- The Comics Journal has a super-lengthy interview with Will Elder, the recently deceased Mad Magazine illustrator who helped introduce Yiddish humor into the mainstream American cultural landscape.
- Fresh Jive, the urban street wear company, has drawn the ire of pro-Israel activists over a series of t-shirts in its current line that feature images of Yassir Arafat and armed Palestinian children. Owner Rick Klotz responds on the company’s website here.
- A Brazilian anti-smoking campaign designed by Saatchi & Saatchi features illustrations of Adolf Hitler and Osama Bin Laden drawn with tens of thousands of cigarettes along with the slogan “Smoking kills more.”
- A southern California Ford dealer ran a radio advertisement insisting that non-Christian Americans speaking out on political issues should “sit down and shut up.”
- A spokesperson for Amy Winehouse denied allegations that the drug-addled singer planned to check herself into an Israeli rehab.
- Passaic, NJ shut down a local Hatzolah squad for failing to meet city regulations. The squad claims that they’re being unjustly harassed.
- New York magazine asks, are Crown Height’s Jewish security volunteers vigilantes?
- Israel’s national currency, the shekel, is now trading on the global market.
- The Orthodox Union offers several reasons why Jews should say a mishaberach (healing prayer) for ailing Senator Ted Kennedy.
- And finally, courtesy of JTA staff reporter Sue Fishkoff: Healthy, clean restaurants in Baltimore will soon get a decal from the city’s health dept to display outside their front door: a crab. Really nice touch for local kosher restaurants, as one owner explained.
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