YudelLine

Monday, April 30

“When Margaret Mitchell published "Gone With the Wind" in 1936, the law gave her a copyright for up to 56 years. Under that agreement, the book should have fallen into the public domain in 1993. Why, then, was Mitchell's copyright, now owned by her estate, still powerful enough to prevent the planned publication this month of Alice Randall's "The Wind Done Gone," a retelling of the story of 19th- century Southern plantation life from an African-American viewpoint?”

"This is a result of my processing 52 images taken by the Clementine spacecraft through a red filter, while the spacecraft went over the scene from the southern horizon through zenith to the northern horizon," Kreslavsky said. A diffuse dark spot can be seen exactly at the landing site, he said.

“Two detectors in Antarctica have discovered minute patterns in a glow from primordial gases, possible traces of the cosmic match that ignited the Big Bang and led to the creation of the universe 14 billion years ago, astronomers announced here today.

“Dr. Max Tegmark, a cosmologist at the University of Pennsylvania, said that while the new results were still far from absolute proof of the inflation theory, their agreement with the theory was uncanny and would cast doubt on alternative models.”

Wednesday, April 24

God Scan: Meets the researchers who are trying to explain our most sacred thoughts (New Scientist)

“During meditation, part of the parietal lobe, towards the top and rear of the brain, was much less active than when the volunteers were merely sitting still. With a thrill, Newberg and d'Aquili realised that this was the exact region of the brain where the distinction between self and other originates....

“Plenty of evidence supports the idea that the limbic system is important in religious experiences. Most famously, people who suffer epileptic seizures restricted to the limbic system, or the temporal lobes in general, sometimes report having profound experiences during their seizures. "This is similar to people undergoing religious conversion, who have a sense of seeing through their hollow selves or superficial reality to a deeper reality," says Saver. As a result, he says, epileptics have historically tended to be the people with the great mystical experiences.”

Wednesday, April 12 - Happy Passover!

'They Die Piece by Piece' : In Overtaxed Plants, Humane Treatment of Cattle Is Often a Battle Lost (Washington Post)

“It takes 25 minutes to turn a live steer into steak at the modern slaughterhouse where Ramon Moreno works. For 20 years, his post was "second-legger," a job that entails cutting hocks off carcasses as they whirl past at a rate of 309 an hour.

“The cattle were supposed to be dead before they got to Moreno. But too often they weren't.

“"They blink. They make noises," he said softly. "The head moves, the eyes are wide and looking around."

“Still Moreno would cut. On bad days, he says, dozens of animals reached his station clearly alive and conscious. Some would survive as far as the tail cutter, the belly ripper, the hide puller. "They die," said Moreno, "piece by piece."

“Under a 23-year-old federal law, slaughtered cattle and hogs first must be "stunned" -- rendered insensible to pain -- with a blow to the head or an electric shock. But at overtaxed plants, the law is sometimes broken, with cruel consequences for animals as well as workers. Enforcement records, interviews, videos and worker affidavits describe repeated violations of the Humane Slaughter Act at dozens of slaughterhouses, ranging from the smallest, custom butcheries to modern, automated establishments such as the sprawling IBP Inc. plant here where Moreno works.” a

Tuesday, March 27

Capitalist and Communists, Sitting in a Tree: Murdoch Executive Calls Press Coverage of China Too Harsh (New York Times)

“James Murdoch, the 28-year-old son of the chairman of the News Corporation , Rupert Murdoch, stunned listeners at a business conference last week when he disparaged Falun Gong, a religious group that has been banned by the Chinese government, and criticized Western news organizations for portraying China in a harsh light.

“The comments were interpreted by some human rights advocates as an effort by the young Mr. Murdoch, who heads the News Corporation's Asian division, to ingratiate the company with Chinese leaders because of the company's extensive business plans with China.

“The News Corporation has made other moves that seemed designed to curry favor with the Chinese leadership, including the removal of BBC newscasts from Star TV in 1994 and the decision by HarperCollins, the publishing arm of the News Corporation, to cancel a contract for a memoir by Chris Patten, the last colonial governor of Hong Kong.”

Monday, March 26

Hey Jews and Romans / It's Time For Afikomens

Actually, there's a bit shy of two weeks to go until Passover. So to begin the celebrations, here's an oldie-but-goodie dug out of the vaults of dot-com collapse. From the Website that could have been a contender, YudelLine re-presents: The Rabbi Eliezer Incident.

March 22 and 26, respectively

Friday, March 23, 2001

Boker Tov, Scripting News Fans

It's quite the thrill to get.... well, what is the equivalent of slash-dotted? Scripted? Weinered? Userlanded?

One disclaimer: While I am one Jew, and I have news and views, I'm not yet doing this in Radio. It's just hand-crafted html and rss in UltraEdit. But real soon now....

Family Business (2): Joe Heyman, 92 (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

Granddad died a week ago today. He was lucid until the end; I called him Thursday, the night before his death. He told me about the great-uncle he was named for, Joseph Kohn of New Orleans. His namesake and, ultimately, that of my own baby who I named Joseph last fall in Granddad's honor.

Joseph K. Heyman with wife Martha and youngest great-grandchild and namesake, Joseph Yudelson.

His death was sad, but not tragic. Granddad had known his share of tragedy: The premature death of a daughter and a granddaughter; the crippling by a stroke of his articulate, vivacious wife shortly after his retirement 25 years ago. He cared for Grandmom for 15 years, as she slowly, but only painfully and incompletely, regained some of her abilities.

Granddad also knew joy: Just last May he was married for a second time, to Martha, who he had dated for a decade. It was an amazing lesson for us all that it is never too late for second chances. I remember feeling despair, and the burden of age, when contemplating ending a relationship at 30. Hah!

In August 1997, as I nearing the point of proposing to my wife, I was down in Atlanta visiting Granddad. I was nervous: Was opening my heart up -- not only to the woman I loved, but to her three children -- worth the risk? Was the joy of life and love greater than the pain? I asked Granddad point blank.

Yes, he said.

Thank you, Granddad. For that, and for so many other things.

Friday, March 9, 2001

Family Business: Al Sigl exec lauded for efforts (Rochester Democrat & Chronicle)

“Daniel Meyers, executive director of the Al Sigl Center, will accept the 2001 Outstanding Fundraising Executive Award on Monday in San Diego, at the annual conference of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the largest organization of charitable fund-raisers in the world.”

Yudel's Line: Why is this story here? Because as knowledgable insiders know, a key factor in Al Sigl's fundraising success in recent years was their grant writer, one B. J. Yudelson. Way to go, Mom! (And good news for all my non-profit readers: She's now free lance.)

Thursday, March 8, 2001

Acting Presidential: Cheney plans full day's work (Sunspot.net)

“Unlike President Bush, who has adopted a far more relaxed lifestyle than Bill Clinton, his immediate predecessor, Cheney is putting in long six- and seven-day work weeks at the White House.

Bush told reporters yesterday that Cheney shouldn't cut back on his workload "because he's needed. This country needs his wisdom and judgment."

Hardly a day has passed in the last three months in which his hand hasn't been glimpsed in some key decision. Bush's willingness to delegate authority, coupled with Cheney's eagerness to grab it, has allowed critics to question who is really in charge.

"Broadly speaking, I'm not aware of any" more influential presidential adviser in recent history, says Haley Barbour, a former Republican national chairman.

Eager to dispel what he calls the "silly" notion that he is pulling all the strings at the White House, Cheney has gone out of his way to avoid publicity - something practically unheard of for someone in his job. His daily schedule, for example, has not routinely been made public, a departure from past vice-presidential practice.

Still, unscripted moments have provided a few glimpses behind the public-relations facade that every administration tries to erect.

One potentially revealing peek came last week, when the major network TV anchors and talk-show hosts were invited to a White House lunch several hours before the president spoke to a joint session of Congress.

Among those attending was CNN's Bernard Shaw, who was seated beside Bush and across from Cheney. As questions were put to the president, the veteran newsman observed that Cheney seemed to be providing cues to Bush.

"I noticed that the president kept looking at you," Shaw told Cheney in an on-air interview the next day. "And you were indicating your attitude, your feelings, about questions being asked," using body language, facial expressions and "your eyes."

Apparently caught off-guard, Cheney stammered that "we're - we're both Westerners. I know he's from Texas. I'm from Wyoming. There can be some connection there."”

Tuesday, February 27, 2001

Pardon Me Bush: Where Was the Outrage Then? (Salon)

“Aside from Weinberger and company, Bush's few pardons attracted little notice, but several of those he gave were as questionable as the most controversial Clinton pardons: a Watergate felon who donated huge amounts of money to the president and hired well-connected GOP lawyers; a Cuban exile terrorist whose case was advocated by the president's son and the son's business partners; and a Pakistani heroin dealer befriended by Jesse Helms.”

Thursday, February 22, 2001

It's the Education, Stoopid: Bushism of the Day (Slate)

“You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test.”

--George W. Bush, Townsend, Tenn., Feb. 21, 2001

Wednesday, February 14, 2001

Buffet and Bill vs. the Bush Brat Pack: Some of America's rich urge no repeal of estate tax (Reuters)

“120 wealthy Americans had signed a petition to oppose phasing out the tax, which is assessed on the net worth of someone at death. President Bush has included the repeal of the tax in his $1.6 billion tax-cut proposal.

“Among those signing the petition were George Soros, a billionaire financier; Warren Buffett, an investor listed as America's fourth-richest person; the philanthropist David Rockefeller; and William Gates Sr., a Seattle lawyer and father of America's richest man, Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates.

“The petitioners argue that repealing the tax will cost the Treasury billions of dollars in lost revenues and will result in either increased taxes in the long run or cuts to Medicare, Social Security, environmental protection and other government programs.

“Repealing the levy, which Bush calls a death tax, ``would enrich the heirs of America's millionaires and billionaires, while hurting families who struggle to make ends meet,'' the petition says.”

Yudel's Line: Aren't the Republicans supposed to be pro-life and pro-work? So why are they cutting taxes on death and keeping them on work? Shouldn't they be cutting the oppressive payroll taxes instead of helping dead people?

Principles aside, we all know that silver-spoon Republicans don't work, but they do die. I'd like to view that the glass as half full. :-)

Thursday, February 8, 2001

Not panic. Just giving Arafat a fitting partner: Panicked Israelis Have Elected a War Criminal (Hussein Ibish, Communications Director of the American-arab Anti-discrimination Committee)

“Much of the world views his election with justified dread and revulsion. After all, Sharon's blood-spattered resume is so grim that, were he a Serb or a Rwandan, the world would surely be preparing to haul him in front of an international war crimes tribunal rather than recognizing him as the leader of a U.N. member state...

“It's not just Sharon's massacres--such as Sabra and Shatila in 1982, Gaza in the early 1970s and Qibya in the 1950s--that prompt deep anxiety. His whole career is marked by a willingness to use extreme brutality against unarmed people, not only without moral restraint but even without any sense of how counterproductive it can be for his country and career. His political style is marked by reckless individualism and an unwillingness to cooperate with or inform colleagues, so that the normal checks and restraints of government seldom have any effect on his actions.”

Yudel's Line: You know, Mr. Ibish, except for the details of the massacres, you've written a capsule bio of Arafat. That, in a nutshell, is why Sharon is now the Prime Minister.

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