Joe Biden shoots his mouth off and someone sells bottled ghosts on eBay

Greetings.

Jewish date:  26 ’Adhar 5770 (Parashath Wayyaqhel-Fequdhe).

Today’s holidays:  Bahá’í Month of Fasting (Bahá’í Faith), Friday of the Third Week of Lent (Roman Catholicism), Feast Day of Jacobus Burgundus Molensis the Martyr (Thelema).

Worthy cause of the day:  “Save BioGems: Take Action: Protect the Spirit Bear”.

Image of no true friend of Israel via Wikipedia

Topic 1:  “YOUNG ISRAEL MOVEMENT CONDEMNS VP BIDEN'S COMMENTS ON JERUSALEM”.  Probably everyone by now has heard about US Vice President Joe Biden shooting his mouth off condemning Israel for deciding to build more housing units in eastern Jerusalem, i.e., in Israeli territory.  This article correctly notes the (probably unthinkingly) anti-Semitic discriminatory nature of Biden’s condemnation and how the tactic he is trying to use to move along the “peace process”, putting pressure on Israel, has no chance of working because the Palestinian Authority is interested in destroying Israel and has no real interest in making peace.  (The sad thing is that despite claims of being great friends of Israel, all the US presidential administrations at least as far back as Jimmy Carter have pressured Israel to do stupid things and appease terrorists in the name of “peace”.  Had John McCain been elected president, I fully expect that it would be Sarah Palin getting mad at Israel for no good reason instead of Joe Biden.)  Also notable on the topic of anti-Semitism:  “BBC Complaints: A Complaint in Itself” and “Expose ‘apartheid’ charge's real agenda”.

Topic 2:  “New Zealander auctions "ghosts" in a bottle”:  I appreciate the fact that the seller admits the effect of the exorcism might have just been psychological.  Rituals do often have psychological effects.  However, if I were buying bottled ghosts, I would want solid evidence that there really were ghosts in the bottles first.

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor:  “Build Your Own Easter Island Kit” and “Build Your Own Stonehenge Kit”.

Peace.

Aaron

“Inappropriate Innuendo Fail”

Greetings.

Jewish date:  15 Ṭeveth 5770 (Parashath Wayḥi).

Today’s holidays:  Gregorian New Year (Roman Catholicism), Feast Day of Pan (Thelema), Feast of St. Basil the Great (Greek Orthodox Christianity).

Worthy cause of the day:  “Free passage in Shechem (The Shomron Liaison Office)”.

Topic 1:  Updates on current anti-Semitism.  First, we have the Dry Bones cartoon “Bombing Argentinian Jews (1994)”.  (Check the author’s commentary.  What happens in the past doesn’t stay in the past.)  I also note a number of articles which deal with misconceptions about the Arab-Israeli War:  “Gaza by the Numbers: One Year After Operation Cast Lead” (the numbers support the Israeli side of the story), “A right of return to what?”, “Israel's Right in the 'Disputed' Territories”, and “In defiance of demographic fatalism”.

Topic 2:  For today’s religious humor (submitted by Barry):  “You can’t say it isn’t true”.

FAIL Blog labels this one an “Inappropriate Innuendo Fail”.  This is a real sign that was posted outside of an Anglican church in New Zealand.  Thus is it written:

Church vicar Archdeacon Glynn Cardy said the billboard was intended to challenge stereotypes about the way Jesus was conceived and get people talking about the Christmas story.

"This billboard is trying to lampoon and ridicule the very literal idea that God is a male and somehow this male God impregnated Mary," said Cardy, who described his church as having very liberal ideas about Christianity.

"We would question the Virgin Birth in any literal sense. We would question the maleness of God in any literal sense," he said.

The idea that God is neuter is, last I heard, standard Christianity; a unique, immortal deity has no need to belong to any sex or engage in genetic recombination.  The Gospel accounts of the impregnation of Mary do not mention sexual intercourse, and none would be needed anyway.  However, this is still a sensitive topic, and thus this sign was controversial and criticized by some as inappropriate.

Peace and Shabbath shalom.

Aaron