The Trial of the Century May Take a Century

Just when I thought no legal system plodded more slowly than our American one, Ha’aretz writes

Criminal case 482/04, the State of Israel v. Oded Golan and others, lays out the details of one of the biggest forgery scandals ever in the history of archaeology. According to the indictment, those miseld by Golan, a well-known Tel Aviv antiquities collector, included renowned experts who were ready to confirm the authenticity of the many and controversial findings he supposedly discovered, such as the Jehoash Tablet inscription and an ossuary that supposedly held the bones of James, the brother of Jesus.

And yet, today, three years after the start of the trial, after more than 70 witnesses for the prosecution have taken the stand, and the defense has started to present its arguments, the state prosecutor’s office and the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), which initiated the indictment, face a problem: Marco Samah Shoukri Ghatas, the Egyptian artist who confessed to manufacturing many items for Golan, including the Jehoash inscription, will not be coming to Israel to testify. According to the IAA, it is the Egyptian authorities that are preventing Ghatas from coming to Israel. Golan’s attorney, Lior Bringer, on the other hand, counters that it was the Egyptian’s choice not to come.

This trial will never end… But it should. Here’s some other stuff that Golan has been indicted for (in case you aren’t up to speed):

At the end of 2004, antiquities collector Oded Golan was put on trial. He was accused, along with others, of forging the inscription, as well as fabricating and attempting to sell many other fake antiquities. These included the James Ossuary (supposedly the bone box of Jesus’ brother); ancient pottery with inscriptions; a stone menorah attributed by some to the high priest in the Second Temple; a tiny ivory pomegranate, with an inscription, that was thought to be the only existing artifact that had been used in the First Temple, and which was displayed for many years at the Israel Museum. Also determined to be a forgery was a quartz platter with an inscription in an ancient Egyptian language, which ostensibly showed that the ancient city of Megiddo was conquered by a commander of King Shishak. The inscription presumed to solve the question occupying many scholars regarding the identity of the destroyer of Megiddo.

And here are the names and present dispositions of the other indictees

The original indictment was issued against five people. Two of them have in the meantime admitted to some of the crimes attributed to them, were dropped from the indictment and became state’s witnesses. In addition to Golan, two other accused people remain: Faiz al-Amla, an antiquities trader from the village of Beit Ula in the southern part of the Hebron Hills, and Robert Deutsch, a well-known antiquities dealer from Tel Aviv. The state signed a plea bargain with al-Amla, and he was convicted and sentenced to a six-month jail term.

And what are they accused of?

According to the indictment, in most cases original antiquities were taken, and then fake inscriptions or decorations were added to them, which, if authentic, would have made them extremely valuable. After the items were prepared by this method, they had an artificial patina applied to them. The patina, a layer that accumulates naturally on antiquities over the course of time, was created with great expertise, to the point where many experts were fooled into thinking that the antiquities are indeed authentic. Among the specialists taken in were professionals from the Geological Survey of Israel, in Jerusalem, and experts from archaeology labs and museums in Israel and from around the world.

And then of course the lawyerly spin

Lior Bringer, Golan’s attorney, says his client denies all the charges attributed to him and stands by the authenticity of the items. “It seems unlikely to me,” says Bringer, “that [Ghatas], who was in Israel so many times, encountered trouble coming here to testify. It doesn’t seem to me that the Egyptian government prevented him from coming here. What seems more likely is that the man himself prefers, for reasons of his own, not to come to Israel. The antiquities that the Israel Antiquities Authority claims are forgeries – the Jehoash inscription, the ossuary and all the rest, are authentic,” says Bringer.

Of course he can stand by the authenticity of the artifacts all he wants- it just isn’t so. They just aren’t the real thing. Lawyers. Heavens. How do they sleep at night?

Oh How I Loathe The Media

David Noel Freedman, may he rest in peace, died on the 8th and still today, on the 13th, not a word in the media about it (aside from one single, solitary mention). Yet Britney Spears gets in a fender bender and 434 news outlets blast the word from the rooftops. A vile abusive teen beats another kid and it’s shown on YouTube and 302 stories circulate on the web about how Dr Phil has her bailed out of jail. And yet not a note from the AP, CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, The Washington Post, or any other significant outlet about Freedman. Oh how I hate the media. They care only for entertainers (jocks and clowns and foul politicians) and not one whit for a person who devoted himself to the advancement of human knowledge. Small wonder America is dumber by the day. The media doesn’t have a ‘liberal’ bias- its bias is towards stupidity.

So Finally, We Know The Answer

It’s always been a mystery, hasn’t it, as to why attractive women marry less attractive men. Think, for instance, of the beautiful Anja Tilling and the toadish and stomach wrenching Chris Tilling. Why did she marry HIM???? Live Science has the answer.

The reason, researchers suspect, is that men place great value on beauty, whereas women are more interested in having a supportive husband. Researchers admit that looks are subjective, but studies show there are some universal standards, including large eyes, “baby face” features, symmetric faces, so-called average faces, and specific waist-hip ratios in men versus women. Past research has shown that individuals with comparable stunning looks are attracted to each other and once they hook up they report greater relationship satisfaction. These studies, however, are mainly based on new couples, showing that absolute beauty is important in the earliest stages of couple-hood, said lead researcher James McNulty of the University of Tennessee. But the role of physical attractiveness in well-established partnerships, such as marriage, is somewhat of a mystery.

Or, to put it more plainly, women are better human beings than men.

So, next time you see some gorgeous woman with some foul looking beast of a man- you’ll know why.

Why Obama Is Wrong About Small Towns

Much ado and outcry have been heard in the air in the wake of Obama’s comments about small town life. His comments, though, were not at all elitist; what he says is just dead wrong. Folk in small towns don’t cling to religion, guns, and hostility towards immigrants. Folk in small towns have precious little interest in religion. In our little town of about 3000 souls less than 300 attend any church anywhere. And how does one ‘cling to guns’? Finally, there’s no more hostility towards immigrants here than there is in New York or San Francisco.

What, then, do small town folk cling to in reaction to the dismal economy and in light of their gross disinterest in religion? They cling to meth, pot, ATV’s, and beer. Obama wasn’t wrong that folk in small town are disgruntled and despairing- he was simply wrong in what they turn to in order to escape.