The Globe Tribune.Info

Channeling Elvis in Czech : Music Of The Day

2010-11-18T22:23:00.001-05:00

Magdeburger Joe has a hobby of listening to American tunes in Czech, German and other languages. Along with a few links to music videos of his favourite songs in this genre, he explains his preference for this kind of music. Click here

Alan Dershowitz on Sholom Rubashkin

2010-11-18T15:48:00.000-05:00

Alan Dershowitz did an interview with the Jewish Press,speaking on a wide array of topics. His comments on Sholom Rubashkin's 27 year sentence were right on target. He commented as follows.

QUESTION: You have been critical of the 27-year sentence Sholom Rubashkin recently received. Do you see him as a victim of anti-Semitism or as someone who simply was unlucky to have a stern judge presiding over his trial?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ANSWER: I don't know enough about the case to know whether he's completely innocent, but I can tell you this: The sentence was utterly disproportionate. You cannot explain that sentence based on the facts of the case. I don't care how harsh a judge she is. She's never sentenced anybody like this for a comparable crime.

So I don't know whether it was anti-Semitism or anti-Easternism or anti-New Yorkism or anti-outsiderism, but it was anti-something. And it can't be explained on principles of justice. The sentence was way, way out of proportion to anything that was proved in the case.

Click Here to read the entire interview

Pogroms Against Jews In Arab Countries Remembered.

2010-11-18T12:00:00.000-05:00

A stock phrase of Arab opponents of Israel is "We should not have to pay for what Europe did to its Jews. Well before the founding of the State of Israel, back in the 1940's, there were well organized pogroms against Jes across the Arab world. The Point of No Return web site recalls this grim time for Jewish in Arab countries who had to flee their homes.

Tiny Iraqi Sect Endangered By Dispersion

2010-11-18T11:50:00.000-05:00

One of the casualties of the war in Iraq has been the presence of the Mandaean community in Iraq. The Mandaeans are a gnostic, monotheistic religion that venerates John the Baptist and prohibits circumcision. They are completely pacifist and do not accept converts. The only way to become a Mandaean is to be born to two Mandaean parents.
Read here and here about the latest threat to Mandaean survival.

Today's Jewish Song of the Day

2010-11-17T20:40:00.000-05:00

This is a song from the Abayudaya of Uganda, a group that practices Judaism and has suffered terribly for their faith. I wrote about them briefly today on Rudi Stettner.com.and presented one of their songs that never fails to cheer me on the bleakest of days. Click here for the Rudi Stettner article..

Palestinian Blogger Imprisoned For "Blasphemy"

2010-11-17T20:08:00.000-05:00

A Gaza blogger is in prison on charges of" blasphemy" for allegedly posting spoofs of Koranic verses and mocking Islam on Facebook and assorted blogs. Waleed Husayin now faces the death penalty for his alleged promotion of atheism. The New York Times and Commentary report at length on a case that is largely unreported in the western world.

Priests,Pastors Called To Trinidad School After “Demonic Possession” of 17 Students

2010-11-17T19:52:00.000-05:00

Here in Brooklyn, Santeria, voodoo and other religions in which the worship of African deities is blended with a thin veneer of Christianity are widely practiced. Some dismiss it as superstition, and others say that it is idolatry that involves dark forces in the spiritual world. In Trinidad, people are discussing an incident in which 17 girls at the Moruga Composite School in Trinidad and Tobago were stricken in what is being treated as a case of demonic possession Click Here to read the story on Indyposted.com

Song of the Day by Yuri Shevchuk of DDT

2010-11-17T14:53:00.000-05:00

Yuri Shevchuk of DDT is the founder of DDT, one of the great rock groups of Russia, and in my opinion, the entire world. Here s a hauntingly beautiful song he did about autumn, with jyrics provided along with the video.

This final autumn - not a line, not a sigh.
Final songs have fallen with the summer.
A farewell fire of the epoch burns out,
And we are watching the shadows and the lights
This final autumn.
This final autumn.

An autumn hurricane swept jokingly away
Everything that choked us in the dusty night;
Everything that pushed, played, glittered,
Torn apart by the aspen wind
This final autumn.
This final autumn.

Ah Alexander Sergeevich, dear,
Why have you told us nothing
Of how you held, searched, and loved?..
Of how that final autumn you knew.
That final autumn.
That final autumn.

Hungry sea, hissing, gulped down
The autumn sun, and, behind the clouds,
You will no longer remember what has been;
You will not touch the dusty grass with your hands

Poets walk away into the final autumn,
And you cannot bring them back - the blinds are nailed shut.
The rains only remain, and the icy summer;
Love remains, and the stones that rose from the dead.
----------------------------------------

---------------------------------------
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

Polygamy: Who Pays For It?

2010-11-17T12:52:00.000-05:00

My fellow blogger "Truth Library"takes a close look at polygamy. Aside from questions of personal freedom, who foots the bill for it? Are polygamists "gaming the system? Click here for a thoughtful take on polygamy.

Simplest Cell Phone In The World

2010-11-17T12:36:00.000-05:00

Dan Evon over at Indyposted.com writes about the simplest cell phone in the world. The only thing it's missing is the good old rotary dial. Click here to check it out.

Soldier Deleted Fort Hood Video Under Orders. Why?

2010-11-17T11:27:00.000-05:00

Pfc. Lance Aviles was at Fort Hood when Major Nidal Hasan opened fire, killing 13 people. Why was he ordered to delete the cell phone video that he filmed of the attack? Why are Hasan's motives not being discussed at his emotionally charged trial? Click here to read more.

George Soros "China's Government Better Than The US

2010-11-17T11:13:00.000-05:00

According to George Soros ""Today China has not only a more vigorous economy, but actually a better functioning government than the United States,". Who elected this guy? Is he talking about the same country that forces women to have abortions at 9 months and has massive pollution problems? Click here for the rest of the story.

Priority 7 Vouchers To Be Cancelled 6 Months Early

2010-11-15T19:39:00.000-05:00

New York City is facing critical budget deficits and understandably is looking to cut government spending wherever possible. Priority 7 is a daycare program that provides low income large families with child care. Unless reason prevails, some working parents might be faced with loss of the daycare that enables a second parent to work. Magdeburger Joe notes as follows.

"In actuality, there will be very little savings resulting from the discontinuation of Priority 7. All that will happen will be that parents will sign up for other programs that partially replace lost income. Money saved with these budget cuts will more than be lost elsewhere."

Click below to read the rest of his article.

Priority 7 Vouchers To Be Cancelled 6 Months Early

A Statement of Purpose For The Globe Tribune.Info

2010-11-15T16:40:00.000-05:00

Since late January of 2008, I have published Rudi Stettner and Magdeburger Joe, my two flagship web sites. I will continue to do so. A major problem of increasing circulation has been the odd and easily misspelled names of my personal sites. Although I comment on the news and seldom get personal, the names of the two sites convey the mistaken impression that I am posting a personal blog when this is not the case.

Magdeburger Joe and Rudi Stettner Joe are good names for me to channel my inner creativity. Magdeburger Joe is named for the city in which my grandmother was born. Rudi Stettner is tied to my great uncle, a journalist murdered by the Nazis. The inspiration provided by writing under those names has been priceless. It leaves unaddressed the need to address society's notions of what a news and commentary site should look like.

For this reason, I have chosen to open a new site, which will pull together my original commentary from both Magdeburger Joe and from Rudi Stettner, along with articles from around the web that I want to call to the attention of readers. After almost three years of writing, I want to be a good online journalist and not a spammer or plagiariser. Following are some general guidelines of what will appear on this site.

I will not reprint entire articles. I will do a paragraph of introduction and a linkover to the article I wish to promote. If I like what a blogger or print journalist says, I will drive traffic to his or her web site.No one will be able to accuse me of stealing their hits or intellectual property. I will even treat the Rudi Stettner and Magdeburger Joe sites the same way. This is for a different reason. Search engines will treat me better if I do not duplicate content., and I intend to optimise my presence on search engines.

I subscribe to a "labour conservative" political philosophy. I believe that class warfare and an adversarial view of workers and business owners is harmful to individuals and society. I believe that for journalists, his or her religious and political convictions are like an operating system that functions in the background, yet shapes and influences everything they do. This is how I view my Judaism and my labour conservative political philosophy.

I will try to strike a balance between taking the pulse of the public and promoting political and cultural trends that I believe are of benefit to socety. In practical terms, thsi means mixing current mainstream news with stories about endangered languages, East German rock music and other things that I feel should interst more people.I do not want to be a slave to fashion, ratings or profits.

The internet gives anyone who cares to do so the opportunity to publish themselves and to present the news as they see fit. It is a radical shift in how we gather information. I am excited to be a part of it. Blogger has been a very good platform for me to post my writing. I am grateful to them, yet I hope to grow enough in the next year to have need of a website designer. I also want to thank Moshe Keller, a dear friend who recommended that I launch a site like this one that will mix my articles with those of other people. With some modifications, I have adopted his idea.

I feel particularly blessed to have a wife and children who have borne patiently my years of work in chasing my dreams of accomplishing something in the world of journalism.The many hours I have spent writing have certainly been trying at times.Last but not least,with G-d's help, I hope that Globe Tribune.info will on the balance make the world in which we all live a better place in which to live.