Wednesday, March 23, 2011

God's Wife - Judaism Revealed

I've long argued that Judaism was originally a polytheistic religion, there are more than enough clues in the bible to make that argument. And now researchers have uncovered more evidence that early Jews prayed to multiple Gods, that Yaweh, the Jewish God, had a wife.


http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/03/22/fertility-goddess-asherah-was-gods-wife-edited-out-of-the-bible/

Fertility Goddess Asherah: Was 'God's Wife' Edited Out of the Bible?

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/03/22/fertility-goddess-asherah-was-gods-wife-edited-out-of-the-bible/#ixzz1HSghYZYK




Of course no evidence will ever sway believers, because belief isn't rational. If you have an idea you can change your mind, like a rational adult. A belief is based on a person's need to have security, to have answers. Even if you say you don't understand the answers you can rely on your belief that something out there is controlling things, that there is reason, that nothing happens without reason. Believers fear randomness, it insults and assaults their sense and sensibilities. So no evidence will sway their belief, but still, sometimes you have to let out a mighty yawp.


Monday, March 21, 2011

Thou Shalt Kill

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/palestinian-stabbed-in-hebron-hills-in-suspected-price-tag-attack-1.350898

Palestinian stabbed in Hebron Hills in suspected 'price tag' attack
Mahmoud Awad, in his twenties, was taken to the hospital with knife wounds to the chest from attack suspected of being motivated by Jewish ultra-nationalism.


I'm completely disgusted.

I wonder if these attackers, on both sides, would commit these atrocities if they were secular or do they just use religion as an excuse to justify their actions.

A point to recognize is that terror by Palestinians is not an existential threat to Israel's existence and terror from Israeli's will not prevent the creation of a Palestinian state.





Sunday, March 20, 2011

UFC 128 Recap

4 out of 5 aint bad.

And give it up to Bones, not only did he beat Shogun, he tore him apart.

The king is dead. Long live the king.



Friday, March 18, 2011

UFC 128 Picks

Here are my picks for UFC 128.

I'm only giving picks for fights on the main card.

Main Card for this Saturday night's UFC 128

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (205) vs. Jon Jones (205)
I like Shogun to keep his title. This is the guy who took out the dragon Machida. Shogun is an experienced warrior and while Jon 'Bones' Jones has crazy talent he's young, he's raw and I don't know that he's ready for prime time. He may pull it out, anything can happen inside the octagon, but I give the edge to Shogun.

Urijah Faber (135.5) vs. Eddie Wineland (135.5)
I am blown away by the talent and workhorse ability of Faber 'The California Kid.' I'm still shocked that he lost the fights he did back in the WEC. I just can't see Wineland taking him, especially at 135 lbs.

Jim Miller (155.5) vs. Kamal Shalorus (155)
I give the nod to Miller on this one.

Nate Marquardt (186) vs. Dan Miller (185)
Marquardt is on the hunt to get back into the title chase, he needs this win bad. Dan Miller might pull it out but Marquardt is a force to be reckoned with and is already calling out Bisping. I'm picking Nate The Great Marquardt.

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (229) vs. Brendan Schaub (245)
Schaub is good and Cro Cop has not blown me away in any fight since he destroyed Gonzaga. I think Schaub will take out this legend. If Cro Cop can regain his old form Schaub is in deep trouble, but I haven't seen Cro Cop in that form in a long time.

Happy Hunting.


Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Helen Thomas, a True Friend of the Jews

Helen Thomas, the multi-decade political reporter, got into hot water for saying that the Jews don't belong in Israel and should return home to Poland and Europe.

While I disagree with her, the upcoming Jewish holiday of Purim has made me realize that most Orthodox Jews are firmly in her camp.

The story of Purim, when the Jews under the rule of the Persian King Xerxes (made famous by the movie 300) were spared annihilation by the workings of a wise Jewish man and a pretty Jewish girl.

The story of Purim took place in Persia; renamed Iran during WWII because they were allied with the Nazis and Iran sounds like Aryan. And as I reflected on the story of Purim, I realized that every single story, event, happening that occurred in the Jewish texts of the 5 books of Moses, the Prophets and the Writings, all took place in Middle Eastern countries. The history of the Jews, as Orthodox Jews pray, read, study and celebrate, is the history of Jews in places like Egypt, Persia (Iran), Babylon (Iraq) and Canaan (Israel).

Not one single event in the the texts that the Jews claim to revere took place in Poland or England or the US or Europe. And yet, the leading Orthodox Jews of today, the most religious Jews who live in Israel, the mouthpieces and proclaimers and followers and true believers almost exclusively wear the clothes and eat the food and follow the rituals developed from places like Poland.

Certainly when one was living in pre-industrial Poland you would eat and dress like the natives, but these rituals and affects have become the symbol of their religion, and in many ways has become their religion.

The orthodox Jews are so concerned with maintaining their Polish and Germanic heritage, their ashkenazi mannerisms, that they imported these christian values into the middle of the desert, a land which is the polar opposite of Ashkenazi land. To be an Orthojew today you must be a shtetl polanya yid, a Polish Ghetto Jew.

And retaining the dress and mannerisms of that Polish Jew is more important than honoring the history of the Jews as the texts documented.

So if these great Jewish minds love Poland and Germany so much, let them follow Helen Thomas's advice and get out of the Middle-East. Don't import Poland into the heart of the desert and pretend it has anything to do with Judaism.


Monday, March 14, 2011

New Book

YAY!

Simon Winchester is about to come out with a new book.

Click on the link on his name under hmmm...very interesting on the right hand side to find out more.

He is one of my favorite authors.





Sunday, March 13, 2011

Palestinian Response to the Baby Killer

The Israeli government and people often demand that the Palestinians condemn violence/murder/terror. So after the brutal killing of a baby in its crib, and 2 siblings and parents I thought I would look at how a Palestinian paper reported on the event.

Here is the official Palestinian response regarding the person who looked at a baby in its crib and killed the baby, 2 of the baby's siblings and their parents:


“Yes, in light of what happened last night in Itamar settlement in which an infant, two children and their parents were killed, we retreat what we always said about the violence being commented also against our people, we reject this violence and condemned it.” Fayyad told reporters.

http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9698&Itemid=61


And even this is buried underneath the headlines of "2 (palestinian) civilians injured by Israeli troops and settlers. And buried deep in the article does it even mention that the 2 (adult) civilians were lightly injured and treated when the army was hunting for the baby murderer.

Perhaps if the Palestinian government and the Palestinian people were disgusted and outraged by one of their own killing a baby and family they would have done the normal thing, which is find the murder and bring him to justice. Instead they protect this piece of filth; they protect him by comparing baby killing to violence done against them, as if their is equivalency.

Even worse than that, there is no equivalency in their reporting. They create the impression that lightly injuring 2 adults while searching for this killer is worse than than killing a baby in its crib and family.

Have all Palestinians committed this horrific action? No. But the Palestinian culture, the Palestinian government and the Palestinian people create the impression that they take pride in killing babies.

How racist are non-muslims, non-arabs, to accept this behavior and attitude, as if these people can't behave any differently. After all, they are Arabs, they are Muslim, what else can you expect from them?

Compare the Palestinian reaction to baby murder, to child murder, to sleeping family murder, to the almost wholesale and complete shock and condemnation when the rare event occurs when an Israeli killed Palestinian adults. But after all, that is when a Jew does something wrong, can you expect any less then Jews in shock and horror that a Jew would do something horrible?


Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Forget about Pollard

Yes. That's right. Forget about Pollard, the man who is sitting in prison, quite possibly for the rest of his life, for having pled guilty to selling American secrets.

Let's take him out of the equation and look at the silly arguments people make in his defense.

There are really only 2 main arguments that I hear in his defense:

#1 It's discrimination. He's rotting in prison in the US because he's a jew. No other spy has been punished for these types of crimes, so it must be anti-semitism.

So the US is anti-Semitic, anti-jew, anti-Israel. Not any one president, but all the presidents in all the time Pollard has been in prison were all jew-haters. Disregard the tens of billions of dollars in aid they gave Israel during that time period, deep down they are happy to have a Jew in their clutches. Disregard that 2 of the US's largest cities have Jewish mayors. Disregard the numerous other jewish politicians of note, and jewish judges, and oscar winning jewish movie stars, and freedoms and unquestioned equality and safety that Jews have in no other place outside of israel; the US is really a jew-hating land and that's why Pollard is rotting in jail. Jew.

Or just maybe there is a difference when you catch an enemy spy or you catch a spy from a close ally. And then that ally plays games for decade(s) as to whether or not he was a spy for them in the first place. He's not our guy, they said, but it's really important to us that you free him. Perhaps when you catch an enemy spy you are less disturbed because you expect your enemies to betray you. Perhaps you expect spies from your enemy, or even from countries you have a cold peace with. But how many other freed spies came from a country that touts itself as America's biggest friend and ally and is the recipient of vast sums of aid?

#2 Look at all the famous people who are in support of Pollard.

Kissinger? a few weeks ago the same people praising Kissinger today for coming out, now, in favor of clemency, were blasting him as a self-hating jew when his own secrets were revealed.
Potential presidential candidates and other politicians who have their own hands out for votes and donations are hardly unbiased.

Should he be freed? I don't know. How many people really know what happened?

I do know that these arguments in his favor turn my stomach. So until someone can give me a reasonable argument why Pollard should be freed from the deal he signed, I'd rather just forget about him. There are plenty of Jews in far worse places than Pollard for far less reason who could use a bit of help.


Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Hamas and Pedophiles

Hamas to U.N.: Don’t teach Holocaust

"JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Hamas said it will stop the United Nations from teaching Palestinian children in Gaza about the Holocaust.

The history of the Holocaust is set to become part of a human rights curriculum in Gaza schools run by the U.N. Relief and Works Agency that are attended by more than 200,000 Palestinian children, The Guardian reported"


It's for the best, for Hamas, Holocaust studies are a how to guide; a wish list of perverse desire. It would be like like giving stories of sexually abused children to pedophiles in order to teach them the horror.

The fact is, the government of Israel wants peace. Years of documented and leaked political negotiations and other treaties prove that the government of Israel wants peace. Almost all but a fringe element of the Israeli populace want peace. Most Israelis believe peace is possible.

Does Hamas want peace?

If they want peace let them behave in a normal fashion as a normal government, which includes not kidnapping, Gilad Shalit for example, and holding them without any semblance of human rights.

Here is what Hamas told the UN:

"We cannot agree to a program that is intended to poison the minds of our children," said a statement from Hamas' Ministry for Refugee Affairs. "Holocaust studies in refugee camps is a contemptible plot and serves the Zionist entity with a goal of creating a reality and telling stories in order to justify acts of slaughter against the Palestinian people."



If they don't want peace I would rather they fear Israel than pity Israel. Let them raise their children on the lies about Israeli slaughter and atrocities. Let them think Israelis are monsters. Let them teach their children to be so afraid of Israel that fear drives them to make peace.


Days of Rage, Jewish Style

The Arabs are protesting because they don't have enough freedom. Jews are protesting because they have too much.


"Settlers attack West Bank villages following outpost demolitions
Police and Palestinians say settlers threw petrol bomb into a house, damaged several cars in West Bank."

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/settlers-attack-west-bank-villages-following-outpost-demolitions-1.346451


A small fringe group of Israelis build illegal housing on land which is not theirs. The land may be Israel's it may be Palestinian, but it ain't theirs.

They didn't have any housing permits. They didn't buy the land. The housing wasn't built to code or safety standards. The housing was not zoned to take into consideration growth and water and electric and sewage or any of the numerous considerations that go into developing public land.

And most importantly: It's Not Their Land.

But that didn't stop them from building on it and expressing righteous indignation and anger when the government demolished the illegal buildings. And now these same religious Jews are violently attacking Palestinians because the Israeli government demolished their illegal building on stolen land.

And then a Rabbi comes out and demands that the Israeli government discuss the situations, have dialogue with these criminals, before demolishing their illegal building on stolen land.

It must be a secular left wing conspiracy by atheist Arab loving Jew haters which is behind these racist attacks on these poor god-fearing Jews.