Some time ago, I wrote in an article on JoeUser that peace would not be possible in the Middle East until both Yasser Arafat and Ariel Sharon were gone. As I explained at that tiome it was not because of who they WERE so much as what the symbolized to the other side. Despite Ariel Sharon's efforts to cede land to the Palestinians and his recent formation of the Kadima party in Israel, I do not think that he would ever be recognized as viable negotiator for peace by the Arab world. He will alw...

I don't watch a lot of TV and when I do, it tends to be sports. But I recently came across an OUTSTANDING show called "Destination America" on PBS. Check out the link. The episode that I watched chronicled the flight to America of two groups that came for religious freedom and found it. The title of the episide was "The Earth is the Lord's" and the groups discussed were the Anabaptists (better known as the Mennonites and the Amish) and the Chasidic Jews. The Anabaptists (and this is a name...

...Google. News of a new Google service that takes aim at eBay has been leaked. The service, called Google Base, would allow people to sell goods and services without paying for advertising. Google has also confirmed that it is working on an on-line payment service, but denies that that service will compete with PayPal. (Editor's comment: Cough cough. And Google Talk won't compete with Skype either.) Google's official statement is as follows: "We are testing new ways for content owne...

If you browse the Internet (and if you don't you're not reading this!) the websites that you visit ultimately get their names from ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.) ICANN is a non-profit agency, based in California. Which means that they are regulated to one degree or another by the US Commerce Department, a part of the US Government. Which means that the US Government controls the Internet. And some nations have a problem with that. Countries such as Brazil a...

First, I must thank AJCrowley for turning me on to this author. The Skinners among us will recognize AJCrowley as one half of the team (along with GreenReaper) responsible for BlackComb, one of the best skins ever made. His nom de skin (heh! I made that up. It means the alias that he uses for skinning) has it's origins in the Neil Gaiman/Terry Pratchett book "Good Omens." AJ Crowley in that book is the modern day incarnation of Crawly, the snake that tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden. He is a...

Tomorrow, I turn fifty years old. How did that happen? Mickey Mantle, one of my childhood heroes though with feet of clay, said: "If I had known that I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself." Ah, the Mick. It was a good year and overall I am well content with where I find myself, though sometimes puzzled as to how exactly I got here. Born in the Bronx, NY (da Bronx!) I live in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Born in 1955, I am totally involved with technologies that...

I went to the University of Michigan Art Museum yesterday for my second look at their exhibit of Pop Art. Well worth checking out, in my not-so-humble opinion. When Pop art was in its infancy, critics did not consider it "true" art. A critic, of course, is someone that lacks the capacity to create something, but has the qualifications to tell the artist what they did wrong. (Wry smile.) Which raised the question for me, "Is skinning true art?" Now I am rather opinionated on the topic....

The headline might read: Suicide Bomb Rips Through Train; Unknown Number of Civilans Killed and Wounded Not too long ago we would have assumed that such a story originated in Tel Aviv or Haifa or Jerusalem. Today it could as easily be London or Cairo or Madrid or Rome or New York. Welcome to the New Millenium, where terror knows no national boundaries. We grow used to armed soldiers at airplane gates. We think nothing of being asked to take off our shoes before we board a plane....

I think everyone has heard Adam Sandler's Hanukah song at one time or another: "David Lee Roth, lights the Menorah" Sandler was, in his comical way, pointing out the number of Jews in show biz ("Tom Cruise isn't, but I heard that his agent is!") but I was surprised at the contributions of Jews to Rock and Roll. I came across this site this morning and had to post a link: http://jewsrock.org/ "Jewsrock.org is a non-profit group devoted to illuminating the intersection of rock and ...

Last year saw a cataclysmic event, inconceivable yet real. The Red Sox beat the Yankees in what was arguably the greatest comeback in baseball history. They lost the first three games of the playoffs and then swept the next four. They answered Pedro Martinez' question "Who's your daddy?" with ninth inning homeruns. Then they went on to sweep the Cardinals. Babe Ruth's ghost failed to put in an appearance and no balls went through Bill Buckner's legs. As always, the rivalry was bitter. ...

"Report of my death greatly exaggerated." - Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) I am writing this more than twelve hours after the posts reporting the Pope's death began appearing on JoeUser. The problem is that the Pope has NOT died as of this point. This, to my mind, is the Dark Side of not just JoeUser, but of the bloggosphere in general. There is little or no accountability and a general rush to judgment. Let me be at pains to distinguish between articles that are legitimately discussing th...

The Terri Schiavo case is a no-win situation for the Democrats, yet they have once again accepted (maybe "embraced") an unpopular position that will cost them votes. They have done this because, once again, they have underestimated their opponents. By reflex and without thought, the Democrats have accepted a position that puts them in opposition of not only the Republican Party, a natural course of events, but of the will of the people. There is no good outcome for the Democratic Party in ...

I do need to preface this with something a bit personal. My brother-in-law died today. His name was Robert Grosse and he was a bright, articulate and well-spoken man. He suffered a stroke, underwent brain surgery and died soon thereafter. So forgive me if I am in a somber mood. Anyone who knows me, in Real Life (such as it is) or through the blogging or skinning communities that I am proud to belong to, knows my sense of humor. I also like to think of myself as warm, sensitive and caring. ...

Every religion has to deal with the issue of Sin (upper-case letter intentional) and Repentance, the recovery, if you will, from Sin to a State of Grace. How each religion deals with it effects how that religion will be received and the degree to which it will be accepted. To me, that is marketing. Every religion has it's "Do's and Don't's." Do go to church on Friday/Saturday/Sunday. Don't kill your neighbor (at least not if he happens to be of the same religion as you, anyway.) If you fai...

Andre Norton is dead at the age of 93. For those of us that grew up with her books, she will be sorely missed. I first read an Andre Norton book....well, I don't want to say how long ago. I think the first one that I read was "The Beast Master." Don't judge the book by the terrible movie of the same name. Later, I became a big fan of the "Witch World" series. I can't begin to count how many wonderful hours of enjoyment I found with her books. When Ms. Norton began to write, Sci-Fi was n...