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Friday, July 8, 2005

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'Words don't come easy to me'

Larry Yudelson writes:

I relate to the sentiment in the song, but as a song -- or as an attempt to make oneself understood to a woman -- I think it's lacking.

First, the subject of the song is "words." She doesn't really give a shit about "words" in this context. She cares about you (we hope), and your feelings about her. This song is besides the point.

When the Beatles addressed the same point a couple of decades earlier, Paul gave the words first, then the apology: "I love you, I love you, I love you. That's all I want to say. Until I find a way I will say the only words I know that You'll understand"

Paul is obsessing about Michelle, noting in his inability to articulate; Air Supply is obsessing about his own problem. Not very attractive to a woman, French or otherwise.

If you do want to talk about feeling frozen in the face of love, don't talk about your words and their letting you down; talk about your general distraction when faced by love. The following lines have worked wonders for me in my life in expressing a particular obsession:

You angel you
You're as fine as anything's fine.
The way you walk and the way you talk
It sure plays on my mind.

You know I can't sleep at night for trying,
Never did feel this way before.
I get up at night and walk the floor.
If this is love then gimme more
And more and more and more and more

It made quite an impression when I gave the object of my obsession a tape of this album. And sometimes, of course, it's far better to stop talking (or whining) about yourself, and just become a man of action:

I'm preachin' the Word of God
I'm puttin' out your eyes
I asked Fat Nancy for something to eat, she said,
"Take it off the shelf -
As great as you are a man,
You'll never be greater than yourself."
I told her I didn't really care
High water everywhere

Luke, it's time to acknowledge that -- as surely as Paul McCartney was addressing me in 1977 when he wrote the song Hey Jude a decade earlier -- that Bob Dylan has your number:

Ford
Jump into the wagon, love,
throw your panties overboard
I can write you poems,
make a strong man lose his mind
I'm no pig without a wig
I hope you treat me kind
Things are breakin' up out there
High water everywhere

Book Sales For May

XXX-Communicated: 6
Yesterday's News Tomorrow: 2
The Producers: 1

Total royalties for the month: $22:47

Larry Yudelson Answers Luke's Cry For Help

He writes:

Luke,

Whatever our differences, I cannot stand idly by while a fellow Jew is reduced to quoting Air Supply to communicate.

Who was it who once wrote, "I'm all out of lyrics, I'm lonely without you?"

Your current JWB extravaganza reminds me of the old motto, "let's you and him slug it out." It's difficult to relate to your tortured, victim of bad music persona when your journalist persona is serving as a sounding board for someone who has yet to deny his association to the Kennedy assassination.The "he said, she said" view of reporting is part of the problem our society faces, not the solution. (See dailyhowler.com for an ongoing analysis of the syndrome).

You said you are convinced that the JWB2 posts forged Yori's name were not written by JWB, Nan or Vicki. Do you know this because you've analyzed their content, and they don't resemble their signed posts? Do you know who actually did post them? Or are you simply taking them on their say-so -- a particularly difficult thing to do, I would think, given that Vicki no longer speaks to you. Please let me know which it is, or whether there is a fourth possibility I have missed.

Less interesting, though still a bit of a head scratcher, is the the posting and then de-posting of two year-old letters between Vicki and Berman on the "survivor" blog. (Incidentally, I love the fact that rape and incest victims are cleansing the word 'survivor' of all that nasty Holocaust baggage; wasn't that Auschwitz thing such a downer!) Also curious is why it took JWB nearly two months to post his promised "investigative" report that proved just to be another Nexis cut-and-past job. Is it possible that he spent a month away, perhaps in London, returning just this week in time for some high profile postings? And speaking of issues of interest to the FBI: Does your pal JWB know that you claim as a friend someone who writes for a highly influential magazine that opposes the Justice Department's war on drugs?

You see how silly this whole game of insinuation can get. Or maybe you don't. Those of us who have to worry about supporting a family -- a group, that, oddly enough, excludes you, Vicki, Nan, and by all appearances JWB -- have to consider how much time will be lost either replying to bogus allegations from "just shaking nuts off the tree" anonymous vigilantes, or from overzealous FBI officials who read on your web site that I am part of a "group" that organizes "illegal break-ins". (Suggested followup question to JWB, by the way: What sort of 'confidential' information was published on USA Jewish? I know followups are hard, but whoever said the search for the truth was easy.)

Anyway, I really don't have too much to say about this. I do want it recorded that you CANNOT take shtika k'hodah -- silence as admission -- if I don't respond to bizarre claims by an anonymous crank. I tried honest discussions with JWB numerous times; he just doesn't work that way. I'm grateful to JWB -- as I've written elsewhere, he has taught me some very valuable lessons about lashona hora -- but I don't plan on returning any more of his phone calls, whether relayed by you or anyone else.

Kol tuv, Larry

p.s. Air Supply? You should at least explore some alternatives. Click through the links for some lyrics that might give you some guidance. These two topics -- lyrics, and how you, Luke Ford, should live your life -- might be the basis of a more productive dialogue between us.

I believe that JWB, Nann and Vicki did not post under the name "Yori Yanover" on the basis of what I know about those three persons, not on the basis of careful analysis of the said posts.

When a "Yori Yanover" six years ago posts and contributes to website about crystal meth, and the Yori Yanover you and I both know accounts for about 95% of internet postings under the name "Yori Yanover", and our friend Yori Yanover is questioned about the meth connection about five years ago by Seattle ezine (he denies a connection), and yet our friend Yori Yanover does nothing about the matter for all those years, and neither you, his friend, nor he deny a connection to the meth postings when first questioned (before I posted anything), then it is interesting and worth writing about (so long as the facts are made clear, which they were).

Whatever the merits and demerits of my recent posting on Yori, there is no resemblance between asking if the most prominent "Yori Yanover" on the net is the guy behind the crystal meth postings and if JWB is involved in the Kennedy assasination.

If I, or anyone I know, had found out that someone using their distinctive name was publishing information on the internet about how to make crystal meth, we would've immediately done something about it (such as issue a public denial and ask Google to remove the posts).

What's the name of that teaching (Larry: "maris ayin") in Judaism that it is not enough to do the right thing, you can't appear to do things that are wrong (even if you are really not doing anything bad) in case you influence others badly? There is a moral onus on an individual to separate himself from bad things done in his name. (Not claiming that I fully live up to this.)

If I were writing an article for a newspaper, almost any newspaper, would I have presented this information in the way I did on my site? No. In fact, given what I knew when I published, I would never have published it in any paper. Yet I felt comfortable doing it on the internet. Interesting.

I don't claim that most of what I do on lukeford.net is journalism. In fact, I rarely ask myself if what I'm doing is journalism. I ask myself if what I am publishing is interesting or important and if I am treating people the way I would want to be treated in such a situation.

I treated Yori the way I would've wanted to have been treated in that situation.

I don't know much about JWB except my email with him and the responses of people I know who've read his work and corresponded with him. According to what I know, he is an honest person (which by no means I support everything he does or claim that he is without blemish). I have never tried to set you (or anyone) up with a telephone conversation with him. I have never spoken to JWB. I don't know anyone who has.

JWB, like Vicki Polin, is an activist on behalf of those who claim to have been sexually victimized. That is not how I see myself.

I know little about the inner workings of the Survivor blog except that it is tied in with Vicki Polin and reflects her point of view. The letters you mention are on my profile page on Vicki.

Jewish Whistleblower replies to Larry Yudelson:

>(Suggested followup question to JWB, by the way: What sort of >'confidential' information was published on USA Jewish? I know >followups are hard, but whoever said the search for the truth >was easy.)

This is the page 1 story.

I'm calling this Yorigate because the material was posted on Yori's blog. To make it clear:

1) There was a Watergate style break-in several months at Vicki's apartment.
2) The break-in was reported to the police who came to the scene.
3) The only item stolen was a single file that contained materials on Rabbi Jeremy Hershy Worch. Nothing else was taken.
4) I among a limited number of others at the time was made aware of this several months ago and at the time I asked Vicki what the file generally contained.
5) As a result of the break-in, extreme measures are now taken with confidential material. Vicki maintains no confidential files in her apartment.
6) Recently, I (not Vicki, nor anyone else) saw very specific information posted on Usajewish by Yori Yanover that I realized came directly from that file. I did not have that specific information that was posted and it is not possible that that information came from any legitimate or legal source. Unless of course Yori is psychic.
7) I contacted Vicki by email and informed her of my discovery. She confirmed that the information in question was from the stolen file. There is no other possible source of that information. It could only have come from the stolen file.
8) I've advised everyone involved to keep the specifics of this material to themselves and only share the information directly with law enforcement as it may be critical in any investigation.
9) It's very clear who the only people are that would benefit by stealing this file.
10) We have a very clear picture of what occured and who was involved and how this information ended up on Usajewish. The specifics of that information have been and will only be shared with law enforcement.
11) I want to make it clear that a line has been crossed here. This type of behavior will not and cannot be tolerated.
12) I've decided that this outrage should be publicized. The people involved will only be encouraged to do worse if they know we will not speak out.

>I tried honest discussions with JWB numerous times; he just doesn't work >that way. I'm grateful to JWB -- as I've written elsewhere, he has taught >me some very valuable lessons about lashona hora -- but I don't plan on >returning any more of his phone calls, whether relayed by you or anyone else.

The only direct contact I've had from Yudelson was an email asking if I could look into some orgaization for him. I obviously have no interest in having any contact with him whatsoever. He has chosen to associate with a crowd, I have no respect for and I suspect he's simply been trying to accumulate information for his friend Yori. I have no good or bad feelings toward Yudelson. I feel pity for him that he has such a poor choice of friends. I've never made any calls to Yudelson whatsoever. I've never had any discussions with him. Yudelson has some problem with me that I do not understand or frankly care about. I wish him luck. With friends like his, he'll need it.

As to allegations of me posting various things in various places. Whether it is some strange ploy by Yori or the Tendler war machine to keep Yori foaming mad at me and others, who knows? They certainly control that blog, not me.

Yudelson wants me to prove several negatives in his latest posts. Nice trick. Everyone knows you can't prove a negative.

Yori Yanover writes:

Luke - It looks like even you are not enjoying this any more, but in case you do, please respond specifically to this:

Larry asks you how you know JWB, Nann and Vicki did not post under my name. Luke: "I don't know much about JWB except my email with him and the responses of people I know who've read his work and corresponded with him. According to what I know, he is an honest person (which by no means I support everything he does or claim that he is without blemish). I have never tried to set you (or anyone) up with a telephone conversation with him. I have never spoken to JWB. I don't know anyone who has."

How did you assess his honesty? How many people do you know who correspond with him? Are they neutral bystanders? Have you never ever caught him in a lie? Or did you never make even the most feeble attempt to verify any of his outrageous claims? Let's check our current string...

1. Do you realize you've published twice an unsubstantiated accusation against me that I was involved in a break-in? Do you know that this is defamation? Have you done one singular thing to substantiate this claim? Did you, for instance, contact the police to verify that there even was a break-in? Are you going to ask afterwards why I didn't contact your provider to complain about your defaming me? Are you going to state later "Yanover never directly denied breaking into Vicki's apartment"?

2. Do you also realize that there's no such thing as a "Worch file" because if there were, Vicki would have posted it months ago? JWB's modus operandi is always to announce "I have a really really bad thing I know about this person and very very soon I'll reveal it." He's issued at least two ultimatums to me in that fashion. And you don't even press him to say what is it that he "knows." All he does is repeat the lie and adds decoration. He's playing you and you seem to be the last man on the Internet to actually fall for this crap.

The simple truth is that Vicki promised Nann that her identity would never be revealed if she sent her her material against Worch. When I got her name, address, phone number, etc. from a friend (the simplest email inquiry got it), Nann was stunned and came running to Vicki. Habitual liar that she is ("I still have my board intact, but I'm hiding it"), Vicki told her I broke in and stole the "file."

What was in the file, for goodness sake? DNA samples? Hospital rape kits? Alphabetical lists of erotico-hypnotism victims and their activation word ("when I say Mississippi, you take 'em off!")? The cabbalistic secrets of getting laid with tall Scandinavian blonds? Reb Nachman's book of hasidic come-on lines?

I've never seen such claptrap in my life, except when I worked with emotionally disturbed children. Psychotic children operate in precisely this way, creating ever-burgeoning falsehoods to protect their illusionary worlds. This is not going to stop, of course, not as long as Vicki is fighting to keep the last fleeing rabbi on her fictional board (believe me, she won't let them go, she keeps sending replies arguing why they should stay, it's pathetic). as to JWB, maybe after he gets a shiduch and has to go to work he'll quietly dissolve into the general background of the chronically disturbed. As to Nann -- I think she's fatigued of her own weight at this point.

It's a rainy morning in New York. Summer rain. I still can't get used to the concept.

.........

>>"I can't as yet. It's nothing you've mentioned in your email."

Naturally. In the best tradition of "I have here a list of communist spies in the US government." Extremely believable. Based on the say-so of an alleged petty criminal and self-admitted murderer who -- despite the apologia of her supporters -- runs a web site which posits that followers of Jacob Frank are a great danger to the Jewish community, you've accused me of burglary.

So, do I call a lawyer in LA to send you a letter to cease defaming me? This is not a threat, this is a direct question. What do you think I should do now to tackle this problem? Should I publish a big headline on my website: "I am not a burglar"?

It appears you've brought along the kangaroo court tradition from the old homeland.

For the record, now, I ask you to either substantiate the allegations against me you've posted on your website or remove them with an apology.

JWB and Nann gave me an example of information that it seems to me (and them) could only have come from what they say was a break-in. That doesn't mean you were involved in the alleged break-in, only that your postings benefitted from it.

I don't know of any evidence that there was a break-in except on Vicki's say-so.

Yori Yanover has frequently condemned people who post anonymously strong personal criticisms.

In July of 2004, Yori wrote: "Finally -- it's amazing how many of you right-wing neo-con Bushie Litvaks are too chickenshit to enter your real name and email. Don't you know anonymous puke is like no puke at all?"

On February 13, 2005, Yori wrote me: "It's disturbing to argue with an anonymous person, "Jane," while I'm presenting a full name, and my address and phone number are in the White Pages. Why would she fear exposure by having her identity revealed to me? What is the implication about who I am, that this Jane fears criticizing my letter using her full name? What is the implication regarding the veracity and acceptability of her own views when she's not there for an open discussion, but prefers to hide behind a pseudonym? What is the implication when this blog gives equal credence to both views, when one comes from a real man and the other from what could very well be a fictional woman."

On May 9, 2005, I asked Yori: "* Did you ever make anonymous comments in threads about sexual abuse? If so, what were they and what names did he use?"

Yori replied:

Very early on I realized, on the Protocols site, that conducting debates with anonymous posters was useless. The fact that the notorious "ME" was focusing so much on my identity at the time, and the fact that I have about 10 years of online publishing under my belt, made me a tempting target and a useful name for use by countless posters. To this day I'm being accused of stuff, like I found out about the anti-Blau site from an email asking me if I designed it. This morning you asked me if I did the JBW2 site. What's the point in my doing this?

Never mind that I think anonymous posting is cowardly and that all my professional life I've been out there, putting my name on some seriously combative articles, including the ones that got me fired from Yedioth. Never mind that when "ME" was posting all my business relations online with total disregard to any semblence of civility, the postings only increased (trust me, I was watching in horror). And back then you, as moderator, did nothing to discourage it.

What if one of my clients were to google me and come up with those really abusive, horrible postings by "ME"? Did you think about that? And the repulsive notes about how my wife and child would be sexually abused by this or that "predator" -- did you really believe it made for a good sicussion, befitting civilized Jews?

But what about you, Luke, have you posted anonymously? Were you the author of some those vile messages?

No, I didn't.

Many of the "Yossel" posts on Protocols sounded to me like they came from Yori Yanover.

Jewish Whistleblower writes me:

Proof positive of Yori Yanover being Yossel (he was also Shalom Salem and Groucho [on Protocols comments section])

1) Names "Jane", clear at this point that "Jane" had posted zero about Yori.
2) Names lawyer who phoned him (Yori) up personally. That's a fact.
3) Makes false accusation of theft that he and his group continued to build for several months until they had enough lies to smear Vicki with.
4) False allegation demonstrates the direct link between Yori and your "Olga".
5) False allegation same as the Shalom Salem false allegations already posted.

Yossel @ 1:08PM | 2004-11-21|

You've been given more than fair warning. As long as we continue to provide an atmosphere without fear of intimidation, naturally... With a fear-free engagement in deliberation of tangible facts... It appears I've managed to rattle your cage, Na'ama. [Jane] is long since gone fritz. Vicki is schlepping her stolen laptop all over Chicago, trying to get local rabbis to oust Hershy. What a mess. And all I had to do was use what little bits of truth I had in my possession. Predictably, your next posting will be a big expose of my true identity, forver casting me as a man who used a false ID on a website in North America... Call up Michael Smith and tell him to try harder. Obviously he's not so good at not intimidating... By me bist du schein...

Proof Yossel is also Groucho or pyschic.

Yossel @ 2:40AM | 2004-11-21|

This may be the moment to point out that Groucho's remark intended to playfully suggest the Awareness Center was reaching a tad outside its mandate when extending its aware-ware to brothel owners. It is quite possible not to endorse the mollestation of prostitutes while at the same time objecting to an overreach by Vicki Polin et al. When is this awful website coning down already?

Yossel again referring to the call he (Yori) got from a lawyer.

Yossel @ 9:10AM | 2004-11-21| By intimidation, do you perchance mean phone calls from attorneys threating a participant in this web discussion to cease and dessist? I just wanted to know, to make sure we're taking about the same freely exchanged, fear-free truth.

Yossel vows to get Jane and Vicki:

Yossel @ 10:36AM | 2004-11-21| By intimidation, do you possibly mean the phrase "'Yossel' (we all know who you are)"? It's important to be clear on these things, so we all know the boundaries of intimidation for future reference. Look, girls, you got an hysterical call from a love-crazed woman. She dug you deeper in the hole than you had been just attacking Gafni. You thought it would be an easy ride, it wasn't. It's time to pay the piper. Either apologize and take Hershy's name off your website (including the "innocent" reference to some unknown rabbi in Rogers Park), or expect that the rest of us, normal, civilized people, with jobs and businesses, who are well rooted in the community, will find ways to come after you. You dish it out, you eat.

Man-haters:

Yossel @ 6:50AM | 2004-11-18| The question to be asked when the dust settles: Was Vicki polin and her Sanco pancha, Na'ama Yehuda, merely overzealous in their frothing exposure of individuals without tangible proof, or were they making cynical choices, facing a sex-abuse field which no longer required their kind of frontier counseling, because of institutional response to the abuse problem. My suspicion is a little of both. In the end the center's theme became more about man-hating than about protecting women victims.

Proof Yossel is also Groucho or pyschic.

Yossel @ 2:40AM | 2004-11-21| This may be the moment to point out that Groucho's remark intended to playfully suggest the Awareness Center was reaching a tad outside its mandate when extending its aware-ware to brothel owners. It is quite possible not to endorse the mollestation of prostitutes while at the same time objecting to an overreach by Vicki Polin et al. When is this awful website coning down already?

Admission Me is not Vicki, but then he accuses the wrong person ... again:

Yossel @ 10:22AM | 2004-11-18| Na'ama Yehuda, or Me as she refers to herself, is the more cynical of the duo. While Vicki is herself a victim and her distortions can at least be understood, NY is essentially a merchant, peddling her 80's memory recovery schoira like bad fish. Her succession of vehement postings right here are a perfect example of the operation of the site, as well as testimony to the fact that it's bugle time at the awareness center. The technique of copy & paste journalism is being used by all the participants in these debates so heavily, it might be time to remind everyone: If you provide a URL you don't have to go ahead and download the entire website. People know how to get there, relax. By the way, when I wrote earlier this week, KEN YOVDU, to which the Isareli Na'ama Yehuda quickly responded Lo Yovdu, which Vicki, who is only semi-literate in things Jewish, couldn't have done. So, let's all rejoice in the great Kiddush Hashem we're all engage in, because, face it, it's keeping us off the streets...

Empty threats:

Yossel @ 10:43AM | 2004-11-18| When you ditch the cowardly handle and state for the record who you are. At which point I will shell out the bucks for Hershy to hire a good liable lawyer and take you to court.

Yossel on Luke:

Yossel @ 5:36PM | 2004-11-18| Luke interviews people like that all the time. When Luke begins to interview anybody I'm sure we'd all be thrilled. Alas, for the time being Luke is transcribing his phone conversations with people who do actual interviewing. The difference, my lad, is the same as the difference between the copying and pasting you so agerly engage in and actual writing. Your so called interviews offer zero introspection, zero context, nothing other than the transcribed voice of the person who, out of sheer vanity, in a moment of weakness, perhaps, has engaged in a phone conversation with you. I invite you to take a course, perhaps, in creative writing. Perhaps Dennis could recommend something useful. Who knows, you may turn out to be a decent writer after all. But for now, youngster, an interviewer you're not.

Yossel @ 8:03PM | 2004-11-18| 'You didn't object to his credentials as a journalist when Luke interviewed you, Yossel.'

Wait a minute, wait a minute. I did not say that Luke lied when he interviewed me, nor did he have to force me to be interviewed. I also thought we had a pleasant time of it and he depicted most accurately what I told him. When he first called me up I looked at his website, didn't find it objectionable and agreed to the interview.

My issue is not with Ford's credentials as per our interview. It is regarding the QUALITY of his work. I've been interviewed by most of the frontline reporters of the Jewish beat in America and many in Israel.

All of them, without exception, attempted to turn the interview into something larger, into the basis for a more complex picture.

Ford was the first journalist I've met who turned on his tape recorder, turned it off and essentially transcribed straight into his book -- not just a quick article, but his book! -- my monologue verbatum.

In consequent emails I helped him fix Henrew words he either misunderstood or misspelled, but I couldn't begin to describe to him what I felt about the piece as a journalistic document.

Listen, I'm not the nicest man, I've done war with colleagues, some of whom are yet to forgive me (oy vey). But with Luke the only complaint I have worth fighting over is his ill treatment of a dear friend of mine, a gentle and generous soul. When it comes to his "credentials" as journalist i couldn't care less. As far as I'm concerned he doesn't need credentials, he needs some basic Jewish education, hard text, nut morality. He is truly under-schooled and it affects his work. His knowkledge of history is likewise spotty.

I mean, say what you will about Jonathan Mark, but the man is learned. You can't sell him false goods. Whereas Ford is simply not in the same league. Now, al ta'am ve'reyach I ain't gonna' argue. If Shmarya loves his stuff, it's ok with me. Shmarya never struck me as the heavy hitter type.

Yossel and Yori share a birthday:

Yossel @ 8:51PM | 2004-11-18| A dear and generous soul with vast Torah knowledge, a wonderful sense of humor, great resources of morality even in the face of such horrible adversity, and a gift of teaching skill so rare among men of scholarship. You're entitled to remain stuck in whatever misbegotten night you may have spent with him, but all the copy & paste you've been piling on only shows how very angry a person you are. My love to Hershy is the love of a friend. I only have four or five really close friends. At 50 years of age, darling, do you really think I'm going to stop loving my friend because you disapprove of his sexual fantasies? Do YOU have friends, dear?

Tati's too busy writing snuff pornography to put food on the table for us. Yossel's crocodile tears:

Yossel @ 11:24AM | 2004-11-21| This is a bizarre encounter, a microcosm with the whiff of past political events, past hysterias. The anonymity of the Web adds a new sense of shadow play.

A quick one-two from this or that anonymous character. A sudden phone call from a lawyer. A staffer of the Awareness Center taking on a false identity and then makes the very notion of identity the topic of discussion. Then there's the outing issue: will the journalist from New York be timid enough to walk away, or stupid enough to expose his identity? Can we then go after him? Can we get his wife? His children? Can we send letters to his rabbi, his business partners? Can we spread our web of intimidation across a frightened Jewish community? How far can we push?

It all happened many times before. It all reeks of blood and fire and urine and tears. Fear tastes just this way. With the metallic hint of chamber pots and hospital beds and upturned soil. Fear is such a useful tool, Na'ama. But this Hebrew speaking reporter has been to two wars, laid flat under too much artillery, ate too much shit in the political and professional battlefields, held in his arms too many broken bodies to be impressed by your intimidation.

To me you represent the very worst in exploitative social work, psychology, emotional care. You are the opposite of what is sensible and reasonable, and the money you earn is blood money.

Nevertheless, I invite you, Na'ama Yehuda, to re-examine your actions, to make a full retraction and to exonerate Hershy Worch. Take his information off your website and leave the man alone to pick up the broken pieces of his life which you have terrorized. This is a straight-forward invitation, without malice. It is my sole interest in this case, in Luke's website, in the Awareness Center. I figure, the Gafnis of the world can take care of themselves, but Hershy's children at the moment are crying for their tatti. Take Hershy off your website and leave him alone, and I'll consider the matter settled.

Bad Psychic predictions about child molesters:

Yossel @ 9:44AM | 2004-11-16| When Lanner goes free Vicki aka Me will be fresh out of current US Jews to mess with who were actually prosecuted in a US court. I foresee more cases from the past popping up: The Friedmans, the California nursery thing, more Shlomo, and then, who knows, she already has Jacob Frank, maybe Shabtai Tzvi is next... Get a job, Vicki/Me.

Yossel admits Hershy can't see his kids currently:

Yossel @ 8:15PM | 2004-11-18| You really do hate Hershy, don't you. Well, there's absolutely nothing I can do for you nor say to you which will make you feel less venomous. I certainly do not envy your state of near-madness. Do you really think one can be anyone's close friend and not know their shortcomings, their failures and their moments of pain? But I feel sick to my stomach seeing as individuals like yourself can destroy a man in this unchecked manner. Thank God this website will come down soon and let's hope Vicki's site will at least be taken away from her and offered to a more reliable professional. Hershy will recover, he will see his children again, he will make his case in a sane and, I believe, convincing way. But I hold no such hopes for you.

Yori goes completely wacky:

Yossel @ 2:07PM | 2004-11-21| This is nothing: There once was a very morbid girl who had three different boyfriends. She also had a home with three different closets. One of the closets contained old panties, another contained old bras, but the nastiest of all was a storage for used tampons. One day, she took one of her boyfriends into the closet with all of the old panties, had sex with him, and suddenly locked him in the closet. She left him in the closet screaming for two weeks before he died of thirst and hunger. She did the same with another boyfriend, except this time in the closet with all of the old bras. It was all going to be a routine for her to do this to the third boyfriend in the closet with the old tampons. However, when she returned a month later to make a deposit to her stash, she found the man alive and well in her closet. With utter amazement and dismay, no doubt, she asked " How in thee FUCK are you still alive??!!" The boyfriend cheerily replied " I couldn't have survived if it weren't for these jellyrolls.....!!"

Yossel @ 2:09PM | 2004-11-21| OK, there are these three chicks who walk into a doctors office. The first one go in for her examination. Her doctors goes, "Well, everything is alright except that you have an "A" on your chest. The girl says that she has a boyfriend that goes to Alabama and that when he makes love to her he likes to wear his college sweatshirt. The second girl goes for her examination, and the doctor goes, "Well everything is alright except that you have a "M" on your chest." The girl states that she has a boyfriend that goes to Michigan and when they make love, he wears his sweatshirt. The thrid girl has her examination, and afterwards the doctor goes, "Well, everything is alright except that you have a "M" on your chest, let me guess you have a biyfriend that goes to Minnesota?" The girl goes, "Nope, but I have a girlfriend that goes to Wisconsin!"

This is one of the posts were Yossel/Shalom Salem/Groucho/Yori posts as me, stealing my identity. Here he threatens all of the Elders from Protocols and guest bloggers.

me @ 6:14PM | 2004-11-22|

I like this. Maybe it's time to monitor everyone's domestic disputes. For starters, we should consider Luke and all the elders fair game: Steven I. Weiss Yehuda Kraut Andrew Silow-Carroll Uri Goldstein Miriam Shaviv Luke Ford Daniel Radosh Rivka Bukowsky Anyone hear any dirt on them? No need for there to be child support issues.... let's just post whatever we can dig up from our rumor mongers. I bet they're *all* only two degrees of separation from child molesters. What do you think really happens when Luke and Aaron Tendler meet behind closed doors? Is there more to the Luke and Cahty relationship than their coy blogs let on? And while we're at it, I've heard some juicy tales about some of the Awareness Center's supporting rabbis, and their families... Just because you don't have an ex-wife doesn't mean you shouldn't be opened to scrutiny, does it?

I would note, Reb Yudel admitted this was Yori on Canonist. Shmarya should recall many of these posts as he was involved in the debate as well.

Yossel @ 7:33AM | 2004-11-16|

Sorry to disappoint you, pssst, but Hershy is yet to enter a comment on this blog. I'm a well known person, ergo the pseudonym, but there's no Manchester in my speech.

Yossel @ 1:49PM | 2004-11-21|

Unrepentant, without a morsel of understanding of the harm he has done, a spoiled child walks away from the scene of his defecation, confident that if his sphincter feels well, all's well. Now the grownups will have to clean up the kaka and spray over the stain in the rug and hope it'll go away somehow. Nu, we've seen worse, and we cleaned that too.

Islam Means Peace

Chaim writes: "This would be a good day for you to remind your readers that Islam is the world's premier religion of peace."

Yori Yanover Asks Questions

Yori writes me:

I contacted Steve [Weiss of Protocols.blogspot.com] one time regarding a posting by JWB on his old site, under my name. I once asked JWB2 to remove those postings which used my name. Other than that I don't get upset too easily. The message had my name, but the first time I found out about it was when this magazine contacted me, a long while after it had been posted. I only learned yesterday of all the other messages, but although my name was used, I didn't see anything harmful in the content, so what's libelous there?

Now let me ask you: What public good was served by this silly waste of time and space on your site?

And what do you think are JWB's motives in googling my name so obsessively, day and night, looking under every rock for something to pin on me, whether real, made up or suggested?

Do you think, maybe, I got under his skin? Do you think maybe I did the same to Nanne and Vicky? Maybe I'm the guy who finally stopped Vicki Polin, and JWB has sworn revenge? After all, before I wrote it, no one dared challenge this psychopath about her satanic ideations. When a bully meets someone who refuses to be intimidated, he seeks revenge.

JWB, Nann and Vicki have published may name, address and business details, urging readers to report me to the IRS. I wonder if they received Blau's halachic haskama for that one...

They published my wife's and daughter's names online just to let me know they know. It happens, when you deal with psychos. And it's up to you whether you want to give legitimacy to this kind of people.

Keep Gush Katif Jewish,

YY

I think Jewish Whistleblower goes too far sometimes. I strongly disagree with his publishing your address, let alone the names of your wife and daughter. I didn't like his IRS threat. If he (or Vicki or Nann) was publishing under your name, then that was horrible, and I'll pull his link and discontinue my emailing with him.

The crystal meth stuff is a good story and a legitimate one. You could've done a lot over the past six years to get away from any association with that stuff. I don't know why you didn't.

Jewish Whistleblower writes:

Luke, I don't have the time or need for revenge.

The truth is I really believe Yori and his group has crossed the line in his battle against the Awareness Center. It's not just the publishing the names of alleged victims of sexual abuse and his false posts about various people.

Several months ago, there was a break-in at Vicki's apartment. There was a police report filed at the time but of course it's not a high priority for them as there was no violence, no valuables taken. But one thing was stolen from Vicki's apartment in that break-in.

Guess what it was? Vicki's file on Rabbi Jeremy Hershy Worch.

Vicki's given me a rundown on what that file contained. I'm not going to go into that. At this point, there is a good picture as to who was involved and how it was done.

As a result, Vicki does not keep confidential files or information in her home.

I'm not going into the specifics beyond the above, as I hope at some point that criminal charges can be pressed on those involved and I don't want to give deatails that may be useful in the prosecution of those involved.

Oh, did I mention, Yori recently posted material on his website that came directly out of that file? Did I mention that there is no other possible source for that information? Unless, of course maybe Yori is psychic and got the information that way.

Jane writes:

Yanover's lied about posting under pseudonyms on Protocols; clearly the style of "Yossel", "Jew", a few others I can't recall but kept copies of everything---turned out to be Yanovers' style.

What about Yanovers' publishing *my* name and address? He's a *public* figure, I am not.

Yanover has *not* "shut down" The Awareness Center. Yanover is lying when he states I published *anything* urging people to report him to the IRS, or writing under his name, or his address/business associations.

You still have not pinned him down to comment about his rebbe's writings under Moonish, Chapt. Schleck, etc. etc. You still have not pinned him down to comment on his rebbes' sexual dismemberment fantasy, which predates my knowledge of him by several years. Why so lax with him?

Also, has it occurred to anybody that if Vicky got caught up by unscrupulous therapists in the 80's trying to make a name for themselves during the satanic ritual abuse craze, then shame on those therapists, not Vicky? If Vicky was a victim of childhood abuse that made her vulnerable, not a villian.

And how hypocritical for someone (Yanover) to be so fixated on that, while SUPPORTING J Hershy Worch, with his BDSM kabbalah, hypnoeroticism, and sexual dismemberment fantasies!! Why have you accepted his silence on this, and not insisted upon commentary, whether denial (lie) or acknowledgement (lame explanation)?

It's rather funny, I could take his sentence---- "After all, before I wrote it, no one dared challenge this psychopath about (his) (sociopathic) ideations. When a bully meets someone who refuses to be intimidated, he seeks revenge."

----and say it for myself; in this case Yanover being the bully. And I have yet to be intimidated.

For the record, I've only published under my real name on Jewish blogs (and only ever anywhere under easily identifiable handles).

Yori has said he did not post under fake names on Protocols and he has condemned those who have. JWB believes that Yori posted under false names on Protocols. I don't have any evidence to support this opinion of JWB, but just as I published links to what Yori Yanover believed were comments posted under his name by JWB or Vicki or Nanne, so too I publish JWB's opinions here:

Yoram was the one posting under other people's names, including mine.

As to obsessive, look at this minute by minute focus by Yoram on me.

I would note that Yoram was the first one posting names. He posted the name of a victim of Worch on Protocols and has since posted her address. He has posted address, phone numbers, relatives and family trees.

As to who posted Yorai's information, who knows? I certainly posted his business contacts under my name on the old protocols.

As to others? I have no idea and either does Yori or Larry. It's a pure smear on their part.

I would note that I sent you copies of several posts made by Yori (Shalom Salem) and a friend of his very good friend (Sofia) on the old protocols about fraud charges and court proceedings that were false.

Shalom Salem @ 5:20PM | 2004-10-15| >>Who and what money prey tell? Both Luke and Vicki are predators of the weak and unsuspecting, asking for a handout here, a gift there. Vicki is in court now for credit card fraud. Ford is facing a suit following the publication of his book (not all those interviews actually took place). There's nothing more dangerous than the professionally self-righteous, and these two are a match made in hell. He accuses, she follows up, he confirms, she emails -- one hand confirms the other. But the fate of scoundrels is usually to end up in jail -- and these two are just not big enough to beat back their pursuers.

Shalom Salem @ 7:31PM | 2004-10-16| Vicki borrowed a friend's credit card to do some office purchases. But instead of returning the card and paying off the debt, she proceeded to make more purchases and ruining her former friend's credit. The friend has sued, it's in the courts. Luke Ford is the running dog of his mentor, radio and TV personality Dennis Pragger, a Conservative Jew in the pocket of the RNC, a regular pro-Bush voice on Fox News and elsewhere.

The entire circumstance of Ford's conversion is a mystery, as no Orthodox rabbi was involved, and most of the Jews he comes in contact with are not aware of his dubious connection to the covenat of Abraham.

A professional pornographer, Ford claims to have sold the rights to LukeFord.com, which continues the bear his name and continues to run hard porn.

Ford's new book is an exercise in gotcha' journalism, as most of his subjects find it difficult to recall the stuff he represents as coming from them. Some of it has to do not so much with his methodology as with his basic ignorance of Jewish culture and history, which lead him to perpetually misunderstand information. But his new attacks on defenseless Jewish men are a new low even for a man who promotes "efficient German sex."

Sofia @ 4:56PM | 2004-10-30| A rabbi is a teacher and a lawyer, not a saint or a prophet. Rabbi Worch is an excellent teacher and a Jewish scholar Responsible and compassionate and serious devoted in his work. What may be his private life. Is his own concern. It is terribly wrong to make sop opera of peoples private lives, And make look 10000 times worst than reality may be. What ever it is this people are going after, there is something terrible wrong in the way they are approaching this issue. Something is not right about this. It seems to me like some one is getting a revenge for something. It is sick. Get a good lawyer rabbi. This is mamesh abusive of the people responsible for all this accusations.

I don't believe I ever published his home address, I did publish his business address on Protocols, only after he published private people's names.

As to JWB2, who knows who posts there (likely Yori and friends know about the pro-Worch abusive creepy comments as they all get together for their weekly conference call with Worch). It's not my site, I want nothing to do with it. It's run by the Tendler war machine and has posted the reference materials that end up in the Jewish Voice and Opinion and Jewish Press a few days later.

>I didn't like his IRS threat.

It wasn't a threat. I received more information from Yori and Larry's posts and now they've settled on a story that can't easily be changed. My original intention. I passed on my information and hopefully it will be useful to Worch's ex in proceedings shortly. You shake a tree and sometime some nuts fall out.

As to posting names of his family members. That was you Luke, not me, check your Worch profile page. And Yori? He posted all the relatives he could find for Vicki. So what's his beef here?

Further evidence Yori was posting anonymously on Protocols (how can he possibly deny that?). Not ony as Yossel and Shalom Salem but also as Groucho the Seal.

Groucho the Seal @ 2:42PM | 2004-11-02| What nightmare have you started, luke Ford. Look at it, read it well, you have erected a Stalinist-Hitlerist Inquisition, and the entries by the animal who has filled up several screens here are all on your record. This is anti-Semitism which, unlike Hitler's, doesn't even pretend to provide false proof for anything. This beast is just running through the woods of this forum with his sword, chopping and stabbing -- and it's all your doing. Hope you like it.

Sound familiar? Invoking the name of Hitler is standard in Yori's tirades.

Not enough proof for you? Here's classic Yori exposing enough of himself to make an ID.

Groucho the Seal @ 4:03PM | 2004-11-02| Not knowing what it takes to publically give up a smicha (in Hebrew this would call for Linus from Peanuts -- if your Hebrew is good enough to get the pun), I'd love to see Hershy do something like that, and perhaps we could make him lie down on the doorstep to the synagogue, a la Uriel D'acosta, and we can all step on him real good.

Let's hope that Kerry wins tonight and all of you, right-wing monster litvaks will be relegated to silence, your idiot former president a forgotten nightmare and you remain bereft of the boost you've been getting from a neo-con cabal on its way out. As a healthy American nation moves out of the death-oriented philosophy you've been puddling in these past four years, we, the sane portion of the Jewish community, will watch you float away on your iceberg. Good bye...

Incidentally, I'm a very good friend of Hershy'ds and I send him money on occasion, but I'm Groucho the Seal, independent Jew, and I daven in a chasidishe shul in New York. If you behave we'll let you in -- but you must kiss the Torah directly, not through a book. Can you handle it? Oh, anfd you're not allowed to fart.

As to Vicki Polin, we had a falling out in late May/early June when I refused to take down Naomi Ragen's comments about her when Naomi did not produce evidence substantiating her claims. I judged Naomi to be a credible source who put her name behind her accusations. Other people (including Olga in Baltimore) claimed to have had similar experiences with Vicki.

On June 3, Vicki emailed several people whose stories I've told on lukeford.net:

I feel the need to send you the following note. I am only sending this note to individuals who have had contact with Luke Ford, and have had their information published by him.

As you know I have been under a great deal of pressure NOT to publish any stories that come from Luke Ford's web page. I have also been under a great deal of pressure to remove all articles including interviews from survivors that are written by Luke.

I am writing to you because of a dilemma I am facing.

As you know The Awareness Center is a victim advocacy organization. We have always put survivors needs ahead of the demands of rabbinical organizations and other political authorities. As you know I am also a survivor of sexual violence.

I'm sure you are all aware of the attacks against The Awareness Center, past and present board members and advisory board members, including myself.

Up until this point I have done my best to check out the information Luke has published on his web page regarding survivors of sexual violence, and found what Luke posts to be true.

When I have found errors, I have contacted him or have suggested to survivors that they contact him to correct the errors. Up until now he has always been willing to comply. He is no longer doing so. For this reason I can no longer refer survivors to him for interviews, or use his material on our web page.

Aside from a handful of close friends and relations, my best friend is the story. To publish what I believe to be the truth, I am willing to lose friends and sources. I took a gamble on publishing the claims against Vicki by Naomi and Olga and as a consequence lost Vicki from my life. When I started writing about Dennis Prager in early 1998, I lost his friendship and that of about a dozen friends we had in common. It was those devastating losses that led me to enter years of therapy.

Ideally, I'd like to be friends with most of the people I spoke to for my Jewish journalism book. But I never changed a sentence in the book to further that goal. After the publishing of the book, I decided to be gentle with one person in the book for the sake of our friendship. That one person was neither Yori nor Larry despite my gratitude to them for their considerable help.

Yori Yanover writes:

Every single sentence in both entries by both nuts is a lie. But you're in a conflict of loyalties, because when JWB is accusing me of publishing "victims' names" he's doing it out of context -- when a single link to the article on my site would clarify exactly what he's misrepresenting.

He's getting away with those lies because you promised "Jane" not to publish her name, thus enabling her to lie about me in several forums as well as on your own site. Again, every single point in the two entries is a complete lie, born by a pair of delirious minds.

The more obvious the collapse of TAC is becoming, the more outrageous Vicki's accusations, trumpeted via JWB, are becoming. It's a good sign. When Vicky Polin was still lucid, she was dangerous.

Now, exposed as both a kleptomaniac and a person with delusions of satanic associations, she's at the stage of just frothing at the mouth. Incidentally, it's probably a fine testimony of my general moral uprightness that after all these many months of digging, the most harmful stuff this unholy trio has come up with against me is some bizarre posting under my name by some drug-loving tecchy who hates the WTO. It may be time to steal some money and hire a detective, Vicky. There has to be dirt on me out there, for crying out loud...

At least YOU, Luke, are having fun...

Which 'Yori Yanover' Was Behind Crystalmeth.amphetamine.com?

There is only one Yori Yanover who occupies space on the Internet, so when I got an email linking a "Yori Yanover" to a crystal meth site, I was intrigued.

The most obvious explanation was that this was a horrible libel against Yori's name.

I asked our dear friend of the past year, Yori Yanover of USAJewish.com, about the following email I received from Jewish Whistleblower. Yori replied: "Sorry, JWB is an anti-Semitic nut, not worthy of my response."

After I published JWB's email, Yori wrote me that the following is a dirty smear and he had nothing to do with the website in question.

Jewish Whistleblower writes me:

See this, this and this. Very dangerous information in the hands of children. I'm not just talking about the production of drugs, you could blow yourself up. Note at the bottom the email address: -Gluckspilz turbojew@jewishmail.com

If you search Google, you'll see numerous posts in 1999 from this poster using the name Yori Yanover...

Considering his links to Rabbi Worch who was involved with recovering addicts and Worch financial supporter/friend Rabbi Julian Ungar-Sargon M.D. who has a colorful discipline history and court history related, not to mention a $390,000 fine for illegal prescriptions, it's all very interesting and odd.

Yori Yanover responds to Luke:

Luke, get over the impulse to publish before you read. It's a bad habit. I nailed you on the Worch divorce proceeding, which you claimed existed without ever reading them, I'm about to nail you here. You are really beneath contempt.

The coincidence that your scumbag friend has "unearthed" is simple: People re-post my articles online, in talk.politics.mideast, soc.culture.jewish, and countless other lists. I've been around, getting paid for writing since 1971, sooner or later people start quoting you. But that sack of used DNA drops is sprinkling innuendo with zero foundation and you're posting it verbatim?

Go to the batch which that dirtbag is suggesting, (group tabs) http://www.google.com/advanced_group_search?hl=en and start feeding my name, and check the links, one at a time, as a real journalist would have before dragging a man's name through another stupid and imaginary mud:

The top link is titled: "An explanation for Drew and other strange phenomena, Yori Yanover" Click on it, it has an ancient article I wrote, "Who Killed Yitzhak Rabin?" which someone on some list is clipping as part of a debate.

2nd link: Friday's Headlines from JCN's News Report by Yori Yanover A list of my headlines from news reports on the old JCN18

3rd link: Yori Yanover is back! (in Beta) A discussion by Engler Anderson and pals of my (then) new site.

And it just goes on forever. JWB is too ignorant to even understand the culture of copying and pasting that has existed peacefully and without animosity for years before he showed his pornographic face. But why the heck do you just copy his crap without even READING THE SOURCES? He sent a stupid URL about some drugs - my name is nowhere to be found there, nor in the registration, nor anywhere in any of the entire batch of repeat links he sent.

This piece of drek is counting on your laziness and serious lack of professional standards, and gets you to smear me. because your readers won't bother to read anything either. I honestly don't understand why you did this, and what good comes out of it to anyone.

Shame on you.

Luke responds: A simple "I had nothing to do with this email address or crystal meth" reply would've done the trick. You still don't deny you had anything to do with the email address in question or the site in question. So how about a blanket denial on that?

Yori responds:

I blanket deny completely. I never did nor do I now have any connection whatsoever to that website, which you haven't even searched to see if my name was really there/ God, what a charlatan you are, Luke.

But why should an honorable man with a job and a public record be asked to deny crap grafted on his wall? Why are you facilitating this anti-social behavior? And why do you publish his crap with such zeal and edit mine, or post it at the BOTTOM of his crap, as if anyone is going to scroll down there?

Those are dirty tricks.

Luke responds:

I read the links, including this one.

If this is not you, why did you not notify Google at any time over the past six years that a libelous fraud has been committed against your name. It's not like there are a lot of Yori Yanovers posting on the web. You're about the only one.

Yori responds:

This was investigated by some Seattle webzine more than 5 years ago, they called, or emailed, I denied all connection, end of story. You think I'll be chasing after Google to remove some inane piece of crap someone wrote in my name in some corner? Also, I don't own my name, as you don't own yours. Lord knows JWB has posted countless messages under my name, as have Nann and Vicky Polin.

But use your head, READ that which you linketh:

>We are activists from the Direct Action Network and urgently need >assistance setting up a newsgroup for video, audio & stills related to >the WTO Protest in Seattle.

What connection do I have to any of these details? And if I did, why would I hide them? I have mixed feelings about both the WTO and the violent protests -- but when have I ever been connected to either?

Your hanging around JWB, you start sounding like him. This is just too bizarre.

Luke says: If I thought for a second that JWB, Nann or Vicki Polin had ever posted under your name, I would never communicate with them. To the best of my knowledge (and according to what they've told me, and I've never caught them telling me something they believe to be false), they have not.

Yori Yanover writes me:

Kindly scroll down to messages posted under my name which betray very familiar themes by all three. Oh, sure, I don't have the head space to go and do the comparative study, but if you followed Me on Protocols, which became JWB, and read enough of Vicki and Nann, you'll see all three in these:

[Here and here and here.]

And thank you for publishing. I was pissed beyond belief.

JWB writes me:

My email related a bizarre website that according to an article published was registered in the name of Yoram Yanover. Further, the same website has an email address on it that has several posts over many months on several lists WITH the author's name as Yori Yanover. Not re-posted articles, original posts in the name of someone using the name Yori Yanover. Several dealing with the drug website referred to.

Incredibly, Yanover claims to not have looked into this at all. Given his obsession with me and others over the past months, that seems odd to say the least. If the average person were told that there was a narcotic promiting website registered in their name, you'd think they might look into it? Wouldn't you Luke?

I find it hard to believe that Yori wouldn't have linked the article he was interviewed in and discussed it on one of his websites. It's just out of character. But again as I noted it's all very interesting and odd. Just like Yori's response.

Larry Yudelson: 'This is yours and JWB's brain on crystal meth'

Larry writes:

OK. So JWB, who has refused to provide any evidence that he is not a convicted sex offender on a state watch list, thinks he has made a case against Yori Yanover.

I must say, Luke, you set the bar ridiculously low, both in terms of evidence and in terms of alleged crime.

JWB is attempting to smear Yori.... but with what, exactly? Of liking Bill Hicks? Of pointing to a web site supporting a reasonable interpretation of the First Amendment? Of being a database programmer who was, in 1999, more capable with a VAX than with Microsoft Access? Of having a tacky email address like turbojew@jewishmail.com? If those posts were Yori's... well, so what, exactly? It's hardly as embarassing as some of the stuff you've admitted to. And it's not criminal, unlike certain unsolved crimes for which JWB has refused to provide an alibi.

You asked me: "Do you think this is your friend Yori? Do you know anything about this?"

That's not reporting. A reporter would have asked: Does your friend Yori know anything about database programming? Did he have a project in the fall of 1999 involving Microsoft Access? The answer is no, and no. So it couldn't possibly be Yori.

And, were it not for the visceral dislike I share with Yori for the Rovian notion that innocence must be constantly proven, I might have replied two hours ago about my knowledge of Yori's programming abilities. (But why, again, is that anybody's business?)

But I write this not to clear Yori's name and reputation, but to savage yours. I replied to your email originally: "I've tried to lead JWB to lucid thought in the past; I'm not going to bother now. You will simply have to look at all the relevant usenet posts (there aren't that many, even when you include those from the email address that don't include the Yanover name) and decide for yourself."

Apparently, that was too much work for you too.

A thoughtful person might have asked, why would Yori use an email address and post on Usenet for only three months? Real programmers query usenet over a long period of time. For example, one Yori's former employers posted queries about Access database programming in both 1996 and 1999.

A thoughtful person might also ask why, if turbojew@jewishmail.com was Yori, why did he sign at least one usenet posting as Gary B.?

A thoughtful person might realize there are two possibilities here:

One that Yori's name had been hijacked by someone else (as Yori had previously explained regarding the domain registration of some sight or another -- an explanation that JWB acknowledged but you didn't quote).

The other is that Yori himself put up the web site and wrote the related postings.

So really, which is more plausible: That someone would put up a controversial web site using a "borrowed" identity and disposable email address? Or that someone would put up such a web site using his *own* name... and a disposable email address?

So we have an effort so smear Yori as promoting crystal meth, based on evidence that can't sustain a moment's thought... and you run with it, Luke. If nothing else, you've proven that you aren't a very competent excuse for a journalist. But, since two can play the game of innuendo and accusation,

I challenge you and JWB to:

1) State whether you agree or disagree with the message of the crystal meth web site

2) Prove that you weren't in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963.

3) Decide whether you are trying to bring out the truth in hopes of making the world a better case, shed some blood to gain readers, or just go after people who out blood libelists.

Luke says: Three responses. One. I am unaware of anything inaccurate in what I published.

Two. If you and Yori are upset about Yori Yanover being linked to a crystal meth site then at least one of you should've done something about it over the past six years (such as email Google and notify them of the libelous connotations of their archive of crystal meth postings by a Yori Yanover (as there is only one prominent Yori Yanover on the web, only one Yori Yanover posts regularly on the web and is written about on the web)).

Three. As the Talmud says, silence implies consent. You and Yori were both asked directly if our Yori Yanover had anything to do with the crystal meth website and postings. Both of you kept silent on this until after I posted the numerous links on my website. If you are not willing to protect your own reputation, or that of a friend, you should not cry foul when someone links to postings that have been easily available for anyone to read for six years.

I sold lukeford.com in August of 2001. Ever since then, one of the first results for "Luke Ford" in Google is an article about my selling the site. If that wasn't one of the first results, I would've made efforts to make it clear to anyone who had a genuine concern (rather than a desire to smear) that I had nothing to do with the contents of lukeford.com post 08/01.

If there were posts from a "Luke Ford" (and there are far more Luke Fords on the web than Yori Yanovers) promoting a crystal meth site, I'd take measures to distance myself from that. And if I didn't take such measures, and didn't make denials when asked if I originated such postings, I wouldn't complain if someone pointed out such six-year old postings.

It's easier to curse the darkness of other bloggers than to light the candle of personal responsibility.

Four. Words don't come easy to me. This is the only way I can say I love you. Words don't come easy.

Five. If any of my friends are asked if I promote illegal drugs (or anything else that you know I would consider heinous), please say no.

Six. If you'd like to lose weight the easy way, please ask me about a diet plan I'm selling. It'll get you crackin'.

Seven. Yori and Larry: Have you never let anyone else be strong? Now you're not hard to understand. You need someone to take your hand. Have you never been mellow? Have you never tried a comfort from inside the crystal meth way? Have you never been happy just to hear your Air Supply song?

Eight. JWB is not convinced he has made a case against Yori Yanover. This is a deliberate misreading on your part. He is convinced (and is correct) that he has found something interesting done in the name of "Yori Yanover," and that this might be the Yori Yanover we know.

Nine. I have made no claims that the crystal meth postings are a crime. Yes, they are distasteful to me (many of the things I have done are distasteful to me), and, without thinking the matter through deeply, seems to me very wrong.

Ten. My question to you about Yori was soul reporting. If you are his friend, you should immediately be able to say, 'That is ridiculous. Yori would never do something like that.'

I know that none of my close friends would make a website showing how one can manufacture crystal meth. I know their souls well enough to immediately dismiss such a claim.

Eleven. As for your last three questions (the last one in particular is important), it is not what I say that counts, but what I do and have done. We all have track records. With reservations, I am proud of mine.

The Sleep of Amalek Produces Monsters

Chaim Amalek writes:

Luke, I want you to forward a copy of this email to your friend Tom's (of Finland?) new girlfriend. (Are you the lucky "Tom?") It's about some dreams I've been having of late. The first part of it might or might not be a dream. Late at night when I am asleep I hear a lound horn sound several times, and I awaken. At first I thought it was one of those damn truck horns, but when I look out the window I don't see any on my block. I made the mistake of googling this, and now I'm really scared - especially in view of the dreams I've been having of late.

In my dream, the Rapture has just occured, and I'm one of the many who have been "left behind." It happens while I'm riding the subway during rush hour - in the blink of an eye, a bunch of people I happen to be not quite looking at (you know how it is on a subway car) simply vanish, and then the train itself rolls to a slow stop between stations (the motorman has vanished as well). People begin screaming and what not, and then I am on the street and there is a huge gay and abortion rights parade on every avenue.

I felt so sad, knowing that many of my best Christian friends have vanished, and I am left alone in New York with all these really obnoxious people around me, elbowing me and going on with their lives as if nothing has happened, because none of their friends has vanished.

Now, here is the really spooky part. I happened to share this dream with a friend of mine in Boston and she too, has been having them. Is something going on here? I'd like your friend's take on it.

Tom's Dilemma

My dear friend Tom is happier than I've ever seen him. A 40-year old Orthodox Jew of humble means, he lives his life by the stern precepts of the Written and Oral Torah.

Over at Cathy's house Monday afternoon, he lit up when she asked him how he was doing. He said he'd met a nice girl, Susie, just 23, and the fine product of Bob Jones University.

There was just one cloud on his horizon.

Tom wanted to bring her along to his synagogue but wondered if it would be too much to ask for her not to say she was a Christian. Instead, she could just say she's searching, looking, growing, interested, agnostic, or frankly anything but Christian. Just not, "I believe in Jesus Christ but I absolve you from the murder of my Savior."

Cathy told Tom he was a f------ liar like her friend Lewis and that he had no right to make such a request.

Tom pointed out that he'd achieved a position of moral leadership in his religious community, and aside from this foible, he had a spotless reputation. Jewish children looked up to him as the model of what an educated successful Torah Jew should be.

Over dinner that night at Heather's, Cathy continued her attack on what she described as Tom's "delusions."

The host of the evening suggested that if Tom's religious community was not getting him laid on a regular basis, then he no obligation to protect them from knowledge of his Christian girlfriend.

Jewish Whistleblower Vs The Jewish Press

Jewish Whistleblower writes:

A. Smearing whistleblowers is standard operating procedure (see 1), particularly in the Orthodox Jewish community.

B. The Jewish press is for sale and easily manipulated by the publicists (see 2) particularly the ones now operating as part of the Tendler war machine. I would note that both the Jewish Press and the Jewish Voice and Opinion are receiving advertising money from parties promoting Jewish music star and alleged child molester Yeedle.

Neither Jason Maoz or Susan Rosenbluth will address the issue with me. Why are they promoting singles/family cruises with an individual who due to his arrest record cannot work in law enforcement or get government security clearances? Why does the community tolerate such people as musical performers with young people? I guess we use a very low standard for people who entertain and work in settings with children and our young people and a much higher standard for the people giving you speeding tickets.

Rosenbluth refuses to tell me if the large articles accompanying the paid ads in the last few issues are paid for by the advertisers or not. What's the big secret?

So basically we have an unnamed Jewish Press editorial board refusing to print a response from the RCA in the paper to their smears claiming it would violate halacha. Huh? Who exactly are the great unnamed poskim on this editorial board. What are their names (they claim others should have no anonymity rights, yet maintain theirs?)? We have The Jewish Press and Jewish Voice and Opinion receiving large advertising revenue from parties with a desire to remove the Awareness Center (Yeedle backers) from the face of the earth and running weekly/monthly smears that appear to come from the same talking points. Of course no one will discuss these advertising revenues, or their propriety.

(1)

MORE THAN 1 MILLION USD PAID TO AMERICAN PR-COMPANIES

Kyiv. 11 November. UNIAN. Since March of 2003, American public relations firms have received some 1 million 41 thousand dollars in payments on contracts, which were concluded for the purpose of promoting a positive image of Victor Yanukovych, Prime-Minister and Ukrainian presidential candidate, according to the "Ukrayinska Pravda" web-site in Kyiv, Ukraine.

.....

The second objective of the program, according to UP, is being handled by A.Kiselev personally, this is the dissemination of information about the "anti-Semitism views of Victor Yushchenko, a member of parliament and the front-running presidential candidate, and Ukrainian-Americans in the USA". As an example of this view, UP cites the Washington Jewish Week web-site, which stated in an article that "Kiselev is also concerned that Yanukovych is not getting a fair hearing in the States, complaining that Ukrainian Diaspora groups that lobby in this country and support Yushchenko came following World War II and lived in Ukrainian areas where many residents were Nazi collaborators."

(2)

Friends see a totally different Michael Rosin; The feds say he defrauded Medicare of $3 million; his defenders call him deeply religious and a dedicated doctor.

"Truly deep in my heart, I know he's a very honest man," said Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz of Chabad of Sarasota and Manatee Counties. "People who know him well know a great injustice has been done."

I emailed Jason Maoz and Susan Rosenbluth for their responses to these accusations.

Jason replied:

I challenge the jerk to document his charges. I don't know about the cruise business because, contrary to some ignorant, gossip-mongering know-it-alls (the frum community seems to specialize in such), there is a real wall between editorial and advertising at the Jewish Press. That doesn't mean that advertisers don't occasionally get to run a press release as part of an advertising agreement, but that's pretty much standard procedure. What it does mean is that I, and anyone else who deals with the non-sales side of operations, have absolutely nothing to do with advertisers and advertising. Finally, the cruise ads have no resemblance to (or bearing on) the Tendler affair, nor do their presence in the paper contradict anything we've said in our editorials. We've never maintained Tendler's innocence (or guilt), and we've run plenty of letters from readers taking issue with our stance vis-a-vis the RCA and Tendler. That hardly sounds like a paper in thrall to Tendler.

JWB responds:

He claims there is a seperation but without the identies of the editorial board, how do we know that?

I would note when the Jewish Press "editorial" board ran an editorial against a series by Stephanie Saul in Newsday on sexual abuse in the Jewish community, one of the rabbis featured in that series ran several ads for his real estate brokerage company in the same issue.

I informed Maoz and Rosenbluth of Yeedle's background over a week ago. I gave them Israeli newsarticles and names of the reporters involved. Yet these "news" people make no inquiries? Nice.

What other "journalistic" publication is told that their publication is promoting an alleged child molester and refuses to look into the allegations?

The Jewish Voice and Opinion and The Jewish Press are in a league of their own.

Susan replied:

As I told "jewish whistleblower," I do not correspond with anonymous blogs.

I also know nothing about anyone named "Yeedle Werdyger." "jewish whistleblower" made all sorts of allegations and backed them up with a news report that did not offer any names. When I pointed that out to the anonymous blog, the blogger said something about the fact that, in Israel, authorities had forbidden the names to be released. In other words, I should just take the word of an anonymous blog. Forget about it.

"Alleged" means nothing to me. "Convicted" does.

As for the other pieces you have included, I do not keep up with Ukrainian politics and I know nothing about Dr. Michael A. Rosin.

Jewish Whistleblower writes:

An arrest record of this sort would disallow Yeedle from many professions (law enforcement, anything in government involving a security clearance and teaching in the public system for example) where it does "mean something". But then Rosenbluth has the same attitude that got the Catholic Church where it is today.

I would note that in addition to the consistent false information concerning the role of Rabbi Blau in the RCA investigation that appears in Jewish Press and Jewish Voice and Opinion articles/editorials, there has been a consistent lack of factual balance. Both claim the same "facts": that the RCA process was not halachically or legally valid.

And on what basis is this claim?

Nothing, they've pulled this fact out of the air.

I've actually done the research that they haven't and determined that the RCA followed the clear halachic and legal precedent set by the chief rabbanut in England.

But then when has this stopped Rosenbluth or the shadowy Jewish Press from making halachic determinations and factual claims in areas where it is painfully clear they have no expertise.

My "communications" with Susan Rosenbluth reveal her to be totally ignorant as to the issue of sexual abuse. She has done zero research into other survivors organizations and has no idea how other religions deal with their sexual predators. Instead of taking an open view to the issue, she relies on her "halachic advisors" such as Rabbi Moshe Tendler. She makes bold statements that this is halachic/this isn't halachic as if she and her advisors have a monopoly on Jewish Law. She believes that unless you have a criminal conviction you should not be prevented from holding positions of trust or working with the vulnerable. Her crazy ideas found wide acceptence in the past in such organizations as the Catholic Church. Which is the reason for the current scandal. Her attitude towards the propblem of sexual abuse and exploitation is the same dangerous attitude that has protected errant clergy in the past.

I pointed her to http://www.bishop-accountability.org/ as an example of how religious survivor abuse groups deal with their sexual predators. I noted that of the thousands of priests listed, only a few dozen have been convicted. I also noted that a good portion of the priests listed are dead. It went right over her head.

She simply does not hear what she doesn't want to.

Remember, Susan L. Rosenbluth of the Jewish Voice and Opinion, killed her story on Rabbi Baruch Lanner's abuses in 1989. Her direct silence allowed more children to be victimized. She has proven that her integrity can be bought for the price of a few mere ads. She too was and is a part of the problem.

Survivors groups and the abuser databases don't serve a single role of protecting others from these abusers. They also serve a role educating and creating awareness of a serious problem in our community. They are a tool to give victims/survivors a voice, where before they had none.

Read Robert Averach's blog to see the profound and long lasting effect of "mere" physical abuse.

How more so the victims/survivors of sexual abuse. In the end, it's all about power. The abusers have it, the victims don't. That's what survivor advicacy is about ... changing the power balance. Giving power to the victims and survivors, not protecting the legacies of evil predators.

Rumors regarding The Awareness Center

Vicki Polin sent out this email last week (sent to me by Yori Yanover):

It has come to my attention that there has been some confusion that is floating around regarding the status of The Awareness Center.

One of the biggest rumors floating around is that The Awareness Center no longer has a board of directors or an advisory board. I want to assure you that both our board of directors and advisory board members are actively involved with our organization (including our halachic advisors).

The only thing that has changed is that we are no longer publishing the names of our board or advisory board members on our web page due to the degree of harassment and attempts to blackmail some of our executive board and advisory board members have been experiencing. The confusion regarding our board has been stemming from articles published in two small newspapers. I've been told that those who run both papers have close connections to Rabbi Mordecai Tendler.

As most of you are aware Rabbi Tendler's membership was revoked by the RCA (Rabbinical Council of America) a few months ago. It appears that the articles published have a direct link to individuals attempting to protect someone who has been accused of rabbinical sexual misconduct.

Yori Yanover writes: "The idea of stealth board members probably takes the cake..."

Da Ali G Show

I love Da Ali G show but I wince at how he cruelly uses people for humor (I'm way too flexible with my ethics but I don't think I could do some of these things to people, though I can be cruel in my interviewing and writing in the name of what I judge to be good fun). I'm also struck by how courteous, kind and eager to please Americans are.

Vicki Polin's Family On Vicki Polin

Sex abuse activist Vicki Polin (of TheAwarenessCenter.org) went on the May 1, 1989 Oprah show (thinly disguised as "Rachel") and said her family was part of a Jewish cult (going back to the 1700s) that ritually sacrificed children and ate them.

On May 11, 2005, I speak by phone to someone close to Vicki Polin's family.

This source is someone Vicki likes and respects.

My source says: This is my opinion, but it is the opinion of her family. That the claims were unfounded. I think she was led to make those claims through the investigator she had worked with (Jerry Simendl) who wanted to prove a theory of suppressed memory syndrome. And her therapist Tina Grossman. They had a theory they wanted her to prove and they found her to be a susceptible person to suggestion.

A lot of us have questions we want to answer about our lives. They had a theory that repressed memory is a big thing. As most people of Jewish background would attest, most people who survived the Holocaust saw horrible atrocities too, but they don't have these repressed memories in the same fashion.

Luke: Vicki claims she had five abortions as a result of being impregnated by her father.

Source: I've known Vicki since she was about ten years old. I can't say that in those early years, I was a best friend of the family, but I've been around for a while. Neither I, nor her sisters, saw evidence for that. I don't think that something like that would be hush-hush.

Luke: She claims her family is part of a cult that goes back to the 1700s of ritual abuse.

Source: Honestly, I think it is all bulls---. She makes accusations about her aunts and uncles as well. I've known them for as long as I've known her. I never had an inkling that anything like that could've been happening. It's possible that it happened and I was oblivious but [members of Vicki's family] were they completely oblivious? If they had any clue that something like that could've been happening, could they stand idly by? I don't think so.

We saw the show. There was no mistaking who that person was. I got in the car and went down to talk with her. I said we need to have a cup of coffee. We had a cup of coffee. She completely denied being on the show. I said, I know it was you. I watched the show. She told me all these stories. I don't understand where that came from. Has she ever given us any kind of proof or validation that it was true? Not one bit.

Luke: Was she a stable girl as a teenager?

Source: As stable as any other teenager.

A sexual predator is obviously a horrible person. A person who sacrifices baby is a whole other animal. She's made claims in the past that go way beyond sexual predators. I don't doubt that she believes this.

[Vicki is not a responsible person. A member of her family] said to her pointblank -- 'Give me some evidence. Give me some idea why you said all these things.' To the best of my knowledge, Vicki never came forward to say this or that. She basically said, 'This is what I believe. You've got to believe it or don't believe it.'

Luke: Did Vicki confess that was her on the Oprah show?

Source: I don't know if she ever said yes, but it was an accepted fact that it was.

After that, [her sister] was really pissed off at her. They couldn't talk without ending up screaming at each other.

I questioned everything. Maybe they are all part of this cult and I was suckered in to provide whatever they need. I did meet with Vicki, Jerry and Tina to find out... In those meetings, they said, we have accounts of this and that. But nothing hard and concrete ever came out. I said, 'Give me something that I can latch on to.' Nothing was presented. That's why I had to dismiss it as not true.

When I was a little kid, I would lie in my bed and stare at my closet door, which was open two-or-three inches. The more I'd stare at it, the more I was convinced that the door would open and the bogey man would come out. Those were the types of answers that I got too -- that she feels this way or that way.

Feelings are one thing. They may be right or wrong. We have to go beyond just feelings.

If there was any validity to any of these things, the whole world should know about it. Back in 1989 and 1990, I did all the research I could do and I found that it wasn't true.

If you talk to leaders of most of the major religions, few of them would condone some of the things she has said as a policy of religion. There are always going to be the goofballs here and there...

Vicki's definitely a brilliant woman. She knows how to use the system. She knows how to do what she needs to do. She's not just a flake. She knew how to turn some heads.

Over the past ten years, I've had little contact with Vicki. She doesn't have much contact with [her family].

I told Vicki that if anything she told me was true, I'd divorce my wife and take my kids to the other side of the world. There is nothing more disgusting than that possibility. I pleaded with Vicki - help me save these kids. But she wouldn't give me anything beyond what we had already heard. She would not elaborate. Just to say that these people are horrible. Did she ever contact me again to say that she was worried about the kids? Not one time.

Unfortunately, I had to keep a close eye for years. I never saw any evidence of that. To the contrary.

But she's become a watchdog for the community, huh?

Maybe someone who made those claims, got her name out there, got her publicity, be it bad or good, made their place in life, has to live that story, and stay with that story to maintain her credibility. We all do things at an earlier age that we regret...

Luke: Vicki often says she's on the edge of death with her [health] problems.

Source: She's been dying for the last ten years. She's been on the verge of one surgery or another. She's been about to kick the bucket for a long time. Her claims are always followed up a couple of days later with a request for cash.

Luke: She complains that she needs money for surgery and her family won't help her.

Source: When was the last time she had a paying job?

Luke: She's been on disability for ten years?

Source: Forever. If you research Illinois's public aid and her past record, she is no stranger to the system.

Luke: She knows how to work the system.

Source: She really knows how to work the system. That's why in our eyes she lost credibility because she knows how to work the system.

On the day she went on Oprah, she got a lot of attention. Was it credible? I don't know. I asked her specifically. I asked Tina, Jerry. Give me something. They were giving generalities. 'We've done research and we know that these things do occur.' Well, is it something she experienced or something she fabricated? 'This is the way she feels.'

.....

I sent this report above to Vicki July 1. She did not have any comment.

Gary Rosenblatt And The Jewish Week

Do you know what this refers to? "Mr. Rosenblatt covered up a story about a tremendous government fine levied against him and the Jewish Week."

A source says: "If The Jewish Week gets a government fine, it's undoubtedly over abuse of mailing privileges."

Trouble In Howard Beach

Chaim Amalek writes:

Three shvartzes with criminal backgrounds got their asses kicked in Howard Beach a few days ago. They admitted that they were looking for a specific sort of car to steal, and so the usual suspects (the Daily News, Jewish Mayor Bloomberg, etc.) got all up in arms, had press conferences etc.

Meantime, a few months back a group of white Catholic school girls was attacked by hordes of shvartzes chanting racial slurs, sending several of the white girls to the hospital. Reaction from these same folks? Silence.

Leading With Meaning: Using Covenantal Leadership to Build a Better Organization

Moses Pava is a professor at Yeshiva University's business school.

He writes:

Each year I begin my business ethics class by showing David Mamet's movie, Glengarry Glen Ross... The movie depicts a grim day in the life of four real estate salesmen trying to earn a living and maintain some dignity.

Each year, though, one or two students opt out of watching the movie with the class, usually emphasizing that the vulgar language used in the movie is inappropriate at Yeshiva University, a school dedicated to integrating the best of Torah and secular knowledge.

...It is as if these students think that there really are two separate worlds. In seeking solace in the nurturing confines of the rabbinical school, these students think that they will discover a kind of magical and spiritual island safely protected from the crass and tragic mainland characterized in the Mamet film. As a veteran professor who has been a target of the hardball tactics of rabbinical school politics, I have learned the hard way that this magical island is nothing but a harmful and debilitating myth.

'What's New, Levi?'

I shared a Sabbath meal with friends. A seven-year-old girl asked me, "What's new, Levi?"

I was momentarily stumped. The adults around me laughed. They knew I was struggling to find that five percent of my life I can talk about with kids.

Judith Regan Tired Of Cultural Misogyny

A few years ago, rabbi Shmuley Boteach said that Michael Jackson taught him to be a better father. Now rabbi Boteach writes in the Acknowledgments of his new book Hating Women : America's Hostile Campaign Against the Fairer Sex:

For almost five years, I have wanted to write a book about the shockingly negative portrayal of women in Western culture... But this project was given greater impetus through my conversations with my friend and publisher, Judith Regan, who has passionately shared my viewpoint of widespread cultural misogyny and the negative portrayal of women as sleazy, slutty, and stupid everywhere we look. This book is meant to combat that deplorable state of affairs, and I want to thank Judith for her constant encouragement throughout its development. Judith is a strong woman, and many argue that it is her toughness that has propelled her to the top of American publishing. I disagree. I know that underneath that formidable exterior, which many successful women develop as a means of competing in a man's world, is an unbelievably warm feminine softness that has so endeared her to authors like me, who look to her as a warm and caring friend.

The Devil and Miss Regan By Judith Newman for Vanity Fair.

For moments of my career as a writer, I gloried in the opportunity to label people good and bad. As a young journalist working for other people, I chafed at my inability to put my opinions in my stories.

Now at age 39 with my own website and the ability to publish whatever I want, I'm (usually) relieved to keep my opinions to myself and to generally avoid taking the stands on people that rabbi Boteach does.

For many years, I wanted to be a moral leader like Dennis Prager. As I've aged, I've realized I am not cut out for that and that I am much better at other things than being a pundit, such as interviewing people. Usually, to get a good interview, you need to empathize as much as possible with your subject. This is usually amoral. To get good interviews, I keep to myself most of my moral judgments about my subject and his work and try to honestly get their point of view.

Once I articulate a position, I feel a strong internal compulsion to defend it. By not staking out my views, I find it easier to listen to others and to change my mind. I find it difficult to defend my views and to listen to others simultaneously. My mind works on only one track at a time.

I'm usually a horrible person in an argument. My pulse races, my skin flushes, my voice rises and cracks, and my approach becomes nasty. I fight to keep myself out of arguments and feel joy when many people say they view me as serene.

Let's Talk About The Jews

A recent poster on Luke Y. Thompson's site took issue with his reference to "dead Jews" in Schindler's List:

"The word "Jew" itself is a little offensive, I think most Jewish people would prefer being referred to as Jewish people. Notice you did say black People, not "Blacks." A small point, to be sure, but I did enjoy your review, and will return to this site again, and wanted you to know one (Jewish) man's opinion. Thank You."

This is nuts. This poster and those who think like him are moron people.