Interesting Posts and Articles #78

1. North Korea ousts UN nuclear inspectors. Worrisome.
   
   
2. Some interesting posts at the Yeshiva World. A pre-Yamim Tovim Tzitzit warning in Israel, as people hire those not kasher to make tzitzit to make the tzitzit. This reminds me of how kala ilan was widely used in the past, as a fake techelet. And another one how some rabbonim are concerned that mehadrin bus lines will fall with the advent of the new light rail system.
   
   
3. Two interesting posts at Life In Israel. First, about how the only tznius way to walk on the new bridge of strings may be with pants. And second, an interesting psak about not buying food in a restaurant owned by the mob.
   
   
4. A Simple Jew on not speaking during Rosh Hashanah.
   
   
5. DreamingOfMoshiach reposts a conspiracy theory, this time stripping out the Freemason portions (and anti-semitic portions) of it, since she believes it is now coming to pass. And Shirat Devorah recalls Dov Bar Leib's prediction of it all being over by this coming Succot, based on his own "knowledge" of the freemasons.
   
   Meanwhile, Mystical Paths has a good post on why we do not need to resort to conspiracy theories about Freemasons to explain the present economic crisis.
   
   
6. The Guardian has a funny article about Green efforts, if true:
   

   People who believe they have the greenest lifestyles can be seen as some of the main culprits behind global warming, says a team of researchers, who claim that many ideas about sustainable living are a myth.

   According to the researchers, people who regularly recycle rubbish and save energy at home are also the most likely to take frequent long-haul flights abroad. The carbon emissions from such flights can swamp the green savings made at home, the researchers claim.

   Stewart Barr, of Exeter University, who led the research, said: "Green living is largely something of a myth. There is this middle class environmentalism where being green is part of the desired image. But another part of the desired image is to fly off skiing twice a year. And the carbon savings they make by not driving their kids to school will be obliterated by the pollution from their flights."

   Some people even said they deserved such flights as a reward for their green efforts, he added.