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Jewish Journal

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April 25, 2011

Larian wins round two of Bratz toy lawsuit against Mattel

Leave a Comment / Blogs, Multimedia /

Southern California’s Iranian Jewish community has been abuzz following news last week that one of their own, businessman and toymaker Isaac Larian won his second lawsuit against U.S. toy giant Mattel over a seven year dispute regarding copyright ownership of the widely popular “Bratz” toy dolls Larian’s MGA Entertainment created and sold.  The jury last week awarded MGA nearly $89 million in damages. Larian throught out the lawsuit has become an underdog hero to many local Iranian American Jewish business owners who have come to admire his strength in standing up to a major competitor who has been trying to crush his successful business from the start.

Local Iranian Jews have by in large stood by Larian despite his 2008 lawsuit loss to Mattel which claimed that his company had stolen the idea for the “Bratz” dolls. The 2008 jury decision was overturned last year by an appeals court, which ruled that MGA deserved “sweat equity” for producing and marketing the dolls. The appeals court said Mattel couldn’t claim a monopoly over dolls and ordered a new trial in U.S. Federal Court. This time around, jurors heard not only the copyright claims but also accusations from each company that the other side stole trade secrets. Among its claims, MGA accused Mattel of sending employees into its showrooms at industry trade shows to spy on its products and also accused Mattel of passing out an internal “how to steal” manual.

While this lawsuit may continue with Mattel potentially appealing the second trial, I can’t understand why in god’s name they have spent nearly $400 million to fight Larian for all these years. From a business perspective it seems like a financially unwise move and downright vindictive! It seems as if their hope was to drive Larian out of the toy business with all these years of litigation. In 2007 I interviewed Larian and found him to be a genuine and hardworking individual who was indeed living the American dream.  He came to the U.S. as an immigrant teenager who worked hard at a minimum wage job and over years finally achieved tremendous success through his own hard working efforts.  His ties to the local Jewish community and support of various charities has been widely publicized over the years.

My 2007 interview with Larian can be found here.

Photo
Bratz Dolls

Larian wins round two of Bratz toy lawsuit against Mattel Read More »

Mormon Night in God’s Assembly

Leave a Comment / News /

Thousand Oaks, CA was the setting for last month’s “Mormon Night” at Reform synagogue Temple Adat Elohim. Rabbi Ted Riter has long been active in interfaith affairs, and he had the good fortune to befriend Larry Bagby while serving on a local interfaith council. Larry is a former LDS bishop who currently serves as his stake’s public affairs director, and it was my pleasure to serve as his warm-up act at the event.

The synagogue’s interfaith lecture series was organized by Rabbi Rebecca Dubowe (pictured), the world’s first ordained deaf female rabbi and one of the kindest people I have ever met. After she welcomed us, Larry got out his accordion and set the tone for the evening with a John Denver song. That was a tough act to follow, which I did with a brief lecture on Jewish themes in LDS belief and practice (a subject for a semester-long course, to be sure).

Larry then got up and showed why he inspires so many people through his outreach efforts. He humbly shared with the audience his testimony of the LDS Church, its prophets, and the Book of Mormon. It takes considerable skill to do this in front of Jews without sounding preachy, but Larry pulled it off. We then took questions, including one from a 10-year-old boy who wanted to know the state of LDS-Buddhist relations. Larry pointed out that the next speaker in the series was going to be a Buddhist who used to be a Mormon, and suggested that the boy ask him the question. Another accordion number closed the memorable evening.   

I commend Rabbis Dubowe and Riter (who was also in attendance) for exposing their congregation to other faith traditions. This kind of interaction often makes people grateful for their own faith and more tolerant of others. Good things are happening on the interfaith front in the Conejo Valley, and I’m grateful to the rabbis and Larry for inviting me to participate.
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I will be leading a trip to Israel next March for one of the nation’s largest travel agencies. For more information, please visit the following link: http://www.morrismurdock.com/tours/tour_detail.cfm?ID=420&Grouping=Holy&page=tours  

Mormon Night in God’s Assembly Read More »

A FATAL DECLARATION

Leave a Comment / Education /

A FATAL DECLARATION

The holidays, family visits and cooking special meals are over and the kids are heading back to school.  It’s back to the normal routine for most of us.  And back to playing Mahj for lots of us.
But I did manage to get in a game over the holiday break.  And of course something happened I realized many players, experienced and otherwise, do.
The card is new, out since the 1st of April (I always wonder why they come out on April Fool’s Day) and many of you are just getting comfortable with the new hands. I noticed this year’s card has many more Pairs hands than last year’s, the odd Section has Dragon hands and my favorite Consecutive Run hand is gone but some of the same hands remain.  I think this year’s card is a little more challenging than last’s.
Anyway, let’s get back to the game I was playing.  Since it was the first time playing the new card, we all were a little tentative, but still,  a couple of Mahjs were declared.
In one of the games, my friend Linda exposed a Pung of 3 Dot.  A Pung of 3 Dots doesn’t reveal Linda’s hand. The game continued and she then exposed a Kong of 4 Dots, clearly a Consecutive Run hand.  Nobody noticed anything, but then Linda looked at the card and realized she made a mistake because there is no consecutive hand that requires a Pung of 3Dots and a Kong of 4Dots..
“Oh, I made a mistake!” she blurts out.  “I was playing last year’s hand. I’m dead!”
Well, Linda, you made more than one mistake.  You declared yourself “Dead!” 
I was a little surprised because it was not like Linda, who likes to win—a lot. And is a stickler for the rules.  Although there’s no actual rule about calling yourself Dead, it’s not a wise practice. Clearly she gave the rest of us the advantage of being able to pick and/or call 25% more tiles and 25% more chances to win. It’s the responsibility of the other players to determine your hand from the Exposures and declare the hand Dead—not yours.
So if you find yourself in the same situation, button your lip.  There is an expression used during WWII, “Loose Lips Sink Ships”.  Hopefully, your “lips” won’t sink your hand.

Til the next time……
MAY THE TILES BE WITH YOU!

 

 

A FATAL DECLARATION Read More »

U.S. plans sanctions on Syria in wake of brutal crackdowns

Leave a Comment / Worldwide /

The Obama administration may level sanctions against Syria as punishment for President Bashar Assad’s government’s violent crackdown on protesters, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

The U.S. is currently drafting an executive order that will empower President Obama to freeze the assets of senior Syrian officials and bar them from engaging in any business dealings with the United States, the report said, citing officials briefed on the matter.

According to the report, freezing Syrian officials’ assets in the U.S. will have little impact on Assad’s inner circle. However, the hope is that European countries, where Syrian officials have more substantial holdings, will follow suit, thereby having a more crippling economic effect.

Read more at Haaretz.com.

U.S. plans sanctions on Syria in wake of brutal crackdowns Read More »

Egypt questions Mubarak on gas deal with Israel

Leave a Comment / Israel /

Egyptian judicial authorities have extended deposed President Hosni Mubarak’s detention to question him regarding a natural gas deal with Egypt.

Egypt lost more than $714 million in the deal, Egypt’s prosecutor said in a statement, the New York Times reported.

The extension of Mubarak’s remand, announced April 22, came as former Egyptian oil minister, Samih Fahmy, and five other top officials were arrested and imprisoned prior to the start of an investigation into the deal.

Egypt supplies more than 40 percent of the gas that Israel needs to provide the country with electricity. Candidates to replace Mubarak have said they plan to renegotiate the contract with Israel.

Egypt’s new foreign minister said earlier this month that Egypt will demand a retroactive payment of the difference between the reduced prices it received and market value on the natural gas it purchased under Mubarak.

The pipeline between Egypt and Israel opened in 2008. Selling gas to Israel was unpopular on the Egyptian street from the time the pipeline opened.

The supply of Egyptian gas to Israel has not returned to full levels since terrorists in the Sinai tried to blow up the pipeline in February during the uprisings against Mubarak in Egypt.

Egypt questions Mubarak on gas deal with Israel Read More »

Mimouna festival stresses ‘Love the convert’

Leave a Comment / Worldwide /

Two million Israelis are expected to take part in the traditional North African Mimouna festival.

The festival to celebrate fraternity, abundance and good luck is held at the end of Passover; It will take place Monday evening.

The World Federation of Moroccan Jewry announced that the theme of this year’s festival will be “Love the convert,” in the wake of the controversial proposed conversion bill and the shadows of doubt cast over IDF conversions.

“We will be stressing the divine commandment, which appears in the Bible 45 times in different variations, to love, draw near, help and embrace the convert who wishes to join our people,” Federation Chairman Sam Ben-Chetrit said in a statement. “This stands in contrast to the fact that only once are we commanded to love God. This shows the importance of the command for God’s sake.”

A special panel on converts and conversion will take place in Ashkelon on Tuesday as part of the official Mimouna events.

Mimouna festival stresses ‘Love the convert’ Read More »

France considering recognizing Palestinian state

Leave a Comment / Worldwide /

France is actively considering recognizing a Palestinian state, along with other European neighbors.

“The recognition of a Palestinian state is an option that we are currently thinking about, with our European partners,” Gérard Araud, France’s ambassador to the United Nations told journalists April 22.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy met April 21 with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss “initiatives” to push forward peace negotiations with Israel.

Foreign minister Alain Juppé announced in March that French recognition of a Palestinian state was a “hypothesis we must keep in mind.”

Speaking to France 24 television on April 21, Abbas said “all the signs of these (European) organizations and states show that they are waiting for the right moment to recognize” a Palestinian state.

Meanwhile, the German newspaper Der Spiegel reported over the weekend that German Chancellor Angela Merkel plans to encourage Abbas not to seek unilateral recognition, when she meets with him in Berlin on May 5.

Merkel has come out recently against a United Nations resolution recognizing a Palestinian state.

France considering recognizing Palestinian state Read More »

Tainan, Taiwan for Passover (video)

Leave a Comment / Travel /