When Yudi Kolko got arrested, believe it or not, I broke down with emotion. Tears welled up in my eyes. I felt bad for us Jews, especially Jewish children who have been tortured by the likes of him, Lipa Margulies, Yisroel Belsky and the entire Agudath Israel.
Children, whose only crime was being in a yeshiva or in an Orthodox Jewish summer camp like Camp Agudah. Children whose emotional well-being was crippled for life, and were cast aside like trash on the filthy streets of Brooklyn. Their families were threatened if they "spoke up", or if they sought redress at the local police station. "Whispers" of a "nebach" child would spread around the community like a flu-like virus, destined to destroy the families that were not "immunized" by money and protectsia.
And a great job these scumbags did indeed.
Families destroyed, children going off to worlds they hoped would ease their pain and shame. Suicides, drug overdoses, alcoholism....and anything that would distract them from their miseries; heaped upon these innocent souls by our rabbis, gedolim, community leaders, bastard organizations like the Agudath Israel, and shamefully what has become Torah Umesorah.
So when the dumb-ass ignoramus, Yaakov Perlow, got up to speak at the Agudath Israel dinner last Sunday, after I was informed of his opening lines, I again broke down with emotion -- for us!
Is this the best we've got? Is there no shame left among the Jews? Do we dare permit ourselves to have this charlatan "divine" his words on the Jewish community. In front of a roomful of obvious peasants, he spouts out his words of such idiocy, that the Heavens had to break down and weep.
Every person sitting in that room in the Hilton that did not walk out, is an accomplice to this madman's agenda. Trample on the truth when it suits you, at any expense.
My third grade rebbe was correct; two of the things that separate us from dogs are; humans have no loyalty, and dogs relieve their waste wherever they feel like it.
EVERY SIGNATURE MATTERS - THIS BILL MUST PASS!
CLICK - GOAL - 100,000 NEW SIGNATURES! 75,000 SIGNATURES HAVE ALREADY BEEN SUBMITTED TO GOVERNOR CUOMO!
EFF Urges Court to Block Dragnet Subpoenas Targeting Online Commenters
CLICK! For the full motion to quash: http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/hersh_v_cohen/UOJ-motiontoquashmemo.pdf
44 comments:
Most dogs can be trained not relieve themselves in their own homes. The same cannot be said of these so-called Rabbonim.
stories begginning to surface about the former high school principal
truths about the legend in his own mind
the rosh kolel of NMB was fired or asked to leave by Rabbi zwieg in yeshiva elementary
he was rumored to have been fired for insubordination
when he was fired he joined a kolel that was seeking a rosh kolel
he negotiated a salary of 110k for 3 years
he than demanded and changed the kolel board for banking and placed it in his name together with his wife and mother in law to complete control of operation
the board on the letterhead is in name only having no power
the community is not in favor of him at all
he also has established a shul in the community that is illegal
his kolel has not paid money due to the shul that they learn in during the week over 12k
resulting in tough questions for his brother in law rabbi ephriam shapiro the rabbi of shaarie tefila
We have no gedolim. It's not a lament; it's a FACT. We don't have anyone to stand up and shoulder the big issues. From reading this and other publications the issue of molestation in the Jewish world didn't come about yesterday. Therefore our Rabbinic heros of yesterday are just as likely to be villified over sticking their heads in the sand or being uninformed. We could say they just didn't know. We could say that the stigma of being one of those people meant that sweeping the issue under the rug was preferable. I don't know what was said or heard 20, 30, 40, or 50 or more years ago in the halls of 5 Beekman Street. I do know that perverts didn't spring up in 1960, 1970, 1980, etc. They were around when my father was a child and when his father was a child. They are not produced by the internet nor are they produced by magazines, television, radio, or innuendo. We can't ask Rav Moshe or Rav Yaakov what they would do in this situation. American has been bereft of gedolim, in and for the interest of klall Yisroel, for at least 2 or more decades. That's not meant to malign the quiet warriors who are aghast at the infantile and putrid actions of today's American idol-worshipped and their cadaver followers. There is a golden rule in leadership, he who holds the attention of the media, makes the rules. If the New York Times can minimize Rav Berenbaum, it's because the obituary writer asked everyone but the Mirrers about him. It's not lost, though. In my opinion it requires a reorientation away from the globalness of uselessness and back to the neighborhood Rav and shul. The tekufah of the Rosh Yeshivah has taken it's toll. It's now time to make a tekufah of the shtellar Rov and the shteibel Rebbe, before all is lost.
Chicago Askanei Tzeddakah said...
Dear Community Member;
The passuk in Hallel says, "The stone that the builders despised, was turned into a cornerstone". King David was referring to the way he was treated by his family. They looked at him as a dirty shepherd and despised him. But, Hashem saw in his actions a loving and caring shepherd who is devoted to his flock, was given the responsibility of leading the Jewish nation, and was turned into a cornerstone.
Pain and suffering refines a person to the level they need to be able to feel the pain of others. A child born with a a silver spoon in their mouth is rarely capable of feeling the pain of those society despises. Only one who was branded with the hot iron of tongue-waggers, and went through the furnaces of society's hatred can truly feel the pain of others. Only such a person is worthy of leadership and responsibility. Only such a person becomes a cornerstone of a community.
The Jewish nation was only able to accept the Torah, when they stood united as one. They broke through the barrier of material perception. Rich and poor, happy and hurt, strong and weak all came together for a common purpose. The purpose being, the acceptance of Hashem as Supreme Ruler.
There are too many people suffering the pain of abuse and being despised. There are too many people suffering in silence, while indifference reigns. When will those, who are unaffected to the problems of society wake up? When will we realize that in a split second we could be suffering from abuse, and be despised by the same society we currently are applauded by?
Nothing dear friend assures it won't be you and your family tomorrow.
The time to rebuild the lives of those who are despised is now. Community members who through their actions or inactions caused people to feel the pain of helplessness, must rebuild those lives. The road to accomplish this is a difficult one. We must all swallow our pride in order to do what is right.
Thank you,
7:05 PM, May 24, 2009
Every person sitting in that room in the Hilton that did not walk out, is an accomplice to this madman's agenda. Trample on the truth when it suits you, at any expense.
I don't care if they walked out or not. As long as they realize deep down down in their hearts that Perlow and his fellow Rosha Yeshiva/Gedolim/Askanim Vantzen will not protect their children and grandchildren.
Maybe then they won't renew their membership in this putrid organization. And hopefully never go to another one of their dinners or conventions. Sometimes it takes a little bit of time for things to settle in. I believe in due time that it will.
They "said kaddish" on the Jewish Observer. Hopefully, by next year there will be a kaddish for the Agudah.
My divine powers tell me that I'm in git hackta tzaros with the Chicago crowd. Hub a bissel rachmanus oif mir. The divine shtickel was written by Zweibel nisht by mir. Ich zug dir de emes.
Dear UOJ,
When are you going to release the audios of your conversation with Shmuel Kaminetzky where he said if Kolko has no accusers within the past few months, we must assume that he did teshuvah?
Please release the audio. I have a friend who refuses to beleive that he would say something like that because he is a "Gadol".
The New Haven for Charedi Molesters
Calling All Child Molesters:
Do you want to be safe and protected by a community?
Do you wish to find employers who will overlook your "issues" with children?
Would you like to live in a community where the Rabbonim are more concerned for you and fell that you are the victim while those pesky children are the perps?
Move to Ramat Bet Shemesh!
A kehilla with such shining stars as Elimelech Kornfeld, Chaim Z. Malinowitz, Mordechai Goldstein, Shlomo Perlstein and Shmuel Eidensohn.
These excuses for human beings will find you jobs (perhaps in one of their many schools) and protect you from accusing parents and children.
If you are under investigation don't worry! Ramat bet Shemesh will provide you with a home, parnassa and plenty of little children to feed your habit.
Don't delay move today! Special financial incentives for molesters with multiple convictions.
Who was your 3rd grade rebbe?
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/californiastatecases/b151252.pdf
THE PEOPLE ex rel. ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. DOUGLAS WEITZMAN et al., Defendants
The Fidelity complaint alleged the existence of an automobile insurance fraud ring led by attorneys Gary A. Laff, Bernard J. Berry, Jerry Widawski, Douglas W. Weitzman, and Barbara A. Reid, aided by a capper, Angel Sepulveda
Department of Insurance investigators had executed search warrants at the law offices of Mr. Laff, Mr. Widawski, and Mr. Weitzman
Now I get it. I have been long accused by Shmarya's following of being a chossid of Rush Limbaugh. In truth I tried listening to him almost 20 years ago but found him very middlebrow and kind of repetitive / boring. I did not understand however why SHmarya and company hate the man so much and why Obama is trying to pull a totalitarian stunt called the "Fairness Doctrine" to prohibit Rush from speaking on the radio.
This article from Left-Wing Salon Magazine provides some insight:
"Limbaugh lamented that President Obama will likely get away with destroying the economy, because “he’s being followed around by a bunch of sycophants who are going to die of anal poisoning”. Most notoriously, the talk radio king complained in January: “We are being told that we have to hope [Obama] succeeds, that we have to bend over, grab the ankles, bend over forward, backward, whichever, because his father was black, because this is the first black president.”
Limbaugh’s tuchis talk is so constant, it doesn’t seem to be just the joking around of a clown. (Is it mere coincidence that he got out of serving in Vietnam because of an anal cyst?) When he talks so vividly about being, well, taken by the president, there has to be a little psychosexual stuff going on. Anal rape jokes, in particular, are a running theme for Limbaugh. In fact, they’re one of his favorite ways of describing acquiescence or obedience. Note the recurring racial theme.
And those who do willingly submit get nothing but contempt from Limbaugh. A favored term of abuse for these is “butt boy.”
CNN’s Ed Henry is Obama’s “butt boy.”
NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, somewhat confusingly, is the “butt boy” to Rep. Barney Frank.
And if British Prime Minister Gordon Brown continues “slobbering” over Obama, he’ll “come down with anal poisoning and die from it.”
Back to Archie Bunker commentary.
Rush was mechaven to how the seforim learn "asher karcha baderech" that Amalekim are feigelach. They use the maaseh toyaevah to dehumanize and subjugate their victims. And as usual, Liberals hate it when the truth or shades of it are revealed, while screaming that they have the right to use any foul, unbecoming language themselves.
This is the headline of that very amusing article:
Rush Limbaugh’s race to the bottom
Bend over, grab your ankles and submit to a mind-blowing rundown of the radio bully’s obsessive butt talk!
By Gabriel Winant
The fact that many schools in Brooklyn are forced to close the week of Shavuos because of swine flu must be a divine message. Rav Perlow thinks it is in his power to prevent institutions from closing down because victims want to be made whole from the makka done to them. Hashem is showing that Rav Perlow divined the message wrong, He could find another makka to close down the schools. Rebbe, Rebbe its time to do teshuva for falsely declaring yourself a prophet, Hashem has many more tricks in his bag for you and your cohorts if you don't.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/25/business/economy/25foreclose.html?hp=&pagewanted=print
As job losses rise, growing numbers of American homeowners with once solid credit are falling behind on their mortgages, amplifying a wave of foreclosures.
In the latest phase of the nation’s real estate disaster, the locus of trouble has shifted from subprime loans — those extended to home buyers with troubled credit — to the far more numerous prime loans issued to those with decent financial histories.
With many economists anticipating that the unemployment rate will rise into the double digits from its current 8.9 percent, foreclosures are expected to accelerate. That could exacerbate bank losses, adding pressure to the financial system and the broader economy.
“We’re about to have a big problem,” said Morris A. Davis, a real estate expert at the University of Wisconsin. “Foreclosures were bad last year? It’s going to get worse.”
Economists refer to the current surge of foreclosures as the third wave, distinct from the initial spike when speculators gave up property because of plunging real estate prices, and the secondary shock, when borrowers’ introductory interest rates expired and were reset higher.
“We’re right in the middle of this third wave, and it’s intensifying,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com. “That loss of jobs and loss of overtime hours and being forced from a full-time to part-time job is resulting in defaults. They’re coast to coast.”
Those sliding into foreclosure today are more likely to be modest borrowers whose loans fit their income than the consumers of exotically lenient mortgages that formerly typified the crisis.
Economy.com expects that 60 percent of the mortgage defaults this year will be set off primarily by unemployment, up from 29 percent last year.
Last year, foreclosures expanded sharply as the economy shed an average of 256,000 jobs each month. Since then, the job market has deteriorated further, with an average of 665,000 jobs vanishing each month.
Each foreclosure costs lenders $50,000, according to data cited in a 2006 study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, so an additional two million foreclosures could mean $100 billion in lender losses.
The government’s recent stress tests of banks concluded that the nation’s 19 largest could be forced to write off as much as a fresh $600 billion by the end of 2010, bringing their total losses to $1 trillion. The Federal Reserve concluded that these banks needed to raise another $75 billion.
Many economists pronounce that assessment reasonable, while cautioning that it could become inadequate if foreclosures continue to accelerate.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/25/nyregion/25swine.html?hp
The number of people hospitalized with swine flu since the beginning of the outbreak in New York City at the end of April had risen to 94 on Sunday from 68 Saturday and 57 on Friday, health department officials said, suggesting that the rate of infection and hospitalization might be increasing.
In addition, at least four yeshivas in the greater Flatbush area of Brooklyn have voluntarily closed due to swine flu, according to Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who represents the district.
The schools were Magen David Yeshiva, Yeshiva Tiferes Yisroel, Masores Bais Yaakov and Yeshiva Shaarei Torah.
Each school had an unusually high absentee rate, and upon investigation this weekend, school officials discovered probable or confirmed swine flu cases.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/25/nyregion/25rudy.html
Does anyone know how to reach John McCluskey? He sounds like the kind of guy who should be working for me.
Children whose emotional well-being was crippled for life, and were cast aside like trash on the filthy streets of Brooklyn.In the future, this דור תהפוכות in which we live, will be infamously known as the generation that indifferently threw its own children to the wolves, to protect some higher principle, that has long since been forgotten.
How this ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש can be so apathetic when it comes to the safety of תינוקות של בית רבם, is a question best left to psychiatrists and psychoanalysts.
One thing is certain. This השקפה of refusing to safeguard children, cannot be legitimate דעת תורה, regardless of the supposed גדול who gives it his הסכמה.
In the fourth פרק of אבות, we are taught:
כל המחלל שם שמים בסתר נפרעין ממנו
בגלוי
Perhaps, with the help of הקב"ה and the World Wide Web בית דין of the Internet, that time of נפרעין ממנו בגלוי is upon us.
uoj, you sound so shocked about the boro parker rebbes comments in the city the other week, in ger you are brought up that way from the early age of alef bet class, that whatever the rebba says is holy and cannot be questioned, if you dare question then you are deemed an apikores. btw, its not just ger, every other chasidus like skver satmar and belz their all the same cult type organizations with a different clown costume,
all the best rebbe,
Harry Maryles, Chicago, Illinois said:
"Emes Ve-Emunah: A Forum for Orthodox Jewish thought on Halacha, Hashkafa, and sociological issues of our time.
Monday, May 25, 2009 Skokie - Back to the Future?
Today something wonderful happened at my alma mater that has not happened in a great many years. It is something that I did not expect to ever happen. Yeshiva University (YU) was invited onto the Hebrew Theological College (HTC) campus in the person of Rabbi Reuven Brand, Rosh Kollel of the YU Kollel.
He gave a public Shiur in the HTC Beis Hamedrash followed by Rabbi Yaakov Sussman an HTC Rosh Yeshiva who is a senior Rebbe there. Two brilliant minds talking Torah to the same people - both Baalei Batim and students. Each bringing with them their own perspective. Rabbi Sussman came to Chicago via the Lakewood’s Chicago Community Kollel and has Lakewood Hashkafos. Rabbi Brand is a YU product and has strong Centrist Hashkafos.
Unfortunately I did not attend. Frankly - it just plain slipped my mind. My grandchildren are here and I was totally preoccupied with them. No excuse, I know - but fact nevertheless.
In my view this was a landmark event of major significance. It shows a tremendous degree of tolerance and acceptance by a Yeshiva that has taken a huge ‘right turn’ over the last couple of decades. The thrust of the Yeshiva in those years was decidedly in a Charedi direction. To that end, the YU Hashkafa was unofficially looked upon as unacceptable. This is ironic considering its roots as a Religious Zionist Yeshiva and the makeup of the board. But so it was until today.
I believe it was in part for this reason that a YU Kollel was invited to be established in Chicago. And it was given strong financial support.
I was happy about their arrival here but a bit disappointed that we even needed it. And we did need it because of a void created by a Yeshiva that - though successful for many years - abandoned its roots. It should have been my alma mater that created this Kollel. But it didn’t. YU had to create it and send it here.
Perhaps this signals a change of direction. Not so much away from a Charedi perspective but towards a direction of more inclusiveness. Perhaps this is a harbinger for the much needed change that I believe the Yeshiva needs to have if it is to grow to fulfill its potential for greatness.
It would be very helpful, in my view if the YU Kollel were to merge with the Yeshiva. This would send a loud and clear message that HTC is not going to be a monolithicly Charedi yeshiva.
It will instead be an inclusive Yeshiva wherein both Charedi and Centrist Hashkafos can be found and promoted freely. The truth is that the seeds are already in place to begin fulfilling that potential. There is a wonderful and growing fully accredited college program there under the Centrist leadership of its Dean - Rabbi Michael Myers – a true Talmid Chacham, a strong religious Zionist, a brilliant thinker, and an expert in Navi who studied at the feet of Nechama Leibowitz,. The Rebbeim there fully represent moderate Charedi Hashkafos.
A YU type Kollel there will create a renewed image of Centrism - going back to roots it long ago abandoned. And it will do so without sacrificing the moderate Charedi Hashkafos represented by its Rebbeim.
It is a win/win for everyone. Will it happen? Can it happen? I don’t know. But it should."
Harry Maryles, Chicago, Illinois, wrote:
"Emes Ve-Emunah: A Forum for Orthodox Jewish thought on Halacha, Hashkafa, and sociological issues of our time.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
http://haemtza.blogspot.com/2009/05/disagreeing-with-my-rebbe.html>Disagreeing with my Rebbe
...One cannot fault the critics of Agudah either. They understand that the victims of abuse feel betrayed. Their hurt continues unabated. They see rabbinic leadership as once again missing an opportunity to do something concrete to help heal them.
But one must look at this objectively and see the merits of Agudah’s arguments too. One should not gloss over the words of encouragement offered by them even while they oppose the Markey Bill. They clearly would not stand in the way of better legislation that would address the victims needs toward the healing process. Here is the way Rabbi Perlow put it:
"A serious issue" has arisen in our community… "Individuals have been hurt and deserve redress, acknowledgment and empathy." There is a need for tikkun ha'ovar" - correcting the past - and for addressing the future, "creating means to guide against wrongdoing to children."
Not many people, Rabbi Perlow noted, know of the countless hours spent by the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudas Yisroel and the Vaad Roshei Yeshiva of Torah Umesorah over the past two years discussing the many complex facets, including the implications "for mosdos haTorah."
"No one really knows the sensitivity that went into this entire process," over the course of many meetings regarding "this painful parsha."
These do not sound like the words of an uncaring individual who is indifferent to the pain of abuse victims.
The reasons for their opposition are by now well known. The fear is that good Yeshivos could be destroyed because of old claims against them about incidents by people who are no longer involved with the school in any way. Entire faculties, administrations, and boards could have changed since then. The school would still be vulnerable. They feel this is an existential threat to the entirety of Jewish education. These are the very same arguments put forward by Rabbi Yakov Horowitz a champion of abuse victims rights!
It is unfair to dismiss these concerns out of hand as insincere. They are legitimate. But I nevertheless disagree because I have confidence – as does the RCA and other rabbinic leaders - that Yeshivos that do not deserve to be destroyed will not be. That is coupled with my sincere desire to see the victims get justice – any justice no matter how small. We have to start somewhere. This is the best we have now. It may be an unsatisfactory bill but it is better than nothing. And it will show the victims in a tangible way that the Torah world does care.
Rabbi Perlow also said the following:
What makes Agudas Yisroel special is that "it seeks the truth of Torah" and discerns it in the understanding of Gedolei Torah. That determination to divine what is proper for Klal Yisroel "resists even well-meaning daas baalei batim," Rabbi Perlow proclaimed, and certainly "the bloggers and the picketers, presumptuous promoters" of the notion that "they know better what is good for the Jews."
I think that this is a misreading of what the more responsible bloggers have been saying. True - there are some who seem to jump at every opportunity to bash rabbinic leaders who spend their lives dedicated to serving Klal Yisroel. But the more responsible bloggers are not saying "they know better what is good for the Jews." We are saying that we think that the victims deserve better than what they have received thus far and that - for a lack of an alternative - this is the way to start."
Fox 5 News reported that in 2005, motorists won 36% of the New York City parking tickets they challenged but in 2008 only were successful 16% of the time. The report opined that there is pressure on parking judges to find people guilty or, otherwise, they are not allotted many hours to work at the PVB. It added that parking judges rush motorists through their hearings and are obsessed with their guilty percentages and number of cases handled. Finally, the report noted that there were ten million parking tickets issued in 2008 resulting in close to $1 billion in revenue for the City.
Shmarya is attacking the Rabbanut for trying to circumvent an Israeli supreme court decision that gives legitimacy to Reform rabbis and anyone they convert. One good argument is that Reform conversions of Palestinians are a national security risk.
Shmarya's groupies are piling on by calling Charedim every dirty name under the sun and saying they adulterate Judaism and are worse than the Reform.
One sharp reader then asked what an authentic Jew is supposed to look like. Should he look like a Reform rabbi or like an orthodox rabbi?
A big jerk named Rabbi David Willig sticks his nose in to offer a very presumptuous and self-serving answer. He says "an authentic Jew should look like me". Willig who became a Conservative rabbi after learning by Rav Scheinberg wears a white kippa sruga. I call him a big jerk because he is a fraud who continuously claims to be orthodox while attacking the orthodox on blogs and in letters to newspapers. Willig figures that his attacks on the orthodox will carry more weight if the public is duped into thinking he is orthodox himself. He is a koyfer who has written that the chochmei hatalmud started distorting Torah Misinai and who does not disclose that he has been the rabbi for decades of Conservative shuls in Queens and Long Island.
LONDON (AP) -- Oxford University's first female Professor of Poetry resigned Monday after acknowledging she had helped publicize charges that her rival for the post had sexually harassed a former student.
Ruth Padel, the great-great-granddaughter of Charles Darwin, made history at Oxford when she became the first woman to be elected to the position of Professor of Poetry since the job was created in 1708.
The five-year post, which is usually awarded to prominent Oxonians, carries few formal responsibilities but packs a lot of prestige: Previous title holders include W. H. Auden and Seamus Heaney.
But Padel's election was marred by Nobel literature laureate Derek Walcott's decision to withdraw as a candidate from the election after anonymous letters attacking him were sent to Oxford academics.
British newspapers reported that the letters made reference to an allegation of sexual harassment made against the St. Lucia-born poet by a former student in the 1980s.
The papers said the letters included references from the book ''The Lecherous Professor: Sexual Harassment on Campus,'' by Billie Wright Dziech and Linda Weiner, which carries allegations against Walcott made by a Harvard freshman in 1981. At the time of his resignation, Walcott said he had never commented on the claims and would not do so now. But he called the anonymous letter campaign an attempt at character assassination.
Padel came under increasing pressure after The Sunday Times quoted e-mails it said she had sent to two unidentified journalists drawing their attention to the book. In a statement announcing her resignation, Padel acknowledged sending the e-mails. But she said she did not engage in a smear campaign, explaining that she had only passed on information already in the public domain.
''I acted in complete good faith, and would have been happy to lose to Derek, but I can see that people might interpret my actions otherwise,'' she said in the statement.
Oxford University, which has been embarrassed by the controversy, said it respected Padel's decision and that ''a period of reflection may now be in order.''
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/26/business/26auto.html?hp=&pagewanted=print
DETROIT — The decline of General Motors may be putting thousands of auto workers and managers out of work, but it will be putting a lot of lawyers to work.
How many lawyers will end up working on G.M.’s expected bankruptcy case still is not clear, but in legal circles, the joke is that there may not be enough experienced bankruptcy lawyers available to handle the filing.
In part, that is because so many top lawyers are already running up lots of billable hours working on the Chrysler bankruptcy case, while others have been hired by the government, which is financing the way through bankruptcy for Chrysler and, presumably, G.M.
It is not just lawyers who will be busy handling a G.M. bankruptcy filing, which would be perhaps the biggest and most-watched in legal history. Because of its size and scope, the bankruptcy would be the most complicated that any American company has gone through — more complex than those of Chrysler and Lehman Brothers, two other notable bankruptcy cases now making their way through the system.
The G.M. filing, which is expected to occur by June 1 as part of a restructuring orchestrated by the federal government, will generate so much economic activity — like hotel bookings, restaurant dining and expanded office rentals — that Detroit is hoping that the case will be filed in the local bankruptcy court.
That is unlikely, however, as bankruptcy cases are typically handled in New York or Delaware, where many business are incorporated and the bankruptcy courts have more experience handling complex filings.
For law firms, big bankruptcies can be very lucrative. Weil, Gotshal & Manges, the New York firm handling the Lehman case, recently sought approval for billings for $55 million for just three months’ work from the bankruptcy court in that case. Weil Gotshal is one of the firms that will represent G.M., almost certainly ensuring tens of millions more in fees to represent the automaker.
But it is not the only firm that will be working on the case. Already, hundreds of lawyers from almost every major firm that handles restructuring work have spent months preparing the reams of documents that would be required for a bankruptcy filing by G.M.
May 26, 2009
North Korea Fires More Rockets, Says U.S. Hostile
By REUTERS
Filed at 3:16 a.m. ET
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea, defiant in the face of international condemnation of its latest nuclear test, fired two short-range missiles off its east coast on Tuesday and accused UOJ and the United States of plotting against its government.
To Harry @ 5:30
Harry, you are mistaken for your diagnosis of why the financial situation at the Yeshiva is so poor. It has more to do with misplaced loyalty to a morally deficient administration member. When the Vice President of Administration openly aligned himself with Chicago’s “Special Asset” in order to continue an unwinnable argument, he alienated the donor base. He put his personal feelings above the best interest of the Yeshiva.
Simply put, the donors do not feel the confidence placing our hard earned donations to such a person. As long as he is in position to further strife in our community, we will no longer support the institution that enables him to do so.
http://www.app.com/article/20090521/NEWS03/905210390/1007/NEWS03/Bill+bars+some+sex+offenders+from+coaching
Some convicted sex offenders would be barred from participating in Little League, Girl Scouts and other youth organizations in New Jersey as part of a bill moving through the Legislature.
The state Assembly on Thursday approved a measure that would bar anybody convicted of a sex crime against a child from working for a range of youth groups, including social, cultural and athletic organizations.
In addition, if a known offender somehow gets a position with a group, they and the person who allowed them to join could face prison time, fines or both.
The measure does not apply to schools because those background checks and job restrictions are covered by separate laws.
http://chabad.info/index.php?url=article_en&id=14891
Then came the episode of Moshe Rubashkin refusing to appear at a Din Torah, to the point where Rabbi Schwei ruled that he cannot serve as Chairman of the Vaad Hakohol until he should appear.
Later was the episode of the Netsigim. The Netsigim were legally chosen 3 years ago. According to the rules of the Vaad Hakohol, the Netsigim have authority to request and to receive an accounting from the Vaad, to make sure everything is being run properly. Two years ago, after questions about the financial operation of the Vaad, the Netsigim asked the chairman of the Vaad to provide the books and records. He refused and, to avoid any attempt to get at the truth, he invited supporters who daven at several neighborhood shuls to his home and appointed them Netsigim. The members of the official Netsigim Executive Committee summoned the imposter Netsigim to a Din Torah, but they refused to appear.
Netsigim asked both Rabbi Osdoba and Rabbi Schwei to sign that they would accept the decisions of the Netsigim as a whole. I know that Rabbi Schwei signed the statement but Rabbi Osdoba refused to sign.
In view of this fact, I find it strange that Rabbi Osdoba would use this reason to justify his opposition to the elections.
Rabbi Osdoba writes that the second group of Netsigim sent a summons for a Din Torah to the first group.
The facts are exactly the opposite. When the official Netzigim found out that the chairman of the Vaad Hakohol was attempting to set up a new Executive Committee for the Netsigim in order to escape his responsibility to provide a financial report of the Vaad, they called the new group to a Din Torah. The new group consulted with Rabbi Osdoba (and Belsky?) who, incredibly, instructed them not to answer the summons.
It is therefore very strange that the official Netsigim have announced an election, and Moshe Rubashkin is trying to prevent the election through the “Netsigim” that he appointed, that Rabbi Osdoba should write that the official Netsigim are the ones being called to a Din Torah.
It is even stranger that the date of Rabbi Osdoba’s letter is 20 Iyar. The date that was set for the Din Torah between the two groups is 23 Iyar. Even according to Rabbi Osdoba that the elections should not be held as long as the Netsigim did not appear, how can the letter be dated before the date that the Din Torah was supposed to take place? Did Rabbi Osdoba make his decision before hearing the facts?
1,500 Crown Heights residents signed a request to the Rabbonim to resolve their disagreement in a Zabla. The request was addressed to both Rabbonim equally.
Immediately when he received it, Rabbi Schwei indicated that he was ready to participate in a Zabla at any time. Rabbi Osdoba has not agreed to participate.
Even in the last few days, Rabbi Schwei sent a letter to the Beis Yosef Beis Din in Boro Park, that has been designated by Rabbi Osdoba as a “neutral Beis Din,” indicating that he is ready to be judged by Zabla. To this moment, the Beis Din is waiting for a response from Rabbi Osdoba.
The spiritual condition of the neighborhood is getting worse and worse. The respect of Beis Din is trampled in the streets.
Since Rabbi Schwei has declared his readiness to submit to Zabla, and has signed a commitment to obey the ruling of Rabbis formed by Zabla, I make this call to Rabbi Osdoba: For the sake of this neighborhood, you must do what Halacha demands! And if Rabbi Osdoba cannot submit to a Zabla, better that he should resign than that he should drag the entire neighborhood into an unbearable spiritual state.
Rabbi Osdoba’s letter blames Rabbi Schwei for the split in the Beis Din. It is strange in view of what everyone knows that the current Vaad Hakohol are the ones who threw Rabbi Schwei out of the Beis Din, changed the locks, and stopped his salary.
Now they raise the complaint of “Do not split into groups!?”
(Anyway this is not a case of the prohibition of “Lo Sisgodedu.)
Who did Arthur vote for?
http://www.chabad.info/index.php?url=article_en&id=14902
Four years have past since the last elections for Vaad Hakohol and the Gabboim of 770 were held. Chabad.info presents several articles found in our archives relating to the last elections. In the previuos elections Moshe Rubashkin received the most votes (849 votes - 71% of those cast), Zvi Lang (718), Shmuel Plotkin (636), Leibel Nash (634), and Chanina Sperlin (621)
If he gets sentenced in the Kolko conspiracy, they should have an application for sale by then at the Apple online store that allows you harass people by sending electronic hazmonos by i-Phone.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1900859,00.html
Guess Who's Calling? Prison Cell-Phone Use a Growing Problem
By TOM MCNICHOL
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
State and federal prisons across the country are grappling with what officials say is an epidemic of cell-phone use among inmates.
"The problem has quickly gotten out of control nationwide," says Republican Congressman Kevin Brady of Texas, who in January introduced a House bill that would permit the jamming of cell-phone signals within prison walls. "Criminals are using cell phones even from death row to threaten victims and harass lawmakers. Inmates are making literally thousands of calls from prison."
In Texas, prison officials seized 549 cell phones from inmates in the first four months of this year alone. In California, a prison staff member admitted to earning more than $100,000 last year by selling cell phones to inmates. Prisons in Maryland, Virginia, California and Pennsylvania are using specially trained dogs to sniff out phones hidden inside cells and squirreled away in common areas. Florida and Maryland have instituted tougher penalties for anyone who provides a cell phone to an inmate, and other states are planning to follow suit.
In many prisons, cell phones have become as valuable as drugs, if not more so. In a recent sting operation in Texas, an undercover officer was offered $200 by a prisoner for a cell phone and only $50 for heroin. California officials say inmates currently fork over between $100 and $400 to obtain a smuggled cell phone. It's easy to understand why cell phones command such a premium. Unlike the one-time sale of drugs, an inmate can rent out the same phone dozens of times to fellow inmates.
Inmates sometimes use cell phones to keep in touch with friends and family on the outside — collect calls made from inside prison facilities are notoriously expensive. But officials say inevitably cell phones are also being used to orchestrate crimes, harass witnesses, organize retaliation against other inmates and even order hits. A Baltimore man is accused of using a cell phone from prison to order an accomplice to murder a witness. In March, the accused man's cell was raided and guards found another phone.
ITT's Intelligence and Information Warfare division is currently hawking a system called Cell Hound that detects all active cell phones within a prison facility and then displays the location on a computer monitor. The monitoring device can also be used to gather intelligence on other illegal activity among inmates. Last month, a Maryland investigation that included wiretaps on prison cell phones resulted in drug and weapons charges for two dozen people, including four state prison officers.
But many prison officials believe the only surefire way to combat the problem is to jam cell-phone signals within prison walls. Yet any jammer for the slammer would run afoul of the Communications Act of 1934, which prohibits intentional interference with radio signals. Brady's proposed bill (and a companion bill in the Senate) would amend the act to permit targeted interference of mobile-phone service within prisons, while ensuring that emergency calls or other commercial signals near the prison aren't affected. Brady says he hopes Congress will pass the bill by the end of the year.
"I really identify personally with this problem," says Brady. "My father was an attorney in a small town and was shot to death in a courtroom when I was 12. Just the thought of someone like Dad's killer being able to harass a family on a cell phone seems outrageous."
Dear Agudath Israel...
Kolko is sick.
Lipa Margolis is EVIL!!
The Agudah aided, abetted, and covered up. The Klal needs an organization like the Agudah, but those in charge now have not lived up to the responsibility of representing Klal Yisroel. More and more poshutah baal haabatim like me are outraged and we will never give you another penny. You will either take responsibility and change or you will fade away. The choice is yours.
According to the CDC, about 36,000 Americans die every year from flu-related problems. The swine flu is a lighter strain then the regular yearly flu.
Annual influenza epidemics are estimated to affect 5–15% of the global population, resulting in severe illness in 3–5 million patients and causing 250,000–500,000 deaths worldwide. The worldwide population is over 6.5 billion. In industrialized countries severe illness and deaths occur mainly in the high-risk populations of infants, the elderly, and chronically ill patients.
The max the flu causes for healthy people is a week or two of feeling sick, but child molestation puts the victims in lifelong duress and pain.
Why in heavens name would we close down an institution for a light strain of the flu, when we wouldn't do the same for healthy and young people who would be destroyed for life from child molestation.
http://www.examiner.com/x-9090-NY-Atheism--Skepticism-Examiner~y2009m5d25-Catholic-leaders-downplaying-abuse
Bill Donohue of the Catholic League is making excuses for rapists & abusers because they belong to his gang. It’s despicable, revealing what a horrible human being he is.
Instead of condemning decades of atrocities, he condemns the media for, as he claims, blowing this out of proportion:
"Reuters reports “Irish Priests Beat, Raped Children,” yet the report does not justify this wild & irresponsible claim. Four types of abuse are noted: physical, sexual, neglect & emotional. Not nice, but hardly draconian, especially given the time line: 82% of the incidents took place before 1970. As the New York Times noted, “many are now more than 70 years old.” And corporal punishment was not exactly unknown during these times, doubly true when dealing with miscreants.
Regarding sexual abuse, “kissing” & non-contact including “sex talk” make the grade as sexual abuse. Moreover, 33% of cases involved “inappropriate fondling & contact.” None of this is defensible, but none of it qualifies as rape. Rape, on the other hand, constituted 12% of cases. As for “Irish Priests” were responsible, some of the abuse was carried out by lay persons, much of it was done by Brothers, and about 12% of abusers were priests (most of whom were not rapists).
The Irish report is conflating minor abuse with serious ones, thus demeaning the latter. When most people hear abuse, they don't think being slapped, being ignored or having someone stare at you in the shower. They think rape.
By cheapening rape, the report demeans the big victims. But of course there is a huge market for distortions when the accused is the Catholic Church."
What’s completely disgraceful is how Donohue treats decades of covered up abuse as if these are just a few widely spaced, isolated incidents that could happen anywhere.
Given Donohue’s Catholicism, I can certainly understand how he could think child abuse is a regular occurrance. But for those of us who aren’t sexual deviants, this is not routine & isn't acceptable EVER! Believe it or not, Bill, there are reform schools that have no history of abusing children AT ALL!
Donohue reveals his true character by opting to condemn the messengers while making excuses for abusers. And why does he make excuses? Because they’re Catholic like him. Somehow I doubt Donohue would be quick to defend Muslim abusers. Any conpassionate, decent human being who happens to be Catholic would condemn abusers as betraying everything Catholics stand for. Bill, on the other hand can’t.
Possibly the most absurd argument Donohue makes is where he passionately declares how most rape we now know was covered up took place before 1970. Ohhhh! That’s different. As everyone knows, rape becomes more acceptable the further back you go. Give me a break! Who gives a sh*t when rape occurred? What’s important is that it happened & was covered up, which only ensured it would happen again. And we now know for a fact that rape continued for many, many years.
Donohue even blames the victims themselves:
"More than 30,000 children, most of them delinquents, passed through Ireland’s Catholic institutions from the 1920s-1980s."
I can’t fathom why he’d feel the need to include “delinquents” if not to suggest they somehow deserved it.
Donohue isn’t the only Catholic nutcase who’s disgraceful. The head of the Catholic Church in England & Wales, Archbishop Vincent Nichol had the audacity to praise abusers’ “courage” to “face facts from their past, which they’d rather not.”
This sort of backwards thinking reminds me of Rabbi Avi Shafran, who criticized Capt. Sully Sullenberger for being not as heroic as the hype while praising Bernard Madoff for “courage” in owning up to his crimes.
That the Catholic Church is still protecting monsters instead of throwing them under the bus to prevent them from striking again even now is sobering to say the least.
http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2009/05/this-week-in-holy-crimes_25.html
This Week In Holy Crimes
Over the last seven days...
Florida: Imam Yasser Mohamed Shahade arrested for sexual assault of 13 year-old boy.
Israel: Rabbi Elior Noam Hen charged with ritualistic burning and cutting of toddlers because they were "possessed by the devil." One child is in a permanent vegetative state. Rabbi Hen has fled to Brazil, who has agreed to extradite him back to Israel.
Colorado: Pastor Don Armstrong charged with 20 felony fraud counts for stealing $300K from his congregation. Bonus: Armstrong started his church because his old one supported gay marriage and appointed gay clergy.
Florida: Pastor Garry Souffrant, his wife and his brother all charged with 59 felony counts for laundering $7M in cocaine profits and for mortgage fraud. Bonus: Pastor Souffrant bought 12 houses and a Rolls Royce Phantom with his loot.
Alabama: Pastor Billy Paul Masters charged with sexual abuse of child under 12. Bonus: Masters was on probation after spending six years in prison for the same crime.
Tennessee: Pastor Michael James charged with statutory rape.
Arkansas: Pastor Jason William Dubwig sentenced to five years in prison for incest with his adopted daughter.
New York: Pastor Merton Parks pleads guilty to possession of child pornography.
California: Pastor Daniel John Pedroza pleads guilty to unlawful sex with a minor, penetrating a minor with a foreign object.
Florida: Pastor Darrell Gilyard pleads guilty to lewd conduct and lewd molestation for sending explicit text messages and fondling 14 year-old girls.
This week's winner:
Ireland: The Commission To Inquire Into Child Abuse releases a 3000-page, €70M report detailing the sexual and physical abuse of over 2500 boys at the hands of priests and nuns at numerous Catholic schools. Among the atrocities are naked beatings, rape, and gang rape. Only a few of cases will result in hearings for criminal charges as the Commission has been "overwhelmed past its capacities" to prosecute.
Previous installments of This Week In Holy Crimes are here.
The only thing David Willig is good for is his intimate knowledge of Leib Tropper from their time together at Torah Or that he uses to bash Tropper all over the blogosphere.
This garbage needs to be debunked (no pun intended). NYC Comptroller "Buckwheat" Thompson mind you plans on being the next Black mayor of NYC and is connected with Moshe Rubashkin and Shea Hecht.
http://www.comptroller.nyc.gov/press/2009_releases/pr09-05-131.shtm
A new analysis by the New York City comptroller’s office has concluded that the state’s economy would gain up to $210 million over the next three years if same-sex marriage becomes legal.
(But, at the same time, the analysis also determined that the cost to businesses of providing benefits like health insurance to "married" same-sex couples would be about $69 million over three years.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toqWxN0laP4&feature=player_embedded
UOJ will no doubt find this video I helped Ohel produce to be the biggest evidence yet of my hypocrisy.
Also featured in the video is Boro Park's Dr. Susan Schulman who told the Village Voice in 1996 that she always follows advice of rabbonim on molesters even if it means she will be arrested.
http://www.theawarenesscenter.org/Rabbi-Principal.html
And who said in a speech to the RCA that she knows about a rabbi who impregnated a learning disabled girl and is still in chinuch.
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090523/NEWS/905230347&template=printart
A speeding ticket issued to the wife of a local rabbi who was at the center of a 2005 ticket-fixing scandal was dismissed in March, after the municipal prosecutor told a judge the issuing officer said his radar had malfunctioned.
But the officer denies that conversation ever took place, and the Police Department says there is no documentation of a radar malfunction.
A motion has been filed in Municipal Court by another prosecutor to reconsider the dismissed ticket, issued by Patrolman David Silberstein to Roslyn Feiner, 46, of Fourteenth Street about 8:30 a.m. Feb. 5.
Roslyn Feiner is the wife of Rabbi Usher Z. Feiner, 48, a police chaplain involved in a ticket-fixing scandal that resulted in strong reprimands from the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.
She was cited for traveling 17 mph over a 35 mph speed limit and issued a second summons for failure to present her driver's license.
Roslyn Feiner also goes by Roslyn Ostreicher, the name on her driver's license.
Silberstein denies he spoke to the prosecutor about Feiner's case.
At the start the court session, Usher Feiner approached Silberstein in court and asked if they could negotiate the charges, sources said. Silberstein agreed to meet with Feiner and the prosecutor, but no meeting took place.
After the session, Silberstein noticed the Feiners had left and found the dismissed ticket in the pile of completed cases.
Four other drivers received speeding summonses in a seven-day period using the same radar unit used in Feiner's case. All four pleaded guilty, said Janet Wolchko, Lakewood municipal court administrator.
Lt. William Addison issued a statement denying the radar malfunction claim.
"The Lakewood Police Department does not have any document which indicates a malfunction of the radar unit" used while issuing Roslyn Feiner's summons, Addison said in a police document.
Jones has since, for unrelated and undisclosed reasons, left the firm of Rothstein, Mandell, Strohm, Must and Halm, said Valter H. Must of the firm. Several of the firm's members have been appointed to serve as municipal prosecutors here.
"I am handling this now," Must said in a telephone interview, referring to questions about the dismissed ticket as "garbage."
Must said he had not spoken to Jones about the summons.
"I have no comment" about the ticket dismissal, Must said.
Attempts to reach the Feiners by telephone or at their home were unsuccessful.
Police Chief Robert C. Lawson said an internal affairs investigation into the matter found no wrongdoing on the part of the police force.
Committeeman Meir Lichtenstein, the Township Committee liaison to the Municipal Court and Police Department, said he was not able to speak about the matter as "it is an open matter before the court now."
In 2005, an investigation was conducted by the county Prosecutor's Office after Usher Feiner received three summonses from Patrolman Ralph Hatt, who later discovered they were dismissed on a request by Patrolman Frank Work, now a sergeant.
The matter was investigated by the Police Department and the Prosecutor's Office. John J. Mercun, chief assistant Ocean County prosecutor at the time, found no criminality in Work's actions and said he was offering a professional courtesy to Feiner, based on his role as a police chaplain. In Lakewood, police chaplains have police credentials and act as liaisons between the police and the community.
The tickets were reinstated. Ultimately, they were heard in a conflict court in Brick. Feiner pleaded guilty to obstructing traffic with his car, a second summons was downgraded to a no-points violation and a parking ticket was dismissed.
That's when Willig isn't busy getting arrested at rallies in Manhattan as a social-activist protester.
California Supreme Court Upholds Ban on Same-Sex Marriage
New York Times - 20 minutes ago
By JOHN SCHWARTZ
The California Supreme Court upheld a ban on same-sex marriage today, ratifying a decision made by voters last year that runs counter to a growing trend of states allowing the practice.
.....and certainly "the bloggers and the picketers, presumptuous promoters" of the notion that "they know better what is good for the Jews."Concerning these 'presumptuous promoters' knowing 'what is good for the Jews,' it would appear that Rav Perlow cannot be referring to 'what is good' for innocent young Jewish victims of sexual molestation.
For, it does not take a יורה יורה ידין ידין to know that our protecting innocent children from sexual predators is good for them, while our remaining in a state of perpetual denial about the problem, is bad for them.
In the event that Agudah has any of its stooges or lackeys reading this site, let them plainly understand that the safety of תינוקות של בית רבן is a priority of the greatest magnitude, regardless of what any פוסק says.
Let them as well realize, that this is a קלא דלא פסיק- and, it's not going to go away any time soon, even though some גברא רבה tells us that everything is all right.
One last thing. Did anyone the likes of the incomparable רב משה פיינשטיין זצ"ל, ever publicly assert his authority over anyone, by implying that only he knew what was good for the Jews?
For those of us old enough to remember, Agudah has a very hard act to follow, and, they don't seem to be doing very well.
Filed at 4:53 p.m. ET
BENSALEM, Pa. (AP) -- Fire department officials say a 35-ton silo collapsed and crashed through the roof of a suburban Philadelphia business.
No injuries have been reported.
Investigators say the collapse severely damaged the building, which may have to be demolished. They say it also ruptured gas and water lines inside the building.
The cause of the collapse is under investigation.
Now Shmarya thinks it's a big deal that frum Jews want to be buried in a cemetery next to other frum Jews.
Halachic works are brimming with discussions of the importance of this.
What's next for Shmarya?
"BREAKING! Haredim want to daven in shul that has a Shomer Shabbos membership."
It must be a slow news day for Shmarya that he has to scratch the bottom of the barrel to come up with this nonsense. The guy will probably feel faint if a day goes by that he can't bash the orthodox.
From: The Agudah Dinner Silver Lining Dept.
Zwiebel had on a new suit/tie/hat.
On-Deck: Avi (Racheim Madoff)Shafran.
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