Angels of Jihad, Angels of Apathy

Electricity has made angels of us all… Unlike print, TV doesn’t transport bits of classified information. Instead it transports the viewer. It takes his spirit on a trip, an instant trip. On live shows, it takes his spirit to real events in progress. But here a contradiction occurs: though TV may make the viewer’s spirit […]

Once We Were Warriors

The recent Sabbath murder of a rabbi in Miami, the sucker-punching of Jews outside a kosher restaurant in Montreal, and many similar incidents around the world do not point to a rise in Jew hatred. Rather, they show that anti-Semites (whether neo-Nazi or Muslim) feel more comfortable expressing their contempt, whether through insults, vandalism, or […]

Hey, Get Your Demonstration Off My Street!

Get Your Twisted Values Out of My Country! Many years ago I went on a demonstration organized by a trade union, with the purpose of disrupting a convention of the ruling political party. Since we couldn’t get through the police lines to approach the building, we settled for burning down one of the wooden poles […]

It Used To Be Easy To Conquer The World

It’s still easy, if no one resists It used to be easy to conquer the world; it wasn’t a very big place. The Mauryan empire of ancient India was no more than five million square kilometers, but included over forty percent of the planet’s population. The Mongol Empire was six times that size, covering one fifth […]

The Dark Ages Are Coming

Winter is coming The death, or at least the Dark Age of Western Civilization is quickly approaching. We’re surrendering in battles that we’ve fought for decades, even centuries. And they’re conflicts in which the West was heading towards overwhelming victories. It’s not too long ago that the Muslim world seemed poised to join Western civilization. […]

Fred Was Borderline Retarded

Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks writes about a medical examination where he was put on a brisk-paced treadmill. “What I am testing” the doctor explained, “is how long it takes when you come off the treadmill, for your pulse to return to normal.” Rabbi Sacks concluded that the measure of health is in one’s power of […]

Ghetto Notes

April 27, 2014 is Holocaust Remembrance Day, the anniversary (according to the Hebrew Calendar) of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. My father, Yehuda Elberg, was part of that struggle. I present these notes of his in memory of my grandparents, siblings, cousins, uncles and aunts whose lives were destroyed in those horrible times. Although we say “Never […]

Ethics, Jews, and the Love of Anti-Semites

The Crusades were bad for the Jews. Vast armies on a mission to liberate the holy land from Islam first sharpened their blades against their non-believing neighbors. Whole Jewish communities were slaughtered; some by sword, some by fire. The cruelty was such that some rabbis advocated mass suicide as the only way to avoid the […]

The Politically Correct Megillat Esther; story of Purim

Chapter I And it came to pass in the third year of the reign of Achashverosh, King of Persia, that the King threw a great party. And it was during that party, that the King became intoxicated and called for his wife Vashti to come dance naked in front of the guests. Now, Vashti was […]

Down With Yankee Imperialism!

Right-thinking and progressive people have looked ruefully at the sordid history of western imperialism, grateful for the enlightened attitudes of contemporary societies and governments. The former colonies are treated respectfully; indigenous people receive apologies, sometimes even financial compensation. The relation is between equals, not conqueror and victim. Tourists now visit exotic places that were once […]

Responsibility, Guns & Drugs In A Brave New World

The massacre of twenty-six people, mostly children, in Sandy Hook, Connecticut drew international attention to American gun culture, where it’s easy to get your hands on very dangerous weapons. It was a repeat of the outcry from an earlier school massacre, in Columbine, Colorado, or the uproar after the Virginia Tech rampage, where a student […]

Freedom, Firefighting and Tragedy

A Native community in northern Saskatchewan was struck by tragedy recently, when a fire quickly consumed a wooden house, killing two brothers, nine and ten years old. Another child is in hospital with severe burns. It was an avoidable tragedy; the community’s fire truck wouldn’t start. But even if it did, there was no one […]

Music: 3 Rules of Discipline & 8 Rules of Self-Promotion

Neil Young, the aged, iconic music star caused a stir recently with his concerts to support the fight against the Alberta Oil Sands. He had with him David Suzuki, the iconic environmental star, famed for equating humans with maggots. Also on the stage lending credibility was the Chief of an Indian band that earns […]

Hey God! What the Heck Are You Doing?

There’s a generally accepted principle in classical physics that the closer you sit to the fire, the warmer you’ll be. So why is it that Winnipeg, Manitoba was recently colder than the surface of Mars? Winnipeg, by virtue of being on Earth, is about seventy-eight million kilometres nearer to the fire (our sun). That should […]

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Bear

This man is in mortal danger. Not from the bear; it’s dead. The threat is from the Bear League, of Lake Tahoe, California, and those who believe as they do. This outfit humanizes bears, re-writing their character: “Above all else, what we do is attempt to teach the public about the true gentle nature of […]