He’s . . . JEWISH? And Don't Miss Mint.com October 5, 2009March 16, 2017 OVERCOMPENSATION So Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is . . . Jewish? And he overcompensates in denying this by denying the Holocaust? Read it in the Telegraph: A photograph of the Iranian president holding up his identity card during elections in March 2008 clearly shows his family has Jewish roots. A close-up of the document reveals he was previously known as Sabourjian – a Jewish name meaning cloth weaver. The short note scrawled on the card suggests his family changed its name to Ahmadinejad when they converted to embrace Islam after his birth. The Sabourjians traditionally hail from Aradan, Mr Ahmadinejad’s birthplace, and the name derives from “weaver of the Sabour”, the name for the Jewish Tallit shawl in Persia. The name is even on the list of reserved names for Iranian Jews compiled by Iran’s Ministry of the Interior. Experts last night suggested Mr Ahmadinejad’s track record for hate-filled attacks on Jews could be an overcompensation to hide his past. . . . ☞ Just as it’s hard for a Jew to succeed in Iranian electoral politics, so it’s no cakewalk for an openly gay American to succeed in today’s Republican party. Which may explain why Florida’s likeable governor, Charlie Crist, moderate in many ways, supported a ban on civil unions and supports Florida’s status as the only state in the union that bans gay adoption. This four-minute 2006 video makes the case that he is gay, and the movie “Outrage” – which airs at 9pm tonight on HBO – makes the case again. In opposing the rights of his LGBT constituents, could he be overcompensating? Obviously, I think it’s fine to be gay – or to be straight. And it’s okay, if sad, to pretend to be something you’re not. What’s not okay is to hurt other people lest you be thought to be one of them. SOCIALISTS/FASCISTS/CAPITALISTS Jayson Smith: “Kevin asked: ‘Why can’t someone be both a socialist and a fascist? The Nazis were the National Socialist party. Were they not socialists or not fascists?’ The Nazis were Socialists the same way the People’s Republic of China is a Republic.” ☞ Or the Democratic People’s Republic of [North] Korea, is Democratic. George Ehlers: “The yin and yang of capitalism and socialism: capitalism builds the automobiles; socialism builds the roads the automobiles use . . . capitalism builds the houses; socialism builds the sewage systems (or mandates the septic tanks) connected to the houses . . . capitalism produces the trash consumers throw out; socialism picks up the trash that would otherwise land in the nearest gully. And so on.” MANAGING YOUR MONEY Alice Gedge: “My first money managing program was MYM. I used every version. Then I switched to Microsoft Money and now that software is no more. Can you recommend a good replacement?” ☞ Everyone seems to use Quicken. But check out mint.com first to see if it meets your needs. It’s come a long way in the last two years. And it’s free!