Friday, November 10, 2006

Random Musings

Why is it that liberals get mad when they're called liberals?

I read a letter in Newsweek from a reader who claims that Borat cost him his job.

Apparently, he was fooled by Sacha Baron Cohen's character when he was booked to be interviewed at a Mississippi TV news station. "Because my handlers told him he was Borat Sagdiyev, 'a TV journalist from Kazakhstan,' I booked him for a live studio interview on our morning news show in Jackson, Miss., thinking he was a legitimate reporter doing a documentary to be shown in his home country," D. A. Arthur recalled.

He continued, "I checked out his public-relations company's Web site and even met one of the publicists in person. They seemed genuine. But once the camera was on him, this man destroyed our credibility in very short order. Because of him, my boss lost faith in my abilities and second-guessed everything I did thereafter. I spiraled into depression, and before I could recover I was released from my contract early. It took me three months to find another job and now I'm thousands of dollars in debt and struggling to keep my house out of foreclosure."

I'm not sure who I'm more upset at - the actor or this guy's boss. How sad.

Once again, I'm picking the Cowboys to win this Sunday. My pick if for Dallas to knock off the Arizona Cardinals 31-20. There's an old saying in the NFL that on any given Sunday, any team can beat any other. That is really true for this season, isn't it?

There is anger at Israeli Rabbi's who have forced the cancellation of a conference on the issue of agunah. This describes a woman whose husband refuses to grant her a get (Jewish divorce). The law states that in order for a woman to be divorced, her husband must give her a documented agreement of divorce and without it, she's out of luck (to put it mildly).

Over the last few years, more and more cases of men refusing for reasons ranging from spite to anger to just being a$$holes has caused more and more outrage, especially from woman's rights groups.

Personally, I find the law to be at best, questionable. At worst, criminal. While I have to say I have been pleased that more and more Rabbis are questioning the this law and are coming forward with their own condemnations (even to the point of allowing for physical coercion of the husband in order to force him), I am also saddened that a few Rabbinical leaders in Israel have basically shut down the conference.

What got me was the given reason the conference was shut down - that it would cause the Rabbis to look as if they were bowing to pressure from feminists.

Ridiculous. If that were the case, how come they haven't shut down the Gay parade taking place in Jerusalem. Although many of them are trying, far too few are trying hard enough. Now I really have no problem with anybody marching, as long as it doesn't promote racism, anti-Semitism or anything else morally repugnant. However, where I do have a problem is when it's done in order to shame others.

Clearly, the goal of the marchers is to parade in front and flaunt their homosexuality in what is considered to be the holiest place in both Judaism and Christianity. Of all the places they could march - even in Israel - this group could have chosen a more equitible location - perhaps the liberal bastion of Tel-Aviv.

But no. Instead, they chose the one place that would garner the most headlines and cause the most discomfort to the local populace. In a recent survey, over 90% of the citizens of Jerusalem want the march not to happen. This is vaguelly reminiscent of the Nazi march in Skokie back in the late 70's. However, though it was a horrible slap in the face to most of us, Skokie is not the biblical center of an entire religion.

Additionally, it is also a matter of security. There is no question as to why Islamofacists hate the West. It is partly due to the western influences of tolerance, sexuality and equality. Although I am against censorship in the name of Jihad, I also recognize that there is a very large Muslim population (along with a larger orthodox Jewish community) in Jerusalem. Therefore, I would think it not unlikely for security issues to be a huge concern.

To those who are marching, I ask you one question - is you burning need to expose your sexuality to the masses worth the turmoil it will and is causing everyone else?

Maybe we are tallking about acceptance and maybe we are talking about sex. Either way, Jerusalem is NOT the place to make your point. I find it incredibly selfish of he organizers and remarkably short-sighted of the Israeli government to allow such a slap in the face of so many to take place.

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