Jews – Leeds's Singing Organ-Grinder

The Spanish media and Madoff’s Jewishness

I looked a while back at allegations of a Spanish media obsession with Israel and concluded that they were without basis in fact. Someone of similar political views to the reactionary squatter hooligan leader, Joan Txàpal, said to me last night that the Spanish press would be all over Bernie Madoff’s Jewishness. The numbers at…

Absurd claims in and arising from study of Iberian genetics

It’s barrel-scraping time when the comments over at El país are smarter than the article. Check out Dienekes for a bit of common sense.

Etymology of Montjuïc/Mountjoy/Montjoie

“Jewish mountain” is currently hot favourite in Barcelona council offices because it is believed that this will attract well-off tourists from New York and Israel. Joan Amades says that at the end of the C19th, local sailors referred to gardens of St Bertrand as fossa del jueu, “the Jewish grave”, and indeed there were Jewish…

The demon barber of Calais, a 17th century Sweeney Todd

I believe the current early chronology of versions containing all the basic motifs is as follows: Joseph Fouché was a politician and administrator, and the delightfully wicked creator under Bonaparte of something vaguely resembling the modern police service. According to PBS, he wrote in something called Archives of the police of a series of murders…

Sounds to kill Jews by

“Then the monsignor left the altar and told us that we could start killing the Jews.”

Death and the part-time trombonist

In the course of a piece on the French economic wonder, the lifestyle des intermittents du spectacle, and (anti-)Americanism, Adam Gopnik writes that when “the country and its joys can be shut down by part-time trombonists …, something is wrong, or at least ridiculous.” Mr Gopnik underestimates the threat posed to global security by trombonists.…