FAQ

Q: Do people really ask you enough repetitive questions to make it worthwhile to have a FAQ?
A: No, this is pure conceit.

Q: How did you choose your name?
A: It is meant to be ironic, of course. Now it makes it a little harder for me to be taken seriously by the media at large - on one occasion, the Jerusalem Post edited out a reference to me because it sounded too weird (the reporter told me that.)

Q: Why is Ziyon spelled that way?
A: Because when I made up that name, I was on the Yahoo! message boards, and someone else was "Elder of Zion."  People liked it and the name stuck.

Q: Why does Ruthie comment with the names of your posts?
A: So that when you click on a comment from the front page, you know what thread it belongs to. My current comment system does not give that information.

Q: So are you a rabid Islamophobe?
A: No. My main problems with Islam are in its political manifestations and in some specific practices (such as how women are often treated.) In many ways, I respect Islam.

Q: So are you a rabid Arab hater?
A: Not at all. But there are many parts of Arab culture, and specifically Palestinian Arab culture, that are huge problems and challenges for the entire world as well as for Israel. Just because I highlight those in the blog does not mean that I hate Arabs as a whole.

I am a firm believer that different groups of people tend to have completely different ways of thinking, and one of the West's major problems is a thorough ignorance of the Arab mindset and the naive assumption that everyone is the same. It is not true.

So, for example, while the honor/shame dynamic of Arab culture is terrifically important for Westerners to understand, it is not inherently bad - the Japanese also have a similar mindset but do not act on it in ways that Arabs tend to.

Q: Who is that in your profile picture?
A: It is supposedly a picture of Rashi, the Jewish commentator par excellence on the Torah and Talmud.

Q: What's with Spongebob in your logo?
A: I just want people to know that I do not take myself or my blog too seriously.

Q: What is your comment policy?
A: I try to be as tolerant as possible. I have on occasion banned people for threats, spam, and abuse.

Q: I am very offended by a comment. What should I do?
A: You can flag it; a certain number of flags will result in it disappearing.

Q: I love a comment. What should I do?
A: You can click on the "Like" item underneath it and let the commenter know. Or you can reply back.

Q: What are the benefits of becoming a follower of the blog?
A: I have no idea, although it does boost my ego.

Q: I have a great idea for the blog. How can I let you know?
A: Just write a comment (I read most of them, but I do miss a few). Or email me. I can't guarantee I'll post it, but it does make my life easier and I appreciate all suggestions.

Q: What is your email address?
A: coolboardpresident -at- yahoo.com

Q: What does Coolboardpresident mean?
A: Another unimportant historical relic from my Yahoo message board days.

Q: Who else from the Yahoo boards you frequented are now bloggers?
A: A few of them became bloggers, most didn't stick with it. But Eye on the World and The Atheist Jew were both around in the old days, back around 2003.

Q: What is the International Zionist Web?
A: I started that as a joke in reaction to a statement made by the Iranian president. You can learn how to join the IZW in that post.

Q: How long have you been doing this, anyway?
A: Since August, 2004.

Q: What other media are you on?
A: My posts are automatically posted on Facebook and Twitter. I will post things on Twitter besides blog posts, so far I do not spend much time on Facebook. I also have a video channel on YouTube, and on NMATV and LiveLeak for videos that YouTube finds offensive.

Q: Do you do this full time?
A: No, I have a full time job, a home business, a family and a life besides the blog. I don't sleep much, which makes my end-of-week posts a little more impatient sounding than the posts on Sunday.

Q: You should really do X (forward your posts to politicians or news agencies; create a database of all terror attacks of category Z, save all your Arabic articles, write  a book...)
A: I do what I have time to do. If you want to do any of those things yourself, I will support you, but I only have so many hours in the day.

Q: How can I search your archives?
A: I have a Google search widget on the blog, but it is far from perfect. I wish I had a better search engine, especially for old material.

Q: Are you paid by any Zionist agency to blog?
A: I wish! I have not yet made a dime off the blog, and in fact have spent a bit(domain name that I don't really publicize, paying for some articles that are not free, paying for the karaoke version of Richard Cory for my Rachel Corrie video parody....) I keep thinking about ads, and have yet to decide to do it.

Q: How old are you? How many kids do you have? Where do you live?
A: I am not keen on giving out personal details, although long time readers would figure some of the answers out. I have mentioned my children, the beautiful and talented Daughter of Ziyon and Junior Elder, and Elder Brother of Ziyon comments sometimes. I do not, unfortunately, live in Israel.

If you have any other questions I missed, just contact me.