTube vids.
The first is one of many star turns by an extraordinarily talented and truly sweet girl who I expect to be a star some day. She's as bright as she is talented and as kind as she is charismatic:
The second is to the finale. Monkeyboy can be seen in a bowler, vest and phosphorescent orange shirt:
Friday, April 3, 2009
Not Just Lost
For your pre-seder viewing pleasure:
Blasphemy, schlasphemy. Who's to say it wouldn't have helped?
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Un-Effing-Believable
Remember when I said I sort of understood why war crimes trials weren't such a good idea?
These sorts of stories dribbling out are changing my mind.
They systematically subverted the law, committing torture, and shamelessly bragging about it with a wink and a nod. Darth Cheney is bragging still.
FOR NOTHING.
They violated basic, fundamental laws. The ones that separate us from savages. Their pretext was our protection. In the end, they achieved nothing but a shameful drubbing of our good name.
Knaves and fools.
Turnabout's fair play. How 'bout extraordinary rendition of some of these characters to a country with the balls to give them a fair trial and, if convicted, a stretch of time in someplace like Spandau.
If I were Bush, Cheney, Feith, Wolfowitz, Addington or Yoo, I'd be mighty careful about what foreign countries I vacationed in for the rest of my life.
These sorts of stories dribbling out are changing my mind.
They systematically subverted the law, committing torture, and shamelessly bragging about it with a wink and a nod. Darth Cheney is bragging still.
FOR NOTHING.
They violated basic, fundamental laws. The ones that separate us from savages. Their pretext was our protection. In the end, they achieved nothing but a shameful drubbing of our good name.
Knaves and fools.
Turnabout's fair play. How 'bout extraordinary rendition of some of these characters to a country with the balls to give them a fair trial and, if convicted, a stretch of time in someplace like Spandau.
If I were Bush, Cheney, Feith, Wolfowitz, Addington or Yoo, I'd be mighty careful about what foreign countries I vacationed in for the rest of my life.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Resimay
To hoom it mae cunsern,
I waunt to apply for the job what I saw in the paper. I can Type realee quik wit one finggar and do sum a counting.. I think I am good on the phone and I no I am a pepole person, Pepole really seam to respond to me well. Certain men and all the ladies.
I no my spelling is not to good but fi nd that I Offen can get a job thru my persinalety.
My salerery is open so we can discus wat you want to pay me and wat you think that I am werth,
I can start emeditely. Thank you in advanse fore yore anser. hopifuly Yore best aplicant so farr.
Sinseerly,
BRIAN
PS : Because my resimay is a bit short - for a pickture of me see attached image.
Employer's response:
Dear Brian ,
It's OK honey, we've got spell check.
See you Monday.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I waunt to apply for the job what I saw in the paper. I can Type realee quik wit one finggar and do sum a counting.. I think I am good on the phone and I no I am a pepole person, Pepole really seam to respond to me well. Certain men and all the ladies.
I no my spelling is not to good but fi nd that I Offen can get a job thru my persinalety.
My salerery is open so we can discus wat you want to pay me and wat you think that I am werth,
I can start emeditely. Thank you in advanse fore yore anser. hopifuly Yore best aplicant so farr.
Sinseerly,
BRIAN
PS : Because my resimay is a bit short - for a pickture of me see attached image.
Employer's response:
Dear Brian ,
It's OK honey, we've got spell check.
See you Monday.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Yup, That IS Better Than Graffiti
This came in an e-mail.
If it's a hoax, I don't care to know it.
There is a huge rock near a gravel pit on Highway 25 in rural Iowa. For generations, kids have painted slogans, names, and obscenities on this rock, changing its character many times.
A few months back, the rock received its latest paint job, and since then it has been left completely undisturbed.
It's quite an impressive sight.
If it's a hoax, I don't care to know it.
There is a huge rock near a gravel pit on Highway 25 in rural Iowa. For generations, kids have painted slogans, names, and obscenities on this rock, changing its character many times.
A few months back, the rock received its latest paint job, and since then it has been left completely undisturbed.
It's quite an impressive sight.
Here's the artist.
Ray 'Bubba' Sorensen.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
England Swings Like a Pendulum Do
These photos of London at night, taken from a helicopter, are spectacular.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Acting Locally, Thinking Globally
A couple of weeks ago, a couple of hundred volunteers at Beth El Hebrew Congregation of Alexandria Virginia put together more than 20,000 kits filled with very common kitchen ingredients. Congregants, members of nearby churches and synagogues, kids looking for volunteer credit (or just to do a mitzvah), and a host of others worked together as a bunch of big, happy, do-gooder assembly lines. Six to a table, in shifts, at about 20 tables.
From Wikipedia:
The executive director of my shul sent out this message last week:
From Wikipedia:
Oral rehydration therapy (ORT) is a simple, cheap, and effective treatment for dehydration associated with diarrhea, particularly gastroenteritis, such as that caused by cholera or rotavirus. ORT consists of a solution of salts and sugars which is taken by mouth. It is used around the world, but is most important in the developing world, where it saves millions of children a year from death due to diarrhea—the second leading cause of death in children under five.
The executive director of my shul sent out this message last week:
I received a phone call from the Global Assist Network at noon yesterday to advise me that there is an immediate critical need for the 20,000 rehydration packets (prepared here at BEHC on March 1) in Darfur. Global Assist Network dispatched a FedEx truck which picked up the packets in the afternoon. The packets will be immediately airlifted to Darfur and are scheduled to arrive for distribution on Monday.
Tikkun Olam - the repair of the world is a fundamental value of Judaism. BEHC is a caring community and very proud of its social action efforts of tikkun olam - to repair the world.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
