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Zine Fest Houston 2011 may have been the best Zine Fest Houston ever. We had a great venue, a good turn out, stellar live music, and plenty of interesting zines.
The event started off with a zine reading by Kirk Loftin of CatBat. The Grass Skirts played next, followed by Organ Failure.
The discussion panel, featuring Lindsey Simard of Weak Highlights, Jason Poland of Robbie & Bobby, and Francisco Lo of Film Monitor, talked about DIY, promoting, the advantages and disadvantages of Houston, and pitfalls they've encountered.
Muzak John started off the second set of live performances:
Carlos Pozo played next.
Infant Mortality Rate & Rotten Piece followed. At the very end of the fest, Carlos Pozo, Infant Mortality Rate, and Rotten Piece played an impromptu battle set together. The battle set is available as a free download here.
Thank you to everyone who attended the fest and helped with the fest! Special thanks to Khon's, Khon, Super Happy Funland, Copydotcom, all of the musicians, all of the volunteers, all of the panelists, all of the tablers, and our emcee. We couldn't have done it without you.
We're looking forward to next year's Zine Fest Houston. In the meantime, continue to work on your zines. We're planning to release the Zine Fest Houston compilation in 2012. If you're interested in contributing, please send us an email at our info address.

subset: commoncrawl


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We've got you covered. Use our group booking service and get added perks and dedicated booking co-ordinator.
- About Fredrik Korallus
- Social media links
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Fredrik Korallus is Chief Executive Officer of Generator, the award winning, experience and design-focused hostel group, where he leads the continued development and growth of the brand including the entry into North America with the opening of the Group's Miami property in 2017 and further European expansion.
Voted by Fast Company as one of the top 50 Most Innovative Global Companies, Generator provides unique design and experience-led accommodation options located in the most central locations across Europe including Dublin, London, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Berlin, Venice, Barcelona, and Paris, with Amsterdam, Stockholm and Rome all having opened in 2016. It has been hailed as the fastest growing hostel brand with 12 current locations totaling over 7,704 beds, set to rise to 14 locations with 8,603 beds with new openings in Madrid and Miami, scheduled for 2017.With over two decades of hospitality experience spanning four continents, Mr. Korallus successfully aligns vision and strategy and has earned a reputation for building a winning culture based on collaboration, accountability and achievement.
A leader within Carlson Rezidor for over twenty years, Mr. Korallus held a variety of strategic, commercial and operational roles, encompassing a number of the Group's leading brands including Radisson, Park Inn as well as the global introduction of Radisson Blu.
Prior to taking the helm at Generator, Mr. Korallus led the financial turnaround of The Hotel Collection, a portfolio of 21 hotels across the United Kingdom.
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JeffB needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 310 designs submitted by 79 freelance designers.
Enki Sports
We are bringing advanced sports techniques to a consumer market. We are working with world class athletes and sports science professionals to develop a system that combines wireless fitness sensors, smartphone applications and web analytics.
We are developing specific systems for cyclists, runners, triathletes and people interested in improving their general fitness.
Our cycling product will be targeting serious road cyclists. They love their expensive bikes, cycling gadgets in general and wear brightly colored cycling jerseys.
Runners and triathletes fit the cycling mold as well and are focused on using our system to compete in between one and three races a year.
These people are fit, active, competitive and we want them to be wearing our jersey when they compete and train.
Brand: clean, professional, fast, physically fit. It should look great as a cycling jersey and be highly visible without being gaudy. Simplicity goes a long way.
Colors: Feel free to be creative. Avoid pastels, flourescent etc. Primary colors ok.
Icon: Must scale size up and down. Must look great on a cycling jersey, as an iPhone app button, a 16x16 favicon browser icon and as white on black plastic electronic sensor.
Please read comments on design page for additional guidance.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


text: Available for pre-order at Brian's Toys are the next two Clone Wars figures, Waves 2 & 3. These waves include Republic Commando Boss, Commander Wolffe and Aayla Secura. The Gentle Giant Ponda Baba statue and Kotobukiya 501st Clone Troopers model kits have arrived and are now shipping. If you can't get enough of the "It's a trap!" humor, get yourself the Admiral Ackbar canvas artwork by Steven Daily!


text: Standard blinds have small holes in the slat that the ladder strings of a blind run through. A no route-hole design blocks light and allows the blind to seal more tightly. Since slats can be removed more easily with this option, routeless is not recommended for households with young children.


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Use the form on the right to contact us.
You can edit the text in this area, and change where the contact form on the right submits to, by entering edit mode using the modes on the bottom right.
High Street
01638 744 399
davidbougheyphotographic is a local professional photography business. Based near Cambridge, we mainly cover Norfolk, Suffolk and Bedfordshire, but have worked as far afield as North Wales and Devon. We specialise in Wedding and Portrait photography but also offer tuition for the beginner and more experienced photographer.


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Naturewise Conservation Holidays are offering the opportunity to venture beyond the reserve management gates of stunning Tidbinbilla in an exclusive, behind the scenes wildlife experience. Nestled between Tidbinbilla and Gibraltar Ranges, the reserve forms part of the Australian Alps National Parks, a series of parks and reserves that span Australia's high country. The Australian Alps are National Heritage listed, recognising that their natural and cultural values are of outstanding national significance. Tidbinbilla currently has twenty one Southern Brush-tailed Rock-wallabies in ca..more
El Questro Wilderness Park is preparing to open for its 20th season in April - the official end of the annual wet season, leaving gorges and rivers full, and wildlife in full bloom. El Questro Homestead occupies a pocket of luxury in the Kimberley region in the million acre El Questro Wilderness Park, 110 km from Kununurra. Guests staying at the exclusive Homestead in 2011 will be invited to join Executive Chef Alan Groom in the kitchen to learn his culinary tips. The luxury six-room Homestead is dramatically cantilevered over the Chamberlain River, set amid a landscape of sa..more
NINGALOO'S first whale shark of 2011 has been spotted off the coast of Exmouth, hailing the early start of the annual whale shark season. The four metre juvenile was sighted in the Ningaloo Marine Park, just outside the reef on 15 February - an earlier than usual start to the season. Australia's Coral Coast Chief Executive Officer, Mr David O'Malley said the whale shark season at the Ningaloo Marine Park was becoming longer and more successful each year. "Whale sharks have arrived earlier than previous years and hopefully they'll be around for a long season again this year," M..more
To celebrate the 80th anniversary since the first Penguin Parade at Phillip Island, Philip Island Nature Parks are marking this milestone by declaring March, ' Penguin Month'. Throughout 'Penguin Month' a range of daily activities, tours and events for children and families will be held at Churchill Island Heritage Farm, Koala Conservation Centre, The Nobbies and Penguin Parade. PLAY 'Old Fashioned Games' and practice 'Butter Churning' at Churchill Island Heritage Farm DISCOVER the mystery behind the life of the playful Australian Fur Seal at 'Seal Secrets' MEET our lovable l..more
Following the sell-out success of Great Southern Rail's newest and most exclusive rail journey, The Southern Spirit, Great Southern Rail have just released a limited number of departure dates for a further travel season from November 2011 to February 2012. The new Southern Spirit explores the path less travelled taking in the sights and delights of four states as it winds through the Great Dividing Range and along Australia's Eastern Seaboard. The Southern Spirit makes a number of whistle stops enroute including The Grampians, The Murray River, the Hunter Valley and Byron Bay as it..more


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Jack Hemingway, whose achievements as a conservationist and proficiency as a fisherman were nearly overshadowed by his role as the son of a celebrated father and the father of famous children, died Friday night at Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan. He was 77.
He suffered complications of heart surgery, his wife said.
Mr. Hemingway, who lived in Ketcham, Idaho, was the first son of Ernest Hemingway and the father of Margaux and Mariel Hemingway, both models and actresses.
''I spent the first 50 years of my life being the son of a famous father and am now spending the last 50 as the father of famous children,'' he wrote in his autobiography, ''Misadventures of a Fly Fisherman: My Life With and Without Papa,'' published by Taylor Publishing Company in 1986.
Mr. Hemingway picked up his father's fondness for angling, though he got next to no paternal piscatorial tutelage, and went on to fish most of North America's great trout streams, as well as working through the Nature Conservancy and other conservation groups to preserve wild areas.
As a commissioner on the Idaho Fish and Game Commission from 1971 to 1977, he succeeded in having the state adopt a ''catch and release'' fishing law. The result, said Bruce McNae, owner of Fish and Fly magazine, was that Idaho's trout stocks increased, while those of neighboring states declined.Continue reading the main story
Mr. McNae said Mr. Hemingway's vast knowledge of fishing and sheer energy on expeditions astounded him. ''Jack's Papa wrote masterfully about the great adventures of life,'' he said, using Ernest's nickname. ''Papa's Jack lived them.''
Orri Vigfusson, chairman of the North Atlantic Salmon Fund, lauded Mr. Hemingway's skill at ''presenting'' his hand-tied flies to salmon. He said that as a director of the fund, Mr. Hemingway was a leader in the campaign to pay commercial fishermen to forgo salmon fishing in Atlantic feeding grounds.
Mr. Hemingway embraced his father's legacy, serving as a judge in contests where writers try to emulate the Hemingway style; he helped create a line of furniture modeled after pieces in Hemingway's homes in Key West, Fla., Africa and elsewhere, and tried to preserve his own memories of his father.
One famous story was about the time he sat in his father's home in Havana, pouring out to his father his difficulty in finding a steady career after he left the military. He expressed despair.
Ernest Hemingway, mentioning his own father, who had killed himself, replied, ''I want to promise that you'll never do what Grandfather did, and I promise you I won't.''
The father then advised the son to pick a career and stick with it. The next day, they went buzzard hunting, and shared two pitchers of martinis. They ended the evening watching ''Casablanca.''
Jack Hemingway wrote that that day was the closest he had ever felt to his father. Six years later, Ernest Hemingway killed himself.
John Hadley Nicanor Hemingway was born on Oct. 10, 1923, in Toronto. His mother was Hadley Richardson, the first of Ernest's four wives, and his godmothers were Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. The name Nicanor came from a famous matador, Nicanor Villalta. In childhood he mingled with Ezra Pound, James Joyce, Clark Gable, Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman.
As a toddler in his father's crude apartment above a sawmill at Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs in Paris, he acquired the nickname Bumby because of his plump teddy-bear qualities. The Bumby name stuck with him through life, though in Jack's autobiography, his father always addressed him as ''Schatz,'' German for treasure.
In ''A Moveable Feast,'' Ernest's remembrances about his early days in Paris, he wrote about the boy's being baby-sat by their huge, protective cat, Mr. Puss-Puss. In an interview with The Toronto Star in 1986, Jack said: ''Why not? He was a big cat and wouldn't let anyone near my crib.''
He was 5 when his parents divorced; he grew up with his mother and in boarding schools, seeing his father only on summer vacations. ''He was my hero,'' Mr. Hemingway said in a 1999 interview with The New York Times. ''When he was with you, you were the total center of his attention. But when I left to go back to school, I was out of his mind.''
The two boxed, with the father knocking the son down and the son cutting his father's eye. When Jack was a teenager, Ernest arranged for his son's initiation by a Havana prostitute, not knowing that his son had already made her acquaintance, gratis, he said in The Times interview.
He attended the University of Montana and then Dartmouth College, but dropped out to enlist in the Army when World War II began. He was assigned to a military police detachment in North Africa, where he said his most extraordinary feat was maintaining the only venereal-disease-free unit in that area. After pulling some strings with generals who knew his father, he was assigned to the Office of Strategic Services, the fledgling military intelligence branch.
When he parachuted into Nazi-occupied France, he carried his rod, reel and fly box with him, and went fishing after his first mission was accomplished, nearly getting caught by a German patrol. On another mission, he was shot in the right arm and shoulder. He was captured and spent the rest of the war in prison camps from which he tried unsuccessfully to escape.
His courage impressed his father. ''His view of me changed -- the fact that I was wounded and had a nice set of visible scars,'' he said in an interview with The Idaho Statesman. ''I stopped being viewed as a nice little boy.''
Mr. Hemingway is survived by his wife, the former Angela Holvey, whom he married after his first wife, the former Byra Whittlesey, died in 1986. He is also survived by two daughters, Joan, nicknamed Muffet, of Twin Falls, Idaho, and Mariel, of Ketcham and West Lake, Calif.; two brothers, Patrick, of Bozeman, Mont., and Gregory, of Miami and Montana; and two grandchildren. His third daughter, Margaux, died in 1996 from an overdose of barbiturates.
Jack Hemingway had a number of jobs, including stockbroker and fishing-supplies salesman. Just before his death he finished another autobiography, ''A Life Worth Living,'' to be published by Lyons Press. He and his wife were working on another book, to include tales of their travels, personal reminiscences and recipes. He wrote the foreword before entering the hospital about three weeks ago. She said she would finish the still-untitled book.
But his greatest love was fishing, thanks and no thanks to his famous father. ''I know he wanted me to love fishing and hunting, and I believe that he deliberately set about to make me want to do it on my own initiative,'' he wrote. ''Tennis parents and stage mothers should take note. The kid has got to want to do it, not just to please the parent, but for himself.''
An obituary on Sunday about Jack Hemingway, a conservationist and fisherman and the son of Ernest Hemingway, misspelled the name of his hometown. It was Ketchum, Idaho, not Ketcham.


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Towards An Understanding of the Baladhur
By Rabbi Eliezer Brodt
In a recent post at the Seforim blog, while reviewing R. Ovadiah Yosef's recent work, Chazon Ovadia, I wrote as follows:
"R' Ovadiah Yosef is world famous for his unbelievable memory, resulting in a tremendous bekius. I once joked that he must have had someone develop a computer program and attach it to his brain to help him retain so much information and recall it at all times."To this, one anonymous commenter wrote as follows:
"Actually, there is a (unconfirmed) shmu'a that R. Ovadya partook of the Jewish mythological memory-booster known as Balzar. It is mentioned in different sources as being very dangerous, but granted one survives, it leaves the one who ingested it with a superlative memory. (The Sefer Hakanah refers to this when it says: "chazor chazor, v'al titz'tarech l'balzar"). The Chida is said to have accidentaly ingested it as a child, and fortunately came away with only a few paralyzed fingers -- and a great memory. I recently heard a "ma'aseh nora" regarding someone who recently attempted to track this (grass?) down and how min hashamayim he was stopped. Very scary."I would like to thank this anonymous commentator for giving me a great excuse to discuss this interesting topic of baladhur, the topic of the post below, which will elaborate on the anonymous above. I would like to explain some possibilities of what this baladhur is, whether or not it's dangerous to use, and list various gedolim who have actually used it. I will be tracing this through early Jewish and Arabic works – some rather rare and unknown – and I will, as well, provide the background to the authors of those works.
Memory Improvement and Chazal:
Methods for improving memory has been around for a considerable amount of time. Chazal were very concerned with memory, as orignally Torah Shel Ba'al Peh was not allowed to be written. Thus, to ensure correct transmittal, a good memory was essential. Further, (and perhaps based in part on the above concern,) the Mishna in Avos (3:9) states if one forgets his learning, this "sin" is punishable by death. Indeed, throughout Chazal we find many different techniques to help one remember. For instance, the use of Asmachtos, according to some rishonim, is to aid memory. The use of simanim such as the one which appears in the Haggadah from R. Yehuda of Detsach-Adash-Beachav are also for purposes of memory. Many of these simanim are the subject of a recent sefer printed from manuscript of the Aderet called Miglat Samanim. [Additionally, there is an entire work devoted to explicating the simanim, Simanim HaShalem.] Aside from memory tools, we find many things one should refrain from eating or doing because it will cause one to forget. It is also commonplace, to find many different segulos (as opposed to ashmachtos and the like which have a rational connection to memory) to improve one's memory. R. Yehudah Aryeh (Leon) Modena devoted an entire sefer to this topic, called Lev HaAreyeh. Recently, R. Chaim Kanievsky has also written a complete work on this topic. Even more recently, R. Lerner has devoted a part of his now bestseller (currently over ten printings) Shmirat Haguf VeHanefesh to this topic. This year R. Avraham Zion printed a very comprehensive work on the topic, Zekher Oseh, some 562 pages gathered from many sources (pgs. 323-324 helped me a bit in my preparation of this post).
Returning to the memory segulah, some mention ingesting baladhur as one such segulah. Baladhur became so popular that it even became used in a pisgam used to remind one to review ones learning.
Early Usage of baladhur:
The use of baladhur has early roots. R. Emmanuel Loew in his Die Flora Der Juden (Vol 2 pg 203) cites a source that attributes this discovery of Baladhur to Shlomo Hamelech. The Zohar Chadash relates a story where baladhur was eaten to help them understand Torah; referred to as balad on pg. 8b Margolis edition.
Professor Gerrit Bos has written a very comprehensive article tracing this baladhur, regarding how early one can find that it was used at all and in particular to improve ones memory[3]. Bos provides examples showing how Galen was aware of the baladhur, but the earliest specific reference to it can be found in the writings of Alexander of Tralles (mid-sixth century), with subsequent references found amongst the Arabic physicians Ibn Masawayh (d. 857), Sabur ibn Sahl (d. 869) and ibn Yahya al-Razi (d. 932).
Ibn al-Jazzar, a famous Arab physician (d. 980) and medical author, wrote a treatise entitled Risala Fi Al Nisyan Wa Ilajihi. This work is on "Forgetfulness and its Treatments." "In 1995 Gerrit Bos printed a critical edition of this Arabic text and all the subsequent Hebrew translations of this work, with an excellent introduction and commentary. The title of this new volume is "Ibn Al-Jazzar on Forgetfulness and Its Treatment." (This work had been translated into Hebrew many times.) Ibn al-Jazzar writes about baladhur several times – how to use it exactly to help ones memory (pg. 50, 52, 69-70). For more on this work see here.
We now turn to the Jewish sources advocating for the use of baladhur for improved memory. They include: R. Moshe Narboni,[4] R. Meir Aldabi (grandson of the Rosh), R. Yehudah Aryeh (Leon) Modena, R. Hayyim Vital and R. David de Silva (son of the Prei Chadesh). R. Hayyim Vital, besides for providing a recipe for baladhur[5], writes that there were people who used to give it to their sons every day for petihat lev.[6]
What is baladhur?
Now that we have seen that there is a history to baladhur (and later on we will discuss specific examples of baladhur use), we must now turn to the question of what exactly baladhur is. Meir Benayahu cites "old people in Jerusalem" that baladhur is חלתית (chulsis). Chulsis appears frequently throughout Chazal including in the Mishna, Tosefta, Talmud Bavli and Yerushalmi. Many of these places are quoted by R. Moshe Perlman (Midrash Ha'Refuah, 1:80).[9] In Masekhet Shabbat, chulsis (140a) appears in a discussion about the permissibility of soaking it in water as a medical cure. The Yerushalmi (Shabbat 20:3) brings from Shmuel that chulsis is a healthy food.
The gemara in Chulin (58b) discusses whether swallowing chulsis renders a bird a treifah. Shmuel says it does, as it punctures the bird's throat. But, the Talmud concludes that it depends whether it is the branch of the chulsis or it was swallowed in its liquid form. Additionally, the Yerushalmi in Shabbat records that R. Yehudah says that if someone eats chulsis on an empty stomach, he will start to burn up and his skin will start peeling. Rav Avuhah says he actually ate chulsis and luckily he was standing in water when he did so as the water cooled him down. From these sources it appears that chulsis is something very sharp physically, as it could harm the throat of a bird, and it also has a sharp effect on the body, i.e. raising one's temperature.
The Rambam (hilkhot de'ot 4:8) writes that in the rainy season, one should eat a little bit of chulsis. The Avodat Hamelech in his comments on this Rambam references the two statements above discussing the effects of chulsis on body temperature. He most likely means to explain that the Rambam's source to eat chulsis is based on the gemara in Shabbat that says it's healthy, however his source to eat only eat a little bit is based on the gemara in Chulin that shows that eating a lot is dangerous.
R. Tanchum Yerushalmi writes that chulsis was a plant whose seeds are eaten for medical purposes (Ha'madreich Ha'maspek, pg. 151). Meiri writes that chulsis was used for heart problems, and R. Ovadiah Bartenurah writes that chulsis is something hot eaten by people in cold places (probably based on the above Rambam). [See also Arukh Hashalem, 3:421.]
Rashi in Shabbat (140a), Avodah Zarah (35b) and Chulin (58b) translates chulsis as לזר"א. Lazei Rashi does not know what this word means in old French (#1251), but לזר"א sounds like it's our baladhur. The Rosh states explicitly that chulsis is in fact baladhur and there is nothing as sharp as baladhur (Avodah Zarah, 3:166). The Beit David accepts that this is the correct definition of chulsis (Yoreh Deah, #36). Rabbeinu Yerucham writes that the chulsis is the baladhur and although eating it does not pose a problem for hilkhot tereifah, it is prohibited for another reason - sakanat nefashot (Sefer Ha'dom Netiv 15:5, pg. 121b). We see from the above sources that the definition of the "old people" quoted by Meir Benayahu has some support.
The Shulhan Arukh writes that if a bird eats something that punctures its intestines, for example, a branch of chulsis, the bird is rendered a treifah (Yoreh Deah 51:4). The Prei Chadash, after quoting the Rabbeinu Yerucham, says that it can't be that baladhur is deadly, as we know that people eat this baladhur and it helps the memory. According to the Prei Chadash, the method of eating baladhur was actually by means of a bird (I assume he means they ate birds that were feed the baladhur). He writes that although the gemara in Chulin says that it can dangerously raise one's temperature, this was only when it was eaten on an empty stomach, as it states explicitly. The Tevos Shor disagrees with this and he says there is a printing mistake in the Rabbenu Yerucham. He meant to say that chulsis is, in fact, assur because it renders the bird a treifah. When he says it is dangerous, he is actually referring to a something else mentioned there, unrelated to chulsis. The Shulhan Gavoah writes that the chulsis is baladhur and he heard that baladhur is extremely sharp and dangerous to eat, but nonetheless improves ones memory. The Shulhan Gavoah brings that in his country, Salonkia (Thessaloniki), there was a great talmid hakham who was famous for his memory and he later found out that they said this memory was a result of his eating the baladhur. The Shulhan Gavoah writes he is not sure exactly what the connection is between baladhur and a bird, but it seems that they would feed a bird this baladhur before shehitah and than one eats this bird.
Chulsis, thus baladhur, is Coffee:
The Kanfei Yonah cites the work Otzar Ha-Hayyim who says the chulsis is coffee! The Kanfei Yonah writes that although we know that coffee is not so sharp, being that the Otzar Ha-Hayyim was a big hakham in his time, especially in medicine, we therefore must follow his opinion. Additionally, according to the Otzar Ha-Hayyim, baladhur is coffee. The Darkei Teshuvah cites the Maaseh Tuviah that chulsis is the actual coffee bean, but not in its more common ground state. The Malbim in his Alim Le'treufah (Rambam, hilkhot de'ot, #21) writes that it's very hard to accept that chulsis is coffee, as chulsis is supposed to be extremely sharp and we know that coffee is not. (However, this truly really depends on the specific type of coffee, as there are both sharper and milder strains.) Furthermore, the Malbim notes that today people drink coffee on empty stomachs and nothing happens, whereas the gemara said that your skin starts peeling and one's temperature rises. Therefore, he concludes it is an error to link coffee with chulsis.
The Segulat Yisrael dismisses the Malbim's question from the gemara in Chulin that the statement that chulsis will cause one's skin to peel and raise one's temperature is only when chulsis is eaten alone – that is, without water. But as coffee is typically mixed together with water, that is the reason we don't see this effect on people who drink coffee even on an empty stomach. Thus, the Segulat Yisrael concludes that coffee does help the memory a bit (pg. 33). This is then quoted in Shmirat Haguf VeHanefesh (2:794) to prove that coffee helps ones memory. The Da'at Torah writes that he experimented with coffee and never found it to be so sharp as to qualify for what the gemara is referring to so it can not be that it is chulsis[10].
Interestingly enough today medical studies show that coffee does help the memory (see here) although some of the sources seem to say it only helps women who drink coffee (see here). It is worth pointing out that that in the popular and excellent historical fiction work by David Liss, The Coffee Trader, one of the main characters, a woman, eats coffee and it has a profound effect on her.
It is clear that R. David de Silva did not think that baladhur is coffee as he has a special entry for the medical benefits of coffee in his Peri Megadim and he does not write its Baladhur. R. David de Silva knew what baladhur is as clear from the story with his grandfather (quoted soon).
R. Samuel Joseph Finn in his Ha'otzar explains that chulsis is Asa Foetida (2:93). R. Emmanuel Loew in his Die Flora Der Juden (3:454) translates it to mean Asa Foeitida. Dr. Katzenelson in his notes on the Midrash Refuah (pg. 147 is missing – by mistake – in the new reprint of this sefer) writes that chulsis is Asa goefida, and that Persians use it for spices. Professor Saul Lieberman also writes its Asa Foeitida (Tosefta Kifshutah, Shabbat, pg. 265 and Baba Kama, pg. 57). Yehudah Feilkeis, in his Hazomach Vhachai Bamishna (pg. 65), and Michael Sokoloff, in his Dictionary of Jewish Babylonian Aramic Of The Talmudic And Geonic Periods, translate chulsis to mean Asa Foeitida (pg. 456).
So it seems that chulsis is not the same as our baladhur.
So what is the baladhur?
R. Hayyim Vital writes baladhur is Anacardium. [5] Much later Ben Yehudah writes this same this baladhur is Anacorde (Milon, pg. 545 "Erech Baladhur").
Gerrit Bos also documents that it is Anacardium which is the marking nut. Bos writes this is used even today in many medicines. Ibn Al Jazzar in his work on "Forgetfulness and its treatments" gives some exact recipes for this cure. R. Hayyim Vital gives an exact recipe for this baladhur. As noted above (at footnote three), Gerrit Bos brings different recipes for this cure.
People who used baladhur:
There is an old legend that the Rambam when he was twenty he had not learnt anything and he had been working somewhere. Than his master had to go out of town so he told him not to eat from the baladhur. When the master left Moshe ate the baladhur. and he became smart instantly (see Shivchei Harambam pg 76) [Of course this story is not true at all historically and is an embarrassment to the Rambam as much has been written on another such similar legend to this in regard to the youth of the Rambam in the past few months.]
R' Avraham Kalifon, who knew the Chida personally [7], writes that the Chida, when he was young, ate baladhur. and as a result, the middle finger of his left hand became paralyzed (Sefer Hachida, pg. 185). Incidently Meir Benayahu writes that the Chida had an incredible memory; he remembered whatever he saw (Hachida, volume 1, pg. 91). Others that have used it include the Prei Chadash and R. Chaim Saton - the author of the Aretz Chaim (Benayahu Sinai ibd).
Dangers of using baladhur:
R Avrohum Gibson in his Omer Hashicha writes of a person who he knew who heard of the Baladhur.that it helps ones memory he went and used it incorrectly and died (pg 133). Benayhu brings that R. Chaim Saton mind was effected by his using of the baladhur.
R Yehudah Aryeh Modena writes that people try different ways to help their memories one of the ways is thru the baladhur. However he does not recommend it as it's very dangerous he knew many people who lost their minds completely from using it (Lev Haryeh pg 13) [8]. R' Yaakov Emden says that one should be careful not to use the baladhur. because it's more likely that the person who takes it will lose their memory rather than gain memory (Migdal Oz, pg. 50).
Meir Benayhu printed a letter from a manuscript where the Jews from Fez asked R Yakov ibn Zor to write to R Yosef Konki that some of the Talmidi Chachmim who learn the whole day but forget some of what they learn had heard about the Baladhur. On the one hand they heard that it helps ones memory but on the other hand they heard that its dangerous if used incorrectly so they asked me to write to you R Yosef Konki being that they heard you use it successfully to explain how exactly does one use it. We do not have R Yosef Konki response (Sinai, 36, 1937, 67-70).
In the Prei Megadim of R. Dovid de Silva records an interesting story that happened with himself in regard to this baladhur. He had read somewhere the statement of Chazal that 'Chazor, chazor val titztarech l'Baladhur' [more on this soon] so he went and started to eat a lot of this baladhur. His mother saw this and went to ask her father R Refal Malchi who was a doctor if what her son is eating is healthy. R Refal came and saw what his grandson was eating he gave it to him - telling him how could you eat something you do not know about it its something that could make you lose your mind he told him it is lucky you did not eat it wet. He told him the only way you could eat it with it causing damage is to eat it with a bird [more on this soon] (pg 58-59). [These two great people, R Dovid and R Refal will be the subject of an upcoming post.] Interestingly enough Meir Benayhu brings an old rumor that R Dovid's father the Prei Chadash used the baladhur.
Professor G. Bos brings many non-Jewish medical sources which also say how dangerous the incorrect use of baladhur could be. Bos even brings those who say that Galen died from using baladhur (pg 236). There was a 9th century Persian historian named Ahmad Ibn Yahya al-Baladhuri who lived at the court of the Chaliphs al-Mutawakkil and Al-Musta'in and was tutor to the son of al-Mutazz. He died in 892 as the result of using a drug called Baladhur, hence his name.
Recent Usage of baladhur:
In a recent printing of Lev Ha-Aryeh, R. E. Monzor writes (pg. 31 and on) that he asked his father and many experts in ancient seforim about this baladhur, and he was told that this refuah consists of a few different plants, and the mixture must be exact. He writes about R. Yaakov Katzin, who had a phenomenal memory. He writes that he remembers when he was young, that people heard of the baladhur, and there were three rabbanim who used it. These rabbanim went to consult someone who was an expert in the correct measurements of baladhur. After using it each one suffered from different side effects. One was cold even the summer and R. Yaakov Katzin (who was known for having an incredible memory), who was one of the three, had problems with his intestines. In the Or Torah Journal (Tishrei 5751): 10, there is another source which also claims that he heard that R. Yaakov Katzin used baladhur. In the same journal in a later issue (Tevet 5751): 280, there is a source which brings from R. Ovadiah Yosef that a rebbi of his, R. Eliyahu Lupas, went to purchase this baladhur and the seller told him that it does not really help.
Sources for the Pisgam, 'Chazor, Chazor V'al Titztarech l'Baladhur':
As I have mentioned earlier this baladhur, was used in a Pisgam (saying) to remind one to review his learnings. In regard to the sources and evolvement of this pisgam of 'Chazor, Chazor V'al Titztarech l'Baladhur'. One of the first places to consult is as always the Alpah Beta Kadmita D'shemuel Zeirah of R. Shmuel Askenazi. R. Askenazi has a short comment about it (pg. 595) and than he writes more will be in the second volume. In the back of the sefer amongst the list of future topics he plans on writing about he mentions that this pisgam is one of the topics of the next sefer (pg. 842). For whatever reasons, as of now volume two is not happening. So I asked R. Askenazi if he could give me the material he was planning on printing but unfortunately thus far, he was unable to locate the material. So – as the saying goes – Bemokom Shein Ish, I will attempt to trace it a bit, in a similar style to R. Ashkenazi.
One of the first sources is found in a sefer recently printed from manuscript from R. Yosef Alashkar in his Marchevet Hamishna on the Mishneh in Avot (pg. 139) (see my forthcoming post at the Seforim blog on this topic) where he brings this quote חזור חזור ואל תצטרך לבלדור. R. Yosef Alashkar was a youngster during the Spanish Expulsion. A bit earlier, the Abarbanel in his commentary on Avot, entitled Nachalat Avot (pg. 351) brings this same exact quote. R. Tobias Cohen in his Ma'aseh Tuviah (pg. 133b) brings this quote but adds that it's mentioned in the gemara. R. David de Silva, a younger contemporary of R. Tobias Cohen also quotes this statement saying it is from Chazal in his Peri Megadim (pg 59). R. Jacob Emden in Migdal Oz (pg. 100) brings the same quote except he says בלאזור. Professor Simha Assaf printed a letter from manuscript that a melamad in Italy who instructed his students רק חזור חזור טוב מבלאזור apparently this is alluding to our pisgam (Toldos Hachinch Byisroel 2:391). R. Yehezkel Feivel, in his Toldot Adam, writes "that there is a famous Mamaor that people say חזור חזור ואל תצריך לבלאזור (vol 1 pg 70)." Levinsohn in his Zerubavel already writes the source for this Toldot Adam is the Ma'aseh Tuviah (pg 42). This pisgam is also found in the Tiferet Yisrael to Avot 1:4.
Azariah de Rossi also alludes to our pisgam at the end of chapter 59 of Meor Einayim:
הטעמים שאינם אלא פרפראות להבנת הענינים ובלאדור נגד השכחה.
R. Yehudah Aryeh (Leon) Modena in Lev Ha-Aryeh brings it a bit different claiming, its from chazal הדור הדור ואל תצטרך לבל דור (pg 7).
R. David Pardo writes it a little different חזור חזור ואל תסתרך לב"ל הדו"ר (Shu"t Michtam LeDavid, Yoreh Deah, pg 87b).
The Da'at Torah writes this baladhur is what the Sefer Hakanah is talking about when he says חזור חזור ואל תצטרך לבלזור. From here the Sefer Hakanah is quoted by many amongst them R. Menachem Mendel Krengel (in his notes Menachim Zion on Shem Hagdolim (pg. 146, note 18), Sefer Hameshalim V'Hapisgamim (by C. Bialik and Y. Rivinski, pg. 167) and R. Lerner in his Shmirat Haguf VeHanefesh (2:794). However both Meir Benayahu and R. Shmuel Ashkenazi have pointed out that all these people are quoting it wrong, as the Sefer Hakanah does not talk about it, rather the author of the Sefer Hakanah does, in a different work of his, the Sefer Hapliah. However the Sefer Hapliah does not bring the pisgam the same way the Da'at Torah quotes it. Rather, he says חזור חזור יפה מבלזור. (Volume 2, pg. 17a)
Interestingly enough R. Yisrael Tayber writes in his book Mikveh Yisrael (which is a biography of the author of the Terumat HaDeshen) that the Terumat HaDeshen used to say this pisgam to his talmidim however, he brings no source for this statement (pg. 16). R. Tauber notes that the Ma'aseh Tuviah cites this quote from chazal. R. Yosef Halpern suggests that the Ma'aseh Tuviah is incorrect, because it is a Sefer Hakoneh not a chazal.[11] But then R. Haplern concludes that perhaps the Ma'aseh Tuviah is correct because the Sefer Hakoneh is a sefer of chazal (Kuntres Me'at Zri pgs. 8-9). Now, R. Yosef Halpern is incorrect for a few reasons first of all, the Ma'aseh Tuviah specifically says it found in the gemara second of all, its in the Sefer Hapliah and not in the sefer Hakoneh and third of all, most agree today that Sefer Hakoneh and Sefer Hapliah are much later from the times of the late rishonim.
I would like to thank Professors Gerrit Bos and Zohar Amar for their helpful articles; to Manuscript boy and R. Motti Jackobwitz for their help with finding some references; and, as always, thank you to Dan Rabinowitz and Menachem Butler of the Seforim blog for all of their assistance, especially in helping tracking down some of the more obscure sources.
[1] R. Shabsei Donlo (1:80).
[2] Sori Haguf was a medical work written in the late thirteenth century. Less than a year ago, Professors Zohar Amar and Yael Buchman published part of this work. The piece about baladhur can be found on pages 163-164 of this edition. Not much is known about this work, though Professor Gerrit Bos and Resianne Fontaine have discussed this sefer in their "Medico-Philosophical Controversies in Nathan B. Yoel Falaquera's 'Sefer Sori ha-Guf'," Jewish Quarterly Review 90:1-2 (July – October, 1999): 27-60.
[3] Gerrit Bos, "'Balādhur' (Marking-Nut): A Popular Medieval Drug for Strengthening Memory," Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 59:2 (1996): 229-236. See this fantastic article for additional sources and complete citations.
[4] This work only in manuscript, for this quote, see Gerrit Bos, "Jewish Traditions on Strengthening Memory and Leone Modena's Evaluation," Jewish Studies Quarterly 2:1 (1995): 48. For more on this author in general, see Gerrit Bos, "R. Moshe Narboni, Philosopher and Physician: A Critical Analysis of Sefer Orah Hayyim," Medieval Encounters 1:2 (1995): 219-251.
[5] R. Hayyim Vital, the most famous student of the Arizal, wrote many seforim, including a nearly unknown work on medicine and alchemy. It was briefly mentioned by Gershom Scholem. The alchemist section of this book was discussed by Raphael Patai in his book, Jewish Alchemists. Meir Benayahu discusses it in various places in his writings (amongst them in his book on the Ari). Gerrit Boss, "Hayyim Vital's Kabbalah Ma'asit we-Alkhimiyah (Practical Kabbalah and Alchemy), a Seventeenth Century 'Book of Secrets'," Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 4 (1994): 55-112, wrote an extensive article on this book, and does an excellent job of putting each remedy into its proper categories, as the book is not published in proper order. More recently, Prof. Zohar Amar and Yael Buchman in Sinai 121 (1996): 231-238 and, idem., "Theory and practice in an essay by R. Hayyim Vital," Sinai 125 (2000): 202-215, about the various halakhic aspects discussed in this work. After that, Yael Buchman wrote her doctorate on this work of R. Hayyim Vital, and a recent article, "A Kabbalist as Healer: The Medical Practice of Rabbi and Healer Hayyim Vital (1543-1620)," Korot: The Israel Journal of the History of Medicine and Science 17 (2003-2004): 7-30 (Hebrew). Less than a year ago, Buchman and Amar printed part of this book, calling it Refuah Maasios L'Rav Chaim Vital. The only part they printed was the medical portion that contains diseases and cures. The recipe for baladhur can be found on page 262 of Buchman and Amar edition. One hopes that they will print the rest of this work in the future. What makes this work very interesting is that we see that R. Hayyim Vital was a medical doctor of sorts, who gave remedies to people for all kinds of illnesses, in all areas of health, whether asthma, infertility, etc. Much of the advice was based on real medical advice that R. Hayyim Vital had read in various medical works, other pieces of advice were based on Segulos or the like. For more on this issue see, the excellent introduction of Amar and Buchman to Refuah Maasios L'Rav Chaim Vital; and Gerrit Boss, "Hayyim Vital's Kabbalah Ma'asit we-Alkhimiyah (Practical Kabbalah and Alchemy), a Seventeenth Century 'Book of Secrets'," Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 4 (1994): 59-62.
[6] This piece is only in manuscript, its quoted by Gerrit Boss, "Hayyim Vital's Kabbalah Ma'asit we-Alkhimiyah (Practical Kabbalah and Alchemy), a Seventeenth Century 'Book of Secrets'," Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 4 (1994): 78. The subject of "petihat lev" has been discussed much in recent literature. This concept of petihat lev is found in many different sources where people used to do all kinds of things to help with memory and understanding Torah enabling one to understand and recall the torah effortlessly. One example something done for petihat lev of this are the customs relating to the educational initiation ceremony of young boys still done today in many circles.
Professor Israel Ta-Shma published a piece, included in his Kneset Makcharim (1:1540), from a work written in 1294 called Sefer Hamaskil which gives us a little insight into this petihat lev, which says:
ומאותו היום שאכלו אדם הראשון ניתנו לו חדרדים בלבו לקבל כוח רוח עץ הדעת, שהוא רוח מעורבב מטוב ורע, ויש לו לאדם כמה חדרים בליבו, כל חדר ממונה על ממשלת חכמה אחת, חדר זה ממונה על מלאכת החרש... ובאמצעית הלב יש חדר גדול המקבל רוח שכל עץ הדעת ושותין ממנו שאר חדרים כולו. נסתם חדר אחר או שנים נסתמים ממונים עליהם, כאשר אתה רואה קצת בני אדם שהם סכלים בחכמות העולם והם חכמים גדולים בחכמת המלאכים. ובזמן שהחדר האמצעי כולו סתום, ואין הרוח יכול להתפשט מתמלא המוח עשן ומשתטה
Some general sources on petihat lev can be found in: Ivan G. Marcus, Rituals of Childhood, Jewish Acculturation in Medieval Europe (Yale University Press, 1998), 28; Ephraim Kanarfogel, Peering through the Lattices, Mystical, Magical and Pietistic Dimensions in the Tosafist Period (Wayne State University Press, 2000), 140-141, 156 and 237; and in the excellent article by Yuval Harrari, "'The Opening of the Heart': Magical Practices for Gaining Knowledge, Understanding and Good Memory in Judaism of Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages," in Shefa Tal: Studies in Jewish Thought and Culture presented to Bracha Sack, eds., Z. Gries, H. Kreisel, and B. Huss (Beer Sheva, 2004), 303–347.
[7] A younger contemporary of R. Hayyim Yosef David Azulai (the Chida), R. Avraham Kalfon (1735-1820) served as a rabbi in Luv. R. Avraham corresponded with the Chida for many years. Later on, he even visited him in Loriano for over a year. They had a close personal relationship. Through his sefarim, he mentions personal anecdotes and discussions he had with the Chida. He also quotes all of the Chida's works. This piece, where R. Kalfon writes about the Chida using Baladhur, was printed by M. Benayahu in the Sefer Hachida (a collection of articles dealing with the Chida, pages 177-184) More recently, this piece was reprinted in a sefer Igrot V'Haskamot Rabbeinu Hachida (pages 133-134). This book is an excellent collection of letters of the Chida and history of the Chida. One problem with this book, is that in the introduction, the editor acknowledges different sources for helping him write the book, but he doesn't give credit to his main source, the writings of Meir Benayahu. He does quote these writings extensively, but never uses Benayahu's name.
R. Avraham Kalfon authored several works, including the small work titled Chayeh Avraham, a collection of reasons of various minhaghim related to Orah Hayyim and Yoreh Deah which he had gathered from many different sources. He authored another work entitled Leket Hakatsir on Orah Hayyim, which remained in manuscript form until a few years ago, when it was printed the first time in 1992. Leket Hakatsir is a large and excellent collection of material gathered from many sources on all topics relating to Orah Hayyim. R. Kalfon quotes many points that he had heard personally from the Chida. Unfortunately, this work is pretty much unused and unknown by our generation of halakhic authors. Nearly thirty years ago, Harvey Goldberg printed Higgid Mordechai (Jerusalem: Ben-Zvi Institute, 1978), from part of a work by R. Mordechai Cohen, entitled Koros Luv ve-Yehuda, and quotes many things from manuscripts of R. Avraham Kalfon.
[8] R. Yehuda Aryeh (Leon) Modena's Lev Ha-Aryeh was completed in 1611. The idea of this work was to develop a course for memory improvement. In this short work, Modena brings down many ways of how people went about improving their memories, all types of scientific methods, medical methods and segulos for improving memory, and mnemonic systems. For a discussion of this work, see Howard E. Adelman, "Success and Failure in the Seventeenth-Century Ghetto of Venice: The Life and Thought of Leon Modena, 1571-1648," (PhD dissertation, Brandeis University, 1985), 431-433, who writes that it is possible that Modena's source was an edition printed in Venice, 1603. For an extensive discussion of Lev Ha-Aryeh, see Gerrit Bos, "Jewish Traditions on Strengthening Memory and Leone Modena's Evaluation," Jewish Studies Quarterly 2:1 (1995): 39-58. This work Lev Ha-Aryeh was recently reprinted by Mechon Shuvi Nafshi (2001)
[9] The Midrash Harefuah was written by R. Moshe Perlman, son of R. Yeruscham Leib Perlman (the Minsker Gadol), and is a three-volume-collection of all the health and medical related information that one can find in the Talmud Bavli and Yerushalmi, Tosefta and Zohar. It is incredible to see how much material R. Perlman was able to gather. More importantly, R. Perlman presents the information in an extremely organized manner and brings complete and exact quotations of each source and is careful to properly reference each citation. Additionally, in the footnotes R. Perlman has a brief explanation of some points from the text. This work was first printed in 1936 and a few months ago, thankfully, was reprinted in Jerusalem. R. Perlman writes, in the introduction, that he came to working on Midrash Harefuah while working on a completely different topic, and was going through the abovementioned sources in a systematic manner listing all of the statements that he needed. In working on this project, R. Perlman noticed the many statements throughout chazal about medical and health issues. He began gathering all of the sources – without knowing that others had previously done the same, and had he known, he would likely have not bothered to put Midrash Harefuah together. When he finished the work he went to bring it to a great medical expert Dr. Heindis, who, at first glance, told him not to bother printing the work, as much has already been written on this topic. Dr. Heindis then started to study the work in-depth and could not put it down. Dr. Heindis then asked R. Perlman to leave the work with him for several days. When Dr. Heindis returned the book to R. Perlman, he told him he was unaware that there was so much information in chazal on these topics and this is an important work. Before printing Midrash Harefuah, R. Perlman sent it to medical experts Drs. Katzenelson and Mazeyah for their comments, and their notes on many of the topics are printed in the back of each volume.
R. Meir Halpern, in his excellent work on the Minsker Gadol – the topic of a upcoming post at the Seforim blog – writes about his abovementioned student, R. Moshe Perlman, he was great in learning and eventually entered into a career of business, but did not waste any of his free time. His tremendous knowledge is evident from the work Medrash Harefuah (Hagadol Me-Minsk, pg 208).
[10] For more on chulsis and coffee: see the forthcoming work of R. Yechiel Golhavher (famous for his excellent work Minhaghai Hakehilos) on coffee.
What is this sefer Otzar Ha-Hayyim that the Kanfei Yonah is quoting which writes chulsis is coffee? R. Yaakov Zahalon (1630-1693), a graduate of medical college in Rome, became a doctor at the age of twenty-six, and for several years, was also a Rav and Baal Darshan in Rome. He was very involved in the famous plague in the ghetto of Rome in 1656, which he describes at length in his work, Otzar Ha-Hayyim. He wrote many works, amongst them Margolios Tovos (available at HebrewBooks.org), which has prayers for different occasions; including those for a doctor to say before he treated a patient and for a darshan to recite before he spoke in public. R. Zahalon wrote a book called the Or Darshanim, a guide for darshanim on how to compose and deliver sermons. Twenty-years-ago, the work was printed with an extensive introduction and English translation by Henry Adler Sosland, A Guide for Preachers on Composing and Delivering Sermons: The Or Ha-Darshanim of Jacob Zahalon, A Seventeenth Century Italiam Preacher's Manual (JTS Press, 1987).
However, R. Zahalon's most famous work was the Otzar Ha-Hayyim, first printed in 1683. It was the first medical work whose original language was Hebrew. This work was intended to be an encyclopedia for the doctor and layman alike. He intended to discuss every aspect related to medical and health issues. Unfortunately, only part of this work was printed only one time, thus making it a very rare book. This definition of chulsis being coffee attributed to him can be found on page seven in the Otzar Ha-Hayyim. R. Zahalon included a whole section in his sefer to explain the fourth chapter of Rambam's Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot Deot – all of the health related issues, including where this piece related to coffee can be found. Recently Professor Zohar Amar reprinted just this part of the work of the Otzar Ha-Hayyim called Shemirat Haberiut LeHa-Rambam including many additions from an autographed copy of R. Zahalon. One only hopes someone will reprint this whole work again.
For more on Zahalon, see David B. Ruderman, Jewish Thought and Scientific Discovery in Early Modern Europe (Wayne State University Press, 2001), 232-239. See also, J. Leibowitz, "R. Yaakov Zahalon, Man of Rome, His Poem in Honor of the Sabbath, 1687," Scritti in Memoria di Enzo Sereni: Studies in the History of the Jews in Rome (Jerusalem 1970), 167-181. See also, Professor Zohar Amar in his introduction to his reprinted edition of the Otzar Ha-Hayyim- the part on the Rambam Hilkhot Deot called Shemirat Haberiut LeHa-Rambam.
The question is how this medical work came to R. Yonah Lansdorf. The answer is found by looking in his entry in the Chida's Shem Hagedolim, where he writes that R. Yonah Landsdorf – besides for being a great Goan – was well versed in all chochmos (Erech Mil Tzedakah). In addition to R. Yonah Landsdorf quoting the Otzar Ha-Hayyim, at least one other goan used Otzar Ha-Hayyim and quotes this definition of chulsis being coffee. R. Yehezkel Feivel, famous for his Toldot Adam, also wrote a work on the Rambam's Hilkhot Deot and Teshuva, entitled Mussar Haskel. In the beginning of chapter four of Hilkhot Deot (in a section called Loshon Chachamim), Feivel writes that he obtained a copy of the work Otzar Ha-Hayyim and will quote from it throughout the chapter. This explanation of the Lashon Chachamim is quoted by the Sefer Hakovetz in his comments on this Rambam (found in the back of most printings of the Mishneh Torah). R. Yehezkel Feivel and his various works will be discussed at greater length in a future post at the Seforim blog; for now, see the significant discussion in Edward Breuer, "The Haskalah in Vilna: R. Yehezkel Feivel's 'Toldot Adam'," Torah u-Madda Journal 7(1997):15-40.
[11] Much has been written regarding the authorship of the Sefer Hakanah and Sefer Hapliah. Some attribute it to R. Avigdor Kra (see here). See also Sdei Chemed (vol. 9), Klalei HaPoskim V'HaHoraa (15:59), Shorshei Minhag Ashkenaz (3:375, notes 71-72), Chida in Shem Hagedolim (Erech Hakanah and Erech Hapliah , notes of Menachem Zion ibid, notes of Shimon Chanes in Rav Upalim of R. Avraham Ben Hagra (pg. 97), A. Marcus, Hachasidus (pg. 377), and Professor Israel Ta-Shma (Kneset Makcharim, 3:228).


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YAKIMA – Yakima Valley Community College has named its Dean's List students, as well as the President's List for the spring 2014 quarter.
To receive the Dean's List designation, a student must earn a quarterly grade point average of 3.40 to 3.84 and a minimum of 12 graded credits.
Dean's List students include Outlook's Hector J. Mendoza, as well as Sunnyside's Irene Almaguer, Itzel R. Alvizo, Andrea S. Candido, Don Cardenas, Jessica Cortez, Felicia L. Garcia, Jennifer N. Hall, Jacob L. Kresse, Bonnie J. Mares, Yesenia Montano, Delia Serna, Socorro E. Trujillo, Eva Velasco, Dominic K. Wolf-Jarvis and Hunter W. Zieske.
From Mabton, Roman J. Chavez, Laura Chavez-Cervantes, Kevin R. Leiva, Bailey N. Morris, Shawna C. Santini, Julio A. Maldonado and Martha Mendoza are included among the students on the Dean's List.
Named to the Dean's List from Grandview for the spring 2014 quarter are Mario A. Aguilar, Adriana Covey, John J. Deleon, Abigail Diaz, Alejandra Dorantes, Patricia A. Escobar, Sergio Gonzalez, John L. Hammers, Cristina M. Ledesma, Anthony A. Munoz, Elaura D. Navarro, Guadalupe Rangel-Gutierrez, Jesus A. Reyes and Stephanie L. Schell.
Granger students named to the Dean's List include Daniel Chavez, Keila Y. Diaz, Ashley A. Heilman, Charissa S. Jochen, Eduardo E. Martinez, Sophia Y. Ochoa, Yeni Octaviano and Martin A. Urena-Pulido.
On the Dean's List from Prosser are Jose M. Barocio, Kevin D. Costello and Natali Ramirez.
To receive the President's List designation, a student must earn a quarterly grade point average of 3.85 or higher and a minimum of 12 graded credits.
Named to the President's List are 15 students from Sunnyside. They include Jose-Luis Alonso, Angel Candido, Amanda J. Cervantes, Cinthia Contreras-Diaz, Ana E. Duran, Andrea M. Gatica, Raymond Guerrero, Karla L. Mancinas, Madison M. Marquez, Luis M. Ochoa, Amelia Osorio, Perla Perez, Michelle R. Radder, Araseli Rios and Dinora Verdugo-Lopez.
Grandview's Amelia N. Arreola, Amy L. Cavazos, Edgar Delgadillo, Makenna K. Hoffard, Maria G. Miranda, Shelly D. Richardson, Martha F. Rivas and Erika Rodriguez also are on the President's List.
From Mabton, Nasario Soliz is included on the President's list.
Granger's Courtney B. Reddout also earned President's List honors.
Also named to the President's List are Prosser students Oluyemisi O. Akinbade, Ashley M. Arriaga, Kimberlee J. Aubrey, Ashley R. Bryson, Leslie A. Erickson, Stephen P. Hoff, Alejandra Leon and Mycole W. Meeske.
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More than $1 trillion could be lost to the Australian economy in the next 80 years if education improvements are not made now, a new report warns.
The analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), released on Monday, says that Australia has lost its reputation for high education performance levels in the past decade.
The report states that there is currently a good system of primary and secondary education, but "good is not great".
It says leaving things as they are "imposes opportunity costs on Australia".
If the present trend continues, the overall productivity costs to be borne by the nation between now and 2092 would be $1.5 trillion, according to PwC.
School Education Minister Peter Garrett says the nation cannot afford to do nothing.
"Australia's total economic output is currently about $1.5 trillion per year," he said.
"This PwC analysis tells us that if we improve our schools to be competitive with those of world leader Finland, that over the life of a child born this year, our plan would generate an extra $3.6 trillion for the national economy."
The PwC report says Australia's ranking in international education tables has slipped because other countries have lifted their game while Australian students' proficiency levels have fallen.
"This is a strong reminder that the National Plan for School Improvement really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to ensure Australia can continue to win the economic race by winning the education race," said Mr Garrett.
Angelo Gavrielatos, federal president of the Australian Education Union, said the report reiterated the message from the Gonski report that action had to be taken.
"Inaction is clearly not an option. If we're serious about our future productivity and prosperity we need funding reform," he said.
He called on politicians to get behind the reform "and allow every child to reach his or her full potential".


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Cowboys Tough Start to Season, Early Analysis
The NFL schedule has been released and it makes for some good day dreaming and predictions for all……I had to join in the fun and share with all of you all.
In my early opinion, it is a tough schedule. There are 3 occasions where we have back-to-back road games, we have an early bye week, and travel to New York in December, that ugly stadium is never a good place to be at any time of the year, but especially in the dead of winter.
I also noticed that we play two teams that I think are going to make a step up this year in Seattle and Kansas City. I will hold out on my overall season prediction, because it can be so subjective and things can change so rapidly in the NFL, but here is my take on the first "quarter" of the season:
WEEK 1 – @ Tampa Bay – The Boys start the season on the road for the second straight year. This should be like last year's opener, a convincing win. The Buccaneers are in rebuilding mode, Dallas should be ready to get things started on the right foot. A slow start with a big second half should end in a 31-13 victory. RECORD: 1-0 (0-0)
WEEK 2 – vs NY Giants – The NFL did us no favors with the G-Men opening up the new stadium in Arlington. A tough matchup every time, the Giants will be fired up to ruin our party on national TV. In a playoff atmosphere, The Boys will be hoping to show an improved run defense and it will be imperative in this game. This is truly a toss-up, but you have to believe we will pull off a thrilling win in the opening game in our new house, 27-24. RECORD: 2-0 (1-0)
WEEK 3 – vs Carolina – A tough follow-up to the emotional home opener, on Monday Night Football to boot. The Panthers will be attacking the Boys new-look secondary with Delhomme and Steve Smith, and it could make for a long night. Romo shines on the big stage but it won't be enough as the Cowboys take their first loss of the season, and in the new house, and over-reaction ensues as it becomes official that we won't go undefeated due to a 31-27 loss. RECORD: 2-1 (1-0)
WEEK 4 – @ Denver – We travel to the Mile High city fresh off the first defeat and face a Broncos team minus their pro-bowl QB and long time head coach, I anticipate they will be starting to find their footing by week 4 and it makes for a tough game, on the road. We look sluggish in the first hald but then turn loose the rushing attack to grind out a nail biting victory and the Cowboys nation rejoices in a 3-1 start thanks to a 17-10 win. RECORD: 3-1 (1-0)
WEEK 5 – @ Kansas City………………….
I am just very glad to see the dates and times that we will all be gathered around our TV's or local sports bars or maybe even the beautiful new stadium for the lucky few, all living and dying with every play. All I know is that it is 148 days until we take the field in Tampa Bay for Game 1. It will be another great season of Cowboys Football and make sure you check in here at Lonestarstruck.com for all the best information and hottest graphics all season long!!
Cowboys Fan for Life – TD


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Arkansas Senate to vote on bill to allow guns in church
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Arkansas Senate is voting on legislation that would allow concealed handguns in churches, the first of several gun-related measures expected in this year's session.
The Senate on Thursday planned to vote on a proposal by Republican Sen. Bryan King of Green Forest that would remove churches from the list of places where concealed weapons are prohibited. King's proposal would leave it up to churches and other places of worship to determine whether to allow concealed handguns and who can carry them.
King's proposal was backed Wednesday by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
A similar measure by King was approved by the House two years ago, but failed before a Senate committee. Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe has indicated he'll likely sign the measure if it reaches his desk.


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This wasn't what the Orlando Magic had in mind when they talked about building momentum — and earning some wins — during their six-game homestand.
Playing without leading scorer Arron Afflalo, who was sick, the Magic missed shot after shot, some of them from close range.
They failed to play with energy on defense in the first half.
And they allowed rookie point guard Trey Burke to pick them apart all night long.
The Magic lost a winnable game against one of the NBA's worst teams Wednesday night, falling to the Utah Jazz 86-82 at Amway Center.
"We didn't make shots tonight," power forward Glen Davis said. "On the other end, defensively, we broke down a couple of times when we needed to stay together. It was tough out there."
If you had to boil the game down to one moment, you'd look no further than the closing seconds of the fourth quarter. Trailing 84-82 with 10.0 seconds left, Jameer Nelson received an inbounds pass, drove past Burke and tried to bank in a layup over Derrick Favors' outstretched right arm. Nelson missed the layup.
"He just made a play at the ball and I just missed a shot," Nelson said. "It was a play I've made probably a thousand times. I just missed it. Sometimes it goes in. Sometimes it doesn't."
The Magic missed the vast majority of their shots on Wednesday.
Although the Jazz entered the night ranked last in the NBA in field-goal percentage defense, allowing opponents to make 47.5 percent of their attempts, the Magic shot a season-low 32.6 percent from the field.
Center Nik Vucevic made just five of his 18 attempts, but no one struggled more than rookie guard Victor Oladipo, whose 1-for-12 shooting night was the worst of his brief pro career.
"I missed shots," Oladipo said. "We all missed shots collectively. They hit big shots."
No Jazz player made more big shots than Burke, last season's consensus national college player of the year at the University of Michigan.
Burke scored a career-high 30 points on 12-of-30 shooting. He also collected seven rebounds and distributed eight assists.
The Magic passed on Burke in the draft, but Burke insisted he didn't want to make the Magic pay for not choosing him.
"That wasn't my main intention or my main goal," he said. "But I definitely wanted to come out and be aggressive."
Burke made a pull-up jumper that put Utah ahead 80-78 with 3:45 left to play.
The Jazz led the rest of the way.
With 1:09 left, swingman Gordon Hayward rattled in a wide-open 19-foot jumper to extend Utah's lead to 84-80.
After Davis made a pair of free throws, Orlando had a chance to tie the score. But Tobias Harris threw up an airball from 16 feet.
A Jazz shotclock violation gave the Magic their last chance — the chance that ended with Nelson's missed driving layup.
"A good look," Magic coach Jacque Vaughn said.
Normally, however, that end-of-game play would've been drawn up for Afflalo.
"He's the reason why we've been winning," Davis said. "He's going to give you 20 points a game. We missed those 20 today."
The Magic (8-18) hope they'll generate some wins on this homestand. A game against the lowly Jazz (7-21) was supposed to provide a good opportunity.
Now, in retrospect, it looks the Magic accomplished only one thing: getting Harris into a rhythm. In just his fifth game following a high-ankle sprain, Harris started in Afflalo's place and scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
But even Harris sounded disappointed afterward.
"If we had that type of effort that we brought in the second half [during] the first half," he said, "that would've been our game from the jump."


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Cassied needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 16 designs submitted by 5 freelance designers.
Wealth After Divorce (http://www.wealthafterdivorce.co.uk)
As a member of my target market I'm launching a new web business to help sassy divorced women (think Lipstick Jungle, Sex in the City) lead the life they want. This will be a very upbeat and positive site (so bright and positive colours and grapics please) to show that divorce is not the end of an era but the beginning of a new journey to live the life you want, with independence and freedom. This is all about lifestyle design and the modern woman.
Sassy and savvy divorced women. We're not feeling sorry for ourselves, we're out in the world living independent, financially free lives that we've created (think proactive rather than passive).
A bright, eye-catching and upmarket logo - give the sense of Lipstick Jungle/Sex in the City - powerful, independent women making it on their own after divorce. I want people to look at my website and think "Sassy! I want to be a part of that"!
A bold, punchy logo that I can use on a range of materials including my squeeze and sales pages on the web, free CD cover etc.
Please see suggested images attached for style
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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The 9-session NASA Family Science Night program emables middle school children and their families to discover the wide variety of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics being performed at NASA and in everyday life. Family Science Night... (View More) programs explore various themes on the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, and the Universe through fun, hands-on activities, including at-home experiments. Instructions for obtaining the facilitator's guide are available on the Family Science Night site. (View Less)
This lesson examines the effects of surface energy transfer and storage on ocean temperatures. Included are activities that introduce the use of scientific models. Students then use an energy flow computer model to track energy changes by... (View More) manipulating four variables: solar energy, heat transfer, water transparency, and seasons of the year. Note that this is lesson four of five on the Ocean Motion website. Each lesson investigates ocean surface circulation using satellite and model data and can be done independently. See Related URL's for links to the Ocean Motion Website that provide science background information, data resources, teacher material, student guides and a lesson matrix. (View Less)
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Using Mathematical Models to Investigate Planetary Habitability: Activity C The Role of Actual Data in Mathematical Models
Students explore how mathematical descriptions of the physical environment can be fine-tuned through testing using data. In this activity, student teams obtain satellite data measuring the Earth's albedo, and then input this data into a... (View More) spreadsheet-based radiation balance model, GEEBITT. They validate their results against published the published albedo value of the Earth, and conduct similar comparisons Mercury, Venus and Mars. The resource includes an Excel spreadsheet tutorial, an investigation, student data sheets and a teacher's guide. Students apply their understanding to the real life problem of urban heat islands and deforestation. The activity links builds on student outcomes from activities A and B: "Finding a Mathematical Description of a Physical Relationship," and "Making a Simple Mathematical Model." This is Activity C in module 3, Using Mathematical Models to Investigate Planetary Habitability, of the resource, Earth Climate Course: What Determines a Planet's Climate? The course aims to help students to develop an understanding of our environment as a system of human and natural processes that result in changes that occur over various space and time scales. (View Less)
Materials Cost: Free per student


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LOS ANGELES — The "Terminator" is coming back.
Paramount announced Thursday that it is rebooting the "Terminator" franchise and planning for a new trilogy of films, but it's keeping mum on whether Arnold Schwarzenegger would play a role.
Schwarzenegger starred as the title character in the original 1984 movie. It spawned a trilogy that earned more than $1 billion at the box office worldwide.
Paramount says it will release the new "Terminator" in July 2015.


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PORT WASHINGTON, Wis. — A Wisconsin judge who signed a petition to recall Gov. Scott Walker faces a challenger in the April 2 spring election.
Attorney Joe Voiland is attempting to unseat 19-year veteran Ozaukee County Circuit Judge Tom Wolfgram.
Wolfgram acknowledges signing his name to a 2011 petition seeking to recall a sitting Republican governor.
Wolfgram tells the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he does not believe the act of signing the petition violated the separation of powers. He says he just wanted to learn more about the proposals that led to the recall effort against Walker.
But Voiland says a judge should not sign a petition to recall any office holder.
It's the first challenge to Wolfgram since he was appointed to the court in 1994 by then-Gov. Tommy Thompson, a Republican.


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April 28, 2011
Atheism's morality
In his regular New York Times column, David Brooks trots out his usual banalities, this time about how without god we cannot have a timeless morality.
That's because people are not gods. No matter how special some individuals may think they are, they don't have the ability to understand the world on their own, establish rules of good conduct on their own, impose the highest standards of conduct on their own, or avoid the temptations of laziness on their own.
Rigorous theology helps people avoid mindless conformity. Without timeless rules, we all have a tendency to be swept up in the temper of the moment. But tough-minded theologies are countercultural. They insist on principles and practices that provide an antidote to mere fashion.
How can people write such nonsense? Does he really think that how we understand what the Bible says about morality has not changed from Biblical times?
The book The Christian Delusion edited by John W. Loftus has a chapter titled Yahweh is a Moral Monster by Hector Avalos that lists the horrendous morality that is found in the Bible. (The essay is largely a refutation of a defense of god offered by Christian apologist Paul Copan in an essay titled Is Yahweh a Moral Monster? The New Atheists and Old Testament Ethics that can be read here. )
In his chapter, Avalos ends (p. 232) with a section titled Atheism's Morality that is worth quoting at length:
Copan fundamentally misunderstands the New Atheism insofar as he believes that it cannot provide a sound moral ground for its judgments. For a Christian apologist to think he or she has triumphed by pointing out the moral relativism of the New Atheism is to miss the entire point. As an atheist, I don't deny that I am a moral relativist. Rather, my aim is to expose the fact that Christians are also moral relativists. Indeed, when it comes to ethics, there are only two types of people in this world:
1. Those who admit they are moral relativists; and
2. Those who do not admit they are moral relativists.
Copan fails because he cannot admit that he is a moral relativist, and he thinks that God will solve the problem of moral relativism. But having a God in a moral system only creates a tautology. All we end up saying is: "X is bad because X is bad." Thus, if we say that we believe in God, and he says idolatry is evil, then that is a tautology: "God says idolatry is bad and so idolatry is bad because God says it is bad." Or we end up using this tautology: "Whatever God says is good because whatever God says is good."
As Kai Nielsen deftly argues, human beings are always the ultimate judges of morality even if we believe in God. After all, the very judgment that God is good is a human judgment. The judgment that what God commands is good is also a human judgment. So Christians are not doing anything different except mystifying and complicating morality. Christians are simply projecting what they call "good" onto a supernatural being. They offer us no evidence that their notion of good comes from outside of themselves [My italics]. And that is where the danger lies. Basing a moral system on unverifiable supernatural beings only creates more violence and endangers our species. I have already discussed this at length in my book, Fighting Words: The Origins of Religious Violence.
Copan cites Dinesh D'Souza who repeats the oft-cited anecdote that atheists have killed more people than religionists. Again, this is based on the false idea that Nazis were atheistic Darwinists, and that Stalinist genocide was due to atheism rather than to forced collectivism (something I discuss in detail in chapter 14 of this book). Speaking only for myself here, I can say that atheism offers a much better way to construct moral rules. We can construct them on the basis of verifiable common interests, known causes, and known consequences. There is an ironclad difference between secular and faith-based morality, and we can illustrate it very simply with these propositions:
A. I have to kill person X because Allah said so.
B. I have to kill person X because he is pointing a gun at me.
In case A, we commit violence on the basis of unverifiable premises. In case B, we might commit violence on the basis of verifiable premises (I can verify a gun exists, and that it is pointed at me). If I am going to kill or be killed, I want it to be for a reason that I can verify to be true. If the word "moral" describes the set of practices that accord with our values, and if our highest value is life, then it is always immoral to trade real human lives for something that does not exist or cannot be verified to exist.
What does not exist has no value relative to what does exist. What cannot be proven to exist should never be placed above what does exist. If we value life, then you should never trade something that exists, especially life, for something that does not exist or cannot be proven to exist. That is why it would always be immoral to ever take a life based on faith claims. It is that simple.
Avalos captures quite succinctly my views on this topic. I am a moral relativist because I simply cannot see how a moral framework can be constructed that is independent of human input and judgments. The reason that Brooks thinks the rules are timeless is because a human being told him that one particular holy book's rules (out of the many holy books with their own rules) are given by a god and are thus timeless. He chose (or was indoctrinated) to believe that claim. How is that not a product of human judgment?
If a god were to suddenly appear to me, even then I would not unhesitatingly accept those moral commands. If this god said, for example, that I should murder my children (as the Bible says he told Abraham to do with his son Isaac) or indeed that I should murder anyone at all, I simply would not do it and I am confident that these days most people would do the same. None but the most fanatical god believers would comply and we would consider such people to be either insane or moral monsters.
If a god issued commands that we now consider immoral, he/she/it would face a revolt on his hands because all thinking people are, in the end, moral relativists and reject moral commands that are not congruent with their own moral sensibilities or based on agreed-upon humane principles.
TrackbacksTrackback URL for this entry is: http://blog.case.edu/singham/mt-tb.cgi/24928
Atheism is only a rejection of religious beleif.
it is not a replacement and as such, does not provide a guide for morality
atheism, being nothing more than a rejection of claims, then leaves the non-beleiver in the position of Do It Yourself morality.
What is moral to you should come from you - not from anything external - and certainly nothing external that you cannot directly draw upon.
You can read your country's laws and understand them - but religious "laws" require a middle man - that neccessary adds a lot of room for abuse and interpretation.
So how exactly is that a basis for timeless morals?
I wonder what a "timeless morality" would be, since morality is a human invention.
Can I Flog my Blog here, Mano?
Here is a piece I wrote in response to William Lane Craig's piece at Unreasonable Faith.
Thanks! That is a wonderful response to Craig. I will comment on it later.
"Without timeless rules, we all have a tendency to be swept up in the temper of the moment."
I don't disagree with that idea, but I disagree with the Brooks' idea of the source. Morality doesn't have to come from a religious source, or, better stated, the _perception_ of a religious source. Timeless rules could include moral ideas that have evolved with us, like nurturing our young or working together for the common good.


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Accenture Development Partnerships collaborates with clients in the international development sector to address critical business issues in areas ranging from health and education to agriculture and financial inclusion.
This report provides a snapshot of the challenges and opportunities in each of these areas, along with case studies which highlight the innovation and impact we are seeing through our work with clients in the international development sector. The report also looks at c-suite priorities in international development, including critical success factors and best practices from clients engaging in partnerships across business, government and civil society.


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This just in.....Dani's bbiiiiirrrrrrrrrrrrrttttttttdayyyyyyyyyy week declared national holiday. All recappers get vacation. Oh, and we're allllllll to send her preeessssennnnnntssss. Niiiccceee onessss which neither suckkkkk nor frussssstrrrrrate her!And parades. There will be parades. Only instead of marching bands, there will be heard across the land the sound of kazoos whining Happy Birthday to Dani.Hip, Hip, hurray for Daniiiiissss birrrrrthhhhhdaaayyyyyy week.
Hi Mama!I am straight and I LOVE your pic of Jen and Jessica!..oh, wait...nevermind.....I am SUPPOSED to love them!Jen is my favorite and she has a raw deal because she is the ONLY FEMALE THAT DICKHEAD CANNOT IINTIMIDATE.Second, I love Jessica.I hope that Jen gets POV this week and HoH next.If Jen goes, I will need Will to cheer me up!BTW, my favorites never win... still think Janelle was the best BB player in history (or at least the best looking) and KNOW that Melinda Dollittle deserved a recount in Ameirican Idol this year!
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