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This blog is a no-Israel-bashing zone (click for explanation)
11/27/04
All the cool cats meet at Katz's
If you're in the New York City area, and you want to meet me, Judith Weiss, and a few others, come to Katz's on Sunday at 2 p.m.
I have no idea how we'll find each other, what with nobody really knowing what anyone looks like. Except I'm going to be the one wearing the way cool black leather jacket.
Oh, wait. I know. I'll be the one with the digital camera case that has the Hulk keychain attached to it.
With any luck, I will have a voice by tomorrow. The cold has settled into my chest and throat, and I could barely speak last night and this morning. Well, if not, I can always bring my laptop and type at people.
No, not really. It's too heavy to carry, and, well, I'm not that into blogging. It's a hobby, not a lifestyle. permalink | |
11/26/04
Since Mom's still asleep, and I'm still fighting my cold (which has now entered my chest, ugh), I have more time to devote to informing my readers, who are probably out shopping anyway, but what the hey, some of these are amazing reads.
First, the bad news. After Arafat: There will be war. Al-Ahram has an interview with Zakaria Zubeidi, the leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade. Read it all, but be warned: It will leave you feeling there is no hope for peace at all. Zubeidi doesn't want free elections and the rule of law. But we already knew that. He's yet another thug, who thinks he's better because he works for the cause of "statehood."
Now, the good news. If I were gay, I'd marry Julie Burchill: You must read every word of this. Then you must read it again. And again. And again. I have forgiven her for her error of saying George Orwell was anti-Semitic, because this essay on why she went to Israel is the most heartwarming piece I have ever read about Israel and Jews—and it's written by a non-Jew. What are you waiting for? Go read it! Now!
More good Presbyterian news: The Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago is investing in Israel—a deliberate reaction to the PC(USA) church's divestment policy.
In a fence-mending gesture to the Jewish community, elders of Fourth Presbyterian Church launched a plan Sunday to channel church funds to companies that strengthen the infrastructure of Israel.
The governing body of the affluent 5,300-member congregation unanimously agreed to adjust its financial portfolio following a national church decision to divest from companies that enable Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
"It's Fourth acting faithfully and forcefully as a peacemaker," said Rev. Bob Reynolds, head of the Chicago Presbytery. "They're doing that by investing in the products of peace at the same time the church is also divesting from the weapons of war."
You go, guy. I'm starting to think the PC(USA) church did not speak for the entire membership, after all.
Oy, those Jewish doctors and scientists! Israeli scientists are learning to grow new cells in heart muscle tissue that was destroyed as a result of heart attack. (Hat tip: Combustible Boy.) Israelis are also creating electronic devices that restores to stroke victims the use of a partially paralyzed hand. For more Israeli innovations, go to the Israel21C home page. I'm on their mailing list, thanks to Allison Kaplan Sommer, who's an editor and writer there.
Time to go wake Mom up, I think. I'm hungry. I want to go out for brunch. permalink | |
The IDF protects American Jews, too: Israeli security forces foiled a plan by Hamas and a Canadian palestinian to attack Jews in North America, which, uh, includes the United States, last time I checked. It's a good thing we have the IDF to protect Canada, because Canada is becoming a well-known haven for Jew-haters, though there seems to be some movement in the opposite direction.
What, no talk of divestment? A Mideastern nation arrests thousands in the wake of a terrorist explosion, detains them for months without trial or charge, uses beatings and torture to get information, and even kills some of them. But the world simply yawns, because it's not Israel. It's Egypt. Hey, PC(USA), howsabout you pay attention to these human rights violations, and the ones thrust upon Coptic Christians in the same country? What's that? Huh? I can't hear you....
What part of "Death to the Zionist Entity" don't you understand? Clueless EU leader Javier Solana, fresh on the heels of his failure to get Yasser Arafat to agree to any kind of real peace, held secret meetings with Hamas to see if he couldn't get them to maybe stop blowing up Israeli children. Raise your hands, those of you who think this meeting will produce positive results. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
A keen grasp of the obvious: This Ha'aretz headline. "Israel Downplays Reported Peace Overture from Syria." We can count the number of true peace overtures from Syria on the fingers of Lemony Snicket's Hook-Handed man. (Here's a hint: Both his hands end in hooks.) But that won't stop the EU from insisting that Israel is the true "barrier to peace" in the Middle East. It seems to me before Syria offers peace, the Dorktator might want to stop financing terrorists who are killing Iraqi civilians and American soldiers. You're in W.'s sights, Baby Assad, and I'm hoping to collect points and get my readers to donate more money to MDA in your dishonor.
Here's hoping: The Independent says that Fatah may split over the upcoming candidacy for President. Barghouti is safe, though. Israel won't let him be murdered in prison. They'd be blamed for it.
On the other hand, it could instigate a Fatah factional war. We can only hope. Less work for the IDF to do.
And that's a wrap. permalink | |
11/25/04
Worf update: All's well that ends well
(If the timing sounds odd on this, it's because I wrote it last night.)
Tonight, I learned that Jeeps are really not good dog cars, unless the dogs are well-behaved and not trying to get into the front seat. It was an unexpected lesson. Heidi called me this afternoon and asked if I could pick Worf up from the vet's, since she had to be somewhere with Sorena about the time the anasthesia wore off enough to take him home, and we both worried that G.'s back would get injured more if he picked up Worf, because Worf's first impulse is to fly as fast as he can for the car, regardless of the puny human trying vainly to hang onto his leash. (Oh, my, that was a very long sentence, wasn't it? Don't try this at home, kids.) I don't care what the vet says; Worf weighs 100 pounds. The vet tried to tell me he's only 75 pounds. G. says the vet obviously didn't have Worf sitting still on the scale, because their Airedale was 75 pounds, and Worf's a whole lot bigger and heavier. But I digress.
So
this morning, Heidi's telling me that things are looking black, and that
the vet said that all oral cavity tumors are malignant, and, well, Worf's
tumor is in his jaw, which, when last I checked, was part of the oral
cavity. And so a cloud hung over our homes today, and it wasn't just the
rain in Richmond. "What if it's curable?" I asked. Heidi said
she wouldn't subject Worf to chemo or radiation therapy. A person, she
pointed out, at least understands why they feel crappy. A dog just knows
it doesn't feel well, and to her, that would be cruelty. I figured I'd
wait and see what the vet had to say before I started trying to persuade
her otherwise. It's her dog, not mine, and her decision, after all.
Then I got the call from her this afternoon to get Worf, and got up from my twice-interrupted nap (they were fever dreams, anyway, and the kind that you don't want to recall), showered, and was suddenly overcome by hunger. So I stopped to have my chicken soup, headed out the door about fifteen minutes later than I'd intended to start, and got to the vet's a minute after G. called and told them not to let anyone take Worf until he got there. I could hear Worf crying in the back room, and the vet's and his secretary's wry remarks made me realize he'd been crying for some time. But now they couldn't give him to me until G. arrived. So I chatted while Worf whined in the background, and asked the vet, "So, how is Worf, anyway?"
"He's fine," he said cheerfully.
"Really? He's not going to die of cancer?"
"Nope!"
I found out more details from Heidi a little while ago. Apparently, it's a benign tumor that attacks the jaw, and is the most invasive tumor of its kind the vet has ever seen. It's called a cumulus or epaulet or something like that. Epilus? Howsabout we just call it the Tumor-breath tumor (see below). It's likely that Heidi's going to have to take Worf to the vet's once or twice a year to get it cut out, since it seems intent on growing back and growing back and growing back, but it's also likely that Worf will die of old age.
But back to the story: when G. got to the vet's, they came out with Worf, who couldn't wait to get in my car, but G. decided to see if Worf would pee first. I knew he wouldn't, but figured I'd humor him. Of course, Worf only wanted to leave, and managed to pull me along the wet sidewalk for a few feet. When I got him under control, I took him back to my Jeep, got him into the backseat, where he was quiet until I started the car. That's when he decided to tell the people in the other car in the parking lot, who were there picking up their cats, "I'm not feeling so well, but I can still bark, and by the way, I'm going to kill you and your cats!"
The people were unimpressed, as Worf's barking was rather weak and, well, drugged-sounding. Not at all like his real "I'm gonna kill you!" bark.
I drove with an elbow between the front seats the whole way back, because Worf kept trying to get into the empty front passenger seat. Well, there was one time when he tried to get into my lap, but there was that elbow in his way again. It's a good thing he was still woozy, or I'd have lost those battles.
And let me give you a fact you probably never knew (or may never have wanted to know) about Rhodesian Ridgebacks: When they're nervous, they exude a stench. A very doggy stench. They smell like they haven't bathed in weeks. Add that to what we've affectionately been calling "tumor-breath," and the first thing I did when Worf got into my car was roll down the windows and turn on the fan. And may I point out to you that when I told this to Heidi, she simply laughed. That's right. Laughed. No sympathetic phrases, no apologies. Just laughter. Oh, wait, I remember now. She said, "Better your car than mine." And laughed some more.
There will be repercussions. I will have to point out to her, yet again, that her boy lost the election. Mine won.
Then again, Worf's okay. A bit woozy, and sore, but he doesn't have a malignant tumor, and we're pretty happy about that. It's going to be a good Thanksgiving for him.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I'm traveling early tomorrow. And bringing boxes of Mallomars to my relatives. Of course, at least one box is going to get opened on the way up. Maybe I can blame it on Worf.
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11/24/04
Fifth Column: An Israeli Arab truck driver was arrested trying to smuggle bullets into Gaza.
Uh-huh: Belgian police say anti-Semitism wasn't a motive in the murder of an Antwerp Jew last week.
The all-volunteer draft? 92% of all Israeli conscripts are asking for combat service. Yes, there's a war on, and they know it.
The palestinian civil war: Newsday has an article that says Gaza is in chaos, near eruption. Actually, I don't think so. I think within two months, as soon as the new bogus elections are held, Fatah thugs will rule the roost, as they've been doing for decades. Watch for them to start putting down the competition immediately.
Running against an Arab dictator: I say it's hazardous to your health, but we'll see what happens. Hosni Mubarak might have a (*cough*) challenger next year. He's run unopposed since 1981. (Tell me again, why do they call dictator creeps like this "president"? It demeans the meaning of the word.)
Liarliarpantsonfire: Toad Larsen, excuse me, Terje Roed-Larsen, he of the Jenin "massacre" claims (which he has yet to officially retract, I believe) says that Baby Assad says he's ready to talk peace with Israel. Sure, Toad. We believe you. Just like we believe the Dorktator when he says he can't control the influx of terrorists into Iraq, or that he has no Iraqi money financing the terrorists against U.S. soldiers. If these two guys told me it was raining outside, I'd break out the shades.
Speaking of liars: Arafat quoted as saying he signed the Oslo Accords hoping it would cause Israelis to leave Israel. Not only was he evil, he was stupid, besides.
And that's all for now. My sinuses are trying to escape my nose, I think. permalink | |
Bad news: I hab a code id by head, which will stop me from driving up to NJ today.
Good news: I don't have to drive up to NJ on the worst traffic day of the year.
Bad news: I have to drive up to NJ tomorrow early. I drove on Thanksgiving Day two years ago, and there wasn't any difference in traffic that I could see—it sucked on Thanksgiving, too.
Good news: The rain is supposed to stop tonight, and I'll have a clear, beautiful drive tomorrow.
Bad news: I have the kind of cold that makes everything taste crummy.
Good news: I have one more container of chicken soup left. It's currently defrosting for lunch. I also have plenty of orange juice. Plus, I get to laze around the house today and not feel guilty about it.
Bad news: Oh, never mind. This format is getting tiresome.
Good news: I'll be posting fairly normally today, except for when I take a nap this afternoon, which I fully intend to do. permalink | |
11/23/04
Sucks to be a formerly-cowering terrorist when your protector is dead: Omri mentioned it yesterday, but exactly what I thought would happen has begun: The terrorists that Arafat protected in the Muqata are being killed by Israeli security forces. If this keeps up, I'm going to bring back Tuna for Terrorists, and Tig and Gracie will get even fatter. Someone go send the IDF a pizza and save them the calories.
Must-Read: Yossi Klein Halevi, who used to be a far left peacenik, on Arafat's legacy: A scorched earth.
In his refusal to abandon the demand for refugee return to the Jewish state, Arafat proved to Israelis that the conflict isn’t about the 1967 borders or even the settlements but about the existence of Israel in any borders. Indeed, during the failed Camp David negotiations in July 2000, settlements weren’t even among the top five issues dividing the two sides, according to Israel’s chief negotiator, Gilad Sher. Instead, those issues included the Temple Mount and refugee return -- that is, historic symbolism and tangible threat to Israel. More than creating a Palestinian state, Arafat was driven by the obsession to destroy the Jewish state, and by a grandiose vision of his place in history, reflected in murals all over the Palestinian territories depicting him as Saladin, waving a sword and riding a white steed.
Someone to watch over us: Swarms of locusts stop swarming when they hit Israel. This article in Ha'aretz says it's the weather. These are the locusts, by the way, that just devasted Egypt and several other nations' crops. Uh-huh. The weather. Secular paper, aren't they?
New face, same old stuff: Muhammad Abbas, the Fatah nominee for president, has vowed to stay true to his murderous sponsor's legacy. There will be no peace in my lifetime, I think.
Abbas said he and the present leadership would remain true to "the historic commitments and the principles guiding Arafat's ways. We shall act to realize his dream to achieve an independent state that has already been promised by international law, with its capital in Jerusalem."
He described Arafat as having been "moderate" and said he had "determinedly and optimistically navigated, realizing that the pessimist would never win the battle."
Similar remarks were made by Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia (Abu Ala). "We shall abide by our rights, first and foremost the right of return and the right of self-determination and the establishment of an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital," he said.
Funny, I'm not seeing the word "East" in front of Jerusalem in either of those quotes.
Christian palestinian is not an oxymoron: But their rights are constantly violated by those peaceful Muslims that outnumber them.
Having become a small minority -- 50,000 in the midst of more than 3 million Muslims --, the death of the president of the Palestinian National Authority has come at a time when the political, administrative, and police structures often discriminate against them," explained Graziano Motta, correspondent in the Holy Land of Vatican Radio and of the Italian newspaper Avvenire.
"They have been continually exposed to pressures by Muslim activists and have been forced to profess fidelity to the intifada," the journalist reported.
"Frequently, there are cases in which the Muslims expropriate houses and lands belonging to Catholics, and often the intervention of the authorities has been lacking in addressing acts of violence against young women or offenses against the Christian faith," Motta indicated.
Funny how this keeps getting ignored by, like, the Pope, and the Presbyterian (USA) church, and the Episcopals (who are also going to look into divesting in companies that do business with Israel).
Imagine if Israel started expropriating Christian homes. Lead story on the every major news station, I'm sure.
Okay. Now I'm really going offline and getting some rest. I have a long drive ahead of me tomorrow. permalink | |
And that's it until tomorrow. Damned kids are walking petri dishes of bacteria, and they gave me another sore throat. Tomorrow's a travel day for me, too.
Anyway, here's Tig, looking regal, as usual.
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11/22/04
Thing 1: I have a new kitty zen picture of Tig looking extremely regal, but can't get to it until much later today. Today, I have to choose the best parts of my presentation from last week, get the tape and comments back to my videographer, clean the apartment, go to Heidi's and switch the Jeep tops (yes, it's hardtop time, alas), make a list for my Thanksgiving trip, and then go to bed by ten p.m., as I'm working tomorrow instead of Wednesday at the Job From Hell. So you may not get that cool new Tig pic today, but you'll get it soon.
Thing 2: Tig found the season's last grasshopper. And played with it until he killed it. The circle of life. Sucks to be a bug, huh?
Thing 3: Hot, cold, hot, cold, hot, cold. That was my night last night, and the night before. I have a top sheet, a light blanket, and a quilt, for just those occasions, and yet, I can't seem to get a regulated temperature at night. I think I'm going to zap the heat down way cold so there will just be one temperature, and I can deal with it. I can pretend I'm at Heidi's house! (That's a dig, but she doesn't always read my blog, so I doubt she'll get it. She keeps the house too cold in the wintertime, and I hate it.)
Thing 4: Worf's surgery is this Wednesday, folks, not last week. Heidi said last night she thinks he's not doing well at all, but then pointed out that she hasn't had the fire going the last few days due to the seventy-degree weather we've had down here. We'll know better on Wednesday afternoon. I'll post as soon as I can after getting the news.
Thing 5: My students begged for recess yesterday, and started trying to give me logical explanations as to why they needed it. I am always amused by children's explanations, so I let them go for it. It boils down to this: They have too much excess energy, and if they don't have recess, they're bad, and the reason they were so bad the last few weeks is because I didn't give them recess. I did not laugh at them, but I did give them recess. It wasn't their powers of persuasion. It was a beautiful day out, and I thought they deserved it. But I didn't tell them that. I let them think they won.
Thing 6: Can't procrastinate on the tape any longer. Bummer. I hate watching myself on videotape. Well, start sending out all those positive thoughts, folks. I need this new job. permalink | |
And then there are the good guys: Presbyterians, part II
Mac Thomason just sent me this article from the Birmingham News:
Jewish, Presbyterian clerics bond in pulpit, pro-Israel investment
Although they worship directly across the street from each other in Birmingham, sometimes the gulf between Jews and Presbyterians seems wider than Highland Avenue.
Rabbi Jonathan Miller of Temple Emanu-El and South Highland Presbyterian Church Pastor Ed Hurley have been trying to bridge that gap. They have swapped pulpits and led a campaign to oppose the Presbyterian Church USA's plan to divest from Israel.
"What we've seen locally has been very encouraging for both the temple and our church," Hurley said.
"We're getting closer and closer," Miller said.
In July, the Presbyterian Church USA, at its general assembly, voted to study the possibility of withdrawing its investments in companies that do business with Israel. Jewish leaders were upset by the vote. "It's an exceedingly misguided and dangerous course of action to take against Israel and against western values and civilization," Miller said.
Hurley said the action was considered as a way to oppose the building of the security wall erected by Israel that Palestinians say hurts them economically and intrudes on their territory.
"I think our church acted without full understanding of the ramifications," Hurley said. "I disagree with divestment being used as a tactic in the way it was. The Jewish community sees it as an attack on Israel. I don't think the assembly intended it that way."
Hurley said he doubts the decision at the national meeting reflects the views of most mainline Presbyterians. "I think it reflected a knee-jerk reaction to the wall," Hurley said.
[...] The study of Israel divestiture will be considered again at the Presbyterian USA general assembly set for June 17-24, 2006, in Birmingham, Hurley said. "There won't be any divestment done before then," he said.
Hurley has submitted an overture, or proposal, to the Presbytery of Sheppards and Lapsley that asks the north Alabama regional body of the denomination to reaffirm its historic ties with Israel and reject the idea of divestiture.
He's also been in dialogue with the Jewish community. Hurley preached during a Sabbath service Oct. 8 at Temple Emanu-El. Miller in turn delivered a sermon at South Highland Presbyterian Church on Nov. 14. Between the morning services on Nov. 14, Hurley and Miller had a question and answer session on the issue.
The youth from Temple Emanu-El also attended Sunday school with youth at South Highland Presbyterian. "We plan to send our kids over there during Hanukkah," Hurley said. "We are building ties and understanding."
Lest anyone think I have a problem with Presbyterians, that is my best friend's denomination. And she agrees with the decision PC(USA) made. We have agreed not to discuss the issue (much), though we did have a bit of a knock-down drag-out a week or two ago. I'm sure we'll have more. I'm not one of those people who thinks that your friends have to agree with everything you believe in. permalink | |
The Presbyterian Church: One baby step forward, six steps backward
Two of the members of the delegation that met with Hezbullah are no longer working for the Presbyterian Church. The Church won't say if the've been fired, but at least it's a step in the right direciton.
Two officials of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have left their jobs one month after taking part in a meeting with Hezbollah, a Lebanese group listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department.
In an announcement yesterday, the Louisville-based denomination gave no reason for the departures of Kathy Lueckert and Peter Sulyok, nor did it say whether they had resigned or been fired.
Lueckert and Sulyok were part of a delegation of Presbyterians who took a controversial fact-finding trip to the Middle East last month that included talking with Hezbollah members.
The denomination's leaders renounced that visit, which also prompted the Israeli government to cancel a planned meeting with the delegation.
On the other hand, the moral equivalency plateau in this issue has been reached, I think.
The news of the departure of Lueckert and Sulyok came one day after the release of guidelines the church plans to use to implement a new policy of removing some investments from Israel in protest of that nation's military occupation of Palestinian territories.
Under the criteria, the church will target only companies believed to be aiding the occupation, and only after trying to persuade them to end such assistance.
And in answer to Jewish criticism that the denomination was unfairly singling out Israel, the church said it also would consider pulling investments from firms linked to Palestinian or Israeli terrorist groups.
"Israeli terrorist groups"? Name one. So, let's take a look at the PC(USA) news release, shall we?
NEW YORK CITY — The Presbyterian Church (USA)’s committee on socially responsible investment set six criteria here Nov. 4–6 to guide the process of “phased selective divestment” from corporations that profit from Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza unless their business practices change.
The divestment process — which could culminate in the sale of stock no earlier than June 2006 — was set in motion by the PC(USA)’s 216th General Assembly last summer.
Four of the six criteria target the Israeli occupation — including the construction of Jewish settlements that further entrenches it. A fifth aims to identify multinational corporations that enable violence by either Palestinians or Israelis.
It was a tense and not always polite meeting of the Committee on Mission Responsibility Through Investment (MRTI), which includes two representatives from each of the denomination’s two investing agencies — the Board of Pensions (BOP) and the Presbyterian Church (USA) Foundation (PCF) — and five at-large members.
"A tense and not always polite meeting" is obviously a nice way of saying there were lots of angry voices. But look at the way they describe the reaction of Jewish groups to the decision to divest from Israel:
BOP and PCF representatives and their investment officers, who were also present, were antsy about outrage provoked by the Assembly’s decision — particularly among Jewish groups. They said the nuances of the divestment process are lost on many critics, including some of their own pensioners and investors.
Major Jewish organizations vilified the Assembly’s action and launched a campaign to pressure the 2006 Assembly to rescind the divestment decision. Panicked by parallels to the successful campaign to disinvest in South Africa in the 1980s in order to bring down that country’s apartheid system, at least nine Jewish groups are working to preempt Israel divestment decisions by other churches.
This is the one that makes it all better in the minds of those who rebut accusations that divestment in companies that do business with Israel is ignoring the violence of the palestinian terror war:
The fifth criterion targets multinational corporations that provide products, services or financial backing to Israeli or Palestinian groups that commit violence against innocent civilians.
As I said above, regarding Israeli groups: Name one. Israelis are arrested and imprisoned when they're found to be plotting against civilians. It's against the law. Palestinians have summer camps named after them. As for the multinational corporations that supply financial backing to palestinian terror groups, does the EU qualify? How about the UN? That $25 billion Oil-For-Food program that Saddam skimmed from helped pay for suicide bombers. But no, there will be nothing said about that, I'm sure.
While the Assembly’s action calls for divestment of companies “operating in Israel,” it also reaffirms earlier denominational statements that condemn attacks by suicide bombers or by the Israeli military as “abhorrent and inexcusable by all measures and a dead-end alternative to a negotiated settlement of the conflict.”
Oh, so that makes it all better. You condemn suicide attacks. It's not like, say, this action will encourage the terrorists to think that they're winning the publicity war or anything like that.
You know, the other big decision the Presbyterian (USA) church made last year while it was deciding to divest in Israel was to attempt to convert more Jews this year.
This is a great way to go about making us think we want to be a part of your church, guys. You've got a bunch of Einsteins working for you.
Whoops, no you don't. He was Jewish. permalink | |
Strengthen the Good: Call for old books
Our latest STG charity is books for teenagers in Bratislava, Slovakia, who are trying to learn English without having the funds to buy much.
And there's the opportunity: to help Douglas and the CS Lewis school bring English--which the students call "the language of freedom"--and a bit of genuine America--which is still widely misunderstood in the former East Block--to the teenagers of Petrzalka. Together, with just a bit of time and energy, we can build an English-language library right in the center of a former Soviet-era apartment complex.
Here's you we can help strengthen the good: Below is a list of books the school needs for the English and American Studies programs ... the items with an asterisk are those for which they need several copies (as many as twenty each to use for literature classes). Anything else they will use to build the library.
Here's where synchronicity comes in: My niece's school project this year is on Slovakia. So here's my idea: I'll see if I can coordinate with her, but in the meantime, if you want to donate directly, pick a book from the list, go to Amazon.com, and send the book to:
Douglas Dart
C.S. Lewis Bilingual High School
Benadicka 38/A
Bratislava 85106
Slovak Republic
Or, you can make a tax-deductible contribution via Paypal at STG. I went through the list and found my favorites, as well as books I've liked or meant to read. (I've read most of the books on this list.) Knowing full well the effect Soviet Communism had on its people, I'd recommend sending them all the books on this list that will give them an insight into anti-Semitism and racism. The books with an asterisk are those that need about twenty copies. If you like, just grab the title you want and post in the comments that you're sending it, so we can send these kids as many books off the list as possible. If you want to pull books out of storage and send them, Alan says shipping should cost about $5.
Any Anthology of American Literature
The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
The American by Henry James
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt*
Animal Farm by George Orwell*
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterville Ghost and Other Stories by Oscar Wilde
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller*
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens*
The Crucible by Arthur Miller*
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank*
Dune by Frank Herbert
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Stories by Edgar Allen Poe
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens*
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald*
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
Harvey by Mary Chase*
The Hawk and the Dove Trilogy by Penelope Wilcox
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien*
Holes by Louis Sachar*
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman*
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien*
Maus (parts 1 and 2) by Art Spiegelman
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
The Natural by Bernard Malamud
Night by Elie Wiesel
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck*
Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway*
Old Yeller by Fred Gibson
The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde*
Poetry by Emily Dickinson
Poetry by T. S. Eliot
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry*
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane*
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally*
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett *
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Short Stories by Edgar Allen Poe*
Short Stories by Ernest Hemingway
The Sound and the Fur by William Faulkner
Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome*
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee*
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot*
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
There are more, but they also could use any English Language Dictionary.
It's a mitzvah, people, meaning a good thing. Let's send those kids the books they need. permalink | |
Last week's blogs are archived. Looking for the Buffy Blogburst Index? Here's Israel vs. the world. Here's the Blogathon. The Superhero Dating Ratings are here. If you're looking for something funny, try the Hulk's solution to the Middle East conflict, or Yasser Arafat Secret Phone Transcripts. Iseema bin Laden's diary is also a good bet if you've never been here before.
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