Yom Kippur

Yesterday, I went to services for Yom Kippur.  The services were meaningful, as was the fast which I made through without issue or complaint.

After services at the mid-day I took a break and did a hike at Haven Hill in Highland Recreational Area.

The weather was absolutely perfect for a hike.

 Saw a swan on the pond there:

And then by the parking lot some Sandhill Cranes were wandering around the field.

Rather ungainly looking birds, and they seemed to be clowning around for the people watching them.

It was a nice couple mile hike under gorgeous conditions and rather meditative to be out in nature in between services.

Then had a very pleasant light break the fast meal.  It was a meaningful Yom Kippur.

Yom Kippur

Today is the holiest day on the Jewish Calendar.

A day for introspection, fasting, atonement, and repentance towards both G_d and man.

גמר חתימה טובה
Gmar Chatimah Tova 

May all my friends and readers be sealed in the Book of Life for a happy and healthy New Year.

WGN TV Watchers, The Gell-Man Amnesia Effect On Line 1 For You

This post could also be titled "Really WGN, WTF?".

WGN TV ran a story about Yom Kippur with the following image in the background:

That's a pretty big gaffe right there, using a Nazi image to mark the Holiest Day in the Jewish year. It ranks highly on the WTF scale and has garnered national attention. WGN TV has apologized for the rather epic screw-up. Part of the apology was that they were too dumb to recognize that the symbol selected might be just a tad inappropriate.

Is it a Type 1 error, the typical error committed by journalists, where the image was chosen because the journalists/station crew involved really are that dumb and lack any historical understanding of what that image means or the subject they are addressing? That seems to be the basis of the apology.

Is it a Type 2 error where someone on staff decided to play a joke and no one removed it in time or figured it was a problem, reinforcing the stupidity of the Type 1?

Or is it a Type 3 intentional foul where some ass-hat decided to run it to be offensive and it slipped by everybody else, due to either the historical ignorance of a Type 1, or it really was quickly slipped past unbeknownst to everyone else?

In any case it hardly boosts confidence in the station to be accurate with any story they may carry if they can't get some very basic image issues right on what should be a complete puff-piece.

In any case, no worries dear watchers of WGN TV, you can be assured that all the other stories you may watch on the station are accurate, factual, and free of any bias, ignorance, or such blatant errors.

Not Quite Getting The Idea

Marketers mean well, but they do miss the point on occasion.

Take this advertisement for bagels as an example:

For those who may not know, Yom Kippur is the Jewish Day of Atonement. The day is marked by Prayer and Fasting - and definitely not by eating bagels.

Bagels might come into play after sunset Wednesday after the fast is over, but you wouldn't want to buy them on Tuesday so they can sit around and get stale while you can't eat them until Wednesday night (not to mention how bagels add to the fun of fasting with one being able to look at them but not eat them) nor are they for Yom Kippur itself but for breaking the fast after Yom Kippur has ended.

I'd call the campaign close, but the phrasing was just off by enough to raise an eyebrow and a grin.