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Somalian Pirates came to the attention of the World Jewish Community recently when a bunch of them (over a hundred!) gave up their lives to save Israel by hijacking a boat coming out of Iran with some horrible chemical weapons, of course, obviously, for the purposes of destruction. Who are these Awesome Africans? Warrenellis.com quotes cominganarchy.com quotes this article:

They live a high-profile life - driving luxury vehicles, using fancy mobiles and laptops, living in big, decorated houses, marrying beautiful women,' says Dahir Salaad Musse, a businessman in the port town of Bosasso in the semi-autonomous northern region of Puntland.

Piracy has changed into a highly lucrative industry as shipping companies cough up increasingly hefty ransoms for the release of their ships.

In particular, the business has snowballed over the last few years as young men, seeing the lavish lifestyles of their peers, flock to get their slice of the cake. The East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme says there are now well over 1,000 pirates patrolling the Gulf of Aden, compared to just over 100 in 2005.

As a consequence of what is Somalia's only growth industry, several pirate havens have sprung up in Puntland.

Settlements such as Eyl, Garowe and Harardhere are becoming boomtowns - at least compared to the rest of Somalia, where a bloody insurgency, drought and rising food and fuel prices have left millions dependent on food aid.

If the economy gets bad? If the government gives up on protecting you? Remember: there is hope– in piracy! Take responsibility for your community!

Piracy has its origins in the organized communities of the Puntland coast. In the 1990s, a group of fisherman in settlements there banded together to prevent illegal fishing and the dumping of toxic waste off their shores. This harmless community action inspired many analysts to designate Puntland a model for Somali civil society. When some ships illegally fishing were boarded in attempts to police the region, the reward offered for the boats return was enormous—amounts that were many times the monthly income of entire villages.

Piracy took off as an attempt to gain income from this type of civic policing, and slowly grew to what Kaplan called the “innocence” of piracy. It wasn’t long before the pirates became more ambitious, using the fishing boats they captured to hunt larger prey. And with the money that came in, small fishing towns were transformed into pirate havens. As responsible organizers, pirates have invested some of their profits back into the franchise, replacing barely seaworthy rafts with speedboats, AK-47s with modern arms, and GPS tracking systems to boot.

Remarkably, hostages are treated well, with some pirates even setting up special kitchens onshore to cook western meals for their captives. Medical care available on the ship is not withheld to force the hand of parties that would pay a ransom. The Somali pirates are more businessmen that extortionists, and the strategy is paying dividends—according to a report by London-based think tank Chatham House, shipping companies have forked over US$30 million in ransoms to Somali pirates this year. Welcome to growth enterprise in the anarchic societies of the 21st century.

For some negative effects of the piratical efforts, check out this video:Not everyone benefits.

Yeah, timemanagementforanarchists.com has some great tips for keeping your life useful and productive without need of a boss or externally imposed structure– and through them I found Nomediakings.com, which talked me into self publishing my book next time i'm in town. But all that is trivial in the face of this little meditation: My trip to liberty city where a gentle Canadian narrates a video of his trip to the base of Grand Theft Auto 3, and just walks round, visits a park, mimes a little, just to show how much more there is to appreciate in even the most problematic metropolis. Watch and be touched at the familiar traveler innocence that is possible when you're not just trying to win something.

R'Menachem Froman, noted Zohar learning mystic and Rabbi of West Bank settlement "Tekoa," comes out with a message:

 American Jews and Non-jews have to elect Peace! and Justice!

And I think, in the current situation, it's Obama

Barack Obama.

From Cosmos Magazine:

Sitting at the centre of the exclusion zone, the damaged reactor unit is encased in a steel and cement sarcophagus. It's a deathly tomb that plays host to about 200 tonnes of melted radioactive fuel, and is swarming with radioactive dust.

But it's also the abode of some very hardy fungi which researchers believe aren't just tolerating the severe radiation, but actually harnessing its energy to thrive.

Because Mushrooms are magical angels from the higher spheres sent to fix the earth. Yes.

Notice what school the scholars quoted are from

"Our findings suggest that [the fungi] can capture the energy from radiation and transform it into other forms of energy that can be used for growth," said microbiologist Arturo Casadevall from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in New York, USA.

Fungi are weird, yes. They chow down on everything from decaying plant matter to the more exotic fare of asbestos and jet fuel. But being able to produce their own energy, independent of an actual food source, and use dangerous ionising radiation to boot? That's very new and very exciting, Casadevall says.

In 1999, a robot sent to map the inside of the reactor returned with samples of a particularly black fungi, indicating an abundance of the biological pigment melanin, which also colours your skin.

Only the Negro Mushrooms can fix the destruction that man has wrought

From the BBC

The only time they were on stage together was at the end of Mr Obama's session when Pastor Warren thanked him and introduced Mr McCain.

The two candidates shook hands. Mr Obama went in for a hug and McCain awkwardly complied.

(Hugging Mccain, Ben Affleck, and Some Very Respectable Negro)

So, while doing research about Biafra for a school project, I come upon this joke

Bible researchers interviewed Hausa, Ibo & Yoruba folks to know what they would rather change in the bible if they were given the chance.

The Hausa man said 'walahi, the adulteress whom Jesus asked to go should have been STONED ..'

The Ibo man said ,'Nna, I can't understand why Judas returned the money after selling Jesus . In short he is not a GOOD BUSINESSMAN .'

The Yoruba man said ,'Jesus should have waited just one more day before raising Lazarus from the dead. We had already paid for the 'aso-ebi'. At least he should have allowed us enjoy the "OWAMBE" before performing His miracles.

Hail Biafra

What's an OWAMBE? or an "aso-ebi", for that matter?  Aso-ebi appears to be some kind of party clothing. Owambe?

Owambe /o-wamn-beh/ n. Popular terminology used in Nigeria to refer to big parties. derived from the Yorùbá language Also practiced worldwide under different names such as party, fete, partito, partido, ?, etc.

Literal definition: “it is there”. “It” signifies an abundance of everything; food, drink, fine fabrics, hot flesh, presents, and of course that ultimate signifier of excess, raw cash.

Metaphorical definition: the rhythmic commotion arising from the collision of material and personality excess.

Although great efforts are made to showcase excess at celebrations around the globe, nothing quite matches the fumes of joyous excess and beautiful vulgarity that arises from the potent mix known as owambe. And you thought the zenith of partying was kicking it on Puffy’s yacht or the Donald’s penthouse? Think again, my friend…

Now, there are certain differentiating factors that illustrate why the owambe phenomenon is not an exact translation into western equivalents such as “party”.

1) Live music. While recordings may also be used instead of or in conjunction with this, nothing beats a live band because that is what draws out and captures the essence of owambe; that frenzy of the “world be damned, we’re-partying-today-even-if-others-starve or even-if-some-of-us-may-starve-tomorrow-its-on-today”.

3) Spraying: Guests show their appreciation for the celebrant and the party by “spraying” him/her liberally with cash (usually naira, US dollars, and/or GB pounds). This usually occurs when the music has hit such a crescendo that the sprayer(s) just cannot hold back anymore. The manner of spraying is also an art unto itself; it requires artfully anointing (not throwing) the recipient with bank notes usually on the face or neck all the while keeping up with the tempo of the music.

2) Hot flesh in motion. Also known as dancing but far superior to what western readers might visualize. Trust me, the gyrations seen in rap/reggae videos and carnivals haven’t got ‘nuthin on this. The dancing at owambe is indeed a sight to behold. It is doubtful that anything beats the way in which flesh sings with absolute wanton and abandon during such an occasion. Only the Afro-Latin American and Caribbean brethren probably come close, which isn’t surprising given that their populations include many West African descendants.

Ok, school over.

Alas, I cry for our people, and the tragic lameness of our parties. Will the true G-d ever forgive us, and make our celebrations awesome like African ones?

For first time, Hasidic sect approves limited internet use 

"The problem is that exposure to pornography can occur very quickly," he explains. "I'm not talking about people who are looking for it, but about those who are not. Innocent people. It happens by chance: A fellow of 30, married and the father of children, suddenly sees naked girls and all the rest. This is tragic, because his world collapses in an instant. He is not prepared for this psychologically and emotionally. But even without pornography, there's a problem because our public is curious, and this is a world of information to which a person can become addicted."

What is permitted? A map of the accessible sites provides a look at the sect's worldview. One can see from it how the rather dour Belz community - which is actually more connected to the world than, say, the Satmars - wants the average Hasid to experience the world. This is, of course, a black-and-white world, both in terms of content and visuals.

First of all, there are 150 different sites that are generally useful or business-related, and are open to the Belz surfer. Plus an immeasurably longer list of sites that are blocked, which are defined as "black," at Rimon. It is not surprising, for example, that Belz leaders aren't interested in having their members surf the Hadrei Haredim forum on the Hydepark site. This forum provides a stage for harsh criticism of the ultra-Orthodox public and its leaders. Forums of the Satmar community, Belz's greatest rival, are also off-bounds.

Belz allows its adherents to surf news sites, but not those with contents that are not to its liking. Thus, for example, the sites of Haaretz or TheMarker, as well as Globes, with the photos missing, are open for surfing. NRG and Ynet, however, are forbidden. University sites are also open.

The religious feminist Kolech site is not accessible, nor is Hadaf Hayomi, which offers a daily page of Gemara. "We prefer that people study from a book," said one functionary. The educational Matah site is also blocked, as is Mikranet, which provides modern commentaries on the Bible. 

Remember back in the day, when SevenFatCow (as it used to be called) had streaming news from three websites? One of then was Alternet, a kinda goofy lefty "news" and opinion page. It can be kinda lame, but it introduced me to the writings of one of my favorite politcal analysts, Matt Taibbi. This is a recent piece by him, cutting away the obfuscation of Presidential Campaign psuedo-issues to bring up what really now has to matter in electing a president, or any other official: How we're going to eat.

A few weeks back, I got a call from someone in the office of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Sanders wanted to tell me about an effort his office had recently made to solicit information about his constituents' economic problems. He sent out a notice on his e-mail list asking Vermont residents to "tell me what was going on in their lives economically." He expected a few dozen letters at best — but got, instead, more than 700 in the first week alone. Some, like the excerpt posted above, sounded like typical tales of life for struggling single-parent families below the poverty line. More unnerving, however, were the stories Sanders received from people who held one or two or even three jobs, from families in which both spouses held at least one regular job

— in other words, from people one would normally describe as middle-class. For example, this letter came from the owner of his own commercial cleaning service:

My 90-year-old father in Connecticut has recently become ill and asked me to visit him. I want to drop everything I am doing and go visit him, however, I am finding it hard to save enough money to add to the extra gas I'll need to get there. I make more than I did a year ago and I don't have enough to pay my property taxes this quarter for the first time in many years. They are due tomorrow.

This single mother buys clothes from thrift stores and unsuccessfully tried to sell her house to pay for her son's schooling:

I don't go to church many Sundays, because the gasoline is too expensive to drive there. Every thought of an activity is dependent on the cost.

Sanders got letters from working people who have been reduced to eating "cereal and toast" for dinner, from a 71-year-old man who has been forced to go back to work to pay for heating oil and property taxes, from a worker in an oncology department of a hospital who reports that clinically ill patients are foregoing cancer treatments because the cost of gas makes it too expensive to reach the hospital. The recurring theme is that employment, even dual employment, is no longer any kind of barrier against poverty. Not economic discomfort, mind you, but actual poverty. Meaning, having less than you need to eat and live in heated shelter — forgetting entirely about health care and dentistry, which has long ceased to be considered an automatic component of American middle-class life. The key factors in almost all of the Sanders letters are exploding gas and heating oil costs, reduced salaries and benefits, and sharply increased property taxes (a phenomenon I hear about all across the country at campaign trail stops, something that seems to me to be directly tied to the Bush tax cuts and the consequent reduced federal aid to states). And it all adds up to one thing.

"The middle class is disappearing," says Sanders. "In real ways we're becoming more like a third-world country."

All this reminded me of my shock at hearing Henry Miller's description of his poverty in New York. I wonder if it's something to look forwards to?

We all grew up with the assumption that all the wisdom of India and Asia was from descendants of Avruhum Avenu. But did you ever wonder HOW exactly Moshe Rabbeinu, Krishna, Zoroaster, Jesus, Mohammed, and Buddha were related? Wonder no more! Because the Bahais have had a mesorah of it since their Moshiach revealed himself, over a hundred years ago.

It's too big to post, but check it out. The wholest messianic religion ever! I'm really a fan.

It's kind of a cliche for our chevre, the antinomian messianism in Chabad C/O Kabbalah. But i'm always kinda shocked to hear some of these ideas expressed by mainstream accepted figures, if R' Yitzchak Ginsburg is that.  He might be a bit Kahaneishe for some big part of the mainstream world,  but no one would try to call him a Sabbatean. And yet…

The wild ox represents those Jewish souls that are masters of the revealed tradition of the Torah, while the leviathan represents the souls that belong to the concealed tradition of the Torah. Each one will try to dismember the other one. But, say the sages, the leviathan uses a fin to slaughter the wild ox. Is it permissible (is it kosher) to slaughter using a fin?

The Midrash says that at the moment that the leviathan slaughters the wild ox in this fashion, the wise (chachamim) say that it is kosher (in another reading of the same Midrash it says that the righteous, the tzadikim say that this form of slaughter is kosher). After that, the Midrash continues: But, this is not the case! Meaning, in our reality, it is forbidden to slaughter with a fin because the fin has many irregularities and does not slice smoothly through the flesh. This is like slaughtering with a sickle, which is forbidden. The flesh of the slaughtered animal would not be kosher in such a case. So what is going on?

Says the Midrash: “Torah will come out of Me.” This is a verse in Isaiah, which then the Midrash addends and explicates by saying “A new Torah will come out of Me.” In other words, what in our present reality is forbidden will become kosher in the future (indeed, the tzadikim will sit down to eat from these two animals after they kill each other). From here we clearly see that “a new Torah” refers to making prohibitions permissible. Not just something that is a custom, a minhag, but even something that is halachah, a very harsh prohibition. Even something like this the Torah of Mashiach can make permissible. " 

I'm taking this line completely out of context, of course. So what? Can YOU wade through the whole vort to see the denoument of this suggestion, rendering the suggestion of Halacha's negation unthreatening somehow? I couldn't. —Yho