The Meatrix Part II

Here.

A Soyful Seder

Pesach is a very difficult time for Ashkenazi vegans. Being a solid 12.5% sephardic (but on an undiluted maternal lineage), I restrict legume intake to no more than 1/8th of total food consumption during the 8 days. I was therefore delighted to find this conservative responsum arguing that in the light of the ingathering of the exiles, it is imperative that we eliminate the prohibition on legumes altogether.

Israel Election Results

Jerusalem Post - Election Results

Kadima - 28
Labor - 20
Shas - 13
Yisrael Beitenu - 12
Likud - 11
National Union / NRP - 9
Gil (senior citizens) - 7
United Torah Judaism - 6
Meretz - 4
United Arab List - 4
Balad - 3
Hadash - 3

Now its time to play mix and match. My preference, kadima, labour, YB and the pensioners for a total of 67 votes, excluding all religious parties and fascists on both sides.

Wind at Work

From Treehugger:

A newly published report from the Earth Policy Institute says that wind power is now cheaper than conventional sources in at least two areas: Austin, Texas and Colorado.

Hitting Cultural Relativism Where it Hurts.

Mark Steyn on mutual respect:

In a more culturally confident age, the British in India were faced with the practice of 'suttee' -- the tradition of burning widows on the funeral pyres of their husbands. General Sir Charles Napier was impeccably multicultural:

''You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: When men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows.You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.'

Concealed Weapons Don't Kill People

After years of failed efforts, vetoes and political wrangling, Kansas will join most of the nation in allowing concealed weapons permits, starting this year.
Kansas City Star - Kansas to allow hidden weapons

I've long held that if a 'right to bear arms' is to be granted to the psychopaths and bullies of the nation, we should at least ban the sale of bullets. Still, I guess that if the US is too backward to outlaw gun ownership, its better that people walk the streets with weapons concealed rather than brandishing them openly. A false sense of public calm is better than ending up like Gaza. Perhaps a fair compromise would be to only allow people to carry concealed, unloaded, weapons and to look them up at the first glimpse of a muzzle.

Canada Kills Baby Seals... Again

Once again, Canada is about to embark on its annual baby seal killing festival

Canada says a total of 325,000 harp seal pups can be shot or clubbed to death this year.

L Ron Hubbard Reincarnated As Small Dog With Self-Esteem Issues

Adam brought over his dog chewy last night. It was hard not to notice an astonishing resemblance to L Ron Hubbard. I can only think that Elron has returned to us as a particularly small and rodent-like canine, who yips and cringes at the slightest movement. Chewy's last visit to my home was marred by disengorgement of her dinner, apparently a protest at being forced to eat vegetarian, followed by micturation and defecation on the carpet...

May Stephen Hayes Gloat

After all, he's consistently insisted that evidence pointed to Saddam's terrorist supporting activities. The huge set of Iraqi government documents recently released to the public prove him right.

SADDAM HUSSEIN'S REGIME PROVIDED FINANCIAL support to Abu Sayyaf, the al Qaeda-linked jihadist group founded by Osama bin Laden's brother-in-law in the Philippines in the late 1990s, according to documents captured in postwar Iraq.
Weekly Standard - Saddam's Philippines Terror Connection

More Unity in Hatred

Neo-Nazis are cooperating across national boundaries to plot the murder of muslims at the World Cup.

We will attack them. They are all enemies that need to be eliminated, just like the police. If we make the Roman greeting (the fascist salute) they put us in prison. We will be tens of thousands. Nothing but the English are feared.'

Nothing but the English hey? Yes, the King's soliders are pretty terrifying. A horrible risk that they'll send in the troops, take over the movement and then leave, partitioning the NeoNazi world into diverse warring tribes. That, at least, has been their policy over the last 100 years everywhere else...

Civil War in Palestine

An astonishing report apparently from the Jerusalem Post, although I suspect it might be copy from "The Onion" accidently posted to the Jpost website. Fatah gunmen and Palestininan police swapped bullets for most of yesterday.

One of the gangs stormed the electricity generation facility north of Nusairat refugee camp in the center of the Gaza Strip. The gunmen stormed the facility under heavy gunfire in an effort to pressure the PA to hire them as police officers.

Yes you got that - they were trying to demonstrate their prowess to secure future employment. And its not the first time:

The electricity plant has come under several attacks by armed Fatah militiamen over the past few months. The last attack was last week, when a number of gunmen raided the facility, requesting jobs.

Finally:

The attackers announced that the hospital would remain closed until the PA agrees to hire five of their relatives.

I guess this is the Islamic fundamentalist version of a job interview...

Harvard Updates Protocols of Zion

A paper recently co-authored by the academic dean of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government about the allegedly far-reaching influence of an 'Israel lobby' is winning praise from white supremacist David Duke.
NY Sun - David Duke Claims to Be Vindicated By a Harvard Dean

The paper in question is here. The article is pretty repulsive. Among other things, it claims that the press is largely pro-Israel and that the Iraq war was launched on behalf of Israel.

However, I was happy to learn that "One CNN executive has said that he sometimes gets 6,000 e‐mail messages in a single day complaining that a story is anti‐Israel." It might be nice for Drs Walt and Mearsheimer to get some correspondance. Walt's contact details are here.

South Park and Scientology

Just watched a torrent file of the new South Park episode taking on Scientology. Like the episode which mocked Mel Gibson, it was a bit weak. It dwells too long on the 'Tom Cruise is secretly gay' motif and paints the Scientologists as a mere bunch of corporate scam artists rather than a nefarious life-destroying cult. Twenty years from now they'll probably be using the clip in the middle depicting their creation myth for educational purposes.

Punishment from Above

The bird flu outbreak in southern Israel is God's punishment for the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank disengagement, National Jewish Front Chairman Baruch Marzel says.
Ynetnews - Far rightist: Bird flu pullout punishment

... has he been talking to Pat Robertson?

For those avid readers of this blog who are not yet vegetarian but are on a weight loss program

Good news!

Scientists for Cancer Research UK compared the weight gains of 22,000 meat eaters, fish eaters, vegetarians and vegans over a five-year period.

...

They found that everyone gained an average of 2kg, but those who had switched to a vegetarian diet from a meat-eating diet gained around 0.5kg less.

Inside Wickedness and the Internet

Rantings of a Sandmonkey reports that:

Religious scholars have issued a fatwa prohibiting women from using the Internet without the presence of a mahram (a close relative they are prohibited to marry). This was followed by a call from Saudi businessmen to sue Web sites that call for freedom of thought and secularism, such as the aforementioned Web sites.

The Fatwa was issued by 2 saudi sheikhs called Othman Al Khamees and Saad Al Ghamdy, and it states the following: ' It's Haram to let women use the internet because of their inside wickedness, and a woamn shouldn't be allowed on the internet without the presence of a Moharam (close male relative) who is an expert in the deceptive and sexually corrupt nature of the women!'

A Spengler Quote...

From the Asia Times:

Heine is quite right. Take a Jew, remove his sense of humor, and what remains well might be a perfectly good Catholic.

"""EcoKashrut"""

Ecokashrut - if it wasn't for the acronym, it would be a good idea:

K – kinder to animals
O – obedience to God’s will
S – self-discipline
H – holiness
E – ethical consumption
R – reverence for life