Sunday, February 12, 2006
Haveil Havalim #57 -- Post-JIB Edition
Welcome to this week's celebration of J-Blogging's latest, as always, with apologies to those whose work was missed this time around.
As a blogger who thoroughly enjoyed the increase in readership and blog-buzz throughout the recently completed Jewish and Israeli Blog Awards competition (the JIBs), I can tell you there are probably more than a few bloggers out there going through a serious case of JIB-withdrawal this week, unless it's just a sad case of projection on my part.
Aussie Dave did a huge amount of work to help lift the tide that floated all of our boats, and I wish to personally thank him, especially as the tide now slowly settles back, making it obvious what a difference his effort has made. Point of Pinchas has come up with a unique way to register your JIB gratitude but you could also just visit Aussie Dave's IsraellyCool blog and leave him a nice comment or at least a slew of page load statistics -- I'm sure he'd appreciate them both.
Now, let's put on our thinking caps and reading glasses, and get busy.
First, Cartoons
Shaigetz has the cartoon protesters' tone-deaf arguments pegged: "How would you like to see baby Jesus with a bomb in his loincloth?"
Meryl Yourish has a few words for the cartoon media and they're all choice.
Future of the Internet for Orthodox Jews has some really inconvenient questions inspired by the cartoon crisis, among them: "4. Why are we ultra-orthodox but the shahidis are not ultra-islamic?" and "5. What should we ultras do about the Michelangelo pictures (of G-d in 'Creation') on the roof of the Sistine Chapel? After all, Israel already has the Bomb! Any Israeli pilots read this blog?".
Danny Bermant also has some pointed questions, as well as an observation: "The lesson that extremists of all shades will have taken from this whole sorry episode is that those who shout the loudest and who make the most threatening noises are the ones who get listened to."
Judith at Kesher Talk has a roundup, including the propaganda parallels between the cartoon protests and the response to Ariel Sharon's Temple Mount walk.
Jack has a fabulous take on why it is absolutely absurd for American papers to tremble fearfully at the thought of publishing these cartoons.
Daled Amos explains how, just as Disney and CGI cartoons have revitalized part of Hollywood, so the recent Danish cartoons revitalize Pallywood (Pallywood is the effort to publicize Islamic protests including producing their own grievances when necessary).
The whole cartoon kerfuffle reminds Simply Jews of a joke: The Jew, the Pharaoh and the Enema.
Elder of Ziyon manages to make the explanation for the whole mess seem obvious:
Miriam of Miriam's Ideas, watching the world's leaders react to the protests, finally realizes why she isn't President. The Namby-Pamby Party wouldn't have her on their ticket.
Out of Step Jew reports satirically on compromises being drawn up to chill the conflict.
Last word on the subject goes to a relatively new blog on the scene, World Girl Rants, who has a little quiz about the proper target for cartoon protesters' seething rage.
Believe it or not, people wrote this week about other subjects too.
In election and Amona news, which I'm not sure I can untangle...
An Unsealed Room notices the lack of election excitement that I know I feel too, and offers some explanation. Changing Directions updates us on his efforts in the Yisrael Beytenu party and the outcome of his quest for a place on their list of knesset candidates. Israel Matzav also discusses the elections, explaining why he sees the Kadima party's electoral projections heading south in the near future. He also reprints a letter from a teen injured at Amona. Shiloh Musings thinks the answer is unity. Sara Layah Shomron reports attending a post-Amona rally calling for an inquiry into police brutality against demonstrators. Westbankmama finds an unexpected spectator is amused by the spectacle of Jews fighting Jews: Russian Neo-Nazis. Chayyei Sarah is just trying to make sense of the fallout from Amona and I wish her luck.
Some bloggers looked at how the world, and the Arab world in particular, relate to us...
Mark at Knockin' On The Golden Door questions Anti-Semitism at Sonoma State University, literally. Mystery Achievement documents the 15 times Israel has offered an Arab Muslim state and been rejected. Apparently, much of the world is completely ignorant of all 15, and pressures Israel as if a 16th offer is all that stands in the way of world peace. I hope they read his post. In related news, Oxford USA carries a Live Chat With Shlomo Ben Ami.
As the world's newspapers work out their sanitization strategy for Hamas, Soccer Dad notices that Dennis Ross is still waiting for the peace process to kick in, and that "there's something about Israel's enemies that makes normally reasonable people bend over back[wards] to understand their grievance." Too true. He also points out a Volokh Conspiracy post about the ability of university's to hire and promote people like Columbia's Joseph Massad, without regard to their commitment to truthful presentation of Jewish historical facts. Israellycool actually found time despite running the JIB awards to uncover the latest "Zionist plot" accusation.
Others looked at different facets of how Arabs and Islam are doing on their own...
Crossing the Rubicon has a followup on the green thumb demonstrated by the Palestinians who "inherited" Gaza's greenhouses. Aaron has a bloody good post (not for the squeamish) that gives some Islamic context to the necessity of the biblical verse: "You are children of the Lord your God. You shall not gash yourselves or shave the front of your heads because of the dead. For you are a people consecrated to the Lord your God" -- Deut. 14:1-2. I might have thought, "that's like 'Thou shalt not chop off thine arm', why would something like that have to be commanded?" Apparently it was necessary.
But the Jewish Blogosphere is nothing if not diverse, with something for every taste...
Bloghead reports on a developments in the struggle of Agunot, which apparently are not for the better:
Irina at the IgNoble Experiment reports on an evening of debate on the subject of Iraq. She also speculates that we are in need of new heroes, soliciting your recommendations, and reports in queasy detail on her visit to an unusual exhibition.
This week, me-ander learns to cook kishkes, and discusses having lived in Yoram Gaon's grandfather's house and what she learns from it.
That Guy Who's In His Twenties does what he does by enjoying the irony of an unintended masturbation joke, and attending a Psychotoddler concert -- the relationship between the two, if any, is left as an exercise for the reader.
If you like Sushi for Kiddush, you might want to check out Ohiso.com. Whether herring counts as sushi or not, I don't know, so if in doubt, check it out anyway.
Here's hoping Dr. Bean isn't actually discharging himself from the ward.
On the dating scene, the Juggler has finally figured out what he's looking for in a good woman: solid typing skills. Toronto Pearl also meditates on the effect of keyboards on interpersonal relationships.
Never had the chance to judge a beauty contest? Me either. But now, Judeopundit needs YOU to help judge his latest competition, the "Miss Jihad" contest. Vote early, vote often.
Yael reports on her good fortune to have a vet who has possibly the most specialized cat care training in the world. I can't imagine there are too many competitors.
Ah, geeks and their blogs. Which of Mirty's 10 Kinds of People are you? And be sure to try out Dr. "Geek" Bean's suggestion in the comments -- Google this: speed of light in inches per month. Outstanding! I guess you know which kind I am.
Don investigates the recent auction of Hitler's hunting rifle and follows the thread as far as it goes.
Jameel shows us a settler's view of travelling from the Shomron, paints the picture around the politics at last week's demonstrations, and remembers Tatiana Susskind as the cartoon protests rage on. He also recommends a really great, emotional post from a new blog, A working girl, and I echo his recommendation.
Stephanella posts a picture of the golden-haired Madeleine Albright and examines her roots.
Air Time has the second half of a story that demonstrates beyond a doubt the utter impossibility of understanding some things without explanatory context. And that sometimes even with that context, it's still a little strange
Sometimes I know why I laugh, and sometimes I don't. I can't explain how he did it, but the Jewish Blogmeister managed to tickle my funny bone. I hope it tickles yours too, because that's all I've got for this week's roundup.
Tune in next week when HH#58 (Haveil Havalim) will return to its blog of origin, the place where it all began, Soccer Dad. Please e-mail him at dhgerstman at hotmail dot com with your submissions.
In the meantime, as the JIB's fade in memory, let's pick up Aussie Dave's torch and continue on into the light, etc. etc and so on, keeping Jewish and Israeli bloggers happy and well read, even as their statcounters slowly drop back to the depressing state called Normal. How can we cheer up the post-JIB blogging community, you might ask? Speaking from personal experience, I can say that many bloggers really appreciate the following things: readers/hits, comments, and links. So lets make a little extra effort to check out a few extra sites from this week's Haveil Havalim list, maybe try a new site you've never read before.
Even better, leave a few extra quality comments on some of the posts you read -- on-target, spam-free comments obviously. In fact, if each of us would take the obligation of leaving five good comments among the posts listed above, it could brighten a lot of days.
Lastly, bloggers appreciate links. So if you make an announcement post that Haveil Havalim #57 is up, please take a moment to look through a few of the posts first, and add links to 3 or 4 of your favorites in your HH announcement. It's always nice to find a few extra links pointing to a post. If you do that, I'll catch it and add your blog to an HH honor roll update as well. Offer void where prohibited by law or common sense.
NOTE: Haveil Havalim available via Truth Laid Bear's Ubercarnival page.
THANKS DUE: Thanks to all who helped get the word out about this week's carnival (** is an honor badge to those who went the extra mile and pushed their favorite posts):
Mystery Achievement **
Elder of Ziyon **
Soccer Dad
Instapundit
Jack and his Shack
Shiloh Musings
SerandEz
Yourish
Life in Israel
Perspectives of a Nomad
Crossing the Rubicon
The Muqata
If I missed anyone, please drop me a note or comment and I'll remedy the oversight.
If you really, really liked this -- or even really, really hated it -- there's lots more:
As a blogger who thoroughly enjoyed the increase in readership and blog-buzz throughout the recently completed Jewish and Israeli Blog Awards competition (the JIBs), I can tell you there are probably more than a few bloggers out there going through a serious case of JIB-withdrawal this week, unless it's just a sad case of projection on my part.
Aussie Dave did a huge amount of work to help lift the tide that floated all of our boats, and I wish to personally thank him, especially as the tide now slowly settles back, making it obvious what a difference his effort has made. Point of Pinchas has come up with a unique way to register your JIB gratitude but you could also just visit Aussie Dave's IsraellyCool blog and leave him a nice comment or at least a slew of page load statistics -- I'm sure he'd appreciate them both.
Now, let's put on our thinking caps and reading glasses, and get busy.
First, Cartoons
Shaigetz has the cartoon protesters' tone-deaf arguments pegged: "How would you like to see baby Jesus with a bomb in his loincloth?"
Meryl Yourish has a few words for the cartoon media and they're all choice.
Future of the Internet for Orthodox Jews has some really inconvenient questions inspired by the cartoon crisis, among them: "4. Why are we ultra-orthodox but the shahidis are not ultra-islamic?" and "5. What should we ultras do about the Michelangelo pictures (of G-d in 'Creation') on the roof of the Sistine Chapel? After all, Israel already has the Bomb! Any Israeli pilots read this blog?".
Danny Bermant also has some pointed questions, as well as an observation: "The lesson that extremists of all shades will have taken from this whole sorry episode is that those who shout the loudest and who make the most threatening noises are the ones who get listened to."
Judith at Kesher Talk has a roundup, including the propaganda parallels between the cartoon protests and the response to Ariel Sharon's Temple Mount walk.
Jack has a fabulous take on why it is absolutely absurd for American papers to tremble fearfully at the thought of publishing these cartoons.
Daled Amos explains how, just as Disney and CGI cartoons have revitalized part of Hollywood, so the recent Danish cartoons revitalize Pallywood (Pallywood is the effort to publicize Islamic protests including producing their own grievances when necessary).
The whole cartoon kerfuffle reminds Simply Jews of a joke: The Jew, the Pharaoh and the Enema.
Elder of Ziyon manages to make the explanation for the whole mess seem obvious:
The Elder also has the interesting case of an Arab moderate's battle against the establishment -- from the late 1930s -- totally different from today's situation. Totally.
Centuries of the Muslim world consistently losing against the West in every field of endeavor that matters - scientific, military, cultural - coupled with an almost genetic Arab (not Muslim) sense of pride - brings an incredible dissonance between their beliefs that the world will inevitably become a Muslim ummah, and reality.
When someone who craves control finds that he is irrelevant, he will latch onto anything to make himself feel important.
Miriam of Miriam's Ideas, watching the world's leaders react to the protests, finally realizes why she isn't President. The Namby-Pamby Party wouldn't have her on their ticket.
Out of Step Jew reports satirically on compromises being drawn up to chill the conflict.
Last word on the subject goes to a relatively new blog on the scene, World Girl Rants, who has a little quiz about the proper target for cartoon protesters' seething rage.
Believe it or not, people wrote this week about other subjects too.
In election and Amona news, which I'm not sure I can untangle...
An Unsealed Room notices the lack of election excitement that I know I feel too, and offers some explanation. Changing Directions updates us on his efforts in the Yisrael Beytenu party and the outcome of his quest for a place on their list of knesset candidates. Israel Matzav also discusses the elections, explaining why he sees the Kadima party's electoral projections heading south in the near future. He also reprints a letter from a teen injured at Amona. Shiloh Musings thinks the answer is unity. Sara Layah Shomron reports attending a post-Amona rally calling for an inquiry into police brutality against demonstrators. Westbankmama finds an unexpected spectator is amused by the spectacle of Jews fighting Jews: Russian Neo-Nazis. Chayyei Sarah is just trying to make sense of the fallout from Amona and I wish her luck.
Some bloggers looked at how the world, and the Arab world in particular, relate to us...
Mark at Knockin' On The Golden Door questions Anti-Semitism at Sonoma State University, literally. Mystery Achievement documents the 15 times Israel has offered an Arab Muslim state and been rejected. Apparently, much of the world is completely ignorant of all 15, and pressures Israel as if a 16th offer is all that stands in the way of world peace. I hope they read his post. In related news, Oxford USA carries a Live Chat With Shlomo Ben Ami.
As the world's newspapers work out their sanitization strategy for Hamas, Soccer Dad notices that Dennis Ross is still waiting for the peace process to kick in, and that "there's something about Israel's enemies that makes normally reasonable people bend over back[wards] to understand their grievance." Too true. He also points out a Volokh Conspiracy post about the ability of university's to hire and promote people like Columbia's Joseph Massad, without regard to their commitment to truthful presentation of Jewish historical facts. Israellycool actually found time despite running the JIB awards to uncover the latest "Zionist plot" accusation.
Others looked at different facets of how Arabs and Islam are doing on their own...
Crossing the Rubicon has a followup on the green thumb demonstrated by the Palestinians who "inherited" Gaza's greenhouses. Aaron has a bloody good post (not for the squeamish) that gives some Islamic context to the necessity of the biblical verse: "You are children of the Lord your God. You shall not gash yourselves or shave the front of your heads because of the dead. For you are a people consecrated to the Lord your God" -- Deut. 14:1-2. I might have thought, "that's like 'Thou shalt not chop off thine arm', why would something like that have to be commanded?" Apparently it was necessary.
But the Jewish Blogosphere is nothing if not diverse, with something for every taste...
Bloghead reports on a developments in the struggle of Agunot, which apparently are not for the better:
Heichal HaNegina tells us of the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe and Negina, Shabbat Shira and the Song of the Birds. Life In Israel doesn't sugar coat the need to prioritize and live with it rather than blame others when we can't have it all. He also responds to a Dov Bear post on Parshas Ha'mon. Meanwhile, Dov Bear forges ahead with the "Dov Bear Hall of Fame", apparently hoping to bypass the headaches of the JIB awards by selecting the winners himself. Clever. Get your bribes and complaints ready early.
That's right, according to judge Malka a woman who spends her life bringing up her family and looking after what is, after all, her husband's home as well has 'never worked a day in her life' and is not entitled to any financial security, and their children, apparently, do not deserve financial support from their father because it's their mother doing the asking.
Irina at the IgNoble Experiment reports on an evening of debate on the subject of Iraq. She also speculates that we are in need of new heroes, soliciting your recommendations, and reports in queasy detail on her visit to an unusual exhibition.
This week, me-ander learns to cook kishkes, and discusses having lived in Yoram Gaon's grandfather's house and what she learns from it.
That Guy Who's In His Twenties does what he does by enjoying the irony of an unintended masturbation joke, and attending a Psychotoddler concert -- the relationship between the two, if any, is left as an exercise for the reader.
If you like Sushi for Kiddush, you might want to check out Ohiso.com. Whether herring counts as sushi or not, I don't know, so if in doubt, check it out anyway.
Here's hoping Dr. Bean isn't actually discharging himself from the ward.
On the dating scene, the Juggler has finally figured out what he's looking for in a good woman: solid typing skills. Toronto Pearl also meditates on the effect of keyboards on interpersonal relationships.
Never had the chance to judge a beauty contest? Me either. But now, Judeopundit needs YOU to help judge his latest competition, the "Miss Jihad" contest. Vote early, vote often.
Yael reports on her good fortune to have a vet who has possibly the most specialized cat care training in the world. I can't imagine there are too many competitors.
Ah, geeks and their blogs. Which of Mirty's 10 Kinds of People are you? And be sure to try out Dr. "Geek" Bean's suggestion in the comments -- Google this: speed of light in inches per month. Outstanding! I guess you know which kind I am.
Don investigates the recent auction of Hitler's hunting rifle and follows the thread as far as it goes.
Jameel shows us a settler's view of travelling from the Shomron, paints the picture around the politics at last week's demonstrations, and remembers Tatiana Susskind as the cartoon protests rage on. He also recommends a really great, emotional post from a new blog, A working girl, and I echo his recommendation.
Stephanella posts a picture of the golden-haired Madeleine Albright and examines her roots.
Air Time has the second half of a story that demonstrates beyond a doubt the utter impossibility of understanding some things without explanatory context. And that sometimes even with that context, it's still a little strange
Sometimes I know why I laugh, and sometimes I don't. I can't explain how he did it, but the Jewish Blogmeister managed to tickle my funny bone. I hope it tickles yours too, because that's all I've got for this week's roundup.
Tune in next week when HH#58 (Haveil Havalim) will return to its blog of origin, the place where it all began, Soccer Dad. Please e-mail him at dhgerstman at hotmail dot com with your submissions.
In the meantime, as the JIB's fade in memory, let's pick up Aussie Dave's torch and continue on into the light, etc. etc and so on, keeping Jewish and Israeli bloggers happy and well read, even as their statcounters slowly drop back to the depressing state called Normal. How can we cheer up the post-JIB blogging community, you might ask? Speaking from personal experience, I can say that many bloggers really appreciate the following things: readers/hits, comments, and links. So lets make a little extra effort to check out a few extra sites from this week's Haveil Havalim list, maybe try a new site you've never read before.
Even better, leave a few extra quality comments on some of the posts you read -- on-target, spam-free comments obviously. In fact, if each of us would take the obligation of leaving five good comments among the posts listed above, it could brighten a lot of days.
Lastly, bloggers appreciate links. So if you make an announcement post that Haveil Havalim #57 is up, please take a moment to look through a few of the posts first, and add links to 3 or 4 of your favorites in your HH announcement. It's always nice to find a few extra links pointing to a post. If you do that, I'll catch it and add your blog to an HH honor roll update as well. Offer void where prohibited by law or common sense.
NOTE: Haveil Havalim available via Truth Laid Bear's Ubercarnival page.
THANKS DUE: Thanks to all who helped get the word out about this week's carnival (** is an honor badge to those who went the extra mile and pushed their favorite posts):
Mystery Achievement **
Elder of Ziyon **
Soccer Dad
Instapundit
Jack and his Shack
Shiloh Musings
SerandEz
Yourish
Life in Israel
Perspectives of a Nomad
Crossing the Rubicon
The Muqata
If I missed anyone, please drop me a note or comment and I'll remedy the oversight.
