Why Jews Don’t Eat Pork (Though Some Do)

In the first century, an Alexandrian Jewish philosopher journeyed to Rome to defend, in the presence of the emperor, against certain charges leveled at the Egyptian-Jewish community. But the Roman emperor Gaius, known as Caligula, had more gustatory matters on his mind. "Why," he asked Philo, "is it that you abstain from eating pig's flesh?" This, Philo ruefully recounts, provoked "a violent laughter" by his adversaries in the throne room, as "they wished to court the emperor out of flattery, and therefore wished to make it appear that this question was dictated by wit and uttered with grace." To this Philo did his best to explain Jewish law, but others were still stuck on matters culinary. "There are also many people who do not eat lamb's flesh which is the most tender of all meat," another Roman commented. To this, Philo reports, Caligula laughingly commented, "They are quite right, for it is not nice."

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Yankees to end 50-year ban on beards, will now allow 'well-groomed beards'



The New York Yankees are changing course from a long-standing tradition of banning beards and will allow players to sport beards that are deemed properly groomed.

Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner, son of deceased Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, released a statement addressing the "alteration of Yankees facial hair policy."

Steinbrenner said that in recent weeks he spoke to many current and former Yankees from different eras to get their perspective on the team's "long-standing facial hair and grooming policy."

The Yankees have traditionally banned players from having beards or long hair, a tradition that dates back to the 1970s, according to the New York Times.

George Steinbrenner reportedly started the policy because he believed neater facial hair would increase the professionalism and discipline levels of his players. The Yankees' policy was deemed among the most strict of any rules of its kind in the sports world and therefore was one of the most famous team policies.

Hal Steinbrenner said ongoing internal dialogue had been taking place for "several years," but the decision ultimately lands at his feet. He revealed in his statement that he concluded that some beards would be authorized by the team.

"After great consideration, we will be amending our expectations to allow our players and uniformed personnel to have well-groomed beards moving forward. It is the appropriate time to move beyond the familiar comfort of our former policy."

— (@)

Former Yankees player Cameron Maybin said in 2023 that fans might be "surprised how much more attractive the Yankees would be" if the team got rid of its facial hair restrictions.

However, Maybin had a more cordial reaction to the rule than former Yankee Don Mattingly in 1991. The team captain was allegedly pulled from the lineup because he wouldn't cut his hair.

He was quoted as saying he was "overwhelmed by the pettiness" of the situation. He soon relented, the New York Times stated. The ordeal soon reached the status of cultural event when it was parodied on "The Simpsons" in 1992. After notoriously evil power plant owner Mr. Burns created his own work baseball team, Mattingly was included and subsequently kicked off the team for not trimming his sideburns.

Don Mattingly in 1991. Focus on Sports/Getty Images

"Mattingly, I thought I told you to trim those sideburns! Go home! You're off the team for good!" Mr. Burns yelled at Mattingly, who had shaved the sides of his head out of confusion.

Other rules in a similar vein have included the Chicago Bulls' headband ban that spanned from 2004 to 2016. Coach Scott Skiles made the move after reportedly being unhappy with forward Eddie Robinson's attitude and effort. Skiles did allow center Ben Wallace to break the rule in 2007, claiming he "left it up to the guys who have been here if they wanted to make an exception for Ben."

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'They're putting Homer Simpson at quarterback!' NFL fans left baffled after ESPN animates Cowboys game into 'The Simpsons'



Football fans weren't sure why they were watching an episode of "The Simpsons" when they turned on their televisions to watch the Dallas Cowboys and the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night.

As part of a partnership between Disney+ and ESPN+, "Monday Night Football" was traced with characters from the long-running series and broadcasted as if it were set in Springfield.

This was not just a single segment, however; the entire game was broadcasted separately from the original broadcast on ESPN+, with characters like Homer Simpson and Krusty the Clown routinely being injected into the game.

Characters were put in place of real players throughout the game, standing in for names like quarterback Joe Burrow or kicker Evan McPherson.

"They're putting Homer Simpson at quarterback!" ESPN's Drew Carter said at one point during the broadcast. "Krusty has already hit a field goal from 37 yards," he later said.

The animation feat was accomplished by tracking the movement of the real players from the broadcast, then layering the cartoon stand-ins over each player, to present them as characters from "The Simpsons."

While the broadcast was funny at times, it seemed largely unpalatable for most fans to watch at length:

"This is hard to watch," a fan wrote on X.

This is hard to watch
— Aa-Mac (@BearsTitansfan) December 10, 2024

"[Not going to lie] this sucks," said another.

Ngl this sucks 😂
— Buddy Boy Bets (@Buddyboybets) December 10, 2024

There was support, however, for tongue-in-cheek moments where characters made fun of themselves, real-life players, or different colleges. For example, Krusty the Clown said he went to "Clown College," also known as Arizona State. As well, Bart took over officiating at one point and said, "The ruling on the field stands, Homer stinks!" through 20 megaphones lined up behind each other.

Plenty of fans at the same time were confused with the broadcast, saying it was too "delayed" or wondering, "Who asked for this?"

The Brodcast Is So Delayed 💀💀💀
— Devin (Grimlin) (@DevinCook69) December 10, 2024

The Bengals eventually took home the 27-20 win after the Cowboys blocked a punt but still lost possession due to a fumble fiasco. While the animation of the pivotal play was hilarious, for some reason none of the iconic yellow characters were on the field for this part of the game with less than two minutes left.

Had Bart blocked a punt that Ralph Wiggum eventually recovered for the Bengals after it hit Moe's arm, fans might be singing a different tune with one of the greatest NFL highlights of all time.

who asked for this?
— FanAlert (@FanAlert0) December 10, 2024

The canonical justification of the broadcast, according to cartoon announcer Stephen A. Smith, was the entire event was inside Homer's dream while sleeping on the couch as football played on the TV.

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'Folk say the show has become woke': Harry Shearer mocks being replaced by black actor for Dr. Hibbert on 'The Simpsons'
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'Folk say the show has become woke': Harry Shearer mocks being replaced by black actor for Dr. Hibbert on 'The Simpsons'



Iconic actor Harry Shearer poked fun at being replaced by a black actor for one of his voices on "The Simpsons," stating his replacement is doing an impression of a white guy doing an impression of a black actor.

During a recent interview, Shearer commented on the famous cartoon possibly becoming "woke" after he and other actors who were a different race than the characters they played on the show were replaced.

Producers of the show announced in 2020 that any white actors would no longer voice any nonwhite characters from the show after a documentary was released criticizing the character of Apu. Apu's voice, Hank Azaria, apologized for his role in contributing to "structural racism" and stepped down from portraying the Indian character.

"Folk say the show has become woke in recent years and one of my characters has been affected. I voiced the black physician, Dr Hibbert, who I based on Bill Cosby," Shearer told the Times.

"Back then he was known as the 'whitest black man on television.' Then, a couple of years ago, I received an email saying they'd employed a black actor, who then copied my voice. The result is a black man imitating a white man imitating the whitest black man on TV," he added.

Dr. Hibbert was one of many characters that had the voice actors replaced along racial lines. The changes also included the voice of Judge Snyder, police officer Lou, and one of Homer's best friends and coworker Carl. Even background characters like Dr. Hibbert's wife and Julio Franco had their voices changed. The latter was also a character of Azaria's.

In 2021, creator Matt Groening said he welcomed more "diversity" on the show but said it wasn't his idea.

"It was not my idea, but I’m fine with it. Who can be against diversity? So it’s great," he told USA Today. "However, I will just say that the actors were not hired to play specific characters. ... They were hired to do whatever characters we thought of. To me, the amazing thing is seeing all our brilliant actors who can do multiple voices, do multiple voices. That's part of the fun of animation. However, to be more inclusive and hire more people, I’m completely in favor of that."

In his recent interview, Shearer promoted his new song "Must Crush Barbie," which was performed as his character from the cult classic movie "Spinal Tap."

The 1980s mockumentary followed a fake British band that was incomprehensibly dense. Shearer noted that Oasis band member Liam Gallagher thought it was real.

Shearer added that his new single "may offend some people but I don’t care. If I had to choose to be stuck in a lift with Barbie or Donald Trump it would be a tough call. I’m not sure who is the worst."

The actor also jokingly said that he has two dogs but doesn't want kids.

"Unlike Elon Musk’s view, I don’t think the world needs more babies."

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'Nothing's getting tamed': Producer James L. Brooks confirms Homer Simpson will keep choking Bart
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'Nothing's getting tamed': Producer James L. Brooks confirms Homer Simpson will keep choking Bart



Legendary producer for "The Simpsons" James L. Brooks squashed rumors that Homer Simpson would no longer choke Bart Simpson, a classic gag the show has used for decades.

Viewers noticed that during a recent episode, Homer had commented that "strangling the boy has paid off," before clarifying his comments.

"Just kidding, I don't do that any more. Times have changed."

Afterwards, fans pointed out that Homer had not strangled Bart for years. The joke was last illustrated for episodes that played during the 31st season, which aired 2019-2020, according to IGN.

Despite the gap in gags, Brooks told People that there are no plans to change that aspect of the show.

"Don’t think for a second we’re changing anything," he remarked. "Nothing's getting tamed. Nothing, nothing, nothing," he added.

Brooks then assured viewers, who have stuck with the show since it first aired in 1989, that Homer has been choking Bart out of love.

"He'll continue to be strangled — [if] you want to use that awful term for it. He'll continue to be loved by his father in a specific way."

I just found out that, after over 30 years, The Simpsons has finally retired their long-running gag of Homer strangling Bart. \n\nTook them long enough lmao
— (@)

The 83-year-old reportedly showed off an illustration of Homer strangling Bart, which was shared on X by the show's official account.

"Homer Simpson was unavailable for comment as he was busy strangling Bart," the show wrote. The attached imaged displayed the show of force, with Bart holding a phone that read "Simpsons: No more strangling," while Homer said "Why you little clickbaiting-!!"

Homer Simpson was unavailable for comment as he was busy strangling Bart.
— (@)

"Homer strangling Bart is just such an iconic part of the show,” said BlazeTV host Lauren Chen. "It’s just one of the show’s many classic gags."

"The joke instead is look at how flawed ‘The Simpsons’ are, especially contrasted with, at the time, the picture-perfect families that were on other TV shows," she added.

While a line appeared to have been drawn by the producer, the show has certainly heeded the call of the perpetually offended in recent years.

Hank Azaria stepped down from voicing the role of beloved Indian character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon in 2020 over complaints that the voice actor is white. Azaria acquiesced, saying he "really didn't know any better."

In 2021, iconic actor Harry Shearer (who is also white), stopped performing the voice of the show's black doctor, Dr. Julius Hibbert. The show instead hired Kevin Michael Richardson to voice the role, whose skin color happens to match that of the character.

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What the heck happened to 'The Simpsons'?



For 34 years, Homer Simpson strangled his son Bart as a part of the show’s gag.

However, in the third episode this season, that changed when Homer and Marge paid their new neighbor a visit.

When the new neighbor noted how firm Homer’s handshake was, Homer replied, “See, Marge, strangling the boy paid off. Just kidding, I don’t do that any more. Times have changed.”

This isn’t the only change “The Simpsons” producers have made in recent years, including the recasting of certain characters that the woke mob took offense to.

Lauren Chen believes all the changes being made to the show have turned it into “a shadow of its former self.”

“Homer strangling Bart is just such an iconic part of the show,” Chen says, as most viewers understood it as just a joke. “It’s just one of the show’s many classic gags.”

Chen notes that the entire point of "The Simpsons" “was that it was supposed to be almost a caricature, a representation of all the unflattering aspects of family life that back in the day TV shows wouldn’t actually show.”

This includes things like Homer’s alcoholism.

“The joke instead is look at how flawed ‘The Simpsons’ are, especially contrasted with, at the time, the picture-perfect families that were on other TV shows.”

Times have changed, however, and now breaking the mold consists of actually showing happy families.

“Nowadays, if you want to actually think outside the box, you’d put a family that does happily love each other and get along on TV,” Chen says.


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