Presence

So, apparently, a lot more people than I thought listen to Shalom USA. Yes, I was the "Greg" who called in towards the end of the show. For the few of you who weren't listening, the show's host, Jay Bernstein, mentioned something about Sri Lanka's rejection of aid from Israel. On a typical Sunday morning around 10:45 in the AM, I'm trying to get my kids to play something that allows me to nap on the couch without the house burning down; today, it just so happened, I was on my way back from Annapolis after helping my father install an ice heater, and so I was able to tune in. I've always enjoyed the show, but am usually not able to listen to more than a few minutes, and certainly unable to call in. Today, however, a long, open stretch of 695 lay between me and my couch, nights and weekends were free, and I was feeling a tad ornery after missing the segment with Alan Mittleman while installing said ice heater. And so, I felt the urge to speak up.

It seems, despite the fact that so many people seem to listen to the show, the line to get on the air is disproportionately small. My call was quickly taken, and I pointed out that Sri Lanka had, in fact, only rejected aid from Israeli military personnel, not from Israel, or Jews, in general. Jay then responded that, in any case, the military personnel rejected were competent and trained doctors with extensive experience in emergency situations, and the rejection was irrational and detrimental to their citizens' well-being. Jay's probably right, although I could, in some way, understand a country's reluctance to allow soliders from a foreign military with a low popular regard (independent of whether this view was founded or unfounded) to enter the country as a somewhat reasonable position, especially at a time when their infrastructre was ashambles after a sudden and unexpected tragic geological event, and their populace not readily controllable by customary methods. But I'm willing to concede the point.

I then made a somewhat cryptic comment about the Vatican, which I will now spin as having been a comment on the mistranslation of the article by the CWN, not the actual statement, of the L'Observatorio, which may or may not have been what I was originally talking about. More detail available from less muddled sources is readily available.

Lessons learned? Probably none, other than, apparently, only wackos actually call into the show (I'm fighting an inner impropriety demon not to make a joke here), and that if you call in the morning, expect to hear about it at mincha. Special thanks S.J. and E.L. for giving my face that special shade of red.