Anti-Abuse Rabbi Says He’s In Danger

Posted on November 20, 2008 by Luke Ford

It all sounds a bit suspicious to me.

He doesn’t even know if he was shot with a gun or hit with a rock.

It doesn’t sound to me like he was shot.

Here’s his interview with The Awareness Center.

From the Jewish Week:

A Williamsburg community activist who has spoken out frequently against child sexual abuse in the Brooklyn Orthodox community claimed Monday that his life had been threatened multiple times as a result.
Rabbi Nuchum Rosenberg claimed that the threats culminated last month when he was “shot” on Berry Street, near the Williamsburg Bridge by unknown assailants.

Speaking at a press conference outside the 90th Precinct Police Headquarters in Williamsburg, Rabbi Rosenberg complained that police were unable to protect him. He pointed to a scarlet wound seared in the middle of his forehead to indicate the spot where he was hit.

But in interviews he gave before and after the press conference, Rabbi Rosenberg said he was actually uncertain just what hit him on the forehead, saying it could have been a pellet gun or even a rock.

“A car flew by as I was walking, and I felt something hit me,” he told The Jewish Week. “I didn’t see what it was.”

Police sources confirmed Rabbi Rosenberg had filed at least three complaints about being harassed or threatened over the last several months. But he acknowledged that he filed a complaint about the attack on him last month several days after it had occurred. Rabbi Rosenberg said the assault took place on Oct. 16, the fourth day of Sukkot, but that he went to the police only after the eight-day Jewish holiday.
Rabbi Rosenberg, 58, said that prior to this incident he was threatened twice at gunpoint by an unknown person speaking Hebrew who warned him to close down a telephone hotline he operated. The Yiddish language hotline featured recorded messages on which Rabbi Rosenberg addressed a host of sensitive community issues, including child sex abuse, and on which he made often incendiary charges.
On one recorded message obtained by The Jewish Week, Rabbi Rosenberg denounced various individuals by name as an “extortionist,” and a “mafia thug.”

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TV Reporter Freed In Afghanistan

Posted on November 19, 2008 by Luke Ford

From ERSNews:

CANADIAN TV REPORTER
FREED IN AFGHANISTAN
TELLS OF PRISONER EXCHANGE

SHOULD THE NEWS MEDIA HAVE REMAINED SILENT?

(Nov 8th, 2008 9:00AM PST)

BY ERS NEWS

RSS

Story Link

By all accounts Mellissa Fung is a courageous woman.  She was stabbed, kidnapped and held hostage outside Kabul, Afghanistan since October 12, 2008.   She spent nearly four weeks being hidden by her captors in a tiny dirt hole, routinely blindfolded and chained.  Her story and ordeal were described in a lengthy interview broadcast on the Canadian TV just days ago

CLICK TO PLAY

You can also read this Canadian Press interview transcript with Fung. transcript

Fung’s kidnapping was known by over two dozen western media outlets at some point after it happened on Oct 12, 2008.  None of those news organizations reported her kidnapping.  ERSNews.com, The Enterprise Report was among those news organizations. A source had alerted us to her kidnapping and was questioning why media outlets had agreed in censoring in any news about her case.  This news blackout was the result of the direct request of the CBC, Canada’s national TV channel.  ERS, as well as other news media outlets, withheld what we new about the case.  We did so because of the direct request made by the CBC.  Their rational was that any news of her capture could interfere with on going negotiations at the time to secure her safe release.  That plea was honored by our news organization as well as others, but not without debate, trepidation and concern for a clear double standard.  Did the CBC and other news outlets follow that same approach in other cases? The clear answer was no.  Why was this case different?  Before we got a clear answer, Fung was released.

The complete details of how Fung’s release came about are still sketchy.  Fung has confirmed that part of the deal to secure her freedom was an agreement by Afghan intelligence to release jailed suspects related to the kidnappers.

The full story has yet to be told, but for Fung her harrowing ordeal is now over.

Larry Cornies writes:

Any Canadian journalist possessing a scintilla of empathy had to have been pleased last Saturday to learn that CBC-TV reporter Mellissa Fung had been released, alive and relatively unscathed, after 28 days of captivity in Afghanistan.

Her ordeal was terrifying, and the list of cases worldwide in which the abduction of a journalist ends badly is already too long.

This week’s celebratory parade of news stories, columns, feature-length interviews and transcripts about the Fung case, mostly at the CBC, however, has pushed that niggling little matter of the voluntary media blackout spanning the weeks prior to her release off the public agenda. It’s an issue to which anyone interested in free and vigorous journalism should feel compelled to return.

In the hours following Fung’s capture, CBC executives issued pleas for co-operation with a blackout on reporting on her case, both to their Canadian colleagues at news organizations such as The Canadian Press, CTVglobemedia and Canwest, as well as to other news outlets internationally, such as The New York Times and The Associated Press. The argument was simple and ultimately persuasive: Publicity about Fung’s case could exacerbate her situation by helping her captors understand the value of the currency in their hands. Any reporting on her kidnapping could endanger her life.

And so news organizations played along. Hours became days and days became weeks. A mere embargo became an extended blackout. While the journalistic community was buzzing about Fung’s fate and the state of negotiations to free her, Canadians remained in the dark — because a handful of news executives had decreed they would not know.

The impulse among journalists to protect one of their own is understandable, even laudable. But the suspension by any news organization of its primary missional activity — the timely, fair and open reporting of information to the public — represents a descent into murky waters. If Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon were abducted on an upcoming trip to Kandahar Air Field, would Canadian journalism executives abide by a similar request from the Prime Minister’s Office not to report it?

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I Broke The Jennifer Garner Stalking Story

Posted on November 19, 2008 by Luke Ford

Read my initial report here.

Pops emails: "So, Sunny Jim, I see you crowing like a fair-dinkum jackdaw that you "broke" the Jennifer Garner story. That’s a big stretch, boy. You troll public records, copy and paste the info and that’s "breaking" a story? The only breaking that’s going to happen now, lad, is when I track you down to break your spine with an ax handle and leave you paralyzed on a fair-dinkum termite hill. That’s what happens to braggarts and liars in my world, son."

The New York Daily News writes:

Hollywood sweetheart Jennifer Garner is living in mortal fear of a mental patient who has stalked her across the country to share his delusional visions.

The pregnant "Alias" anti-diva is so terrified she got a court order against tormentor Steven Burky, who sources said is now in a psych ward.

"Mr. Burky’s repeated efforts to contact me, his delusional and paranoid letters, his appearance at my private residence, and his recent claims that I will be ‘persecuted’ in a manner that may result in my death are all extremely frightening," she wrote in court papers.

"I now fear not only for my own personal safety, but also for the safety and well being of those I love and care most about, including my husband and my daughter," wrote Garner of her 2-year-old, Violet, and actor hubby Ben Affleck.

"Also, I am currently pregnant and fear for the safety of my second child once born."

Burky, 36, is a born-again Christian who believes he was the victim of satanic abuse rituals as a child in Pennsylvania, according to his blog.

"He does have a mental disorder. He’s supposed to be taking medication," his aunt, Maxine Burky, told the Daily News.

Burky has been stalking Garner, 33, since 2002 when he posed as a college student and then a punk rocker to meet her at a college in Ohio and record store in Los Angeles.

Miles Corwin writes for Los Angeles magazine:

Her friends meant no harm. They decided to throw a birthday party for her at a Hollywood club and posted details and photographs on a Web site. A man trolling for attractive women spotted her picture. He located her MySpace page and discovered that she hosted a satellite radio show. Posing as an entertainment agent, he claimed to be a friend of a well-known Hollywood photographer. The photographer, the man said, wanted her to model for him and needed her phone number. As it happened, the woman knew the photographer. She also knew that he already had her number. She e-mailed back: Just tell him to call. Thwarted, the man responded, “Tell him yourself, bitch.” He began e-mailing threats. “I want to send someone to blow up your house.” “I want to cut you up and drink your blood.” “I will kill you.”

The woman, whose radio name is Tina Divina, ignored him, hoping he would go away. “But this guy was like a virus,” she says. “He got a list of my friends and started contacting them, asking for my number and address. When they blocked him, he started sending them threatening messages. After a while, he found out where they worked and showed up at their jobs. Now I’m really scared because instead of these anonymous e-mails, he’s taking action. I’ve got a young daughter. What if he goes to her school?”

She contacted the Los Angeles Police Department. Officers steered her to its Threat Management Unit, the first law enforcement division in the country created to combat stalking. Los Angeles is the stalking capital of the world. The Threat Management Unit—or TMU—handles about 250 cases a year, up by more than 40 percent since 2003. The TMU’s walls are lined with posters from movies with stalking themes, such as Fatal Attraction, The Fan, Paparazzi, and Swimfan. Based in a nondescript downtown office building, the unit has grown to nine detectives, including its leader, Jeff Dunn, a 24-year LAPD veteran with a diplomatic manner. Celebrities are only about 10 percent of the TMU caseload. Most victims are women who have problems with ex-boyfriends or ex-husbands; unlike celebrities, these women cannot afford bodyguards. About a fifth of the TMU’s investigations involve gay stalkers.

The Internet has made life harder for victims such as Tina Divina, and in turn for the TMU. “Before, in some cases, the obsession might have been there, but the contact wasn’t,” Dunn says. “The Internet has increased the opportunity for suspects to make contact with victims and made it easier to dig up personal information on victims.”

Many cyberstalkers, including the man tormenting Divina, believe they can remain anonymous. When her case came in last year, Dunn assigned detectives, including Jim Hoffman, to investigate. For stalking to be a crime, California law says there must be a “credible threat to place [a] person in reasonable fear for his or her safety.” The detectives know that some women who are harassed can be in jeopardy even though nothing illegal has occurred. When stalkers turn violent, it is too late. Divina was fortunate because Hoffman could show that her stalker had committed a crime; he had threatened her and several of her friends.

From MSNBC:

“He has now shown up at my private residence and has repeatedly expressed his belief that God has sent him a vision of me being ‘persecuted’ in some manner that might result in my death,” her statement continued.

Garner said she fears “not only for my personal safety, but also for the safety and well being of those that I love and care about most, including my husband and my daughter.

“Also, I am currently pregnant and fear for the safety of my second child once born. I have suffered, and continue to suffer, substantial emotional distress as a result of Mr. Burky’s behavior.”

On Nov. 7, a judge issued the temporary restraining order, requiring the 6-foot-1, 145-pound man to stay at least 100 yards away from the star and not contact Garner, her husband, Ben Affleck, or her daughter Violet Affleck.

In issuing the restraining order, the judge deemed there was a “credible threat of violence.”

In the request for the permanent restraining order, Dennis Bridwell of Galabad Protective Services, who was hired by Garner, claims the man’s behavior toward the star has “escalated to such a degree,” that he believes, “Mr. Burky poses and immediate threat to Ms. Garner’s and Mr. Affleck’s personal and bodily security.”

Bridewell claimed his concerns for Garner and her family’s safety increased when he read Burky’s alleged online blogs, in which the man claimed he was involved in satanic rituals as a child, and allegedly “envisioned himself a participant in the murder of a young, Christian woman.”

In fact, in an online blog, which Burky allegedly placed on the Internet, he claims to have been sexually abused as a child and to have uncovered repressed childhood memories of being involved in satanic rituals as a youth.

“For the next 5 years, from 2000 until 2005, I continued to unrepress more and more abuse memories, many extremely evil and unhappy,” Burky allegedly wrote in an online journal in 2006. “Some memories indicate I allowed demons to come into me when I was about 2 years old, locked in a basement being punished.”

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Wilshire Blvd Temple Closes Its Main Sanctuary — Will Its Congregants Notice?

Posted on November 19, 2008 by Luke Ford

Only 2% of Wilshire Blvd Temple’s membership of 33,000 attend services there weekly so the overwhelming number of its Jews won’t be affected by this closure.

Synagogues tend to be built and maintained by the money of those who rarely attend while those who regularly attend rarely donate big.

Why should the temple spend $100 million to rebuild its main sanctuary when the place is located in an area where white people rarely go voluntarily?

Brad A. Greenberg writes:

Julie Miller walked a fine line when she delivered her annual president’s message to the congregation of Wilshire Boulevard Temple on Erev Rosh Hashanah.

She focused on the history of the illustrious synagogue, talking about the century of influence and communal relevance that has stemmed from visionary leaders, about the temple’s present state and about plans to revitalize the historic Magnin campus in Koreatown in hopes of expanding programs for Jews returning to the city’s historic core.

Despite the fact that the building campaign clearly needs much more — tens of millions of dollars more — than the $71 million Miller said had been raised in cash and pledges, she didn’t ask congregants to get out their checkbooks.

"When you are raising money, you go through two phases: You plant the seeds, and you reap them. Right now we are just planting," Miller said in an interview. "With people so freaked out about money, it just feels wrong. So we are just building, building on relationships. That way they’ll feel better about donating when they can."

The economic downturn has been bad for just about everybody. The Dow Jones is down by about 40 percent from its peak in October 2007 and is acting more erratic than usual — vacillating up or down by 5 percent on any day for more than a month, leaving everyone, even Los Angeles’ wealthiest, watching helplessly as stop-losses fail to stop the bleeding.

And for a handful of L.A. synagogues, the timing has been particularly poor.

Building campaigns that began in the go-go years are now running up against fears among donors — some rational, others irrational — about what the future holds for the U.S. economy and what it’s going to mean for their own pocketbooks.

Wilshire Boulevard Temple, which a decade ago spent $30 million to build its Irmas Campus in West L.A., is now focused on its historic home to the east — hoping to raise upwards of $100 million to restore its sanctuary — a national historic landmark — and reinvent the campus with a Hebrew school, parking structure and community center.

…Wilshire Boulevard, for one, is faced with the decision of restoring and renovating its historic campus or eventually abandoning it altogether. The 79-year-old sanctuary is structurally unsafe and last month was closed indefinitely after a foot-long chunk of plaster fell from the ceiling 60 feet above.

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‘I Can’t Think Straight’

Posted on November 18, 2008 by Luke Ford

This is a beautiful love story between a Christian Palestinian and an Muslim Indian.

It’s gorgeous to look at, like one of the two leads, Lisa Ray.

The other lead, Sheetal Sheth, is skinny and awkward, but at least she’s a writer.

True love blossoms in an Oxford hotel room, away from the persecuting patriarchal gaze.

There’s enough Jew hatred to keep things interesting.

Christian writes:

You would think that a cross-cultural, cross-religious lesbian romance should have enough built-in conflict to sustain an 80-minute feature, but Shamim Sarif‘s "I Can’t Think Straight" slumps and stretches its way from its first uninspired set piece, an engagement party for Jordanian-Christian Tala (Lisa Ray), to its mildly embarrassing closing montage, cut to, natch, Jill Sobule‘s "I Kissed a Girl" (hello, 1995!). As with her other feature, "The World Unseen" (released to theaters earlier this month), Sarif adapts and directs her own novel here, with Ray and Sheetal Sheth playing the lead roles. For "I Can’t Think Straight," she enlists the help of co-writer Kelly Moss, but to no avail: Sarif has crafted a movie with such paper-thin characterizations and so lacking in dramatic incident that it’s frankly surprising that she was working from a novel at all — much less one she wrote herself.









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Are Orthodox Jews ‘Rednecks’ In Their Attitude To Obama?

Posted on November 18, 2008 by Luke Ford

Canadian Orthodox rabbi Reuven Tradburks writes:

The point of my article was only tangentially about Obama. It was more about the tone and texture of differences.

Once a person is identified as not being on my team – because he is black or not frum or not jewish or is modern or is haredi – once he is not on my team, I check my civility at the door and proceed to level whatever types of criticisms i like. This is what i meant by redneck. Having lived in Alabama, there is a colloquial use of that term – people who lack subtlety, lack nuance, are heavily opinionated, and discriminate based on religion, color or “team” affiliation.

The “team” syndrome permeates political discussion. There is plenty to criticize Obama on in his platform – or in the paucity of his platform. But the discussion should be in the realm of ideas. Not in calling him evil or categorizing him into some box or other. I was not really that interested in an American political discussion, though we have 5 American voters in my family.

I would like to see a broadening of our ability to identify the goodness in the world that is beyond our “team”. The goodness in the haredi world, in the modern world, in the non frum Jewish world, in the non Jewish world. We must be vigilant in identifying things we disagree with, which we reject on principle. And we must be vigilant in acknowledging the goodness in the world beyond our team.

DAVID BERGER WRITES:

Regrettably, the phenomenon that Rabbi Tradburks laments can be supported by other evidence. He notes, to take but one example, the use of the term “shvartzer” by a significant number of English speaking Orthodox Jews. Let me add to this an account of an experience that I had at a wedding this week, which is the real stimulus for my writing this comment. A young man came to me in my capacity as a historian, and in the context of Obama’s victory, asked whether German Jews before the Nazi period were as confident of their security as American Jews are today. I told him that I would respond in the abstract, but that he needs to know that I consider the analogy completely misplaced.
A wedding was not the appropriate setting for an expression of my full concern about this question. But I wondered to myself if people who make this analogy ask themselves whether anyone expected Hitler to appoint a Jew who belongs to an Orthodox shul as his closest aide. I did not vote for Obama, and I worry about his position on Israel. But Rabbi Tradburks has ample reason to be concerned about bigotry toward blacks in particular and non-Jews in general in too large a segment of the Orthodox community.

DOVID WRITES: "As a pulpit rabbi, i think Rabbi Tradburks can appreciate the power of the position, as well as the impact a charismatic spiritual leader can have on his congregants over a long period of time. This alone is enough to cause great concern for any thinking Jew … for Barack Obama has been sitting in Pastor Wright’s congregation and listening to his vitriolic, hate-filled – and, yes, anti-semitic – “derashos” for many years. My only hope is that Mr. Obama was talking during the “davening” and speeches, and none of the Pastor’s “torah” sunk in. G-d help us."

FROM MY LIVE CAM CHAT:

palestine4ever:  Hey Luke
palestine4ever:  I need my daily dose of screeching yenta banshee hysterics, where’s the faux NJG?
palestine4ever:  Their fear is like sweet sweet nectar to me and my kind
palestine4ever:  Soon America will be a carmel-colored Brazil of miscegenation
palestine4ever:  even the Chosen will be a lil more cafe au lait
palestine4ever:  as old Hilda has grandchildren named Shaneequa and Carlo
palestine4ever:  The only ones immune to the darkening of America, naturally, will be the Mormons
palestine4ever:  I hope you keep your Utah connections lively
palestine4ever:  that’ll be the last patch of whiteness
palestine4ever:  but, of course, they’re mormons
palestine4ever:  Do you fear an Obamanation, Luke?
YourMoralLeader:  not sure
YourMoralLeader:  a bit
palestine4ever:  In reality it’ll mean a few pointless but short wars in godforsaken places
palestine4ever:  Liberals love short and righteous war
palestine4ever:  This of course is preferable to Sarah Palin making membership in your local PTA mandatory
palestine4ever:  and compulsory
palestine4ever:  I think you should balance your Life Artist portraits with Rebbe Gafni with some sit-downs with Prof. Kevin MacDonald
palestine4ever:  Naturally he walks a tightrope
palestine4ever:  but some of his comments about self-segregation are similar to what you’ve written
palestine4ever:  of course in his thinking it’s a subconscious plot to torture the gentiles
palestine4ever:  I read most of the Culture of Critique
palestine4ever:  It was pretty dreary to be honest with you
palestine4ever:  white power s**t is really only interesting when there’s some redneck fireworks
palestine4ever:  i’m more of a fan of Glenn Miller’s
palestine4ever:  http://www.whty.org/book/
palestine4ever:  that’s got peckerwoods marching in camouflage uniforms
palestine4ever:  guys getting drunk and declaring war on "ZOG"
palestine4ever:  riveting stuff for the genre
palestine4ever:  when the Feds caught up to Glenn
palestine4ever:  he was in a trailor, hung over, and without pants
palestine4ever:  that’s just good reading
palestine4ever:  david duke just burned crosses, this guy would piss on them for giggles

Posted in Barack Obama, Blacks, Orthodoxy, Race | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Are Orthodox Jews ‘Rednecks’ In Their Attitude To Obama?

The Flight Home

Posted on November 18, 2008 by Luke Ford

Joe emails: "I came back from a meeting in Chicago and behind me sat this overweight man with a mustache and a seventies haircut, covered in dandruff. Everyone around me was murmuring, and the air attendants (the male ones) starting taking pictures with him, every one talking very reverently to him. One person walked over and said in an awed voice, I really admire your work. That person informed me that the recipient of all this honor was Ron Jeremy, famed… reality show star. I suppose that’s how adulation is earned in our society."

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Jennifer Garner Files Restraining Order, Young Israel of Beverly Hills Sues Sue & Lawrence Mischel

Posted on November 18, 2008 by Luke Ford

Case Type: Civil Harassment (General Jurisdiction) Case#: BS117785 CASE NAME: JENNIFER GARNER AFFLECK VS STEVEN R BURKY Parties: BURKY STEVEN R. – PL/PET Attorneys: BERK BLAIR ESQ. – Attorney for PL/PET Date Filed: 11/07/2008

Case Type: Quiet Title (General Jurisdiction) Case#: SC100553 CASE NAME: NATIONAL COUNCIL OF YOUNG ISRAEL VS. SUE MISCHEL ET. AL. Parties: JEWISH RESOURCE CENTER INC. THE – Defendant,MISCHEL LAWRENCE – Defendant,MISCHEL SUE – Defendant,NATIONAL COUNCIL OF YOUNG ISRAEL – Plaintiff,YOUNG ISRAEL OF BEVERLY HILLS – Defendant Attorneys: SCHONDORF MARK – Attorney for Plaintiff Date Filed: 11/12/2008

Case Number: SC100553
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF YOUNG ISRAEL VS. SUE MISCHEL ET. AL.

Filing Date: 11/12/2008
Case Type: Quiet Title (General Jurisdiction)
Status: Pending

Future Hearings

01/21/2009 at 08:30 am in department WEO at 1725 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401
OSC-Failure to File Proof of Serv. (OR DISMISSAL;)

03/02/2009 at 08:30 am in department WEO at 1725 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401
Initial Status Conference

Documents Filed | Proceeding Information

Parties

JEWISH RESOURCE CENTER INC. THE – Defendant

MISCHEL LAWRENCE – Defendant

MISCHEL SUE – Defendant

NATIONAL COUNCIL OF YOUNG ISRAEL – Plaintiff

SCHONDORF MARK – Attorney for Plaintiff

YOUNG ISRAEL OF BEVERLY HILLS – Defendant

Case Information | Party Information | Proceeding Information

Documents Filed (Filing dates listed in descending order)

12/01/2008 Proof-Service/Summons
Filed by Attorney for Plaintiff

Case Number: 08U03278
YOUNG ISRAEL OF BEVERLY HILLS VS. MISCHEL, LARRY

Filing Date: 10/03/2008
Case Type: U.D.- COMMERCIAL (Limited Jurisdiction)
Filing Court: Santa Monica Courthouse
Status: DISPOSED BY JUDGMENT

Future Hearings
None

History Information

Parties

Plaintiff:  YOUNG ISRAEL OF BEVERLY HILLS A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION
Attorney:   LAW OFFICE OF DEBORAH FRIEDMAN – DEBORAH FRIEDMAN ESQ

Defendant:  MISCHEL LARRY INDIVIDUALLY & DBA JUST DESERTS & FANCY CAKES ALSO KNOWNAS
Attorney:   None

Defendant:  MISCHEL SUE INDIVIDUALLY & DBA JUSTDESERTS & FANCY CAKES ALSO KNOWN AS `
Attorney:   None

Defendant:  MISCHEL SAMMY INDIVIDUALLY & DBA JUST DESERTS & FANCY CAKES ALSO KNOWNAS
Attorney:   None

Party Information

Histories ( Dates listed in descending order)

12/19/2008 DESIGNATION OF RECORD ON APPEAL FILED. .

12/15/2008 ABSTRACT OF JUDGMENT ISSUED. RECEIPT # SM500645049 .

12/10/2008 NOTICE OF APPEAL FILED BY (MISCHEL, LARRY) INDIVIDUALLY &
DBA (JUST DESERTS & FANCY CAKES) ALSO KNOWN AS (`M`
CATERING) , (MISCHEL, SUE) INDIVIDUALLY & DBA (JUST
DESERTS & FANCY CAKES) ALSO KNOWN AS (`M` CATERING) ,
(MISCHEL, SAMMY) INDIVIDUALLY & DBA (JUST DESERTS & FANCY
CAKES) ALSO KNOWN AS (`M` CATERING) . RECEIPT #
SM485132017 .

12/10/2008 NOTICE OF FILING OF APPEAL FILED AND MAILED TO RESPECTIVE
PARTIES/COUNSEL. CLERK’S CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE FILED.

11/17/2008 APPLICATION FOR WRIT OF POSSESSION FILED. DAILY RENTAL
VALUE OF PROPERTY, $ 43.33 PER DAY.

11/17/2008 WRIT OF POSSESSION ISSUED TO LOS ANGELES COUNTY. RECEIPT
# SM500645029 .

11/13/2008 MINUTE ORDER AND CLERK’S NOTICE OF RULING MAILED TO ALL
PARTIES. CLERK’S CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE FILED.

11/13/2008 CLERK’S NOTICE OF ENTRY OF JUDGMENT & NOTICE RE: EXHIBITS/
DEPOSITION ISSUED. CLERK’S CERTIFICATE OF MAILING FILED
AND MAILED TO ALL PARTIES THIS DATE .

11/12/2008 CASE FILE RETURNED TO CIVIL DEPARTMENT FROM COURTROOM.

11/10/2008 STIPULATION FOR COMMISSIONER TO ACT AS TEMPORARY JUDGE
SIGNED AND FILED.

11/10/2008 CAUSE CALLED AT 08:30A M, IN DEPT. WES , HON. PAMELA
A. DAVIS PRESIDING FOR COURT TRIAL. PLAINTIFF(S)
APPEARING BY DEBORAH FRIEDMAN . DEFENDANT(S) APPEARING
IN PRO PER .

11/10/2008 COURTS TAKES MATTER UNDER SUBMISSION.

11/10/2008 AFTER SUBMISSION, COURT ORDERS JUDGMENT ENTERED AS
FOLLOWS:

11/10/2008 JUDGMENT ENTERED AS A FINAL DISPOSITION ON 11/10/08 .
FOR (YOUNG ISRAEL OF BEVERLY HILLS) A NON-PROFIT
ORGANIZATION . AGAINST (MISCHEL, LARRY) INDIVIDUALLY &
DBA (JUST DESERTS & FANCY CAKES) ALSO KNOWN AS (`M`
CATERING) , (MISCHEL, SUE) INDIVIDUALLY & DBA (JUST
DESERTS & FANCY CAKES) ALSO KNOWN AS (`M` CATERING) ,
(MISCHEL, SAMMY) INDIVIDUALLY & DBA (JUST DESERTS & FANCY
CAKES) ALSO KNOWN AS (`M` CATERING) . PAST DUE RENT $
9100.00 . DAILY DAMAGES $ 1733.00 . ATTORNEY FEES $
0.00 . COSTS $ 260.00 . TOTAL $ 11,093.00 . AND FOR
RESTITUTION OF PREMISES LOCATED AT 8701 WEST PICO
BOULEVARD, LOS ANGELES, CA 90035 .

10/29/2008 MEMORANDUM TO SET CASE FOR TRIAL HAVING BEEN FILED ON
10/21/08 . MATTER SET FOR COURT TRIAL ON 11/10/08 AT
08:30A M, IN DEPT. WES .

10/22/2008 CASE FILE RETURNED TO CIVIL DEPARTMENT FROM COURTROOM.

10/22/2008 ORDER GRANTING SERVICE OF SUMMONS AND COMPLAINT BY POSTING
AND MAILING SIGNED AND FILED. AS TO LARRY MISCHEL, SUE
MISCHEL AND LARRY MISCHEL COLLECTIV ELY DBA JUST DESERTS
& FANCY CAKES AKA "M" CATERING

10/22/2008 (CONTINUATION OF ABOVE ENTRY) AND ALL UNNAMED OCCUPANTS
PURSUANT TO CCP 415.45

10/21/2008 CASE FILE FORWARDED TO WES RE: ORDER TO POST

10/20/2008 APPLICATION/DECLARATION FOR ORDER ALLOWING SERVICE BY
POSTING AND MAILING {CCP 415.45} FILED BY (YOUNG ISRAEL
OF BEVERLY HILLS) A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION . RN PAID
.

10/10/2008 ANSWER AND FEES RECEIVED FOR LARRY MISCHEL, SUE MISCHEL, SAM
MY MISCHEL. $540.00 RECEIPT #SM485132001. FORWARDED TO ROO
M 116 FOR PROCESSING.

10/10/2008 ANSWER FILED OF (MISCHEL, LARRY) INDIVIDUALLY & DBA (JUST
DESERTS & FANCY CAKES) ALSO KNOWN AS (`M` CATERING) ,
(MISCHEL, SUE) INDIVIDUALLY & DBA (JUST DESERTS & FANCY
CAKES) ALSO KNOWN AS (`M` CATERING) , (MISCHEL, SAMMY)
INDIVIDUALLY & DBA (JUST DESERTS & FANCY CAKES) ALSO KNOWN
AS (`M` CATERING) . RECEIPT # SM485132001 .

10/07/2008 NOTICE OF UNLAWFUL DETAINER FILING MAILED TO RESPECTIVE
PARTIES/COUNSEL. CLERK’S CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE FILED.

10/03/2008 UNLAWFUL DETAINER COMPLAINT FILED. RN SM500645045.

10/03/2008 SUMMONS ISSUED.

10/03/2008 SUMMONS FILED.

10/03/2008 NOTICE OF CASE ASSIGNMENT ON FILE. CASE IS ASSIGNED TO
DEPT. WES OF HONORABLE PAMELA A. DAVIS .

Case Number: BC385939
SUE MISCHEL VS YOUNG ISRAEL OF BEVERLY HILLS ET AL

Filing Date: 02/22/2008
Case Type: Contractual Fraud (General Jurisdiction)
Status: Dismissed – Other 12/01/2008

Future Hearings
None

Documents Filed | Proceeding Information

Parties

BARATTA JAMES M. ESQ. – Associated Counsel

DOES 1 THROUGH 25 – Defendant/Respondent

GRANT GENOVESE & BARATTA LLP – Attorney for Deft/Respnt

HANGER LEVINE & STEINBERG LAW O/O – Attorney for Defendant/Respondent

JUST DESERTS AND FANCY CAKES – Plaintiff/Petitioner’s DBA

M CATERING – AKA

MISCHEL SUE – Plaintiff/Petitioner

PARISER & PARISE LLP – Attorney for Deft/Respnt

STERN ANDREW J. ESQ. – Attorney for Plaintiff/Petitioner

VINCENT CAROLINE C. – Mediator

WANK MICHAEL LAW OFFICES OF – Attorney for Defendant/Respondent

YOUNG ISRAEL OF BEVERLY HILLS – Defendant/Respondent

ZISBLATT HOWARD (SUED AS HERSH) – Defendant/Respondent

Case Information | Party Information | Proceeding Information

Please make a note of the Case Number.

Click here to access document images for this case. 
If this link fails, you may go to the Case Document Images site and search using the case number displayed on this page.

Documents Filed (Filing dates listed in descending order)

Click on any of the below link(s) to see documents filed on or before the date indicated:
08/05/2008   05/02/2008  

12/12/2008 Memorandum of Costs ($2,509.50 )
Filed by Defendant

12/05/2008 Memorandum of Costs ($1,909.50 )
Filed by Defendant

12/01/2008 Request and Entry of Dismissal (ENTIRE ACTION-without prejudice!!! )
Filed by Attorney for Pltf/Petnr

11/18/2008 Motion ( to Disqualify Plaintiff Counsel )
Filed by Attorney for Deft/Respnt

11/06/2008 Memorandum of Costs ($480.00 )
Filed by Attorney for Deft/Respnt

11/05/2008 Notice ( of entry of JUDGMENT )
Filed by Attorney for Deft/Respnt

11/05/2008 Motion for Summary Judgment
Filed by Attorney for Deft/Respnt

11/05/2008 Notice of Lodging
Filed by Attorney for Deft/Respnt

11/05/2008 Miscellaneous-Other
Filed by Attorney for Deft/Respnt

10/20/2008 Order (ON 8/28/08 DEMURRER – SUSTAINED WITHOUT LEAVE TO AMEND; MOTION TO STRIKE IS MOOT )
Filed by Court

10/20/2008 Judgment (IN FAVOR OF DEFENDANT HOWARD ZISBLATT-DEMURRER SUSTAINED WITH- OUT LEAVE TO AMEND )
Filed by Court

10/14/2008 Notice of Ruling
Filed by Attorney for Deft/Respnt

10/10/2008 Miscellaneous-Other (1-PAGE COURT RULING GRANTING MOTION TO COMPEL AND MOTION FOR PROTECTIVE ORDE )
Filed by Court

10/10/2008 Order (GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR ORDER COMPELLING PLAINTIFF TO ATTEND HER DEPOSITION AND TESTIFY )
Filed by Attorney for Defendant/Respondent

10/07/2008 Notice of Ruling
Filed by Attorney for Pltf/Petnr

09/30/2008 Opposition Document
Filed by Attorney for Pltf/Petnr

09/29/2008 Opposition Document
Filed by Attorney for Deft/Respnt

09/29/2008 Notice of Lodging
Filed by Attorney for Deft/Respnt

09/24/2008 Reply/Response
Filed by Attorney for Pltf/Petnr

09/24/2008 Stipulation and Order (SETTING TIME FOR HEARING DISCOVERY MOTIONS (MOTIONS SET FOR 10/15/08 ADVANCED TO 10/10/08) )
Filed by Attorney for Defendant/Respondent

09/24/2008 Request for Judicial Notice
Filed by Attorney for Pltf/Petnr

09/19/2008 Opposition Document
Filed by Attorney for Deft/Respnt

09/18/2008 Order (SUSTAINING WITHOUT LEAVE TO AMEND DEMURRER OF DEFT. HOWARD (HERSH) ZISBLATT )
Filed by Court

08/29/2008 Motion to Compel ( Attendance & Testimony at Deposition )
Filed by Attorney for Deft/Respnt

08/29/2008 Notice of Ruling (OF 8/28/08 DEMURRER )
Filed by Attorney for Defendant/Respondent

08/29/2008 Motion ( FOR PROTECTIVE ORDER )
Filed by Attorney for Pltf/Petnr

08/28/2008 Miscellaneous-Other (2-PAGE COURT RULING SUSTAINING DEFENDANT ZISBLATT’S DEMURRER AND MOTION TO STRIKE WITHOUT LEAVE TO AMEND. MOTION TO STRIKE PUNITIVES IS MOOT )
Filed by Court

08/27/2008 Motion to Compel ( (2) Motion Documents )
Filed by Attorney for Pltf/Petnr

08/27/2008 Miscellaneous-Other ( (2) SEPARATE STATEMENTS )
Filed by Attorney for Pltf/Petnr

08/20/2008 Reply/Response (to pltffs motion to strike portions of pltff’s first amended complaint )
Filed by Attorney for Defendant/Respondent

08/20/2008 Reply/Response (REPLY TO OPPOSITION TO DEMURRER TO PLTFFS FIRST AMENDED COMPLANT )
Filed by Attorney for Defendant/Respondent

08/13/2008 Opposition Document ( as to Demurrer )
Filed by Attorney for Pltf/Petnr

08/13/2008 Miscellaneous-Other ( Non-Oppo & Oppo in part as to M/TO STRIKE )
Filed by Attorney for Pltf/Petnr

Click on any of the below link(s) to see documents filed on or before the date indicated:
TOP   08/05/2008   05/02/2008  

08/05/2008 Notice-Assignment-Mediator
Filed by ADR Clerk

08/04/2008 Substitution of Attorney
Filed by Attorney for Deft/Respnt

08/01/2008 Answer to First Amended Complaint
Filed by Attorney for Deft/Respnt

07/31/2008 Notice ( of CMC order )
Filed by Attorney for Pltf/Petnr

07/29/2008 Notice of Ruling
Filed by Attorney for Deft/Respnt

07/29/2008 Demurrer
Filed by Attorney for Deft/Respnt

07/29/2008 Motion to Strike
Filed by Attorney for Deft/Respnt

07/25/2008 Notice ( of taking M/to STRIKE –off-calendar– )
Filed by Attorney for Deft/Respnt

07/18/2008 Motion to Strike
Filed by Attorney for Deft/Respnt

07/11/2008 Statement-Case Management
Filed by Attorney for Pltf/Petnr

07/08/2008 Statement-Case Management
Filed by Attorney for Deft/Respnt

07/03/2008 Statement-Case Management
Filed by Attorney for Deft/Respnt

06/26/2008 Statement-Case Management
Filed by Attorney for Deft/Respnt

06/26/2008 First Amended Complaint
Filed by Atty for Plaintiff and Cross-Deft

06/24/2008 Notice-Case Management Conference
Filed by Attorney for Pltf/Petnr

06/20/2008 Notice-Case Management Conference
Filed by Clerk

06/19/2008 Association of Attorney
Filed by Attorney for Deft/Respnt

06/05/2008 Notice of Ruling
Filed by Attorney for Deft/Respnt

06/04/2008 Miscellaneous-Other (3-PAGE COURT’S ORDER ON DEMURRERS AND MOTIONS TO STRIKE )
Filed by Court

06/04/2008 Notice of Association of Attorneys (OF JODY STEINBERG OF HANGER, STEINBERG, SHAPIRO & ASH )
Filed by Attorney for Defendant/Respondent

05/28/2008 Reply/Response ( (2) Documents )
Filed by Attorney for Deft/Respnt

05/27/2008 Points and Authorities
Filed by Attorney for Deft/Respnt

05/27/2008 Notice ( of Stip to Vacate/Set Aside Request for entry of Default )
Filed by Attorney for Deft/Respnt

05/21/2008 Stipulation and Order (TO VACATE AND SET ASIDE REQUEST FOR ENTRY OF DEFAULT AND ENTRY OF DEFAULT AGAINST DEFENDANT, YOUNG ISRAEL OF BEVERLY HILLS )
Filed by Attorney for Defendant/Respondent

05/21/2008 Joinder
Filed by Attorney for Deft/Respnt

05/20/2008 Objection Document
Filed by Attorney for Pltf/Petnr

05/20/2008 Notice ( of NON-OPPOSITION to M/to Strike (2) Documents )
Filed by Attorney for Pltf/Petnr

05/20/2008 Opposition Document ( (2) Documents )
Filed by Attorney for Pltf/Petnr

Click on any of the below link(s) to see documents filed on or before the date indicated:
TOP   08/05/2008   05/02/2008  

05/02/2008 Notice ( of continuance of DEM/STR (6/4/08) )
Filed by Attorney for Deft/Respnt

04/24/2008 Stipulation and Order (TO CONTINUE HEARINGS ON DEMURRERS AND MOTIONS TO STRIKE )
Filed by Attorney for Defendant/Respondent

04/07/2008 Demurrer
Filed by Attorney for Deft/Respnt

04/07/2008 Motion to Strike
Filed by Attorney for Deft/Respnt

03/28/2008 Default Entered (YOUNG ISRAEL OF BEVERLY HILLS, A NON-PROFIT RELIGIOUS ORGANIZA- TION **VACATED AND SET ASIDE PER STIP & ORDER SIGNED 5/21/08)
Filed by Attorney for Pltf/Petnr

03/21/2008 Proof-Service/Summons ( (2) Documents )
Filed by Attorney for Pltf/Petnr

02/22/2008 Complaint

Click on any of the below link(s) to see documents filed on or before the date indicated:
TOP   08/05/2008   05/02/2008  

Case Information | Party Information | Documents Filed

Proceedings Held (Proceeding dates listed in descending order)

12/18/2008 in Department ADR, ADR Neutral, Presiding
Closed-ADR – Not Held-Rmvd ADR-Dismissed prior

12/03/2008 at 02:45 pm in Department 56, Jane Johnson, Presiding
Non-Appearance (Case Review) – Case Dismissed/Disposed

10/10/2008 at 08:32 am in Department 56, Jane Johnson, Presiding
Motion for Protective Order (2-M/to Compel Attn/Test at Depo) – Granted

10/03/2008 at 08:32 am in Department 56, Jane Johnson, Presiding
MOTION – COMPEL FURTHER RESPONSES ( (2)) – Court makes order

09/26/2008 at 10:20 am in Department 56, Jane Johnson, Presiding
Non-Appearance (Case Review) – Court makes order

08/29/2008 at 08:32 am in Department 56, Jane Johnson, Presiding
Motion to Strike ( ***per Moving Party) – Off Calendar

08/28/2008 at 08:32 am in Department 56, Jane Johnson, Presiding
Hearing on Demurrer ( 2-Motion to Strike) – Demurrer sustained without leave

07/23/2008 at 08:30 am in Department 56, Jane Johnson, Presiding
Conference-Case Management – Trial Date Set

06/04/2008 at 08:32 am in Department 56, Jane Johnson, Presiding
Hearing on Demurrer ( (2) 2-Motion to Strike (2) 3-Joinder) – Demurrer sustained with leave

04/24/2008 at 02:45 pm in Department 56, Jane Johnson, Presiding
Non-Appearance (Case Review) – Court makes order

Posted in Law, YIBH | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Jennifer Garner Files Restraining Order, Young Israel of Beverly Hills Sues Sue & Lawrence Mischel

‘The First Basket’

Posted on November 17, 2008 by Luke Ford

I just watched this new documentary.

The Jewish population in America increased dramatically during the last decade of the 19th Century. As the immigrants poured in from Europe, they discovered that their new home was sports crazy and that athletic competition was a way to assimilate.

When I think about the value of a mitzvah and the value of a basket, well, there’s no comparison, so it makes me sad as I watch this film about Jews abandoning the shul and the Sabbath to follow the ways of the goyim.

The doc gets various Jewish scholars to talk about Jewish physicality in the Bible. Yeah, that’s all true, Samson did shtup a lot of Philistine sheilas, but sports plays no role in the Bible of the Jews. It’s the Christian scriptures, the so-called "New Testament" that keeps referring to sports. That’s because Christianity comes out of Hellenism more than Judaism.

The ideal Jewish man is a Torah scholar and a blogger, not a practicioner of narishkeit such as basketball (unless it is used a brief diversion from one’s studies so one can return refreshed to the sacred text).

My favorite parts of the movie are the naughty bits. No, I’m not talking about the sturdy application of the Hebrew Hammer to the vulnerable regions of the shiksa.

In the 1930s, basketball was often called "Jew Ball." It was known as the "Jewish game."

Two main sports came out of the Jewish ghetto — boxing and basketball. The latter triumphed.

Paul Gallico from the New York Daily News argued that Jews made good basketball players because Jews are basically sneaky, conniving people.

Gallico wrote: "Curiously, above all others, [basketball] appeals to the temperament of the Jews. While a good Jewish football player is a rarity. . . Jews flock to basketball by the thousands, because it places a premium on an alert, scheming mind. . . flashy trickiness, artful dodging and general smart aleckness."

A Jewish sports editor wrote: "No other sport so required the characteristics inherent in the Jew; mental agility, perception, imagination and subtlety."

And as the Reverend Reggie White would say, "Whites are good at making money and Indians are good at sneaking up on people."

Later, the documentary discusses the role of Jewish players accepting bribes to manipulate college basketball scores vis-a-vis the point spread (such as at City College of New York). This practice was widespread in the Catskills aka the Jewish Alps.

Teams "with Jews and negroes" were regarded as particularly susceptible to bribery.

When he was at Brooklyn College, Dennis Prager reports in his essay on "Jews and Cheating" that Jewish students were regarded as more likely to cheat.

I spent nine of my first eleven years in Australia (the other two in England). I wasn’t much into sports. I liked playing them but I didn’t follow them professionally. We didn’t have a TV in the house and we didn’t follow sports or entertainment on the radio. Occasionally at school, the teacher would put on the tele and we’d have the test cricket playing. But it didn’t mean much.

I guess my family was isolated from the larger Australian culture. Seventh-Day Adventism was a more rigorous, more Ellen White driven thing down under.

We moved to Pacific Union College (a Seventh-Day Adventist institution) in California’s Napa Valley in May 1977. I spent most of the next four months in the PUC library reading serious adult books of history.

Then I entered sixth grade at the PUC Elementary School. I was weird and socially isolated. I’ve been like a lost puppy all my life.

After my mom got sick in 1967 (she died of cancer in 1970), my home fractured and was not a happy place. I longed to be adopted by the happy families I met (though when I thought it through rationally, I was convinced that my parents were best for me).

My teachers and school librarian wanted me to fit in better. They wanted me to read books of interest to kids my age. So I started reading kids books and most of them were on sports. I devoured dozens and was particularly impressed by the stories of Roger Staubach and Tom Landry, good Christians and leaders of the Dallas Cowboys.

Then I went up to the PUC library and read all the back issues of Sports Illustrated, Time, Newsweek and Life. I became sports mad and crazed about sex. I got a radio and stuck it under my pillow and listened to sporting contests late at night when my parents weren’t around.

My dad said that being a sports fan was a form of idolatry. I didn’t care. I loved sports. I wanted to love girls but none of the cute ones let me.

My fanatacism about sports surpassed that of kids my age. I became closer to some parents who read as much about sports as I did. "I never met a kid who knows as much about sports as you do," said one.

I guess I could’ve used sports to bond with my schoolmates but instead I ran away from them. I finished five marathons in 1978 and dreamed I’d become world champ one day.

Didn’t happen. My knees went bum and I had to stop running.

Once again, I had the chance to bond, but instead I used my brain to accumulate information and put others down. Surprisingly, this did not make for popularity. Chicks didn’t want to kiss me because I could recite all the Super Bowl winners.

In 1985, I covered a couple of San Francisco 49er games at Candlestick park. We sportswriters were allowed on to the sideline for the last few minutes of the contest. The game looks completely different from ground level. The players no longer look so super-human, so machine-like. The game doesn’t appeared as organized. It’s deglamorized.

I’d look around the stadium at tens of thousands of people going nuts. They’d love to be where I am. I’d stare at the cheerleaders and became particularly enamored of these Asian hardbodies. Then I’d go into the lockerrooms to interview the players. Most of the time they were naked. Many of them were shorter than I was.

Sports no longer seemed like such a big deal.

Sex was, however.

I spent years in the PUC library looking for the naughty pictures in Sports Illustrated and Life magazines. The 1960s boasted the topless swimming suit and it got generous coverage in Life. Unfortunately, most of the good stuff got ripped out before I could feast my eyes on it. The S.I. bathing suit issue never even made it out to general circulation.

I loved books about 1920s Weimar Germany. There were usually lots of breasts in these books that made it past the Adventist censors. I resolved that when I’d get big, I’d watch sports on the tele and look at the all the breasts I wanted.

I fulfilled my ambition. I grew up to report on the porn industry. But it left me empty inside.

There’s no happy ending to this story. Sports and porn never helped me assimilate. At age 42, I’m still a lost puppy. I wasted thousands of hours of my life following narishkeit, time I could’ve better devoted to more serious pursuits and to hotter chicks.

Jason Maoz writes:

Finally, no look back at the Jewish contribution to pro basketball would be complete without acknowledging the pioneering radio voices of Marty Glickman with the Knicks (when the home team scored Glickman would famously exult – plugging the chain of hot dog and orange drink outlets that sponsored the broadcasts – "It’s good, like Nedicks!") and Johnny Most (originally Moskowitz) with the Boston Celtics. Glickman and Most led the way for Bill Mazer, Marv Albert (followed by brothers Steve and Al), Spencer Ross, and other Jews who would achieve national prominence in pro basketball broadcast booths.
 
After all these years the NBA still has a considerable Jewish presence, but more than ever it’s one found almost exclusively among writers, broadcasters and owners – the latter category including, but hardly limited to, Micky Arison (Miami Heat), Steve Belkin (Atlanta Hawks), Mark Cuban (Dallas Mavericks), William Davidson (Detroit Pistons), Abe Pollin (Washington Wizards), Bruce Ratner (New Jersey Nets) and Jerry Reinsdorf (Chicago Bulls).
 
As we’ve seen, however, the story could not be more different when it comes to those who actually play the game. The time when basketball was, in the words of historian Peter Levine, "so dominated by Jews that some called it the Jewish game" has all but vanished into the misty province of faded photographs and grainy newsreels, as the sepia-toned memories die one by one along with those who lived them.
Posted in Adventist, Dallas, Jews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on ‘The First Basket’

The Regurgitating Pragerhead

Posted on November 17, 2008 by Luke Ford

They’re like the Deadheads!

Dianne Mueller writes:

I can see why this sharing of the "Dennis Prager experience" is analogous to the Deadhead one, and why we are then drawn to communing with each other every month at our Dennis Prager Group meetings.

But I think my most memorable and perhaps profound "Wow!" moment last night came when Dennis spoke of the minister who surprised his congregation one Sunday when he told them, "God isn’t enough." From our human beginning God knew that He wasn’t going to be enough for us, that we were going to need other people. It just so happened that Adam needed a wife (don’t they all!) but more importantly God knew that Adam needed someone other than God Himself. Who would have thought! Even Will Rogers would have appreciated that revelation!

Pragerheads come from very diverse experiences, some religious, some secular and some combination of secu-religious ones, but Dennis reminded us last night where happiness needs to come from and that we owe it to other people to at least act happy even if we’re not feeling it at the moment.

Dennis also spent a good bit of time on how the Chronically Unhappy and ‘Moody’ people can have an adverse effect on children, too. I felt empathy for the young father in the audience, the one who was looking for advice on how to keep a three-year-old from becoming a chronic complainer. (I’m not sure if the young father ever heard someone say, "If you don’t stop that crying I’m going to give you something to REALLY cry about!" The line worked on me as a child so I used it on my kids.) Dennis did his best to offer advice but in the end he fell back on the one staple and really ancient tenet: You’ll figure it out.

Like most important experiences I will regurgitate pieces of the evening over time and it will be as though I am just tasting these morsels for the first time.

From Zipline:

Dear God, is this Camelot all over again. Dennis Prager always mentions the Liberals are so attuned to feelings and rarely principles…any expressed principles really are about feelings. Go to Gawker and then watch the ‘cute’ vid then read the comments…one malcontent ruined the flow talking about policy. The rest is just so sweet and you know gushy. Thank God the country is finally in the hands of this gushy couple. Are the Khalidi’s’ Said’s and Ayers’ gushy too?  

I am still recovering from that tele-orgasm. I wept when he talked about his mother-in-law seriously at first. I oohed and aahed over Michelle and how smart she is. I tittered when they were giggly and flirty and cute with one another when discussing going for walks.

I am so deeply, deeply in love with everything about this family. They are so ___ing normal. Can you recall the last time we saw a normal, loving couple in the White House? Some might argue Bill and Hill but I never saw the chemistry like what seems to exist between these two.

http://gawker.com/5089926/im-not-stupid-man?autoplay=true

Motto: “Feelings First! — one-stop solutions for the self-absorbed.”

Columnist Dennis Prager writes this week about the “decline of the authority” (moral authority) in the West. Prager argues religious guidelines have been supplanted by –yup– feelings.

The entire edifice of moral relativism, a foundation of leftist ideology, is built on the notion of feelings deciding right and wrong. One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.

http://austinbay.net/blog/?p=82

Posted in Dennis Prager | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on The Regurgitating Pragerhead