The Auswine Forum

Hi,
I would like to invite you to read about Israeli wines:

http://www.israelwines.co.il/ArticlesEn ... egoryID=89

Thanks

Just what we need, Kosher Spam and eggs for breakfast on a Saturday morning before going to the synagogue.

As much as you might dislike spam, and of course this was profiteering of the worst sort, to be frank, I did not appreciate the humour of your phrasing.

Come on, guys. He's just trying to introduce his web site. With a little bit of luck he might get some interest. But if things go as they usually do with the average web site it will fade off into the ether and just end up being a lot of hard work, so I say cut him some slack.

Mike

Bob wrote:As much as you might dislike spam, and of course this was profiteering of the worst sort, to be frank, I did not appreciate the humour of your phrasing.

Bob, I think you are being overly sensitive. My surname is Einstein and I am Jewish! And even if I wasn't, I am not being derogatory towards the Jewish religion.

TORB wrote:

Bob wrote:As much as you might dislike spam, and of course this was profiteering of the worst sort, to be frank, I did not appreciate the humour of your phrasing.

Bob, I think you are being overly sensitive. My surname is Einstein and I am Jewish! And even if I wasn't, I am not being derogatory towards the Jewish religion.

Well, blow me down, Mr. Einstein. Would never of picked it in a million years, maaaaaaate! etc

David,

When you came to my place, if you would have used the front door instead of the servants entrance you would have noticed a Mezuzah.

Ric

I do hope you had an easy fast for Yom Kippur.

I don't think I know you or your depth of faith well enough to make any jokes about whether you atoned for drinking c-throughs...

TORB wrote:Bob, I think you are being overly sensitive. My surname is Einstein and I am Jewish! And even if I wasn't, I am not being derogatory towards the Jewish religion.

Ric, I know I tend to get that way toward the end of the second bottle. And of course I knew your name was Einstein and that there was a high likelihood of your being Jewish, whether religious or not. But still, might not a first time viewer think that you were attacking the poster of the link on the basis of his supposed religion rather than just being witty?

TORB wrote:Just what we need, Kosher Spam and eggs for breakfast on a Saturday morning before going to the synagogue.

Poor taste Ric.

KMP wrote:Come on, guys. He's just trying to introduce his web site. With a little bit of luck he might get some interest. But if things go as they usually do with the average web site it will fade off into the ether and just end up being a lot of hard work, so I say cut him some slack.

Mike

Another ill-informed view.

The spammer does not pay for this forum service Auswine do. Unless he has authorized it with them then it should not be condoned.

Isaac Reims wrote:

KMP wrote:Come on, guys. He's just trying to introduce his web site. With a little bit of luck he might get some interest. But if things go as they usually do with the average web site it will fade off into the ether and just end up being a lot of hard work, so I say cut him some slack.

Mike

Another ill-informed view.

The spammer does not pay for this forum service Auswine do. Unless he has authorized it with them then it should not be condoned.

At first I thought he was someone trying to sell wine online by rudely posting his link on a forum sponsored by another online wine retailer, but I glanced at the site and it seems primarily for information purposes, at least the parts that are in English. I've seen other links to websites, TORB's of course and Mark's auction site, lots of links to blogs that have TNs and other opinions, links to other forums and online articles, etc. Does everyone have authorization from Gavin, does everyone need authorization for posting not-for-profit links? I know that I should not be comparing a one-time visitor who just posts a link and leaves with long-time regular contributors, but I'm starting to think that maybe Mike is right, maybe we should cut him some slack if the link posted is only for information purposes.

Gavin's a very tolerant "forum dictator" for letting this through. I can guarantee there's spam (i.e. a business) lurking behind this Israeli Wine link. For information purposes, links, are fine by me. Hopefully the people who frequent the board regurlarly pay little or no heed to this form of free advertising. Gavin can wave his magic wand anytime he likes.

FWIW:

1) I looked at the link and found no issue with it being posted here, unless Gavin objects of course. It is a bit like Attila posting the http://www.winesofhungary.com website.

2) I found Ric's comment funny... well, remotely funny anyway.

Adair

I looked at the site again, and I still cannot see a commercial interest, at least not in English. Is it a question of an outsider posting a link? But I'm really new here, so maybe I'm an outsider too. As for Ric's comment, I found the metaphor "kosher spam and eggs" to be quite witty and I would have laughed heartily if we were glass in hand around a table, but I felt a bit different about it in print staring me in the face. Still again, Ric may be right and I'm over-sensitive; this is a forum, not a newspaper's front page.

I have waited to respond further to this post until I had some facts to back up what I was to say.

I have been in communication with Daniel Rogov who is probably Israels most respected wine writer and a friend that I have been having internet correspondence and chats with for many years. Here is what he has to say "Ric, a) I found your Yom Kippur comment about kosher spam and eggs absolutely hilarious. (b) I'll confirm that the site is at least partly funded by the Grape Grower's Association and that this association is largely under the control of the country's largest winery and (c) that various wineries do indeed advertise on the site. On the positive side, though, I do believe you will find that the site even though basically uncritical offers a service to its readers."

Luckily I have a cousin who lived in Israel for years and is fluent in Hebrew and I have also been able to gain further information. The site posts press releases and announcements from (probably) any Israeli winery that cares to submit them but without vetting them for accuracy. In other words it's a sort of "all the good news with none of the negatives that might offend anyone at all" type site.

So thats the poop and the whole poop on the site. Next topic.

What is possibly not known by most readers was that the original link was posted on Yom Kippur, the most solemn day in the Jewish calender, known as the Day of Atonement , where people are not meant to eat or drink for about 24 hours. Which in fact makes my original joke even more of a joke because orthodox Jews are not only not meant to eat spam, but they are not meant to be eating at all on that day.

Finally, I am sorry, truly sorry and sad. Not for what I said, but that the world has come to the point where politically correctness dictates that my comments which were said in jest and will be read by (probably less than 100 people) have received more responses than the weekly what have we been drinking thread.

Isaac Reims wrote:

KMP wrote:Come on, guys. He's just trying to introduce his web site. With a little bit of luck he might get some interest. But if things go as they usually do with the average web site it will fade off into the ether and just end up being a lot of hard work, so I say cut him some slack.

Mike

Another ill-informed view.

The spammer does not pay for this forum service Auswine do. Unless he has authorized it with them then it should not be condoned.

One would love to be able to blow a raspberry, but then what would be the point! If a forum allows you list your web site in your signature as TORB does, or as a WWW icon as many others (myself included) do, then sticking the full url as text is no big deal. Frankly one post here that links to a site on Israeli wines is refreshing compared to the amount of real spam I sort through every day as email.

Mike