[58873] in SAPr3-news
What is a Jew?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (fgdg)
Sat Feb 10 18:50:10 2007
To: sapr3-news@mit.edu
Date: 10 Feb 2007 15:49:42 -0800
From: "fgdg" <ilovesanta@lycos.com>
Message-ID: <1171151382.395619.107940@k78g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>
Konichiwa. Talmudic Ethics 101 Quiz
Yechezkel is running late for his flight. He should:
a) Accept the fact that he is late and try to board a later flight
like an average goy would do.
b) Concoct a "big lie" and claim that his brother's funeral was the
next day.
c) Call in a bomb threat to halt the take off so he can board.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-jetblue30jan30,0,4117254.story?coll=la-default-underdog
Judge orders probation in JetBlue bomb hoax
By Tami Abdollah, Times Staff Writer
8:04 PM PST, January 29, 2007
Running late for a flight to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Yechezkel Wells
told the employee at the JetBlue counter in Long Beach that his
brother's funeral was the next day.
When they still wouldn't let him on the plane, the 22-year-old student
at the Talmudic U! niversity in Miami Beach made a decision his lawyer
later described as "unbelievably bad judgment": He walked to a pay
phone and called in a bomb threat.
Judge Florence-Marie Cooper on Monday called Wells' hoax "incredibly
stupid" but declined to send him to prison. Instead, she sentenced him
to two years probation, after a tongue-lashing that turned Wells' ears
bright red.
Wells' mother, Tziporah Wells, flew in from Israel for the hearing.
She watched, clutching a Hebrew-language "Book of Psalms" in her
hands, as Cooper rebuked Wells, expressing disbelief at his actions.
At one point, Mrs. Wells put her fingers in her ears as if to block
out the proceedings.
"The conduct is really quite astonishing and could have been dangerous
to a lot of people," Cooper scolded.
According to court documents, Wells had been in Los Angeles a week -
his lawyer said he was attending a wedding - before he showed up at
the Long Beach airport in August, 10 minu! tes before his flight to
Ft. Lauderdale.
When he was turned away at the counter, he lied, saying his brother's
funeral was the next day in Ft. Lauderdale. Still he was not allowed
to board. And so, Wells walked over to a pay phone, dialed 911, asked
for the police and said, "There's a bomb on a flight. Um. For Long
Beach to Ft. Lauderdale. Leaving now."
Authorities immediately suspected the disgruntled passenger. The hoax
delayed the flight for 48 minutes.
The defense filed a letter from Wells' Talmudic law professor
describing him as "a very intelligent and caring individual" who had
worked with severely handicapped children and is "always making time
for others."
"I think (Cooper) made a definite impression on him," Assistant U.S.
Attorney Donald Gaffney said after the hearing. "A judge doesn't have
to let you go home ... and I think this defendant came very close to
that.
"As a result of this incident, he's going to be a felon for the rest!
of his life," Gaffney said. "I don't think people consider the
lifelong consequences before they do something like this. These hoax
cases consume just as much energy, time and resources as any of the
threat cases that turn out to be real."
Wells will go back to Florida this week and continue studying and
working part-time as a sale executive and account manager with Stellar
Payment Systems in Florida, his attorney said.
Along with two years of probation, Wells must pay a $1,000 fine, wear
an electronic monitoring bracelet while confined to his home in Miami
Beach for six months and perform 200 hours of community service.
"This has been a wake-up call," said Wells' lawyer, Donald Etra. "He's
22 years of age, and he certainly has a lot yet to learn from the
world. He's learned you don't mess with the airlines and you don't
mess with airline safety."
