kaganate

I have an old backpack which is in perfect shape EXCEPT

the bag inner coating material has formed some sort of a sticky black ...gunk

that gets on everything.

Anyone familiar with this?

How to clean it so I can use my backpack?

Heard on the radio this weekend that the British Parliament, following a massive petition campaign was voting to ban Donald Trump from visiting England.

Don't know what the outcome of the vote was - but curious how they can vote at all.

Granting all the negatives about Trump --

Does English law allow for cases where people are forbidden from visiting simply because they are massive jerks??

Or -- it could be I misheard the story -- in which case -- what is it really??

The whole idea:

The large "national" Arab states - like Iraq, Syria, Lybia ...etc. fail and dissolve into conflict because these are artificial constructs. The populations there are actually a number of separate tribes with tribal rather than state allegiances.

In contrast, the peaceful/ successful Arab states are small ones like Qatar or loosely federated conglomerates like "the United Arab Emirates" -- specifically because they are arranged under the natural tribal structure.

The same is the case with "Palestine". The Palestinian "ethnicity" was defined by the PLO and the Arab League as a substructure of the modern nationalist pan-Arabist concept.

But in reality that are eight clans/tribes of Arabs in the "West Bank" area who hold themselves distinct and separate to the point that they do not intermarry or live among each other, and have their own separate leadership.

Thus -- instead of a "Two State solution" with an artificial Palestine doomed to go the way of Syria and a number of other artificial pan-Arabist states,

it may be more fruitful to implement a "Nine State" "Israel + Palestinian Emirates" solution where each tribal group governs its own land as a fully independent state all in coordination with each other and Israel.

Was chagrinned to find that my Tom Tom would not sell me maps for Israel - so going Android route.

I realize that Waze is supposed to be the be-all-end-all app -- but I'm not interested in paying through the nose for data charges.

Thus -

Looking for an offline GPS for my Android.

Ideally one that is smart enough not to drive through Hamas-land.

Thanks

I was just reminded by an answer on Y!A that "the brazen serpent" made by Moses is seen as a type of Christ based on John 3:14, 15.

This seems to me self contradictory --

the Old Testament scripture teaches that, when at the time of Hezekiah the serpent came to be worshiped, this was an idolatry and both the serpent statue and the altars raised to the serpent had to be destroyed.

(the Israel Museum in Jerusalem has one of these broken altars on display BTW - very cool!)

Thus, if we accept the analogy -- doesn't that teach that as soon as Jesus came to be worshipped, then his followers became idolatrous??

And, ab-initio, mustn't the asserted quotation from Jesus in John be in error?

because John is saying that Jesus said that "the son of man must be lifted up" for worship ("that whoever believes in him...") -- while as soon as the serpent was used for worship it thereby became an idol?

Reading this forum, I find Christian posts constantly harping on "Pharisees this" "saducees that" "Jews did the other thing"

not a one about "Reverend So-n-so" or "Preacher Thin-n-that" doing ...this or the other with the money or daughters of the flock ...or the sons for that matter

I have been noting lately that it is normative for people self-indentifying as "Messianics" to claim that Yeshu is the Passover Lamb.

It also happens to be that Jewish, Egyptian, and Roman documents written between the second century BC and second century AD (like Manetho, Josephus, Tacitus)

are all in agreement that to the degree that the Passover lamb was symbolic of any deity, it was a Jewish "blasphemy" of the Egyptian god Ra.

ie: the Jews basicaly saying to their Egyptian overseers "Nya, Nya, we are eating your god!"

It thus being the case that it was the shared belief of all relevant cultures at the time that Jesus and his immediate Jewish followers were alive that the Passover Lamb was symbolic of an Egyptian idol,

can we drop the whole "Messiah Yeshu" pretense, admit that you are worshiping the chief god of Egypt

and move to truth in labeling by calling your religion "Egyptian-neo-paganism"?

What about the merchants,

the tool manufacturers,

the jewelry makers,

the farmers,

dyers,

weavers,

stone masons,

potters

...

What about the warrior class??

If you're gonna get the hate on for anyone -- surely it should be those guys who spent their whole lives making war and practicing for war!

And if its the Bible you've a beef with --

then the first blame should surely be with the scribes,

followed by the butchers and tanners who prepared the parchments?

Why all the hate for goat herders?

After a bombardment of Israel on March 13 - a simultaneous attack from Southern Gaza and Norhern Gaza for a total of 60 rockets,

Islamic Jihad issued a statement that they have not broken the cease fire and if Israel attacks they will retaliate.

So is this something being lost in translation?

Is the Arabic that is translated as "cease fire" different from the plain Englsih language meaning?

Or does the word "agreement" mean something different?

In 2005 the Jewish population of Gaza was removed, all Israeli troops and institutions withdrew,

Palestinian political organs took over,

Gaza became part of "The Palestinian Authority" and in the 2005 elections, Hamas became the governing party.

After 2005, Hamas initiated and fought two wars against Israel and in both cases it declared victory.

So -- surely the loser of two wars can not possibly be occupying the winner?

How can the same entities that declared decisive victories against Israel speak of occupation??

In a very recent note, the fellow with the Avatar "Jesus made me a kosher rock"

(or the like - I'm sorry if I offend, I can't remember the whole thing)

summarized the qualifications of Messiah and he prominantly included -

"Live a sinless life"

Now - the following is a partial list from the New Testament of stories which to me seem like very clear violations of the laws that God gave the Jews.

I understand that Christians give reasons and justifications for why these violations were done -- but the violations were done - thus how can he be called "sinless"?

* He destroyed a fruit tree (deuteronomy 20:19 - not to be done even in the necessity of war)

* moreover - the tree did not even belong to him - he destroyed someone else's property

* He and his followers picked grain on Shabbat

* moreover - this was in someone else's field - so there is a question of stealing

* moreover - he purposefuly set up a situation whereby they were outside of the city on Shabbat so as to justify doing so

* He had his followers steal a horse

* He entered the Temple area and stampeded a large number of animals which people had brought for the purpose of sacrificing. At the very least - this caused psychological distress and financial damage ot the people who had ot go looking for the animals and then go through the whole process of bringing the sacrifice again, but moreover - it likely caused great property damage due to lost animals, plus at least some of them would have received wounds in the stampede - which may make them invalid for sacrifice - and therefore new ones would have to be obtained. And finaly -- also interupted the priests in the performance of their religiously mandated duties

* He entered the Temple area and disrupted the collection of the Half-Shekel (the so-called incident of the money changers) -- again causing distress to worshipers and more importantly disturbing the process of collection of moneys for which were distributed ot Jewish poor throughout the Roman empire (the fee from changing foreign money to shkalim)

There are certainly others I'm leaving out, but -- again - I understand there may well be reasons for doing all of these things --

but they are clear violations of the law -- so how can the person be called "sinless"???

This is not about Theology at all.

Its about the facts of the story

ie --

Seeing that everything that is known about the life and death and teachings and miracles of Jesus comes from the New Testament,

And that the New Testament that exists today was ratified and published by a Roman government appointed commitee aproximately 300 years after

Jesus' execution by Rome for the crime of sedition against the Empire,

And that said committee burned mounds upon mounds of "heretical" materials about the life and teachings of Jesus at the time when they ratified the New Testament,

And that the Christian institutions which promulgated the selfsame New Testament (as well as the traditions of "Old Testament" interpretation that you now follow, and the overal theological principles that interpret the whole structure and how it all fits together)

have spent almost two thousand years in a concerted campaign of demonizing your people, your family, and your nation

(with much of the propaganda of demonization coming directly from language and stories of the selfsame New Testament) --

I have to ask "Why?" --

Why, as a Jew, do you buy the claims of a Roman book in preference to the tradition of your people?

Why do you believe their claims and their method of learning and their traditions in preference of those of your heritage?

And -- to anticipate the usual statement "the first Christians were Jewish" --

Seeing as that same faction of Roman and Greek Christians which developed the New Testament and originated modern Christianity also hunted out with sword and fire those followers of Jesus who held to "Judaizing heresies",

why do you assume that the Jewish "first Christians" believed anything at all like the teachings promulgated by these Romans?

Yom Kippur is commanded in the Torah as:

It shall be a statute FOREVER unto you ...ye shall afflict your souls, and shall do no manner of work... for ON THIS DAY SHALL ATTONEMENT BE MADE for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins... it is a sabbath of solemn rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls; it is a statute FOREVER.

(Leviticus 16:29 - 31)

This does not seem to allow for a final attonement -- which I have repeatedly read was the purpose of Jesus.

GRR

ran out of room --

I keep reading posts from both Atheists and Christians proving their position as true by citing to Einstein ---

So, I got to wandering --

seeing as he was a paying member of the Conservative movement of Judaism,

are you all getting synagogue memberships too??

The other day one of the Christian Yahoo posters who call themselves “Messianic Jews” focused our attention on Daniel’s book 7 – and so I read it with more attention than usual – coming up with some very exciting details.

I will simply paraphrase – and you can look up the actual verses.

7:13

“one like a man comes flying through the clouds to stand before God”

God forbid anyone should say there is more than one God – thus this one is clearly not divine.

But likewise – he is not a man. He is “like a man” and flies through the clouds.

Who is one that is not human but “like a man” and flies through the clouds –and moreover, the precise language is “like a son of a man” - clearly this is a reference to Kal El who is not human but is “like a man” and moreover very specifically “like a son” to the man Jonathan Kent.

Now – when it says in 13 that he comes before God, reading together with 7:9 – we see specificaly that he is presented before the throne of God.

And we know that “Throne of God” has two meanings –

“the throne, on which is written Yaakov” – ie: it is a reference to the Am Israel.

We see that Kal El was first presented to b’nei Israel (specifically to the two naviim Siegel and Shuster) in 1933 – precisely at the start of the great Hurban of Europe – as many of our modern sages have rightly noted - clearly the start of “the birthpangs of the moshiah”

But a second (and probably more important meaning) – “the throne” is another term for the Shekhina.

And so, as revealed to the Novi, Peter David in 1996, this is a clear reference to Supergirl.

So – the prophesy is clear that Superman will first defeat the beasts described in the first verses of book 7 of Daniel, then he will join forces with Supergirl – and that will usher in the time of the Moshiah.

Thus, it is clear from Daniel that, though the Lubavich Hassidim were wrong in identifying rabbi Schneerson as the Moshiah, rabbi Schneerson was correct that we are most certainly in the time aproaching the days of Moshiah –

And the Moshiah will most certainly be a Comics writer or artist who will first publish the afore-mentioned Superman story and subsequently become the Prime Minister of Israel who will usher in the time of the perfection of the world.

Parentheticaly -- this, ofcourse, makes clear the error of those Christians who say that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah – as this prophesy of Daniel precludes the Messiah at any time before the revelation of Superman in 1933 and the subsequent revelation that the Shekhina descended upon Supergirl in the later 1990ies.

Trying to figure out the degree of Papal authority in official Papal declarations (I believe this is called "Ex Cathedra")

(asked before - but the answers did not realy address the questions.)

Please address the following couple of separate scenarios:

1) I know that there are some famous Catholics who rejected transformations under Pope John Paul II.

William Buckley Jr and Mel Gibson seem to be on the opposite ends of the ...intelectual spectrum of such objectors.

(regarding Buckley - this was on the issue on the relationship between Catholics and Jews. He said Pope John Paul II was anti-semetic for saying that Catholics should not missionise to Jews.)

How does it work that a Catholic can reject the Papacy?

Doesn't that make him Protestant?

2) I also understand that a number of Popes from the 15th century onwards explicitly stated that the "Blood libel" accusations are false - and that those who repeat them are to be excomunicated -- but nevertheless lists of Catholic Saints include a few persons whose whole story is a blood libel.

(St Hugh of Lincoln and St William of Norwich come directly to mind. One of them is repeated in "the Nun's Tale" in Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales")

Again - please explain.

3) A "What IF" scenario --

The Pope declares in his official capacity

"The New Testament was corrupted by the Roman government --

Jesus was a Jewish teacher executed by the Roman government and he established Peter as messenger of traditional Judaism to the non-Jews.

We have therefore invited a commitee of traditional Orthodox rabbis to the Vatican and will hereon out begin to learn the details of how to be most fully and properly 'righteous children of Noah' in the manner conveyed by God through Moses to the Jewish people. We are also now promulgating a corrected text of the New Testament which reflects these insights -- and is now to be called 'Noahide Testament'."

What happens to Catholicism?