In the last few days I learned an interesting lesson on compassion. Without getting into details, because, well, I just can’t. I had an interesting situation unfold that I had immediately dismissed. Within minutes I had decided why that person doesn’t really need help. I had already decided why it wasn’t as important as they had made it seem.

The truth is that even though there is a good chance that after all is said and done I will be right, I decided to give them a chance. The reason I gave them a chance all stemmed from a coincidental meeting with someone on the street. Someone I hadn’t seen in a while. They reminded me of something that though they didn’t know it directly related to the “issue” which would unfold the following day.

I know I am speaking in circles here and there is a reason for that. I hope you can still follow. It’s very easy for us to judge other people. We make snap judgements about people all the time. We sometimes barely know the person, we see them on the street. We hear them on the television of radio. We meet them in passing at a wedding or a luncheon and we make a snap judgement.

Even when we do know someone, we still judge them very quickly. Sometimes I think we need to just take a chance. Showing compassion is a really hard thing to do sometimes, but it’s important. It is hard to forgo your instinct sometimes for fear of getting burned. Sometimes though it’s important to show compassion and you can’t measure how your compassion, deserved or not will effect that person. it could be make all the difference.

Especially now, during the month of Elul we should all make an effort to show compassion. After all, very soon that is what we will be asking from Hashem. Regardless of the mistakes and errors we made this past year, we want Hashem to judge us not based on that, but based on our claims to agree to change and be better next year.

Story here.

“A short while later a video was released by the kidnappers showing the two prisoners in good health. During the recording, the journalists claimed that they had converted to Islam, a decision which they said was made without any coercion. Sitting on the floor in a traditional Islamic robe, they also condemned Israel for their military operations in the Gaza Strip.

It was the second such video to be released since the ordeal began.

Immediately after entering the hotel, a tearful Centanni briefly embraced a Palestinian journalist. Wiig briefly turned and appeared to yell at Palestinian security guards before heading upstairs.

In an interview with Fox News shortly after being released, Centanni discussed the kidnapping and the two weeks that followed.

“We were driving down a narrow side-street in Gaza City, dropping off our security guide, when a car stopped in front of us. Then, before we realized it, the [kidnappers] swarmed our car, yanked us out, stuffed us in a car, and put a black hood on our head,” he said.

“I remember thinking, oh god, I’m toast. They could shoot me in head and nobody would hear it,” he continued. “But in my good nature I thought that I’m no good to them dead.”

Under the fear of death, Centanni was forced to comply with the demands of his captors. “There was a lot of writing,” he said, telling of being forced to give written statements of his work in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Kashmir.

He was also forced to convert to Islam.

“Don’t get me wrong, I have the highest respect for Islam. We learned a lot of great things about it,” he explained, “but it was something we felt we had to do, because they had the gun.”

This just goes to show you haw fake these people are. It’s like that game where your older brother sits on top of you until you say youre stupid, then he jumps off you and laughs, ha! You said you were stupid.

Morons! At gunpoint what wouldn’t a person say. Do they really think we don’t know everything they wrote was bogus and everything they said or did was forced? Are these people that stupid?

This is an interesting story. The guy who runs the CrownHeights.Info site was coming home from a wedding with a friend the other night and was the victim of an attempted mugging. Luckily there guy actually works for Shomirim and had his radio. He called for backup and within minutes there were twenty members of Shomirm and the local Police looking for the perps, who had run away after seeing the radio.

The even more beautiful thing is that the Shomirim from Wiliamsburgh showed up and helped them with anything they needed. It’s nice to see Shomrim from two very different communities working together on something. That’s a beautiful story.

Ari Fleischer wrote a wonderfully written open letter to (B”H) Former President Carter. Jimmy Carter said last week in an interview with Der Spiegel that Israel’s attack on Lebanon was unjustified and illegal. Despite the follow up question which reminded him that Israel was attacked first.

Here is just some of what Ari wrote:

“I just read the transcript of your interview with the German magazine, Der Spiegel, in which you accuse Israel of launching an “unjustified attack on Lebanon.”

Even after the interviewer reminded you that Israel was the first to get attacked, you charged Israel with lacking “any legal or moral justification for their massive bombing of the entire nation of Lebanon.”

As someone who served in the White House as a spokesman for a President, I am reluctant to criticize another President, but in this instance my conscience compels me to do so.

Mr. President, your words are music to Hezbollah’s ears and your message is a blow to long-term peace.”

Read the whole thing here. More at the JTA website here.

ABC News is reporting that some people thing the kidnapping of two Fox News reporters was carried out by an Al Qaeda group in Gaza. Soccer Dad has a very good post about that here.

On that same subject The McClatchy Group has an article which once again goes out of its way to defend and explain what the kidnappers are doing in Gaza. What it means for the future and how will the media now choose to explain away their actions.

“Until now, virtually all of the abductions were motivated by personal, not political, aims. Some kidnappers, such as those who held a McClatchy Newspapers reporter and freelance photographer for eight hours last fall, sought jobs with the Palestinian security services. Others demanded freedom for relatives held in Palestinian jails.

The Holy Jihad Brigades is the first group to make this type of political demand.

“The trend you have so far is people are taken on impulse to meet purely opportunistic, local, apolitical demands that are then easily resolved because the kidnappers are known,” said Mouin Rabbani, a Jordan-based Middle East senior analyst with the International Crisis Group. “This is a more worrisome set of coincidences.”

I don’t understand why they dismiss kidnapping for “opportunistic economic” reasons. Really, how is it any less wrong if you kidnap someone to get a job versus demanding prisoners be freed? Shouldn’t they both be just as bad? Why are the rights of the person being kidnapped less important and “worrisome” if they are only kidnapping for, say, the demand of work or some local minimal issue?

So if I kidnap someone in NY say, and hold them hostage till the government gives me a 400,000 dollar a year job for me and my friends, then it’s ok? It’s not so troubling? Is it not still a crime? Why do people accept this defense that the media has been shoving down our throats? ‘it’s ok … because in the past they have only done it for a short time … and they wanted to get jobs;, someone explain to me why in any circumstance it’s ok to kidnap someone??

One last thing, for any of you wondering why the blogger logo looks a little different, it’s because Blogger turned 7 yesterday. The logo is a dog wearing a birthday hat. Get it? One dog year equals 7 human years. So happy birthday to Blogger.

Here is what Blogger looked like when they started, and then a few years ago.

Today there have been tons of posts and news articles about Avraham Fried’s newest CD.

I personally am very excited about this. I am not the biggest fan of “Shiny Shoe” music, but when it comes to Fried I’m a fan. My favorite Fried CD’s were Time is Now, Shtar Hatanoyim, Bracha VeHatzlacha & Chazak.

I was at the last two years Melava Malka concerts that Fried gave in Crown Heights. The Soul to Soul shows. At both shows he played a new song which he said would be on the album. One was called “Heim Boeim” a nice fast song. This past year he played a music video, which I hear is what will be on the CD. The song was called Father Don’t Cry and it was really good.

Here is what we know so far:

(Sources): Sameach Music, Shturem.Net, FrumSpace, COL.ORG, Shiru Lo, Jewish Music Blog, Jewish Blogmeister, Chassidic DJ. If you read and understand French there is more info here. (If someone does understand French, please let me know if it says anything I havent mentioned here.)

What is your favorite Avraham Fried album?

The bias in the media continues. Here are a few points just from this article.

1) From the headline it’s already implied that Israel is somehow doing something wrong by “not lifting the blockade”, as if really they should, but are just being stubborn.

Why should they lift it? The U.N is taking its sweet time getting troops there. Israel agreed to a ludicrous cease fire arrangement in which they got nothing in return. Not only did they get nothing in return but they got lees then they had to start with. At least before there was a standing resolution to disarm Hezbollah immediately. The new resolution simply encourages Lebanon to try to disarm them. That’s the same language used to release the kidnapped soldiers. They should try to work something out.

Israel has no choice but to do everything it can to prevent Hezbollah from getting new shipments of money, arms or any other help. Not only should they be expected to do this, but this so called international U.N. force should be thanking them for doing their job while they take all the time in the world to get there.

2) In the second paragraph the AP in describing what Hezbollah did during the 34 days of fighting writes, “Hezbollah, which fired thousands of rockets into northern Israel during 34 days of fighting.”

Ya? That’s what they did? Just launched rockets? No one was hurt? No one was injured? There wasn’t any damage? Any people left homeless? Hundreds of thousands of people didn’t have to live in shelters for a month? That’s all they can report? That rockets were launched? Why not write what those rockets did?

You want to know why? Because they don’t want their story to elicit any extra support of sympathy for Israel. So they write the least inflammatory thing. After all, it’s not like Hezbollah is some sort of terrorist organization.

3) In an article discussing Israel refusing to end its blockade which would allow Hezbollah to gather more weapons for a future attack, I am curious how this photo got chosen to be associated with this story.

What is this a response? “you say they are blocking Hezbollah from receiving more weapons, we here at the AP want you to see the poor people of Lebanon who have to live in tents because Israel won’t lift it’s blockade.”

Is that the reason it’s there? I would think they should have pictures of Israel homes which were destroyed by the weapons and people being discussed in this story. Wouldn’t that have made more sense?

In the end, this article is basically a propaganda piece to gather more support for Israel to lift it’s blockade and restrain sympathy for any loss the Israeli’s suffered in this war.

It’s disgusting and worse, it’s become normal practice in all of these articles.

It’s now been over a week since these two reporters were kidnapped.

Originally the we were told by AP/REUTERS it’s no biggee. Why? Because they will probably be released … “usually within hours.”

Then a few days later they changed it up and told us again, still no biggee. Why? Because in the past, they … “All have been freed within a few days.”

Ya … they love to make excuses for Palestinian terrorists. It’s never Hamas’s fault, or the PLO’s fault, or Fatah … and there is always a good reason for what has happened.

So here we are, eight days later and still no word. Well, that’s not entirely true, there has been some word. Even though the Palestinians government is “trying very hard” to get them released they have nothing to show for it. We know they have been in some form of contact with the kidnappers, because they were able to assure Mr. Olaf’s wife that he is still alive. So someone has been in contact with them, right?

Then there is the question of why there has been so little coverage in the mainstream press about this story. Why hasn’t there been more outrage. I mean, armed Arab terrorists kidnapped two reporters from an American news organization? You think that would be bigger news, no?

Some have said it’s because Fox themselves has tried to keep a low profile on the story as to not draw attention to it and possibly provoke the kidnappers into doing something worse.

Then there is Bob Laurence who says the reason is actually because ….

“… Fox has deliberately set itself apart from other news media. Starting at the top with Roger Ailes, the Fox sales pitch has been to deride other media, to declare itself the one source of the real truth, the sole source of ‘fair and accurate’ news reporting. As a result, there’s not a reservoir of kinship or good will with Fox on the part of the rest of the news media. You can’t keep insulting people and then expect friendship when you need it.

They’ve made it a policy to keep a distance between themselves and the rest of the media, far beyond the usual competitive spirit, so that’s where they are: at a distance.”

Yeaup, he say’s Fox brought the reaction it’s getting on themselves. People don’t care because Fox News has been so aggressive in being the best News out let out there, so therefore there is so much ill will towards them.

So that’s how we play now? We don’t care about the well being of our fellow Americans because they don’t play nicely with the liberal snobs in the rest of mainstream press.

Wow, there you have it folks, your American Left.

Something tells me if these two reporters were from CNN we wouldn’t stop hearing about this story until it was over. But since it’s those nutty Right Wingers at Fox News, well …