SNL McCain - Obama Debate

Pulp Muppets

NY Governor David Paterson

on the Hamptons Eruv issue...

Paterson expressed his support for the eruv, saying he hoped "we can bring tolerance and understanding and compassion" to the Hamptons.

Article in the NY Times on the Eruv in the Hamptons...

W: The Movie

Oliver Stone's latest movie.

Stone is famous for courting controversy with dramas like JFK (1991) and Nixon (1995). But with W, the 61-year-old filmmaker isn't merely courting it — he's grabbing controversy by the lapels and giving it a big wet smacker. For the first time, he's turning his cameras not just on a living president but on one who'll still be knocking around the White House when the movie premieres late this year. As if that weren't provocative enough, Stone could end up releasing the film as early as October, at the height of a presidential campaign in which one of the major issues will undoubtedly be the legacy of the guy on the screen. The movie has become a lightning rod before Stone has shot a single frame. If that bootlegged script is any indication, the film will feature such flag-waving moments as the Commander-in-Chief nearly choking to death on a pretzel while watching football on TV and a flashback of him singing the ''Whiffenpoof'' song as a frat pledge at Yale, not to mention scenes in which he refers to his advisers by dorky nicknames — ''Guru'' for Condoleezza Rice, ''Turdblossom'' for Karl Rove, ''Balloon Foot'' for Colin Powell — while discussing plans for the invasion of Iraq with the coolness of a late-night poker game. (EW)

escape from the holy shtetl

from New York Magazine...

"Gitty Grunwald fled the pious world of her mother to return to the secular city of her grandparents. There’s only one problem: The Satmars kept her daughter. A family saga of four generations of American Jews"

Asian Subway System

Colbert's Commencement Speech at Princeton

american idol

david archuleta, who i predicted will win it all over 3 months ago (before the Top 24 were selected) will face off against david cook tonight in the final round.

i still think archuleta will win due to the teeny bopper vote, but cook will end up with the better music career, much like chris daughtry, who finished fourth (behind the eventual winner taylor hicks).

#$@ in the city

(AP)
JERUSALEM - There's going to be "sex," but not in two Israeli cities.

Forum Films, the Israeli distributor of the soon-to-be-released "Sex and the City" movie, won't be hanging advertising posters and billboards in Jerusalem and Petah Tikva because officials there don't want the word "sex" on display, said company spokesman Arye Barak.

Both cities have large religious populations.

Municipal officials there asked to have the word "sex" removed from the posters, Barak said. "We told them, the way you don't remove the word "Coca" from "Coca-Cola" and just leave "Cola," we can't do it in this case," he said. "It's ludicrous."

Ads for the movie, based on the popular TV series, were to go up elsewhere in Israel on Tuesday night, said an official at Maximedia, the Israeli company that is handling outdoor advertising for the movie.

no word yet if Bnei Brak will be included in the ban...

aka GO

http://www.akapella.net/

einstein on religion...

(AP)

A letter being auctioned in London this week adds more fuel to the long-simmering debate about the Nobel Prize-winning physicist's religious views. In the note, written the year before his death, Einstein dismissed the idea of God as the product of human weakness and the Bible as "pretty childish."

In the letter, Einstein said that "the word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish."

"For me," he added, "the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions."

Addressing the idea that the Jews are God's chosen people, Einstein wrote that "the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong and with whose mentality I have a deep affinity have no different quality for me than all other people. As far as my experience goes, they are also no better than other human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise I cannot see anything 'chosen' about them."

Born to a Jewish family in Germany in 1879, Einstein said he went through a devout phase as a child before beginning to question conventional religion at the age of 12.
In later life, he expressed a sense of wonder at the universe and its mysteries — what he called a "cosmic religious feeling" — and famously said: "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."

But he also said: "I do not believe in the God of theology who rewards good and punishes evil. My God created laws that take care of that. His universe is not ruled by wishful thinking, but by immutable laws."

the full article...

Hamas endorses Obama...

(NY Daily News)

While maintaining an ironclad commitment to Israel's security, Barack Obama says he understood why a top Hamas adviser voiced support for his presidential bid.

"It's conceivable that there are those in the Arab world who say to themselves, 'This is a guy who spent some time in the Muslim world, has a middle name of Hussein and appears more worldly and has called for talks with people, and so he's not going to be engaging in the same sort of cowboy diplomacy as George Bush,'" Obama said in an interview with The Atlantic.

"That's a perfectly legitimate perception as long as they're not confused about my unyielding support for Israel's security," Obama said.

Jewish (Israeli) Hollywood

Kyle Smith, movie critic for the NY Post, pleads for Hollywood to bring back the Jewish heros...



Some Jewish "Hero" movies mentioned:

• Munich
• Exodus
• Victory at Entebbe
• Cast a Giant Shadow

Some Jewish movie ideas...

• 6 Day War
• The Mossad
• Eli Cohen
• Chana Senezsh

the heat must be getting to him

is dwayne wade involved romantically with star jones?

and if so, ewwwwwwwwwwwwww.

(foxsports...)

"We are friends. That's all," said Wade, who is married to his high school sweetheart and has two sons.

"Good friends?" Barkley interjected.

"Naw, Chuck," Wade said with a smile.

Some hilarity ensued. Barkley broke through the commotion to say, "I like Star. She's a cougar."

"What's a cougar?" Smith asked, not so innocently, a perfect lob to Barkley.

Sir Charles promptly slammed the ball home: "Preying on a young Dwyane Wade."

redneck golf

ex-PGA champ and redneck, John Daly plays golf topless, barefoot, smoking and drinking...

paula abdul...

... is nuts.

with the 6th pick in the 2008 NFL Draft...

how will the NY Jets mess this one up?

Brando at The Seder

The following is a story about Marlon Brando and his love for Jews, Zionism, and Matzah.

"You might remember him as Don Vito Corleone, Stanley Kowalski or the eerie Col. Walter E. Kurtz in Apocalypse Now, but I remember Marlon Brando as a mensch and a personal friend of the Jewish people when they needed it most..." read more


(LA Jewish Journal)

macaroons: are they tearing America apart?

trouble-making, communist, and anti-American blogger, DovBear supports this French "cuisine"...

in other news, DovBear kicks puppies and beats children.

garfield minus garfield

from the blog...

"Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness in a quiet American suburb."

21 (trailer) reviewed...

Movie critic, Christopher Orr, is tired of movie trailers that give away the entire movie. So his review of '21' is based entirely on its preview...

a sampling:

"An irritating trend in the movie business is the increasing tendency of studios to lure folks to the multiplex with trailers that are essentially complete summaries of the films they're advertising: Here's the main guy and the problem he needs to resolve; here's the love interest, here's how they first meet, here's the rough patch they have to get through; here's the villain, here's the wisecracking best friend, here's the unexpected plot twist that's not going to be very unexpected now that we've featured it in the trailer--and there's the movie..."

This is his follow-up review based on the actual movie, which was pretty much the same as the first, just more disappointing.

Jews: only .2% (but running the world)

(AP) VATICAN CITY (March 30) - Islam has surpassed Roman Catholicism as the world's largest religion, the Vatican newspaper said Sunday.

"For the first time in history, we are no longer at the top: Muslims have overtaken us," Monsignor Vittorio Formenti said in an interview with the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano. Formenti compiles the Vatican's yearbook. He said that Catholics accounted for 17.4 percent of the world population — a stable percentage — while Muslims were at 19.2 percent."It is true that while Muslim families, as is well known, continue to make a lot of children, Christian ones on the contrary tend to have fewer and fewer," the monsignor said. Formenti said that the data refer to 2006. The figures on Muslims were put together by Muslim countries and then provided to the United Nations, he said, adding that the Vatican could only vouch for its own data. When considering all Christians and not just Catholics, Christians make up 33 percent of the world population, Formenti said. Spokesmen for the Vatican and the United Nations did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment Sunday.

The Muslims and Christians are followed by Hindus (13%), Buddhists (6%), and Jews (at a mere .2%).

A look back at some of those .2%'s contribution to society...

• Over 22% of Nobel Prize Winners (29% since 1950)


• Over 10% of the US Senate


• Since 1917, over 17% of US Supreme Court Justices have been Jewish


• Of the 2003 CEOs of Fortune's 100 largest companies, 10 to 15 percent are Jews


• Of Fortune's 2003 list of the twenty-five most powerful people in business, six (24 percent) are Jews
  
• 30% of the Fifty Greatest All Time Standup Comics.


• 23% of Forbes 400 Richest.


• Enrollment in Ivy League schools at over 21%.


• Jews may be less than 1% of NBA Players, but they are over 33% of NBA team owners.

And some notable .2%'ers...

• Jesus
• Seinfeld
• Bob Dylan
• Einstein
• Michael Dell, Created the world's largest and most valuable computer company.
• Sergey Brin, Co-Founder of Google.
• Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder.
• Elliot Spitzer :)

invest in a baseball player...

(AP)

Randy Newsom has never thrown a pitch above AA ball. Still, he wants to put himself on the market.

The stock market, that is.

A minor-league pitcher with the Cleveland Indians, Newsom was working in obscurity this month on the crowded back fields at spring training in Winter Haven, Fla., distinguished from hundreds of hopefuls only by the red No. 41 on the back of his sweat-soaked blue uniform shirt...

In January, his company, Real Sports Investments, sold 1,800 shares of stock in Newsom's future. For $20, anyone could buy a share of the 25-year-old's career, an investment that could net 0.0016% of his future major-league earnings.

How much could investors make? The average major-league salary was $2,866,544 in 2006 and $2,944,556 and 2007, so a 0.0016% investment based on those figures would have paid off $92.98 over two years. However, average baseball salaries generally increase sharply from year to year.

I like this idea for blue chip prospects, as well. Imagine if you could have invested in Jose Reyes, David Wright or Derek Jeter while they were just budding prospects...

What if you owned .005% shares of A-Rod? His recent $300 Million contract alone (not including the $200 Million plus he made previously with the Rangers and Mariners) would have made you $1,500,000!

But why would a hot prospect want to sell shares of himself, you ask? Well, what if that prospect's career goes south the way of Bill Pulsipher or Drew Henson or Reuben Rivera? There's no such thing as a sure-thing in baseball. This "investment" money would be the ball player's insurance policy if things don't work out as expected. (Just see how many busts there are in Baseball America's top 100 over the past few years.)

This could work the same way as the real stock market. Buy shares in a player's career on the cheap (after injury or late-round prospect) and hope they blossom. Conversely, the big name prospects would obviously have to be priced on the high.

the nazi pilot and the little prince...

(NY Daily News) A 64-year-old French and German mystery now has a sprinkling of Greek tragedy: An ace Nazi World War II pilot learned that one of his 28 kills was also his favorite writer.

Horst Rippert, now 88, says he only just found out that the P-38 he says he shot down on July 31, 1944, over the Mediterranean was piloted by Antoine de Saint Exupery, best known as the author of the classic "The Little Prince."

"If I had known it was Saint Exupery, I would never have shot him down," Rippert told the Daily Mail. "I loved his books. He was probably my favorite author at the time.
"I am shocked and sorry. Who knows what other great books he would have gone on to write?"

...interestingly, Antoine's plane wreckage which was found off the coast of Marseille in 2004, showed traces of neither shooting nor aerial combat.

dont forget to make a bracha...

the next Bulgarian Idol...

bet you didn't know they even had Idol in Bulgaria...


it's interesting to see the Bulgarian version of Simon, Paula, and Randy.


also, Bulgaria = this years Kazakhstan?

these are the idol version of other interesting countries:

• Kazakhstan Idol
• Israeli Idol
• Hungarian Idol
• German Idol... i dunno, this guy reminds me of every Nazi in every WWII movie i've ever seen
• Polish Idol

have we officially gone mad?

... a letter to Yeshiva World's editor:

Dear Yeshiva world editor,

I ask you to please post this letter, as I think it is extremely important and raises a major issue that is affecting the Jewish Community at large.

As my wife was flipping through the pages of the Jewish Press one Friday night, she was shocked at a certain advertisement and called me over to have a look. What I saw might not cause such a reaction to many people, which is a problem in itself, but for this advertisement to appear in a “Frum” weekly newspaper was mind boggling to me. The ad was a picture of two women who where modeling shaitels for a certain Shaitel macher. I can’t understand how the Jewish Press allows such ads in their paper. The women are posing in such immodest ways; the advertisement belongs in People magazine not the “Jewish Press”.

I am definitely not someone who is on a level to give mussar and tell people what’s right and wrong, however I feel very strongly about this. Advertisements like this have to be part of the reason why the Jewish community is suffering so much pain recently. Tzinous is so very important and having the Jewish Press advertisement immodesty for a few bucks shows how far our community has fallen.

In the words of Rabbi Yaakov Salomon….”Something to Think About”

Ari Taub

Brooklyn, New York

This was followed up by these brilliant comment:

• Yes, this major issue is affecting the Jewish Community at large. It rivals the great controversy over the 4 pictures of women wearing wigs in a store window on Coney Island Ave, whose ramifications are still reverberating in the neighborhood. Let’s hope this latest outrage will be successfully resolved, least our community suffer some grave misfortune.
• If you read the Yated or Hamodia and leave the Jewish Press to yellow on the news sellers shelves they may get the message
• I agree, you cant even switch on the radio anymore.

and one comment I agree with...

• I am more offended by the ads for diamond encrusted watches that cost tens of thousands of dollars. These ads are mixed in with articles preaching modesty, unlavish lifestyles, and tzniut. And, do not forget the ads for the Pesach vacations.

how much longer till we're all wearing Burkas?

Mercaz HaRav Massacre Tribute

so sad.

(not the best song selection)

the truth does, in fact, not hurt...

newly appointed NY State Governor, david paterson, has revealed that he's had several affairs in the past. notice, no one's making a big deal about it. this is a great PR move. beat the media to the punch. just imagine if a few weeks from now, this came out via the media. it would be chaos all over again.

when the mitchell report came out a few months ago, all the players that admitted to taking steroids, pretty much got off clean. no big deal in the media. however, roger clemens, who has vehemently denied taking steroids is looked upon as an idiot by the public for his denial.

jeremiah wright, pastor to obama

...sorta' gets you nervous that the potential next president has been a member of a racist church for years.

Jewno

that's one latkeh you cant un-fry Heeb skillet...

Chassidic actor dumps Natalie Portman, amid protests from his community: R.D.A.A.M - Webba Rebba Exlusive!

Community pressure from Satmar has forced good old Abe Karpen to quit the movie, many people would kill themselves before they would leave a role as Oscar nominated Natalie Portman's husband in a film, but Williamsburg resident Abe Karpen leshem Kedusas Hashem, has to do just that. Karpen, who is a Chasidic Jew from the Satmar sect, told the Daily News, "It's not acceptable in my community. It's a lot of pressure I am getting. They [the rabbis] didn't like the idea of a Chasidic guy playing in Hollywood."

The scene in Williamsburg when the movie company was shooting New York, I Love You, with Portman and Karpen... which is a film about love in the Big Apple.

Karpen told people that he was always creative and met Portman in a Miztvah Tank, (of all places) where they got to talking and exchanged numbers, Portman later thought of Karpen for the role.

As far as Karpen being well behaved on set, we can report that he was always acting as a good Chassid should .. and at no time did he forget who he was or where he comes from, in fact when he was asked to hold Portman's hand he refused, saying "It's against our religion. You can't even hold your wife's hand on the street."

A Rabbi also told him his kids would be kicked out of their schools if he continued to film his role, so Karpen, a kitchen cabinet salesman, is kissing his silver screen dreams good-bye. He and his family left the city for the weekend (a friend said, "The community wants to kill him" although this is probably just the Daily news trying to sensationalize the news.).

One Chasidic acitvist told the News, "We don't watch television. We don't go to the movies, so to be in a movie is the worst thing. It's a shame for any Chassid."

Two Satmar Chassidim on the scene, were conflicted, on the one hand they thought it was very cool that karpen is in a Hollywood movie with Portman, they confessed to us that with the advent on the internet and mini DVD players they many in the sect watch movies, however "Watching a movie and being in a movie are 2 very different things" they went on to say.

Now that Karpen has left the movie who will fill in as her Chassidish hubby, any takers?

oy vey!

Israeli born and all-around tzadeikes, natalie portman and some lucky chassid are set to star in an upcoming movie called, New York, I Love You.

Some facts:

• she attended a Jewish elementary school, the Solomon Schechter Day School of Glen Cove, New York.
• in June 2003, Portman graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in psychology, and pursued graduate studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in the spring of 2004.
• she has said that she feels more Jewish in the Holy Land and that she would like to raise her children in the Jewish religion: "A priority for me is definitely that I'd like to raise my kids Jewish, but the ultimate thing is to have someone who is a good person and who is a partner... I get much more Jewish in Israel".

some more on Obama...

Is Barack Obama good for Israel?

(from Andrea Peyser...)

DOES Barack Obama have an Israel problem? The golden-throated senator has pledged unflagging loyalty to the Jewish state on his campaign Web site, and unequivocal support for Israel's right to defend itself. As far as his staff is concerned, end of story.

But an e-mail has lately flown through the in-boxes of hundreds of influential New Yorkers, mainly Democrats, that poses a simple question: Would a President Obama be good for the Jews?

...Issue No. 1: Obama can't shake his affiliation with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright of Chicago, the spiritual leader from whose sermon Obama took the title of his book "Audacity of Hope."

Last year, Wright bestowed an award on the Rev. Louis Farrakhan - the man who called Judaism a "gutter religion" and Jews "bloodsuckers." He declared Farrakhan one who "epitomized greatness."

...Issue No. 2: Obama's had trouble distancing himself from Zbigniew Brzezinski, Jimmy Carter's national security adviser, who claims the United States' special relationship with Israel is the result of Jewish pressure, not mutual good.
While the campaign admits Brzezinski has advised Obama, staffers insist his influence begins and ends on the situation in Iraq.

Celebrity All-Star Teams or How to Fix The State of Baseball...

Life-long NY Yankees fan, Billy Crystal was signed by the Yankees to a one-game contract.

The Daily News reports that:

"Crystal will join the Yankees as a player - yes, a player - Wednesday, signing a one-day contract that includes an invitation to spring training. According to the Yankees' press release, the "contract" was approved by commissioner Bud Selig."

This led me to thinking (a la' Bill Veek), wouldn't other teams - teams, perhaps not as popular or profitable as the Yankees - be better off by following suit?

Imagine a team like the Tampa Bay Rays, or the Kansas City Royals, or the Pittsburgh Pirates - teams that have absolutely no shot at winning their division, making the playoffs, or attracting large groups of fans - doing exactly what the Yankees are doing with Crystal. Imagine them signing a celebrity...

But, rather than doing it as a "one-game in spring training" promotion, they sign the celebrity for the entire season. Now imagine, not one celebrity, but an entire team of celebrities. Presumably, they would have to be B-Listers... the big name celebrities would want no part in a grueling 162 game schedule. They could be your classic has-beens from the 80's, Dancing With The Stars or Celebrity Rehab celebrities. The ones desperate enough for attention to actually agree to this radical idea.

Imagine a team made up of Gary Coleman, Chuck Norris, Corey Feldman, Vanilla Ice, Flavor Flav, Verne Troyer, and Mr. T. We could even include some athletes from other sports, if need be - Dennis Rodman, Hulk Hogan, Tie Domi, and Ricky Williams. And to give the team a shot at competing, let's toss in some washed up baseball players - John Rocker, Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco, Rickey Henderson, Darryl Strawberry, and John Kruk. And for manager, let's play it safe and go with someone like Don Zimmer or Bobby Valentine to teach them the fundamentals.

Granted, the prospects of my "dream team" winning too many games (okay, any games) look bleak. However, the odds of the Royals or the Pirates winning are arguably just as bleak.

The betting odds at the moment for the Rays, Pirates, and Royals to reach the World Series are all 200-1. Replace anyone of their rosters with mine and their odds drop to what? 500-1? 1,000-1? 1,000,000-1? Does it really matter? Is there a big difference between .05% and .0000001% ? Not in my eyes.

But look at all the positives of a celebrity dream team...

• They are guaranteed to sell more tickets than they do now.


• The media coverage following them will be huge (imagine an ESPN reporter standing next to the reporter from TMZ). They are sure to be covered more than any other team in baseball, which will get Hank Steinbrenner pretty mad.
  
• Payroll spending could be cut back. Currently the Kansas City Royals payroll sits at approximately $67,000,000. By paying our celebrities $2.5 Million each, the payroll would drop to $62,500,000. A $4.5 Million savings!


• Name recognition. Right now can you honestly name more than two players on either the Royals or the Pirates? Exactly. While no one has a clue who John Van Benschoten is - everyone will be talking about Mr. T yelling "I pity the fool!" at the umpire.


• They don't even need their own network. VH1 will turn into the team's network, replacing such hit shows as Flavor of Love, Hogan knows Best, and Scott Baio is 46 and Pregnant.


• Baseball hostory. Baseball purists will now have the chance of witnessing baseball history, such as the first back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back perfect games. Most walks in a season (by Verne Troyer). Most brawls in a season (courtesy of Rodman, the Hulkster, Domi, and Mr. T).

Really, what do these teams have to lose?

nicolas sarkozy

from an email i received...

Have you heard what the French President has been saying lately?

On Wednesday, he declared that he won't shake hands with people who refuse to recognize Israel, a snub directed at Muslim leaders. On the same day he warned that France may join the U.S. and Canada in boycotting the UN's anti-Israel hatefest (known officially as an anti-racism conference) in Durban, South Africa: France will not allow a repetition of the excesses and abuses of 2001.

He has pledged to attend Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations in May, and after the recent suicide bombing in Dimona, sent a condolence letter to Shimon Peres in which he went out of his way to declare that he will always stand with Israel against terrorism.

His rhetoric on Iran of late has surpassed President Bush's in its spirit of determination: Proliferation is a grave threat to international security. We cannot sit by and do nothing while Iran develops technologies which are in violation of international law. Sarkozy made some of the above comments at the annual dinner of the CRIF, the umbrella organization of the French Jewish community it was the first time a French president had ever attended. And there's more.

The opening paragraph of a New York Times story on February 16th reads: President Nicolas Sarkozy dropped an intellectual bombshell this week, surprising the nation and touching off waves of protest with his revision of the school curriculum: beginning next fall, he said, every fifth grader will have to learn the life story of one of the 11,000 French children killed by the Nazis in the Holocaust.

All of this is the opposite of his predecessor's approach, which involved a meticulous attention to detail when it came to denigrating and insulting the Jewish state. It was only a couple of years ago, two days into Israel's war with Hezbollah, that Jacques Chirac sat in a garden in Paris and announced to the press that Israel's opening salvos were completely disproportionate and added that One could ask if today there is not a sor t of will to destroy Lebanon. Three days later he sent Dominique de Villepin on a solidarity mission to Beirut. Chirac, though, was simply following tradition French leaders have always held Israel in public contempt, such acts being viewed as necessary to earning an advantageous relationship with the Arab world (relations, it's worth adding, that never worked out very well for France what did Chirac and his predecessors ever get from their courtships of Saddam Hussein, Yasser Arafat, and Ayatollah Khomeini?).

david vs joe-liath?

trouble making Toronto blue jay shortstop, David Eckstein is at it again... trying to outdo (soon to be Hall of Famer) Super Joe McEwing as the best "Little Man to Ever Play the Game."

some quotes from the Toronto Sun and Wikipedia...

Some hills that Eckstein has climbed:

Despite winning the state high school championship, he didn't receive a scholarship offer. And when Eckstein reached the U of Florida in 1994, he was more student than athlete, making the Gators as a walk-on and getting only 10 at-bats his freshman season.

(RDAAM: Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Joe McEwing made County College of Morris in Randolph, NJ as a walk on, as well. Big Deal.)

A 19th-round selection of the Boston Red Sox in 1997, Eckstein reached double-A Trenton, where coach Arnie Beyler told him his swing wouldn't work and changed it.

(RDAAM: Joe McEwing wasn't even drafted, he worked his way up from bat boy to utility player of the Savannah Sand Gnats in 3 short years, where his coach Billy Bob Hicks once mistook him for the mascot, Sandy the Sand Gnat.)

Eckstein was selected to the Jewish All-American team, despite the fact he is Catholic, and not Jewish.

(RDAAM: Interestingly, Joe McEwing was once selected as the starting Utility Player to the all Irish-Catholic team, despite the fact that Joe is Jewish and not Irish.)

Nice try, Eckstein. But this games only big enough for one little over achieving player.

the next american idorrr

"remember to rerrr her into your heart,
ren you can start to make it berrer, berrer, berrer, berrer,
Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

why there can't be peace with the Palestinians...

From Michael Goodwin of the NY Daily News...

We have gotten so numbed to the endless violence in the Mideast that we often close our minds as well as our eyes. If we have any response at all, it is something like, "Why can't those people just get along?"

The answer lies in the sickening contrast of Thursday's massacre and celebration. They can't get along because too many Palestinians embrace a culture of death. It is a culture stuck in the Dark Ages of ancient hatreds and unspeakable violence.

...Every society has its madmen, its gangsters and killers. But in functioning societies, they are shunned and punished as an example of how not to behave.

fearless prediction...

John Maine, a throw-in in the Kris Benson trade a few years ago, will have the best year of all the NY Mets starting pitchers.


yep, better than Johan, Pedro, El Duke', and Oliver Perez...

and he's making a relatively measly $450,000 this season. Just a $59,000 raise after winning 15 games last year. Compare that with the average annual salaries of other NY Mets:

• Santana - $23,000,000
• Pedro - $14,000,000
• Oliver Perez - $6,500,000
• Orlando Hernandez - $5,000,000

and none of these guys had more wins than Maine last year.

some thoughts on Obama...

another Obama connection to an anti-Israel organization...

The board of a nonprofit organization on which Sen. Barack Obama served as a paid director alongside a confessed domestic terrorist granted funding to a controversial Arab group that mourns the establishment of Israel as a "catastrophe"

and...

The revelations about Obama's relationship with Khalidi follows a recent WND article quoting Israeli security officials who expressed "concern" about Robert Malley, an adviser to Obama who has advocated negotiations with Hamas and providing international assistance to the terrorist group.

the New Yorker on Michelle Obama...

Mrs. Obama regards America as "just downright mean," and Americans as "guided by fear," America is a nation of cynics, sloths, and complacents, "and it's gotten worse over my lifetime.... The life that I'm talking about that most people are living has gotten progressively worse since I was a little girl."

the Jerusalem Post on "Who do we want in the White House?"

and an excerpt from Obama's Church website...

"We are a congregation which is Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian..."

I imagine if McCain or Hillary's churches were unashamedly white it would be a big deal.

the UN = complete idiots?

GENEVA (AP) - The United Nations Human Rights Council held a moment of silence Tuesday for martyrs in Gaza killed in an Israel Defense Forces offensive in the Strip, after a request by Iran's foreign minister.

and then...

The United Nations Human Rights Council condemned Israel's military action in Gaza at the behest of Pakistan and other Muslim states on Thursday.

will they condemn the latest terrorist attack of innocent Israeli Yeshiva students in Jerusalem?

can u name...

2 platforms that Obama is running on?

john mccain as a POW

I dunno if McCain will be a good president, but his story as a prosoner of war in Vietnam is pretty incredible...

Prisoner of war (courtesy of wikipedia...)

John McCain's capture and imprisonment began on October 26, 1967. He was flying his twenty-third bombing mission over North Vietnam, when his A-4E Skyhawk was shot down by a Soviet-made SA-2 anti-aircraft missile over Hanoi. McCain fractured both arms and a leg, and then nearly drowned when he parachuted into Truc Bach Lake in Hanoi. After he regained consciousness, a mob gathered around, spat on him, kicked him, and stripped him of his clothes. Others crushed his shoulder with the butt of a rifle and bayoneted him in his left foot and abdominal area; he was then transported to Hanoi's main Hoa Loa Prison, nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton" by American POWs.

Although McCain was badly wounded, his captors refused to give him medical care unless he gave them military information, beating and interrogating him. Only when the North Vietnamese discovered that his father was a top admiral did they give him medical care and announce his capture. His status as a POW made the front pages of The New York Times and The Washington Post.

McCain spent six weeks in the Hoa Loa hospital, receiving marginal care. Now having lost 50 pounds, in a chest cast, and with his hair turned white, McCain was sent to a different camp on the outskirts of Hanoi in December 1967, into a cell with two other Americans who did not expect him to live a week; they nursed McCain and kept him alive. In March 1968, McCain was put into solitary confinement, where he would remain for two years. In July 1968, McCain's father was named commander of all U.S. forces in the Vietnam theater. McCain was immediately offered a chance to return home early: The North Vietnamese wanted a worldwide propaganda coup by appearing merciful, and also wanted to show other POWs that elites like McCain were willing to be treated preferentially. McCain turned down the offer of repatriation; he would only accept the offer if every man taken in before him was released as well. McCain's refusal to be released was even remarked upon by North Vietnamese senior negotiator Le Duc Tho to U.S. envoy Averell Harriman during the ongoing Paris Peace Talks.

In August of 1968, a program of severe torture methods began on McCain, using rope bindings into painful positions, and beatings every two hours, at the same time as he was suffering from dysentery. McCain made an anti-American propaganda "confession" that said he was a "black criminal" and an "air pirate". He has always felt that his statement was dishonorable, but as he would later write, "I had learned what we all learned over there: Every man has his breaking point. I had reached mine." His injuries left him permanently incapable of raising his arms above his head. He subsequently received two to three beatings per week because of his continued refusal to sign additional statements. Other American POWs were similarly tortured and maltreated in order to extract "confessions", with many enduring even worse treatment than McCain. McCain refused to meet with various anti-war peace groups coming to Hanoi, not wanting to give either them or the North Vietnamese a propaganda victory based on his connection to his father. From late 1969 on, treatment of McCain and some of the other POWs became more tolerable after disclosures to the world press of the conditions to which they were being subjected. McCain and other prisoners were moved around to different camps at times, and later cheered the B-52-led U.S. "Christmas Bombing" campaign of December 1972 as a forceful measure to force North Vietnam to terms.

Altogether, McCain was held as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for five and a half years. The Paris Peace Accords were signed on January 27, 1973, ending direct U.S. involvement in the war, but the Operation Homecoming arrangements for POWs took longer; McCain was finally released from captivity on March 15, 1973.

the latest ban - have they gone too far?

(excerpt from the Vaad HaChumras D"GTSA)

In their ongoing effort to save the holy neshamos of our wonderful kinderlach, The Vaad HaChumras D' Greater TriState Area, has decided to ban the latest trouble making musician, Uncle Moishy.

Reb Yankel Shnicklesfeld, spokesperson for the Vaad since its inception in 1987, said that the Vaad HaChumras will not stop their ban onslaught until Moshiach comes. "It is our duty as the self-appointed Vaad Hachumras to keep churning out bans as quickly as society keeps churning out anything with some sort of entertainment or amusement value."

The Vaad's impressive list of bans to-date includes music, Internet, pants, smiling, Miami, bike riding, high fiving, ice cream, jelly beans, rainbows, and unicorns.

When asked about the latest Uncle Moishy ban, Reb Shnicklesfeld quickly referred to controversial lyrics from such hits as Hashem is here, Hashem is there.

Hashem is here,

Hashem is there,

Hashem is truly everywhere...

"How can Uncle Moishy claim to know the exact whereabouts of Hashem?" Reb Shnicklesfeld asked our reporter. "This type of kefirah is exactly what's ruining our pure children's' neshamos. Look at this video, for example, where Uncle Moishy is clearly encouraging unlicensed children to operate bulldozers and other assorted heavy machinery (0:10)! And I won't even mention the safety hazards involved in that scene where he is violently shaking a child (0:25)."

Although Uncle Moishy could not be reached for comment, we did speak with a former member of his entourage, Mr. Gedalya Gumberg. He did confess that Uncle Moishy wasn't exactly the best role model for him.

"Uncle Moishy was like a... well, like... an uncle to me, you might say. He took me in off the streets. Taught me how to make brachos, the aleph bet... things were going good. I trusted him. He told me I could be a Mitzvah Man if I played my cards right." Gedalyah begins to choke up at this point.

"But then there was the weight problem. I started putting on a few pounds. He started calling me 'Big Gedalya' or Big Gedalya Gumberg. The other Mitzvah Men would laugh. Even Dr. Green would joke that maybe he should've invented a weight loss machine rather than the Midos machine. I took it hard. Really hard."

For more information on up to the minute chumras, visit the Vaad HaChumras online at, http://www.wecanasurthat.com/.

For the heretics...

Moses was high on drugs: Israeli researcher

High on Mount Sinai, Moses was on psychedelic drugs when he heard God deliver the Ten Commandments, an Israeli researcher claimed in a study published this week.

Such mind-altering substances formed an integral part of the religious rites of Israelites in biblical times, Benny Shanon, a professor of cognitive psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem wrote in the Time and Mind journal of philosophy.

"As far Moses on Mount Sinai is concerned, it was either a supernatural cosmic event, which I don't believe, or a legend, which I don't believe either, or finally, and this is very probable, an event that joined Moses and the people of Israel under the effect of narcotics," Shanon told Israeli public radio on Tuesday.

Moses was probably also on drugs when he saw the "burning bush," suggested Shanon, who said he himself has dabbled with such substances.

"The Bible says people see sounds, and that is a clasic phenomenon," he said citing the example of religious ceremonies in the Amazon in which drugs are used that induce people to "see music."

He mentioned his own experience when he used ayahuasca, a powerful psychotropic plant, during a religious ceremony in Brazil's Amazon forest in 1991. "I experienced visions that had spiritual-religious connotations," Shanon said.

He said the psychedelic effects of ayahuasca were comparable to those produced by concoctions based on bark of the acacia tree, that is frequently mentioned in the Bible.

Source: Breitbart.com

vintage ms pac man arcade

i need this.

Lights out for L.I.P.A.

What's a guy got to do to make a buck these days? They don't shut down the chamsa boys, or The Chevra, but poor Lipa just can't catch a break, first he gets ousted from his Chassidic sect, now they cancel his concert last minute, resulting in almost $1 Million is losses. Oh and by the way, although my name Webbe Rebbe was one of the signitures, I did not authorize it!

Christian Hansen for The New York Times

A billboard in Brooklyn advertises a concert featuring Lipa Schmeltzer, which will not happen.

By DAN LEVIN

Published: March 3, 2008

For thousands of Orthodox Jews, the “Big Event” — a concert featuring the popular Hasidic entertainer Lipa Schmeltzer — was supposed to happen next Sunday at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden. But fans and organizers were shocked to learn late last month that a group of rabbis had issued an edict against the show, effectively canceling it.

The decree, published in Hebrew in the Orthodox newspaper Hamodia and signed by 33 rabbis, warned that the sight of dancing and singing performers would cause “ribaldry and lightheadedness” that would lure young people away from spiritual purity. It prohibited Orthodox Jews from attending the concert and called on Mr. Schmeltzer to back out.

The ban has inflamed tensions among ultra-Orthodox Jews over how to address the influences of popular culture, and it has thrust what has largely been an internal debate into public view.

Assemblyman Dov Hikind, whose Brooklyn district includes many Hasidic neighborhoods, said the ban had triggered unprecedented dissent and outrage among Hasidim. “In all my 26 years of representing this community, I can’t remember anything that has so shaken the people,” Mr. Hikind said on Sunday.

The growing fame of Mr. Schmeltzer, who weaves pop melodies with traditional Hasidic songs, has troubled some Hasidim, who have chided him for introducing Jewish youth to secular musical styles. Others fear his popularity could rival that of the rabbis, who wield spiritual authority over Hasidic daily life.

In an effort to assuage those fears and uphold the religious practice of modesty, the concert organizers had promised separate entrances and seating for the more than 5,000 men and women who had been expected to attend, and Mr. Schmeltzer had agreed to perform only traditional Hasidic songs.

But that was not enough to prevent two community leaders in Brooklyn from mobilizing opposition to the show, which was raising money for an Israeli charity that finances weddings for orphans. In late February, the two men, Asher Friedman and Rabbi Avraham Shor, demanded that the concert be canceled. Using the text of an edict that had been used to ban a concert in Israel, they warned that the concert would “strip the youth of every shred of fear of heaven.” They said they were acting on behalf of a group of Israeli rabbis, and ultimately, 33 American rabbis signed the edict.

Sheya Mendlowitz, the concert’s producer, said Mr. Friedman and Mr. Shor had known about the concert for months but had acted without warning, just two weeks before the show, causing $700,000 in losses.

“These two activists stirred up all the trouble,” said Mr. Mendlowitz, who has worked in the Hasidic music business for 27 years. “They just wanted to sabotage us.”

Days later, Mr. Schmeltzer, who lives in Monsey, N.Y., announced that he would not perform. In an interview on Rabbi Zev J. Brenner’s syndicated radio program, he said that he had no choice but to obey the decree. “I have a career, I have a wife and kids to support, I have a mortgage to pay, I have to get out of the fire,” Mr. Schmeltzer said. He then withdrew from a concert in London as well.

When Mr. Mendlowitz canceled the show, he insisted that advertisers, Madison Square Garden and the more than 3,000 ticket holders — who paid between $50 and $500 — would be reimbursed. He added that Mr. Friedman had offered to help offset the losses — but only if Mr. Mendlowitz agreed to retire from the Hasidic concert business, a condition Mr. Mendlowitz rejected.

A man answering Mr. Friedman’s cellphone, who declined to identify himself, refused to discuss the concert.

The controversy has provided a rare glimpse into the deeply secretive Hasidic world. In recent days, debate over the ban has raged on blogs and on the radio, which provide participants the anonymity to challenge their religious leaders. “The rabbis are dictators,” said one writer on the blog Vos Iz Neias. Others defended their spiritual leaders, saying that they were protecting young people. “Our rabbis must know more than we do, what effect this concert, or the performers in general have on our children,” wrote another.

Some critics say the rabbis were manipulated, and one signer, Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetzky of Philadelphia, told Hamodia that the rabbis did not verify the claim that the edict had been approved by Israeli rabbis. “Usually we meet together. This time, with time pressing, we did not meet together, and maybe it was not the right thing,” he said, according to Hamodia.

But Rabbi Brenner said that despite any misgivings, there was no indication that the rabbis were prepared to rescind the ban, which could call their infallibility into question. “They have the weight of the Torah behind them,” he said. “I don’t recall a ban ever being lifted.”

Assemblyman Hikind said he planned to meet with the rabbis involved. “Suddenly, when it comes to faith in the rabbis, there is this big question mark,” he said. “And when you don’t explain to the young people, you lose them, plain and simple.

the truth hurts...

recently, i posted a video clip from Fox's show Moment of Truth, where the wife said she'd rather be married to her ex-boyfriend. the NY Post reports that the ex-boyfriend is regretting his decision to go on the show and be a "home wrecker." a little late for that, but it was probably best that the husband knew how horrible his wife is.

the Obama cult...

WASHINGTON - There's no better path to success than getting people to buy afree commodity. Like the genius who figured out how to get peopleto pay forwater: bottle it (Aquafina was revealed to be nothing more thanreprocessed tap water) and charge more than they pay forgasoline. Or consider how Google found a way to sell dictionarynouns -- boat, shoe, clock -- by charging advertisers zillions tobe listed whenever the word is searched.

And now, in the most amazing trick of all, a silver-tonguedfreshman senator has found a way to sell hope. To get it, youneed only give him your vote. Barack Obama is getting millions.

This kind of sale is hardly new. Organized religion has beenoffering a similar commodity -- salvation -- for millennia. Whichis why the Obama campaign has the feel of a religious revivalwith, as writer James Wolcott observed, a "salvational fervor"and "idealistic zeal divorced from any particular policy or causeand chariot-driven by pure euphoria."

"We are the hope of the future," sayeth Obama. We can "remakethis world as it should be." Believe in me and I shall redeem notjust you but your country -- nay, we can become "a hymn that willheal this nation, repair this world, and make this time differentthan all the rest."

And believe they do. After eight straight victories, Obama isnear to rendering moot all the post-Super Tuesday fretting abouta deadlocked convention with unelected superdelegates decidingthe nominee. Unless Hillary Clinton can somehow do in Ohio andTexas on March 4 what Rudy Giuliani proved is almost impossibleto do -- maintain a big-state firewall after an unrelentingstring of smaller defeats -- the superdelegates will flock toObama. Hope will have carried the day.

Interestingly, Obama has been able to win these electoralvictories and dazzle crowds in one new jurisdiction afteranother, even as his mesmeric power has begun to arouseskepticism and misgivings among the mainstream media.

ABC's Jake Tapper notes the "Helter-Skelter cultish qualities" of"Obama worshipers," what Joel Stein of the Los Angeles Timescalls "the Cult of Obama." Obama's Super Tuesday victory speechwas a classic of the genre. Its effect was electric, eliciting arhythmic fervor in the audience -- to such rhetorical nonsense as"We are the ones we've been waiting for. (Cheers,applause.) We are the change that we seek."

That was too much for Time's Joe Klein.

"There was something just a wee bit creepy about the massmessianism," he wrote. "The message is becoming dangerouslyself-referential. The Obama campaign all too often is about howwonderful the Obama campaign is."

You might dismiss The New York Times' Paul Krugman's complaintthat "the Obama campaign seems dangerously close to becoming acult of personality" as hyperbole. Until you hear Chris Matthews,who no longer has the excuse of youth, react to Obama's Potomacprimary victory speech with "My, I felt this thrill going up myleg." When his MSNBC co-hosts tried to bail him out, he refusedto recant. Not surprising for an acolyte who said that Obama"comes along, and he seems to have the answers. This is the NewTestament."

I've seen only one similar national swoon. As a teenager growingup in Canada, I witnessed a charismatic law professor go fromobscurity to justice minister to prime minister, carried on awave of what was called Trudeaumania.But even there, the object of his countrymen's unrestrainedaffections was no blank slate. Pierre Trudeau was already aserious intellectual who had written and thought and lecturedlong about the nature and future of his country.

Obama has an astonishingly empty paper trail. He's going aroundissuing promissory notes on the future that he can't possiblyredeem. Promises to heal the world with negotiations with thelikes of Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Promises totranscend the conundrums of entitlement reform that require realand painful trade-offs. Promises to fund his other promises by arapid withdrawal from an unpopular war -- with the hope, Isuppose, that the (presumed) resulting increase in Americanprestige would compensate for the chaos to follow.

Democrats are worried that the Obama spell will break between thetime of his nomination and the time of the election, and denythem the White House. My guess is that he can maintain the spell just past InaugurationDay. After which will come the awakening. It will be rude.

( Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post February 18, 2008)

some more on american idol...

the kid who i predicted over two weeks ago will be the next american idol...


3 things:

1. paula's comments - she's officially a lunatic and adds nothing to the judging


2. why is paula praising the kid for one of the "most beautiful songs ever written" - he didn't write it?


3. i know he's 16, but his goofy personality is starting to get on my nerves

Obama on Israel and Jews...

The following is an excerpt from Barack Obama's meeting with the Cleveland Jewish Community:

"Israel has to remain a Jewish state and what I believe that means is that any negotiated peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians is going to have to involve the Palestinians relinquishing the right of return as it has been understood in the past"

Unlike George Bush, who looooves Israel, who is willing to give up whatever it takes to the Palestinians. (CNN: "The U.S. president drew a picture of an independent Palestinian state as an alternative to Palestinians led by Hamas...")

Obama goes on to discuss issues, such as the Muslim email that went around and other accusations that have been spread by Hillary.

was it worth it?

last night on FOX's show Moment of Truth, this sad and horrible woman destroys her marriage on national TV for the chance at $100,000. the rules are that she has to answer a certain amount of questions honestly and she keeps getting more money the further she goes (she answered these questions previously - hooked to a lie detector - so she knew what was coming). the family and friends are allowed to use a button, just once, to avoid answering the question... but watch as the show just sneakily rewords the question. this may be the worst wife ever, but ironically she loses it all on a seemingly simple question, "do you think your a good person?"



she seems more upset about losing the money than destroying her marriage and humiliating her husband on television. why on earth does the husband hug her afterwards?

jimmy kimmel responds...

to sarah silverman and matt damon's video with an all star music video...

Best Invention Ever!

The Beer Launching Fridge - Watch more free videos

super joe vs chuck, who's the ultimate tough guy?

some outlandish readers have suggested that Joe McEwing wouldn't stand a snowball's chance in hell against Chuck Norris in a manly man competition. these people are clearly wrong and we have the facts to prove it. the following are several known truths about both Chuck and Joe...

1. Chuck Norris drives an ice cream truck covered in human skulls.


2. The chief export of Chuck Norris is Pain.


3. Chuck Norris has counted to infiniti. twice.


4. Chuck Norris can win a game of connect four in just three moves.


5. The opening scene of the movie "Saving Private Ryan" is loosely based on games of dodgeball Chuck Norris played in second grade.


6. Time waits for no man. Unless that man is Chuck Norris.


7. Chuck Norris once challenged Lance Armstrong in a "Who has more testicles?" contest. Chuck Norris won by 5.


8. When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.


9. Guns don't kill people. Chuck Norris kills people.


10. If you can see Chuck Norris, he can see you. If you can't see Chuck Norris you may be only seconds away from death.
    

Now these are some impressive facts, but do they stand up against Super Joe McEwing's toughness...

1. Super Joe is so tough, that Roger Clemens once had Brian McNamee inject some Super Joe into his gluteus.


2. Super Joe can play all 9 positions on the field. At the same time.


3. When Super Joe charges the mound, the opposing team clears the field and runs back into their dugout.


4. Super Joe is so tough he once jumped five rows into the stands head first to catch a foul ball. During batting practice.


5. Super Joe is so tough he once bunted for a home run.


6. Super Joe is so tough he once voted himself on to the All Star team all by himself. As a write-in.


7. Super Joe is so tough he doesn't need to wear a cup. But he does, just to set a good example for the kids.


8. Super Joe doesn't do steroids. Steroids do Super Joe.


9. Super Joe is so tough that when Bobby Valentine wore a fake mustache, Super Joe was still able to recognize him.
   
10. Super Joe is so tough that he once robbed a 7 year old girl of a home run ball. He literally wrestled it away from her.
    

so, who's the tougher guy? you decide. and for you Super Joe supporters, be sure to sign the Get Joe McEwing into the HOF petition.

Get to know your baseball legends. An exclusive interview with CJ Nitkowski.

This is the first in a series, that we will be starting, called Get to know your Baseball Legends...


Baseball great, CJ Nitkowski, formerly of the Mets, Yankees, Tigers, Astros, Braves, Nationals, Reds, and Pirates gives RDAAM an exclusive interview. The former 9th pick overall in the 1994 draft, CJ now plays for the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks in the Japanese Pacific League. CJ shares some insight on topics such as Baseball, Life in Japan, Steroids, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Mike Piazza, and, of course, Super Joe McEwing...


RDAAM: CJ, how is life in Japan? Our readers are curious as to how baseball differs in Japan than in the states? What are the fans like?

CJ: Baseball in Japan is very interesting. It is a lot of fun. The fans here are real fanatics. They (love) baseball and they love their teams. The stadium is always loud, regardless of score. They never give up. There is a real sense of pride with these fans. The players here generally don't have the power the guys in the States have. So you see less homeruns and not nearly as many power pitchers, although there are a few. Because of that you see more contact and more players that can run well.

RDAAM: Is the language barrier problematic for you? Have you picked up Japanese? How does this affect your communication with your Hawks teammates?

CJ: I have picked up some Japanese. We have 4 translators here so that makes life easier but at times it can be a little of a challenge.

RDAAM: What would you say was the highlight of your major league career?

CJ: I don't have one great moment to look back on and say that was the best game of my life. Getting drafted in the first round was pretty cool, my first win in 1995 was a cool experience, as was pitching the final night game and winning it at Old Tiger Stadium. Take the field as a Yankee which was a life long dream of mine was pretty unforgettable as well.

RDAAM: You've stated on SNY that, had it been available to you, you would have taken steroids. Knowing all the risks involved, how do you explain this?

CJ: It was available to me. What I said was ultimately I chose not to because I was concerned about the legal problems I could get into. The risks for the steroid I was considering were not high if not abused, it wasn't a big concern for me.

RDAAM: If found guilty, do you believe Roger Clemens deserves to be in the Hall of Fame? Do you believe Barry Bonds' HR records should stand?

CJ: Good questions. I believe that with anyone who has cheated, Pete Rose included, that they should go into the Hall of Fame because of their accomplishments but everything should be included. It should (be) next to Pete Rose's plaque that he bet on baseball, and for Roger and Bonds and anyone else that gets caught doing anything it should all be there.

RDAAM: You've played with and against some great players in your time, would you please share with us your feelings on them and if they deserve to be in the Hall of Fame in your opinion:
Mike Piazza - great player, fun guy.

Derek Jeter - amazing leader, a player's player.

Mark McGwire - only saw him as an opponent, power that intimidated.

John Franco - Good St. John's guy, fun to play with, great career.

Super Joe McEwing - tremendous teammate, loved to play, one of the most intense I ever shared a uniform with. (editor's note: we'll take that as another endorsement for Super Joe.)

Jeff Bagwell - great person, very generous and kind teammate. Has a lot to offer to younger players.

stay tuned for more baseball legends...

I just thought this was a cool article.

Mysterious Creatures Found in Antarctica

proposal gone wrong...

Valentines Day Proposal Goes Wrong - Watch more free videos

top ten jews, part two...

in continuation of our quest to find the ultimate Jew, we move on from Jewish comedians to great Jewish Authors. below are just a few...

1. Saul Bellow


2. JD Salinger


3. Phillip Roth


4. Neil Simon


5. Shel Silverstein


6. Arthur Miller


7. Joseph Heller


8. Norman Mailer


9. David Mamet


10. Herman Wouk

discuss...

the 19-0 patriots

ever wonder what happens to all those tee shirts that are printed up for the Super Bowl losers?

are you gay for mike huckabee?

stephen colbert interviews gay lobbyist, Joe Solomnes...



why do gays deserve equal rights?
10 words or less.
make one of them appletini.

Kitchen-Floor Conflict Intensifies As Rival House Cats Claim Same Empty Bag

MAPLEWOOD, MO—Ongoing turmoil in the troubled kitchen-floor region of the Branson household reached a boiling point Tuesday, as relations between rival house cats Boswell and Johnson erupted into fresh violence. Observers said the arrival of a new brown paper-bag in the area ignited long-standing tensions and set off another round of territorial conflict between the two factions in the most serious aggression since the devastating stove-side siege of 2005.

Enlarge Image

The disputed bag.

The afternoon was marred by sporadic fighting, according to reports, with opposing forces darting and then retreating in surprise attacks. Boswell held his position despite relentless onslaughts from Johnson, who repeatedly batted the controversial bag along the ancient linoleum surface. By the end of the day, neither side displayed any intention to halt reprisals without the other first relinquishing claims and pulling out permanently—an outcome those close to the fighting called "unlikely at best."

"What people unfamilar with the history here must understand is that this seemingly empty and barren paper bag has rapidly become the third most important site in the area after the scratching post in the living room and the breakfast-nook windowsill," former CIA analyst Brian Haddox said. "Not only is it seen by both Boswellist and Johnsonian interests as a crucial location for establishing territorial control in the kitchen-floor region, but it also makes a crumpling sound that both sides find irresistible."

Added Haddox, "Unfortunately, hostilities have destabilized this already tenuous peace at least until nap time."

The bag, a brown paper grocery bag from Stop & Shop with no prior claims of cat ownership attached to it, became the center of a wide-scale power play when Boswell seized control of its highly contested interior, and occupied the disputed area for approximately 30 seconds. Following immediate Johnsonian reprisals, Boswell unleashed a barrage of swats, but failed to secure a position in the bag.

Enlarge Image

Boswell (above) and Johnson (below)

Reports from the ground indicated that Johnson, once in possession of the perimeter region up to the cat dish, was forced in the early afternoon to retreat to the green rug zone, where he licked his paws with apparent disinterest for an estimated 10 minutes. Without warning, Johnson then launched a full-frontal assault on Boswell's forces, pouncing from behind and eventually chasing his rival all the way to the bathroom sink. The heavy leaping and grappling was broken only by periods of intense mutual licking. At one point, the conflict escalated into full-fledged upside-down kicking of each other in the face before Boswell was distracted by an errant ball rolling across the floor, bringing the factions to an uneasy standstill.

Despite the intensity of the fighting, no serious injuries were reported.

"People in the middle of this have tried everything they can to quell the violence, including bringing in a second bag, but nothing has worked," said U.N. investigator Caroline Olivera, adding that many residents were furious at the combatants for knocking over and destroying a prized vase in November. "It is beginning to appear that any long-term solution may have to involve deployment of the disciplinary squirt bottle."

According to International Red Cross worker Etienne Zervudacki, there was a temporary lull in the violence when both factions shifted their attention to a nearby can of tuna, craning their necks and licking their lips in apparent unity before eventually returning to the battle. While the short-lived truce was hopeful, Zervudacki said, it was a fragile pact that ignored the true causes of dilemma.

"The biggest shame here is that these two sides are so entrenched in their differences that they don't realize they are brothers," said Zervudacki, noting that even though both parties were reportedly curled up together on the sofa at press time, violence would likely break out again tomorrow. "If it's not the paper bag, it will be something else, like aluminum foil, toy mice, or plastic rings from two-gallon milk jugs." (courtesy of The Onion)