Sunday, March 21, 2010

One Lying Gentile + One Lying Jew = 2 Criminals!















By SHAWN POGATCHNIK, Associated Press Writer DUBLIN March 20,2010

– Pope Benedict XVI addresses Ireland on Saturday in a letter apologizing for the sex abuse scandal here — a message being watched closely by Catholics from Boston to Berlin to see if it also acknowledges decades of Vatican-approved cover-ups.

The church is only beginning to come to terms with decades of child abuse in its parishes and schools. The scandals first emerged in Canada and Australia in the 1980s, followed by Ireland in the 1990s, the United States this decade and, in recent months, Benedict's German homeland.

Victims' rights activists say that to begin mending the church's battered image, Benedict's message — his first pastoral letter on child abuse in the church — must break his silence on the role of the Catholic hierarchy in shielding pedophile clergy from prosecution.

That includes abuses committed decades ago under the pope's watch, when he was Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger of Munich, as well as the pontiff's role in hushing up the scandals.

As leader of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Ratzinger was responsible for a 2001 Vatican edict that instructed bishops to report all cases of child abuse to Vatican authorities under strict secrecy; it made no mention of reporting crimes to police.

"Is it not time for Pope Benedict XVI himself to acknowledge his share of responsibility?" said the Rev. Hans Kung, a Swiss priest and dissident Catholic theologian.

"Honesty demands that Joseph Ratzinger himself, the man who for decades has been principally responsible for the worldwide cover-up, at last pronounce his own mea culpa," Kung said.

Benedict, who served as archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982, has yet to speak about the hundreds of abuse cases emerging since January in Germany.

These include the Rev. Peter Hullermann, who was already suspected of abusing boys in the western German city of Essen when Ratzinger approved his transfer to Munich for treatment in 1980.

There, Hullermann was allowed contact with children almost immediately after his therapy began. He was again accused of molesting boys and was convicted in 1986 of sexual abuse. He was suspended this week for ignoring a 2008 church order not to work with youths.

Dirk Taenzler, director of the Federation for German Catholic Youth, said his members were appalled by the revelations of abuse in church-run schools and choirs — and wondered why the pope had yet to address his fellow Germans.

"Everyone is suffering from the church's bad image," Taenzler said. "It is an issue in every congregation and everyone is trying to cope."

Benedict's successor in Munich, Archbishop Reinhard Marx, said the pope's letter to Ireland "will of course affect us. The pope always speaks for everyone. It is not ... for specific groups or countries. That word will also be important for us."

Marx said the pope should not be expected to take responsibility for abuses committed by individual priests. "We expect the pope to take a stand on everything every time, but we are responsible for what happens here," he said.

In the United States, where several dioceses have been driven to bankruptcy amid abuse lawsuits, activists called on the pope to be candid about his own failings — and for bishops to be held accountable.

"So far the church hierarchy has been very short on accountability. They've had to be pushed to come clean about their responsibility for anything," said Dan Bartley, president of Voice of the Faithful, a Catholic lay group that lobbies for reform within the church. "He needs to call for any bishops involved in the Irish crisis to resign. But unfortunately we're not expecting that."

Ray Flynn, former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, said the pope has been slow to speak publicly about the church's abuse crisis because he lacks media savvy, not because he wants to stonewall critics or doesn't care about victims. "He is a very quiet, unassuming, non-pretentious man," Flynn said.

"He's got to be transparent, forthcoming, right out front and point the finger where the blame is," he added. "I think the truth will set you free, and that's what people want."

No country has been harder hit by the child-abuse scandals than Ireland, a nation of 4 million that has paid out more than $1 billion to some 13,000 victims. Victims' advocates say they are tired of hearing church apologies that contain no acknowledgment of how bishops under Vatican direction let child molesters operate with impunity.

"What we probably will get — I hope I'm wrong — are a lot of expressions of regret and sorrow and apology about the horrors of child abuse in the past. I've heard that so often now," said Marie Collins, one of Ireland's most prominent campaigners for victims' rights.

"I want to hear apologies for the actions of the church hierarchy."

Collins, 63, was repeatedly raped by a Dublin priest, Paul McGennis, while in a children's hospital in 1960. Irish bishops knew at the time about McGennis' pedophilia — even confiscating his collection of nude photos of children — but didn't bar him from the priesthood until 1997, shortly before his conviction for abusing Collins and another girl.

Such cover-ups have undermined much of the Irish hierarchy including its leader, Cardinal Sean Brady.

On St. Patrick's Day, Brady apologized for his failure to tell police about evidence he gathered in 1975 from two altar boys molested by the Rev. Brendan Smyth. Smyth kept abusing children until he was finally convicted in 1994. The scandal triggered the collapse of the Irish government.

Three Irish government-ordered investigations from 2005 to 2009 documented the abuse of thousands of Irish children by priests in their parishes and by nuns and brothers in boarding schools and orphanages. Irish bishops did not report a single case to police until 1996 after victims began to sue the church.

Some church scholars say Benedict has sought to encourage a church crackdown on abusers and are hopeful that Saturday's message might offer a fresh start for the church worldwide.

"If we do take serious and proper steps, the house can be cleaned and the church will improve for it," said the Rev. John Wauck, a commentator on Vatican affairs.

"I think that's something to look forward to with hope. I imagine the letter will be quite hopeful and forward-looking," Wauck said.

76 comments:

  1. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/world/europe/21pope.html?hpw

    ... the church and the police in Ireland had systematically colluded in covering up decades of sexual abuse by priests in Dublin.

    ReplyDelete
  2. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/world/europe/21pope.html?hpw

    Pope Offers Apology, Not Penalty, for Sex Abuse Scandal

    ... the pope did not require that Roman Catholic leaders be disciplined for past mistakes as some victims were hoping, nor did he clarify what critics see as contradictory Vatican rules that they fear allow abuse to continue unpunished.

    ReplyDelete
  3. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/world/europe/21pope.html?hpw

    ... revelations that he took part in a church investigation in 1975 in which two children were forced to sign secrecy oaths.

    ReplyDelete
  4. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/world/europe/21pope.html?hpw

    “I find that deceitful because we know that this is a global and systemic problem in the global church,” said Colm O’Gorman, the co-founder of a victims’ group who said he was sexually abused by a priest as a teenager in Ireland in the early ’80s. “It’s all about protecting the institution and, above all, its wealth.”

    ReplyDelete
  5. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/world/europe/21pope.html?hpw

    The letter also remained tightly focused on Ireland — to the dismay of many victims’ groups around the world — even as the crisis has widened to include Catholics in Austria, the Netherlands and Germany.

    ReplyDelete
  6. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/world/europe/21pope.html?hpw

    In recent years, the Catholic Church in the United States has paid over $2 billion in abuse settlements. In Ireland, some parishes have said they may have to take up a Sunday collection to help fund abuse settlements.

    ReplyDelete
  7. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/world/europe/21pope.html?hpw

    “The greatest contribution the pope could have made was to stop the abuse of victims, and he’s not even done that,”

    ReplyDelete
  8. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/world/europe/21pope.html?pagewanted=2&hpw

    In a statement, the group said the “most glaring” omission in the letter was Benedict’s “failure to acknowledge his own culpability,” adding that, “he pointedly does not include himself in his criticism of church leaders.”

    ReplyDelete
  9. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/world/europe/21pope.html?pagewanted=2&hpw

    In a news conference on Saturday, the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, defended the pope’s statements

    ReplyDelete
  10. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/world/europe/21pope.html?pagewanted=2&hpw

    In the case in Germany in 1980 that made headlines recently, Benedict, then Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger, allowed a priest who was accused of molesting boys to move to Munich for therapy. The diocese he oversaw did not notify civil authorities of the sexual abuse allegations.

    ReplyDelete
  11. JWB says:

    2)
    http://www.pioneerlocal.com/evanston/news/2079829,evanston-child-porn-charges-022410-s1.article
    Evanston man charged in child-porn case
    March 2, 2010
    By BOB SEIDENBERG bseidenberg@pioneerlocal.com
    A federal magistrate ruled Tuesday that an Evanston man should remain in custody on charges of transporting child pornography after hundreds of images of minors engaged in sexually complicit conduct were linked to a desktop computer in his south Evanston residence.

    Federal agents executed a search warrant Feb. 24 in what appeared to be a home office at 720 Oakton St., Apt. 4C. The agents found files that appeared to contain images and videos of children, including prepubescent minors, engaged in sexually explicit conduct, attorneys for the U.S. Attorney's Office said in their complaint.

    Richard Mann, 53, also known as "Rick Mann," was charged with transporting child pornography, announced Patrick J. Fitzgerald, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert D. Grant, special agent in charge of the Chicago office of the FBI.

    Mann appeared Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys in federal court and was ordered to remain in custody, having failed to meet conditions for release, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher McFadden.

    Religious school links
    Mann maintains a public Web site that identifies him as an actor, voice-over artist, musician and music instructor, who works in area religious schools, U.S. Attorneys said in their release. The Web site claims current or past connections to Jewish congregations in Buffalo Grove, Highland Park, Evanston, Northbrook and Chicago.

    The charges contain no allegations that Mann engaged in any sexual conduct with minors, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

    Transporting child pornography carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 5 years in prison and maximum penalty of 20 years, as well as a maximum fine of $250,000.

    Calls to Mann's residence seeking comment Feb. 24 were forwarded to an automatic messaging system.

    Mann's attorney could not be reached for comment late Tuesday.

    According to the complaint, Mann, using a screen name, "Spaniell," was logged into a "friends list" of other network users who were permitted to access a user's profile and shared files.

    In December, Mann, as "Spaniell," became friends with an undercover FBI special agent who was logged in under the screen name "UCO." As such, UCO -- by using the undercover identity -- was able to access files from the shared directories on Spaniell's computer, according to the complaint.

    UCO was able to download about the 196 files directly from Spaniell's computer.

    The FBI verified that the majority of 196 files downloaded depicted child pornography.

    Checked directories
    UCO logged into the network and browsed Spaniell's shared directories on two other occasions, Feb. 1 and Feb. 5, according to the complaint, and found images and video files of child pornography.

    Some of the files were identified as being part of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children "Dalmatian" series of identified victims, the U.S. Attorneys said.

    Agents were then able to link the files to Spaniell's computer, using a public software program to identify Mann's computer's Internet Protocol, or IP, address, the complaint said, and verifying Mann as the computer user with Comcast.

    In the search Feb. 24, agents also found multiple digital video discs and compact discs at Mann's residence.

    A preliminary review of five of the discs contained hundreds of images and videos of minors, the complaint alleged, including adult males engaged in sexually explicit conduct with prepubescent boys.

    "The children in these images are revictimized each time the images are traded," said McFadden. "Transportation of child pornography is a serious crime."

    ReplyDelete
  12. JWB says:

    Pedophile Richard Mann, 53, also known as "Rick Mann" arrested. He has current or past connections to Jewish congregations in Buffalo Grove, Highland Park, Evanston, Northbrook and Chicago.

    1)
    http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/wgntv-jewish-schools-child-porn-charges-feb26,0,574127.story
    Jewish schools notify parents about child porn charges
    by Manya A. Brachear
    WGN News
    February 26, 2010
    CHICAGO
    Administrators of Chicago Jewish Day School, Solomon Schechter Day School of Metropolitan Chicago and Congregation Sinai immediately notified families this week that a teacher had been arrested on charges of child pornography.

    Richard Mann, 53 of Evanston, was charged Wednesday with transporting child pornography over his computer. Mann was arrested after federal agents searched his home and allegedly found images stored on his computer of children engaged in sex.

    Mann served as a part-time music teacher at Chicago Jewish Day School in Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood and Congregation Sinai in Chicago's Gold Coast. He worked as a substitute teacher on Solomon Schechter campuses in Northbrook and Skokie.

    The schools' leaders said a letter went out to families as soon as they found out about the arrest. All three institutions assured families that there was no evidence of misconduct with students.

    "We felt it was important rather than people hearing in dribs and drabs to clarify as quickly as possible what was happening," said Rabbi Michael Zedek of Congregation Emanuel, where the Chicago Jewish Day School shares space.

    Since a sex abuse crisis rocked the Roman Catholic Church 10 years ago, victims advocates have accused parochial schools of concealing misconduct, heightening scrutiny of how they publicize allegations and protect children.

    In addition to doing background and reference checks on all employees, Chicago Jewish Day School administrators take additional precautions, regularly distributing pictures of sex offenders in the surrounding neighborhood to the building's security guards.

    ReplyDelete
  13. JWB says:

    http://chicago.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel10/cg022410.htm

    Department of Justice Press Release

    For Immediate Release
    February 24, 2010 United States Attorney's Office
    Northern District of Illinois
    Contact: (312) 353-5300
    Evanston Man Charged with Transporting Child Pornography

    CHICAGO—An Evanston man was arrested and charged today with transporting child pornography via computer after federal agents searched his home and found images of alleged child pornography on a computer in his residence. The defendant, Richard Mann, also known as “Rick Mann,” 53, of Evanston, was charged in a criminal complaint, announced Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

    Mann maintains a public website that identifies him as an actor, voice-over artist, musician and music instructor, who works in area religious schools. The charges contain no allegations that he engaged in any sexual conduct with minors. He appeared this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys in U.S. District Court and was ordered to remain in federal custody pending a detention hearing at 2:30 p.m. on Friday.

    According to the complaint affidavit, Mann used the screen name “Spaniell,” to share files of child pornography with “friends” on a peer-to-peer network. An undercover FBI agent who was “friends” with Spaniell on the network allegedly browsed Spaniell’s shared directories and observed files containing alleged child pornography on Dec. 23, 2009, and again on Feb. 1 and 5, 2010. Some of the files were identified as being part of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) “Dalmatian” series of identified victims.

    FBI agents subsequently linked the shared files to an Internet account at Mann’s address, according to the affidavit. A preliminary review of a desktop computer found during the search of his residence today allegedly showed 24 gigabytes of files that contained child pornography. In addition, agents found multiple DVDs and CDs that contained at least hundreds of images and videos of minors, including adult men engaged in sexually explicit conduct with prepubescent boys, the complaint alleges.

    The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher McFadden.

    Transporting child pornography carries a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. Upon conviction, the Court, however, would determine a reasonable sentence to impose considering the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

    The public is reminded that a complaint contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

    ReplyDelete
  14. http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/03/court_documents_show_solomon_d.html

    Papers filed by a federal trustee this month in connection with Dwek’s ongoing bankruptcy case say the former real estate mogul secretly stashed as much as $1 million with Kantrowitz to hide it from authorities should they ever come looking for him. At the same time, the trustee disclosed Dwek was laundering cash as far back as 2002 — much earlier than previous accounts indicated. Dwek was 29 at the time.

    According to a 25-page filing that the trustee wrote and Dwek swore was true, Dwek was bribing politicians well before he became an FBI informant.

    The trustee also wrote that Kantrowitz had been a key partner in a sweeping Ponzi operation, which all came crashing down in May 2006, when Dwek was arrested for a $50 million check fraud. Kantrowitz denies any wrongdoing.

    The trustee’s document was a verified, or sworn, objection to Kantrowitz’s own filing seeking dismissal of portions of the Dwek bankruptcy case involving properties held in part by Dwek and Kantrowitz.

    The allegations, many coming to light for the first time, underscore what has slowly emerged from earlier bankruptcy court filings, lawsuits, depositions and testimony in court: that since leaving rabbinical college at the age of 19, Dwek drifted from one scheme to another, with little concern for the consequences.

    "He was a con man par excellence; a thief of first rank," defense attorney Brian J. Neary told jurors during the trial of Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini, who was convicted of taking bribes from Dwek.

    Among the payments cited was a $50,000 cash contribution to former Ocean Township mayor Terrance Weldon, who would later plead guilty to extortion in October 2002 in connection with a different development deal.

    According to Stanziale, Dwek was having difficulty obtaining the necessary approvals for the project, known as Ocean Independent Living LLC. Dwek did not know Weldon, the trustee said, but Kantrowitz did and arranged an introduction.

    "Weldon indicated that in exchange for a $50,000 contribution, he would get Dwek the necessary approvals," Stanziale noted in his March 8 filing. The money, he said, came out of the cash Kantrowitz was holding for Dwek.

    "A week later, Weldon thanked Dwek for the payment and confirmed he would help. Dwek obtained the approvals, developed and then sold the Independent property for significant profit," Stanziale wrote in the filing. Kantrowitz received 25 percent of the profits plus a 10 percent brokerage fee, according to the filing.

    ReplyDelete
  15. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/03/21/world/AP-EU-Iceland-Volcano.html

    Hundreds Evacuated as Volcano Erupts in Iceland

    ReplyDelete
  16. http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/03/sex-offender-databases/

    Georgia’s Supreme Court is upholding the government’s right to put non-sex offenders on the state’s sex-offender registry, highlighting a little-noticed (but growing) nationwide practice.

    Atlanta criminal defense attorney Ann Marie Fitz estimated that perhaps thousands of convicts convicted of non-sexual crimes have been placed in sex-offender databases. Fitz represents a convict who was charged with false imprisonment when he was 18 for briefly detaining a 17-year-old girl during a soured drug deal. He unsuccessfully challenged his mandatory, lifelong sex-offender listing to the Georgia Supreme Court, which ruled against him Monday.

    Under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2007, the states are required to have statutes demanding sex-offender registration for those convicted of kidnapping or falsely imprisoning minors. The Georgia court ruled that the plain meaning of “sex offender” was overridden by the state’s law.

    “Rainer’s belief that the term ’sexual offender’ may only apply to offenders who commit sexual offenses against minors does not change the fact that the definition provided in the statute, and not the definition that Rainer wishes to impose upon the statute, controls,” the court’s majority said.

    ReplyDelete
  17. http://clericalwhispers.blogspot.com/2010/03/alternate-papal-letter.html

    The Alternate Papal Letter
    via Clerical Whispers by noreply@blogger.com (Sotto Voce) on 3/20/10

    1. Dear Brothers and Sisters of the Church in Ireland, it is with great concern that I write to you as Pastor of the universal Church and The Beeg Cheese of Pretend.

    Like yourselves, I have been deeply irritated by the information which has come to light regarding the abuse of children by members of the Church in Ireland, particularly by priests and religious.

    I can’t believe this shit is out in the open, and believe me the squealers won’t go unpunished.
    As you know, I recently invited the Irish bishops to a meeting here in Rome to try and ascertain just how much you guys know and/or can prove.


    We had a full and frank discussion and it was felt that if you lot pulled up your socks faithwise you should be able to forgive anything we can’t keep a lid on.


    As for what still remains hidden, well what you don’t know won’t hurt you. It will only hurt the people it happened to and as you are aware they are sworn to silence on pain of excommunication. Nice one, Cardinal B

    2. For my part, I fully admit that Irish priests screwed up (not the type of thing that would ever happen in Germany, I can assure you!), I have decided to write this Pastoral Letter to warn you that I’m standing right behind you and to propose a path of healing, renewal and reparation.


    There’s no need to call the cops, and in any case a team of crack monsignors has cut the lines, so sit the feck down and listen.

    As many in your country have pointed out, the problem of child abuse is peculiar neither to Ireland nor to the Church.


    Nevertheless, we must take credit for some particular success in the field.

    However if we all pray a lot with our eyes tightly shut, the deacons will get on with the shredding and we’ll be grand. Trust me.

    In order to recover from this grievous wound, the Church in Ireland must admit that it made mistakes and be sorry for them. Really sorry. Oops.

    3. Historically, the Catholics of Ireland have been great at spreading Catholicism, virally, if you will, worldwide.

    Most families will have at least one member of the clergy or a nun among them.

    Not saying you’re being watched, just saying, is all.

    ReplyDelete
  18. 4. In recent decades, however, the Church in your country has had to confront new and serious challenges to the faith arising from the rapid transformation and secularization of Irish society, which as we all know is responsible for the perpetration of horrors on children by our little celibate cult. What are you gonna do?

    5. On several occasions since my election to the See of Peter, I have met with victims of sexual abuse, as indeed I am ready to do in the future.

    I have sat with them, I have listened to their stories, I have acknowledged their suffering, and I have prayed with them and for them.


    So that’s my ass covered.

    6. To the victims of abuse and their families

    You have suffered grievously and I am truly sorry. I can only hope that by drawing closer to the life of the Church you will find healing and forgiveness. Wouldn’t it just be deliciously ironic if that were the case? Ha ha.

    7. To priests and religious who have abused children


    You have done a bad thing and you must confess and be sorry before the Almighty.

    Sit down at the back.


    I already told you there’s no need for the cops.


    We have also jammed the mobile signals and disabled WiFi over a 500 kilometre radius.

    8. To parents

    You have been deeply shocked to learn of the terrible things that took place in what ought to be the safest and most secure environment of all. In today’s world it is not easy to build a home and to bring up children, every celibate priest knows that. You should try running a housekeeper on top of it. Sheesh!!!!!! Anyhoo, prayin’ for ya

    9. To the children and young people of Ireland

    I wish to offer you a particular word of … Oh, something must have spooked them. Do not worry, they won’t get far, there is a cordon of Swiss Guard dog-handlers.

    10. To the priests and religious of Ireland

    Hang tough, keep schtum and apologise when found out.

    11. To my brother bishops

    Anyone thinking of quitting will have me to deal with. That shit spreads up and guess whose ass is sitting on the top of the rotten tree? That’s right. You’re going nowhere.

    12. To all the faithful of Ireland

    By treading the path marked out by the Gospel, by observing the commandments and by conforming your lives ever more closely to the figure of Jesus Christ, you will surely experience the profound renewal … yada yadda badda bing badda boo.

    I invite you all to persevere along this path. I can’t say I have much experience of it myself, but who knows, it’s a crazy plan but it might work. Good luck with it, now.

    13. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I hope you find comfort in my words. You have all screwed up but I forgive you and let’s hear no more about it. Least said soonest mended, eh?

    14. I now wish to propose to you some concrete initiatives to address the situation:

    1.For 2011 you must all pray for the Church every Friday. Especially if you were abused.
    2.That should do the trick
    I wish to conclude this Letter with a special Prayer for the Church in Ireland:

    Prayer for the Church in Ireland

    God of our fathers,
    Make us good and sorry
    Amen.

    PS Oh yes you might look in on the victimes if you think about it, cheers God LOL :-*

    Talk To Ya,
    Benny
    X

    ReplyDelete
  19. It's about time the President and Democrats rammed healthcare through even though there is no solid majority in the Senate.

    Who do rich people think they are that they should not pay for unemployed bloggers and the disadvantaged just because they work hard for a living?

    YES WE CAN!

    ReplyDelete
  20. http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100320/NEWS01/3200328/Jokes-like-chimp-e-mail-seen-as-fuel-for-hidden-racism

    It took only days for former Tennessee Hospitality Association CEO Walt Baker to send a questionable e-mail, lose some lucrative contracts and get fired.

    The fallout from Baker's e-mail — which compared first lady Michelle Obama to a chimpanzee — indicates that, at a minimum, Baker's joke is outlandishly inappropriate in Nashville.

    But a sociologist and Pulitzer Prize nominee says racist jokes are outright abundant even among young people, and the way more than half the white population reacts to these jokes is feeding a strong but usually hidden undercurrent of racism.

    ReplyDelete
  21. http://www.flickr.com/photos/verbaljam/15343705/

    Did UOJ see the latest ad from Chaim Kaminetzky?

    ReplyDelete
  22. What's wrong with this Gutterman? He talks like he's a gutter Orthodox Jew.

    http://www.projo.com/education/content/central_falls_effigy_reaction_03-20-10_4IHRFT_v30.3a56475.html

    An image of President Obama hanging upside down in the front of a Central Falls High School classroom evoked strong reaction Friday from outrage to sadness to distaste.

    To Clifford Montiero, president of the Providence branch of the NAACP, the effigy represents a lynching of a black man, and brings back painful memories of decades of injustices.

    “In my mind, this is a hate crime, and the teacher should be charged,” Montiero said. “This teacher feels he can demean the president of the United States, an African-American who has overcome all this hatred. It is wrong. And when you take a nonviolent environment like a classroom, and introduce violence and hatred into it, you have crossed the line.”

    Montiero was reacting to photographs taken by the Rhode Island State Police who were called to the school Monday evening by Supt. Frances Gallo after she discovered the doll in a third-floor social studies classroom. The police conferred with the state attorney general’s office and determined the effigy did not rise to the level of a hate crime. The police did not press charges.

    Meanwhile, the Secret Service took notice Friday.

    “We investigate threats against the president,” said Thomas Powers, resident agent in charge of the Secret Service in Rhode Island. “Our investigation has just begun, so we do not yet know whether this is a threat.”

    The photographs show a foot-tall Obama figure holding a sign, “Fire CF teachers,” a reference to the mass firings that occurred at the high school Feb. 23, effective at the end of the school year.

    Officials have declined to identify the teacher involved, who has been reprimanded but remains on the job. The teacher, according to the Central Falls Teachers Union, used the effigy in his lessons. Newspaper clippings about the mass firings were also found in the classroom.

    Leslie Y. Gutterman, senior rabbi at Temple Beth-el in Providence, said he did not know whether the incident was a hate crime.

    ReplyDelete
  23. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/20/nyregion/20district.html

    Greenfield, on the other hand, has been criticized for an abrasive manner

    He has a powerful adversary working against him. Mr. Greenfield worked as Assemblyman Hikind’s chief of staff for a few months in 2001, but they clashed. Mr. Greenfield said he was in the midst of quitting when Mr. Hikind fired him.

    Mr. Hikind said, “I really don’t think of him much.”

    ReplyDelete
  24. David Greenfield went to the church on bay parkway and 60th street and got their endorsement. he promised them to protect the church from lawsuits of victims of priest child molestors.

    For all those who disagree with Dov Hikind, Vito Lopez is far, far worse. A vote for Greenfield is a vote for child molesters and pedophiles.

    Kedoshim Tehiyu demands that Jews support people who share the moral values of the Torah. David Greenfield does NOT.

    VETO VITO.

    Vote for Lazar TOMORROW.

    ReplyDelete
  25. http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/terror_widow_deport_fear_zYztixGu3OIx3UrK5pYuPL

    Volover Ruv's daughter in law.

    ReplyDelete
  26. UOJ:

    After all these years talking about the Moetzes, what has given you the notion that the Pope would be allowed to join the Moetzes Gedolei Torah of Agudath Israel of America??

    Have you forgotten Rule #1 of the Moetzes?

    Rule #1: "AT NO TIME, under any circumstance, even with evidence to the contrary, may any member of this esteemed body known as the Moetzes Gedoilei Torah of Agudath Israel of America EVER ADMIT GUILT OF ANY KIND. This is not limited to Personal Guilt, Professional Misconduct, Systemic Failures, etc. We are bound by the passuk, v'amaich kulam tzadikkim Jewish people must be treated as righteous people regardless of if their actions speak otherwise."

    You can scream from today until tomorrow, the Pope will not be allowed in because he broke the cardinal rule.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Belsky has one of his goons arguing with me on Shmarya's blog that Belsky did not try to cover up for Kolko. This revisionist claims that the handwritten hazmana is not proof enough of an attempted coverup. This may be the Bungalow Putz bichvodo u'vatzmo:

    http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/2010/03/should-young-israel-allow-the-brother-of-convicted-pedophile-baruch-lebovits-to-speak-567/comments/page/2/#comments

    ReplyDelete
  28. David "Vito" Greenfield must be defeated. VOTE JOE LAZAR FOR CITY COUNCIL!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Steve:

    Ask Bungalow Putz which one I got wrong! ONE!

    ReplyDelete
  30. When asked by BTs & gerim why Shevach chickens taste treif, Moish Finkel said he used "low sodium" salt.

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704534904575131602283791566.html

    By BETSY MCKAY

    PLANO, Texas—Later this month, at a pilot manufacturing plant here, PepsiCo Inc. plans to start churning out batches of a secret new ingredient to make its Lay's potato chips healthier.

    The ingredient is a new "designer salt" whose crystals are shaped and sized in a way that reduces the amount of sodium consumers ingest when they munch. PepsiCo hopes the powdery salt, which it is still studying and testing with consumers, will cut sodium levels 25% in its Lay's Classic potato chips. The new salt could help reduce sodium levels even further in seasoned Lay's chips like Sour Cream & Onion, PepsiCo said, and it could be used in other products like Cheetos and Quaker bars.

    ReplyDelete
  31. http://www.jwire.com.au/news/matza-for-the-prime-minister/8160

    New Zealand will be the first country in the world to celebrate Pesach…and its Jewish Prime Minister will have Shmurah matzah for the festival.

    Rabbi Menachem Goldstein will travel to Wellington, the nation’s capital, from his Christchurch home to deliver the matzah to John Key, the country’s leader and its third Jewish Prime Minister.

    ReplyDelete
  32. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3866530,00.html

    Talansky's son: Police made my father look like a fool

    ReplyDelete
  33. THIS LIAR AND HYPOCRITE WILL STOOP TO ANY LEVEL TO GET ELECTED. NOW HE WANTS TO TAKE CREDIT FOR ELLIOT PASIK'S FINGERPRINTING BILL. "DAAS TORAH" AKA AGUDAH HAS BEEN FIGHTING AGAINST THIS BILL FOR YEARS. MEANWHILE WHEN IT CAME TO THE MORE IMPORTANT LEGISLATION, THE CHILD VICTIMS ACT, THIS AMELEKITE WAS THE FIRST TO JUMP INTO THE SCALDING WATERS TO OPPOSE IT! SHOULD HE GET ELECTED, CHAS VESHALOM, WE DON'T WANT HIM "WORKING WITH OUR RABBIS AND MOSDOS"! THE WORK THEY WILL DO IS TO HELP CONTINUE THE COVERUPS! GREENFIELD IS REALLY FEELING THE HEAT NOW ON ELECTION EVE AND HE KNOWS WHY MOST PEOPLE ARE NOT VOTING FOR HIM. DON'T FALL FOR HIS LIES!!! SEND HIM PACKING TOMORROW! VOTE JOE LAZAR!


    Brooklyn – New York City Council candidate and education advocate David G. Greenfield announced a plan that would require every non-public school submit their entire staff to fingerprint criminal background checks by the NYPD just like public school employees. The plan, which would apply to every yeshiva in Brooklyn, was crafted with consultation with Das Torah. Currently, yeshivas have no criminal background check requirement for their employees that would prevent criminals from being employed. This plan will give parents the confidence that their children are in a school with no criminals.

    “When parents send their children to yeshiva, they trust that they are sending their children to a safe place for them to learn. There is nothing more important than keeping our children safe,” said Greenfield. “Keeping child predators and criminals out of our yeshivas is common sense legislation. When elected I will introduce legislation mandating criminal background checks for all yeshiva employees.”

    Unlike other elected officials, Greenfield consulted with Das Torah before releasing this plan.

    “The issue of abuse is serious and must be addressed accordingly.” Greenfield added. “When I am elected to the City Council, I will work collaboratively with our rabbonim and mosdos to combat this horrendous crime and ensure that our children are safe and secure.”

    ReplyDelete
  34. The headline in The Yeshiva World News reads:

    "Greenfield Announces Plan to Ensure that Children Are Safe In Schools"

    Elliot Pasik authored this bill in 2006.

    ReplyDelete
  35. David Vito Greenfield10:29 PM, March 22, 2010

    David Vito Greenfield today announced a bold plan and initiative that would give motorists a five minute grace period before they can be ticketed for alternate side parking and muni meters. He also announced a plan that would connect all computer users throughout the world via a global system of interconnected networks which he is calling the "internet". Some other innovative ideas that Greenfield has announced on the eve of the City Council election, is the use of "metrocards" instead of subway tokens, the use of "ez-pass" at toll booths instead of cash, and the use of ATM machines instead of tellers at banks.

    ReplyDelete
  36. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/us/23acorn.html

    The community organizing group Acorn announced Monday that it would close all its remaining state affiliates and field offices by April 1.

    ReplyDelete
  37. http://www.cityhallnews.com/newyork/article-1189-charges-fly-in-final-hours-before-felder-seat-special-election.html

    On his radio show Saturday night, Assembly Member Dov Hikind made a final plea to voters to vote for Joe Lazar, the Council candidate he is strongly backing in the race to replace Simcha Felder, while lashing out against Lazar’s opponent, David Greenfield.

    Among other allegations, Hikind charged Greenfield with spreading literature around Boro Park falsely saying Lazar favored same-sex marriage, a position that would be highly unpopular in the conservative Orthodox Jewish community. Hikind said Greenfield had engaged in “lies” and “deceit.”

    Hikind also dismissed charges that Lazar, a longtime friend and ally, would be a proxy for Hikind on the Council.

    “Are you anyone’s puppet? Tell me the truth,” Hikind asked Lazar.

    “I am nobody’s puppet, no one,” Lazar responded. “What I don’t understand is how my opponent is not the mayor’s puppet or Vito Lopez’s puppet.”

    “Maybe the puppet of the Sephardics?” said Hikind, referring to Greenfield’s work the past five years as political liaison for South Brooklyn’s Sephardic community, which is outside the district.

    The district covers parts of Boro Park, Bensonhurst and Midwood. The election is scheduled for Tuesday.

    In response, Greenfield campaign advisor Michael Tobman said the charge that Greenfield had spread false rumors about Lazar’s same-sex marriage position was “categorically untrue.”

    Tobman also questioned why Lazar had failed to picture or list Rep. Ed Towns, Council Member Mathieu Eugene and State Sen. Kevin Parker—all African-American—as campaign supporters in literature sent to mailboxes in Boro Park.

    Greenfield has focused on an aggressive door-knocking and canvassing operation, while Lazar has sewn up most of the support from big social organizations in Boro Park. He also has won the backing of a number of former candidates in the race who either dropped out or were knocked off by petition challenges.

    On Hikind’s radio program Saturday night, several of them appeared to speak on Lazar’s behalf, including Jonathan Judge, a Republican who had been seeking the seat before being knocked off the ballot following a Greenfield petition challenge, by “Vito Lopez’s lawyer,” Judge said.

    ReplyDelete
  38. http://thejewishstar.wordpress.com/2010/03/10/new-tactic-in-war-on-sexual-abuse/

    Much of the success of Voices of Dignity, as it will be known, will depend on the charisma of founder Kal Holczler, 27. With blue eyes and a trim beard, it seems like he would blend right into the pages of GQ, rather than the sordid world of abused children. The organization hopes to work in the Orthodox community to prevent sexual abuse from within. Their approach is based on Holczler’s own life.

    Sitting in a Starbucks across the street from where the trial of Boruch Mordechai Lebovits ended with a conviction on March 9, Holczler told a story that has become now disturbingly familiar. The son of a prominent Chasidic family, he grew up in the town of New Square. As an adolescent he was sexually abused by a rabbi and then again by a community member close to New Square’s religious leader.

    “He would drive [us] to the Refuah Health Center. He’d lock the door and go upstairs to one of the doctor’s office and do his duty…Over the last 40 years he has abused hundreds of people that I’m now in communication with,” Holczler explained. “I started running away when I was nine.”

    Soon after, he was sent to the first of a number of yeshivas in Brooklyn and Monsey. Eventually, like so many other survivors of abuse, he fell into drugs and petty theft. He ended up in Israel on a program for troubled teens, but found he kept to the same pattern there. The head of the program was eventually sent to prison for molesting his own daughters.

    “Those abusers, given the nature of the community, are usually the ones who are paying attention to us,” he related.
    Holczler left Judaism completely for the next few years.

    “I was selling drugs, stealing, trying to not remember what happened. I attempted suicide,” he said.

    As his drug use intensified, friends and family convinced him to attend a drug rehabilitation program upstate. Newly sober, he met with rabbis who he said gave him a transformative experience.

    “They showed me something I had never experienced: compassion and willingness to help people who have gone through sexual abuse or who come from traumatic experiences. Not just judging,” he said.

    Holczler eventually returned to Israel, to Aish HaTorah, and took night classes to become a substance abuse counselor and began working with Jewish survivors of sexual abuse. He has spent the last few years working in different abuse programs in the United States. Phone calls from victims just like him kept on coming.
    Six months ago, after hearing from a relative who was abused in New Square, Holczler returned to New York to found Voices of Dignity.

    “It’s not the case that everyone in the Chasidic community wants to cover up sexual abuse,” he maintained. “That’s been put in the papers for the last year and a half. People in the Orthodox community are eager to deal with sexual abuse, even to put people in prison or to send them to treatment.”

    He says that the community is hampered by a lack of knowledge about the prevalence of sexual abuse inside the community, as well as how to recognize and deal with it.

    Holczler’s work has even brought him back to his own hometown where he met with the man who sexually abused him.

    “The only remorse he showed was he was willing to pay to have it go away,” he said.
    But, Holczler said, he’s not going anywhere.

    To find our more information about Voices of Dignity, check out their website at www.voicesofdignity.org

    ReplyDelete
  39. http://www.dailygotham.com/blog/mole333/michael_tobman_losing_sleaze_consultant_in_nyc

    Michael Tobman: Losing Sleaze Consultant in NYC

    I was surprised to find out that even after Michael Tobman managed to badly bungle a Brooklyn judicial race in 2008 despite a massive money advantage, someone would hire him for a 2009 campaign. Tobman ran a very well funded, sleazy campaign on behalf of Roger Adler for a civil court seat and yet lost. The fact is that had Tobman run a cleaner, more mature campaign, he may well have won. But instead he took the nasty route and lost. I can't tell you how many people on primary day told me how turned off they were by the mailers on Adler's behalf that presumably Tobman approved. Dozens of people pointed out to me that Adler's mailers said nothing positive about Adler, merely smear attacks on Cohen. Bottom line is Tobman flubbed it.

    I do know Michael Tobman and find him among the most oily, distasteful individuals in local politics. And not very good at his job from everything I have personally observed.

    I first encountered Tobman when he worked for Schumer.

    ReplyDelete
  40. http://www.nyintegrity.org/enforcement/2008/Michael_Tobman_May-June.pdf

    The NYS Commission on Public Integrity fined me for criminal violations but that doesn't stop David Greenfield from putting me in charge of his campaign.

    I hope Joe Lazar's people don't find out about this until after the election!

    ReplyDelete
  41. Dr. Richard F. Daines, New York state's commissioner of health, said Monday he used his emergency powers to summarily suspend the licenses of:

    -- Dr. Alexander Rozenberg of New York City, who was found guilty of falsifying business records and insurance fraud.

    -- Dr. Alexander Israeli of New York, who was found guilty of two counts of insurance fraud.

    ReplyDelete
  42. http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/03/22/25774.htm

    Morgan Stanley and KeySpan Corp. conspired to inflate Consolidated Edison customers' electric bills by $160 million, a class action claims in Bronx County Court. The class claims Keyspan and Morgan Stanley used "a complex financial derivative 'swap' transaction" to do so, and that the Department of Justice fined Keyspan $12 million for it.

    ReplyDelete
  43. http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/03/19/25699.htm

    A New York businessman who raised money for Democratic candidates, including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, pleaded guilty on Thursday to defrauding three major banks out of $292 million in loans.

    Hassan Nemazee, 60, of Manhattan, ran what prosecutors say amounted to a giant Ponzi scheme in which he took out loans from Bank of America, Citibank and HSBC using phony collateral.

    ReplyDelete
  44. http://www.ivillage.com/gene-simmons-accused-assault/1-a-71845

    Gene Simmons is getting a tongue-lashing in the form of a civil suit, as a couple is claiming that the KISS frontman got nasty with them in a Los Angeles mall.

    According to reports, Nathan Marlowe and his wife Cynthia Manzo claim that Simmons assaulted them, threatened them, and took their camera after they were caught videotaping him. Marlowe claims he simply asked the rocker about his thoughts on monogamy (Gene allegedly slept with more than 1,000 women), when Gene flew into rage, attacking Marlowe and taking his camera.

    The couple are seeking damages of more than $25,000 for civil claims of assault, battery and infliction of emotional distress

    ReplyDelete
  45. What the Hell is going on? I hear that David "Vito" Greenfield is even taking credit now for inventing the internet.

    ReplyDelete
  46. http://www.lohud.com/article/20103230334

    Report critical of uneven distribution of pork-barrel cash

    BY JON CAMPBELL • ALBANY BUREAU • MARCH 23, 2010

    Among Assembly members, Vito Lopez, D-Brooklyn, received a $3.3 million appropriation, with Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, receiving $2.6 million.

    Member-item spending has been at the center of a number of controversies in the Legislature in recent years. Former Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio, D-Queens, was sentenced last month to six years in prison after he was found to have taken bribes from hospitals in exchange for member-item funds.

    ReplyDelete
  47. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704117304575138161112658930.html

    Don't be so quick to count out ACORN. They are pulling a stunt to make everyone think they are going away so they can keep milking tax money. A large part of their operation that they renamed Affordable Housing Centers is still going to be in business.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Ohel CEO David Mandel10:44 AM, March 23, 2010

    I'm looking to nail the rabbi in Flatbush who exposed a deep dark secret that Ohel has kept under wraps until now.

    Stefan Colmer was molested by Mondrowitz, something that no one would have guessed since Colmer is a BT from South Jersey who doesn't fit the profile of the typical Mondro victim.

    If anyone knows who this big mouth rabbi is, please get in touch with myself or Belsky.

    ReplyDelete
  49. The writing on the wall (of 42 Broadway)10:47 AM, March 23, 2010

    Filed at 10:25 a.m. ET

    VIENNA (AP) -- An Austrian diocese says a priest has resigned after admitting he abused a 17-year-old boy.

    The Graz-Seckau diocese says the priest stepped down of his own accord and that the abuse happened more than 20 years ago on a vacation.

    Spokesman Georg Plank says two other priests have been suspended as a precautionary measure because one was convicted of committing a homosexual act with a 17-year-old and the other was convicted of exhibitionism.

    Plank said Tuesday the two cases date back about 15 and 20 years. He added that an investigation was under way to verify that none of the three priests committed other incidents of abuse.

    Austria is among several European countries currently being confronted with a wave of church abuse claims.

    ReplyDelete
  50. KSA kashrus scandal11:25 AM, March 23, 2010

    Why is a Jewish company under KSA kashrus officially sponsoring such an outrageous event - a Jewish pre-Passover dinner with chazir on the menu ??!!

    Shmaltz also makes two beer types with pictures of women in a state of undress that is ervah mamash. I don't know if KSA has the gall to allow their symbols on the bottles.

    http://www.jewcy.com/tags/jeremy_cowan

    But there is also a nobility to He’Brew. Shmaltz takes its brewing seriously, and it also tries to maintain a direct connection to Judaism. Jeremy continues, “We are interested in having a direct tie to Jewish culture and the community and we find fun, creative ways to make that connection.

    http://www.shmaltz.com/HEBREW/genesis_messiah.html

    All HE'BREW products are kosher certified to the strictest Orthodox standards by Kosher Supervision of America (KSA).

    http://blogs.sfweekly.com/foodie/2010/03/who_says_you_only_drink.php

    Tonight at Coda, Pre-Passover Beer Dinner (Pork Included)

    By Brian Yaeger, Monday, Mar. 22 2010

    Who says you only drink beer on Purim?

    As a sort of pre-Passover party, local brewing company Shmaltz is taking over tonight at Coda Jazz and Supper Club, which hosts Live City Revue every Monday. A mishmash of irreverent music and theater is already par for the course. At tonight's Jewish Soul Food beer dinner, don't expect a neutral kosher ― parve ― course among the classic New York dishes paired with a few He'Brews.

    In a highly unlikely intentional move, instead of 10 plagues, there will be 10 plates, all à la carte. Among the unkosher ― traif ― offerings, diners can choose small plates like chickpea and fava bean soup with smoked ham hocks braised in Shmaltz Genesis Ale, bacon-wrapped sweetbreads with wild mushrooms and pearl onions in a Messiah Bold Ale reduction, or the chopped Petaluma chicken livers with Shmaltz cracklins, or entrees such as crispy Marin pork belly with Jerusalem artichoke purée and bay scallops.

    For dessert, instead of extra portions of the chopped apples-and-nuts dish called haroset, there will be haroset cheesecake with salted Maldon caramel.

    http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=371905001434&index=1

    We'll be cooking up some "kosher and some traif" and pairing it with Shmaltz Brewing's fine beers

    ReplyDelete
  51. "Before the world of truth can come, the world of lies must disappear" - Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

    ReplyDelete
  52. Shmarya will have a cow when he finds out that Aish opened a branch in Minnesota.

    http://www.minnpost.com/community_voices/2010/03/23/16852/an_inside_look_at_the_pro-israel_aipac_conference

    Rabbi Berel Simpser of AISH-Minnesota "was not impressed at all" by "Hillary towing the party line." He said: "I don't think she understands. We don't really have a partner for peace. The gulf between us and the Palestinians, or the people who are negotiating for the Palestinians, is much greater than what can be negotiated."

    ReplyDelete
  53. Merriam-Webster’s
    Word of the Day
    March 23

    copacetic

    \koh-puh-SET-ik\

    adjective

    Meaning

    : very satisfactory

    Theories about the origin of "copacetic" abound. The tap dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson believed he had coined the word as a boy in Richmond, Virginia. When patrons of his shoeshine stand would ask, "How’s everything this morning?" he would reply, "Oh jes’ copacetic, boss; jes’ copacetic." But the word was current in Southern Black English perhaps as early as 1880, so it seems unlikely that Robinson (born in 1878) could have invented the term. Another explanation is that the word is from the Hebrew phrase "kol be sedher," meaning "everything is in order." Possibly it was coined by Harlem blacks working in Jewish businesses. The word’s popularity among Southern blacks, however, points to its originating in one of the Southern cities in which Jewish communities thrived

    ReplyDelete
  54. Does anyone know if Eckstein is lying or if this is true?

    …[A] number of Brooklyn yeshivas, whose leadership had been supportive of Joe Lazar, have abandoned his candidacy after learning that Lazar accepted the backing of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), a group that has publicly opposed government funding for yeshivas and has consistently leads the fight against any plans to help yeshiva parents.

    With yeshiva parents struggling with the rising costs of tuition, community leaders are questioning how Lazar could accept the endorsement of an organization that is based on an anti-yeshiva and anti-tuition-paying parents platform. Said one yeshiva leader who requested anonymity, “Because of Assemblyman Dov Hikind’s insistence, we initially pledged our support to Joe. We don’t want to upset Dov, but we are quietly telling our parents to vote for David Greenfield today because of his record fighting for yeshivas and against the Teacher’s Unions.”

    What’s more, suddenly Lazar’s statements that he did not agree with Greenfield’s advocacy for tuition tax credits or Greenfield’s plan for free door-to-door transportation for yeshiva parents seem conveniently like the positions traditionally taken by the powerful Teachers Unions.

    The Teachers Unions, led by the UFT, are public enemy number one of yeshiva parents in New York. When the State Legislature was considering implementing several measures that would directly benefit both yeshiva parents and our community’s mosdos, it was the UFT that led the effort to defeat the proposals. UFT also rallied in Albany in opposition to the pro-yeshiva legislation, launched a massive advertising campaign denouncing the legislation, and sent thousands of letters to lawmakers expressing their outrage at the proposals. When Governor George Pataki put forth a plan involving tuition tax credits, which puts money directly back into the pockets of yeshiva parents, the president of the UFT called it a “terrible proposal.” Most recently, sources say that the Teachers Unions were responsible for killing a proposal this year that would have provided many yeshivas in the community with TAP funding – tuition assistance for students in yeshiva gedolas in New York.…

    ReplyDelete
  55. http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/19/case-puts-spotlight-on-surrogates-court/?pagemode=print

    More women are coming out and accusing B & H, the electronics superstore in Midtown Manhattan, of sexual discrimination. Three women joined a lawsuit filed last November in State Supreme Court in the Bronx alleging that they were denied sales positions because they are women. That raises the total number of plaintiffs in the case to seven.

    Richard B. Ancowitz, the lawyer for the women, released the following statement: “B & H did not hire these women who were qualified to work in sales, yet they hired numerous males to work in sales with equal to or less experience >>> including several males with criminal records <<<. B & H didn’t care, as long as they weren’t women. Since we filed the suit late last year B & H has hired a few token females in high visibility positions. B & H essentially remains a closed shop — only men need apply.”

    ReplyDelete
  56. Jewish Star publisher Mayer Fertig chickened out and deleted from this article an interview that appeared in the print edition with Rabbi Dr. Asher Lipner who called David Greenfield an "evil man".

    Fertig then bent over backwards to make it up to Greenfield by calling him a decent guy in the editorial, even though he says not to vote for him since it's essentially a vote for Vito Lopez.

    http://thejewishstar.wordpress.com/2010/03/17/goodbye-boro-park-hello-tammany-hall/

    Greenfield has also taken heat for his role in blocking the Child Victim Act, known as the Markey bill after its sponsor, legislation that would extend the statute of limitations for filing civil suits in cases of sexual abuse, as well as open up a year-long window beyond the current statute in which criminal charges could be filed. In his role in the Sephardic Community Federation, Greenfield backed a competing bill sponsored by Lopez that did not include the window. In an interview, Greenfield avoided the question.

    “This is not a city issue,” said Greenfield. “They try to change the topic, but we won’t let them.”

    ReplyDelete
  57. UOJ gets results2:06 PM, March 23, 2010

    Filed at 1:48 p.m. ET

    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Attorneys general from 13 states sued the federal government Tuesday, claiming the landmark health care overhaul is unconstitutional just seven minutes after President Barack Obama signed it into law.

    ReplyDelete
  58. SCANDAL ROCKS NORTH MIAMI BEACH BH
    COMMUNITY KOLLEL NOW IN PRIVATE HANDS

    For the past few months questions have been raised regarding the Kollel as it changed from being a community run organization, to becoming a privately run business.

    After leaving the local Yeshiva under clouded circumstances Rabbi S. decided that perhaps he would be better suited to serve as a Rosh Hakollel ( at a salary in excess of $100k per year) of a Community Kollel.

    That appears was not enough, so he decided to make some changes which every individual can check out on line….. Here are 4 questions…..

    1: Why were the documents of the Kollel changed, and 3 new names now appear, the rabbi, his wife and his mother in law??? In addition, the 2 existing names require their own inquiries as to their suitability of serving …..

    2: Why did the rabbi lie as to his place of residency in regard to the Homestead laws? See responsa of Reb Moshe Fienstein and Reb Yaakov Kamenetsky OBM that a rabbi must not lie on his taxes if he is to be trusted for community issues. Rabbi S claims to be living in Miami Beach for the last 4 years.

    3: Why did Rabbi S for months cover up matters of Aishes Ish, and treat the hurt party with contempt. (this is in court, and evidence will be presented to support this claim). He claimed that seeing the evidence would be loshon horah, even after he protected an individual involved who is learning in kolel due to his brother being a honoree..

    4: Wielding a very questionable stick, ( which only he would dare to call Daas Torah), he encouraged one of his supporters who was deeply involved as a partner in a case of fraud, to “masser” on his former partners placing them and their families in jeopardy, and possibly face prison time.
    Something is very wrong with this picture.
    Documents in support of this information can be found at
    http://egvsys.miamidade.gov:1608/wwwserv/ggvt/txcaw01.dia?folio=0232220100550 &
    http://www.sunbiz.org/COR/2008/0211/23500275.tif

    We as a group of concerned local and out of town balebatim, urge you to check the facts and read the documents, and you will see that the above is true. We feel it is time for the Chosheve Roshei Yeshiva from Lakewood to stop this funny business which is being perpetrated as if it has their approval, and prevent further chilul Hashem in NMB.
    Let us as a community retake the Community Kollel, make it a true Mokom Torah, and not allow it to be a private laundry. Let the books be examined by accountants and made public as well as answer where all the cash contributions went in the thousands of dollars.

    Chag Kosher veSamayach

    ReplyDelete
  59. "This is not a city issue,” said Greenfield. “They try to change the topic, but we won’t let them.”

    It's only a city issue when it benefits him. Once he saw that he was being hammered on this issue, he decided to plant that story about him "crafting" the fingerprinting bill together with "Daas Torah". Suddenly, this became a "city issue". As politicians go, this 31 year old punk is the bottom of the barrel. He makes the likes of Nixon, Blogojevich, Clinton, Spitzer, et al, seem like pardigms of honesty and morality.

    ReplyDelete
  60. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/03/23/world/AP-AF-Kenya-Election-Violence.html

    Witnesses: Kenya Witness Protection Program Unsafe

    ReplyDelete
  61. Rabbi Natan Slifkin3:04 PM, March 23, 2010

    Tuesday, March 23, 2010
    The Gedolim and Leadership

    I write this post with a heavy heart.

    Over the last decade, the Gedolim of the Charedi world have done many things that, in the opinion of many, did not reflect well on their judgment.

    The ban on Making Of A Godol, the ban on my books, the financially devastating ban on the Lipa concert and subsequent abrupt reversal, etc.

    While I maintain that serious wrongs were committed in these cases, I tried my best to explain the Gedolims' point of view to people. Hence my essay, "In Defense of my Opponents."

    Then came Troppergate, which eclipsed them all. Where the real chillul Hashem was not that this menuval did what he did, but that this man, who was known for decades to be a menuval and manipulator, was given so much power and honor, and even after being publicly exposed was not publicly condemned, because of the millions of dollars that he gave to the yeshivos. And nor was there any investigation into what improprieties (signatures on pashkevillim, false conversions, and who knows what else) were arranged by his money.

    But now there is something that makes Troppergate look positively mild.

    Rabbi Elior Chen of Beitar was indicted for some of the worst child abuse allegations ever. He fled to Brazil but was extradited back to Israel where he will stand trial. According to prosecution officials, the evidence against Chen is so overwhelming that there is absolutely no doubt that he will be convicted.

    But recently, a letter appeared, signed by several of the Gedolim, asserting that they know Elior Chen to be a marbitz Torah and a righteous person and thus innocent of all charges, and asking people to support him!

    At first, I did not post about this, because I couldn't bring myself to believe that these signatures of the Gedolim were authentic. As much as I had seen what I believed to be improprieties in the Gedolim affixing their names to things, surely they couldn't do this. I was inclined to agree with all the commentators at the afore-posted link who insisted that the signatures must have been faked. People close to the Gedolim insisted that the letter was not authentic.

    But then a neighbor of mine wrote to Rav Chaim Kanievsky, asking him why he signed it. He received the following reply:



    על כתב שרבותי חתומים גם אני חותם

    "On a letter that my rabbis are signed on to, I also sign."


    The implications of this sentence are so appalling that I can't even think of how to write about it in a way that will do justice to it.

    I have always tried to write respectfully about the Gedolim, even when disagreeing with them strongly. But now I am honestly not sure if one should be respectful about the signing of this letter, especially when it is defended on the grounds that other rabbis signed it. The best limmud zechus I can think of is that, due to their intense dedication to staying in the Beis HaMidrash, the Gedolim are simply naive about the world and/or easily manipulated. But if that is the case, and it results in them signing letters such as this, then how are they suited for leadership positions? The fundamental belief of charedi society, that total dedication to Torah is what makes the ideal leader, is thereby exposed as hopelessly wrong. And even with this limmud zechus, one has to wonder how a Rav could attest with certainty to the innocence of someone who has been indicted for such terrible crimes, with one child suffering permanent brain damage and in a vegetative state for the rest of his life, merely because other rabbis say that he is innocent.

    With the publication of the letter supporting Elior Chen, is there any way to justify the system of leadership in the charedi world?

    ReplyDelete
  62. Even if Rav Kanievsky signed it, the other signatures could still have been forged.

    We saw with Tropper and the Lipa Schmeltzer fiasco that real signatures are manipulated with lies and or fake signatures.

    ReplyDelete
  63. THE UNMAKING OF A GADOL, SCENE 1:

    Askan standing in front of a gadol with a stack of papers waiting to be signed:

    Askan: K'vod Harav, I have some urgent papers that need the rabbi's signature. These are important matters b'inyan tzorchei hatzibur.

    Gadol: Nu, nu mah yesh lecha, what do you have?

    Askan: First there is this matter involving bugs in the fish.

    Gadol: Bugs in the fish? The gemorah in Chulin deals with this and the halacha is that they are muttar.

    Askan: Noooo, this is something new. Rabbi Karp discovered that the bug has mutated and it comes from outside the fish. All the heilege gedolim are signing papers to assur it. You must sign or they'll say that you are going against Daas Torah.

    Gadol: Nu, okay, where do I sign?

    Askan: Then there is this nebach story about a baal teshuvah retzini in Florida. Twenty five years ago when he was nebach under the influence of drugs, as a tinok shenishba, he nebach came upon a shiksa police officer and the bullet in his gun ended up in the shiksa's head. Today this wonderful baal tshuva is putting on tefilin, davening b'kavona three times a day and saying krias shema in prison. The anti-semitic American government of reshaim wants to put him to death for that unfortunate accident twenty five years ago. We must save this tzaddik Reb Michoel Yechiel Grossman.

    Gadol: But he's a rotzeach?

    Askan: Noooo, he's a mamash baal teshuvah. What happened then was mamash not his fault. We must show achdus. Besides, all the heilige gedolim have signed already. If you don't sign they will say that you are against Daas Torah.

    Gadol: Nu, nu where do I sign?

    Askan: Then we have a political election for City Council.

    Gadol: I don't get invloved in politics...

    Askan: Noooo, this is mamash pikuach nefashos for our mosdos. We have this chashuve candidate, Rov Dovid Greenfield who will fight for our heilge yeshivos and mosdos. He already worked to defeat that evil bill in Albany that would have cost our heilige mosdos millions for covering up for child molesters. He is a true friend of Daas Torah.

    Gadol: Who is running against him.

    Askan: Nobody, some old man named Lazar who has no chance to win and is too honest to be a politician. Besides, all the heilige gedolim have signed for Greenfield. If you don't sign they will say that you are against Daas Torah.

    Gadol: Nu nu where do I sign?

    Askan: Lastly there is this matter of Harav Hagaon Hamekubal Vehamekabel Haadmor Hemfursam Elior Chen, shlita. The evil Zionist government has brought up a blood libel against this adom kadosh. They are claiming that he ordered the beating of a four year old child. In truth, the trial nebach fell and hurt his head, just like the alilas dam against Reb Vallis. This is mamash a case of pidyon shvuyim.

    Gadol: Are you sure he is innocent.

    Askan: Vadaiiiii, he is a tzaddik. Besides, all the heilige gedolim have signed for Rav Elior. If you don't sign they will say that you are against Daas Torah.

    Gadol: Nu, nu, I need to get back to my tosfos. Where do I sign?

    ReplyDelete
  64. you forgot two more gedolim questions from NMB

    ONe we have a case where someone gave an STD in florida to a woman and then the woman had an affair with another man

    when they went to a rosh kolel in the community he said since the baal davor is a brother of his honoree and donations would be affected ill use the daas tora card and not do anytning

    then if the rosh kolel allows a person to maaser in dinie mommonees he is claiming daas torah can you sign to protect kovod hatora

    sure just let me get back to tosfos

    ReplyDelete
  65. Which yeshiva did this Lubav Berel Lazar sleep during shiur? Jail or mishmar is mentioned all over Sanhedrin.

    And why is Shmarya still sleeping while purporting to be on top of all things Chabad? He will go ape when he sees Lazar's take on the death penalty.

    http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=7065

    Moscow, March 23, Interfax – Murders deserve death penalty, but it is early to introduce it, Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar believes.

    "If we can prove that he (a murderer - IF) understood what he did, planned it and it wasn't a mistake, he should be killed. It's the only way that can prevent others from doing it," the Rabbi said on air the Ekho Moskvy radio.

    Lazar noted that "there's no such notion as prison in Torah." "There's no such punishment as imprisonment. And Torah considers prison as evil," the religious leader said.

    He accepted that "today it's so difficult to instruct any state, "close all prisons and let's introduce other kinds of punishment," it is such great changes and people are nor ready to this."

    "However, we believe that unfortunately, for many of those who are imprisoned today, it will be better to get another kind of punishment, it will be better for them and for the society in general," Lazar said.

    ReplyDelete
  66. http://www.courierpostonline.com/print/article/20100323/NEWS01/303230033/Rising-traffic-fines-translates-to-state-income

    March 23, 2010

    Rising traffic fines translates to state income

    By DAISY NGUYEN
    Associated Press

    Shomari Jennings was willing to pay the $70 ticket he received for driving without a seatbelt, but not the slew of tacked-on fees and penalties that ballooned the cost more than tenfold.

    Every $10 of his base fine triggered a $26 "penalty assessment" for courthouse construction, a DNA identification program, emergency medical services and other programs. Other fees ranged from $1 to $35.

    "It's the new tax," Jennings, 30, complained while waiting in traffic court to contest a staggering bill compounded by a $500 fine for missing a court date.

    An estimated 60 local governments, including fire protection districts and municipalities, have in place or are considering plans to send accident cleanup bills to drivers involved in a crash, according to the Association of California Insurance Companies.

    "It's really victimizing people twice," said Samuel Sorich, the association's president.

    Many insurance companies do not cover cleanup fees, he added, and if the practice becomes widespread it could lead to higher premiums.

    In Los Angeles, city officials are thinking about doubling red-light cameras to 64 intersections. Last year, 44,000 red-light camera tickets were issued in the city, netting more than $6 million.

    The fine for running a red light is nearly $500 when city and county fees combined with various penalty assessments, which are set by the Legislature, and traffic school are factored in. The majority of the red-light camera citations, however, were for making right turns without a full stop, a $381 violation.

    ReplyDelete
  67. Uoj Gets Results On Harry's Blog9:39 PM, March 23, 2010

    Rabbi Dovid Landesman:

    "These are the facts as far as I can ascertain from reliable sources. Two weeks ago, a poster was circulated in Beitar calling on the tzibbur to come to the rescue of Elior [I refuse to use the title rabbi] Chen – the man recently extradited from Brazil and charged in the horrible acts of abuse against a child that were perpetrated by the mother who was a follower of this man. The poster extolled his tzidkus and was ostensibly signed by rabbanim in Beitar as well as by Rav Chaim, Rav Aron Leib and Rav Elyashiv. There was an immediate public outcry and the askanim who are the gatekeepers of the rabbanim announced that the signatures had been acquired through deceit – not that they were forged, but that the temimus of the rabbanim had led them to sign.
    Had those askanim declared the signatures forgery, it would have been bad enough. But to release statements that the signatures were genuine but had been secured through the temimus of the signators [a fact that seems to be now established given the response of Rav Chaim as cited on R. Slifkin's blog] is, to my mind, frightening, for it is the first time that the "askunya" has admitted that the "gedolim" can be easily manipulated. This might not be an awesome revelation to the healthy skeptics, but to those who formulate their hashkafot based on the published pronouncements of the signatories, this is devastating.
    In the post that I wrote on Cross Currents entitled THE ACHISH MELKECH GAT AWARD which you kindly cross referenced, I was accused by one reader of being m'zalzel in kavod ha-Torah based on the "fact" that R Chaim and other "gedolim" must have approved of the ads of kupat ha-ir et al for otherwise they would not give them public support. This case now demonstrates that the public support might not always be real, but rather a result of the inherent temimut of the gedolim - a contention that clearly demonstrates that the entire system is bankrupt. This the true bizyon ha-Torah!
    On numerous occasions I have written that "temimut" is not usually a qualification for gadlut. While being a talmid chacham is obviously a prerequisite, in and of itself Torah erudition is insufficient unless it is accompanied by sechel ha-yashar and the sophistication to know where to get an unbiased and truthful answer. The Rogatchover in his time was clealry the greatest talmid chochom in the world; nevertheless his lack of leadership skills - communication and emphasizing with petitioners, representing Judaism to the gentile world - was pronounced and obvious.
    Those of us who reognize that there is such a concept as da'at Torah and who are cognizant of our own shortcomings are the yetomim of this generation - maybe someone should take up a collection for us! Seriously, we have a major crisis of leadership and need to pool our slender reaources to find a solution."

    ReplyDelete
  68. Lies, deceit and corruption (as well as a boatload of money) win again.

    ReplyDelete
  69. Regarding Elior Chen:

    From the outset of hearing this story, something about it feels to me like a lynch against the accused. I have yet to see, read, or hear real hard core evidence other then hearing the words of the "victims".

    Personally; I will not allow myself to join the ban-wagon of those who seek to make individuals guilty until proven innocent, regardless of how severe and brutal the charges were leveled. This is fundamentally wrong and against the values of our Torah.

    If anything, the mere fact that the charges are so beyond comprehensible makes it a bit suspicious.

    And this is coming from an individual who was a victim himself of brutal abuse.

    V'hamivin yovin

    ReplyDelete
  70. http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/archives/2010/03/another_tuesday.php

    Each one of these special elections costs about $350 grand, according to Clyde Haberman, who notes of Felder: "A mere five days after being sworn into a new term, his third, Mr. Felder resigned to become a deputy city comptroller, with a salary nearly 50 percent higher than what he earned in the Council." WNYC also reports that Greenfield and Lazar "raised enough money to qualify for close to $90,000 each in public matching funds."

    ReplyDelete
  71. JWB says:

    Pedophile Rabbi Bryan R. Bramly arrested earlier today in synagogue parking lot.

    1) http://www.abc15.com/content/news/southeastvalley/chandler/story/Report-Valley-rabbi-arrested-for-sexually/yDz969zhrU69zk0KbsF0Kw.cspx

    Report: Valley rabbi arrested for sexually assaulting child
    Reported by: Katie Fisher
    Email: kfisher@abc15.com
    Last Update: 5:20 pm

    Bryan Bramly was arrested outside his Chandler synagogue Tuesday. CHANDLER, AZ -- An east Valley rabbi was arrested Tuesday for sexually assaulting a child in New York 10 years ago, according to authorities.

    Bryan Bramly, 45, was taken into custody in the parking lot of the Temple Beth Sholom Synagogue in Chandler by members of the U.S. Marshals and detectives with the New York Police Department.

    Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Thomas Henman said Rabbi Bramly is accused of raping a 7-year-old girl in March 2000 in New York City.

    The victim, now 17, reported the incident to police in August 2009.

    The alleged assault happened while the victim was spending the night at Bramly's New York home.

    Bramly, who currently works at the Chandler synagogue, was reportedly living in New York with his family while he was completing his studies to become a rabbi.

    Henman said Bramly is currently being held at the Maricopa County Jail while awaiting extradition to New York to face charges of first degree rape.

    "Our offices in New York and Arizona working in concert with NYPD, were able to locate and arrest an individual accused of preying on our most valuable commodity, a child," said U.S. Marshal David Gonzales.

    2) http://209.85.129.132/search?q=cache:_g85t6cnwHYJ:www.templebethsholomaz.org/rabbi_bio.shtml+Bramly+%26+gafni+%26+rabbi&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&ie=UTF-8

    Rabbi Bryan R. Bramly
    Rabbi Bryan R. Bramly joined the Temple Beth Sholom community in August of 2006. He received his rabbinical ordination and his Degree of Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York in 2006. He earned a double bachelor's degree in psychology and political science from the University of Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, in 1998.

    Bramly's background in Jewish communal service includes chaplain work at the University of Victoria Inter-Faith Chaplaincy, hosting a Jewish weekly radio program in Victoria and founding the University of Victoria Jewish Students' Association.

    Rabbi Bramly and his wife have two
    children.

    3) http://209.85.129.132/search?q=cache:INtnJdcKyFwJ:articles.sun-sentinel.com/2000-12-15/lifestyle/0012140794_1_jewish-pioneers-jewish-education-commission-elie-wiesel+%22Bryan+Bramly%22+boca+raton&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&ie=UTF-8

    Hasidic minyan

    A "Carlebach Happy Minyan," in the tradition of Hasidic worship singer Shlomo Carlebach, will start at 6:15 p.m. tonight at Temple Beth Am, 7205 Royal Palm Blvd., Margate. The event features prayers, clapping, dancing and interactive music.

    Following the service will be a Shabbat dinner at 7:15. Featured will be Bryan Bramly, a rabbinic student with the Jewish Theological Seminary. He also will speak at the Saturday Shabbat service, starting at 9 a.m.

    Admission is $20 for adults, $5 for children younger than 13. For information, call Beth Am at 954-968-4545.

    ReplyDelete
  72. How did Lazar get trounced so badly? Maybe because there 10 times as many people able to vote than the 12,000 who bothered to shlepp to the polls.

    http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2010/03/greenfield-in-the-44th.html

    With 100 percent of precincts reporting, here are the unofficial results, according to the city Board of Elections:

    - Greenfield: 7,070

    - Joe Lazar: 4,842

    - Kenneth Rice; 311.

    According to a source in Greenfield's campaign, Greenfield carried Boro Park, which is unexpected and a blow to Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who was backing Lazar.

    UPDATE: Other winners: Mayor Bloomberg, former Mayor Ed Koch, Sen. Joe Lieberman (for whom Greenfield worked), Sen. Marty Golden - all Greenfield backers.

    Losers: Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Comptroller John Liu, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Sen. Diane Savino (who switched her support to Lazar after initially backing Greenfield) and a host of other Democratic electeds who jumped on the Lazar bandwagon.

    ReplyDelete
  73. Steve:

    As far as government bodies go: nothing has or will change till Mashiach comes - all chroom. This is what it means Tzion b'mishpat Tipada.

    Otherwise speaking, G-D is on our side. The explosion of the internet and the awareness it has created over the last few years about sexual abuse is making shock-waves across the Frum world. The Noviminskers speech at the last Agudath convection was a sure sign that UOJ has driven home his points. We will win and one day sing Didan Netsach - this I am sure. Al Tisya-aish!!!

    ReplyDelete
  74. http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2010/03/gilbert_rabbi_arrested_for_10-.php

    A Gilbert Rabbi was arrested today in the 2000 rape of a 7-year-old girl in New York City.

    The U.S. Marshals Service tells New Times that its Child Predator Apprehension Team and detectives with the New York Police Department picked up 45-year-old Bryan Bramley outside of the Temple Beth Shalom Synagogue in Chandler, where he is the lead rabbi.

    At the time of the incident, Bramley was living in his family's New York City home while he was studying to be a rabbi. According to the U.S. Marshals Service, the 7-year-old victim was sleeping over at the Bramley house when the rape occurred.

    Bramley hasn't been on the run for a decade -- the alleged victim only came forward and filed charges in August 2009, when she was 17.

    We called Temple Beth Shalom, and representatives didn't feel like chatting.

    "The United States Marshals Service places a high priority on arresting people accused of sex crimes, particularly those involving children," United States Marshal David Gonzales says in a statement. "Our offices in New York and Arizona, working in concert with the NYPD, were able to locate and arrest an individual accused of preying on our most valuable commodity, a child."

    Bramley is in Maricopa County jail awaiting extradition to New York to face a first-degree rape charge.

    ReplyDelete
  75. Politically incorrect12:03 AM, March 24, 2010

    Greenfield is up for reelection again in just 6 months.

    Meanwhile, some jerk at Eckstein's is whooping it up that a win for Greenfield is a strike against both Hikind and UOJ.

    ReplyDelete