danny bloom http://www.jta.org/user/profile/64544 en-us zsilberman@washingtonjewishweek.com Copyright 2012 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Mark Potok of the SPLC was quoted today as saying, “Jared Taylor is not an anti-Semite.” We will report any further developments. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Gabrielle Giffords is not the “first Jewish female elected to such a high position in the US government.” Barbara Boxer has represented California in the Senate from 1993, and Diane Feinstein has done so since 1992. There are at least six Jewish congresswomen listed by Wikipedia as currently serving in the House. If this memo is typical of the research done by the Department of Homeland Security, our country is in serious danger. I telephoned DHS today to try to get the bottom of this nonsense, but apparently there is no homeland security on Sundays. The person who answered the phone said no one is there and that I should call back on Monday morning. Fortunately, some of the media organizations that have been reporting this story have contacted me, and have reported my assertion that American Renaissance knows nothing at all about Jared Loughner, that we condemn all violence, and that we cannot possibly be described as anti-Semitic. Even Mark Potok of the SPLC was quoted today as saying, “Jared Taylor is not an anti-Semite.” We will report any further developments. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 ''American Renaissance'' and Jared Loughner Jared Taylor, Special to AR News, January 9, 2011 replies to suggestions that JL was a member of AR etc: "We have all heard by now of the attempted murder of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords on Saturday. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reportedly issued a memo claiming that the shooter, Jared Loughner, has some connection with American Renaissance. We have received a copy of the memo, the relevant portion of which we reproduce here: << But no criminal record? Intervention by someone?* no direct connection - but strong suspicion is being directed at AmRen / American Renaissance. Suspect is possibly linked to this group. (through videos posted on his myspace and YouTube account.). The group's ideology is anti government, anti immigration, anti ZOG (Zionist Occupational Government), anti Semitic. Gabrielle Gifford [sic] is the first Jewish female elected to such a high position in the US government. She was also opposite this group's ideology when it came to immigration debate.* >> This is so hopelessly wrong that it is hard to believe it is a genuine government document. No one by the name of Loughner has ever been a subscriber to American Renaissance or has ever registered for an American Renaissance conference. We have no evidence that he has even visited the AR website. American Renaissance condemns violence in the strongest possible terms, and nothing that has ever appeared in it pages could be interpreted as countenancing it. AR is not anti-government, anti-Semitic, or anti-ZOG, as is clear from the 20 years of back issues that are posted on our website. The expression “ZOG” has never appeared in the pages of AR, and we have has always welcomed Jewish participation in our work. Many of the speakers at American Renaissance conferences have been Jewish. Although the name Gabrielle Giffords has appeared in news articles we have excerpted on our website, AR itself has never mentioned her and has certainly never criticized her policies. Finally, Gabrielle Giffords is not the “first Jewish female elected to such a high position in the US government.” Barbara Boxer has represented California in the Senate from 1993, and Diane Feinstein has done so since 1992. There are at least six Jewish congresswomen listed by Wikipedia as currently serving in the House. If this memo is typical of the research done by the Department of Homeland Security, our country is in serious danger. I telephoned DHS today to try to get the bottom of this nonsense, but apparently there is no homeland security on Sundays. The person who answered the phone said no one is there and that I should call back on Monday morning. Fortunately, some of the media organizations that have been reporting this story have contacted me, and have reported my assertion that American Renaissance knows nothing at all about Jared Loughner, that we condemn all violence, and that we cannot possibly be described as anti-Semitic. Even Mark Potok of the SPLC was quoted today as saying, “Jared Taylor is not an anti-Semite.” We will report any further developments." (Posted on January 9, 2011) > This is so hopelessly wrong that it is hard to believe it is a genuine government document. No one by the name of Loughner has ever been a subscriber to American Renaissance or has ever registered for an American Renaissance conference. We have no evidence that he has even visited the AR website. American Renaissance condemns violence in the strongest possible terms, and nothing that has ever appeared in it pages could be interpreted as countenancing it. AR is not anti-government, anti-Semitic, or anti-ZOG, as is clear from the 20 years of back issues that are posted on our website. The expression “ZOG” has never appeared in the pages of AR, and we have has always welcomed Jewish participation in our work. Many of the speakers at American Renaissance conferences have been Jewish. Although the name Gabrielle Giffords has appeared in news articles we have excerpted on our website, AR itself has never mentioned her and has certainly never criticized her policies. Finally, Gabrielle Giffords is not the “first Jewish female elected to such a high position in the US government.” Barbara Boxer has represented California in the Senate from 1993, and Diane Feinstein has done so since 1992. There are at least six Jewish congresswomen listed by Wikipedia as currently serving in the House. If this memo is typical of the research done by the Department of Homeland Security, our country is in serious danger. I telephoned DHS today to try to get the bottom of this nonsense, but apparently there is no homeland security on Sundays. The person who answered the phone said no one is there and that I should call back on Monday morning. Fortunately, some of the media organizations that have been reporting this story have contacted me, and have reported my assertion that American Renaissance knows nothing at all about Jared Loughner, that we condemn all violence, and that we cannot possibly be described as anti-Semitic. Even Mark Potok of the SPLC was quoted today as saying, “Jared Taylor is not an anti-Semite.” We will report any further developments." (Posted on January 9, 2011)]]> 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Finally, Fareed shows his true colors. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Finally, Fareed shows his true colors. Born in Pakistan, the son of a politician there and a rich family, he goes to Hahvard, feels entitled, uses his connections and IQ to get a job at Newsweek and CNN, even though he has no training as a reporter, 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Finally, Fareed shows his true colors. Born in Pakistan, the son of a politician there and a rich family, he goes to Hahvard, feels entitled, uses his connections and IQ to get a job at Newsweek and CNN, even though he has no training as a reporter, and cozies up to America, an America which he does not really cotton to, and now we see the real Fareed. A phony, a fake, a fraud. He has his own agenda. Ask him. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Finally, Fareed shows his true colors. Born in Pakistan, the son of a politician there and a rich family, he goes to Hahvard, feels entitled, uses his connections and IQ to get a job at Newsweek and CNN, even though he has no training as a reporter, and cozies up to America, an America which he does not really cotton to, and now we see the real Fareed. A phony, a fake, a fraud. He has his own agenda. Ask him.The Muslims of the world want nothing more than world domination. Get over it. 911 was just the beginning. This so called community center is merely a pretext to screw it to Uncle Sam one more time and our liberal friends are licking it up, and I am a liberal for crying out loud, on all things, except the 1000 Year War which began on 911. When are we going to wake up, America. Too late, as in the UK? Christians and Jews might go at each other from time to time, but it's always in the spirit of enlightened humanism and liberalism, But the Muslims do not want peace with the West. This so called Community Center is a Trojan Horse. Is America so blind now? You want more 911s, is that it? Oi. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 What made the joke tasteless and defenseless and in the end antisem is that Martin was talking about movie UB and how the Nazis were "hunting" the Jews in WWII and the movie and he turns to the actor in the movie in the audience in front of him and says "well, Christof, Jew hunter.....here they are......(opens arms wide).......long pause........the Moterlode (of the Jews) as if to repeat the canard that Jews run own and control Hwood. They do not. THey work there in numbers larger than the 3% of the total populatiom, sure, but Jews do not control or run Hwood. For every Barbara Streisand, there is a Sandra Bullock. For every Stephen Speilberg, there is a James Cameron. For every Harvery Weinstein, there is a Danny Boyle. So why does Martin do this joke, and more importantly, who does not anyone in the organized Jewish community in the USA, including Ami at JTA, talk about this antisemitic canard getting worldwide airing on TV. People around the world see the Oscars telecast, and they do not understnad that as a joke. Martin and his scriptwriters, the guy who that joke was prob Jewish, nice guy, sure, but wrong wrong to say that in public on TV and why no repsonse from Ami or Ben Harris here? Afraid to talk truth to power? Sigh. It will come back to haunt you.. Antisem must be fought every time it happens. Or else. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The video of Martin's words is here: and there are 1000 comments after the video and many of them from antisemites, see? Dear Lynn Elbers in Los Angeles and Veronika Oleksyn in Vienna -- both AP reporters, who reported this news story -- and by extention anyone else in the vaporsphere reading this blog entry -- did you feel Steve Martin's joke about "the Motherlode" of Jews in the Kodak Oscar theater that night of the Oscar awards was a bit bordering on the ANTISEMIITIC or giving ammunition to the antisemites out there in the Internet and the USA who falsely claim that Hollywood is run by Jews? Lynn Elbers wrote in her AP story: Christoph Waltz and his character played in the Tarantino movie "Unglorius Basterds" provided non-Jewish ceremony co-host Steve Martin with what some people cosidered tasteless and potentially misunderstood antisemitic material for an opening joke. Noting that Waltz played a Nazi in the movie obsessed with finding Jews during WWII, Martin made a sweeping gesture to the auditorium filled with Hollywood insiders, then said, "The mother lode," as Waltz grinned. Robert Pental on Facebook asked me about this, writinng: "Hello Danny, What did Mr Martin say that was offensive, as I did not watch the Oscars, I am curious as to your take on his comment and is it possible to provide a video link to it. Thanks." 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 namir yaarot, i second your post: i was also taken aback by Martin's scripted (probably written by a Jewish humorist working the gig for the Oscars, I am sure that was NOT Martin's own joke) joke about "well, christof....here they are.......[OPEN ARMS WIDE TO SHOW FULL AUDITORIUM]...the Motherlode (of Jews is what he meant) and the audience laughed. The joke itself was not antisem, but the words fall into the hands of the antisems in the internet and if you check to the blogs now and the commetns on the youtube video of the show, lots of white supremacist antisemities are commignt negatively on the JEWs who control Hollywood again. So Martin should not have said that: on my blog i say more 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 So-called Americans often use "to jew" as a verb for: 1. bargaining at dpt stores and yard sales, the way they use "to gyp someone" or to get gypped, which refers to a slur against Gypsies...... and 2. in political circcles now we see the neofacsits white supremacts saying things like "the Neocons jewed us into Irag" so the verb takes on another ugly meaning. Notice people never say Jew Up it is always negative Jew down, get gypped, and now the Cspan guy saying the Jewish Neocons "jewed us into Iraq.." just like Harry Reid got called onto the carpet for saying Negro recently when talking about Obama, we as a nation need to look again into how the word "jew" has been mal-used by so-called Americans as a verb for "bargaining down the price" and "Jewish cabals jewing the USA into foreign wars." If Bill Safire was alive, he would do a column on this. Which brave Jewish or non-Jewish newspaper columnist on language will look into these issues for us? 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 speaking of screaming at the screen re Jefrrey Goldberg's good catch: This caller identified as John from Franklin, N.Y. and maybe not his real name but his use of the phrase “that jewed us into Iraq” is important to point out. Many so-called Americans in rural areas especially, and even in Sarah Palin’s Alaska where I often hearr these terms being used in daily conversation, and it is entirely possible that Ms Palin has used such wording before herself in regarding to “jewing someone down” in regard to backyard garage sales in Wasilla and Juneau—I know, because I lived in Alaska for 12 years and often heard very nice Alaskans use this terminology, to my own face even, and friends in Alaska born in Minnesota, too, used this phrase right to my face without even being aware they were slurring an entire people—so this use of “that jewed us into Iraq”—using to jew as a verb in such an ugly antisemitic way—bares watching by the late William Safire and other wordsmiths. This is not an isolated case. Some reporter should ask Sarah Palin if she ever uses such terms when talking about bargaining at yard sales in Alaska. And if she doesn’t use the term herself, does she speak up when she hears a fellow Alaskan speaking this way within earshot and tell them to curb their antisemitism, however, innocent it may be? 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 This caller identified as John from Franklin, N.Y. and maybe not his real name but his use of the phrase "that jewed us into Iraq" is important to point out. Many so-called Americans in rural areas especially, and even in Sarah Palin's Alaska where I often hearr these terms being used in daily conversation, and it is entirely possible that Ms Palin has used such wording before herself in regarding to "jewing someone down" in regard to backyard garage sales in Wasilla and Juneau -- I know, because I lived in Alaska for 12 years and often heard very nice Alaskans use this terminology, to my own face even, and friends in Alaska born in Minnesota, too, used this phrase right to my face without even being aware they were slurring an entire people -- so this use of "that jewed us into Iraq" -- using to jew as a verb in such an ugly antisemitic way -- bares watching by the late William Safire and other wordsmiths. This is not an isolated case. Some reporter should ask Sarah Palin if she ever uses such terms when talking about bargaining at yard sales in Alaska. And if she doesn't use the term herself, does she speak up when she hears a fellow Alaskan speaking this way within earshot and tell them to curb their antisemitism, however, innocent it may be? 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 solstalgia. look it up. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 A friend of mine in New York, who reads this website and this blog daily, told me a very good story about the entire AGW meshagus. Listen, Danny, he said over the email screen connecting NYC with the almost invisible island of Taiwan, I'll tell you a story which is apropos, but might only give ammunition to those who oppose you in this climate awareness crusade of yours. In the latter part of the 19th century, NYC became the rich city that we know. Great manor houses were built (the Met Museum was founded in 1870), businesses expanded, services expanded. Yet all transportation, deliveries etc were based on the horse. Streetcars were horse-drawn. Rich people had multiple horse-drawn carriages and many had their own stables. By the 1890's, the horse population increased to 15,000 (or was it 150,000?) and counting. Now, a horse produces some 20 lbs of manure per day. NYC was swimming in horse manure. Cleaning crews could not keep up with it; the smell of rotting manure permeated the city. There was a Copenhagen-type summit in NYC in the mid-1890's that discussed this mounting problem and got nowhere. Some Bloom/Cassandras predicted that within the next decade or two, horse manure will reach to the second floor of houses. So, what happened? The motorcar was born in the early 20th century and by about 1910 it had by and large displaced the horse. Problem eliminated by human ingenuity which only 15 years prior was unthinkable. [thank you Peter for that story!] 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Funny and sad at same time. No sooner does this story appear here at jta dot org than the white supremacists in antisemiteland start posting on their hate blogs things like this from northerntruthseeker: "People should know by now that Global Warming is a massive scam and a fraud. Its only purpose is to further enslave people by bringing in new taxation and to force people into a one currency and One World Government under the false pretext of saving the planet from ourselves. But now it seems that the media is reaching for almost anything these days to still have people put into the false fear of "Global Warming". I received an email from a friend with an attachment linking me to this article from jta that claims that Global Warming is a threat to Jewish survival!! This is so laughable and absurd, and it rightfully belongs in my Files of Absurdity. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Peter Kubicek in NYC, a 79 year old Holocaust survivor who has written a very very good memoir of his life as a young boy in the camps, he is from Czeckhoslvokia originally, tells me by email re this story above: Hi Danny, JTA is an interesting site. In general, I would say that it is impossible to extrapolate 500 years hence. There are just too may unknowns and too many variables. I don't think we can forecast 25 years ahead.We cannot underestimate human ingenuity. I expect oil and coal to become complete obsolete in the future and all cars and motors to run on batteries or on other sources of energy. Did you know that there are already NYC transit buses that run on batteries? Technology advances these days at amazing speed -- I don't have to tell you that. So, I would not worry about the Israelis having to move to Alaska. That said, I think you are right that we should concentrate on green technology and on slowing global warming. - Peter 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Cute story, and too bad that the North Carolina State University PR office refused to add any information about the Bubbie and Zadie story, even though Dr Larry Silverberg is Jewish and he more than was happy to help me give Bubbie and Zadie a little push into the mediasphere, we have been in touch since last year, 2008, and in fact, I alerted the NCSU PR office to Bubbie and Zadie's tip sheet related to Dr Silverberg and the PR office wrote back saying "Sorry we are not interested in Bubbie and Zadie." And yet, Dr Larry Silverberg IS Jewish and he works at that university and still they PR office says no dice, er, no draydel. Par for the course? Maybe North Carolina still has restricted golf clubs that do not admit Jews like the one I grew up near in Longmeadow, Mass, the Longmeadow Country Club, even though the Gentile members were glad to let my father Bernie Bloom of sainted memory operate on them and their family members who had kidney and bladder problems, or needed a vasectomy, sure, Bernie was welcome to hlep cure them of their diseases, but allow him to join the Longmeadow Country Club as a member, no way! And of course the comedian Bill Cosby also lived in Longmeadow and he could not join either. This was America way back then. What are things like today? I hope they have improved. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 SOme people in the USA still don't get it. Yes, forgive the man who his antisemitism, but don't deny he said what he said and don't ignore why he said it. The man is an immigrant to the USA, applying for US citizenship and yet he carries within him the seeds of British antisemitism. Ask John Derbyshire, he will tell you. Social antisemittism is a reality in the USA. Tynan was very very wrong to say what he said and he should do penance for the rest of his life. He is a hypocrite, another damn Catholic antisemite! The gall! He comes to the USA to be an immigrant and he tries to lord it over other people. Sick sick man. And now he says it was just a joke. Sure. QUOTE" Tynan called Gold-von Simson to apologize and told NBC he intended his comment to be a joke. Tynan also told the Associated Press he is donating to KiDS of NYU, an NYU Langone children's health services foundation. Gold-von Simson said she accepted the apology, but is still horrified by Tynan's conduct. "The incident was not a joke," Gold-von Simson said Saturday, on her way to the Yankees game. "What bothered me, I think even more than the anti-Semitism it portrayed, was the hypocrisy of it all, that this is coming from a man who is an immigrant and who sings 'God Bless America' in Yankee Stadium." 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 You can read teh white supremacist blogs tomorrow that will take your list and write: More Than 25 Percent of Forbes List is Jewish Madoffs Watch! You give aid to the enemy, who cares? And do any of these people on your list practice Judaism and do they even know what GOD means? 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 i don't understand this need for ID Jewish rich people. You almost sound like the antisemites, are you aware of that sir? 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Ben, good summary of diff reviews. one comment in NYT said this: Really Bad, Unfortunately This film offered nothing to hang on to - it offered a very ugly perspective on the culture, which is perhaps more hazardous than to attack the religious perspective. Everyone was ugly, every stereotype was illustrated offering no backdrop for the absurdity to play against. The film merely displayed an ugly culture doing shameful things with little point or consequence. When Woody Allen was in his prime, he addressed these questions with humor and charm. Neither of these was present in this film. It was just a group of people I did not have an interest in watching being irritating and either dooming themselves, or being doomed by fate. Not worth watching. It could have been done much better. An ugly film that missed the mark. — NotAHater, New York, NY 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 And the joyous welcoming party, govt sponsored that he got on the tarmac back in Libya a few hours later, after being released, with a Scottish flag also flying on the tarmac, greeted and hugged by Kaddaffi's son, in a joyous welcoming home party with arms raised and fists raised? Shame shame on Scotland! What a joke that compassionate release was? Kenny you really blew it. Ouch! 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Here is it is again, since it did not "take" the first time: To all four of the men who posted above, you are all so full of hate and hatred! So Novak was not your cup of tea, is that any reason to wish him to spend eternity in Hell? You are all so full of hatred for a fellow human being, who was merely a journalist you didn't like, why all the venom and ugly hatred? What has happned to my Jewish people? Shame shame shame on all you guys above for your venmous comments. Have you no hearts? I am appalled at the hatred I sometimes read on this website. It does not look for Jews to speak so full of hatred and ugliness. He was just a reporter, for G-d's sake. And wish him to rot in Hell? I am really appalled and shocked at your hatred for a fellow human being. Ouch! That’s What HAPPENS when a “journalist” is in a War Zone,Covering a War. Rowland Evans was on the Jordanian Side of the LINE and WITH the Jordanian Army whose purpose was the Destruction of Israel. Evans was HOPING to be there when the Arabs “THREW THE JEWS INTO THE SEA” Evans and NOVAK are Now ROA STING in Hell,TOGETHER! The world is a far better place without EITHER of them in it! Report Comment Harold I Fox 08/21/09 12:36 PM What an excuse! Did Novak think that the IDF knew Evans was there when they defended themselves by attacking Jordan? The bottom line is that Novak was a self-hating Jew. Report Comment Herbert Kaine 08/21/09 12:57 PM He hated Israel because he hated Jews. Just like someone with lupus rejects a tissue in their own body, he had an autoimmunity to Judaism. Report Comment HERSH ADLERSTEIN 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Where is the comment I posted, or does this thing take a while to digest things? If it does not appear soon, I will post it again, I saved it. SMILE. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 So, it appears that David Shipley, the editor of the Op-Ed page, says that writers do not send in oped pieces cold calling, and if they do those oped pieces are almost never accepted and returned unread, but VIP writers are commissioned to write the opeds after the Times asks them to....... and they are paid for their work too. From US$500 to US$1000 or more, depending on their VIPness...... Mary Duenwald, one of Shipley’s two deputies, says that ideas come out of meetings in which editors discuss possible columns to commission from VIPS and people in the news with recognizable names, never nobodies. Topics and names are suggested. 99 percent of all Times opeds happen this way.... So the Times opeds are hardly democratically selected pieces. Par for the course? Fore! 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 And the Red Sea did not part, there were no 10 plagues, Jesus was no messiah or son of supernatural Godman, there was no Burning Bush. Stories! It's all stories! Ask Elie Weisel, he knows. We are a people of stories, and that''s cool. But enough of this pulling the wool over our eyes. Our early beliefs gave rise to an imperial Christianity that has severely tested the world with its outrageous beliefs and a militant Islam which is even worse. And we started all this meshagus! Wake up, o ye of too much "faith". We been bamboozled by the rabbis. Although I must thank Rabbi Samuel Dresner for teaching me all this as a kid,... 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 This is a cute and adorable news story, but it is so full of holes as to be laughable. What, are we a people silly suoerstitious beliefs now? The world was created by some non-existant hocus pocus God person in six day when the sun, which this God Guy also created it seems, was situated in the same place in the sky? Wake up, o Jerusalem, there is no God, never was one, never will be one. And while this 28 year prayer idea is cute and a great photo opp for the news media around the world, it just aint true. THe world was created by a massive Big Bang and there was no God invovled. Sorry, my gradeschool rabbis, but it's time to tell the truth to the kids.... RE: .....Jews gathered at the Western Wall to recite a once-in-28-years Blessing of the Sun. The blessing, called the Birkat Hachama, is said every 28 years when the sun reaches the point where it was situated when the world was created..." 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Who knew? Go figure. When I was a kid in the 1950s, this was about as impossible as putting a man on the moon. A seder in the White House! May a thousand mazel tov's surround you, Dear President Obama, a truly REmarkABLE man. The seder, Sonia, is for everyone, Jews and non-Jews alike. Talk like yours is terrible and uncalled for. Wake up, girl! This is 2009. And there is no God. Just us on planet Earth. Go back to school... and bravo to BHO.... 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Good report, very sad and tragic news story. Rest in eternal peace, Mrs. King. I saw the news on CNN here in Taiwan, too. One quick note to editors Ami Eden and Ben Harris: When you report that "Jiverly Voong, a Vietnamese immigrant, was reportedly upset after losing his job a few weeks ago and killed himself after the rampage..." Isn't it a bid odd to call a man who has been in the USA for 28 years and is a full American citizen with a USA passport "a Vietnamese immigrant" ? Wouldn't it be more kosher to call him a "Vietnamese-American" since he is already an American for 28 years? You don't call Elie Wiesel a Hungarian immigrant, do you? Why call an American man who holds USA nationality as "a Vietnamese immigrant" when he is no longer an immigrant. He emigrated to the USA 28 years old. It's an editing mistake, right? -- Danny, Proofreader in Taiwan But of course, sad story about all this and the death of Mrs. King. So sad that on that day, she was not supposed to be working at the center, she just subbed for some other teacher. The Lord certainly works in mysterious ways.....sigh! 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 what i mean above is that nobody in the jewish community has addressed the fact that the investors loved the huge returns and nobody voluntarily left the club. they were greedy people. they wanted better returns than the rest of us. let's be honest.....all those who got scammed by Bernie, they also were scamming the rest of us, thinking they were better than us...shame on them all........it takes two to tango 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 They go on CNN and cry foul, but nobody cried all those years getting all those high returns. Greed is greedy. Elie was greedy too. Shame on him! 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 QuestTION AND COMMENT: those who invested with Bernie also took the moneh and ran for many years, from Elie W to everyone else. They were also greeedy. They liked getting the high returns. They liked being in the club. They were also greedy. Bernie was bad man, yes, but these investors loved their club too and they need to be blamed and scolded, too, frm Elie W to everyone else. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 where? 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Ami and readers: here is a recent climate-themed GRADUATion speech to the class of 2099 by a Jewish climate activist on the world stage on YOUTuBE. See it and weep: Even better, take action. Might make a good JTA news story too. if we don’t tackle climate change head on NOW and SOON, there won’t be a Jewish people in 500 years. Ever think of that boychick? http://www.youtube.com/watch?hl=en&v=n-wnrm2jE-E 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Ami and readers: here is a recent climate-themed GRADUATion speech to the class of 2099 by a Jewish climate activist on the world stage on YOUTuBE. See it and weep: Even better, take action. Might make a good JTA news story too. if we don't tackle climate change head on NOW and SOON, there won't be a Jewish people in 500 years. Ever think of that boychick? http://www.youtube.com/watch?hl=en&v=n-wnrm2jE-E 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 This kind of Jewish creativity is great. More more! here is a recent climate-themed GRADUATion speech to the class of 2099 by a Jewish climate activist on the world stage on YOUTuBE. See it and weep: Even better, take action. http://www.youtube.com/watch?hl=en&v=n-wnrm2jE-E 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 This kind of Jeiwsh creativity is great. More more! here is a recent climate-themed GRADUATion speech to the class of 2099 by a Jewish climate activist on the world stage on YOUTuBE. See it and weep: Even better, take action. http://www.youtube.com/watch?hl=en&v=n-wnrm2jE-E 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Yes, this kind of creativity is great. More more! here is a recent climate-themed GRADUATion speech to the class of 2099 by a Jewish climate activist on the world stage on YOUTuBE. See it and weep: Even better, take action. http://www.youtube.com/watch?hl=en&v=n-wnrm2jE-E 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 By the way, the swastika is really an old Hindu symbol from India, reversed from Hitler's use of it, and it's use nowadays by neo-Nazis and others is a sad testimony on just how stupid these guys are. Hitler's PR guys took an ancient sanskrit symbolb and reversed it to make a statement. But exactly what were the Nazi PR guys doing? Even they did not know... 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Remember: "As Maine goes, so goes the nation!" 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Actually, this group of Raelians was founded by a French hippie in the 1960s, and the name of the group, the Raelians, is from the word ISrael. See? It's a New Age concoction of UFO belief, sexual freedom and unmitigated gall, so much so that even Charles DeGaulle would be offended by this Frenchman's chutzpah mixed with fekarkta global silliness. But he has adherents all over the globe now, and there are lectures by the leader in most wealthy countries around the world now, from Japan to the USA. But basically, Ben, this group is harmless. They mean well. They believe in world peace. They are just rowing the boat with one oar out the water, that's all. Google the name or look them up at Wikipedia. They've been around for a long long time, and they are very very real. They are Raelians. Get it? Real? Israel? It's New Age meets globalism. But they are not in any way Jews, and they do not practice Judaism at all. Whoever told the reporter that was fooling him. It's a New Age religion. Quite interesting, too. The leader actually has met some UFO people and even met God a long time ago, he says. Won der full! 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Ben, Just a side note. When you wrote: "Over at The New Republic blog The Plank, the magazine's editors offer a helpful recap of how their reporter successfully exposed a Holocaust memoir as a hoax." It's true, Gabe Sherman did a terrific reporting job exposing how that hoax memoir came to be. He deserves a Pulitzer award for that kind reportage, really, because he took material supplied to him by several sources and went even deeper and found amazing quotes from people directly involved in the backstory, inforamtion that nobody -- nobody -- ever knew for certain before -- and certainly never said in public before. But there is one thing you should know, Ben, and I am sure Gabe won't mind me telling tales out of school. Gabe never heard of Herman or his cockamamie backstory before a reporter who had been investigating the matter for 2 months, based in Taiwan, go figure, called Gabe up at midnight and badgered, pestered and cajoled him for three days and nights into agreeing to take on this "assignment". What the TNR does not mention, not anywhere, I guess it is natural and for promotioanl reasons of their own, is that their TNR reporter had no idea about this "story" before he was contacted by me. And at first, for the first two days of my barrage of emails and phone calls, Gabe resisted, said he was busy with other things, and besides, how did i know all these things -- I knew, Ben, I knew, but according to my promises to my sources deep with the investigation, I could not go public with what I knew, and that's okay, from here in Taiwan, I did not have a platform to publish what I knew anwyays. So I spent 8 weeks trying to find a reporter in the USA who would listen to me, and believe me, and act. Gabe, who didn't know me from Adam, at first was skeptical of this unknown blogger in far away Taiwan calling him at all times of the day, and badgering his email box with over 5o emails of names, tips, addresses, phone numbers, the whole megillah, and at one point, Gabe -- and I love the guy, he is salt of the Earth and an ace reporter and he did the perfect job, nobody else in US journalism could do what he did on this story, and I deeply respect and admire him -- Gabe at one point in our phone chats told me to stop bugging him, stop calling him, stiop emailing him, and to go away. Go away? No way. Not when I had the goods on Herman, and took it on as my self appointed mission to try to stop that book from coming out before it was published. Against the advice of those who were advising me in the ongoing investigation group. They told me to "chill" and "give it a rest, Danny" and "we aren't ready yet to go to the media, our reserach wont' be ready until the end of January" -- and i understood their concerns, but i knew instinctively, Ben that if the book was published, once it was out of the warehouse and into the bookstores, the damage would be done, the book would be very hard to stop, what with all the coming Oprah PR and the book tours and all the AP and Reuters stories about this lovely couple, so I acted alone, on my own heartfelt instinct, that the time to act was ASAP. I didn't know Gabe from Adam either. Never heard of him before. Of course, I have been out of the USA for 20 years or so, so I am not familiar with the new names in NYC and DC journalism, so I didn't know him. How did I find him? Good story, Ben, and glad you asked. SMILE I was carrying out my investigation here in Taiwan of the Herman hoax case using the internet and the blogosphere as my tools, plus my hunch from the get go that the BLIND DATE part of the book was impossible, not in this Universe, but a sweet touch, but completley off the wall, so i was googling every search window I could find about earlier hoaxes. And i found one item about a book by a child soldier nbamed Ishamel Beah, and there was a big to do about this in Slate magaizne, writteny by, are you ready? -- drum roll -- Gabriel Sherman! So i emailed him in a jiffy, found his website and emailed him, and he wrote back in Internet time, "Danny, sounds interesting, Call me or I will call you." Well, of course, he didn't call me. Nobody ever calls me back. Story of my life. So I called him.... the very next day, and dished. I told him everything I knew in a one hour phoen call, -- My dime my time. He said "all this is very interesting, Danny, but how do you know? It's some people's word against Herman's word, and who are you? Why are you so obessed with this story?" So we said goodbye on the phone, I told him I would email him more damning news tip I had in my files, from top historians involved in the case, and he said, Okay, keep me informed. I thought I had landed my fish, my big fish. The fish i needed to land the final punch somewhere in thte USa media landscape. The reporrters at the NY Times and your own JTa would not answer my emails at first and eventaully they just say, Yeah, we know about this issue, but we are mulling it over. "Mulling it over"? It will take too long to mull it over. We need to act now. Before the book is out. stop it in its tracks. So I kept up my badgering campagn with dear ol' Gabe, who must be all of 30, and here I am , all of 60, oi, and I never gave up. I knew he was the guy to do this story, to pull the rabbit out of the hat, so to speak, to lift the lid on this Pandroa's Box of fabircations by a sweet old man. I like Herman. I never had any animostiy against him. I just wanted to epose the blind date thing. That was my sticking point. that is was got me invovled in this, when i read a newspaper acocunt from the AP on October 12 about Herman and the applkes and Roma and the blind date. Impossible i said. I called the AP reporter in Miami who wrote the Ap story and said Matt, thsi could not be true. He said," it's what they told me. Who are we to question their story? Until a smoking gun can be found, the media cannot report what you are saying, Danny. Sorry." So i started looking for the smoking gun. I found many., I alerted the media in the USa all of October and November and early December. The entire USa media force, including dear JTA who i love, Ami Eden is great, I once wrote for the JTa, too, about a Yiddish professor in Taiwan, a Taiwanese Yiddish professor. great story, My editor then at JTA, Michael Arnold ,loved it. Paid me handsomely for it. SMILE.. anyways, back to story: Iknew by Dec, 15 , i had to find a reporter , do or die moment, so i kept bugging Gabe until he finally said, "Look, Danny, you sound like a nice and sane man, but please, enough of this calling me and emailing me already...go away. leave me alone. I will make some calls, like you suggested, using your leads and contacts, and let's see if there is a story here." The rest is history, cultural history of our times, sad tragic Holocaust history, too, and GAbe made it happen. The man! So that's the backstory of the backstory, and if you don't beleive a word I typed, because most people never believe a word I say -- I don't know why, I am always right -- .....ask Gabe!. He's on CNN and NPR and Canada TV now and it;s great. More power to him. He helped expose a very sad and tragic episode on Jewish life. And in the publishig world. And in Holocaust history. I salute his groundbreaking reportage, and consider him my brother for life! OKAY, enough of this tale told out of school. -- Danny, moving on to other things now...... How's tjhat for an interesting story, typed in a ligtning speed,, typos and all, mis-spellings and all? 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 An ‘Oprah Moment?’: Truth and Consequences! ******October 15, 2008***** BUT NOBODY LISTENED NOT EVEN JTA, I SENT THIS JTA < NADA....WHY? “Angel Girl” creates a media stir with touching backstory of how Herman and Roma Rosenblat first “met” in wartime Germany — but some observers question accuracy of elderly couples “memories” by Dan Bloom MIAMI, FLORIDA(RUSHPRNEWS)10/15/08 — It’s just a 24-page children’s book written by popular kids author Laurie Friedman, but the story behind the book’s genesis is causing a stir among grown-ups nationwide. You probably have read the Associated Press news wire story by ace AP reporter Matt Sedensky that hit the newspapers recently and exploded on the blogosphere with touching blog posts and commentaries from coast to coast. Boy meets girl in wartime Germany, girl throws apples across a guarded security fence to boy, boy and girl move to different countries after the war, never see each other again …. until they go on blind date in New York in 1958 and “realize” they knew each other “back then”. He proposes on the spot, she accepts, they marry, raise a family, move to Florida, go on Oprah Winfrey show, get two book contracts and a movie deal. Life can’t be more wonderfull that this, right? But now, in the wake of the AP story’s huge reader response and with some critical reviews of the children’s book on amazon.com’s website, some questions have arisen over the “truth” of “Angle Girl” — the children’s book about Herman and Roma Rosenblat that Laurie Friedman published this year. It is important to note here that the Rosenblat did not write the book, a third party wrote it, and she based her text on independent research she did and on long conversations she had with the elderly couple face to face. Herman’s now 80, Roma a few years younger. Wonderful people, sweet smiles, salt of the Earth. In fact, the book’s cover notes that the book is “based on a true story”. The key word here is “based”. The book does not say it is a true story, only that it is based on a true story. So the children’s book works nicely and is a touching, wonderfull read. Friedman has a gift for words, and she tells the story in a way that both children and adults can understand. But what some observers want to know is this: did the “events the Rosenblats describe to Friedman and the AP reporter and Oprah really take place as they say they did? Michael Berenbaum, a Holocaust historian in Los Angeles, told the AP reporter that he had read the children’s book and “I see no reason to question it”. But even AP story seems to question the backstory: “It all seems too remarkable to be believed,” the AP reporter wrote. “[But] Rosenblat insists it is all true.” Let’s cut to the chase now. One amateur book reviewer on amazon’s book website writes: “The publicity relating to this book and the proposed movie has raised several questions about inconsistencies between the story and the known facts of the Holocaust. Recognizing that the Rosenblats were children, he was 12, she was 9, they said, living during unbelievably horrific times, it is possible that their understanding at the time and their interpretation in later life do not accurately reflect what truly happened.” One reviewer who liked the children’s book by Ms Friedman wrote on the amazon site: “This is a touching story with a miraculous ending. The idea that this is a true story really seems remarkable. I have read other comments that question whether it is a true story or not. I’ll be very disappointed if I ever learn that it is not.” And that is the crux of the matter here. If the backstory that the Rosenblats have been telling the media for years — they first went on the Oprah Show in 1996 — turns out to be sort of made-up due to faulty memories or other circumstances beyond anyone’s control, the authenticity of their story will be called into doubt. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Just to show future hoax fighters what we are up against when we write polite letters to publishers, warning them that their books might be hoaxes or based on lies, here is what the Lerner Books people told me on October 15, when I wrote to them, politely question ''ANGEL GIRL'': [DELTEppqt ,mjstsxiuti}] ........ Dear Danny, Once again thank you for all 50 of your e-mails. At this time, we are aware of the issues that you have brought up and since I receive more than 500 e-mails a day I would ask that you please refrain from forwarding me links and other articles on the Rosenblats that our company is well aware of. Even in the Snopes article they are unable to prove or disprove the Herman and Roma's story so the rating is "undetermined." Our book is a children's FICTION picture book. It is only based on the story and we are not claiming, and have never claimed, that the story is 100% accurate when it comes to the text that Herman and Roma spoke and all of the details. Once again thank you for your concerns. Thanks, Lindsay ...................... Lindsay Chall Senior Publicist Lerner Publishing Group 241 First Avenue North Minneapolis, MN 55401 Telephone: 800-328-4929/612-332-3344, x385 Fax: 612-215-6230But 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Maybe JTA editors can interview me about this? Asking Oprah to invite Herman Rosenblat on her show one more time to apologize for his literary fabrication, explain why he did it, ask forgiveness: I am creating a national write-in campaign here with a grassroots effort to ask Oprah to invite Herman on her show in future to apologzie, ask forgiveness, explain why he did and how and ... to move on with his life quietly and out of the spotlight. I have already been in touch with Oprah's producers and there is a good chance this might happen. Oprah will not attack Herman on air the way she did with James Frey after his deceptions were uncovered. In this case, she will allow Herman to answer to the public, explain himself, apologize and ask forgiveness, from Oprah and the public, for his literary faux pas. Good idea? Or drop it? Yes, time to move on. The media exposed the truth here and what's done is done. I am now trying to help turn this incident into something positive by starting a grassroots blogging movement of concerned and compassionate people, Jews and Christians alike, to ask Oprah to invite Herman back on her show one more time, in order to allow him to apologize, to explain why and how he did it, to show remorse and to hug Oprah and say "sorry" ... and then to move on with his life. He is a good man. And Oprah can also use the show to apologize for believing too quickly in a story that was too good to be true, and to hug dear Herman back. And Roma too. That's my vision. A hugfest, tears, remorse, apologies, compassion, a teaching moment. If you want to join my movement, the blog is online just google under blogs at google for "Ask Oprah to invite Herman" -- and u can leave comments there or here. Ami Eden knows how to find me. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 If Obama was truly about change, and not more of the same, he would have invited a rabbi to give the convocation, a woman rabbi. Really. I love Obama but he is more of the same old same old. He also believes Jews will rot in Hell. What kind of president is that? Why are so many AMericans so dumb? 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 And Mother Teresa was even worse. I mean it, when are we going to wake up to this. This is antisemitism in another form. Ask Christopher Hitchens, he seems to the only one who understands..... 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Exactly. These kinds of beliefs are exactly what led to the Holocaust and historic antisemitism in Europe for thousands of years and which paved the way for Hitler. People like Rick Warren should be condemned, stop pretending and making excuse.. RE: ", According to an article on The New Republic Web site posted originally in August, Warren said “yes” at an Aspen panel discussion when asked by a Jewish woman whether she would “burn in hell” and received “audible gasps.” Co-panelist Alan Wolfe, the author of the article and director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life at Boston College, said he was “impressed” that Warren stayed true to his convictions despite knowing the audience reaction he would receive. [IMPRESSED? Alan Wolfe just what were you impressed by?] Stern said such a belief “isn't' a clear and present danger” to Jews in the United States. [Yes, of course not. But it can lead to things as it led to "things" in the past. We need to condemn religioous antisemitism right now. I will if Stern and Wolife won't...'] ANd Bill Graham was the worst, a real spiritiual antisemite. We need to face this, folks. RE: Rev. Billy Graham, who delivered the invocation at eight inaugurations, has since been heard on the Nixon White House tapes expressing anti-Semitic views about Jewish control of the media. WAKE UP FRIENDS. WE HAVE BEEN SILIENT TOO LONG. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 I don't know what others here think about Pastor Rick, but in my book he is a religious antisemite and should be recognized as such. He believes and speaks publicly, on Larry King Live for example, right to Jewish Larry's face and Larry says nothing that while he, Rick, loves Jews and respects our religion, he also believes that Jews, all Jews, will not be admitted to heaven when they die because they did not accept Jesus as their savior and acknowledge Jesus as son of God. When does this nonsense stop and when do we call a spade a spade? This is antisemitism in another form, and we should call it that. Pastor Rick is a misguided well-intentioned man who does know what religion is all about. He does not hate Jews, he even prays for us. He prays that we will accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. Why are people afraid to call him out on this? Privately, of course, he can have belief he wishes and in his own church, he can say whatever he wants. But on the Larry King show, on CNN Tv for the whole world to see, and in interviews in Newsweek a few years ago, he clearly admits he is a religious spiritual antisemite. Enough of this Rick Warren stuff. This is wrong wrong wrong, and somebody needs to learn him. Since nobody here will, I will. Rick Warren, you are a very imperfect misformed human being. Wake up. Christianity is not the only way to God's grace and redemption. Get over it. Larry King, remind him of that next time he is on your show. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Chew's article was very good, thanks for heads up on that. This sentence -- "Of course, we never heard the name Madoff — which has a peculiarly Dickensian ring now — "... OUCH. oi. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Actually, Jakob, it is the end of the world, or shall we say, the beginning of the end of the world. No, no Madoff. He is small potatoes.. The enemy is climate change and global warming, and in 500 years there might not be any Jews (or anyone else of the human species) alive on planet Earth. Bernie is nothing. We need to start thinking about polar cities and the need to move entire civlizations northward by the year 2500. See images here of what a polar city might look like. It's not science fiction. It's what is coming down the road for all us in 30 generations. We need to start "thinking" about these things now: http://pcillu101.blogspot.com 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 RE: "When it comes to the Madoff scandal, I think stealing from Hadassah ladies takes the cake -- there's a special place in hell for doing that." Ami, There is no hell, no Hell. Hell is right here on Earth. Bad apples appear from time to time, alas, in every culture, in every country, among all religions and ethnic groups. Bernie will not go to hell, as there is no Hell. He is in hell right now. I think Frank Rich did a good take on all this. The nerve, the nerve! 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 One more news item. Back in 1981, I created "Bubbie and Zadie", two magical Jewish grandparents who exist in the imagination and memories of kids and adults. The New York Times wrote a story about my Bubbie and Zadie in 1983, and in 1865 a book was published by some writer calling himself Daniel Halevi Bloom. Donald I. Fine, may he rest in peace, was the editor and publisher and the book sold 15,ooo copies. Titled "BUBBIE AND ZADIE COME TO MY HOUSE", the book was later reprinted in a new hardback edition and rescued from oblivion by a very good man, Rudy Shur, who runs Square One Publishers in Long Island. http://bubbieandzadiefiles.blogspot.com Over the years, since 1981, Bubbie and Zadie have recieved over 10,000 letters from kids and many from adults too. This year, here, I want to share one of the letters from the adults who have written in. These letters are often the most touching and heartwarming, as kids, being kids, are more interested in presents than moving remembrances of Hannukahs past. Here is Joan Siegel of New Jersey writing to Bubbie and Zadie last year: Dear ''Bubbie and Zadie'' I am a grown woman, a grandma myself already, but I hope I can write to you, too. My own Bubbie and Zadie died many years ago, and I still miss them. They were warm, wonderful people who always accepted me without judgment. They didn't have much money, but for every birthday and on Hannukah I got an envelope with a crisp dollar bill. Even then, a single dollar wasn't much, but it was all the money in the world because it was money I knew they couldn't really spare. When I was in junior high school and had learned the system of how to write a check, my Zadie invited me to his home to write checks for him. He would tell me the name of the company and the amount of the check and I would write each one out carefully, making sure not to make any mistakes. Then I'd shyly hand it over to him to look at, approve and sign before slipping it into the envelope. I was so proud when he'd nod approvingly and sign with a flourish. Little did I know that he couldn't read or write, and he was just trusting that I did it correctly. Today, that memory makes me smile. I miss my Bubbie's fried kreplach and latkes. But most of all I miss the store-bought pineapple pie she always kept in the house for me, because she knew it was my favorite. It was nothing unique, just some A&P;pineapple pie made with commercial-grade pie filling. But no one else was allowed to touch it because she kept it especially for me. She always made me feel special. I miss my Bubbie and Zadie both a lot, and my eyes are misting up just writing to you about them. Reading about your program woke my own memories and, for that, I thank you. Happy Hannukah, Bubbie and Zadie!" It's still Hannukah time and there is still time to write a letter to Bubbie and Zadie, the entire program is free and paid for by my meager book royalties, and every letter writer gets a personal reply from Bubbie and Zadie. Address is Bubbie and Zadie's Mailbox 115 Herrick Road Garden City Park, NY 11040 and Bubbie, with Zadie's help on the keyboard, hunt and peck typist that he is, will get your emails too at: bubbie.zadie@gmail.com Do write a letter to Bubbie and Zadie today, if you are so moved, and tell them about your own memories of your own Bubbie and Zadie. Who knows, it might even find its way into a new book I am planning for publication next year consisting of LETTERS TO BUBBIE AND ZADIE, all from adults...... Happy Chanukah spelled 10,000 ways..... 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Look, Rick Warren is a no brainer. He says he loves the Jewish people, even goes on the Larry King show and tells Larry, his Jewish pal, he is a friend to Jews everywhere. But then he goes and tells Larry that only those who accept Jesus as their Savior can get into heaven and that way it is in Rick Warren's brainwashed programmed mind. It's too bad Larry didn't question Rick more on this, like "How do you know God only allows Christians into heaven" but dear Larry would never want to ask a tough question to dear Pastor Rick. Mr Warren is a fake and a sham and should be exposed as such. He is a Christian triumphalist and exclusivist. That is NOT real Christianity. That is church propaganda written after the fact. Sigh. Sad but true. And now dear Obama is pals with Rick? Oi. Pastor Rick's only purpose in his purpose driven life is to tell the world that there is only ONE WAY into heaven, his way or the highway. That is crap. Some one should tell that to his face. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Hear hear, Martin. My grandparents left Kiev long ago, and thank G-d they did. The antisemitism they encountered in Boston later on was just gentle Gentile social antisemitism, no big deal. Yes, goodbye to Ukraine. What was that all about? Of course, there was still that country club in Western Massachusetts that wouldn't let our family be members, even though Dad was allowed to operate on the Gentile members of the club and save their lives in the OR. But become a member of their golf and swimming club? God forbid. I believe that club still does not accept Jewish members....... sad commentary on America. But yes, Martin, much better than Ukraine. Kiev! Oi. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Well, if it's true, thanks dear John. And if not true, it's still a nice letter. Thanks for thinking of us, John. At least he didn't write a deathbed letter "in which he asked God to forgive the Jews for their stiffnecked stubbornness in refusing to accept Joshua Ben Joseph as some cockamamie savior and asked God to forgive them and still let a few them get into heaven if they were especially good." That is what I thougt the story was about at first. Thank God, it wasn't. But who knows? I am sure he prayed every night for the Jews '-- "that they might know the fullness of God and his only son Joshua Ben Joseph who He went to redeem the world". That is what Christians do pray when they pray for their Jewish friends. Gag me with a spoon. Popes, too. Oi. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 A reader wrote to me by email re my comment above about the JewMama pen name, in a polite and friendly email, the reader told me: "Danny, Your comment to Lisa keys regarding her penname comes across as mean-spirited and petty, and it makes my feel saddened -- especially after reading such a warm-spirited and hearthfelt piece that this women had written." In which case, I say: "Sorry. Didn't mean to sound mean spirited or petty. So I apologize" But I am still curious, can someone teach me: how is JEWMAMA a cute name? Is KIKEMAMA next? I mean, HEBE magazine, okay, Blacks say the N word, we Jews can say the HEBE word, to make fun of the slur and redeem it, I guess. but "JEWMAMA"? I guess it's okay because the editors here let it go, so I defer to their judgment, but I find the term offensive, and I'm Jewish. Why not come up with a better name for the column like "Living the Jewish Life" or Living La Vida Judaica" or something cute.....but JEWMAMA....oi.....but maybe i am just too old,,,,,60 now....to appreciate the new slang people use nowadays...... and in which case, if my age is showing, I do apologize. Does anyone else feel the same way I do, or I am just singular about this? 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Lisa Keys, your pen name here of JewMama is not a good name to use here. You are a Jewish mother, a Jewish woman, a Jewish wife, a Jewish mom, but using this ugly almost antisemitic term of "JewMama" ...I found this repulsive. I know you are playing with Yo Mama. But it is not funny, and borders on being antisem. Couldn't you find a better pen name than that? Or at least get a second opinion before you went public with it? It stinks! Danny Bloom author "Bubbie and Zadie Come to My House" http://bubbieandzadiefiles.blogspot.com 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Hopefully, the US media and global media as well, will treat this story as an American financier who did a buge Ponzi on a lot of people, and that's it. A corrupt businessman/financial manager and the legal system take care of him. I think America has grown up to this point. As for the conspiracy theorists and ethnic slur posts on the Internet and newspaper websites, ignore those children. Focus on what Madoff did that was wrong and unethical and let the punishment fit the crime, and learn from this. It happened. Sh*t happens. In all countries. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 NEW YORK CITYROOM EDITORS and Ami Eden who never answers my emailsl..why? this guy was New Yorker for 50 years......shot in a bronx robbery attemtp.....1992....then he has perhaops ? false memroies...REPORT THIS. this book is due out Janary feom NYC publisher, it is amn allged fabicatio fake book DANNY BLOOM Tufts 1971 ================= A much-hyped Holocaust story that beggars the imagination? by Dan Bloom It's a face off between the historian naysayers and the publishing champions of an old man's "memoir". Is it a true story or so highly "embellished" that it is beyond belief? No less a Jewish historian and Holocaust expert than Professor Deborah Lipstadt of Emory University says on her blog that Herman Rosenblat's much-hyped-in-the-media-and-on-Oprah "memoir" titled "Angel at the Fence" (Berkley Books is the publisher in New York) is a "Holocaust story that beggars the imagination." She ever goes so far as to sy that it is most highly likely not true. In a recent blog post, she noted: "It is fairly certain that this is a hoax. Historians are working on it. The facts will emerge shortly, and for those who care about truth, it will not be a nice situation." Dr. Lipstadt had casually noted on her blog back in 2007: "There is a Holocaust story making the rounds on the Internet which is clearly not true. It's about an inmate of a camp [a sub-camp of Buchenwald] who connects with a young girl outside the camp. She throws him an apple everyday over the fence. He tells her one day in May 1945 that she should not throw any more apples because at 10 a.m. the next morning he has appointment to appear at the gas chamber to be killed. This story has so many shortcomings that one hardly knows where to begin." Lipstadt noted: "Not only do we need to be historically accurate for the simple sake of history. But on top of that, this kind of stuff is fodder for [Holocaust] deniers. There are many amazing stories about the Holocaust. Just the fact that some people managed to survive [that] hell is amazing in and of itself. We don't need embellished and/or false stories. The truth is far more than enough." Professor Lipstadt was talking about a popular email making the rounds in 2007 that told the alleged "backstory" of Herman Rosenlat -- a Holocaust survivor now living in retirement in Florida. He has been on Oprah two times, and the Associated Press in Miami wrote a big story about him, too, that was printed in newspapers this past October -- and reprinted verbatim blogs around the world. Mr Rosenblat's "memoir" is a love story, wonderfully told by a professional ghostwriter, and it might touch your heart and pull at your heartstrings, whether you are Jewish or not. It's a Holocaust memoir, with a love story that boggles the mind -- if true. Professor Lipstadt says Herman's alleged backstory beggars the imagination. Others say it is a figment of the old man's imagination. Still others say he has embellished his life story in way that almost makes the book a farce, maybe even a hoax of sorts. But "Angel at the Fence" couldn't be a hoax. Not when a major publisher is releasing it. Not when a bonafide book agent is handling the contract negotiations and film rights. Not when a major Christian faith-based speakers' bureau is handling the national speeches Herman will be invited to give. Not when a major Jewish children's book publisher has also put out a kids book "based" on Herman and his wife Roma's Oprah-approved love story. But the story and backstory might not be true, as Dr Lipstadt says on her blog. If the book turns out to be to be not so true, what will the critics and media pundits say then? About an earlier book that turned out to be a hoax, a New York Times reporter noted: "One day after the author of an earlier book that turned out to be not so true confessed that he had embellished major parts of hismemoir, the focus turned to his publisher and the news organizations that helped publicize what appeared to be a genuine and true autobiography." The publisher of that earlier book told Motoko Rich of the Times: "In hindsight we can second-guess all day things we could have looked for or found. The fact is that the author went to extraordinary lengths: he provided people who vouched for him. There was a historian professor who vouched for his backstory, and a writer who had written about him that seemed to corroborate her story." The publisher added that the author in that earlier case had signed a contract in which he had legally promised to tell the truth. "The one thing we wish," the editor said, "is that the author had told us the truth." An editor of a book that was later shown to be to be another hoax said she trusted the author because his memoir had come through "a respected literary agent" who had in turn been referred to the author by a writer whom the editor had worked with. The Times reported also about an earlier book in the famous James Frey case, which also put some egg on Oprah Winfrey's TV face: "Despite editing the book in the aftermath of the scandal surrounding James Frey, author of a best-selling memoir, "A Million Little Pieces," who admitted making up or exaggerating details in his account of drug addiction and recovery, the editor of the book said she did not independently check parts of the story or perform any kind of background check. She said she relied on the author to tell the truth. "In the post-James Frey world, we all are more careful," she said. "I had numerous conversations with him about the need to be honest and the need to stick to the facts." A book agent said on an earlier book that also turned out to be a hoax said: "There was no reason to doubt the author, ever." A book critic told the New York Times in 2008: "The way I look at it is that it's just like when you get in a car and drive to the store — you assume that the other drivers on the road aren't psychopaths on a suicide mission," talking about an earlier Holocaust book by an author in Boston that turned out to be a hoax. What's up with all these earlier Holocaust hoax books, some written by Jewish authors, some written by non-Jewish ones? Yes, what's up with that? The editor of an earlier Holocaust hoax book told the Times also that she wished she had been more skeptical and done further fact-checking. "Of course I wish I could do it differently," she said. "I think a lot of other people were fooled before me." A Boston book critic said of an earlier Holocaust hoax book: "I was to some degree trusting that the vetting process of a reputable book publisher was going to catch this level of duplicity." In a publishing landscape that has been rocked by scandals like Mr. Frey's fabrications, other publishers and agents insist their business still operates on trust. "It is not an industry capable of checking every last detail," said an agent. "So to present yourself as something you are not betrays all the trust." Nan Talese, who published Mr. Frey's "A Million Little Pieces," once told a reporter that the combination of these recent faked book episodes could start to change the business's practices. "I think what editors are going to have to do is point to the things that happened recently and say to their authors, 'If there is anything in your book that can be discovered to be untrue, you better let us know right now, and we'll deal with it before we publish it,' " Talese said. But she added: "I don't think there is any way you can fact-check every single book. It would be very insulting and divisive in the author-editor relationship." But some questions linger about the Herman Rosenblat memoir. When the book is published in February 2009, surely there will be critics and reporters who will read it with interest and try to determine if in fact the book is based on facts or "highly, deeply, madly, lovingly" embellished. Herman's book is surely not a Holocaust hoax book. It is a magical, personal memoir of a life deeply lived. It will touch your heart with its rivetting and miraculous love story. Oprah will invite Herman and Roma on her show again for a sit down interview and audience members will weep upon hearing the story they will tell. Live, on air, a "true" story. But let's give Dr Lipstadt the last words about her view of Herman Rosenblat's soon to be published memoir: "It is fairly certain that this is a hoax. Historians are working on it. The facts will emerge shortly and for those who care about truth it will not be a nice situation." Is Mr Rosenblat's story really true? I don't know. Nobody knows for sure. Only God knows. And God isn't talking yet. He will, soon enough. Stay tuned to this sad, tragic story about a sad, tragic time in Jewish history. Book website: http://angelatthefence.com/ BOOK COVER http://www.amazon.com/Angel-Fence-True-Story-Survived/dp/042522581X -------- Dan Bloom is a freelance writer and the author of a Jewish children's book titled "Bubbie and Zadie Come to My House". 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 NEW YORK CITYROOM EDITORS this guy was New Yorker for 50 years......shot in a bronx robbery attemtp.....1992....then he has false memroies...REPOR THIS. this book is due out Janary feom NYC publisher, it is am alleged fabricatiob book DANNY BLOOM Tufts 1971 ================= A much-hyped Holocaust story that beggars the imagination? by Dan Bloom It's a face off between the historian naysayers and the publishing champions of an old man's "memoir". Is it a true story or so highly "embellished" that it is beyond belief? No less a Jewish historian and Holocaust expert than Professor Deborah Lipstadt of Emory University says on her blog that Herman Rosenblat's much-hyped-in-the-media-and-on-Oprah "memoir" titled "Angel at the Fence" (Berkley Books is the publisher in New York) is a "Holocaust story that beggars the imagination." She ever goes so far as to sy that it is most highly likely not true. In a recent blog post, she noted: "It is fairly certain that this is a hoax. Historians are working on it. The facts will emerge shortly, and for those who care about truth, it will not be a nice situation." Dr. Lipstadt had casually noted on her blog back in 2007: "There is a Holocaust story making the rounds on the Internet which is clearly not true. It's about an inmate of a camp [a sub-camp of Buchenwald] who connects with a young girl outside the camp. She throws him an apple everyday over the fence. He tells her one day in May 1945 that she should not throw any more apples because at 10 a.m. the next morning he has appointment to appear at the gas chamber to be killed. This story has so many shortcomings that one hardly knows where to begin." Lipstadt noted: "Not only do we need to be historically accurate for the simple sake of history. But on top of that, this kind of stuff is fodder for [Holocaust] deniers. There are many amazing stories about the Holocaust. Just the fact that some people managed to survive [that] hell is amazing in and of itself. We don't need embellished and/or false stories. The truth is far more than enough." Professor Lipstadt was talking about a popular email making the rounds in 2007 that told the alleged "backstory" of Herman Rosenlat -- a Holocaust survivor now living in retirement in Florida. He has been on Oprah two times, and the Associated Press in Miami wrote a big story about him, too, that was printed in newspapers this past October -- and reprinted verbatim blogs around the world. Mr Rosenblat's "memoir" is a love story, wonderfully told by a professional ghostwriter, and it might touch your heart and pull at your heartstrings, whether you are Jewish or not. It's a Holocaust memoir, with a love story that boggles the mind -- if true. Professor Lipstadt says Herman's alleged backstory beggars the imagination. Others say it is a figment of the old man's imagination. Still others say he has embellished his life story in way that almost makes the book a farce, maybe even a hoax of sorts. But "Angel at the Fence" couldn't be a hoax. Not when a major publisher is releasing it. Not when a bonafide book agent is handling the contract negotiations and film rights. Not when a major Christian faith-based speakers' bureau is handling the national speeches Herman will be invited to give. Not when a major Jewish children's book publisher has also put out a kids book "based" on Herman and his wife Roma's Oprah-approved love story. But the story and backstory might not be true, as Dr Lipstadt says on her blog. If the book turns out to be to be not so true, what will the critics and media pundits say then? About an earlier book that turned out to be a hoax, a New York Times reporter noted: "One day after the author of an earlier book that turned out to be not so true confessed that he had embellished major parts of hismemoir, the focus turned to his publisher and the news organizations that helped publicize what appeared to be a genuine and true autobiography." The publisher of that earlier book told Motoko Rich of the Times: "In hindsight we can second-guess all day things we could have looked for or found. The fact is that the author went to extraordinary lengths: he provided people who vouched for him. There was a historian professor who vouched for his backstory, and a writer who had written about him that seemed to corroborate her story." The publisher added that the author in that earlier case had signed a contract in which he had legally promised to tell the truth. "The one thing we wish," the editor said, "is that the author had told us the truth." An editor of a book that was later shown to be to be another hoax said she trusted the author because his memoir had come through "a respected literary agent" who had in turn been referred to the author by a writer whom the editor had worked with. The Times reported also about an earlier book in the famous James Frey case, which also put some egg on Oprah Winfrey's TV face: "Despite editing the book in the aftermath of the scandal surrounding James Frey, author of a best-selling memoir, "A Million Little Pieces," who admitted making up or exaggerating details in his account of drug addiction and recovery, the editor of the book said she did not independently check parts of the story or perform any kind of background check. She said she relied on the author to tell the truth. "In the post-James Frey world, we all are more careful," she said. "I had numerous conversations with him about the need to be honest and the need to stick to the facts." A book agent said on an earlier book that also turned out to be a hoax said: "There was no reason to doubt the author, ever." A book critic told the New York Times in 2008: "The way I look at it is that it's just like when you get in a car and drive to the store — you assume that the other drivers on the road aren't psychopaths on a suicide mission," talking about an earlier Holocaust book by an author in Boston that turned out to be a hoax. What's up with all these earlier Holocaust hoax books, some written by Jewish authors, some written by non-Jewish ones? Yes, what's up with that? The editor of an earlier Holocaust hoax book told the Times also that she wished she had been more skeptical and done further fact-checking. "Of course I wish I could do it differently," she said. "I think a lot of other people were fooled before me." A Boston book critic said of an earlier Holocaust hoax book: "I was to some degree trusting that the vetting process of a reputable book publisher was going to catch this level of duplicity." In a publishing landscape that has been rocked by scandals like Mr. Frey's fabrications, other publishers and agents insist their business still operates on trust. "It is not an industry capable of checking every last detail," said an agent. "So to present yourself as something you are not betrays all the trust." Nan Talese, who published Mr. Frey's "A Million Little Pieces," once told a reporter that the combination of these recent faked book episodes could start to change the business's practices. "I think what editors are going to have to do is point to the things that happened recently and say to their authors, 'If there is anything in your book that can be discovered to be untrue, you better let us know right now, and we'll deal with it before we publish it,' " Talese said. But she added: "I don't think there is any way you can fact-check every single book. It would be very insulting and divisive in the author-editor relationship." But some questions linger about the Herman Rosenblat memoir. When the book is published in February 2009, surely there will be critics and reporters who will read it with interest and try to determine if in fact the book is based on facts or "highly, deeply, madly, lovingly" embellished. Herman's book is surely not a Holocaust hoax book. It is a magical, personal memoir of a life deeply lived. It will touch your heart with its rivetting and miraculous love story. Oprah will invite Herman and Roma on her show again for a sit down interview and audience members will weep upon hearing the story they will tell. Live, on air, a "true" story. But let's give Dr Lipstadt the last words about her view of Herman Rosenblat's soon to be published memoir: "It is fairly certain that this is a hoax. Historians are working on it. The facts will emerge shortly and for those who care about truth it will not be a nice situation." Is Mr Rosenblat's story really true? I don't know. Nobody knows for sure. Only God knows. And God isn't talking yet. He will, soon enough. Stay tuned to this sad, tragic story about a sad, tragic time in Jewish history. Book website: http://angelatthefence.com/ BOOK COVER http://www.amazon.com/Angel-Fence-True-Story-Survived/dp/042522581X -------- Dan Bloom is a freelance writer 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 NEW YORK CITYROOM EDITORS at JTA this guy was New Yorker for 50 years......shot in a bronx robbery attemtp.....1992....then he has false memroies...REPORT THIS NEWS...... this book is due out Janary feom NYC publisher, it is an alleged fabrication DANNY BLOOM Tufts 1971 ================= A much-hyped Holocaust story that beggars the imagination? by Dan Bloom San Diego Jewish World It's a face off between the historian naysayers and the publishing champions of an old man's "memoir". Is it a true story or so highly "embellished" that it is beyond belief? No less a Jewish historian and Holocaust expert than Professor Deborah Lipstadt of Emory University says on her blog that Herman Rosenblat's much-hyped-in-the-media-and-on-Oprah "memoir" titled "Angel at the Fence" (Berkley Books is the publisher in New York) is a "Holocaust story that beggars the imagination." She ever goes so far as to sy that it is most highly likely not true. In a recent blog post, she noted: "It is fairly certain that this is a hoax. Historians are working on it. The facts will emerge shortly, and for those who care about truth, it will not be a nice situation." Dr. Lipstadt had casually noted on her blog back in 2007: "There is a Holocaust story making the rounds on the Internet which is clearly not true. It's about an inmate of a camp [a sub-camp of Buchenwald] who connects with a young girl outside the camp. She throws him an apple everyday over the fence. He tells her one day in May 1945 that she should not throw any more apples because at 10 a.m. the next morning he has appointment to appear at the gas chamber to be killed. This story has so many shortcomings that one hardly knows where to begin." Lipstadt noted: "Not only do we need to be historically accurate for the simple sake of history. But on top of that, this kind of stuff is fodder for [Holocaust] deniers. There are many amazing stories about the Holocaust. Just the fact that some people managed to survive [that] hell is amazing in and of itself. We don't need embellished and/or false stories. The truth is far more than enough." Professor Lipstadt was talking about a popular email making the rounds in 2007 that told the alleged "backstory" of Herman Rosenlat -- a Holocaust survivor now living in retirement in Florida. He has been on Oprah two times, and the Associated Press in Miami wrote a big story about him, too, that was printed in newspapers this past October -- and reprinted verbatim blogs around the world. Mr Rosenblat's "memoir" is a love story, wonderfully told by a professional ghostwriter, and it might touch your heart and pull at your heartstrings, whether you are Jewish or not. It's a Holocaust memoir, with a love story that boggles the mind -- if true. Professor Lipstadt says Herman's alleged backstory beggars the imagination. Others say it is a figment of the old man's imagination. Still others say he has embellished his life story in way that almost makes the book a farce, maybe even a hoax of sorts. But "Angel at the Fence" couldn't be a hoax. Not when a major publisher is releasing it. Not when a bonafide book agent is handling the contract negotiations and film rights. Not when a major Christian faith-based speakers' bureau is handling the national speeches Herman will be invited to give. Not when a major Jewish children's book publisher has also put out a kids book "based" on Herman and his wife Roma's Oprah-approved love story. But the story and backstory might not be true, as Dr Lipstadt says on her blog. If the book turns out to be to be not so true, what will the critics and media pundits say then? About an earlier book that turned out to be a hoax, a New York Times reporter noted: "One day after the author of an earlier book that turned out to be not so true confessed that he had embellished major parts of hismemoir, the focus turned to his publisher and the news organizations that helped publicize what appeared to be a genuine and true autobiography." The publisher of that earlier book told Motoko Rich of the Times: "In hindsight we can second-guess all day things we could have looked for or found. The fact is that the author went to extraordinary lengths: he provided people who vouched for him. There was a historian professor who vouched for his backstory, and a writer who had written about him that seemed to corroborate her story." The publisher added that the author in that earlier case had signed a contract in which he had legally promised to tell the truth. "The one thing we wish," the editor said, "is that the author had told us the truth." An editor of a book that was later shown to be to be another hoax said she trusted the author because his memoir had come through "a respected literary agent" who had in turn been referred to the author by a writer whom the editor had worked with. The Times reported also about an earlier book in the famous James Frey case, which also put some egg on Oprah Winfrey's TV face: "Despite editing the book in the aftermath of the scandal surrounding James Frey, author of a best-selling memoir, "A Million Little Pieces," who admitted making up or exaggerating details in his account of drug addiction and recovery, the editor of the book said she did not independently check parts of the story or perform any kind of background check. She said she relied on the author to tell the truth. "In the post-James Frey world, we all are more careful," she said. "I had numerous conversations with him about the need to be honest and the need to stick to the facts." A book agent said on an earlier book that also turned out to be a hoax said: "There was no reason to doubt the author, ever." A book critic told the New York Times in 2008: "The way I look at it is that it's just like when you get in a car and drive to the store — you assume that the other drivers on the road aren't psychopaths on a suicide mission," talking about an earlier Holocaust book by an author in Boston that turned out to be a hoax. What's up with all these earlier Holocaust hoax books, some written by Jewish authors, some written by non-Jewish ones? Yes, what's up with that? The editor of an earlier Holocaust hoax book told the Times also that she wished she had been more skeptical and done further fact-checking. "Of course I wish I could do it differently," she said. "I think a lot of other people were fooled before me." A Boston book critic said of an earlier Holocaust hoax book: "I was to some degree trusting that the vetting process of a reputable book publisher was going to catch this level of duplicity." In a publishing landscape that has been rocked by scandals like Mr. Frey's fabrications, other publishers and agents insist their business still operates on trust. "It is not an industry capable of checking every last detail," said an agent. "So to present yourself as something you are not betrays all the trust." Nan Talese, who published Mr. Frey's "A Million Little Pieces," once told a reporter that the combination of these recent faked book episodes could start to change the business's practices. "I think what editors are going to have to do is point to the things that happened recently and say to their authors, 'If there is anything in your book that can be discovered to be untrue, you better let us know right now, and we'll deal with it before we publish it,' " Talese said. But she added: "I don't think there is any way you can fact-check every single book. It would be very insulting and divisive in the author-editor relationship." But some questions linger about the Herman Rosenblat memoir. When the book is published in February 2009, surely there will be critics and reporters who will read it with interest and try to determine if in fact the book is based on facts or "highly, deeply, madly, lovingly" embellished. Herman's book is surely not a Holocaust hoax book. It is a magical, personal memoir of a life deeply lived. It will touch your heart with its rivetting and miraculous love story. Oprah will invite Herman and Roma on her show again for a sit down interview and audience members will weep upon hearing the story they will tell. Live, on air, a "true" story. But let's give Dr Lipstadt the last words about her view of Herman Rosenblat's soon to be published memoir: "It is fairly certain that this is a hoax. Historians are working on it. The facts will emerge shortly and for those who care about truth it will not be a nice situation." Is Mr Rosenblat's story really true? I don't know. Nobody knows for sure. Only God knows. And God isn't talking yet. He will, soon enough. Stay tuned to this sad, tragic story about a sad, tragic time in Jewish history. Book website: http://angelatthefence.com/ BOOK COVER http://www.amazon.com/Angel-Fence-True-Story-Survived/dp/042522581X -------- Dan Bloom is a freelance writer 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00