text:
Sunday, November 09, 2014
Opportunities In Adversity!
When my father passed away, a part of me died forever. I tried to move on, and I did in many ways, but his death shook me like nothing else I could imagine. Every day I think about - what would daddy say about this - or would he approve of that.
Years passed, and his yahrzeit is a milestone. Not just because it's the anniversary of his death, but it was actually the turning point in my life.
Every day meant something important to me. I searched for meaning of my existence. I was starving for real answers - not the nonsense most people pacify themselves with, but real answers.
I conceptualized a new shul, a shul where people actually came to daven - and dragged a friend out of kollel to become the rabbi. A shul that is the pride of its community.
I created a fund for people that were not capable of taking care of themselves. They don't even know from where the help comes.
I became UOJ! Your children and grandchildren will be forever safer, and corrupt rabbonim, eyes twitching, and hands shaking, are looking over their shoulders for the big, bad, scary guy that despises evil and will destroy them for ruining a part of our future generations.
Everything looked different. I became unorthodox in my thinking, and acted upon my feelings with passion and new-found energies. I no longer permitted my mind to be on a leash. I searched. I learned. I read everything meaningful I could get my hands on that I wanted to read before - but was verboten.
I comforted as many people that sought my advice. I made mistakes - because I stepped too far outside the traditional box. But...I don't look back, because I learn from my mistakes; and to live life to the fullest --- one will always make mistakes. I look forward with anticipation of great things to come. I can't change the past, I am only capable of changing tomorrow.
The Democrats will control all three branches of government. Not good at all. To me - it's actually sickening, and I worry for my kids and their kids, but I can't change the facts. There will be a different America - an America that will have lost its identity, as it has under George W. Bush; but worse...much worse. A part of America died tonight, and chances are that we, as a country, will not recover the glory past.
Make your lives more meaningful. Do what you thought you could never do. Dig deep, you'll be amazed at the things you're able to do, that you thought were impossible. Be kinder, help as many people as you can. Read, learn meaningful things, love your children and family more. Give a damn! Do something positive tomorrow that you would not have done yesterday!
I miss my father and I will miss the America I grew up in.
November 4, 2008 - another yahrzeit that will probably live with me forever.
253 comments:1 – 200 of 253 Newer› Newest»
- Anonymous said...
November 4, 2008 - another yahrzeit that will probably live with me forever.
Baruch Dayan Haemes, To this once great country!
R'UOJ would you mind being us all "menachem avul", I can definetly use some encouraging words.
- 11:26 PM, November 04, 2008
- Anonymous said...
We stand with you, UOJ!
- 11:34 PM, November 04, 2008
- Anonymous said...
If it's any consolation, the so called moderate Republicans are gone leaving the Conservatives who will fight Osama-Pelosi meshugassin tooth & nail on Capitol Hill.
The NY Times is warning their Liberal base of this tonight.
- 1:57 AM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Since winning control of the Senate in 2006, the Democrats have had little breathing room, holding a majority of just 51 to 49, thanks only to two independents, Senators Bernard Sanders of Vermont and Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, who have caucused with them. And Mr. Lieberman has consistently voted against the Democrats on bills related to the Iraq war and national security, giving Republicans and President Bush an edge on those issues.
Mr. Lieberman, a close ally of Senator John McCain, now faces uncertain standing within the Democratic Party; some colleagues have talked about stripping him of his post as chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
- 3:09 AM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Ottawa alleges Toronto charity is running a tax-shelter scheme
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
The Canada Revenue Agency shut down an alleged tax-shelter scheme last weekend saying a once-small Toronto charity issued hundreds of millions of dollars in inflated receipts for donations of pharmaceutical drugs.
The Choson Kallah Fund received donations of malaria and anti-parasitic drugs bought overseas at cut-rate prices, and issued at least $177-million in charitable receipts to the donors, who have not been identified, at the higher Canadian retail value, the CRA alleges in a letter to the charity. The charity kept about 1 per cent of the total as a fee, the document says.
The donors, who were sought out by a company called World Health Initiatives Inc., profited because of the discrepancy between the international and Canadian drug prices, which Choson Kallah never verified, the CRA alleges.
In the letter outlining the allegations, the CRA says that Choson Kallah "promoted" the tax shelter scheme. The CRA alleges that Choson Kallah immediately gave control of the drugs to another Ontario charity - Toronto's Escarpment Biosphere Foundation (EBF) - which claims the drugs were distributed in 43 countries. But Choson Kallah didn't independently appraise their value before issuing the receipts, the CRA alleges.
As such, the willful promotion of the for-profit scheme violated its charitable status, the CRA alleges.
Eli Gross, the rabbi running Choson Kallah, argued that he didn't promote the scheme as a tax shelter, and wasn't breaking any regulations, the CRA document shows. The CRA didn't agree, and yesterday announced that it had revoked the charitable status of Choson Kallah on the weekend.
"Despite neither being established for the promotion of health nor being involved in international activity, between 2004 and 2005 the charity issued receipts in excess of $177-million or 90 per cent of the charity's total income for donations of pharmaceuticals earmarked for international programs," a CRA letter to Mr. Gross reads, outlining its allegations against his charity.
"The Charity did not see or physically receive the pharmaceuticals. The Charity was informed of the value of the property purportedly donated to it and instructed who to issue receipts to and in what values. The Charity took no steps to determine how participation in this program, beyond being paid for its participation, furthered its mandate," the letter reads. "In this regard, it is difficult to see how the Charity's participation can be characterized in any other way but as being paid to act as the receipt-issuing entity in a tax shelter arrangement."
The EBF, which says it handed out the drugs, had focused on smaller-scale land conservation efforts in the Niagara region before the pharmaceutical donations skyrocketed it to among the biggest of Canadian foreign-aid charities, close behind the likes of World Vision and Care Canada.
EBF executive director Bob Barnett said last night the deal came about when he and Mr. Gross were introduced by friends, and that his charity, although not previously involved in health care or international aid work, agreed to take on the legwork of distributing the drugs.
"We were very happy to get into the world charity work," he told The Globe and Mail last night. "We had the contacts overseas for the medicine, for the medical deliveries and the acquisition of the medicine."
He confirmed EBF received ownership of the drugs from Choson Kallah, as well as money to cover the cost of their distribution. At the heart of the dispute, he said, was how much the drugs were worth. He contended they should be issued receipts at Ontario prices.
"I think the real question is how is the CRA getting its numbers?" he said. "I know that they were appraised when we received them at Canadian values," he added, but said the drugs came from an "international" supplier he couldn't name.
Mr. Barnett said last night that EBF visited 43 countries since 2004, distributing more than $250-million worth of drugs, with the help of Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief. CPAR officials couldn't be reached for comment last night. Photos on the EBF website of the visits are largely of children smiling in rural locations. Little evidence of medical aid appears.
The transactions changed the annual reports of EBF and Choson Kallah significantly.
Choson Kallah in 2003 had about $6-million in total revenues, documents show. It donated the money to Jewish organizations, including schools, in chunks rarely exceeding $25,000.
But over the next three years, Choson Kallah collected more than $300-million in donations. Most appear to be the pharmaceuticals, with about $300-million in unspecified assets being donated almost immediately to EBF.
The EBF's donations also shot up. It received about $74,000 in gifts in 2002; that number rose to more than $78-million the next year, nearly all from Choson Kallah.
Calls to Mr. Gross weren't returned last night. The EBF's charitable status remains active.
Choson Kallah's remaining assets may now be taxed, and it can no longer issue charitable receipts, the CRA said.
- 3:13 AM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
October 29, 2008 --
IVANKA Trump and Jared Kushner have selected an outspoken rabbi who once battled the New York Times to convert her to Judaism for their upcoming nuptials, a source tells us. As we reported in 2001, Rabbi Haskel Lookstein of Congregation Kehillath Jeshurun on East 85th led his flock to boycott the Times over "biased and unfair coverage" of Israel and the Mideast, and got 1,000 subscribers to bail. Meanwhile, Trump's conversion is going nicely. "She and Jared were in shul during all the holidays and ate in the sukkah every night," our spy says. Ivanka declined to comment.
- 3:15 AM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
World According to ...
Ivanka Trump
by Lloyd Grove
The Donald's daughter talks about the family business, the economy, McCain, and the "undisclosed lunch product."
- 3:21 AM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Ivanka Trump, daughter of business tycoon Donald Trump, has decided to convert to Judaism in honor of her engagement to her boyfriend Jewish businessman Jared Kushner.
The 27-year-old former model and current vice president of real estate development and acquisitions at the Trump Organization, is considered to be her father's business heir.
Trump has successfully joined her father's real estate empire and announced on Wednesday that she would be heading a project to build a Trump luxury hotel in the Israeli Red Sea city of Eilat.
Trump and Kushner plan to get married some time next year, and following her husband-to-be's request, Ivanka has begun the conversion process at the Kehilath Jeshurun Synagogue in Manhattan's Upper East Side.
Charles Kushner is a wealthy entrepreneur and real estate mogul whose capital is estimated at billions of dollar.
The family's assets include the prestigious newspaper, the New York Observer, which Jared has been running for the past few years.
- 3:25 AM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
McCain only got 139,000 votes in Brooklyn.
That means that the same kind of frum morons who send their kids to YTT voted for Barack Osama.
It has to be because many freye Yidden, especially Russians voted for McCain as well as many Catholics, especially Italians.
The loser frum Jews voted for Obama for instant financial gratification when it will be worse for them in the long run while they put the security of Israel in peril.
- 3:32 AM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
At least Lakewood (except for maybe Kolko & Applegrad) voted for McCain. McCain beat Osama in Ocean County NJ by 18.5%.
- 3:35 AM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Russia Warns of New Missile Deployment
New York Times - 2 hours ago
By ELLEN BARRY and ALAN COWELL
MOSCOW -- In a wide-ranging attack on the United States on the day it elected a new president, the Russian leader Dmitri Medvedev warned on Wednesday that Moscow might deploy a new missile system in the Baltic
- 9:33 AM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
In California, same-sex couples were poised to lose the right to marry, while Florida and Arizona voted to ban gay marriage outright, joining dozens of other states that define marriage as only between a man and a woman.
- 10:06 AM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Exit polls from MSNBC, CNN and Fox have shown that Barack Obama received 78 percent of the Jewish vote in Tuesday's election, whilst John McCain, received 21%.
- 10:12 AM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Manhattan, NY - A judge agreed to free an upper West Side woman accused of running a massive swindle on $10 million bail after her wealthy brother made a blockbuster offer to get her out.
Dina Wein-Reis, 44, could be released from a Manhattan federal lockup as early as today.
She's been held since last Tuesday, when she and five others were indicted on federal charges in Indiana for conning Fortune 500 companies into donating goods they believed were going to schools and Indian reservations.
Instead, prosecutors say, Wein-Reis earned big profits reselling the goods to retailers and wholesalers.
Judge Shira Scheindlin was prepared to refer the case to an Indiana judge for a bail hearing when Wein-Reis' brother, Hershel Wein, offered to put up his Lawrence, L.I., home - plus his $1.3 million annual salary as collateral.
"I have 100% faith in my sister," said Wein, a partner in a white-shoe Manhattan law firm. "The idea that she will flee. That will not happen."
"You have that much confidence?" Scheindlin asked.
"One hundred percent, your honor," Wein said.
Wein also said that if his sister should flee, he would not repay the bond with money she gave him.
His sister looked pale and tired in a blue prison outfit as she talked to her lawyers, John Meringolo and Marc Agnifilo. In the audience, her mother, Vivian, wiped away tears.
Wein-Reis' parents also offered to put up their $900,000 home, also in Lawrence.
Prosecutors say Wein-Reis used stolen cash to furnish her plush W. 75th St. home with valuable artwork, including an Andy Warhol portrait of Truman Capote.
She also spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a rooftop getaway above her home.
- 10:15 AM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
November 3, 2008
The 'Social Justice' of the Stealth Candidate
Alexander LaBrecque
This summer he declared that "America's greatest moral failure in my lifetime has been that we still don't abide by that basic precept in Matthew that 'whatever you do for the least of my brothers, you do for me,'" citing our nation's sins of "poverty," "racism and sexism."
According to Obama and his mentors Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright, the root cause of America's evil is economic inequality. "Social justice" requires the remedy of redistribution of wealth, the transfer of taxpayers' earnings to whomever their regime will determine has need.
As Karl Marx said, "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs." Or as the stealth candidate told Joe the Plumber: "It's good to spread the wealth around."
After inadvertently tipping his hand, Obama denies he is a socialist but affirms redistribution of others' assets is a virtue. Meanwhile his minions on government computers have scrutinized Joe's records for the purpose of discrediting him.
Joe the Plumber is every American citizen who dares to challenge the Leader. In Obama's utopia, hard questions are disallowed.
In this ruse, one of Obama's favorite biblical allusions is that "I am my brother's keeper." Meanwhile, the millionaire messiah's own half-brother George has been living in a shantytown hut in Kenya, subsisting on a dollar a month. To his brother in need Obama has given nothing, but in recent years he donated over $20,000 to Wright's hate-inciting Black Power cult.
Dreams From My Father is the 1995 memoir that analysis indicates the communist terrorist Ayers wrote for Obama to launch his protégé's political career. In that memoir, Obama's Kenyan aunt Zeituni was prominently featured as a beloved family member. Last week, The Times of London – not the domestic Obama-worshipping propaganda media – broke the news that for five years this aunt has been living in a slum in Boston, just miles from where he gained prestige at Harvard Law School for his charm and racial identity. Like many of his supporters, she hopes that Obama's presidency will change her life for the better.
Obama's heartless disregard for his own family members proves that he is an authoritarian, whose real concern is not others' well-being but his pathological quest for power to control the lives of us all.
The stealth candidate was trained in Marxism at his mother's knee. She became enamoured of communism in high school where she was taught The Communist Manifesto, and while concealing that Obama boasts: "The values she taught me continue to be my touchstone when it comes to how I go about the world of politics." The father who abandoned him was a Marxist, ousted from Kenya's government when that nation's socialist president cracked down on communist agitators (Dreams, pp. 214-215). His mother taught Obama that his father "led his life according to principles that demanded a different kind of toughness, principles that promised a higher form of power. I would follow his example, my mother decided. I had no choice. It was in the genes" (p. 50, italics supplied).
To that end, young Barry was mentored by a Stalinist agent of the Communist Party USA, from his adolescence to the time he left for college. To that end, Obama was mentored by Wright whose "theology" provided a religious cloak for his agenda. To that end, in 1995 the communist terrorists Ayers and Dohrn launched Obama's political career at their home. In 1996 Obama won endorsement from a Marxist group called the New Party, whose newsletter identified him as one of their members.
In his adolescence and teens Barry Obama was mentored by Frank Marshall Davis, a Stalinist agent of the Communist Party USA with an FBI dossier of 600 pages. In his personal life a bisexual, a pedophile, and a lecher who roamed parks seeking sex with strangers, Davis later wrote that he "specialized in sex" during that time frame and previously boasted that his deviance acted out his communist rebellion.
Davis was the mysterious "Frank" whose actual identity and importance was largely concealed in Obama's memoir. The memoir is secretive about key aspects of Obama's life, concealing his activities and his communist and Islamic allies at Columbia, at Harvard and in Chicago. It conceals entirely his involvement with Ayers, the memoir's principal author and the communist terrorist who created Obama's political career.
Nonetheless the memoir does show that "Frank" initiated young Barry's racial obsession and his resentment of whites, and manifests his retributive hatred of America. Despite living in the post-racial paradise of Hawaii and attending a prestigious prep school there, "I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of twelve or thirteen, when I began to suspect that I was ingratiating myself to whites" (p. xv). The memoir discloses that Frank and Barry's grandfather had the lad write sexual limericks, that Frank warned him against women and that Frank gave the minor whiskey (pp. 76-77, 89). Also disclosed is Barry's discomfort in sensing a transactional arrangement between the two men — the same discomfort he felt at the age of 11 or 12 when Gramps routinely took him to a sleazy bar in the red-light district, adorned with pornographic images on the walls, where the grandfather sought acceptance of others who would not judge him. In a poem called "Pop" that Obama published in a 1981 Occidental College literary magazine, he reveled about sexual indecency with a man who was presumably his grandfather, or possibly Davis.
These deviant men had opportunities to influence Obama in his formative years because his Marxist Kenyan father abandoned him in his infancy, and because for her career his Marxist white mother abandoned both his stepfather and Barry in his youth.
In a 2007 speech reviewing the history and future of Communism in America, Gerald Horne, a contributing editor of the Communist Party journal Political Affairs, identified Frank Marshall Davis as the "Frank" hidden in Obama's memoir. The speech's occasion was a university's reception of the Community Party USA's archives for its library. Horne hailed Davis as "a decisive influence in helping [Obama] to find his present identity as an African-American, a people who have been the least anti-communist and the most left-leaning of any constituency in this nation." With optimism Horne envisioned a future day when Obama's memoir will be assigned reading for students of Communism alongside Davis' autobiography.
Young Barry's Stalinist mentor trained him well — politically, psychologically and culturally.
- 10:25 AM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch and author a number of best-selling books on Islam. He shares the concerns of the McCain campaign about the relationship Barack Obama has had with Rashid Khalidi, an anti-Israeli professor who was once a spokesman for the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
Spencer says sources have told him what they suspect was said during a much publicized conversation between Khalidi and Obama -- recorded at a party in 2003 -- that the Los Angeles Times has refused to release. "That Obama is saying that Israel has no God-given right to exist and that there has been genocide against the Palestinian people by Israelis," he explains. "This seems to be the reason why the LA Times, at least according to some people, is holding on to the tape." (See related story)
Conservative author and counterterrorism expert Andy McCarthy is criticizing the Los Angeles Times for not releasing a 2003 videotape it obtained of Barack Obama giving a toast to an anti-Israel professor who formerly served as a spokesman for late PLO leader Yasser Arafat.
The LA Times is being accused of "suppressing" a 2003 tape of a farewell gathering in Chicago for then University of Chicago Mideast studies professor Rashid Khalidi, who is a longtime virulent critic of Israel and has justified Palestinian terrorist attacks against the Jewish state. Barack Obama paid a special tribute to Khalidi that night and noted that he and Michelle were frequent dinner companions of the Khalidis.
Former Weather Underground terrorist Bill Ayers and his wife Bernadine Dohrn were also in attendance at the Khalidi bash. While Obama and Ayers served on the board of the left-wing Woods Fund together, they underwrote the Arab-American Action Network (AAAN) to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars. The anti-Israel group was started by Khalidi and his wife Mona.
Andy McCarthy, the chairman of the Center for Law and Counterterrorism at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and the legal affairs editor at National Review, says it is obvious why the LA Times is not releasing the tape of the Khalidi bash.
"If either John McCain or Sarah Palin or another prominent Republican or prominent conservative had been at a party, basically in honor of somebody who is a terror apologist, at which terrorists were front and center in attendance, one can't even imagine the thought that the mainstream media, including the LA Times, would not only release that tape but actually fill us for days if not weeks with story after story about the gory details of it," McCarthy contends.
This is yet another example, according to McCarthy, of the mainstream press "covering up" an event that is embarrassing and difficult for Obama to explain.
- 10:32 AM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Well congratulations to all those who put the country at risk tonight with Osama-Biden + Harry Pelosi / Nancy Reid, the most far-left politicians to ever lead the United States.
To all you greedy, selfish and jealous jerks who want others people's wealth "spread" to you and who think that an Osama administration is going to bail you out of your underwater mortgage that you're many months behind on, the tax & spend Liberals you've hoisted on America are going to spell ruin for everyone, you included.
Bush betrayed fiscal Conservatism by outspending even Clinton himself.
BUT ... Liberal tax & spend Barack Osama will make Bush look like a miser.
Hopefully Osama will at least accomplish nationally what David Dinkins did in NYC, namely that there will never be anyone like him ever elected again after he gets finished disgusting the American people.
I never felt sick to stomach when Democrats have won previous elections but I feel ill now with the radical musketeers Osama-Pelosi-Reid.
These morons will also let Iran to go nuclear if they have any say.
- 10:34 AM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- GMAC LLC, the financing arm of General Motors Corp. gripped by a cash squeeze, posted its fifth straight loss and said its mortgage unit may not survive.
The third-quarter net loss widened to a record $2.52 billion from $1.6 billion a year earlier, the Detroit-based company said in a statement today. Total net revenue declined 43 percent to $1.72 billion. The Residential Capital home-loan unit lost $1.9 billion during the quarter, while GMAC's auto finance business lost $294 million.
GMAC's results were crushed by slumps in the housing market, where foreclosures are running at record levels, and in auto sales, which GM labeled the worst since 1945 when it reported October results this week. ResCap, which ranked among the biggest U.S. subprime lenders two year ago, has posted losses totaling $9.1 billion over the past eight quarters.
Without more support from GMAC, ``substantial doubt exists regarding ResCap's ability to continue as a going concern,'' GMAC said in today's statement.
GMAC has been shut out of some credit markets, and the firm has said it may convert to a bank holding company, which could make it eligible for help from the Treasury's $700 billion bailout fund.
To stem losses, GMAC has cut off auto loans to customers who don't have the highest credit ratings and curtailed operations. The lender had about $52 billion of bonds outstanding as of last month, including $10.9 billion that mature in 2009, data compiled by Bloomberg show. GMAC has said it may ask bondholders to swap their investments for new debt that could be more secure to help stabilize the company and get loans flowing again.
- 10:38 AM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Dear UoJ,
Why don't you make your grandfather proud and make aliyah?
All the best
- 10:56 AM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
If you ask me, it was disgusting how the oylem goylem was standing around cheering themselves to tears that a Socialist regime was elected. You never saw this kind of reaction with any previous Democrat coming to power.
Amazing how a well spoken liar of a trial lawyer can mesmerize everyone.
- 11:12 AM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Budapest Times, Hungary - Nov 3, 2008
Zuschlag and his associates are standing trial for fraud committed as part of a criminal organisation and embezzlement of state funds. The right-leaning national daily Magyar Hirlap reported that Péter Feldmájer, the lawyer of defendant No. 7, told one of its reporters that "a fascist newspaper shouldn't ask any questions of me". Feldmájer is also president of the Hungarian Jewish Association.
- 11:31 AM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Finally, if Obama won't produce a valid birth certificate the U.S. Supreme Court should step in. After Democrat attorney Philip Berg's lawsuit was dismissed by a federal judge he petitioned the Supreme Court to delay the election. Electing a non-citizen is unconstitutional, unprecedented and a lot worse than the 2000 frenzy that occurred over vote counting.
- 11:35 AM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Democrats will never state the truth if it's bad for the party.
A New York Democrat is backtracking from what he called "a thoughtless comment" about Barack Obama, saying the presidential candidate didn't have "the political courage" to leave his church earlier over its controversial pastor. Rep. Jerrold Nadler of Manhattan was visiting a synagogue in Boca Raton, Fla., Sunday when he was confronted by Obama critics who wanted to know why the candidate hadn't ended his association earlier with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. Obama severed ties with Wright Jr. this year after footage surfaced of the pastor making anti-American statements at the Chicago church Obama attended for 20 years. "I made a thoughtless comment yesterday which does not reflect the way I feel about Barack Obama," Nadler said in a statement yesterday.
A Connecticut judge dismissed a lawsuit yesterday that alleged election fraud and questioned whether Obama was qualified to appear on the state's ballot for Election Day. State Supreme Court Chief Justice Chase T. Rogers dismissed the case after hearing testimony from the state and a Greenwich man who brought the action. The plaintiff, Cort Wrotnowski, said Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz should not have Obama's name on the ballot without verifying the authenticity of Obama's birth certificate.
- 11:40 AM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
It's not adversity, it's oppo-tune-ity.
Choke choke, fighting back tears along with the millions of tunkelach & veisse tipshim.
Tears of joy because a Muslim terrorist loving president will try to force Israel to roll over and let the Arabs step all over them.
- 11:43 AM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Vee finally have a vay to shut down UOJ for good!
November 3, 2008
Obama says will bankrupt companies that disagree with him
- 11:47 AM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Joe the plumber is fired. He didn't do anything to siphon votes away from Osama.
- 11:48 AM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
I love these scare tactics.
Listen, Obama's socialist policies are only following in the footsteps of his republican predecessors - dont kid yourself. In fact, he may govern from the center, and fix things that repubs screwed up. who knows. thats the beauty of an abama presidency - He MAY be a great one. but Mcain would a been the same old crap.
and as for taxes, cmon! this one says 33%, this one says 39% - what the heck is the difference!
you exagerate - and its a shame
- 12:05 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
"greedy, selfish and jealous jerks who want others people's wealth "spread" to you and who think that an Osama administration is going to bail you out of your underwater mortgage"
Archie is on to the BIG story of last night.
One network did a sampling of a Nevada county that is both overwhelmingly White and saturated with foreclosed homes.
96% of those shnorrer-fressers voted for Obama, figuring they have a better shot with the Socialist of getting taxpayers to fund the dream homes they could never afford otherwise.
I wasn't able to sleep last night and I'm suffering from anxiety pains to think the country is going to heck.
- 12:08 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
NYC property tax relief to be eliminated
November 5th, 2008 @ 10:35am
By SARA KUGLER
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - Mayor Michael Bloomberg says New York City can no longer afford two popular pieces of property tax relief as he seeks to bridge multibillion dollar budget gaps.
Bloomberg's budget update Wednesday shows that the $400 property tax rebate homeowners have enjoyed for several years will be eliminated. Just six weeks ago, he said he wouldn't do away with it.
Bloomberg said the temporary 7 percent property tax break put into place last year also has to go.
The rebate in place since 2004 helps owners of one- and two-family homes. Checks they were expecting this fall will not go out.
- 1:02 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
True, Bush was a phony who spent more than Clinton but Clinton did have fiscal restraint tendencies and Obama will probably outspend both of them put together.
Obama owes the far-left Democrats big time for endorsing him early on over Hillary.
Berosham is Ted "the swimmer" Kennedy who will demand Obama fund his welfare programs as payback.
The fear about the mortgage bailout is real. Pelosi is leading the wagon with every putz like Schumer trying to impress Black voters that they will pay for their homes with our money.
- 1:08 PM, November 05, 2008
- Paul Mendlowitz said...
Call me crazy - the first thing Obama does is select Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff/shik yingel, sending a strong message that he's appointing his own version of Shabbos goy and house cleaner!
- 1:10 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
That must have been Dr. Bungalow Putz who did a write-in yesterday for Belsky for President.
- 1:12 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Even Ari Fleischer was a traitor to the Klal when he promoted the Bush double standard for a while that Israel cannot attack Hamas terrorists while the Allies hunted down al Qaeda.
Shea Fishman should be proud as Fleischer is a product of the Torah Umesorah school in Westchester County, NY.
- 1:15 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
his right hand man - is not his shikyingle - big difference. and dont forget, 77% of jews voted for obama. thats a big constituent, you cant govern AGAINST that constuent
- 1:18 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Emanuel was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1959. His father, the Jerusalem-born Benjamin M. Emanuel, is a pediatrician and was a member of the Irgun, a Zionist military organization that later became part of the Israeli Defense Forces, in the 1940s. His mother, Martha Smulevitz, worked as an X-ray technician; she was the daughter of a local union organizer, and would herself become a civil rights activist
Emanuel's older brother, Ezekiel, is a noted oncologist and bioethicist, and his brother, Ari, is a high-powered talent agent in Los Angeles and inspired Jeremy Piven's character Ari Gold on the HBO series Entourage. Rahm himself is also the inspiration for the character Josh Lyman on The West Wing. He also has a younger sister named Shoshanna, fourteen years his junior.
When his family lived in Chicago, he attended Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, a Jewish day school.
Emanuel's knowledge of the top donors in the country, and his rapport with potential donors within the Jewish community helped Clinton amass a then-unheard-of $72 million
He was a leading strategist in the unsuccessful White House efforts to institute universal healthcare and many other Clinton initiatives.
One of his proudest moments during the Clinton Administration "was an event that touched his political sensibilities and his personal ties to Israel: the 1993 Rose Garden signing ceremony after the Oslo accord between Israel and the Palestinians. Rahm directed the details of the ceremony, down to the choreography of the famous handshake between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat."
At this point of his political career he was known for his intensity. Notably, he reportedly told British Prime Minister Tony Blair, "This is important. Don't fuck it up," prior to Blair appearing in public with Clinton for the first time after the Lewinsky scandal emerged.Emanuel is said to have "mailed a rotting fish to a former coworker after the two parted ways." On the night after the Clinton election, "Emanuel was so angry at the president's enemies that he stood up at a celebratory dinner with colleagues from the campaign, grabbed a steak knife and began rattling off a list of betrayers, shouting 'Dead! ... Dead! ... Dead!' and plunging the knife into the table after every name." His "take-no-prisoners attitude" earned him the nickname "Rahm-bo".
He left the White House to accept a well-paid position in investment banking at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in Chicago, where he worked from 1999 to 2002 and reportedly earned US$18 million.
Speculation has been raised regarding the connection of Emanuel's Congressional election success to convicted former Chicago water department boss Don Tomczak.
The newspaper USA Today reported in late January 2007 that Emanuel failed to disclose that he was an officer of a family charity, a violation of law requiring members of Congress to report non-profit leadership roles.
Emanuel's wife Amy Rule, a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, was non-practicing before converting to Orthodox Judaism around the same time as her wedding. They are "active members of a modern Orthodox congregation, Anshe Shalom, in Chicago".
His first name, Rahm, means "high" or "lofty" in Hebrew.[24] His last name, Emanuel, means "God is with us."
- 1:31 PM, November 05, 2008
- Paul Mendlowitz said...
...and dont forget, 77% of jews voted for obama...
If I was ever right on anything at all - the masses are asses - especially the Jews!
- 1:32 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
I used to be a shabbos goy in the Bronx, I advised obama to get even. I even speak a little yiddish.
- 1:35 PM, November 05, 2008
- Paul Mendlowitz said...
R'LVF and all comrades,
We should never despair, our situation before has been unpromising and has changed for the better, so I trust, it will again. If new difficulties arise, we must only put forth new exertions and proportion our efforts to the exigency of the times." --- George Washington
- 1:41 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
R' Shmuel Berenbaum zl said that one reason the Poilishe hate Yidden so much is kinah because every Yiddishe shtub in der alter heim had a goy working for them. He added that it was midah keneged midah that the grubba Poilishe had to follow us to America for jobs to be mefarnes themselves.
- 1:44 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Rabbi Asher Lopatin, now in his 13th year as spiritual leader of Anshe Sholom B'nai Israel Congregation, received his ordination from Rav Aron Soloveichik and Yeshivas Brisk and also from Yeshiva University in New York .
He holds an M.Phil. in Medieval Arabic Thought from Oxford University as well as a BA in International Relations and Islamic Studies from Boston University. He has done doctoral work, also at Oxford , in Islamic Fundamentalist Attitudes Toward Jews. In that connection he has authored a chapter in Muslim Jewish Relations, titled: "The Uncircu mc ised Jewish Heart (in Islamic and Qur'anic Thought)."
Rabbi Lopatin won a Rhodes Scholarship in 1987 from Massachusetts , and was a Wexner Fellow. He has also been a Truman Scholar, Boston University Trustee Scholar and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
His interest in being a pulpit rabbi stemmed in a large degree from his involvement in Jewish life at Hillel at Boston University, the Jewish Society at Oxford University, and the West Hampstead Alternative Minyan.
Rabbi Lopatin is married to Rachel Tessler of Detroit . Rachel was also a Wexner Fellow and most recently worked as the Program Director at Anshe Emet Synagogue. The Rabbi and Rachel have two daughters, Shayna and Cara, and two sons, Judah and Gideon.
Since moving to Chicago, Rabbi Lopatin has spoken for many groups including JUF, Spertus College, Dawn Schuman Institute, the University of Chicago, the Jewish Community Centers, the Chicago Community Kollel, the Milwaukee Kollel, as well as for Reform, Reconstructionist, Conservative, Traditional and Orthodox synagogues and communal groups. He is a member of the executive committee of the Rabbinical Council of America, and the Chicago Board of Rabbis and is on the Conversion Commission of the Chicago Rabbinical Council. Newsweek Magazine has listed Rabbi Lopatin as one of the top 25 rabbis in America.
Although he has trouble saying he is "from" any one particular place, Rabbi Lopatin grew up in Northern California , Jerusalem , and Newton , MA .
- 1:47 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
UOJ, i was not implying the 77% were asses or not, i was implying that one must govern on behlaf of your constituents - and Obama wants (I'm sure) to stay for a second term, he would be insane if he did not out forth a very favorable policy towards israel, in my view.
- 1:48 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Kosher Home, Sweet Home Part II
Tuesday, November 25, 2008 at 2pm EST
A live question and answer webcast addressing your questions about maintaining a kosher kitchen featuring OU Kashruth's Poskim, Rabbi Yisroel Belsky and Rabbi Hershel Schachter.
We invite and encourage you to send in your questions!
Before the Webcast:
Rabbi Eliyahu Safran
Fax: 212.613.0775
During the Webcast:
Rabbi Eliyahu W. Ferrell
Tune in at:
- 1:48 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Well, UOJ doesn't really appreciate guys like me & Asher Lopatin who run around having meetings with Arabs and kissing the butts of imams.
Why do you think Obama picked this left-wing style of Orthodox Jew?
- 1:59 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Ich takkeh darf gebben shkoyich to Rahm Emanuel for choreographing my handshake with Yitzchok Rabin.
- 2:01 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
hey schneier - he could have picked so many BAD chiefs...he did not
- 2:05 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
The measure was the most divisive on the state ballot. Its passage throws into doubt the unions of thousands of recently wed couples.
Proposition 8: Gay marriage ban Yes 52.0% No 48.0% Precincts reporting: ~95.0%
By Jessica Garrison, Cara Mia DiMassa and Nancy Vogel
8:35 AM PST, November 5, 2008
A measure to once again ban gay marriage in California was passed by voters in Tuesday's election, throwing into doubt the unions of an estimated 18,000 same-sex couples who wed during the last 4 1/2 months.
As Proposition 8, the most divisive and emotionally fraught issue on the state ballot this year, took a lead in early returns, supporters gathered at a hotel ballroom in Sacramento and cheered.
- 2:08 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Does Wikipedia mean that Rahm pulled a Kushner-Borat and was "megayer" a shiksa he was already fooling around with?
I'm not sure what they mean because in secular terms, "convert" can also be applied to a baal teshuva.
- 2:28 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
anonymous, by fooling around with a shiksa, you mean like most of our Avos and David Hamelech?
- 2:41 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Hey Bankman,
Hussein Osama had plenty of anti-Semitic bastards advising him during the campaign on foreign policy like Jimmy Carter's old lineup.
Are you really so ignorant or are you one of the political operatives hired by the campaign from the orthodox community that was writing letters to the Yated and other papers?
- 2:56 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Bankman is using silly arguments to protect his interests, dehaynu the Democrats.
How can you ask a kashya from the Avos when there were no other Jews then and it's a machlokes if they themselves were Jewish.
The Gemara also says that anyone who thinks Dovid Hamelech was a chotay is in error.
- 2:59 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
It was said that the Obama campaign was very tech savvy and very on top of the internet.
It looks like one of their spooks has been dispatched here to defeat anti-Barack sentiments.
- 3:07 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
detector - nice kvetch. you must have done well in yeshiva.
i may be ignorant - but i do not believe the scare tactics that many orthodox jews are using against obama - i just dont believe it.
- 3:22 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Gee, a Socialist regime gets elected and the Dow Jones tanks 400 points and counting the next day.
What kind of jobs does this create exactly you 100 million moron voters?
- 3:30 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Instructive that Bim-Bam had a smart Jew run his campaign, Dave Axelrod and now offers self-hating jew Rami to be his Chief-of-Hatchet.
Look for Bim-Bam to appoint Jimmy (Peanut) Carters anti Israel people to State.
"Pastor Damn" Wright speaking this Thursday in Milford, CT. Listen for the homecoming roosters.
Fasten your seat belts and Daven for yourselves here and for our brethren in Israel. Bumps ahead.
- 4:21 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
I was wondering when Boog would come up with a nickname for Obama.
- 4:41 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
I left Hofstra for health reasons, Brit. I understand.
Fox News' Brit Hume leaving for family, religion.
- 4:42 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
"i just dont believe it"
Beep Beep Beep Beep
Bankman, how does it feel to have your head in the sand?
- 4:42 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
The Dow was down 486 points today. Let's see where this is headed.
There will no doubt be huge redemptions before any Democrat tax increases.
- 4:44 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- New foreclosures rose 50 percent in New York City and more than doubled in Seattle in October from a year earlier as falling prices and stricter mortgage standards kept homeowners from selling or refinancing, PropertyShark.com said.
- 4:52 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
St. Petersburg Times
The United States calls its own crisis the mortgage meltdown. Banks went on a lending splurge, handing out mortgages to every homeless and unemployed Joe Blow who walked in off the street. Not surprisingly, they defaulted on their loans.
- 4:54 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
From ClusterStock, Nov. 5, 2008:
If President Elect Obama were the incoming CEO of a corporation, he would now be preparing for the first act of his tenure: A massive write-off of the mountains of rotted junk buried on the company's balance sheet and an announcement that recovery will take a long, long time.
This flush would clear the way for several years of better than expected results. It would also take advantage of the new leader's one chance to blame the sorry state of the organization on his sorry predecessor.
President Obama began this process last night, in his victory speech, when he noted that restoring the country's health might take more than a term. In the next few weeks, he should go well beyond this:
The deficit will be more than $1 trillion a year for several years
The country needs a massive new fiscal stimulus
The housing market will continue to decline through at least 2010
Interest rates and taxes will eventually have to rise (after the economy stabilizes)
Weak corporations have to be allowed to fail
Millions of homeowners will lose their house
Unemployment will probably rise to 10%
The government simply cannot "bail the country out" -- not because it lacks the will, but because it lacks the power
In short, Obama needs to acknowedge reality, erring on the side of overstating the problems and challenges, and he needs to prepare the country for several tough years.
Because if he doesn't, within six months of his taking office, the country will have forgotten all about the prior administration and will instead be blaming everything on him.
- 5:15 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
did you see the rapturous faces in the crowd last night listening to Bim-Bam?
Guyana Kool-Aid redux.
"Yes we 'Can'!
And that's exactly where we're headed.
- 5:15 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
detractor - i guess time will tell if my head is in the sand or not. but i dont believe something that is speculative and unproven. only time will prove if my opinion was in fact correct, or if yours was.
boog - obama will remain a friend to israel, just as his influential constituents are, thats how it goes. plus, since he wants to presumanly be re-elected in 4 years from now, he would hate to loose that powerful group. he wont do anything stupid. so even if you think he would line up and shoot every jew in this country, it wont happen in the next 4 years!
and to those who think the market tanked today because obama was elected, well, thats just silly. the market tanked becasue this economy sucks and that is no fault of obama. i would actually submit that in hindsight we will estimate that bush's regime was closer to socialism than obama's.
- 5:16 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
clusterstock is terrible. run by the infamous henry blodget who is all washed up and some dude named carney who was the #2 at dealbreaker - he is SO bad....
- 5:19 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
"influential friends"
Indeed they have been and are.
Jesse (hymietown) Jackson
Pastor (Damn America) Wright
Tony (The Syrian Thug) Rezko
Rashid (PLO Spokesman)Khalidi
Bill (I'll bomb you to hell) Ayers
George (spred de vealth) TSoros
Keep in mind that German Yuden in the 30's had the same Shomanto, Oveesah, Kossesa attitude. Vee are good patriotic German citizens. Que Pasa with that, Amigo?
Interrupt your Ostrich impersonation for a minute and realize that It can happen here.
- 5:47 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
wow - more scare tactics. this time its - obama=hitler. nah, that shouldnt scare anybody.
wake up an smell the coffee - this aint nazi germany in 1930. obama is not hitler. try to open your eyes.
- 6:01 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Sure thing, bankman. My eyes are open.
Hitler was not Hitler and Ahmadinjad is just a cute nerdy guy and according to Bim Bam, Iran is only "a small country".
A Man is known by the company he keeps.
BTW, what flavor is your Bim Bam Aid?
- 6:17 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Bankman, I don't know what planet you're on as the Dow has historically had bad reactions to Democrat election victories. The simple reason behind that is that professional investors with large block holdings know whose policies are bad for their investments.
And it's odd that you would take a swipe at John Carney. He is known for his wit, something that you could use a dose of.
- 6:58 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Associated Press
2:57 PM CST, November 5, 2008
GORDON, Neb. - A Gordon slaughterhouse run by Agriprocessors has closed because of the financial problems the kosher meat company is having.
The phone number for the Local Pride LLC plant that Agriprocessors ran was disconnected Wednesday.
And Rabbi Menachem Genack, CEO of the Orthodox Union, said the Local Pride plant in Gordon closed several days ago when Agriprocessors lost its line of credit because the company couldn't afford any new cattle.
- 7:07 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
In a heartbreaking defeat for the gay-rights movement, California voters put a stop to gay marriage, creating uncertainty about the legal status of 18,000 same-sex couples who tied the knot during a four-month window of opportunity opened by the state's highest court.
» Read full article on[Top Stories from AP]
- 7:12 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Leib Tropper's crowd is grumbling that so called self-hating Jews massered to get Rubashkin to this point and that the govt is nebich picking on the poor Rubashkins and driving them under.
- 7:13 PM, November 05, 2008
- Paul Mendlowitz said...
48% of Alaskans voted to keep this convicted felon in the senate. Masses are not asses?
"Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, one of Congress's most powerful Republicans, was convicted yesterday of lying on financial disclosure forms to conceal his receipt of gifts and expensive renovations to his house, just eight days before he faces voters in a tight reelection contest.
The 84-year-old lawmaker, the first sitting U.S. senator to go on trial in more than two decades, sat quietly as a jury foreman in federal court read the verdict after less than a day of deliberations: guilty on seven felony counts, each with a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
The senator, who probably will face a less severe penalty under federal sentencing guidelines, left the courtroom without answering reporters' questions."
- 7:22 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Not Ted Stevens fault as he was just following Charlie ( I finds a Ways to get my Means)Rangels playbook:
No comprende espanol.
- 7:36 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
In this case the masses are not tuchesses. They just recognize that Stevens has directed plenty of pork to Alaska with the tax dollars he hijacked from the lower 48 states. They feel they owe him and let's face it, they knew they were benefiting the whole time from what is best unethical or perhaps thievery so they are also corrupt.
- 7:38 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Not ony that, I'll be picking Margo for my running mate when I run for prez. in 2012.
- 7:42 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
He was just behind Obama, but Margo keeps switching party affiliations depending on who is offering the best deal.
You are wrong about Stevens though. Margo will never play 2nd fiddle and has chalomos that Stevens would be his VP.
- 7:45 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
This is mamash geferlich! How did Proposition 8 get passed if the Liberals won?
Gay couples disappointed by marriage ban
- 7:50 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Well, UOJ - at least you can make aliyah if things get so bad. Some of us have been robbed of even that option. When Hashem punishes this corrupt and decadent place, you can leave. When the goyim rise up against us with persecution and violence, you can leave. When Obama throws Israel under the bus, you can leave and take your tax dollars with you. Others of us, thanks to Tropper and his ilk, will be stuck here, with the only consolation being that Tropper will get to burn in hell eternally. It won't be very comforting when my kids are the victims of a pogrom the Ravs caused by their disdain for civil laws and disrespect for ordinary Americans and their continual chillul Hashem. So cheer up. Hashem will protect Israel while America burns.
- 7:56 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Hey Comrades, I said 6 months not 6 minutes.
Russia to deploy short-range missiles near Poland… MOSCOW – Russia will deploy short-range missiles near Poland to counter U.S. military plans in Eastern Europe, President Dmitry Medvedev warned Wednesday, setting a combative tone that clashed with global goodwill over Barack Obama's election.
In his first state of the nation speech, Medvedev blamed Washington for the war in Georgia and the world financial crisis and suggested it was up to Washington to mend badly damaged ties.
Medvedev also proposed increasing the Russian presidential term to six years from four — a change that could deepen Western concern over democracy in Russia and play into the hands of his mentor, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who has not ruled out a return to the Kremlin.
Extending the presidential term could mean a possible 12 more years in the top office for the popular Putin.
Echoing Putin, who made criticism of Washington and the West a hallmark of his two-term, eight-year presidency, Medvedev used the speech in an ornate Kremlin reception hall to cast Russia as a nation threatened by encroaching American military might.
"From what we have seen in recent years — the creation of a missile defense system, the encirclement of Russia with military bases, the relentless expansion of NATO — we have gotten the clear impression that they are testing our strength," Medvedev said.
He signaled Moscow would not give in to Western calls to pull troops from Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, or rescind its recognition of their independence following the August war.
"We will not retreat in the Caucasus," he said, winning one of many rounds of applause during the televised 85-minute address.
Talking tough, he fleshed out long-promised military measures in response to U.S. plans for missile defense facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic, former Soviet satellites now in NATO. The Kremlin claims the system is meant to weaken Russia, not defend against Iran, as Washington insists.
Medvedev said Iskander missiles would be deployed to Russia's western enclave of Kaliningrad, sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania, "to neutralize, if necessary, a missile defense system."
The Iskander has a range of about 280 kilometers (175 miles), which would allow it to reach targets in Poland but not in the Czech Republic — but officials have said its range could be increased. Medvedev did not say whether the missiles would be fitted with nuclear warheads.
Russia will also deploy electronic jamming equipment, Medvedev said.
After the speech, the Kremlin announced Medvedev had congratulated Obama for winning the U.S. presidency, saying in a telegram he was "counting on a constructive dialogue with you on the basis of trust and taking each other's interests into account."
In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack emphasized that the planned missile defenses were not aimed at Russia.
"The steps that the Russian government announced today are disappointing," McCormack said. "But, again, this is not directed at them. Hopefully one day they'll realize that."
Medvedev appeared to be trying to improve Russia's bargaining position in potential talks with the Obama administration on missile defense. His wording suggested Russia would reverse the decision if the U.S. scraps its missile defense plans.
"Moscow isn't interested in confrontation, and if Obama makes some conciliatory gestures it will respond correspondingly," said Alexander Pikayev, an analyst at Moscow's Institute for World Economy and International Relations.
But independent military analyst Alexander Golts said Medvedev's "confrontational tone" could further harm relations with the United States, which plunged to a post-Cold War low over the war in Georgia.
"Russia itself is cutting off the route toward better ties," he said.
Regional leaders criticized Medvedev's missile warning. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said it was "certainly the wrong signal at the wrong time" and urged the U.S. and Russia to see change in the White House as an "opportunity for a new beginning."
Medvedev suggested the U.S. must make the first move to break the chill. The Kremlin hopes the incoming administration "will make a choice in favor of full-fledged relations with Russia," he said.
In addition to calling for a six-year presidential term, he said parliament's term should be extended to five years instead of four and its power over the executive branch increased.
Both changes could strengthen the hand of Putin, who can run for president again in 2012 and now heads the dominant United Russia party.
- 7:57 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Faced with mounting debts, civil and criminal charges and insufficient cash, Agriprocessors, one of the nation's largest kosher meat producers, has suspended operations, causing shortages here and fears of soaring prices.
"New York has begun to see shortages and it's going to get really bad later this week," said Rabbi Seth Mandel, rabbinic coordinator in charge of meat for the Orthodox Union. "You will see shortages everywhere."
Concern is already evident at some area kosher restaurants.
Steven Traube, the managing partner of two other city restaurants, predicted: "Meat prices could easily go up 20 or 30 percent."
Should Agriprocessors go out of business, "it would be devastating for everybody," observed Rabbi Luzer Weiss, director of the kosher law enforcement in New York.
"I hope for the sake of the kosher consumer that they straighten out their problems or go into receivership so someone else can come in and not have the place go under," he added.
Rabbi Mandel said the meat shortage would be particularly acute for those seeking glatt kosher meat.
He said the nation's other major glatt kosher meat producer, Alle Processing in Maspeth, Queens, cannot possibly fill the void left by Agriprocessors, which has not slaughtered or processed steer at either its Postville, Iowa, or Nebraska plants since Oct. 17.
"Butchers will get a shipment of meat from Alle, and when it sells out people won't be able to get more,"
Rabbi Mandel said. "I'm afraid what will happen Thursday because most people buy on Thursdays for Shabbat. Stores that bought only from [Agriprocessors] will have people descending on them and they won't have meat."
Spokesmen for Agriprocessors did not return calls. A man at the company's office at the Brooklyn meat market in Sunset Park said Monday that only a limited supply of meat had been shipped that morning. Four of the company's trucks sat empty in a rear parking lot.
Rabbi Menachem Genack, director of kosher supervision for the Orthodox Union, said Tuesday that although meat production has stopped, Agriprocessors has continued to slaughter and process chickens. But it was not known how long that would continue.
Those familiar with the kosher poultry business believe that although there may initially be spot shortages of chicken if Agriprocessors shuts down, there are enough other kosher poultry producers to largely fill the void.
The largest kosher poultry company, Empire Kosher Poultry, plans to evaluate its customers' needs and then "make adjustments to the extent that our business allows us to fill those needs," according to Elie Rosenfeld, a company spokesman.
"Empire will produce a certain percentage more and if everybody kicks in a few thousand more chickens, it should mitigate the void," he said.
Rosenfeld declined to comment on reports that Empire was studying the possibility of acquiring Agriprocessors' business. He has said in the past that the company was considering entering the kosher beef production business.
Rabbi Genack said that compounding the kosher meat shortage is the fact that a kosher meat plant in Minnesota is not operating because of a fire there. He said the facility would not be operating until all issues with the insurance company are ironed out.
Because of the company's recent problems, the partial shutdown of Agriprocessors did not come as a surprise. And some retailers were said to have started shopping around for other suppliers after the company's meat slaughtering practices were condemned in 2005 by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Several retailers have approached Weiss Kosher of Williamsburg asking it to provide them with non-organic kosher meat, according to Rachel Wiesenfeld, the company's founder. The company distributes both organic and non-organic chickens and beef.
"For every pound of beef we get in, we have 25 to 50 customers — and that is an underestimation," she said.
Although the glatt kosher market has been particularly hard hit, the much larger kosher meat market is expected to fare better because it has more suppliers. One of the largest is Hebrew National, which supplies many kosher restaurants.
Ronald Dragoon, owner of the Ben's restaurant chain, said he buys his meat from Hebrew National and poultry from Agriprocessors.
"I have a yearly contract [with Hebrew National] and so we'll get supplies of meat," he said. "The truth is, before there was a Rubashkin we never had a problem. And there have always been spot shortages."
Jeffrey Nathan, executive chef and proprietor of Abigail's in Manhattan, said his restaurant has never bought from Agriprocessors and has had a contract with Alle for nearly 15 years.
"They take care of their main people and since I have been purchasing from them for so long, I hope I get a certain priority," he said. "I'm sure demand will outweigh supply."
Officials at Alle did not return repeated phone calls.
Nathan said that as demand for meat increases, he may try to make dishes with "underutilized meats" rather than just those in popular demand.
"If it's good and creative, it can turn into mouthwatering delicacies," he said.
Nathan added that the meat shortage comes at a time of an approaching recession and that he may add more fish and vegetarian dishes, which are less expensive, to the menu.
- 7:59 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
US News & World Report breaks the story that Osama may appoint the bouffant buffoon John Kerry as Secretary of State.
- 8:06 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
The Associated Press
Thursday, November 6, 2008
NEW YORK: A company that insured groups of mortgage loans for a subsidiary of Bear Stearns accused the investment bank in a lawsuit Wednesday of building a "house of cards" through fraud and misrepresentations.
Ambac Assurance Corp., based in Manhattan, sued EMC Mortgage Corp., of Lewisville, Texas, in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. EMC was a mortgage unit of Bear Stearns Cos., which JPMorgan acquired in February.
The lawsuit claims Bear Stearns leveraged its reputation and dominance in mortgage finance to entice companies such as Ambac to insure loans plagued by rampant fraud. It seeks unspecified damages to recoup what's projected to be hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.
- 8:19 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
... enthusiasm was missing across the East River in Brooklyn's ultra-Orthodox Williamsburg, where poll workers chatted idly inside the gym at Intermediate School 71 while waiting for voters to turn up.
Turnout was just shy of 20 percent at lunchtime, a far cry from the anticipated 80% rates in other parts of the borough despite a concerted effort by the haredi organization Agudath Israel to register new voters this year for the first time in 20 years.
"It's dead here," said Anatoly Eysenberg, a Republican poll inspector who was assigned to the school.
... a tepid get-out-the-vote effort - limited to letters sent home with yeshiva students and SUVs driving around the neighborhood blaring exhortations to vote in Yiddish - may not have been enough to motivate new voters ... "I'm not aware that any grand decrees have come down from on high this year," said Rabbi David Zwiebel, vice president for public affairs at Agudath Israel. But he said turnout was higher than usual in his polling place in the Midwood neighborhood
Zwiebel nonetheless acknowledged the challenge in a "blue," or Democratic, state such as New York, where the chance of swinging the vote from Obama to McCain was calculated by the New York Post to be one in 1.9 billion, but said the goal was to demonstrate community cohesion rather than to change the result.
"When I go talk to people in Washington or in the states, I need to bring to the table a community that is politically involved, that mobilizes on election day," he said.
No instances of unusually long lines were called into an Agudath Israel voter hot line by midday, and only one problem - a poll worker in Far Rockaway, Queens, who apparently told a confused voter which candidate to choose - had been reported.
The increase in haredi voter registration - about 10,000 new voters, according to Agudath Israel - will likely pay off in future elections, others said.
"They'll be important in New York the next time there's a gubernatorial or a Senate race, something where it matters," said William Daroff, who runs the Washington office of United Jewish Communities. "The focus from the campaigns this time has been on the modern Orthodox in Cleveland, Florida, and Philadelphia, where it can make a difference."
- 8:28 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
A beautiful and inspiring post. The U.S. and the State of Israel have overcome far greter adversities in the past and will surely survive this unfortunate turn of events. Heck, we even survived the Jimmy Carter presidency. Abraham Lincoln once said, "While the people retain their virtue and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme of wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the government in the short span of four years."
During his acceptance speech at the 1980 convention, describing the Carter presidency, Ronald Reagan quoted this statement by Lincoln and quipped, "If Abe was around these past four years, I think he would have hedged on that statement." Seriously though, we cannot lose hope and we must be vigilant and demand accountability from our elected officials.
- 8:37 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
For Shmuly Yanklowitz, it was a matter of loyalty from one community organizer to another.
"As an Orthodox rabbinical student, I voted for Barack Obama with deep religious fervor," said Yanklowitz, founder of Uri L'Tzedek, a group espousing Jewish values and ethics and rabbinical candidate at Yeshiva Chovevei Torah. "His platform and leadership will best ensure that our nation remains focused on the Biblical mandates to ensure the rights of those most vulnerable.
"As a community organizer by training and disposition, I take tremendous pride in knowing that one with a commitment to that level of grassroots activism can rise to the highest office in this great country."
But another Orthodox rabbinical student, Yigal M. Gross, saw things differently.
"We need a president who exemplifies
national service — who has dedicated his life to our country and its citizens — and can restore honor and dignity to the presidency," said Gross, a Lawrence, L.I., resident who attends Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and Cornell Law School. "John McCain is that man."
Eduard Vaks, 67, who worked for 25 years at Katz's Deli in Manhattan before retiring four years ago, said he voted for Obama because, "He is sympathetic to the old and the poor, and I fit into both categories. I am living on a very small pension and I need all the help I can get. Obama will try to help his fellow African-Americans and some of that aid may reach me as well."
- 8:39 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Bloomberg wants to raise NYC income tax by 15%!!!!!!
Is he an Obama in sheep's clothing?
- 8:45 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Madam Speaker, I give you the President of the United States, James Earl Barack Hussein Obama Carter Jr.
Congrats Jimmy on your second term in office.
- 9:33 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
money manager - if you knew about the market then you would understand that the obama victory was "known" - this was far from a surprise to the market and to suggest that it sold off cuz he won is just moronic.
remind me not to put my money in your funds (witty enough for you)
- 10:14 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Hey Bankman;
What's up with Obama promising in a recent campaign speech that he will set up a Civilian Armed Force that will carry guns and receive the same training that those entering the Military receive.
Are they going to be called the Democratic Guards?
Are they going to wear brown shirts/uniforms?
Why do we need a Civilian Armed Force?
- 10:55 PM, November 05, 2008
- Anonymous said...
"a shul where people actually came to daven"
I didn't know that shuls were for davening.
- 11:34 PM, November 05, 2008
- Arthur said...
An email from a kiruv worker.
"Tonite , I traveled to Yale University where I give my once a semester
Torah class to Maimonides students. BH the class went well.. I then left the
building with the Maimonides Rabbis.. We saw and heard the revelry of the
students celebrating the Obama victory. with their generous cups of beer in
hand... We looked at one another.. and shrugged.. I proceeded to the New Haven
train station to go back to NYC.. taking the 11:30 P.M train... tired and
trying to discern what the victory meant for the Jewish people, the
country and the world... I heard the conductor, passengers and crew laughing
celebrating the victory... none of which surprised me... and then 4 exuberant
young people said to me: "you must be upset." I asked why?" they responded
"because Obama has won." again " I asked why should I be upset?" " because you
are Jewish," they answered... I answered , "did you know that polls have said
that approximately 80% of Jews most likely voted for Obama?" they
replied: "but you are religious!" I replied with disbelief: "what?" They
responded "the majority of religious JEWS were supporting McCain." I
asked, "how do u know that? "everyone knows that" they said."." Religious Jews
know that the day of their power and their ruination of WALL STREET IS OVER....
CHANGE IS COMING.... OBAMA HAS PROMISED THIS." They walked away...
I felt sick and thought, wow! so maybe this is how the chapter for American Jews
is ending... The cell phone rang and it is was my friend Rabbi Jonathan
Shippell.. We spoke of the election results and he asked me "DO YOU KNOW
WHAT TONIGHT IS?" "No" I answered. He said..." TONIGHT is the anniversary
of KRISTALLNACHT." MY ALREADY DISTRAUGHT HEART SIGHED... I then remembered... the crying of Rebbetzin Esther Yungreis. the night of the Democratic National Convention. 4 years ago... She asked... "what is going on in that room?" she asked me... "what danger is taking place?" " look at our history!... as she cried further.. THAT OF COURSE WAS THE NIGHT WE WERE ALL INTRODUCED TO President elect Obama... HASHEM YIRACHEM.. zchor yemot olam.. says the pasuk. .It is 3:24 A.M.. I just walked in to my apartment... I think it is time to GO HOME."
- 12:47 AM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Boog, if he actually implements a civilian armed force, then i'll eat my tie.
- 8:03 AM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Bankman, you haven't a clue. Anyone on "the street" knows that an Obama victory plus the far left solidifying their majority in both houses of Congress was not fully factored into valuations.
Now go along and play with your day trading software while the big boys have work to do.
- 8:06 AM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Why don't you grow some real Kahoonas and pick yourself up and move your valiant and noble cause to E"Y, where we all belong. For someone that has a unique clarity on life, I would think that you'd realize the future (however corrupt it may be) of Klal Yisroel is in E'Y as promised to our forefathers (you can hear all about it in shul this week). We are even further behind the U.S. in all these issues you have tackled and can use all the help we can get. I commend you on all you do, but you are fighting a cause on dying soil. Don't you realize the message g-d is sending with the financial and economic crash of the GREAT AMERICA??? As the gemora in Bava Basra (according to Maharsha) tells us, the "whale" of temporary golus has once again been overturned. Time to bring the Jews home.
- 9:29 AM, November 06, 2008
- Paul Mendlowitz said...
Why don't you grow some real Kahoonas and pick yourself up and move your valiant and noble cause to E"Y, where we all belong.**
If I "grew" them any bigger - I would not be able to walk!
- 9:37 AM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
I'll carry you!!!
- 9:40 AM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
MM - i am not familiar with the term "day trading". But you sound like you know all about it. good luck with that.
Clinton had democrat majority too (for 2 years) and we are still here!! Bush had a repub majority for several years and it was a disaster. Led to the housing crisis. He coulda taken care of fannie and freddie many times over during his reign, but did not. (if you want me to explain to you why fannie and freddie were the cause of this mess, just let me know and i'll help you out) :)
- 9:52 AM, November 06, 2008
- Paul Mendlowitz said...
I'll check with the Agudath Israel and see if they'll let me go. Something tells me that Shafran will miss me too much.
Poor Avi - I'm the only guy who pays him any attention anymore.
- 9:53 AM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Bankman had better start nibbling on his tie. The Dow is trending down again, 100 points and counting.
- 9:59 AM, November 06, 2008
- Paul Mendlowitz said...
Rice: Mideast peace by year-end no longer possible
Good riddance Condi! I'm happy to see you go. You, Hank, and the entire Bush cabinet....
Bye! Bye!
The next time we'll see Hank Paulson is at his perp walk!
- 9:59 AM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
we can tie him up and bring him too..I've got a nice big closet for him...
come on, I'm dead serious, please address the issue. You have a large following and you carry significant influence that comes with great responsibility. If you are lacking the education to understand the role of E"Y in our lives (as are 99% of yeshiva students) see the classic work from R' Teichtal titled "Eim Habonim S'meicha". They even have it in English.
- 10:02 AM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
bankman is pushing the typical line from Democrat supporters that makes no sense whatsoever. some of them are dense to figure things out and the smarter ones just outright lie to protect their ideology.
of course Bush was a disaster but Barack Osama is even more dangerous. Bush went into office promising to be Conservative yet he lied. Osama has a long history of Maxism and we already knew he wants to "spread the wealth around"
the only hope is that Osama is more power hungry than he is an ideologue and will pull a Hillary Clinton. Hillary used to be a radical too but mellowed somewhat when she realized that she will be otherwise unelectable.
- 10:04 AM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
The Osama Campaign is potentially interested in holding on to Paulson but HE might not accept.
Osama is an elitist who took loads of money from Wall St Lefties. And don't forget that the moron Liberal Jon Corzine is Paulson's buddy from Goldman Sachs.
- 10:07 AM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
I'm just a regular guy, and I have now heard for the THIRD time from people who grew up in Europe, that the situation today reminds them of the 1930's.
Two weeks I heard from two people that the financial crisis reminds them of the runup to WW2.
My grandma, who grew up in Berlin, said this week that the crowds adoring Obama's speeches in which he says nothing.....remind her of Hitler's charismatic speeches when he said nothing of substance but the crowds just gobbled him up.
To Bankman who says this is not Nazi Germany. Speak to anyone who lived in Germany in the 30's, they had a very enlightened democratic society. No one dreamed that anyone would ever kill a jew again. Jews had equal rights. And yet due to the financial crisis, the Germans elected Hitler (who already wrote Mein Kampf) because he promised them that he would help the little guy and he would bring Germany back to it's glory. And the peolpe ate it all up. After he was elected, suddenly the jews began losing their rights.....it took a couple of years, but it happened.
Will Obama be another Hitler? Hopefully not.
Can he? Absolutely!
Civilian national guard?! Spooky. Yes We Can.... we can WHAT? Does anybody know WHAT we can do? I have no clue what he means, and neither do the millions who chant it along with him, and the billions accross the world who smile to themselves when they hear those chants.
When I hear 85 year olds (three of them) saying that this eerily reminds them of the 30's, it makes me nervous.
And it makes others nervous too. Check out the passport offices. Jew and gentile alike are "suddenly" remembering to apply for passports....
Wake up! (tshuva anyone?)
- 10:10 AM, November 06, 2008
- Paul Mendlowitz said...
I've tried EY - some 60 stamps on my passport - No can do! The entire country is corrupt!
But thanks for the invite!
- 10:17 AM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
In case anyone was wondering who I am, I am the Left-Wing alter bochur Gov. of New Jersey who is best described by Bob Grant as the "scruffy looking bum with nothing going for him except for the $300 million he has in the bank and THAT DUMB BEARD"
- 10:25 AM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
sigh - dont just spew out "I make no sense" or "I'm lying" - tell me where you disagree with me. I actually never voted for a democrat, before this year. so i dont, in general believe their idiology - it just makes me mad - all the scare tactics.
spooked - I hear you - but dont get caught up in those comparisons, without identifying the key differences between then and now (mein kampf is a good example) also the differences between the structure of govt and courts here and dont forget the internet and media.
- 10:37 AM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
The company says it owes between 200 and 999 creditors $50 million to $100 million, according to records filed in U.S. District Court. Agriprocessors lists assets of $100 million to $500 million.
People should protest to the judge that Rubashkin does NOT meet the "strictest kashrus" qualifications like it says in this affadavit.
The list of creditors starts here.
And continues here.
It looks like Rubashkin even stiffed the Algemeiner Journal, fellow Lubabs.
On page 9 of the 2nd document, how is it that Rubashkin owes money to CRC-Chicago? Did they not reimburse one of their Gilligans from the 3 hour tour?
Page 11.
It looks like Rubashkin stiffed Weissmandel too! Serves him right.
Page 12.
They stiffed Stefansky out of his Dagim tuna fish without paying.
Page 16.
Hasofer in Crown Hts
Page 18.
They didn't pay Gal / Gabay.
Page 22.
Rabbi Teichman / Kehilla Kosher of LA
Page 23.
Kupczyk Travel Agency in Boro Park
Page 25
Menachem Lubinsky got screwed!
Page 43
CHK / Osdaba
>>> Rubashkin obviously made sure to pay the OU, Zeilengold and Nat Lewin who are not on the creditor list. <<<
The fact that the OU & Zeilengold are the only exceptions is very significant and should be looked in to, if they are not perhaps partners in crime somehow or covering up for each other.
- 10:42 AM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Bankman must be on his next course as the Dow is now down 200 points.
- 10:44 AM, November 06, 2008
- Paul Mendlowitz said...
UOJ agents spotted Menachem Genack at Iberia Airlines with contract in hand!
New detergent washes away stains of murder: study
(Reuters) – A new generation of cleaning products could help criminals get away with murder by making bloodstains invisible to forensic tests, Spanish researchers said Wednesday.
A team at the University of Valencia found that new washing powders and other chemicals that generate oxygen rather than use chlorine erase telltale traces of hemoglobin, the protein inside blood that transports oxygen around the body.
Police often rely on blood-splattered clothing to link a murderer to a crime. Even after 10 washes, forensic experts have been able, up to now, to identify blood using a cocktail of chemicals to unmask the stains.
But new detergents like Reckitt Benckiser's 'Vanish' that contain the active ingredient sodium carbonate peroxyhydrate produce a fizz of oxygen bubbles that degrade blood even though the stain may remain visible to the naked eye, according to the study published in the German journal Naturwissenschaften and reported in the New Scientist.
Fernando Verdu, a forensic scientist at the University of Valencia, said his three-member team would next investigate if the new oxygen-producing chemicals also destroyed DNA, which can provide crucial evidence in murder investigations.
"The majority of criminals are not that smart. They don't do things as you expect them to and read this kind of news. It is very simple to commit a crime, the difficult part is to not get caught," said Verdu.
- 10:55 AM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Yarmulka fresser & Bankman had better check themselves into a hospital.
Haven't you heard the maaysah told over by Rabbi Mordechai Becher?
His yarmulka once blew off a balcony but before he was able to retrieve it, it was eaten by a dog that was niftar soon afterwards.
- 11:04 AM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
I've been trying to contact the University of Valencia to find out if those new detergents are going to available in enema form.
- 11:07 AM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Mondrowitz, keep me posted.
- 11:17 AM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
This is not a joke. Rabbi Becher added that an autopsy of the hundt revealed that it had also consumed a quantity of petcha which contributed to it's demise.
Bankman must be on his 3rd course with the Dow Jones now down close to 300 points.
- 11:21 AM, November 06, 2008
- Paul Mendlowitz said...
Did you ever hear the maaseh about Yizchok Kaduri?
Half the women that got brachas from him to be able to have children, got pregnant within 20 years.
The other half got pregnant in two years.
That's with brachas - the ainekel in charge of collecting the fees - was klerring if half got pregnant with brachas - perhaps he could up the numbers if they sat on his lap!
- 11:21 AM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Borsalino Fresser, identify yourself!
Are you the bum who stole my dusty Borsalino on Shabbos morning from the coat room in the Agudah of Staten Island?
- 11:25 AM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Shafran, that was me.
Stanley Goldstein sent me to get that old geshteckta hat because you stopped making installment payments to Bencraft.
- 11:31 AM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
By Heather Ratcliffe
An intended rape victim shot and killed her attacker this morning in Cape Girardeau when he broke into her home to rape her a second time, police said.
The 57-year-old woman shot Ronnie W. Preyer, 47, a registered sex offender, in the chest with a shotgun when he broke through her locked basement door.
The woman told police he was the same man who raped her several days earlier. Officials do not intend to seek charges against her.
In the first incident, the woman heard glass breaking in her basement about midnight on Saturday. She went to leave the house, and the man attacked when she opened the front door. He punched her in the face and then forced her into a bedroom, where he raped her, said H. Morley Swingle, prosecuting attorney in Cape Girardeau County.
The victim reported the crime to police, and her landlord repaired the broken window.
She was home alone again Friday about 2:15 a.m. when Preyer broke the same basement window. The victim was awake watching television, when Preyer switched off the electricity to her house.
She tried to call 911, but couldn't because the power was off. She got a shotgun and waited as the man began banging on the basement door. She fired when Preyer came crashing through the door. When Preyer collapsed, the woman escaped and went to a neighbor's home, where she called police. Officers, who arrived within a minute, found a bleeding Preyer stumbling away from the house. He was taken to St. Francis Medical Center, where he died several hours later.
Swingle said the victim identified Preyer as the attacker in both incidents. Preyer, of Jackson, Mo., had wet caulking from the recently repaired basement window on his clothing when he was shot.
"I will not be filing any sort of charge against this 57-year-old woman, who was clearly justified under the law in shooting this intruder in her home," Swingle said.
- 11:54 AM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
to bankman:
actually, Obama's preacher spewing hatred at america and israel (jews), for TWENTY years, having him officiate at Obama's wedding, baptising his kids, being his "rebbe".............. yes, thats eerily similar to Hitler having wriiten Mein Kampf. No other president in recent memory, and for that matter no other western leader in recent memory has had such associations.
Yes, there are similarities. And as I posted above, hopefully nothing will happen.
But then again, haven't we all heard the questions about why the jews didn't see the writing on the wall in the 30's and get out? Instead they all brushed it aside, including Mein Kampf, the charisma, and those adoring crowds, and figured that enlightened Germany would never allow a holocaust.
Are we doing the same thing now? We know of his associations with terrorists. We know his preacher of TWENTY years, his beloved rabbi, hates us all. This definitely makes me think that maybe (?????) Obama also hates us, contrary to his election propaganda. We know the millions that voted for him fall into a trance when they see or hear him, and will blindly follow whatever he says. We know that he has called for a national civilian force. (which reminds me of Hitler youth) Obama's charisma and appeal can overcome any constitution, media, internet, whatever you think is protecting you. As UOJ puts it, the masses are asses, and they'll follow him just like they followed Hitler.
Yeh, let's hope everything will be great. I do hope so.
When I hear my grandma saying that this was the mood on the streets of Berlin in the 30's, and it's the third person I heard this from in three weeks, it scares the living daylights out of me.
I hope you're right.
I'm still getting a passport.
- 11:56 AM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
By Beth Jinks
Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Las Vegas Sands Corp., billionaire Sheldon Adelson's casino company, plunged in New York trading after saying it may default on debt and face bankruptcy.
The casino owner, which had $8.8 billion in long-term debt at the end of June, said in a regulatory filing today that it probably won't meet the requirements of some loans unless it cuts spending on development projects, boosts earnings at its Las Vegas Strip casinos and raises more capital.
The reversal of fortune is a black eye for the 75-year-old Adelson, who was once America's third-richest man on the strength of his Las Vegas Sands holdings. The Las Vegas-based company's dwindling cash flow is threatening $16 billion worth of developments in Macau, China, and Singapore, where Las Vegas Sands is building resorts to cater to wealthy Asian gamblers.
Spending declines on the Vegas Strip and restrictions on visas in Macau have stemmed the flow of cash into Las Vegas Sands. Today's admission comes after Adelson, who holds a stake of more than 64 percent, invested an additional $475 million in September and hired an investment bank to raise more capital with his help.
Las Vegas Sands doesn't expect to meet a maximum leverage ratio covenant in the fourth quarter, it said. That would trigger defaults that might force the company to suspend development projects and ``raise a substantial doubt about the company's ability to continue as a going concern.''
Deep Pockets
In a July conference call, Adelson suggested he would step in to help the company with any financing it might need.
``One my closest friends says `Sheldon, don't worry about your height, you're the tallest person I know when you stand on your wallet','' Adelson said on the July 30 call. ``And I'm saying right now, the company will not have liquidity problems. Need I say more?''
Adelson founded the Comdex computer expo in 1979, later selling the business and using the proceeds to build the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas.
Las Vegas Sands had tumbled 91 percent before today as investors dumped the shares, worried that falling casino winnings and the global financial meltdown will leave the company without enough cash to pay for expansion projects or cover its loans. The stock dropped $4.30, or 37 percent, to $7.36 at 11:39 a.m. before the start of New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
- 12:07 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
This columnist is Black himself
Some people don't think America is special
Having attended Yale University and Harvard Business School, I spend a lot of time around blacks who went to Ivy League schools and sit around and congratulate themselves on being the "chosen" ones. I believe many of these people would be dangerous for America if they were to gain political power.
Many of the black people I spend time with don't love America, despite the fact that they have benefited from America's blessings. I have been in million-dollar homes in which I've listened to black elites talk down about America. I've heard them go on and on about slavery, about racism, about how black people have been held down and held back. They see nothing great about America or in how it has overcome that past.
How can that be, you ask, when they have taken advantage of the political system to gain power? I believe they hate America and hate what America stands for. They believe in the United Nations and a world in which America is no better than any other nation.
Barack Obama claims to represent change, and he does. But the change he stands for is change in the worst way. Obama represents change from American exceptionialism to America as just another nation. He represents change from America as a leader of the free world to America as just a peer with the likes of France or Germany. I also am deeply concerned by Obama's past associations with admitted 1960s terrorist William Ayers, convicted Chicago felon Tony Rezko and the voter-registration-fraud specialists of ACORN.
I told you in my previous column that when I was at Martha's Vineyard this summer I didn't really learn anything that might be useful in defeating Obama. What I did hear at a party of black people was a lot of talk about how it's "our time" and about "white guilt." I am very concerned about who Obama would bring into his cabinet and who would be running the government.
These black elites do not respect America. America is special, truly exceptional. I don't think that Obama believes that about America.
Z. Dwight Billingsly is a principal of Branford Gateway Investment Co. and a financial services industry specialist for the Missouri Department of Economic Development. He serves as co-chair of the Missouri Spectrum political action committee, an auxiliary of the Missouri Republican Party.
- 12:08 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
U.S. carmakers may not be able to wait for Obama
Wed Nov 5, 2008
While GM and Ford struggle, prospects at Chrysler LLC are the most uncertain. People involved in discussions about its future say the smallest of the U.S. manufacturers could merge, be spun off or be pushed into bankruptcy if not helped soon.
Engler said a Chrysler failure could cost up to 1 million jobs throughout the economy.
"It's not just the three auto companies, it's suppliers, all the way down the chain," Engler said.
- 12:27 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Israel cautions against Obama dialogue with Iran
Thu Nov 6, 2008
- 12:33 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Osama wants that lying scumbag Tom Daschle in his cabinet.
- 12:41 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Hey Bankman, the Dow is now down almost 400 points.
900 points in a day and a half sure is a nice reaction to your savior Barack Osama.
- 12:49 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
call 212-444-9555 - it's a 90 second clip, and find out why "the masses are asses" voted for Obama.
America is in a trance. Yes we can... Yes we can... Yes we can... Yes we can... Yes we can... Yes we can...
I'm also getting my passport.
- 12:51 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Home prices in the nations 10 biggest metro areas are projected to keep falling in 2009, with Miami and Los Angeles suffering most.
Metro area 2009 median home price 2009 change
Dallas $155,645 -1.0%
Houston 147,549 -1.8
Atlanta 50,092 -2.5
Chicago 239,359 -5.3
Philadelphia 201,151 -9.8
Boston 295,918 -12.5
New York 393,210 -13.7
Washington 261,411 -17.1
Los Angeles 269,614 -17.2
Miami 214,551 -18.8
Notes: Prices are projections for the end of 2009. Change is from the end of 2008.
Source:Moody's Economy.com
- 12:56 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
All kinds of tunkelach voted for the first time in their lives, including the ones that are senior citizens.
Then you have tens of thousands of fake votes "registered" by ACORN.
George Will sparked outrage among Liberals when he said the truth that pinhead Colin Powell was all about race.
- 1:00 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
The election is a victory for the American people and for American history. It is a vindication of the promise and dream of America. Barack Obama is a person of such extraordinary talents and abilities that his victory too is a vindication of the idea that the best will in fact come to the top in a free society.
God Bless America.
— Shalom Freedman
- 1:03 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Go to Zillow.com to see how much nearby homes fetched recently. Once you've figured out what a buyer might pay, price your house 5% below that.
Sound painful? A recent study by a New Jersey appraiser found that houses priced below market ended up selling for more than similar houses listed above market. That's because lower prices attract more buyers.
- 1:04 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Who cares what a disciple of super leftist putz Irving "Yitz" Greenberg has to say?
- 1:07 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Even Shlomo Riskin voted for McCain which makes one wonder what compels these "geniuses" like Freedman and Bankman.
- 1:09 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Subject: Important Community Announcement
To: email@example.com
After many meetings with the Chicago Police Department, in our efforts to improve the safety and security of our neighborhoods, we would like to bring this important information to the entire community.
An incident that is not reported to the police is an incident that 'did not happen' in terms of police awareness and responsiveness.
It is crucial that you call the police, whenever ANY SORT OF CRIME is committed against you or your property. Only when these crimes and issues are properly documented, will we be able to obtain the services we urgently need from the Chicago Police Department.
- 1:31 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Six Flexible Careers That Pay $70k
by Gabby Hyman
Oh for job flexibility! Most American workers struggle to wrap their days around a routine work schedule. Juggling kids, caring for aging parents, making visits to the dentist, enjoying a week of sanity at a beach resort, and rounding up the troops for a holiday meal present a real challenge. Finding balance in life can be difficult, and often the most important things--family time, healthy eating and exercise, and spiritual refreshment--fall away to overtime, half-hour power lunches, and moonlighting. More than seven million Americans have had to take more than one job to make ends meet.
With the economy on the rocks, flexibility seems more a luxury than a necessity. You may have to return to college to prepare for one of the more flexible careers, and you still may work long hours. But you'll have a greater say in when and where you work them.
Here are six careers that offer flexibility and self-employment options or pay near the $70k range or better--along with the training you'll need.
Post Secondary Teachers
Did you know that many college teachers and university professors are retiring? You'll work on a school calendar, with summer, spring, and winter holiday vacation time if you want it. Some professors only report to campus two days a week. They make up for it by the work they do at home, but not reporting to campus every day can lead to flexibility.
You'll need a master's degree to teach at the community college level and a doctorate in your field to qualify for tenure-track professorships at four-year colleges. Positions for post-secondary teachers are predicted to rise by an exceptional 12 percent through the 2006-2016 decade. 2007 salary averages were $98,974 for professors, $69,911 for associate professors, and $58,662 for assistant professors.
Travel Nurses
Nurses can work long hours. But travel nurses work long hours with scheduled time off between assignments if they want. You can arrange for short-time postings to great locales, or long-term ones once you find a niche.
You'll need an online two-year RN or bachelor's degree in nursing to qualify. Jobs for registered nurses are expected to continue to boom, rising by 23 percent through 2016. The top 50 percent of working registered nurses earned between $73,170 and $87,310 in 2007. And travel nurses can receive pay for relocation and housing.
Software Designers
High tech and flex time. Software designers--including game design experts--often hire out on a per-contract basis, working intensive schedules to launch a new product and then enjoying time off between engagements. Some only work on an on-call basis. And job growth will be stupendous, rising by 38 percent during the 2006-2016 decade.
You'll need at least a bachelor's degree in software design or applications, and a master's degree if you hope to run a consultancy. The median 2007 annual wage was $83,130.
Management Analysts
Management analysts work hard, but work smart and enjoy great flexibility. More than 27 percent are self-employed, which is more than three times the national average for all self-employed professionals. You'll offer yourself as a consultant in sales, marketing, technology, health care, and finance to top companies home and abroad.
Many management analysts find work with consulting companies with only a bachelor's degree in business or finance, while the more successful ones who work online from a home office hold at least an MBA degree. Job growth is predicted at a healthy 22 percent, and the median 2007 annual wage was $71,150.
Interior Designers
Interior designers also lead the way in the number of self-employed, flexible career professionals with 26 percent running their own companies/consultancies. Train for the field through an associate degree program, but add a bachelor's degree in art or design to advance to the more flexible positions. Study fabrics, CAD design, ergonomics, color theory, and more. The top 50 percent in the field earned on average between $60,200 and $81,800 in 2007.
Real Estate Sales Agents
Home sales are temporarily slumping, but look at the number of new commercial buildings rising on the landscape. Most brokers have college training in real estate, business, law, marketing, or finance. You may need to work 1-3 years to get your broker's license, but you rent or borrow office space, and work your own hours. In 2007, the top 50 percent of real estate agents earned between earn between $65,040 and $106,790.
- 1:32 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Bankman must be swallowing his shoelaces.
The Dow is down 450 points.
- 1:39 PM, November 06, 2008
- Paul Mendlowitz said...
I'll add my 2 cents here. The market is getting clobbered because, now that the election hype is over, investors are staring reality, in all its various aspects, in the face.
There is no question, we are in a global recession - and that's driving investors out of the markets.
The election of McCain would not have spared this stark reality.
- 1:45 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
"The election of McCain would not have spared this stark reality."
Yes but Obama and Liberal Democrats unquestionably cause larger selloffs.
- 1:50 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
spooked - i hear you.
i would point out though that many would think my rabbi is just as hateful as that piece of dreck that was obama's mentor. imagine if they taped your rav's speached every shabbos - and that you sat there and listened to him talk about goyim and amalek....whatever. I know my rabbi is pretty darn extreme, and most secular people would find him just as disgusting as reverend wright. that doesnt mean that you (or I) believe that stuff to the letter of the law.
i agree with you on passport. we should all buy insurance. The hysterics are not helpful, in my view (i obviously disagree with you that we are even CLOSE to all putting jewish stars on our shirts)
fresser - thank the good lord i am positioned properly for this type of market. let me ask you, what do you think the cause of this market meltdown was or is?
- 1:53 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Trump: It's 1929 All Over Again
Thursday, November 6, 2008 10:26 AM
By: Greg Brown
Billionaire developer Donald Trump says that the banks are a total disaster and warns that the United States could relive 1929 and the resulting economic collapse of the Depression if something isn't done soon to restore normal lending.
But, Trump told Fox News, he believes President-elect Barack Obama will do "no worse than Bush" in handling the aftermath of the credit crisis.
The $700 billion bailout should be helping the banking system to recover, but there's really no playbook for this kind of crisis, so the result is chaos, Trump says.
"It's a very scary time. And people are doing things that they've never done before. They're experimenting. It's all one big experiment that nobody knows how the experiment is going to end," Trump says.
The banks have the money now, Trump complains, but they are not loaning it out.
"No matter how strong you are, you can't borrow 10 cents," Trump says. "And, I will tell you, this could lead to something very, very bad for the country and for the world."
"It's a very serious problem, the likes of which we have not seen since 1929."
As for Obama, Trump is hopeful, despite the nearly 500-point drop in stocks the day after Obama's win on Tuesday.
"Hopefully, he's going to do a great job. But the way I look at it, he cannot do worse than Bush."
Obama's transition team is already at work, and pundits expect key posts to be named quickly in order to give investors a sense that the transition will go smoothly.
One top post will be Treasury Secretary. Current Secretary Henry Paulson warned months ago he would not stay on, despite the gravity of the bank crisis.
"This is one of the first times that I can remember that the Secretary of the Treasury is going to be almost as important as the Secretary of State," David Gergen, who served in the Reagan and Clinton administrations, told CNN.
- 2:11 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
The mortgage meltdown is not Bush's fault; it's Barney (Feigele) Frank who prevented Bush/Republican legislation designed to reign in both Fannies from passing.
The stock market is down 10% in the last 48 hours following Tuesday's Presidential Election. The greatest 2-day drop following any Pres. Election in our History. Know why?
Cause savvy investors realize that the Obamanization of our economy to socialism is on its way.
- 2:50 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Hey Shver Donald,
Obama is still worse on Israel and taxes.
- 2:52 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
GM is seemingly lying about the $1 billion per month cash burn rate. It's more like $3 or $4 billion a month.
In about an hour they along with Ford & Chrysler are meeting with Speaker Pelosi and are expected to ask the govt bailout of Detroit to be raised to $75 billion from $50 billion (that figure includes last year's amount).
- 2:55 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
The Dow is down 500 points again today and Schwartzi the Terminator is supposed to hike taxes like there's no tomorrow.
Obama, who supposedly is "better for the economy" just sent up an incoherent Chris Dodd to ramble about some non-plan.
Maybe we should buy some island and start out own country.
- 3:45 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Retailers report steep sales declines in October-
AP Fidelity to cut nearly 1,300 jobs; 2nd round of cuts coming- AP
Toy maker Mattel to cut 1,000 jobs worldwide-
AP Longer-term jobless benefits hit 25-year high- AP Hedge fund results seen going from bad to worse-
Reuters Oil drops 6 percent on recession concerns-
Reuters Coal-miner shares fall on output cuts- AP Commodities,
Emerging Markets: Been Down So Long It Feels Like Up- Tech Ticker
- 4:00 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Jared Kushner may have found a shvache rabbi to be "megayer" Ivanka but at least he met one good criteria. Gossip websites are reporting that the rabbi had to be anti-NY Times. Jared is of course publisher of the NY Observer.
Rabbi Haskell Lookstein is an interesting character. He used to attend the opera without a yarmulka until his daughter forced him to start wearing one. Haskell felt it wasn't passig to wear a yarmulka while indulging in kol isha.
- 4:01 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Ronnie Schreiber has entered the building.
Quick! Seal all the windows on the upper floors before he hurts himself!
- 4:02 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Hey Boog, it's not exclusively my fault. Cisneros from the Clinton Cabinet conceived the business model before he resigned over the sex scandal.
- 4:04 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Boog. you are wrong my friend. Bush had a republican congress for several years and would not sign legislation to reign in fannie and freddie.
to this day, no one knows why he didnt do it.
- 4:05 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Schwarzenegger: $4.4B in tax hikes to end deficit
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday proposed $4.4 billion in new taxes and a similar amount in spending cuts to deal with California's worsening fiscal crisis, saying, "We must stop the bleeding."
Much of the new revenue would come from a 1.5-percentage-point increase in the sales tax; the Republican governor described the hike as temporary but did not say how long it would last.
"We have a dramatic situation here and it takes dramatic solutions ... and immediate action," Schwarzenegger said as he called the Legislature back into session to deal with the budget shortfall.
The governor said $4.5 billion in cuts will be necessary across all state programs, including education, social services, health care and prisons.
Just six weeks ago, Schwarzenegger signed an overdue state budget that was intended to close a $15.2 billion deficit. The rapid pace of decline in the national and state economies since then has reopened an $11.2 billion gap that threatens to widen even further.
Schwarzenegger's call for tax increases puts him again at odds with legislators in his own party. Republicans, a minority in both houses but strong enough to block spending plans, were steadfastly against raising taxes in the last budget, and the state Senate's GOP caucus chairman said that won't change.
"The fact is that during this time of economic challenges is not the time to go back to California taxpayers and ask for more money from them," said Sen. George Runner, of Lancaster.
The governor often has characterized California's budget problems as being caused by runaway spending, rather than a lack of tax revenue, but he said Thursday that the severe financial crisis has flipped that.
"It is now a revenue problem rather than a spending problem," Schwarzenegger said.
The governor said the state's economic condition has deteriorated significantly since the budget was approved, with a cratering stock market and the continued decline of the housing industry.
"Many Californians have lost their homes, they've lost their jobs ... and everyone is worried about their future," Schwarzenegger said.
California's budget relies greatly on capital gains taxes, which have dropped precipitously in recent months as stock prices have plummeted. Sales and property taxes also have declined.
The worsening conditions are spreading throughout state government. California's unemployment insurance fund, which helps those tossed out of work pay their bills, is expected to be insolvent by January. That would force the state to borrow from the federal government.
Schwarzenegger's proposed $4.4 billion in tax increases includes higher sales taxes. He also alluded to bringing in more money through other "revenue generators." That might include boosting the registration fee for vehicles by $12 and taxing companies that extract oil from California, which he said would generate $528 million this year.
The governor said he would accelerate public works spending as part of an economic stimulus program: $204 million from water bonds, more than $700 million for transportation and $106 million for hospital construction.
He also proposed mortgage modifications that he said would help keep homeowners in their houses by cutting payments 25 percent to 30 percent.
Schwarzenegger said state workers might be asked to take a one-day-a-month unpaid furlough and said employers and employees may have to pay more into the unemployment insurance pool to help it remain solvent.
The plan Schwarzenegger outlined on Thursday will serve as the starting point in negotiations with the Democratic and Republican leaders of the state Legislature. Some Republican votes are needed in the Senate and Assembly to reach the two-thirds majority required to pass spending plans and tax increases.
Sen. Runner said Republicans would be open to considering other ways to generate revenue for the state. That could include licensing more offshore oil drilling to collect fees and considering selling what Runner said are "billions of dollars of surplus properties."
He said Republican lawmakers oppose boosting gas taxes or the state's vehicle licensing fee, which Schwarzenegger cut shortly after taking office.
- 4:18 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Taxpayers may pay legal bills for mortgage execs
Posted: Nov 6, 2008 11:20 AM
When the government took over mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, taxpayers inherited more than just bad debts. They're also potentially on the hook for tens of millions of dollars in legal fees for the executives at the center of the housing market's collapse.
With the Justice Department investigating companies involved in the mortgage and financial meltdown, executives around the country are hiring defense lawyers. Like many large companies, Fannie and Freddie had contracts promising to cover legal bills for their executives.
When the Treasury Department delivered a $200 billion bailout to Fannie and Freddie, that obligation passed to the government, which may find itself paying for the lawyers defending the executives against the government's own prosecutors.
"Who'd have thought we might be on the hook for paying the defense costs when we're also paying the prosecution costs?" said Doug Heller, executive director of Consumer Watchdog, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based group that has been critical of the financial bailout packages. "To defend the economy from the havoc that's been created, we're going to defend the havoc creators?"
The Bush administration is working to avoid it. The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which controls Fannie and Freddie, said in regulatory filings that it soon will issue regulations spelling out exactly how such legal fees may be dolled out. The agency could prohibit some fees, but a broad prohibition almost certainly would lead to a costly court fight over who's responsible for the bills when the Justice Department comes knocking.
Fannie's and Freddie's contracts also cover legal fees from shareholder lawsuits. Taxpayers could be forced to pay those legal bills, too. If the shareholders win - if they can prove the companies were mismanaged - the government could be liable for millions of dollars to make up for the executives' failures.
It wouldn't be the first time federal money intended to prop up the financial industry was used for unintended purposes. Days after it received an $85 billion federal bailout loan, the huge insurer American International Group Inc. spent $440,000 on an executive retreat with spa treatments, banquets and golf outings.
Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been subpoenaed as part of the wide-ranging Justice Department investigation into the companies' accounting, disclosure and governance practices. The two companies are key to the U.S. mortgage industry. After banks make loans to home buyers, Fannie and Freddie buy the mortgages from the banks so bankers can have cash on hand to make more loans and keep the economy humming. Fannie and Freddie then bundle those loans and sell them as mortgage-backed securities. The proceeds of those sales help buy more mortgages.
In recent years, however, the companies purchased more risky, subprime mortgages. When the housing bubble burst and the subprime industry imploded, investors feared the risk of buying Fannie and Freddie's mortgage-backed securities, making it harder for the companies to raise money.
Combined, Fannie and Freddie own or guarantee nearly half of all U.S. mortgages. The Treasury Department stepped in to keep the companies from collapsing and taking the mortgage industry with them.
Neither Fannie nor Freddie has said whether they already have advanced any legal fees to former executives. The companies are required to make general disclosures about such payments but only on quarterly corporate filings.
When the government took over, Fannie Mae chief executive Daniel H. Mudd, Freddie Mac chief executive Richard F. Syron and the rest of the companies' leadership was dismissed. All those executives would be entitled to have their legal fees covered.
The obligations could easily stretch into millions of dollars. Both companies have promised to pay legal fees for all current and former board members, executives and employees charged or investigated in connection with their employment.
Legal fees can add up quickly. After Freddie Mac restated its earnings in 2003, it became embroiled in several investigations and lawsuits. By the middle of 2005, the company had paid $16.8 million in legal fees for its executives and employees.
Executives who are convicted of wrongdoing are required to give the money back. Those who are acquitted, who are merely witnesses or who are investigated but never charged do not need to reimburse the company.
It's impossible to determine how much money might be at stake. In taking over the two mortgage giants, the government pledged to spend up to $200 billion to keep both companies afloat. The amount the government actually will spend depends on how well the companies perform in a changing mortgage industry.
With so much money at stake, defense attorneys are watching closely to see how broadly housing regulators restrict any future legal payments. The Fannie and Freddie contracts give the executives the right to sue to force the companies to pay their legal fees. If the executives win, the cost of those lawsuits gets passed to Fannie and Freddie, and potentially to the taxpayers.
- 4:22 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
CONTACT DC Children's Hospital and ask them to respect the wishes of the parents of Motl Brody, whose doctors want to disconnect him from life support. Contact your friends and neighbors and email lists. Send articles to secular newspapers. Raise a ruckus. Do not stand idly by while a Jewish boy's life is at risk. The implications of this case for frum Yidden is very serious.
Contact the media.
Also, contact:
Children's National Medical Center:
Main Hospital Address:
111 Michigan Ave., N.W
Washington, D.C 20010
firstname.lastname@example.com (Subject: DON'T TAKE MOTL BRODY OFF LIFE SUPPORT!)
Volunteer Services: 202-476-2062
Public Relations: 202-476-4500
General Information: 202-476-3000
Advocacy and Community Affairs: 202-476-4930
- 4:26 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
CONTACT DC Children's Hospital and ask them to respect the wishes of the parents of Motl Brody, whose doctors want to disconnect him from life support. Contact your friends and neighbors and email lists. Send articles to secular newspapers. Raise a ruckus. Do not stand idly by while a Jewish boy's life is at risk. The implications of this case for frum Yidden is very serious.
Contact the media.
Also, contact:
Children's National Medical Center:
Main Hospital Address:
111 Michigan Ave., N.W
Washington, D.C 20010
firstname.lastname@example.com (Subject: DON'T TAKE MOTL BRODY OFF LIFE SUPPORT!)
Volunteer Services: 202-476-2062
Public Relations: 202-476-4500
General Information: 202-476-3000
Advocacy and Community Affairs: 202-476-4930
- 4:26 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
That topic with Haskell Lookstein and his opera yarmulka preferences came up previously over at FM. Shmarya went beserk and insisted it's not questionable that a rabbi behave that way. A Rabbi David Willig came to Shmarya's defense and cited supposed sources. No one called him on it but Willig is a Scheinberg talmid who has since been leading various Conservative temples.
- 4:32 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Click on the video. Dr. Michael Moritz is a heimisher guy mit a koppel.
- 5:27 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
David Willig is from a long list of UTJ yutzes ("Union of Traditional Judaism") that hang out on Shmarya's blog. They would have been perfectly comfortable with the Conservative kefira but they wanted out after the gay vote and formed a new group that include some far left modern orthodox that never really belonged in Young Israel. They are a bunch of sad cases who get their kicks out of Shmarya bashing the Orthodox.
- 5:31 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Economic Crisis Good for Chareidi Advertising
By R. Gil
Although the atmosphere of world recession pervades most of Israel's advertising firms, where there is already talk of tightening budgets and freezing certain marketing campaigns, an entirely different mood dominates the chareidi advertising world, where the global economic crisis could even be advantageous.
In recent years the chareidi sector has become more and more attractive as a safe stronghold that every important company wants to take part in. Under normal circumstance it offers valuable customers that can be relied on, an asset that takes on especial importance during times of uncertainty. This situation has chareidi advertisers optimistic, especially the larger firms that have ties with heavyweight companies, which don't fall to pieces every time a wave comes through.
Based on conversations with ranking executives at leading firms, the current economic state could even lead to massive spending on chareidi advertising. "A shekel spent in the chareidi sector is worth more than in the general population because it's more focused and is aimed at a clearly defined target group," says Shay Lachovitzer, CEO of the Afikim Group. "When clients check the effectiveness of the shekel they notice this comparison, which stands out in greater relief during periods of tighter advertising. If a new food product is launched, for example, in the chareidi sector advertising and sales promotion will focus on seven cities, compared to the general population, which is in hundreds of different locations. A maximal effect can be created with a minimal budget.
"In the general population it's not always possible to assess the actual impact the campaigns had, despite the large amount of money invested. In the chareidi sector feedback is usually immediate. It will definitely have special allure during hard times, when companies are looking for safe opportunities to increase sales."
- 5:37 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Some of the people on the long list of those owed money by Rubashkin are former mashgichim.
It's a pelleh that Berel Wolowik is among them. He is currently mashgiach at Gourmet Glatt in the 5 Towns where he spends yomam valayla defending Rubashkin to customers angry or confused as to why GG continues to sell the stuff. The guy made absolutely no sense BEFORE I knew Rubashkin owed him money.
Maybe he just too ashamed that anything bad get out about Lubavitch.
A few blocks away is the Cedarhurst Chabad house run by a different Wolowik family member.
- 5:41 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
The leading certifier of kosher food, the Orthodox Union, has been attempting to find new supplies of kosher beef, but rabbis at the organization say there are few immediate opportunities.
"Everybody is running around, to use a metaphor, like chickens with their heads cut off," said Rabbi Seth Mandel, who oversees slaughterhouses for the O.U. "Everybody is calling everyone else trying to find a solution, but no one is anywhere near finding a solution to this."
The shortages already appear to be hitting supermarkets and restaurants. Jared Cohen, the chef at Max & David's, a Philadelphia-area kosher restaurant, said that he has been changing the menu because of the inability to get certain meats, and his butcher has essentially no inventory because of the absence of Agriprocessors meat. "People are going to start charging even more than it's worth because everyone's looking for the same piece of meat," Cohen said.
Menachem Lubinsky, a marketing consultant for the kosher industry, said he has heard about stores that have signs up announcing "No Kosher Meat."
"In good times people could choose where they got their meat," Lubinsky said. "Now you get what you can, and pay what you have to in order to stock the shelves."
Lubinsky said he has been contacted by Israeli and Russian entrepreneurs looking to fill the void, but even if Agriprocessors finds new owners tomorrow, Lubinsky said the crisis will not be stayed. "I believe in the power of the market – and I've always felt that somehow things would shake themselves out," he said, "but I can't even look into the future and see any prospect for this."
One possible alternative to the dilemma is Empire Kosher, a company that has, until now, produced kosher poultry and has discussed entering the beef market. Elie Rosenfeld, a spokesman for Empire, said the company was still in exploratory stages and that "there is no change as to our readiness to enter the market."
Aaron Rubashkin, stated that bankruptcy protection should halt the foreclosure temporarily while the company attempts to restructure, suggesting that Rubashkin wants to maintain control over the company.
Mandel said that even if Agriprocessors does find a new investor immediately, which will not be easy, "they are not going to be able to start full-scale production for a long time."
In Houston, Levy Donin, the manager of HEB supermarket said that shortages are already being caused by the awareness of an impending crisis.
"We don't have that much in reserve because people are freaking out," Donin said. "They're hearing the news and starting to buy more than they usually do."
- 7:22 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Italian leader: Obama 'handsome and even tanned'
– Thu Nov 6, 3:56 pm ET AP – Italian leader calls Obama 'tanned'
MOSCOW – Italy's famously impolitic Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi described U.S. President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday as "young, handsome and even tanned."
Berlusconi appeared to be joking about America's first black president at a news conference following talks with Russia's president.
The Italian leader, who has a history of controversial remarks, was asked by a reporter about the prospect for U.S.-Russian relations, which have plummeted to Cold War-levels in recent months.
Berlusconi responded by saying that the relative youth of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, 43, and Obama, 47, should make it easier for Moscow and Washington to work together.
Then, smiling and speaking in Italian, he said through a translator: "I told the president that (Obama) has everything needed in order to reach deals with him: he's young, handsome and even tanned."
Medvedev did not visibly react to the comment.
Italian news agencies said Berlusconi later defended the remark, calling it "a great compliment."
"Why are they taking it as something negative? ... If they have the vice of not having a sense of humor, worse for them," the ANSA news agency quoted him as saying.
Later, Berlusconi told Sky TV-24 Ore the remark was meant to be "cute" and he lashed out at those who disagreed, calling them "imbeciles, of which there are too many."
Berlusconi, 72, is infamous for eyebrow-raising comments.
He once compared a German lawmaker to a Nazi camp guard, asserted after the Sept. 11 terror attacks that Western civilization was superior to Islam and claimed more recently that the new Spanish government had too many women.
Italy's only black lawmaker, Jean-Leonard Touadi, called Thursday's comment embarrassing.
"In the United States, a joke like that wouldn't just be politically incorrect, but a great offense to this amazing example of integration, which it seems the Italian premier should take as an example," Touadi said.
- 7:47 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Larry Kudlow was totally stunned tonight that Pit Bull Pelosi announced the Democrats want TAX CUTS for anyone making less than 250k.
Who can believe their ears that a Socialist is a pulling a Reagan with supply-side economics?
Is this too good to be true?
- 8:43 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
All experts now seem to believe that a GM-Chrysler merger simply won't work.
Both companies have the same problem that there are too many brands, too many dealerships and too few customers.
There is an argument if it would help if a foreign carmaker would buy Chrysler.
- 8:46 PM, November 06, 2008
- Anonymous said...
You're clueless.
But let's extend a lifeline to your "Messiah" with "the wind at his back" and see what he can do.
And let's hope that his wind is not flatulence.
- 10:17 PM, November 06, 2008
- Arthur said...
David Letterman wrote this:
'As most of you know I am not a President Bush fan, nor have I ever been, but this is not about Bush, it is about us, as Americans, and it seems to hit the mark.'
'The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some Poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true given the source, right?
The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the President.. In essence 2/3 of the citizenry just ain't happy and want a change. So being the knuckle dragger I am, I started thinking, 'What are we so unhappy about?'
A. Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 Days a week?
B. Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter?
C. Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job?
D. Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?
E. Maybe it is the ability to drive our cars and trucks from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state.
F. Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter?
G. I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough either.
H. Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all and even send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.
I. Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home.
J. You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family, and your belongings.
K. Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes, an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss.
L. This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90% of teenagers own cell phones and computers.
M. How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world?
Maybe that is what has 67% of you folks unhappy.
Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S. , yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have, and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.
I know, I know. What about the president who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The president who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same president who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The president that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled ungrateful brats safe from terrorist attacks? The commander in chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me?
Did you hear how bad the President is on the news or talk show? Did this news affect you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn't take a look around for yourself and see all the good things and be glad? Think about it......are you upset at the President because he actually caused you personal pain OR is it because the 'Media' told you he was failing to kiss your sorry ungrateful behind every day.
Make no mistake about it. The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases may have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go. They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a ''general'' discharge, an 'other than honorable'' discharge or, worst case scenario, a ''dishonorable' discharge after a few days in
the brig.
So why then the flat-out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of Americans?
Say what you want, but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds it leads and they specialize in bad news. Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner? The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells, and when criticized, try to defend their actions by 'justifying' them in one way or another. Just ask why they tried to allow a murderer like O.J. Simpson to write a book about how he didn't kill his wife, but if he did he would have done it
this way......Insane!
Turn off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New
York Times for the bottom of your bird cage. Then start being grateful for all we have as a country. There is exponentially more good than bad. We are among the most blessed people on Earth and should thank God several times a day, or at least be thankful and appreciative.' 'With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, 'Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'
-David Letterman
- 11:34 PM, November 06, 2008
- Arthur said...
Do you know ?????
I was raised in one country but my father was born in another. I was not his
only child. He fathered several children with a number of women.
I became very close to my mother because my father showed little interest in
me. Then my mother died at an early age from cancer. Later in life,
questions arose over my real name. My birth records were sketchy and no one
was able to produce a reliable birth certificate.
I grow up practicing one faith, but converted to Christianity because this
was widely accepted in my country. But I practiced non-traditional beliefs
and did not follow mainstream Christianity.
I worked and lived among lower-class people as a young adult before I
decided it was time to get serious about my life and I embarked on a new
I wrote a book about my struggles growing up. It was clear to those who read
my memoirs that I had difficulties accepting that my father abandoned me as
a child.
I became active in local politics when I was in my 30s and then burst onto
the scene as a candidate for national office when I was in my 40s. I had a
virtually non-existent resume, very little work history, and no experience
in leading a single organization. Yet I was a powerful speaker who managed
to draw incredibly large crowds during my public appearances.
At first, my political campaign focused on my countrys foreign policy. I was
critical of my country in the last war. But what launched my rise to
national prominence were my views on the countrys economy. I had a plan on
how we could do better. I knew which group was responsible for getting us
into this mess.
Mine was a peoples campaign. I was the surprise candidate because I emerged
from outside the traditional path of politics and was able to gain
widespread popular support. I offered the people the hope that together we
could change our country and the world.
I spoke on behalf of the downtrodden including persecuted minorities such as
Jews, but my actual views were not widely known until after I became my
nations leader. However, anyone could have easily learned what I really
believed if they had simply read my writings and examined those people I
associated with. But they did not.
Then I became the most powerful man in the world. And the world learned the
Who am I?
Scroll down for the answer.
Adolf Hitler
Bet that's not who you guessed, right?
- 12:21 AM, November 07, 2008
- Arthur said...
A must read http://www.stservicemovie.com/land.html
- 12:30 AM, November 07, 2008
- Arthur said...
I'm sorry.Wrong URL on my previous post.
- 12:34 AM, November 07, 2008
- Anonymous said...
The conference, organized by the New York chapter of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), brought together victims and advocates of sexual abuse inside the Catholic community and the Jewish community, which recently has seen a spate of allegations of sexual abuse, mostly in chareidi yeshivas.
Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind has become the unlikely champion of the cause. Attendees from the Jewish side included community activist Rabbi Nochum Rosenberg and
members of Survivors for Justice,
a recently launched Jewish coalition composed of abuse victims
and their advocates that encourages
Jewish victims to go to secular
There are parallels between the sexual abuse scandal that occurred among the Catholic clergy and current cases in the Jewish
community. In both instances the
alleged abuse is widespread. The
Roman Catholic Church hierarchy
has been accused of covering-up
and abetting accused pedophiles.
While no similar claim has been officially made against any Jewish
organization, some activists believe there is an ongoing effort to coverup child molestation; Hikind believes any cover-up stems mainly from ignorance.
"Sometimes justice comes in numbers," said Lonnie Soury, a
member of Survivors for Justice.
The conference also served as a forum to discuss the Child Victim Act of New York State, legislation that would extend the statute of limitations for criminal charges of sexual abuse to age 23. Currently charges can be brought
until a victim's 19th birthday.
Under the proposed new law the
statute of limitations for civil suits would be extended from the victim's 23rd birthday to the 28th.
Both groups at the Cardozo meeting
share this goal. The bill would
also open a yearlong window to bring any sexual abuse cases that
are currently beyond the statute
of limitations.
Alaska, Delaware and Maine have abolished the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse;
Delaware has passed a two-year
window, which is still open; and
California enacted similar legislation that allowed for a one-year window and an extension of the
statute of limitations. Similar
Child Victim Acts have been introduced in New York, Colorado,
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.
The Child Victim Act, sponsored by Assemblywoman Margaret Markey (D-Queens), must pass both houses of the state legislature in order to become law.
Armed with the blessing of Speaker Sheldon Silver it has passed unanimously in the Assembly three times. However, former Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno opposed the bill and it has never been brought to a vote.
(Did the paper confuse the roles of Silver & Boo Boo Bruno?)
Opponents of the bill include the New York Catholic Conference, which lobbies for the Roman Catholic Bishops of New York, and insurance companies that could find themselves on the hook in hundreds of lawsuits if the bill passes.
With Bruno retired, the decision
now rests with his successor as majority leader, Senator Dean Skelos, who so far has not taken a
position. In a statement to The
Jewish Star, Scott Reiff, a
spokesperson for Skelos, said that
the senator has already passed a
bill that extended the criminal
statute of limitations for most sex
abuse cases, as well as authored
Megan's Law, which created a sex
offender registry. "Going forward, Senator Skelos will be working very hard to make sure the State legislature continues to do everything possible to protect New York's children," the statement concluded.
However, another spokesperson for Skelos later said, "there are clear reasons why extending civil statutes of limitations is problematic."
A spokesperson for the New York Catholic Conference, Dennis Paust, explained that his group opposes the bill because in their view it unfairly targets non-profits and private institutions. He feels that the bill is, "about bankrupting the Church," and that the Child Victim Act was, "a trial lawyer bill to enrich trial lawyers." He also believes that any changes to the statute of limitations should first be made in cases concerning the public schools where, Paust alleges, the majority of non-familial sexual abuse takes place.
Informed that a concurrent bill being put up would extend the statute of limitations for public
institutions, he predicted that,
"there was a snowball's chance in
hell" of it getting passed, due to
opposition from teacher's unions.
"Marci Hamilton is full of it,"
Paust asserted. "Why not do the
public school bill first? That's
where the abusers still are … Why
should today's Catholics pay for the sins of someone 60 years ago?"
The United States Conference
of Catholic Bishops commissioned
a study that found that four percent of all priests who served in the United States from 1950 to 2002 were engaged in some sort of sexual misconduct.
Agudath Israel of America has not decided whether or not to support the bill, said Rabbi Dovid Zweibel, Agudah's Executive Vice
President for Government Affairs.
In an e-mail he explained: "Our
rabbinic leadership simply hasn't
had occasion to decide whether
we should get involved. If the bill
looks like it will be moving forward, we'll try to get guidance
from them then."
Among the short-term ramifications
if the bill were to pass, are lawsuits that could be revived against Yeshiva Torah Temimah in
Brooklyn, former rebbe and accused molester Yehuda Kolko and his boss, Lipa Margulies, who is accused of covering for Kolko.
The lawsuits recently were dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired. Hamilton is optimistic about the bill being
passed. "We open a window of
opportunity and revive hope that
was not there before," she said.
"There will always be dark parts
of our society sadly, but the more
we talk about these issues and the
more opportunities we give anyone
to come forward the more likely this will protect children from abuse."
The Jewish Star has learned that Shlomo Leiberman, a licensed clinical social worker, will coordinate Assemblyman Dov Hikind's task force on abuse. Leiberman, a graduate of Yeshiva University's Wurzweiler School of Social Work, has been practicing in the field for 15 years, is the clinical director for Bechirot and serves on the advisory board for the Sephardic Bikur Cholim Mental Health Referral Service. He will work part-time with Hikind's office to collate the testimonials of abuse victims and develop a working plan to present to the
national rabbinical leaders.
■ ■ ■
Agudath Israel of America says it is now prepared to support a bill that would make fingerprinting and background checks mandatory for private institutions, though Rabbi Dovid Zweibel, Agudath's executive
vice president for governmental
affairs, said they, "would like to
see how the voluntary bill is
implemented first." Previously, the organization had stated it would consider supporting the
voluntary version of the bill.
(Marci Hamilton is also busy helping Jewish anti-Semites stop the Hamptons eruv)
- 1:13 AM, November 07, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Slowly, progress on crimes once unmentioned
Great progress has been made in
recent months toward the goal of waking up the organized Jewish
community — the Torah observant
Jewish community, in particular — to the tragedy of child molestation
and sexual abuse.
A news broadcast on a Jewish radio
program in 1992 or so which contained the name of a molester known to be active in Borough Park at the time drew scandalized, angry telephone calls in complaint. A charedi activist who
launched a one-man crusade against
molesters once ran for his life from an angry mob of chassidic Jews while on a visit to London. Just a few weeks ago a prominent therapist named to lead a task force on child molestation in the
Jewish community withdrew from the
post after his children were subjected to snide comments about their own young children's future eligibility for marriage.
While it might seem that not much
has changed over time, a closer look paints a very different, very encouraging picture of tangible progress. The aforementioned task force, the brain child of Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind, exists. This is a huge step. Someone with a lot to lose, in this case,
politically, went out on a limb anyway to do what needs doing. The task force has a new coordinator, an Orthodox professional who is not charedi and who, therefore, may not be subject to quite the same community pressures that did in his predecessor.
A great deal has been written about
the tragedy of sexual abuse in recent years. Rabbi Yakov Horowitz, whose columns appear in this newspaper, has displayed tremendous courage and leadership in spotlighting threats to the
safety of our children. The Jewish Week deserves credit for launching the public conversation of sexual abuse in the Jewish community with articles several years ago that sent a prominent kiruv professional to jail. More recently it has written about abuse cases in the Satmar community.
A number of stories about abuse
have appeared in The Jewish Star
recently. A local Rosh HaYeshiva who offers gracious and candid feedback about articles that appear in The Star wondered aloud if such coverage is "really necessary, because people are
already talking about" abuse and the lives it destroys. People are talking about it, it was pointed out, because journalists continue
to write about it. True, he agreed.
A major milestone attained this week is Agudath Israel of America's support for a bill to make fingerprinting and background checks mandatory for private
institutions. Previously it would
only support a voluntary version of the legislation.
A bill to extend the statute of limitations for sexual abuse crimes has failed to come up for a vote in the New York State Senate three times in recent years. We urge Senate Majority Leader Dean
Skelos to chart a new course and schedule a vote.
- 1:29 AM, November 07, 2008
- Anonymous said...
How low will it go?
As a result, once the current rally interlude is over, it's not hard to see the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) sinking to around 4,000 -- a level it last hit in 1995, before debt started to play such a large role in corporate and personal finance.
That would entail a decline of 70% from its 2007 peak, or about the same amount the Japanese stock market has fallen since 1990 in the wake of its own debt unwinding. Or the amount the Nasdaq Composite Index ($COMPX) dropped from 2000 to 2002. Or the amount the Russian market has plunged since June.
If that seems too harsh, well, the math is pretty easy to explain.
The problem is that this scenario might be too sunny. The economy is losing around 200,000 jobs a month. Just last week Yahoo (YHOO, news, msgs), Merck (MRK, news, msgs), Chrysler, Xerox (XRX, news, msgs), Goldman Sachs Group (GS, news, msgs) and National City (NCC, news, msgs) announced layoffs.
Unemployment, now skimming along at a relatively tame 6.5%, is expected to mushroom at least to 8.5% if not 9% or higher by the end of next year. With stock and home prices in a tailspin, consumer net worth is already on track to decline 14.7% year over year this quarter, a record plunge.
Credit card revenues have sunk to their lowest level in five years, and a JPMorgan Chase (JPM, news, msgs) official was quoted this week as stating that "loan volume will keep going down as we continue to tighten credit."
- 1:42 AM, November 07, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Arthur - 11:34 pm:
Please don't credit these words of wisdom to David Letterman of all people. Always check out the accuracy of information forwarded to you by checking it out on the snopes.com website, which will either verify or debunk the accuracy of such e-mail forwards.
In this case check out:
- 7:40 AM, November 07, 2008
- Arthur said...
Correct UOL.
Sorry again but this a must see.
- 8:01 AM, November 07, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Livni Warns Obama - Politely
by Hana Levi Julian
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has issued her first warning – albeit politely – to U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, just two days after he made history by becoming the first black American to be elected to the White House.
Livni expressed her opposition to Obama's stated willingness to dialogue with Iran in an interview on Voice of Israel government radio Thursday morning.
"We live in a neighborhood in which sometimes dialogue – in a situation where you have brought sanctions, and you then shift to dialogue – is liable to be interpreted as weakness," she explained.
Livni maintained a cordial tone regarding the new administration and noted that "Obama's bottom line on the Iranian issue is very clear. America won't accept a nuclear Iran." However, she also made it clear that Israel's bottom line would not change. When the interviewer asked her if she supported any American dialogue with the Islamic Republic, Livni replied flatly, "The answer is no."
The Foreign Minister said she did not expect any "dramatic" difference between the outgoing Bush administration and that of Obama, noting that "The outgoing administration also had people who supported dialogue."
She noted that the difference between the two had to do with style: "There is a slightly different attitude between the president-elect and the outgoing president, with regards to how the world relates to extremism in the area. There are those who think that [Ameri has to be aggressive, and there are those who think that there has to be dialogue. Obama falls into the second group."
She added that "Israel is working for sanctions against Iran, and not transmitting a message of weakness."
Israel is convinced that the Islamic Republic is working to complete an atomic weapon of mass destruction. Iran has defied all attempts by the international community to halt its uranium enrichment program, despite several rounds of increasingly severe sanctions imposed on the country.
Although Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has denied his country will use the nuclear technology for anything other than peaceful, domestic purposes, the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been blocked from attempts to ascertain exactly what kind of activities are taking place in some of the Iranian atomic energy sites. Various intelligence reports have indicated that Iranian scientists have been working on nuclear weapons development.
- 8:32 AM, November 07, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Jobless Rate Soars to 14-year High of 6.5 Percent- AP
The nation's unemployment rate bolted to a 14-year high of 6.5 percent in October as another 240,000 jobs were cut, the government said Friday. It was stark proof the economy is almost certainly in a recession. The new snapshot, released by the Labor Department, shows the crucial jobs market deteriorating at an alarmingly rapid pace.
- 8:54 AM, November 07, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Maran HaRav Yosef Sholom Elyashiv Shlita had some very harsh words regarding today's sheitels, stating the women who wear them today are as if they go outdoor bareheaded.
The statements were made last week during the Rav's daily Gemara Shabbos shiur the weekly Belze-affiliated BaKehilla reported.
The Rav is quoted as saying there are permitted sheitels and those that are asur, but today's are strictly forbidden. He called "today's" sheitels "erva", stating they are absolutely forbidden.
A participant in the shiur asked Rav Elyashiv how they wore human hair wigs in the time of the Gemara, to which he responded the wigs of those days were different, with the best at that time being comparable perhaps to today's worst, adding today's human hair wigs represent "erva" and are absolutely forbidden.
The Rav repeated over and over again the severity of the isur of wearing such sheitels, which the wife and her husband share equal responsibility.
The shiur may be heard on Kol HaLashon, 03-617-1111 by following the menu "Yiddish", "Gemara", "Halacha", "Shiur Maran Elyashiv", "Meseches Shabbos", "Shiur 174". The statements regarding sheitels appear 25 minutes into the shiur.
UPDATE: To hear Rav Eliyashuv's speech from the USA (LOCAL CALLING)
(718) 906-6400 [Kol HaLashon NY]
Press 3 for Yiddish
Press 2 for Gemara
Press 19 for Rav Eliyashiv
Press 1 for Pesachim
Press 173 for the shiur
While listening to the shiur, press 6 (skips 5 minutes) 4 times.
There is no need to call Kol Haloshon in EY
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
- 9:11 AM, November 07, 2008
- Anonymous said...
39 years ago was the "Summer of '69"
But it probably goes back further than 39 years because these figures are based on the Goldman Sachs index that only started recording results in 1969.
Holiday outlook turns grimmer after dismal October
November 6, 2008
NEW YORK (AP) - Retailers suffered through the weakest October in at least 39 years, despite frenzied price cutting as they desperately try to pull in consumers who are too worried about their finances to shop.
The sales tallies from major retailers on Thursday — many showing declines of 10 percent or more — suggests that shoppers will remain skittish through the holiday season, buying presents for children but not much else.
- 9:12 AM, November 07, 2008
- Anonymous said...
- 9:52 AM, November 07, 2008
- Anonymous said...
The Jewish Journal of LA confirms that Osama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is another putz claiming to be orthodox that did a phony gerus on the shiksa he was already fooling with.
- 9:57 AM, November 07, 2008
- Arthur said...
The letter may not have been writtem by Letterman but the inportant thing is the message not the messenger
- 10:02 AM, November 07, 2008
- Anonymous said...
78% of the Jewish masses are asses!
Obama's victory resonates with L.A. Jews
After morning minyan at Valley Beth Shalom on Election Day, one of the elderly members, a child of the Holocaust and survivor of discrimination in its evilest form, approached Rabbi Ed Feinstein with joy.
"Can you imagine?" he asked the rabbi. "We've lived to see a black man elected president."
Well, not quite yet at that moment. But by the time the polls closed at 8 p.m., the Auschwitz survivor's claim would come true. Barack Obama's campaign for the presidency would end in a landslide.
As emotional as the election of the United States' first black president was for African Americans, Obama's ascendancy was overwhelming for many Jews too, even among those far too young to have witnessed the role Jews played in the civil rights movement. Even among those too young to vote.
"Let us in! Let us in!" Gabriel Rosenstein, 17, chanted with the crowd waiting outside Century Plaza Hotel & Spa in Century City, where the Obama campaign was holding its Los Angeles victory celebration.
Rosenstein and the friends who had joined him -- Jesse Allis and Ben Perkins, both 17 -- had phone-banked against Proposition 8 at their temple and for Obama at Morgan Freeman's office.
"This is a historic election, and this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a part of something like this," Rosenstein said. "I didn't want to let that pass by."
For months there was constant talk about Obama's Jewish problem, a lingering fear -- with plenty of empirical evidence -- that an unusually high proportion of Democratic Jews were going to vote for McCain. But in the end it didn't bear out. An early exit poll from CNN concluded that Obama received 78 percent of the Jewish vote.
It's unclear exactly what caused Obama's support among Jewish voters to swell from a relatively abysmal 57 percent in a September poll by the American Jewish Committee. What is clear is, in the end, Obama fared better than John Kerry did in 2004, and almost as well as Al Gore, whose running mate was Sen. Joe Lieberman, in 2000.
"The Jewish community was kind of in a dance with Obama," said Steven Windmueller, dean of the L.A. campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.
Thousands turned out at the Century Plaza Hotel to share in the celebration. Obama's press people said the party would begin at 8 p.m., but the Los Angeles Ballroom was full two hours before. I heard Sens. Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein were there, but had no way of confirming.
The place was a mob scene, complete with fans weeping like those who used to greet The Beatles. The lobby was teeming with thousands hoping to somehow get downstairs; thousands more waited outside in a line that snaked down Avenue of the Stars and Constellation Boulevard.
At Barney's Beanery in Santa Monica, where members of the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), had gathered for a low-key election viewing, there was no partying.
"The comeback begins," Greenfield wrote in an e-mail minutes before midnight. "Jimmy Carter led to Ronald Reagan. Obama nanny government and weakness in global affairs has been promised. I am confident we will return to the American Way soon enough. And Jewish Republicanism will continue to grow."
Maybe. But this night belonged to Obama. And when he took the stage to give his acceptance speech, emotion poured out of people who had waited so long for this.
"That's our president. That's our president!" a black woman behind me screamed.
"Our president," a young Jew beside me added.
"President Obama!"
- 10:03 AM, November 07, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Rahm Emanuel is considered a "centrist" on the War on Terror.
So much for his father's Irgun credentials or just plain common sense.
- 10:07 AM, November 07, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Emanuel's take-no-prisoners attitude -- he earned the nickname "Rahm-bo" -- won him respect and enemies among co-workers, as well as political foes. In a story that has become part of Washington lore, Emanuel mailed a rotting fish to a former co-worker after the two parted ways.
- 10:13 AM, November 07, 2008
- Anonymous said...
If this is what the State Dept says under Bush, try to imagine them under Barack Osama:
Respect for religious freedom in Israel has declined, according to a new U.S. State Department report.
An increase in "societal abuses and discrimination" against "some evangelical Christian groups as well as Messianic Jews" has contributed to a "slight decline in respect for religious freedom" in Israel, according to the State Department's Annual Report on International Religious Freedom.
The report also stated that "relations among religious and ethnic groups" were "often strained during the reporting period, which was "due primarily to the continuing Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Government's unequal treatment of non-Orthodox Jews, including the Government's recognition of only Orthodox Jewish religious authorities in personal and some civil status matters concerning Jews."
- 10:16 AM, November 07, 2008
- Anonymous said...
"To put it very simply, he is our first African American president, or he will be," Ralph Nader, the consumer advocate and consummate third party candidate (who is an Arab), said on Fox Radio yesterday. "And we wish him well. But his choice, basically, is whether he is going to be Uncle Sam for the people of this country or Uncle Tom for the giant corporations."
Yes, Nader is a moron—read no more—and Fox News anchor Shepard Smith calls him out for it. For more racial insensitivity, check out what I just heard a guy at Starbucks say.
(The guy called Obama a Mulatto which is considered politically incorrect nowadays)
- 10:55 AM, November 07, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Jeffrey Goldberg and his friend Rahm Emanuel hold very left wing and politically correct views that are not good for the interests of Israel and the Jewish people.
Shame on the OU for cheering on these pieces of garbage!
We would also note our amusement with the fact that, in the last hour, FOX News did a segment about Mr. Emmanuel with its correspondent reporting from Israel who noted: "Barak means lightning in Hebrew and Rahm means thunder."
One that the OU would add to their list is from someone who knows Emmanuel well - Jeffrey Goldberg.
The news that Rahm Emanuel has accepted Barack Obama's request to be his chief of staff is fascinating on many levels, not least of which is Rahm's deep Israel credentials. First, in the interest of full disclosure, I've known Rahm for a long time, and he's yelled at me for no good reason on many occasions. This, of course, is the way he expresses affection. I do believe, despite the yelling, that Rahm is an excellent choice to run the White House, and I'll get into that later.
But for now, a couple of comments about the Israel connection:
1) This choice makes the entire "Does Obama secretly hate Israel?" conversation seem a bit ridiculous (Though the vast majority of Jewish voters seemed to have figured that out by the election). Rahm did not, despite the rumors, serve in the Israeli Army, but he is deeply and emotionally committed to Israel and its safety. We've talked about the issue a dozen times; it's something he thinks about constantly, and his appointment gives me further reason to believe that the Obama Administration will not wait seven years to address the Israeli-Arab crisis.
2) Peace-processors take heart: Rahm, precisely because he's a lover of Israel, will not have much patience with Israeli excuse-making, so when the next Prime Minister tells President Obama that as much as he'd love to, he can't dismantle the Neve Manyak settlement outpost, or whichever outpost needs dismantling, because of a) domestic politics; b) security concerns, or c) the Bible, Rahm will call out such nonsense, and it will be very hard for right-wing Israelis to come back and accuse him of being a self-hating Jew. This is not to say that he's unaware of Palestinian dysfunction, or Iranian extremism, but that he has a good grasp of some of Israel's foibles as well. All in all, it's a very heartening choice.
- 11:03 AM, November 07, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Agudath Israel of America has officially changed its position and now is prepared to actively support mandatory finger-printing and background checks for teachers in yeshivos. Though they did specify that they would like to see how a voluntary bill is enacted before actually supporting the bill. The change follows a wave of publicity orchestrated by Jewish media—newspapers, bloggers, and radio commentators-- that has drawn attention to sex abuse in the Orthodox Jewish community.
Speaking to VIN News, Rabbi Dovid Zwiebel, Agudah's Executive Vice President of Government Affairs explained that when the initial she'ailah was posed to the Rabbinical leaders, Agudah was authorized to support the bill for voluntary fingerprinting but to wait until "the yeshivos that voluntarily opt into the system had some experience with [it]" before either opposing or supporting the mandatory bill.
However, in light of the recent publicity to the issue, Agudah felt that it was in its best interest to support the mandatory bill, in Zweibel's words, in order "avoid the libelous misconception out there in certain parts of the world that we oppose background checks on the people hired by our Yeshivos."
Zwiebel also added that prior to this Agudah sent out mailings to all yeshivos and affiliated day schools across America urging them to do appropriate background checks when they hire their employees.
"So," Zwiebel concluded, "All the talk out there the Rabbis are opposed to background checks is flat-out wrong."
- 11:09 AM, November 07, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Fest! The first openly gay Jew in Congress!
The 111th U.S. Congress is slated to have 13 Jewish senators and 32 members of the House of Representatives, with the three first-time victories of Democrats Jared Polis of Colorado, John Adler of New Jersey and Alan Grayson of Florida.
Polis, 33, will make history as the first openly gay, non-incumbent male elected to Congress. He will represent Colorado's heavily Democratic 2nd Congressional District, which includes Boulder and other Denver suburbs.
The Democrat is a multimillionaire Internet entrepreneur who founded the Internet site for his parents' Blue Mountain Arts greeting card company and donated more than $5 million to his own campaign.
During the campaign, Polis emphasized his background as a champion of public education—he is a founder of two Colorado charter schools and a six-year member of the state Board of Education.
- 11:14 AM, November 07, 2008
- Anonymous said...
The secular Jews are going from pathetic to absurd. Now they are making a big deal about Michelle Obama's cousin, the so called rabbi of a Black Israelite Church.
Besides the fact that he's not Jewish, he has been the recipient of funny money when Obama was involved in dirty Chicago politics.
- 11:24 AM, November 07, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Gays vow to keep fighting for right to wed
By Justino Águila
Article Last Updated: 11/05/2008
The ACLU suit, joined by Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, urged the court to invalidate Proposition 8 "because the initiative process was improperly used in an attempt to undo the constitution's core commitment to equality for everyone by eliminating a fundamental right from just one group, lesbian and gay Californians."
The unfolding legal battles will be closely watched by the state's gay and lesbian population.
"We have a lot at stake as a community," said Ron Galperin, a Los Angeles attorney who recently married his partner, Rabbi Zach Shapiro. "The idea the voters can take away someone's marriage, take away our marriage, is just a complete personal violation. It also goes against everything that we stand for as Americans."
- 11:54 AM, November 07, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Orthodox Union Wishes "Mazal Tov" to President-elect Obama
November 05, 2008
Stephen Savitsky, President Rabbi T. H. Weinreb, Executive Vice President
Mark Bane, Chair – Public Policy Nathan J. Diament, Director – Public Policy
- 12:18 PM, November 07, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Shlomo ben Tzivia
presently undergoing quadruple bypass.
- 12:26 PM, November 07, 2008
- Anonymous said...
If the global crisis continues, by the end of the year
Only two banks will be operational, the Blood Bank
and the Sperm Bank!
Then these 2 banks will merge and it will be called 'The Bloody F@#$ Bank.'
- 1:03 PM, November 07, 2008
- Arthur said...
"Please don't credit these words of wisdom to David Letterman of all people"
Whether Letterman or otherwise,the important thing is the message not the messenger.
- 1:26 PM, November 07, 2008
- Arthur said...
Please disregard my last post.I didn't realize that had posted a reply already.
- 1:30 PM, November 07, 2008
- Anonymous said...
I just noticed the crap that Lubavster Arthur posted a few days ago to defend the Rubashkins.
Arthur, are you out of your mind? The Rubashkins are not only responsible for massive chilul Hashem but they are a bunch of thieving conniving lowlives whose "good" deeds were at the expense of others who they treated like dogs.
Get a life and go preach to the choir of pea brains at the other blogs!
- 2:18 PM, November 07, 2008
- Arthur said...
"Get a life and go preach to the choir of pea brains at the other blogs!"
No need for the nastiness.You have your opinion and I have mine.That's what this country is all about.You don't like it?Don't read it.
- 3:11 PM, November 07, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Has anyone seen Ronnie Schreiber? After General Motors sank another 15% today, he managed to wiggle out of his straight jacket and escape.
- 3:50 PM, November 07, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Jobless rate bolts to 14-year high of 6.5 percent
By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP
- 4:17 PM, November 07, 2008
- Anonymous said...
We're checking reports of a very distressed looking and shvitzy bicyclist seen in Hell, Michigan.
DETROIT, Mich. -General Motors Corp. reported a $2.5 billion loss in the third quarter and warned Friday that it could run out of cash in 2009 if the U.S. economic slump continues and it doesn't get government aid.
GM also said it has suspended talks to acquire Chrysler. While it didn't specifically name the automaker, GM said it was setting aside considerations for a "strategic acquisition."
"While the acquisition could potentially have provided significant benefits, the company has concluded that it is more important at the present time to focus on its immediate liquidity challenges and, accordingly, considerations of such a transaction as a near-term priority have been set aside," the company said in a statement.
Privately held Chrysler said it won't comment on GM's statement, but added it remains focused on returning to profitability.
GM said its cash burn for the quarter accelerated to $6.9 billion, and government aid will be "essential" because of the slow economy and credit crisis.
The news came hours after Ford Motor Co. said it lost $129 million for its third quarter and will cut about 2,260 more white-collar workers in North America as the industry tries to weather the worst economic downturn in decades. As U.S. and global economies have rapidly deteriorated, auto sales have nearly shut down.
- 4:21 PM, November 07, 2008
- Anonymous said...
R' Arthur, I'm not too sure yours or any defense of Rubashkin at this juncture qualifies as an "opinion".
Denying Rubashkin guilt and chilul Hashem with all the evidence available is the Chabad version of Kool-Aid that defenders of the Agudah and other groups are so drunk on.
- 7:06 PM, November 08, 2008
- Anonymous said...
UOJ, before you mock Rav Elyashev, you should know that the gedolei Eretz Yisroel have always had a different standard of shaytelach for Bnei Brak / Yerushalmi women than they did for women in Chutz Laaretz.
When you look back historically and in the poskim I'm not sure we have a lot to be somech on in America either for most of the shaytelach on the market. There are also shitos that women cannot even wear the shytelach approved by Rav Elyashev.
- 7:11 PM, November 08, 2008