More on DeLay and the Logan Act. The most relevant paragraph of the Slate piece I linked to earlier is:

Despite all this, Logan went unpunished, and it appears that no one has been convicted of a Logan Act violation. But sometimes the act is used for intimidation. During the 1984 presidential race, Ronald Reagan suggested that a trip Jesse Jackson had taken to Cuba could be legally actionable, citing the Logan Act as the "law of the land." The act has also been brandished against Henry Ford, Joseph McCarthy, Jane Fonda, and former Attorney General Ramsey Clark (for an enterprising trip to Iran). Again, no convictions.

Let me ask -- let me go to John Fund here. Isn't there a Logan Act that stops independent Americans from going out and cutting foreign policy, adversarial to the president? Doesn't the president get to make foreign policy here?
FUND: Well, Chris, you may know the private conversations that he's having with Sharon. But publicly Tom DeLay has not criticized the road map. He has said, "I trust President Bush." And I bet you...
MATTHEWS: Publicly he has said the West Bank is Israeli.
FUND: Well, his most recent statements -- I bet when he comes back from Israel he will be more amenable to the peace agreement because Sharon is more amenable to the peace agreement than he was a few weeks ago.
MATTHEWS: You want to bet the ranch on that?
FUND: Yes. I bet he'll be much more conciliatory when he comes back and has talked to both parties.

HEADLINE: Carter Said To Have Violated Logan Act.
BODY: Newsweek (5/4, 4) said in its "Periscope" section that since former President Jimmy Carter left office, he has "become an unofficial ambassador, easing tensions from Korea to Haiti." However, in his new book, "The Unfinished Presidency: Jimmy Carter's Journey Beyond The White House," Douglas Brinkley says Carter's "good intentions sometimes got the better of him." According to Brinkley, only days "before the Gulf War began in 1991, Carter secretly wrote leaders of the Arab coalition asking them to 'call publicly for a delay in the use of force in order to seek a peaceful solution. '" Carter added, "Most Americans would welcome such a move." Newsweek added that some former Bush Administration aides, "unaware of Carter's meddling at the time, are angry." Former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft said that in a book he is writing to be published this fall, "he will accuse Carter of violating the Logan Act, which prohibits US citizens from interfering with American foreign policy." However, Carter's "friends disagree" with Scowcroft's charge, saying that Carter "did nothing inappropriate."

And so it goes:

U.S. Episcopal Church Approves First Openly Gay Bishop

The floor is open for comments…

BTW: Apologies for no Parsha Senryu this past week -- long parsha + little time = disappointment re: Japanese Bible poetry.

Now why on earth would someone who got his degree in Holocaust denial agree to go to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in the first place?! Abbas Cancels Trip to Holocaust Museum...

For two months, the Romanian government has bent over backwards to apologize for statements made by government officials denying that the Holocaust took place in their country. They have spoken and written to the Israeli government and every Jewish organization trying to "clarify" and "correct" the statements. Well, now the President of Romania wins an award for sheer stupidity. This time, he didn't deny that the Holocaust happened in Romania, no, this guy gives an interview to Haaretz, you know Israel's leading newspaper (Israel's that little country where lots and lots of Jews live), and tells the reporter that the Holocaust was not a uniquely Jewish affair:

"...the Holocaust was not unique to the Jewish population in Europe. Many others, including Poles, died in the same way... In the Romania of the Nazi period both Jews and communists were treated equally...

I don't understand the reaction. I said the Holocaust was a phenomenon that affected the entire Europe. There is no Romanian, or German or Polish Holocaust. It was a general process, and some of its European components happened on Romania's territory...

It seems like I need to add some context to my prior post on Tom DeLay's trip to the Middle East. Given the tone of the comments, it appears that some readers aren't familiar with the Logan Act, and the fact that it has been invoked against members of Congress -- including Rep. Nick Rahall last year, and with great frequency against Jimmy Carter. There is no indication that DeLay has received any kind of Executive Branch blessing for his trip, and there seems to be every indication that he's conducting foreign policy -- one that may well be somewhat different from President Bush's. Here are three grafs from the NYT article:

"I'm sure there are some in the administration who are smarter than me, but I can't imagine in the very near future that a Palestinian state could ever happen," he said in an interview today, as he prepared to leave for a weeklong official tour.
"I can't imagine this president supporting a state of terrorists, a sovereign state of terrorists," he said. "You'd have to change almost an entire generation's culture."
Instead, Mr. DeLay, one of the three most powerful Republicans in Congress, called on the administration to carry out a "Marshall plan" for Palestinian areas, with the United States paying to rebuild the economy there rather than giving aid to Palestinian leaders directly. He said he had been working hard to persuade the White House to support his plan, and intended to bring it up in separate meetings with Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas, the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers. He will also address the Israeli Parliament and meet with King Abdullah of Jordan.

As an evangelical Christian, he is the most prominent member in Washington of the Christian Zionist movement, a formidable bloc of conservative Republicans whose support for Israel is based on biblical interpretations, sometimes putting them to the right of Israeli government.
[...]
"You could have knocked me over," he said, when Mr. Sharon declared in May that the time had come to divide the land of Israel with the Palestinians, a position that Mr. DeLay has long abhorred with much of the same thunder that used to be Mr. Sharon's trademark.
Even now, he said, he thinks that the Palestinians must go much further in renouncing terrorism before a meaningful peace can be achieved.

The Israeli media has been doing this for years for terror victims, I am glad to see that somone has taken to doing for the soldiers killed in Iraq. Interesting that it is Bloomber.

While at the NYMag/Guardian/New School "Media At War" conference on Thursday, I ran into WSJ Managing Editor Paul Steiger. I had previously raised the question about WSJ's use of "militants" to refer to Hamas, and figured I'd ask him for his take on it. He started off saying that, to his knowledge, there has been no change in policy that would make this a new thing. He then stated further that they differentiate between Hamas' attacks on civilians and those on soldiers -- the former terrorist, the latter militant. He said that when referring to groups or organizations as a whole, it becomes a lot harder to specify, and that militant wins out. I'll be doing more research into this, probably in preparation for a "Jewish Ombudsman" at some point down the line.

Avi Zenilman's guide to teens' summer jobs closes with a personal ad:

Single, unshaven adolescent male seeks wonkish and statuesque Jewish (or Asian-American) female. Must enjoy policy analysis, literary journalism, high-minded pretensions, and rap music.

"I can't imagine this president supporting a state of terrorists, a sovereign state of terrorists," -- Rep. Tom Delay, in today's NYT about his trip to the Middle East, in which, "he will take with him a message of grave doubt that the Middle East is ready for a Palestinian state, as called for in the current peace plan, known as the road map, backed by the administration and Europe." Now, what's the difference between Tom DeLay conducting foreign policy and, say, Jimmy Carter? Anybody?

New Friends Blogs Update (the blogs are new, the friends are old): Bryan seems to be keeping good on his promise for a weekly parsha devar torah. Meanwhile, David preaches the gospel of the hard sciences.

Did anyone else see this story about a Brooklyn Young Israel Rabbi relocating his congregation for the summer to a different building -- one that stipulated that no Jews of color attend -- and attemping to explain to his congregants of color why they shouldn't? The Rabbis of the two shuls released the following statement:

“It has always been and continues to be the policy of our respective synagogues to encourage the participation of all halachic Jews of every race and background. We are saddened that any misunderstanding of this policy occurred [and] sincerely regret any pain caused to any individual due to this misunderstanding.”

My last undergraduate paper has been handed in (for the last time)! Woo-Hoo! I may actually end up as a college graduate -- who would have thought. All it takes now is the YU registrar's office getting their act together. By the way, the Final Paper was - in my mind - a really good one on Maimonides and creation (what he really held, how people read him, etc.). You can check it out here, if the interest strikes you.

Hal Lindsey again demonstrates his keen grasp of geopolitics:

Israel is in a no-win situation. Her back is to the sea – she is surrounded on all three sides by enemies and is being forced into a false peace by her friends. That is precisely the scenario depicted by the Hebrew prophets for the revived Jewish state in the Last Days. And all of this indicates that's exactly where we are in God's prophetic timetable.
My greatest concern now is that United States policy is helping to implement this catastrophic situation. According to the Hebrew prophets, who have never been wrong, that is very dangerous for the United States. It puts America in direct opposition to what God clearly vows He is going to do – restore the scattered tribes of Israel to the land He unconditionally promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their descendants.

Talking about REAL Hasidic Rebels Amazing NY Metro article about a Bobover woman fighting for a divorce and going up against odds and obstacles that until now were only seen in bad movies produced in Israel aimed at slandering the Orthodox. Picture your typical Naomi Regan novel, and multiply by a few thousand or so. Thanks to Uri for the link.

Great Salon.com piece written by a female Episcopalian recently ordained priest(ess) about her dating life. It seems the issue revolves around the fact that she a) doesn't have to be celibate her whole life, but b) she does until she gets married. Apparently people have trouble keeping this all straight. Best paragraph:

Honestly, though, is it really too much to hope for a date with someone who remembers something from his high school history lessons? Might it not have come up there that the Reformation ministers were allowed to marry? And what about Henry VIII, the king who ruthlessly dispatched wives as easily as Luther dispatched age-old traditions? Doesn't every teenager with raging hormones remember that, on the Continent, the Reformation was about politics and then theology, and in England it was about hormones, then politics, and maybe some theology? Once the archbishop snatched up for himself an eager bride, legions of priests across the country followed suit, turning the English court and church into one big love-orgy practically overnight. And shouldn't the sordid details of our Protestant past make my profession a little bit saucier and more enticing?

So far, today's most interesting hit has come from the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL)

Fusion energy and plasma physics research is the primary mission of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). A collaborative national center for fusion energy and plasma physics research, PPPL is managed by Princeton University for the U.S. Department of Energy. An associate mission for PPPL is to provide the highest quality of education in fusion energy, plasma physics, and related technologies.

Her own website is too slow to confirm this, but it seems that Kathie Lee Gifford likes The Passion, although she "also accused Gibson of engaging in a “very cynical marketing end-run” to discredit anyone who might criticize the flick." Just in case you were wondering... (thanks to Yuter for the link)

My old grade school principal wrote a letter to the Jewish Press that ended up as Rebbetzin Jungreis' entire column this week. The subject is "Girls At Risk" or, The Ones Who Slip Through the Beis Yaakov System's Cracks. You really have to read the entire letter, but here's a telling passage:

Our Torah society today may be more learned than the previous recent generations, but we lack the simple Yiras Shamayim that characterized our grandparents. The simplicity of the lifestyle and the lack of material wealth enabled our ancestors to build their characters from within. The home was a bastion of emunah and the extended family assisted in the child rearing process.
Today is far different. The media has enabled our children to access the outside world in a manner never before available. Even our cell phones and palm pilots have internet capability. It is no longer possible to shelter our children from the secular world (perhaps with the exception of some very insular chassidic communities). Therefore, we need to give our children the same tools Yaakov Avinu gave Yosef before he was sent to Mitzrayim. We need to inculcate a deep sense of Yiras Shamaym within the souls of our children so that they can counteract the poisonous atmosphere of our world today.
Yet our educational system is sorely lacking in this area. After all, what yeshiva is accorded status based upon an intangible like Yiras Shamayim Instead of appreciating the spiritual strength of each individual child, our yeshiva girls are recognized for their vast knowledge of chumash and navi, meforshim and yedios klalios. Girls without talent in these areas are segregated at a young age into a low expectation "B" class. What happens to the self-esteem of these vulnerable girls when their friends are elevated to the "top" classes while they languish in the dummy class?

The antiques dealer who "discovered" the James Ossuary and Jehoash tablet has been arrested today on charges of forgery. According to Ha'aretz, a number of other "antiques" in various stages of production were in his home at the time.

Due to a large quantity of letters rightfully mocking last weeks Stupid Letter (too holy to say Good Shabbas), this week's Jewish Press letters section didn't have any partcularly fun letters to mock. As a result, this week's Stupid Letter of the Week is a typical angry political one by an Adina Kutnicki that wouldn't even have made honorable mention last week:

"As usual, Arlene Peck in her op-ed column had the courage to state the often unpopular truth (“What Am I Missing Here?” Jewish Press, July 18). It is unforgivable and pathological for the Israeli government to believe, especially after the Oslo debacle, that appeasing the 'Palestinians' is the way to go. Israeli leaders must listen to and understand the Arabs when they state in no uncertain terms that their goal is the total destruction of Israel.
Now about that dreaded word Ms. Peck had the good sense to bring up — transfer. First, given the number of Palestinians already in Jordan, the newcomers will feel right at home. Second, transfer is a lot more generous than the aspirations the Palestinians have for the Israelis. A chance to pack their bags and start life anew — sounds like a great plan to me.

Need to note this letter to the Jewish Week before it vanishes into the ether. Judith Weiss sent over the link, positing that Rushkoff could be a kind of Jewish Jayson Blair. Here's the letter in full

With reference to the article “An Iconoclast’s Next Move” (July 4), which features Douglas Rushkoff, it was fortuitous that the Jewish community was reading the Torah portion of Korach on the same weekend as the publication of the article. Moses is troubled by Korach — not because Korach is unintelligent or because he is lacking in charisma. Moses rejects Korach because Korach insists that the congregation is already holy, while Moses teaches k’doshim tihiyu, “become holy.” Korach insists that holiness is a given; Moses is of the opinion that holiness is an achievement.
It is unfair to dismiss an entire community as sheep who rarely think for themselves, as Rushkoff does, when countless Jewish individuals and institutions are passionate in their devotion to create in a community something more than an “emphasis on iconoclasm, abstract monotheism and social justice” but holiness.
It is also disingenuous for Rushkoff to suggest that he was engaged in “ongoing Torah study and regular attendance at the Conservative Synagogue of Fifth Avenue.” Worshipers and congregants at that synagogue insist they haven’t seen Rushkoff for years. As its rabbi for the past two years, I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting him personally.
Rabbi David Gaffney
Conservative Synagogue of Fifth Avenue
New York, N.Y.

Jerusalem Mayor Compares (sic) Temple Mount Prayer
:

Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski (email address: 'mayor@jerusalem.muni.il') has condemned the recent decision to reopen the Temple Mount to Jewish and Christian visitors - and, in a startling statement, likened the idea of Jewish prayer there at these times to one who urinates in public.
Speaking with the weekly Kol Ha'ir newspaper on Friday, Lupolianski - Jerusalem's first elected hareidi (non-Zionist religious) mayor - said as follows, as reported in The Jerusalem Post:
'There are many things that are allowed, but someone smart does not do them. To differentiate, someone must relieve himself, that is human, but if he does so next to the Mashbir [department store], you will say he is a hooligan, right?... There are things that it is clear that are right to do, but not at every place, at every hour, in every situation.'

Naomi Chana's back, and even though she seemed not to have been at the Enoch conference like I thought she was, its good to have her posting again. Where else can you read things like this?

Found that manuscript -- in section not actually my focus, but manuscript context important (or so grant application says) -- offers litany of usual Names of God cribbed from Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, French, and quite possibly nursery rhymes. Favorite name: "Ellamay." Am now visualizing God as ingenue from Beverly Hillbillies. Think this is no worse than visualizing God as old man in nightshirt; am quite certain God has better dress sense either way.

There seem to be 50 people left in Lithuania who still speak Karaim, the language of the tribes that apparently converted to Karaism way back when. Interesting article on their struggle to keep their language alive.

Paul Wolfowitz comes up with an absolutely classic quote:

"'I think all foreigners should stop interfering in the internal affairs of Iraq,' said Wolfowitz, who is touring the country to meet U.S. troops and Iraqi officials."

No offense, but Meredith needs a better commenting system...(not that we're really anyones to talk...)

More thoughtful words from Bryan:

I believe one thing we should take with us from this speculation is that people think they are the center of the universe and in reality they are fooling themselves. We have to remember that every religion, race, people, and individual is a microcosm of the world. It is difficult to comprehend what it means to be merely a part of a whole, as opposed to the focus of the world. Something so minor as the lack of the term Jew in a language should make us feel a certain humility.

Bryan's got a link and interesting discussion about Jewish high school education between Rabbis Joseph A. Polak and Mayer Schiller. Essentially, the debate boils down to whether we want to shelter the kids or challenge their assumptions about why they're doing Jewish in an effort towards generating a more deep-rooted committment. Interesting stuff.

My new, big bottle of Pert Plus spilled a decent amount of its contents on the floor of my hardwood-floored bedroom. This is the kind of mess you don't want to clean with a cloth towel, because then it'll take forever to rinse the shampoo out of it; paper towels' high absorbency can make things messy. What to do? I used the May 30th edition of the New York Jewish Week, which had been grandfathered into my room. I found its pages to be good at pinching up the shampoo, and rough enough to deal with the dried parts; I had no problems of ripping, or in any other way exposing my fingers to the green goop that lay below. Moreso, the pages were just the right size. I used entire sheets; I'd considered ripping them in half, but, firstly, the whole sheet covered the entirety of the spill and, secondly, the ripping seemed like a whole lot of unnecessary effort. There were old copies of the WSJ around, but broadsheet size seemed a bit too large to deal with -- simply unwieldy. The whole job required some 10-12 sheets, with a little mop-up to follow, for a medium-sized spill of Pert Plus (for medium hair). I noticed no difference between the functionality of the various sections. The total cost of the clean-up was $0, but that may vary depending on whether or not you've paid for your copy. Overall, I'm pretty satisfied.

Today:

3 p.m. -- Zionist Organization of America press conference announces campaign against visit to United States by Palestinian Prime Minister Abu Mazen; 4 E. 34th St.

The extent of street crime in London is revealed in new figures showing there are 164 muggings in the capital every day.

You see? This is what happens when you don't allow the common citizen the right to defend themselves by carrying a concealed gun.

Because if the tail were smarter, the tail would wag the dog?

Former POW Jessica Lynch is coming home to West Virginia today after nearly four months of recuperation from multiple broken bones and other injuries, and hospital stays in Iraq, Germany and Washington, D.C.

A delegation from Iraq's new U.S.-appointed Governing Council will present its case to the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday and a source in Baghdad said they would ask for international recognition.

Reader Reuven points to BuyMusic.com commercials, with the "Superfreak" one featuring: a Hasidic Rebel?

Whether you agree with the U.S.’s ‘intervention’ in Iraq or not, you have to admit that not everything said by the Bush administration was entirely true:

…declassified portions of a still-secret National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) released Friday by the White House show that at the time of the president's speech the U.S. intelligence community judged that possibility to be unlikely. In fact, the NIE, which began circulating Oct. 2, shows the intelligence services were much more worried that Hussein might give weapons to al Qaeda terrorists if he were facing death or capture and his government was collapsing after a military attack by the United States.

The White House, in the run-up to war in Iraq, did not seek CIA approval before charging that Saddam Hussein could launch a biological or chemical attack within 45 minutes, administration officials now say.

The claim, which has since been discredited, was made twice by President Bush, in a September Rose Garden appearance after meeting with lawmakers and in a Saturday radio address the same week. Bush attributed the claim to the British government, but in a "Global Message" issued Sept. 26 and still on the White House Web site, the White House claimed, without attribution, that Iraq "could launch a biological or chemical attack 45 minutes after the order is given."

Egypt demands return of ancient Rosetta Stone - smh.com.au

Egypt is demanding that the 2000-year-old Rosetta Stone be returned to Cairo and has threatened to pursue its claim 'aggressively' if the British Museum does not agree to give it back.

Shmuel Safrai argues that women not counting towards a minyan or sitting seperately from the men in shul was a later innovation. Through skimming the article, I think he's only managed to prove that women went to shul in the 1st century, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they counted towards the minyan -- look at Teaneck today. Interesting, though.

Another one bites the dust: After months of holding out, and a few more months agonizing over a good name, Reader and Friend Of The Elders Bryan is now Blogger Bryan!

UPDATE: Following on Bryan's heels, Friend of the Elders David is now Blogger David! Welcome to the Dark Side.

It seems that a) people are still google-searching Making of a Godol and b) still getting to protocols through those very searches. Just in case you were wondering or keeping track.

AC Douglas wrote a book. And if you're cynically thinking it must be some market-targeted, low-brow, formulaic murder-mystery...well, according to AC, you'd be right. If you read it, be sure to drop him a line & let him know what you thought.

I'd been trying to get Ja(y)son Cyrulnik to contribute some Stunt Doubles to Protocols, with little success. I noticed that Off the Subject has one up, and I figure it's too late to sit around waiting.
A while ago, we did a comparison of Yeshiva University's former president, Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm,

with the guy from Apt Pupil:

But what of the new Yeshiva University President, Richard Joel?

How about Horatio Sanz?

Hitler is Alive and He Wears a Keffiyeh

With all respect to our dear friend Leon Wieseltier at TNR and his thesis that Hitler is Dead, Robert S. Wistrich of the National Interest argues differently in a very well written and succinct piece. In short, he says that the anti-Semitism that fueled Hitler’s murderous movement is alive and well in the Middle East...

While we may continue to endeavor towards the realization of Wieseltier’s world for today we live in a Wistrichian one.

Reader Daniel writes in to let me know he's recruiting artists for an End The Madness "arts festival" event on Tu B'av, August 13th. They're looking for artists of all stripes and, assumedly, anybody who has any way to help them with the event. E-mail him at zalmanhalevy@yahoo.com.

Check out the bangitout Date Generator. The first time I clicked, I got:

Share a snack box of chicken at Kosher Deluxe, then off to frappacinos at Starbucks, where you'll get into an intense conversation about OJ Simpson, all while hoping you don't have to pay for another frappacino at Starbucks.

I just noticed, looking at the slate of scheduled speakers at the Lishmah website, that [Rabbi] Dov Weiss is listed before [Rabbi] Avi Weiss, despite "A" coming before "D" in the alphabet and Avi Weiss being Dov Weiss' father. What's that all about?

As has been the case for some time now, you can't tell how many comments have been posted to a particular post simply by looking at the number in parenthasis. Sometimes it says (0) when it should say (1), (2), (3), and so on, or sometimes it says things like (9) when it means (2). So you have to check...

Despite what you saw in the trailer for The Passion, it seems that crucifixion involved nailing the guy's wrists to the cross, not his palms. (see here and here). Thanks for paleojudaica for the fact-checking. If Mel couldn't even get the crucifixion right, what else did he get wrong? We're gonna havta all watch this movie very carefully.

According to a panel of seemingly independent testers, Judaism only ranks 5th of 8 in a head to head comparison with other major world religions. Surely Abe Foxman must have something to say about this...

I'm wondering if Dave Barry, before writing his column about babysitting his 3-year-old daughter Sophie this week, has been reading up on unbrokenglass, Meredith, both, or what. Just check out these references to the ongoing shidduch crisis:

Here is how you play Princesses: You get a Princess, or a Barbie. Then you brush her hair for a while. Then she gets married. That's it! You don't even need a Prince! Or, sometimes Winnie the Pooh is the Prince. It doesn't matter! It is not about the Prince. It is about the Princess. She is beautiful. She has beautiful hair. So she gets married! She lives in a big castle! It is not clear who is paying for this lifestyle. Maybe somewhere there are a bunch of licensed taxpayer characters.

Sophie's very favorite Disney Princess is Ariel. She is the Little Mermaid. In her movie, she magically turns into a human. Then her dream comes true: She marries a warehouse manager!
No. That is a joke. Of course she marries a prince. Sophie loves Ariel. She has a mermaid doll named Ariel. She has beautiful hair! She gets married a lot. She also takes a bath with Sophie every night. Ariel's hair gets very wet. But Sophie wants to sleep with her. So Daddy has to blow-dry Ariel's hair. And brush it out. Every night! Imagine how Daddy feels, styling a mermaid doll's hair, while the other daddies are watching SportsCenter. Ha ha! Daddy is thinking that Mommy better get home soon from Paris, France.

(How) Can We Tell if a Greek Apocryphon or Pseudepigraphon Has Been Translated from Hebrew or Aramaic? Yet another online paper by PaleoJudaica, this one for the International Society of Biblical Literature's conference.

Those of you seeking a deeper understanding of how religion shapes the ideas and institutions of American society would get a lot of a visit to pewforum.org (thanks to Reader Dr. B for the link). New contest idea. Using pewforum or other "religion in America" websites, try to place protocols in the appropriate cultural context. What are we responding to?

Fatah men kidnap Jenin governor:

"Masked gunmen of Fatah's armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, on Saturday kidnapped Jenin district Governor Haider Irsheid and beat him publicly, accusing him of collaborating with Israel and embezzling public funds.
Irsheid was released in the evening on instructions from Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat"

Douglas Rushkoff apparently moonlights as a psychiatist.

Tomorrow at noon:

Protesters participate in a worldwide demonstration against the U.S. ``road map'' to peace, sponsored by Americans for a Safe Israel; across from the Israeli Consulate, 42nd Street and Second Avenue.

Noon -- U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer releases study showing New Yorkers paying higher interest rates on credit cards; 757 Third Avenue, Suite 1702.

AFSI