Step-by-Step: Making Aliyah to Israel

2006-10-01T12:48:00.000+02:00

The server for my new site seems to be down. How unfair is this?! Not only are all the TV and the radio stations about to become nonexistant for 24 hours but I also can't blog! It seems to me that this is some bizarre conspiracy designed to make me actually write that article.

There is a holiday spirit in the air. I ran out to get some bottled water and cigarrettes (of course) this morning and really should have remembered that I should have remembered to do that yesterday instead. People are stocking up on food in the grocery like the stores will be closed for 2 weeks rather than 24 hours. I had to wait nearly a half-hour in the line. Some shops and cafes have already closed and those cafes and restaurants that are still open are filled to brim with people who are off work and doing a bit of relaxing before the big shut-down. Cars are getting fewer on the road but the buses are still running for a bit longer--another hour I believe. Everyone is smiling and in a good mood.

Guess I'll update here and copy over to the new blog when it comes back online (sniff sniff. I feel bereft!)

Redirecting you to my new blog --3, 2, 1 NOW

2006-09-24T18:03:00.000+03:00

Please update your links with the new address!

Yael has moved to olehgirl.com

2006-09-19T23:31:00.000+03:00

I've moved to olehgirl.com --Please come visit me in my new home!

Yael moves (blog) house

2006-09-16T02:09:00.000+03:00

I guys and gals,

I thought I'd wait til I had the new abode in super spiffy condition before inviting everyone in but it may be awhile before I get it super and certainly spiffy. So I'm going to invite you all in while nothing much is unpacked and the floors are so dirty they are gray and not a nice shade of green or yellow like they very much should be! But, if you'll excuse the mess and the lack of amenities, you are very welcome to come and visit me at my new home: olehgirl.com. Yep, ya just drop the blogspot out of it and there you have it!

Many hugs and hope to welcome you in my new place!

Ooo where are the New Year cards?

2006-09-13T23:24:00.000+03:00

I am seriously looking forward to the New Year because this coming year (please g-d) has got to be better than the year that has passed for this country. From where I'm sitting, personally, though, this past year has been the best in my life (and the upcoming year is looking kinda, like, hectic and unfun but not to worry, the year after that will really be Krazed with a capital K for me. LOL, so much (blah) to look forward to! :) This past year was a banner year for me because I just completed by first year in this country. So as far as my personal life goes, this year will always be extremely special.

I'm under a huge mega and monstrous pressure at the moment from job(s) and job-related activities. I have a chapter for a book due in 2 days and I haven't even started it. Another is due, er also on the 15th and it is at least started. I sent off one article last week (go me) and one publication came out the other day after I'd nearly forgotten its existence (so old that it has the wrong academic affiliation on it!). Many other things (powerpoints, research-related websites, etc) that I will not bore you with or stress myself anymore by thinking about for the moment.

Tomorrow I have a wedding to attend and I am looking forward to it and not. I like the couple a ton, I love to see them, I am extremely happy they are getting married, I need to lock cats in a room and do a recip dinner for them ...but I have a lot on my plate and I'm not sure how much to make the check out for. I'm not sure how much my bank account can handle but I'm suspecting the gift should be for something like very many shekels (maybe more?) --help me out here folks!?

I attended my first new gimmel class at ulpan today and it went well --she--my fav teacher-- was talking and I was nodding and suddenly realized I was nodding because I clearly understood what she was saying and it wasn't in english (which she doesn't really know and so almost never uses) but it seemed so clear that I thought for a minute it must be in english. That was a cool moment. The whole class was not like that but it was the most understandable I've had to date. I met a really kewl woman from the Ukraine and talked with her a bit (she is better at speaking than me but has also been here 5 years and she isn't much better at speaking) and my friend Katarina who used to work at my fav cafe is also in my class (she speaks amazingly after being here for 8 years but can't read or write well). I also met with a private tutor earlier today to work on speaking but that did not go so well --she charged 80 sheks for the hour and talked to me mostly in english which really uhh defeats the purpose of paying her 80 sheks for talking in hebrew. Not to fear though, I have another private lesson lined up with Yael (70 shekels), and yet another one with Ayala (80 shekels) and will need to line up at least another 8-10 hours per week --yes my bank account, already to the limit of my overdraft is about to get a new and much deeper overdraft --but I think Allison is right and going the private tutor for speaking route is going to be way necessary and naturally, just a couple hours a week is not going to cut it. Especially not when I have to spend so many hours a day reading, writing and thinking in english.

I have 7 cats in the apartment but it seems like only 6 because Mitzi is spending so much time under the bed. She is coming out only for food and litter-box duties and that is not good. The other cats really intimidate her. Little new orange kitty, as yet and hopefully remaining without a name in my house, is also terrified of the other cats and tries to sit on me constantly. She is definitely a relative of Gingi (I think they must have had the same father, honestly) because her personality is so similar and also her habits --she has the same "I need to nurse on the tip of your finger" thing that he has and has not lost even though he is getting very big for such baby activities. I thought he was doing that because he was a "bottle baby" but seems to not be the case!

Somewhere the New Year cards are hiding in my apartment and must be written and sent. Where are they?!

Israeli-Arabs: Human dignity is a primary value in Israel

2006-09-13T14:00:00.000+03:00

Israeli-Arabs protested in front of the Egyptian embassy today, calling out for Egypt to "Learn from Israel what human dignity means. Human dignity is a primary value in Israel." They were protesting the bus accident in the Sinai that killed 12 Arab-Israeli tourists. Egypt refused to allow our (Israel's) ambulances and medical personnel that were standing by just a few miles away to come to the scene to aid the victims and to evacuate them to Israeli hospitals despite the fact that they were not equipped to deal with the scope of the accident nor had a hospital in the vicinity to which critcally injured patients could be taken. At least one victim died simply because evacuating him from the scene to a place where he could receive medical care took them so long and the clinic injured patients were taken to did not have even the most basic equipment for emergency needs (e.g. blood supplies, operating room or equipment, beds --it was a walk-in clinic for everyday minor illnesses). Rather than in ambulances with medics, the victims were taken from the scene on the backs of vegetable trucks.

I posted about it here
as it was happening. We had ambulances, hospitals and helicopters ready to spring into action. One of the things I didn't post about because it became moot when Egypt wouldn't allow us to get our injured citizens, is the blood drive that started immediately upon the news that the accident had happened. Israelis --Arabs, Jews, and Christians -- flocked to donate blood that hospitals assumed would be needed for the victims. It of course went unused for them when we could not bring them home. Grrrrrrr.

To add insult to injury, the negligent bus driver whose reckless driving caused the accident has just been sentenced to a mere 12 months.

Arab-israelis are mad and so are the rest of us Israelis!

In other news regarding Egypt, Egyptian officials are worried about a terrorist cell composed of Palestinians who have sneaked into Egypt from Gaza and who are planning a major attack in the Sinai. Palestinian terrorists within Hamas were responsible for training, financing, and helping to carry out previous attacks in Egypt, including the 2004 Taba bombing which killed 34 and injured 171 people and the more recent triple-bombing in Dhahab in the spring of this year.

Some analysts in Israel long have warned of Palestinian anti-Egyptian sentiment, pointing in particular to Hamas, which was founded in 1987 as a military offshoot of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood seeks the overthrow of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's regime and the creation of an Islamic theocracy throughout the Middle East.

What a balagan!

2006-09-13T00:54:00.000+03:00

Hi guys and gals,

When I got home from a meeting tonight I discovered that blogger had had some sort of major stroke when it came to my blog today and my old template was totally destroyed. All my links went bye-bye, all my formatting. If you dropped by you probably saw a lot of nonesense characters and nothing else.

I've got a temporary "blogger fix" up with the posts restored. I was thinking of making a move to something a little better and hopefully more reliable than blogger at any rate within a few months but tonight an amazingly awesome guy (Go Jewlicious!!) snagged me online as I was trying to figure out what to do about the balagan my blog had somehow become and said "yo, let's move you now!" Well the move is not quite complete but hopefully by tomorrow night or Thursday at the latest I will be fully set up in my new home. I'll continue to update here until I'm fully set up there and then will throw the grand "welcome to my new home" party and you are all invited :)

And sheesh, had news, pics, and a new kitten --now almost fully vetted save for being fixed cos she is too small for that yet --(Noooooooooooooooooo, but er yes) to tell you about. Will have to wait til tomorrow though because moving, even virtual, houses is very tiring!

One Arab's Apology

2006-09-12T21:05:00.000+03:00

I thought the whole thing was good enough to post. This op-ed from the New York Post:

September 12, 2006 -- WELL, here it is, five years late, but here just the same: an apology from an Arab-American for 9/11. No, I didn't help organize the killers or contribute in any way to their terrible cause. However, I was one of millions of Arab-Americans who did the unspeakable on 9/11: nothing.

The only time I raised my voice in protest against these men who killed thousands of innocents in the name of Allah was behind closed doors, among the safety of friends and family. I did at one point write a very vitriolic essay condemning their actions, but fear of becoming another Salman Rushdie kept me from ever trying to publish it.

Well, I'm sick of saying the truth only in private - that Arabs around the world, including Arab-Americans like myself, need to start holding our own culture accountable for the insane, violent actions that our extremists have perpetrated on the world at large.

Yes, our extremists and our culture.

Every single 9/11 hijacker was Arab and a Muslim. The apologists (including President Bush) tried to reassure us that 9/11 had nothing to do with Islam, but was a twisting of a great and noble religion. With all due respect, read the Koran, Mr. President. There's enough there for someone of extreme tendencies to find their way to a global jihad.

There's also enough there for someone of a different mindset to find a path to enlightenment and peace. Still, Rushdie had it right back in 2001: This does have to do with Islam. A Christian who bombs an abortion clinic in the name of God is still a Christian, at least in his interpretation, and saying otherwise doesn't negate the fact that he has spent a goodly amount of time figuring out his version of the one true and right thing to do.

The men who killed 3,000 of our citizens on 9/11 in all likelihood died saying prayers to Allah, and that by itself is one of the most horrific things to me about that day.

And, while my grandparents never waged a jihad, their attitudes toward Jews weren't that much different than Mohammed Atta's. No, they didn't support the Holocaust, but they did believe that Jews were trouble in many different ways, and those sorts of beliefs were passed on to me before I'd ever actually met a Jew.

I'm sorry for that, for ever believing that anything that my grandparents or other relatives had to say about Jews or Israel, for that matter, had any real resemblance to truth. It took me years to realize that I'd been conned into believing the generalizations and stereotypes that millions around the Arab world buy into: that Jews, America and Israel are our main problem.

One look at the average Arab regime should alert us to the fact that the problem, dear Achmed, lies not overseas or next door in Tel Aviv, but in the brutal, corrupt despots that we have bred from country to country in the Mideast, across the span of history. That history and its corresponding economic devastation is the main reason I reside on New York City's West Bank - New Jersey - not the one near Jerusalem. On my worst day, I'm happy about that fact. I'd rather be here than there, and experience the freedom and boundless opportunities that were mostly unknown to so many generations of my family in the Mideast.

For as long as I live, the image of those towers falling, as I watched in horror and disbelief from the corner of 40th and Fifth, will be for me my Pearl Harbor, for in that instant I recognized that not only was our city under attack - so was our freedom.

It still is. And will continue to be for years to come. And the threat is not from within, but from Islamic fascists who desperately want to destroy the freedom and opportunities that millions the world over still seek.

Five years after that awful day, it's time for all Arab-Americans, and Arabs around the world, to protest against Islamic fascism, to raise our voices - and, where necessary, our arms - against these tyrants until their plague of terror has been driven from the face of the earth forever.

Emilio Karim Dabul is a freelance writer and PR consultant living in New Jersey.

Breaking news--U.S. embassy under attack in Damascus

2006-09-12T10:48:00.000+03:00

Syrian forces have sealed off the area. Smoke and fire coming from embassy. Sounds of heavy gunfire.

Updates to come. Reload for them.

11:05 --reports of sound of a large explosion in area of embassy. U.S. embassy guard has reported embassy under attack. British ambassador in Syria saying heard gunshots and sirens just outside the embassy, doesn't think embassy is on fire but isn't sure. No one knows yet who is attacking.

11:10 --witnesses say two armed men attacked embassy but attack repelled. Car bomb also reported being detonated outside embassy but unconfirmed.

11:20 --Syrian guard killed. No reports of U.S. casualties.

11:25 --witness says saw one Syrian guard killed in carbomb explosion, at least one other Syrian guard guarding the embassy seriously wounded.

11:27 --witness says he sees a large number of children are coming out of the embassy right now, crying and shocked.

12:10 --four attackers killed, one wounded and arrested. They detonated one car bomb, another explosives loaded car was captured. Appears the incident is now contained.

Remembering what was lost September 11 2001

2006-09-11T12:09:00.000+03:00

Below is a picture someone took from an apartment located not too far from where I used to live. My view was so much better.

From September 1998 to October 2002 I lived in what can only be described as a dream apartment in New York City. It was right on Washington Square at the corner of Washington Square West and West 4th. It had a beautiful awning above the entrance and a host of doormen to make your comings and goings pleasant. The apartment itself was gigantic with two large bedrooms, two large baths, a kitchen the size of my current bedroom, a stately entryway, a living room nearly as big as my entire apartment today (and bigger than my subsequent apartments in NYC) and a working fireplace. The best thing about that apartment though, was the view.

I lived on the 7th floor in a corner apartment with views to the south and to the west. The view toward New Jersey was somewhat blocked by the steeple and carapices of the church next door. The view to the south was wholly unobstructed as my apartment was just above the roofline of all the surrounding buildings extending down to the financial district. A large window took up the entire southern wall of the living room giving a most perfect view: the twin towers of the World Trade Center stood tall. The view was so spectacular that the sofa was placed with its back to the tv set to give a direct line of sight across the room and out of the window. The TV just could not compete with that view.

Every morning I collected my coffee and sat looking out at the towers as I planned my day. Night-time, however, was the best. The twins would be lit up with alternating bands of lighted and darkened floors. A grouping of 4 here, 6 there, only 2 above that, then 5, sometimes just a single office or set of offices on a floor, making a patchwork quilt of sparkles. It reminded me of my lightbright set I loved to play with as a child. I used to sit and wonder why were these floors were lit up and others dark...were these the floors on which young computer scientists and financial analysts worked far into the night to get ahead or maybe the cleaners were busy on these floors getting things ready for the next day? I used to sit lost in thought wondering about the lives of those who worked there. Sometimes a light in an office would suddenly go dark, sometimes an entire floor, but always there were many that were lit. Beside the twins the big red neon Travelers Umbrella completed the scene.

After the terrorist attacks, the vibrant light-filled towers were no more. The view from that window now looked out on an alien landscape --just low buildings and no skyline. And you couldn't really see those low buildings anymore because such a layer of thick, brown dust covered the window that you could barely make out the building across the street. When I moved from that apartment in October of 2002, the window cleaners had not yet reached my floor.

The terrorist attack left not just a hole in my view but a hole in my heart. And now I am left to think of the vibrant people, the industrious young analysts, the hardworking managers, the cleaners and all the others who used to work in all those offices that at night made brightly coloured bands of light and who disappeared along with the towers. That hole is much bigger than the towers themselves.

The power of dressing datiah (religiously)

2006-09-10T14:32:00.000+03:00

Something I've noticed: when you dress in the long skirts and three-quarters length blouses that the religious girls wear people treat you nicer. They are more polite. They open doors for you, speak to you more gently, and sort of give you an all-around better treatment.

I dressed very datiah today but also stylishly so :) I wore the new 20 shek skirt from the shuk and this really fantastic silky top that is coloured a unique shade somewhere between rose and coral and that is cut in a 1940s style. It got handed down to me via my mother who wore it like 20 years ago and everytime I wear it people come up and ask "where did you get that shirt?!" Heh, I wish I knew where she got it and how I could get some more of them in the same style because it is truely awesome.

So armed with the cool and classy outfit I headed off the tres important meeting. If everyday this week goes like today has started off then this week will be as good as last week was not. I feel loved and valued. The class I'm teaching with the impossible syllabus reconciliation need (remember me breaking my head over that thing?) has been reconciled in a very favourable way --I was told they want me to go back to my syllabus and just do what I was going to do with it initially. Yay! (Hmmm now I have to figure out what exactly I was going to do :). I am definitely going to have to make a choice about the future but the choice has pretty much been made pretty easy after the meeting today. I mentioned a while back that the psych department wanted me half time. The Comm department is not happy about that because they want me full time but are willing to share me because the P of the U asked them to. Given that, however, they still want me full time and so want to work out a way where I can work a job and a half there --full time in the comm (8 courses) plus 4-5 courses in psych. Ooo la, money!! I got to see my super cool office and it has a really pretty view. It is more than twice the size of my office at NYU and I had what was considered to be a big office there (meaning larger than a closet, cos it was NYC). My office at the other place is also very nice (though not quite so big).

I need to get to work on powerpoints and then translate them into hebrew. they want me to put both english and the hebrew translation on each slide that I use to teach with in order to improve the kids' english. I can speak in english. Yes!

More media shenanigans

2006-09-09T12:42:00.000+03:00

The Sandmonkey brings to light another case of the media lying to the public. The media ran a series of pictures of a young boy crying with his "dead" mother in his arms (Lebanon of course). It hit all the news sources and the pictures of him and his mother were used in protests all over the place. So what is the problem?

The mother did not die in his arms. In fact, the mother did not die period.

She was wounded but she did not die. Now if the media had presented this as a young boy crying in grief over his wounded mother there would be no problem. But, in fact, they claimed that he was crying because his mother had just tragically died in his arms. The photographers ignored the amubulance arriving to take her to hospital and the medics working on her to stabilize her. They ignored the fact that she was alive. They did not at any time follow-up to say "oops she was wounded but managed to survive." No, they left her in the public's mind as being dead and this child motherless and orphaned.

Trust the media? No way.
But happily, despite the media's wish that it were not so, this young boy and his mother are together, happy and healthy now.

Saudia Arabia bans owning pets

2006-09-09T11:15:00.000+03:00

Claiming that pets are an evil western influence, the religious police have banned the sale of dogs and cats in Saudia Arabia.

"The ban distressed cat and dog lovers. Some have wondered why the religious police are focusing on this issue when the country has far more important challenges, such as terrorism and unemployment."

Ya know some people just have nothing better to do in their lives than to try to come up with ways to make other people's lives miserable...

Thank G-d it is Friday

2006-09-08T22:12:00.000+03:00

After an exceptionally bad week, the pinnacle of which was last night (yes the post was deleted --thanks A for the suggestion, though at this point I'm seriously considering other career options at any rate so I'm not sure I care) I had a very nice day. I met with my little cousin for lunch, treating him to the best kosher hummus place in town, which just happens to be down the street from where I live. He's been in ulpan for a month and speaks nearly as well as I do and far more confidently. I've been consoling myself, however, with the fact that he attended an intensive hebrew and jewish studies after-school program for years for modern orthodox kids (since he was 7) and so he does have a bit of an advantage. Still! He is a really neat kid though and very mature for his age and so it was fun to spend time with him.

After he managed to eat more food than I ever imagined a human being could consume (and somehow remain rail thin as he is!) and I ate enough to wish to just be rolled home, I decided that home was not so good if I was going to roll and that maybe a bit of a walk was in order. So we walked down to the beach and then along the tyelet, discussing his plans and future, politics and past, and suddenly lo, there we were nearly to Allenby street. Since I was due to stuff my face at stop #2 of the day in just an hour we parted ways with him going home and me heading to the shuk. I again had an hour to kill and was still in need of the (how is this possible?) elusive brown skirt.

I found the perfect brown skirt in a shop not too far from the shuk but it was also beyond my price range (60 sheks is just criminal I tell you! As an American or any other tourist 60 sheks is simply small change and the extreme deal of the universe--$13.34 cents to be exact in U.S. dollars --especially when it comes to not just a skirt but a skirt that is fully lined. As an Israeli, on an Israeli salary and with an Israeli overdraft it is in the realm of criminality :). I did, however, find a very nice little number that was beige, and beige lined, and _and_ with dark taupe over-lining that ties at the front --thus making a third layer triangle effect(with lace at the bottom) at the shuk for a mere 30 sheks. I bargained and pleaded my way down to 20 sheks, pointing out the small tear in the underlining close to the zipper and the (squint to see) missing stitches close to the tie on the taupe at the waist. I also found a shirt for 3 shekels (66 cents).

I will wear the skirt on sunday to a meeting that I will probably want to rant and rave about but probably will not publicly. I will wear the shirt around and about and especially if I ever find the time to return to salsa classes :)

Then it was on to the second face-stuffing of the day. You really have to love fridays! I had good company. I got to see some folks I didn't expect to see but in December will hopefully be seeing tons and tons of if they get the deal on the apartment and switch towns; I talked knitting, life, the universe and everything else with the hostess (and one of the kewlest folks I've been privileged to know so far here!). Then I really did roll myself home and have been working ever since walking in the door and feeding a horde of hungry cats within and another horde of hungry cats without.

Mitzi, by the way, heard the rattling of food being parcelled out to the others and ran all the way out to the kitchen! She is on a special wet food but I let her have a bit of the kibbles the kittens eat (much tastier than the "old-cat" kibbles Buffy and Mischa theoretically get) since she was so brave. Then I fed her the W/D wet off in the bedroom and had to fight off the kittens who are not brave but bad (BAD, I tell you, having knocked over the sole surviving plant in the apartment today while I was gone)and who want the wet food and any food any other cat might think about eating.

To a good home...

2006-09-07T14:39:00.000+03:00

A very good friend of mine sent me this and I had to share:

She noted "This would be no choice at all for Yaeli...she would choose the kitten. ;)"
LOL, she might be right...:)

The schnitzel man

2006-09-07T10:32:00.000+03:00

So last night while I was on the search for the brown skirt I encountered a very cool sight. Coming out of a side entrance from Dizengoff Center I saw a cluster of maybe 18 cats all milling around on the little strip of green with some of them being quite verbal. Seeing large quantities of street cats milling around is, sadly, not a very unusual sight here. But these cats were gathered together for a reason. And these cats did not have the guant, haunted and hunted look of the average street cat. I didn't notice at first the balding man in his early 50s with the bicycle and small set of newspapers in front basket. The cats were certainly noticing and, as more streaked across the street to join the throng I took a glance back to my left. From a large plastic trashbag this man was pulling out big handfuls of long strips of cooked meat and carefully laying them in piles on equally carefully laid out newspaper on the ground. The cats were in ecstacy. I had to go back several steps in order to tell this mensch thank you for his good deed.

We had a short and pleasant exchange as he continued to unfold sheets of newsprint and lay them carefully on the ground before depositing more piles of food. "I do this every evening," he told me, "I feed these and three other groups. Every evening and good quality food, they are getting schnitzel." He was obviously proud of what he was doing and also obviously very happy that someone noticed and bothered to thank him for his good deed. It turns out that he works in a butcher shop and every evening he brings home the meat that, while still good, is past the point where it can legally be put out for customers the next day. He takes it home, cooks it, puts it in a large plastic bag, gathers up the day's newspapers he's finished reading and heads out to feed the cats. He started with just feeding a mother and her kittens close to his home but soon the other strays in the neighborhood started arriving. Then he started noticing the other needy cats on his route to work and day by day their plight bothered him more and more as he saw how "his little group" were thriving...so now he has his cat route. This modest, quiet, hardworking man is a Mensch with a very capital M.

2006-09-07T01:07:00.000+03:00

So today I went to sign my lease. At the office the lawyer started trying to change around the agreement even as I was putting my initials on the first page. "Well you know since you are paying with checks every month I am concerned and feel that you need to double the guarantee you have with the bank." Me, "no." He continues in this vein and so I put down the pen, looked at him and said, "Apartments in Beer Sheva are an eighth of the cost, they are four times as big, my university will cover 80% of my rent if I live there, and they are plentifully available. I am willing to sign this agreement as it is or move to Beer Sheva. Which will it be?" Un_f*ing-believable. Of course he backed down, I signed, she signed. Then I was stuck having coffee with the landlady and hearing about how lonely she is. At that point I was very uncharitably thinking, "there is a reason for that" but I do feel sorry for her. She spent half the time in the office with the lawyer trying to get him to do something to prosecute the people in her building who are trying to stop her from feeding the cats outside and who have been taking up the food as soon as she puts it down, dumping out the water she leaves for them and who planted wall-to-wall cactuses on the grounds to keep the cats away. So she is a pain in the tachat but she does have a good heart.

Before the lawyer meeting I did a ton of email and slogged through two thesis proposals making changes and suggestions. Sadly I have many more to go through and they all need attending to pretty much immediately. Along with all the data analyses I still have lined up for the students not to mention getting my hands on the data they collected via a website and for which my admin access doesn't work. they need the data to finish their papers by the end of this month. All the kids affected are calling and writing. Ahhhhhh.

From the lawyer and coffee meeting I had an hour to kill before meeting up with some kewl-o bloggers who have become very good friends. I really need a brown skirt along the tiered prairie style that is quite "in" now because it can function well professionally and just kicking around, they are fantastically cool in this heat (I'm pretty much living in skirts) but ze brown can go right through the winter, and it is perfect for wearing when I have to go to J-town and don't wish to be spit upon by a Haredi lunatic. [Note: obviously not all haredim are lunatics but having been spit upon by one that was I'm taking no chances] Alas, I did not find a brown skirt (at least not within my budget) but did find a great white one on sale for 29 sheks and a pair of white pants with the wide legs but cropped at calf-length for the same price and talked the guy down to giving me the pair for 40 sheks. Can't beat that with a stick!

Then it was off to a relaxing, fun and funny evening. LOL, and there are some reminders you don't like to get. So I'm telling the story of my childhood flirtation with mormonism and how the mormon missionaries nearly got me by claiming close friendship with Donny Osmond and the three little whippersnappers at the table pipe up with confused looks...Donny who? Lisa and I exchanged looks and moaned at the same time "Oh my g-d I feel so old!" Well, ha, we don't look old, so there.

And sadly Lisoosh, I am not three people. I only wish I were three people (especially if one of 'em was whippersnapper age *grin*) because I get so very little done of the huge mountain of things that need to get done and that people are constantly screaming for and about. LOL, I'd also like to get three people's salaries hmmmmmmm have they got that cloning thing down yet....? :)

P.S. Mitzi ventured out of the "office" and into the bedroom last night. Sadly she woke me up when she shrieked and hissed when a small kitten decided to check out who this strange creature was coming past the bed. Then, because she'd climbing under the bed and up between a box and the mattress I couldn't get back in the bed (without squishing her) and had to wait a half an hour for her to emerge and shoot back to the safety of the office. She is getting braver though!

And the answer is...

2006-09-06T11:00:00.000+03:00

An excellent article that appeared in The Irish Times begins:

Conflicts in the Middle East frequently pose awkward questions. Rory Miller and Alan Shatter ask some more ...

Now that a ceasefire in Lebanon has been agreed there will, no doubt, be numerous inquests and questions asked about the month-long Lebanon war. So here's some we would like to ask.

Which country invaded its neighbour in mid-2006 in order to, as they put it, “crush” Islamists threatening regional stability?

Which country killed an estimated 500 people in a week when its artillery began bombarding its long-time guerrilla enemy in late July 2006, causing mass displacement and suffering?

If you think the answer is Israel, you guessed wrong.

So nu find out what the answer is and read the rest of this extremely good article!

One of those weeks

2006-09-04T23:06:00.000+03:00

I should just have stayed in bed after Shabbat. I thought yesterday was bad but today managed to be worse. If tomorrow continues this trend I am just going to climb back into bed and stay there til next week.

So my Internet connection went down. At 7 a.m. when I got up to begin frantically finishing the syllabi that needed to be sent off it was already down. This meant I could not work on the syllabi nor send them anywhere. I figured it was the regular hot modem problem and so unplugged it for awhile while I had coffee, fed cats, and then called to pay my electric bill. I was so impressed with myself that this time it only took me 15 minutes to figure out the phone menu and then explain what I needed to do and do it b'ivrit. This happy feeling did not last long.

The internet was well and truely down and so I began the process of figuring out what was wrong. I tried all the standard things and quickly discovered I needed to call someone. The question was just who was at fault --Bezeq with whom I have the phone service or 012 with with whom I have the Internet service. I started with Bezeq. It took me much longer to make my way through their menu, get a person, get put on hold ...and then get disconnected. Twice. Finally I reached someone who kept on the line with me. Of course they spoke no english. My techie hebrew is practically nil but after about an hour of us trying different things he tells me that nu, it is obviously 012s problem. So on to 012. 012 has an english menu and I nearly fainted with happiness to reach someone who could talk tech b'englit. Only they couldn't really. After trying a bunch of different things he passed me off to another helper who was truely awesome and spoke fantastic english. But, we discovered, another hour later that it appeared the problem was at Bezeq.

Hadn't I been there before?! So back to Bezeq. This time I got a guy who definitely spoke no english and who quickly informed me that "Well, Aya, it doesn't work because your service has been disconnected." WHAT? Why has it been disconnected and it's Yael. "Well, Aya, you owe us 1307 shekels and so we disconnected you." Wait, wait, wait. I am on the automated payment plan. I am also not Aya. I am Yael. I should owe you zip. He re-checks things. You started your service in January ...no I started in November. He hmmms and then says that Aya somebody or another requested the automated payments to stop and so they stopped many months ago and I now owe them a wad of cash. It is a good thing I was calling on the cell or I would have strangled myself on the phone cord in frustration. I won't go into the bitching I did at that point. I can say that frustration or no my hebrew degenerates as exhaustion kicks in and I did not bitch nearly as effectively as I would have liked. The upshot is that Aya's phone number and mine are a digit off or something and so when she called they applied accidentally to my account. So ok, I owe the money. Great I can break the payments over a period of 6 months. Happiness is. I whip out the brand new "you can make tashlomim payments on this puppy" card that I just picked up yesterday at the bank and give him the info. I set it up so I am also back on automated payments as well. Great yes? BUT ...now you have to call 012 because since we disconnected you they have to do something also to reconnect you. Ahhhhhhhh.

012 it again. They check. Something is still not right over at Bezeq. Super kewl 012 guy #2 keeps me on the line and calls Bezeq and talks to girl who speaks no english. He translates back that my card has rejected the payments. How can my card have rejected the payments? It is brand new! It hasn't had a chance to hit its limit which is 4000 sheks above the cost of this wad of cash that was supposed to go on it. She then calls the card company but they won't tell her why they are denying it. So, nearly in tears at this point, I say fine put it all on the "take me directly out of the account right now in one lump" card. She does. Then he does something on his end and I am theoretically good to go. In fact, I check and we are up and running.

I leap into the shower and take 5 minutes to get ready and then run out of the house to go and meet with Andrew from Ireland with whom I am supposed to meet at 1. It is 12:30 and, save the 5 minute shower, I had been on the phone since 8 a.m. I still have to hit the bank first for cash (ha, like there is any left --sad thing to be in your overdraft on day 3 of the month) and to find out what is up with this card. I run in and there is someone with the woman who gave me the card and another woman waiting. the woman waiting sees me hovering and notes that she is next. I am Israeli now. I smile, shrug and say "I just have a quick question, they gave me a card earlier and it doesn't work." Then before the woman can do anything and as the guy is starting to get his things together I wave the card and plead "it doesn't work!" Of course I'm instructed to sit down ahead the other woman who complains but is waved away. YES. We attempt to call Bezeq to see if we can get the payment changed to this card as she sits and listens but she accidentally calls the electric company. We discover this after sitting there listening to the instructions to please have savlanut (patience) for 5 minutes. I was hmm I paid them today too. Then she gets bezeq but unfortunately I don't have the bill with the phone number on it. We hang up. I am to come back tomorrow with the bill and we will go through this again and find out what is up with the card.

I meet with Andrew, rush to another meeting right after, come home and...no Internet. 45 minutes later we discover that somebody noted that the first payment had not gone through and disconnected me not realizing that it had already been paid...dear g-d, give me savlanut or a very large stick.

Between then and now I have been frantically working on the syllabi and ignoring the 14 calls from students who are no doubt pissed off that I haven't sent them any of the things I said I would send them (data analyses, comments on proposals, comments on life in general, you name it and they wanted it and I stupidly told them all they'd have it by today). Well, ahem. They can just get some savlanut themselves.

Ya win some ya ...wait until tomorrow to win

2006-09-04T00:17:00.000+03:00

Many thanks for all the kol ha'kavods on dealing with the landlady and the landlady's lawyer. Here are how things stand so far (we'll see how they still stand on Wednesday...): my rent is not going up, I can pay monthly, and (because the bank wouldn't give it to me til after I sign the contract at any rate) I can wait to extend the bank guarantee until after I sign the contract. She is not fixing anything. Alas. But on the other hand, the shekel to dollar ratio has, of course, changed since I first paid out the rent and if I were to pay the U.S. rate in shekels today my rent actually would go up by about 20 bucks a month compared to where it was --so they are going to divide the amount of shekels I paid last year by 12 and that is what I am paying each month. So I actually do kinda save :)

It is strange that I can go for weeks without having a yell-out with anyone and then will have an entire day of everyone being entirely unreasonable and so yelling and kvetching my lungs out. Today was one of those days. My bank assistant, who is usually all sun-shiny smiles and very nice to me was in a black mood. She did smile nicely at me at the beginning (though I saw her expression between me and the previous customer and knew she was no happy camper). Smiles disappeared nearly instantaneously once she discovered I wanted to do more than just pick up my checks and new credit card. We then had the argument over the bank guarantee which she wouldn't do without the new contract. I was telling her he wouldn't give me the new damn contract without the guarantee. I was obviously sitting here in a catch-22. Her answer: so move to another apartment. So then I called the lawyer sitting right there in front of her and she was saying "no I am not talking to him" but I didn't need her to talk to him I just said look this woman is being unreasonable and refusing to give me the guarantee without the contract...she yelled a few things in my direction that I didn't understand but maybe he did because he backed down and said "he trusted me" to get the guarantee after the contract.

About 2 minutes later while signing all the things I needed to sign to pick up said checks and credit card, the lawyer called back and made the offer of the exchange rate deal. So, since I was sitting right there in the bank I thought I'd better check to make sure he was giving me the straight story and actually offering me something nice (rather than screwing me over and actually making me pay more) and so asked the today-not-nice bank assistant to check the rates for me. This time she was nice and, while he could hear every word she checked for me and lambasted lawyers as crooks, sheisters and worse. She confirmed, however, it was a good deal. When I left the bank she was screaming like a banshee at a co-worker about another co-worker and I'm assuming this other co-worker was why she was not her usually nice self.

So then I had another encounter with a usually nice person who was, uh, not. From the bank I went to the ulpan to sign up for classes. It was afternoon and so there was the usually nice secretary (as opposed to the wicked witch of the west who works in the mornings). She was also not having a good day. At that point, neither was I.

Gila was supposed to be teaching a daled class in the evenings. They scrapped the daled and she is teaching Gimel again. Ok, so yofi, so long as I am in her class I'm happy. But I also want to take a lower level course so I can speak and not be intimidated. Here is where the third yelling match of the day occurred. I tell the secretary I want to take a Bet class also. She tells me no, I'm too advanced. I tell her obviously I'm not too advanced because I can't speak to save my life. She tells me I speak just fine. I argue that no I don't. She argues that yes I do and haven't made a single mistake since I walked through the door. I argue that it is only because I'm having a really bad day and am too upset to think. She says that makes no sense because if I was too upset I'd be making mistakes. I argue that no when I am upset I seem to have no problems but I am usually not upset and so have many problems and so put me in the damn Bet class. Just_write_down_my_name. She argues again that I speak just fine and then says "and anyway the Bet and the Gimmel are at the same time and so you'd have to choose and I won't put you in the Bet."

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh. Like she couldn't have told me this before. So very carefully and through clenched teeth I tell her fine put me in whatever class meets on the other two evenings of the week (these would, of course, be alephs and aleph pluses). Gasp and shock "Oh mamash lo." Fine. I left with my little gimmel card. Tomorrow in the morning I am going to go in and see the bona-fide wicked witch and get her to sign me up for an aleph plus. HA. I will win, yes I will.

Moving...?

2006-09-03T12:47:00.000+03:00

I am supposed to renew my rental contract on Wednesday for another year. The lawyer just called and said that since I want to pay by the month (you know like a normal person) instead of in cash up front for the whole year that the rent is going to be an additional $50 a month. He tried to give me some song and dance about how I was getting a discount by having paid in advance and I called bullshit on that because I am paying what it was advertised for. He tried to tell me that paying the full year in advance was the norm and I called bullshit on that too. I got very Israeli agressive and yelled and bitched about everything from the broken refridgerator to the broken air conditioners and broken oven and told him fine, I'd be glad to move out and moving out is not a problem for me in the least so let's just cancel the meeting for Wednesday ...He did not expect that. He suggested I call Chava and talk to her. I did. She said oh because she loves me so much she's willing to keep it the same...she is talking to the lawyer. I am going to call him back. If it stays the same, fine I will stay here (I really really don't want to move but I ain't telling them that). So we'll see what happens...

The Rally for Our Kidnapped Soldiers

2006-09-03T12:01:00.000+03:00

Waiting for the rally to begin. It started about 45 minutes late. We got there right on time (7:30) and easily made our way to the very front. Hordes of people were hanging out in cafes and such waiting for it to start before coming, however, as when the first speaker, Rabbi Meir Lau (the youngest child survivor of the Buchenwald Concentration camp) began to speak a veritable flood of people began streaming up Ibn Givrol into the Square and packing the broad avenues around it. We at the front were soon packed in like sardines. All the pictures below, save the last were taken prior to the start because I'm short and I was too squished to get good ones during the speeches and the musicians who performed in honour of Gilad, Eldad and Ehud. I should note that Ron Arad was also not forgotten in the calls for the release of the soldiers.
Not forsaking our soldiers. This little boy holds a sign reading "Return the boys to our borders"The religious and the secular were united for this cause We made our way toward the back of the square as the rally was nearing its end and I took a picture forward of the stage and crowd. A show of unity.

In the midst of battle, surrounded by terrorists: Video

2006-09-02T13:21:00.000+03:00

If you haven't seen this video yet, it is seriously worth a watch. Lisa of On the Face has this 25 minute video of the Nahal brigade as it goes into a village at night and encounters terrorists from Hezbollah there. The journalist who took the video was imbedded with the unit and you can see how difficult the conditions are for the Israeli soldiers --the terrorists are hiding in a house filled with ammunition and explosives and worse, the terrorists are dressed in full Israeli uniforms. As members of the unit go into the house they are unaware that "anyone is home" until they are attacked inside. It is one of the most nerve-wracking 25 minutes I've spent as I was watching this.

If you want to see what our soldiers were facing in Lebanon, watch this video!

(And as Lisa points out, all these are young men in their late 20s and early 30s who are reservists called up from their civilian life --in other words, they are civilians who have been called up in an emergency situation).

What a day!

2006-09-01T00:50:00.000+03:00

I have to much to write about and am so tired! So tomorrow I'll fill everyone in on the big rally held tonight to show support for and to demand the release of our kidnapped soldiers. I'll have a bunch of pictures too if any of them came out. I love my little digital camera but it doesn't deal with night scenes but some of them should have come out (hope hope!). They announced on the stage that there were 50,000 people in attendance --I think it was less than that, more like around 40-45,000 but then again it is hard to tell when you are "in the crowd."

I dealt with students non-stop this morning (am seriously thinking of changing my cell phone number or getting a second cell phone). Then I finally got myself over to the hospital administrative place to pay my 35 shekels to get a copy of the forms that I need to get the form 17 before I get sued. Actually, I am already being sued. To stop the suing process. Heh. Remember waaaaayyy back last October when I broke my collarbone falling down the stairs and had the great medical experience? Then remember when they called me in like March, told me I needed to go get form 17 and left me with a number to call back in case of problems? And then how after hours waiting to get the form I was told I needed additional forms and the number they gave me was bogus and I then spent (quite literally) 3-4 hours a day for nearly a week trying to find out how to get (and what to get) the papers I needed to get the form 17....before finally giving up. I figured they'd call me back. Instead they sent a letter telling me I'm being sued. Happily they also gave information about exactly what I needed and (miracle of miracles!) exactly where to go to get it. Unhappily, they don't actually keep the hours they claim...But today they were where they said they would be, they were nice (yes, actually really quite nice, with each of the 3 people who'd helped me get to the person who really helped me stopping me on my way out, asking was everything ok and wishing me a good week. Made me feel bad for all the evil thoughts I'd sent in their direction on Sunday when I got there and found they'd changed their hours in the week since they'd sent the letter... heh.

Picked up more food for Mitzi. Discovered a new addiction --iced (frozeny) coffee from Aroma Cafe. Then came home and worked some Miss Clairol magic cos I'd been missing Miss Clairol since early June and there ain't nothing worse than a half-blonde. Then to the pre-rally meet-up with some extremely kewl bloggers (more on that tomorrow as well), the rally, and then getting fed an amazing meal in an apartment (of a set of the bloggers) that left my tongue hanging on the ground. I mean people, they even have a dishwasher (meaning they have room for a dishwasher!!)and their apartment is like twice the size of mine, walk-in closet, right close to Dizengoff Center, with a jacuzzi built in, HUGE kitchen, beeeaaauuuutiful (and they have seriously excellent taste with the furnishings) and less than $100 more than what I pay. I have to say though that the people in the apartment were even kewler than the apartment itself.

Me, I came home to find what used to be a newly unwrapped paper towel roll er scattered through my apartment in pieces the size of practically microscopic. (Michie, yes, Matan is indeed the devil himself still! And he now has little assistants --cos trust me this was no one-cat job!)

And finally, in an article reported by YNET several experts who are representatives of armoured vehicle makers took a look at the photos of the supposed hit on the Reuters news van by an Israeli missile and cast their ruling:

experts from Inkas Armored Vehicle Manufacturing and First Defense International Group, both armored vehicle manufacturers, told the Confederate Yankee blog that photographs of the damaged jeep were not consistent with the Reuters claim.

Read the Ynet article here and the Confederate Yankee post here.

And there really is a very good article over on Confederate Yankee looking at Joe Kennedy's relationship with Hitler's Third Reich and his views titled "Not the way we remember it".
More tomorrow with pics!

Very nice article

2006-08-31T14:57:00.000+03:00

A new blog, Insert Clever Reference has an excellent article up titled "Trouble in Reuters-ville" examining the reports on the recent war in Lebanon by the media and takes an in-depth look at the reporting of one Reuters journalist in particular. The article starts off

Apparently, journalism schools in the UK teach differently than their other Western counterparts. It seems their classes on propaganda are not so much about its role in past history, but its role in the present. And their lectures not so much cautionary tales as 'how-to' seminars.

The editors at Reuters must have done very well at University, indeed. They have selected material not only from their best propaganda photographers, but also from their diverse "freelance" writing staff to bring about a "unique" view of the world.

It is a truly excellent piece and well worth a read.
For instance, ICR examines one of the articles written by this journalist and notes "This one is rather amazing to read. You can read it here. Ms. Noueihed goes on for three pages about Israeli attacks and the UN and blah blah for three pages before giving one line of coverage to the attacks of the day by Hezbollah, "Hezbollah launched rocket attacks on Haifa on Sunday, killing eight people in its deadliest strike on Israel." One line.

Not to be diverted from her stream of thought, Ms. Noueihed then writes, "Israel's campaign in Lebanon followed the launch of its offensive in the Gaza Strip on June 28 to try to retrieve another captured soldier and halt Palestinian rocket fire." What kind of revisionist history is this? Israel's "campaign in Lebanon" followed a cross-border incursion, the killing of six Israeli soldiers and the taking of two hostages; having nothing to do with Gaza. While they followed chronologically, it's like saying "The United States invasion of Japan followed its succession from England.""

My favourite part: Actually hrm I can't decide cos it is all good!
Go read :)

Wonderful Amazing People!

2006-08-31T01:18:00.000+03:00

What have you done?! I am so overwhelmed. There are very few times, as people who know me can attest, that I am just at a complete loss for words. I am at that point now. I cannot express my gratitude and amazement for the generosity of spirit that I have witnessed today within just a few hours of putting up the donation button for help with the critter care. I am just totally at a loss for words with my thanks.

So you want to know what you have done?! I'll tell you exactly what you have done, you wonderful. Awesome. Amazing. People, you.

You have totally covered the vet bills for Mitzi, not just the ones from when I brought her in last week and the medicines that she's needed so far but also the ones that will come due when she goes back in next week for her shots and her follow-up care.
Here is Mitzi coming out of hiding under the desk. She is still extremely shy and frightened but will let me pet her so long as I do not try to pick her up.
And here she is enjoying her little food. You can see how very, very skinny she has gotten since Dov and Chana moved away --and she has already been a week on A/D wet food 4 times a day to boost her weight and immune system --and her lovely, long, fluffy fur is all matted and dull. It will be a bit of time before I will be able to win her trust enough to bathe her but she definitely needs it. The marking on her nose is actually a large scab. The vet thinks that she cut her nose up trying to extricate herself from whatever caught (and cut off) two of her toes from her back foot. I haven't been able to get her to let me take the tape off her front leg from where she had the IV but it is just tape and not covering a wound.Mitzi (and her food) has drawn quite an audience. The little boys (Matan, the biggest, Arye and Gingi) are quite interested in the newest household addition. I've kept this glass door open for several hours a day so she can come out if she wants but having it open frightens her and makes her go into hiding and it is always closed when I feed her to make her feel safe. With a wild bunch like this wanting to meet her, I don't blame her! One day soon, I hope, she will venture out into the rest of the apartment.

You guys have not just helped Mitzi though. You have also covered the cost of the de-worming that Marzipan has just had, plus his tests for FIV and FLV, plus kitten shots and then booster that will begin in about 2 weeks, plus his neutering! Little Marzipan was nearly squish beneath a bulldozer at the construction zone two doors down (twas a very close call!) and spent only a couple of weeks with me but now he has a wonderful home with Noorster --an awesome olah chaddasha with a very big heart for little fluffy critters. (As a good rescuer I, of course, promised his basic care of spaying and kitten shots and if you've heard about where this poor child works you know that taking him in isn't an easy thing on her budget!)

Not only that and that is more than enough. You guys have also covered the cost of food for the outside kitties for a whole month and maybe a bit more!

Awesome, wonderful, kind, generous people. My heart is so full and my words are so inadequate in thanking you. But thank you. Thank you again.

Help Yael Care for the Animals of Tel Aviv

2006-08-30T12:19:00.000+03:00

After much trial there is now tribulation. To all of the really wonderful folks who have left comments and written me emails asking how they can help with the feeding, spaying and neutering, medical care, and so forth of the little animals abandoned on the streets of Tel Aviv, I've now got a donation account set up through paypal. Any help you can give is very greatly appreciated by both me and the many, many critters!

Help Yael Care for the Animals of Tel Aviv!
Donation button on the sidebar just above my links

Hrm when I attempted to have the button on the page in the post here clicking on it sent me to an error page but the button that is on the sidebar right under my profile works and takes you to the place where donation info can be filled out. Anyone have an idea why the button when placed in a post and with the exact same coding doesn't work?

And Reminder: Rally for Our Kidnapped Soldiers
Thursday, 7 p.m.
Kikar Rabin, Tel Aviv
Be there or be a squirrel!
***Israeli bloggers: some of us are meeting up prior to the rally at 6:15 at the coffee bean and tea leaf (on Ivn Givrol just down from the square--er to the north of the square) and thought it would be fun if we all went together to have a "blogging bloc" representation at the rally :) This is a cool opportunity to meet your fellow bloggers and show your support for the kidnapped troops at the same time! Hope to see ya there!

Ambulances for Jihad

2006-08-29T23:43:00.000+03:00

VENT Ambulances for Jihad

Michelle Malkin and Hotair ask that readers watch this video [for my regular readers this is new and has a ton of must-see video and material in it dealing with use of ambulances to transport terrorists and explosives] and then send the url for it along to the following three media outlets who reported the ambulance story uncritically (ITV had the most egregious coverage as you will see if you watch their report below) and seek a response:

ITV News (see their biased video report here) - Contact info here. Email: dutyoffice-at-itv.com

Time magazine (their article here)- Contact info here. Email letters-at-time.com

The Boston Globe (article here) - Contact info here. Ombudsman email - ombud-at-globe.com.

If you have a blog, blog it! Send it to friends, send it to enemies. You can send to your local media too and make them aware of this. Go viral with it!

Australian FM angry over faked "news" from Lebanon

2006-08-29T22:03:00.000+03:00

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer is standing firm on his comments yesterday slamming the media over its coverage of the Lebanon conflict.

Speaking in Brisbane, Mr Downer criticised local and international media for sloppy reporting and failing to check facts.

In particular, he singled out the London-based Reuters news agency over an incident in which a photographer deliberately manipulated a digital image so that the effects of an Israeli bombing raid over Beirut were exaggerated.

The news agency later admitted the alteration, quickly withdrew the image from circulation and the photographer, a stringer, was sacked.

But journalists’ reporting of the conflict also came under fire from the Foreign Minister.

He accused “some of the world’s most prestigious media outlets” of falling for a hoax in their reporting of an alleged aerial attack on a Lebanese Red Cross ambulance by Israel.

“After closer study of the images of the damage to the ambulance, it is beyond serious dispute that this episode has all the makings of a hoax,” Mr Downer said.

“Yet some of the world’s most prestigious media outlets, including some of those represented here today (Monday), ran that story as fact - unchallenged, unquestioned.”

Yes, finally!!! Now let's see if anyone in the Mainstream Media will pick this up or will they conveniently pretend that this never happened? I mean they are so good at presenting things that actually never happened not presenting this should be a shoe-in for them!

Tagged and other things

2006-08-29T20:03:00.000+03:00

I've been tagged for a meme and, while I generally refuse to do these things, cos I got asked so nice and by a kewl blogger I didn't even know was blogging until now, I'm gonna do (but don't anyone else go gettin' any meme ideas :). First however, an important reminder for Israelis which you will see at the top of every post until after Thursday:

Rally for Our Kidnapped Soldiers
Thursday, 7 p.m.
Kikar Rabin, Tel Aviv
Be there or be a squirrel!

So the meme is about books. I like books and I hope to one day have the time to actually read one again...

1. Name one book that changed your life:
The Chosen, by Chaim Potok

2. One book you've read more than once:
This one is so not fair and so I'm going to prove I'm a real Israeli and a real stubborn southerner and ignore the rules. My philosophy is that any book worth reading once is worth reading more than once. I will therefore limit myself to those I have read a bajillion times and not those I've only re-read a couple times.

Every winter when it gets cold and blustery I set myself up with pots of hot tea and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin. Every winter. I also read the Lord of the Rings trilogy along with The Hobbit about every 2-3 years as well as Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier (I would also read Jamaica Inn by the same author that often but lost my copy about 8 years ago. Sob.) and Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I've read the entire series of The Wheel of Time every 2 or so years in preparation for the new one that will come out --sadly and happily the final book (12) will come out in like a year. And Robert Jordan better be planning a final book of several thousand pages because that is about how many loose ends he needs to tie up to finish the series!

3. One book you'd want on a desert island:
This meme is evil! Only one?? Would I be getting off this desert island soon I hope?? I'm tempted to say War and Peace or Anna Karenina (both by Tolstoy) simply for length but it would be depressing enough to be stuck on a desert island with reading material that makes you feel like drowning yourself. [both are excellent books but, uh yeah, stay away from sharp objects while reading]. So, if stuck on a desert island I'd probably go with The Plague by Albert Camus (yeah ok, also depressing but ya know what to do?).

4. One book that made you laugh:
Again cheating it! Here are my top three: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Tool (you will roll on the floor); The Village of Stepanchikovo by Fyodor Dostoevsky, and whichever of the books from the All Creatures Great and Small series by James Herriot that has the episode about the crazy (shitting) cat that got loose in the car with James and Tristan. I thought I would die laughing.

5. One book that made you cry:
Oy. Many but I'm only going to list one because I cry every time I open it. I Never Saw Another Butterfly, Children's Drawings and Poems From Terezin Concentration Camp. My mother got me this when I was maybe 13 (Ema when?) and it has had a huge emotional impact on me.

6. One book you wish you'd written:
Watership Down by Richard Adams. Love this book, love this book!

7. One book you wish had never been written:
Anything by William Faulkner. Take your pick.

8. One book you're currently reading:
Harry Potter and the Secret Chamber (book 2) in hebrew. I've already read the series up to date in english and in german so now...Also reading Oto Ha'yam by Amos Oz but that is way slooooooow going and Point of a Needle (חוד הכישור) by Robeen Makinley (??) also in hebrew.

9. One book you've been meaning to read:
Argh, I can't remember the title but I have it somewhere in my apartment and it was recommended to me by Jameel at the Muqata and if it had an english title I'd have a chance of a snowball in hell of remembering but since it doesn't and isn't...Jameel??!!

10. Tag five people:
This is totally evil because every time I've tagged people in these things they never behave and I'm going to probably die from all the non-compliance behavior out there but here goes:

Nominally Challenged
Savta Dotty
Noorster
Katrina Yellow
Shalom Israel

Oh dear oh dear, fake news reports from Gaza

2006-08-29T01:14:00.000+03:00

Here's a heads' up *folks in Gaza, the West Bank, and Hezbollah (the latter for the next time you attack and cause a war): bloggers are on to you. This means that, while the Mainstream Media (MSM) might be more than willing to publish and hawk your fake stories, you will be caught out. And here's a further heads up to both you and the MSM: more people are finding out about the fakery through the blogs that then "go viral" than see the original reports by the MSM. So you will be caught in lies. And the more you lie the more people will not believe you when you tell the truth. People are already thinking of you as the "little boy who called wolf."

The latest lie: Israelis hit a (clearly marked --thus on purpose) reuters news van with two missiles and injured the two news members.

How do we know this is a lie? Well Allah, Little Green Footballs, Jawa, Powerline and others are all over this story --and when they get their teeth into something they can bite on, believe me it is a story (or lie) worth biting. To get some confirmation that this is a lie being pablum fed to the unwary, check out the pictures and the reports on the (false) claimshere here and here and here and here and...yes there are more.

Oh and LFG has discovered that the only picture that has been pulled from the official Red Cross Site is the high resolution picture of the ambulance that theoretically was hit by an israeli missile in Lebanon: but they are a bit too late to attempt a cover-up because we already know from Zombietime's extensive report that this too was a staged event that did not happen. And LGF, at the link above, was astute enough to have saved a copy of the high res photo so it can still be viewed and conclusions drawn.

So the message to Pallywood, Hezbollywood, and the MSM that promotes them is this: either get a whole lot slicker with your lies or just don't tell them. Me, I'm voting for the latter but hey...

*Obviously I'm not talking to the average citizen in Gaza and the West Bank for they are as much victims of these shenanigans as the other viewers around the world. And in fact, they are much greater victims of it, for they believe these reports and this fuels their anger, discontent, sense of victimhood, and makes them ripe fodder for the extremist elements.

Refreshing breath of air

2006-08-28T16:06:00.000+03:00

If you haven't been over to Free Cedar in a while (or ever) and you want to have your faith and hope for humanity restored, pop over and read the latest post there. The author of the blog Free Cedar has really earned my respect in so many ways. Through-out all of this madness in the last couple of months the posts, the tone, the call for clear and rational thought and debate, and the empathy for all involved has not waivered. I wish my own thoughts and tenor could remain so grounded.

Rally for the release of our kidnapped soldiers

2006-08-28T15:18:00.000+03:00

Ok, I'm reading everywhere that there is going to be a rally on Thursday for the release of our kidnapped soldiers in the square. Nowhere, however, can I find a time that it will take place. I'm supposed to be in Beer Sheva on Thursday but consider attendance at this rally important enough to shift meetings about and possibly re-schedule entirely. But when on Thursday? If anyone has the goods on that could ya please email me or leave in the comments? :)

Many thanks!

For Israelis:
Update: Thursday, 7pm, Kikar Rabin, Rally for our Kidnapped Soldiers. Be there or be a squirrel!

Tamir wants more Arab-Israelis in National Service

2006-08-28T13:16:00.000+03:00

Yuli Tamir has just announced a new proposal:

Education minister launches new project in which she aspires to integrate Arab sector into national service, which usually serves as an alternative volunteer framework for religious sector instead of military service

Hmmmm maybe I should go into politics since my proposals seem to be right in line...nahhh cos then I'd have to spend my blog space griping, yelling and complaining at myself. It is far more fun and comfortable to kvetch about others :)

On the Gaza Border

2006-08-28T11:53:00.000+03:00

Michael J. Totten is showing his mettle again, this time going down to the border of Gaza and reporting back on what things are like down there. He is reporting on what things are like on the Israeli side of the border (yeah, you know there is an Israeli side of the border, people live there, and things do happen there (like rockets falling and exploding)--not that you'd know that from mainstream media's coverage of anything dealing with Gaza). Michael has posted part 1 of an already excellent piece showing what he saw and heard. He's got a lot of pictures up so you can see too. Highly recommended.

(Yes Savta, I did mean mettle and not metal! heh thanks for pointing out the bad spelling on my part!)

Wow, I think I saw a pig fly by

2006-08-27T21:51:00.000+03:00

Check this out, did you ever think you'd hear this coming out of a Hamas spokesperson's mouth?

Soul searching in Hamas. Dr Ghazi Hamad, the spokesperson of the Palestinian government, waged scathing criticism against the Palestinian public on Sunday, blaming the Palestinians for turning the Gaza Strip into a lawless and violent place....

He actually comes out and says that "the occupation" isn't responsible for all their problems --well like, yeah dude, Gaza was like unoccupied for a whole year and things were made far worse since we left than when we were occupying there in the months immediately following the pull-out and before you decided to elect terrorists and bring on an embargo of aid. He goes on

"We didn't succeed in preserving the victory of liberating Gaza. 500 people died in the Strip since the withdrawal, as opposed to 3-4 Israelis killed by rockets. The reality in Gaza today is one of neglect, sadness, and failure. When someone errs we are scared to criticize him to avoid being accused of being against the resistance,"

"When efforts are made to open the Rafah border crossing to ease the humanitarian crisis, there is always someone who fires a rocket on the crossing. When we speak about a truce, there is always someone who fires another rocket."...

And a second pig definitely flew by today when Nasrallah admitted that if he'd had any idea about what the Israeli reaction would be he would never have ordered the kidnapping of our two soldiers.

So I've seen two pigs fly by. I'm waiting for the cow with wings ...hmmm think Olmert might oblige by coming out and stating what we already know "I, Ehud Olmert, am an idiot" ? Yeah, I'm greedy, I want a whole zoo full of animals taking to the air.

Update:
Oooo flying dog: Al Queda website condemns the "infidel Hizbullah" and "the most corrupted regimes of Syria and Iran."

And the Sandmonkey has spotted a giraffe lifting off of the runway as he reports:

it's not only the sunnis or the christians in the south who are raging at Hezbollah, it's now some of the lebanese Shia clergy are angry as well. Ali Ameen, the mufti of Sour and Jabal Amin has issued declartaions to Al Nahar newspaper, where he critisized Hezbollah calling people who want it to disarm traitors, and is rejecting the idea that they have a monopoly on Lebanon's Shia or that they act based upon their consent.

The Slum Landlord

2006-08-27T21:35:00.000+03:00

I have finally relocated the phone number of the slum landlord I had for my last apartment in New York. Sadly, although I have been looking for it with off and on frantic urgency for the last two months, I did not find it through searches for it today. No, I found it while retrieving a cat toy from under the sofa for a whiny "I really am still just a baby" kitten. And there, under the sofa, was the little slip of paper, partly chewed on (obviously by the now "I can't even try to claim baby kitty status" Matan) but still legible. I clutched onto it like it was gold, as indeed it is, and ran for my phone.

He answered on the first ring and after identifying myself he asked so how are you?
"I'd be much better if I'd ever received my deposit back from the apartment I moved out of a YEAR ago" was my very tart reply. Because you see, despite numerous phone calls across an ocean my very hefty deposit has never been re-deposited into my now in the red bank account in New York. And it is so unkewl to be in the red in two different countries, let me tell you. It is particularly unkewl to be in the red in the country that you slaved yourself to death in to leave the apartment spotlessly clean and in better condition than I moved into it (which would not have been hard, trust me) in order to get said hefty deposit back which should have kept the checks that went bouncy-bounce from doing so.

He promised it will go in the bank tomorrow and tried to blame it on his boss. Whatever. It has been a year. It better go in tomorrow or heads will roll. I yelled at him that I want all the interest it has been collecting too but I'll be happy if the original amount actually goes in.

Let's hope blogger will let me post. It wouldn't let me update for hours earlier. ***Oh ack, i just refreshed and see that it has now posted all my repeated attempts to post the same post when it kept telling me there was a fatal error. Blogger burp indeed! Hmm better delete at least a few of 'em, heh.

FREED! The two fox journalists are safe and free!

2006-08-27T13:03:00.000+03:00

They are safe and surrounded by friends and colleagues! They were brought into a hotel about half an hour ago and are just now on their way out of Gaza to Jerusalem (1 pm), according to Fox right now. Thank G-d!!

Now we have to focus on pushing for the release of Gilad Shalit, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser.

Holy smokes

2006-08-26T22:07:00.000+03:00

I'd heard that a third terrorist in the plot to blow up trains in Germany had been arrested. I nearly fell off my chair when I read the article today in Die Welle: he was arrested in a student dorm in Konstanz. Little teeny tiny beautiful rural and pastoral Konstanz on the Bodensee! My Konstanz. The city, outside of Tel Aviv, that I most consider home. Nothing. Ever. Happens. In. Konstanz. While it is a little tourist haven in the summer, it is so off the beaten track that only super slow regional trains service it (we call them the Bumblybahns) and it takes a good 5 hours to get to Munich by train and you have to change in Baden Baden (driving you can get there in an hour and half at the longest). I mean to say, a terrorist hanging out and plotting attacks in Konstanz??!!

If you can find a terrorist in Konstanz, you can find them anywhere. Good night!

Can't stop the tears

2006-08-25T15:17:00.000+03:00

Lisa thank you for this post and for your translation: When a single death becomes a collective symbol

Lebanese threatened by Hezbollah seek refuge in Israel

2006-08-25T12:20:00.000+03:00

According to an article on YNET Eight family members from Lebanon, former members of the Southern Lebanese Army , arrived Thursday afternoon within 10 meters of the border next to Metula and requested IDF authorization to enter into Israel following Hizbullah threats to cause them physical harm. It turns out that this is a real phenomenon in which Hizbullah members threaten family members of former SLA members.

There are already about 2,500 Lebanese living in Israel and who have been granted Israeli citizenship after they were forced to flee Lebanon when Hezbollah issued death threats against their families over the past years.

In other news, Israelis are united in singing the sentiment "hey hey, ho ho, Olmert and Peretz have got to go." From the left, right, and center Israelis want the current government OUT. Fully 63% want Olmert gone and 74% want Peretz out of his current ministerial position as head of the Defense portfolio (like anybody thought he should be in that position to begin with).

Did Israel use chemical weapons? Media was hoaxed again...

2006-08-25T12:02:00.000+03:00

Did Israel use chemical weapons?

Another claim reported in the media proved false! Little Green Footballs sums it up thus: "German public TV ARD looked into the latest mainstream antisemitic libel to make the rounds of Arab and Western media, the report that mysteriously blackened bodies in Lebanon had been victims of mysterious super-blackening Zionist “chemical weapons.” They took tissue samples from the bodies and had them scientifically analyzed. And nobody scientifically analyzes better than Germans.

I’ll leave the verdict as a surprise until the end of the video. (Heh.)"

The video above shows the investigation done by TV ARD in conjunction with an internationally recognized neutral medical group.

Two extensive reports show that Two Majorly Reported "Israeli Crimes" DIDN'T Happen

2006-08-25T10:45:00.000+03:00

Sorry, I promised this post last night but collapsed into lethargy after over-feeding myself on pasta :)

Report Number 1:
So remember the super hot story that hit every newspaper and television station in the world about "Israel Deliberately Targeting Red Cross Ambulances":

On the night of July 23, 2006, an Israeli aircraft intentionally fired missiles at and struck two Lebanese Red Cross ambulances performing rescue operations, causing huge explosions that injured everyone inside the vehicles. Or so says the global media, including Time magazine, the BBC, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and thousands of other outlets around the world. If true, the incident would have been an egregious and indefensible violation of the Geneva Convention, and would constitute a war crime committed by the state of Israel.

But there's one problem: It never happened.

Zombie has put up a post with extensive evidence that this event never happened at all. The pictures speak for themselves --He has up the photos shown all over the world showing the supposed ambulance hit by an Israeli missle with the hole in its roof. He's collected them all together as evidence of the event that wasn't. Take a look and as you will see, that hole was the hole made by simply removing the siren from the top of the ambulance. You can even see the considerable rust on the ambulance in all the places it was theoretically damaged on its roof showing these were long-ago errr "missile" injuries. Photos of the interior of the ambulance obviously show that no "fire" occurred as was reported. Somehow a guy's leg got amputated by this missle that managed to come in and make a hole of the same size as the (missing) siren and then with amazing precision cut this guy's leg off without making a scratch on the gurney he was laying on and without leaving any blood. This missile it seems must have stopped and perched itself on the severed leg because it did no damage to the interior of the vehicle. Certainly, it didn't explode. He has photos, also shown all over the world, of the "injured" amulance driver with his face in bandages.

But he also has the photos of the "injured" ambulance driver taken a few days later walking about without so much as a scratch visible on the very good close-up photos he was posing for. Same guy but miraculously healed! G-d obviously came down and managed to heal him 100% (amen) and left not even a nick, a scab, a pimple on his before badly injured face. And he has much, much more. Go read the post! :)

Report Number 2:

Qana. Eu Referendum has finished an in-depth and very thorough examination of the media portrayal of what occurred at Qana and the only conclusions that can be drawn is that this event was staged. While some of the things he discusses and reports are things you've probably already seen and heard, he has compiled loads of new material, new video showing the staging, new photos that have come to light, and a preponderance of evidence showing that things just didn't happen the way the AP has insisted. I've been following this investigation over on the EURef since they started covering it and have been waiting with bated breath for the full report to be completed. I wasn't disappointed. Definitely an eye-opener!

Seriously long day

2006-08-24T20:40:00.000+03:00

Last night, in addition to being hot I got was able to realize just exactly how dirty my bathroom floor was (despite having been mopped the day before) after I got food poisoning from the tuna salad I made --hint, mayo in this heat can go bad in under half an hour. Don't know what magical qualities bathroom floors possess but laying down on one is a sure cure for nausea. First thing I did this morning was to mop that floor on the off chance I might have to get up close and personal with it again anytime soon. Then it was off to a shaky day of meetings but the meetings were really fantastic. I met with a student then made my way to Bar Ilan and met with a colleague who said lovely words like "subject pool," "experimental design" that nearly made me swoon with happiness. I have a pile of work to do as a result of that meeting (syllabi to create coming out of my ears) and that needs to be done quickly. Then I met with another colleague who is at B.I. on an impromtu --hey, I'm on campus --meeting and that was fun. The best thing was as we were leaving he asked, "so do you know when we all start back?" Aha! And I thought I was the only clueless one when it comes to stuff like this :) Nope, I told him, not a clue. I do know that I am absolutely in love with years when the High Holy Days fall late. Absolutely!

Then it was a "find your way back to Tel Aviv on the bus" adventure starting with finding the right bus --no easy task. Of course I missed my correct stop because, coming at it from a completely different direction things were completely unrecognizable to me and I was like ohhhh heyyyy I think it was like back...hmmmm. So I ended up going all the way to the central bus station where I knew I could catch a sherut right to the next meeting spot. I got to the meeting with one minute to spare. Then from there it was a rush to collect Mitzi the cat before the vet closed at 8. Got there with about 2 minutes to spare.

The good news on the Mitzi front is that Dov and Hannah had obviously scraped up enough money to get her spayed. For people on such a fixed income this was a major sacrifice (thank you, thank you!). Definitely good people. The bad news is that the poor little things had to have an enema which wasn't completely successful as she had weeks (quite literally) of food empacted in her digestive tract caused by an incredible amount of hairballs and worms. She is on special food now and needs to have medicine 3 times a day for the next 3 weeks for that particular situation and meds for her foot this is minus its little toes.

I am off to fix something to eat. Haven't had time to eat a single bite today yet but trust me dinner will not include anything that could possibly be effected by the heat. Another post coming hopefully (unless I pass out from heat and exhaustion) after I eat to round up some of the political and media developments (yo, remember that whole "Israel deliberately targeted Red Cross ambulances" story that hit all the newspapers around the world and got prime play on the BBC? DID NOT HAPPEN. Link to the very considerable proof that Hezbollah staged the entire thing from beginning to end in just a bit!)

Our MKs do not represent us, Arab-Israelis say

2006-08-24T12:30:00.000+03:00

Survey conducted by Dahaf Institute shows 40 percent of Israelis believe most Israeli Arabs supported Hizbullah leader during war; 15 percent believe all Arabs supported him, while only 18 percent of Arabs admit they did support him. 'Our MKs do not represent us,' 44 percent of Arabs say

And this is exactly why I suggested this.

Mitzi

2006-08-24T00:15:00.000+03:00

Those who have been reading my blog for awhile have heard me talk about my very elderly neighbors, Dov and Hannah. Dov and his wife are Holocaust survivors and, when I first moved to this apartment, I discovered that Hannah had for several years not really been able to leave their apartment due to illness. Dov seemed quite spry and, indeed, served as the "vad bayit" --or caretaker of our apartment building. But in early January Dov's health took a bad turn for the worse. He was in and out of hospital and then he fell and broke his hip. That really was where things went downhill for him as far as his health and he became an absolute shell of the man I first met with the wide and kind smile and generous spirit. This was the elderly couple that I was tasked with getting to the bomb shelter (otherwise known as our basement) during the early part of the war and was extremely worried about this as they, well, they can barely walk at all. Just two weeks into the war, however, they went into an assisted living facility for the elderly.

I posted awhile back about how kind they were when they discovered that I had taken in Matan. Dov brought me into their apartment and gave me many kitty supplies that they had there (a litter box, flea spray, and some toys) and I spent nearly 3 hours with them looking through their photo albums of their precious cat who, after being with them for 23 years died two summers ago. They have no children and the loss was obviously devastating for them. In the meantime Dov had adopted another stray cat, a beautiful, fluffy girl kitty that he called Mitzi. He fed her just outside the entrance and spent hours sitting on a chair in front of our building with Mitzi in his lap. He once said ruefully that he wished he could take her into the apartment but that it would not be fair to her because she would far outlive he and his wife. I would often come home and see the two of them together, Mitzi sitting on his lap and Dov stroking her fluffy little back.

He fed only Mitzi because, as he noted sadly, they couldn't afford to feed them all and Mitzi, well, she had won his heart. It was plain to see that he had won hers as well. And she was fat, sassy and fluffy compared to the other strays in the area. She always came up to me for a good pet and got an extra feeding when I fed the others who were not as lucky to be as loved as she. I always knew when Dov was in the hospital again because there would be the inevitable little note, "could you please take care of Dov's Mitzi" stuck to my door. And of course I did.

When Dov and Hannah moved away I didn't really think about Mitzi. There was a war on and I was, of course, still feeding the outside cats but Mitzi wasn't among them. Because I didn't see her among the usual crowd, I assumed that Dov had managed to make arrangements for Mitzi. And maybe he did.

Early this evening as I was walking down to my little cafe to continue working with the hopes that a new environment would give me renewed energy, I heard a little piteous meow. The kind that stop you in your tracks. A little cat, thin to the point of emaciation and limping badly, came out from behind the gate at the synagogue and came up to me where I had stopped and then wound around my legs. It began to purr but it was completely unrecognizable. I feed all the cats in a two block radius and I'd never seen this one before, certainly not one that comes up...or had I?

"Mitzi?" I said aloud, sure that I was wrong. But no, on closer inspection I was absolutely sure that it was, indeed, a Mitzi changed almost beyond recognition. The long fluffy furr was matted and filthy. She was so very thin and gaunt. Two toes were missing from her back leg that was coated with blood. But this was Mitzi. There was no doubt that this was Mitzi.

I hesitated only a moment and then left her there on the street. I retraced my steps to my apartment, gathered some food and a cat carrier and went back again. She had retreated behind the gate again but when I approached she hobbled forward. I put the food in the carrier and in she went like she did this everyday. Shut the door and round the corner to the vet I sped because she was not liking being in the carrier one bit.

Mitzi is at the vet's tonight. She is on an IV drip because she was horribly dehydrated, her injured foot has been bathed and bandaged, she is anemic and was given vitamins, she has had a test for FIV and FLV (feline aids and feline leukemia). In the morning she will be spayed and have all of her shots. In the evening I will collect her and bring her home if she is free of the two above diseases. I will try to find a permanent home for her but if not then she will stay in my menagerie. For her sake, and for Dov's.

A Celebratory Whine

2006-08-23T15:47:00.000+03:00

Yes, that is right I'm both celebrating and whining at the same time. The reason(s) is work-related (mostly). After tomorrow the celebration might increase even more and I can guarantee that the whining will :)

So from 8 a.m. this morning my phone has been ringing off the hook and I've gotten very rude when answering it, giving the "yeah whaddya want" intonation to my hallo. Four students, a colleague to whom I whined about the incredible number of students I've got and that they are to a one driving me insane, a reporter (to whom I did not whine or complain, heh), and then the (two) phone calls that are reason for celebration --but don't worry, you'll get to hear me whine some more in a few minutes. The folks in social psychology dept (ie. people who speak my language!! understand statistics! DO LAB STUDIES) at the Benchomi want me to have a half-time appointment in the psych dept!!! I'm meeting tomorrow with them to talk courses to teach. Yes, this means courses dealing with theories I have actually heard of and use!!! I've been doing happy little dances all over my apartment.

A second reason to celebrate (not yet but quite soon) is that a major massive project I've been working on is going to be unveiled within a couple of weeks. When it happens believe me you will all know about it because I'll tell you more than you probably ever wanted to know about it, heh :) In between now and then though I'm crazed with putting things together for it.

Now on to some serious whining. I have 18 thesis students. 18. Yes that is a 1 and an 8 together there making the number very close to 20. I have a half-time position and I have 18 thesis students. All of whom are writing their theses in hebrew. Because they are in communications they have the horrific requirement to write what amount to novels. (Now in psych, your dissertation is a total of maybe 70 pages at a max. These masters students have to write a minimum of 60 pages!). Now I have a lovely colleague (different from colleague above) who is full-time and has a total of 7 (yes that is a single digit number) thesis students and he keeps sending me more of them. I got another 4 emails and phone calls from "please be my advisor" kids this week. ENOUGH. No. So I said no when they called and wrote and one of them went back to the person who sent her. Then he of only 7 called me to say you really need to take this one because you are the only one working in the area that she wants to work in. Yes, well I pointed out that her original idea was in his area but he didn't like it (or didn't want another student, ahem). Anyway, I'm putting my foot down. And something has to be done about these 18 because this would be damn near impossible to handle if hebrew were my native language.

I'm spending the bulk of my day today running stats for thesis students and kids in my course. This is another thing I'm going to scream about: why do these kids have no knowledge of SPSS and think that designing studies that only examine descriptives is just fine and why haven't they been taught to run more than a frequency analyses in SPSS?! They've never heard of ANOVAs, have no idea what a regression is and those are baby statistical analyses!! I am really going to have to hurt someone soon. I've inherited a ton of thesis students who have already had their projects approved and run their studies and are now in write-it-and-finish-NOW phase (or be kicked from the program because they haven't finished in 6 years). I am in shock. I would not give approval for studies of this quality, that only examine descriptives, that have no theory behind them, and that examine questions in the "who the hell cares?" arena for students in my undergraduate classes back at NYU much less for a thesis student. Whoever let these students get this far on these projects is criminally negligent and certainly if I got sent a thesis along these lines I would never pass it as a reader. So I'm desperately attempting damage control for them because I am now the prof on record behind their projects and so their "research" will reflect on _me_.

Ok, I've whined enough (though trust me I still have loads of whines just waiting in the wings).

Psychology take me away!

I'm melting

2006-08-23T01:12:00.000+03:00

...into a puddle of sweat. What is up with this humidity? It was not this humid this time last year. It is not as hot and humid as what I grew up with but it is still nearly beyond endurance if you don't have an air-conditioner. Which I don't. I have a fan. Actually two fans. They are blowing hot and humid air. Even the kittens are sprawled out and unable to muster the strength to destroy anything in the apartment at the moment. That will change, of course, as soon as it gets cool enough to think about trying to sleep. They will be full of vim and vigor then, knocking things over, jumping on me and being a nuisance until the sun starts streaming in about 6 a.m. and it becomes to hot too sleep (me) and too hot to play (them)...

A week ago the weather was so nice that it was perfect sleeping weather, except that there was a war on and so I was up. Now that the war is off I'd like to be asleep (for maybe a week or two straight) but it is too HOT.

Sinai bus crash and Israelis killed

2006-08-22T18:48:00.000+03:00

At least 8 Israeli-Arabs have been killed and more than 20 injured in a bus crash in the Sinai :(. Magan David Adom is waiting at the Taba Crossing and is trying to convince Egypt to let them bring the injured to hospitals in Eilat because they are currently being taken to Nuweiba hospital which is more of a clinic than a hospital equipped to deal with massive amounts of injured. So far Egypt is not allowing their evacuation. Thirty MDA amublances and six mobile intensive care units have been dispatched from Israel south to the crossing, and Eilat's Yoseftal Medical Center has been put on alert in the hopes that we can bring them home.

Everytime I hear about something like this it makes me wish that I was already EMT trained and volunteering. I'd planned to take an EMT course this summer so I could start volunteering in the fall but because my hebrew is still so pitiful I wasn't able to do it. I hate the idea of waiting all the way until next summer but I don't see the hebrew getting good enough before then or having the time for the course during the school year. I'm hoping the injured will be ok and can be brought home quickly.

2006-08-22T15:25:00.000+03:00

Michael J Totten has an excellent post up about the war in our northern areas. He takes on those who claim that Hezbollah was firing at military rather than civilian targets. He's got a lot of pictures up of Kiryat Shmona as well. Scroll down to his August 18th, post.

A (probably) controversial proposal

2006-08-21T16:21:00.000+03:00

I've thought quite a lot about the "problems" we have with our minority citizens --to not mince words, with Arab-Israeli citizens. I've put the word "problems" in quotes because as will become clear some of those problems are ones they have with us, the majority, and others are problems that we, the majority, have with them as a minority. The two major problems are as follows and nearly all the other problems stem from one of these two:

1. Many Jewish Israelis, who are in the majority, do not trust Arab-Israelis, who are in the minority (approx. 18% of the population). In particular there are pretty deeply steeped suspicians among the Jewish public that the arab minority holds greater allegiance to the Palestinians, Egyptians, [insert any and all arab countries and groups] than they do to their own country.

2. Arab-Israelis feel that they are treated as second-class citizens.

Can we, right off the bat, recognize the dynamics for a vicious cycle here: people who are distrusted are not treated as well as those who are trusted. People who are not treated as well will have a greater inclination to not feel invested in and a loyal member of their country.

My proposal [Michael you are not allowed to post any long rants, got it?] would go a long way to solving both of the above issues as well as some others that have nothing to do with Arab-Israelis but everything to do with another, this time Jewish, minority group which finds itself in the same boat --but on opposite sides of the political spectrum--with the Arab-israeli minority.

My proposal is quite simple: Mandatory military/national service for everyone. Period.
Arab-Israeli: you serve. Haredi (super religious Jews): you serve. Average secular guy and gal off the street: You serve. Quadriplegic: You serve. No exceptions.

Now everyone take a deep breath and hold your screaming til the end because I think by the end you won't want to scream.

Currently, Arab-Israelis are legally exempt from serving in the military. While many do serve voluntarily there is not a global "at 18 you must serve" requirement for them. Similarly, the ultra-religious Jews are also not required to serve, although some do, again voluntarily. Everyone else is required to serve [although, as Lena (without-a-homepage) pointed out there are loopholes that people take advantage of to get out of it]. Most do serve, however, at least in some capacity.

For good or for ill, serving in the IDF or doing National Service has life-long implications. People not only form strong bonds with the mates they serve with that last a lifetime but these people often also become one's prime "protexia" network (e.g. the people who will help you --or your kid, or your cousin..get a job, co-sign on your mortgage, and help out in numerous other ways). It also can have bearing on your career. For instance, when I first moved here I had to put my resume into Israeli format. I had to include "dates of military service: none" right up at the top of my resume. In my field this isn't influential but in other areas you bet having "none" on there will bias people. I know a number of people (Jews) who for various reasons did not serve and twenty years down the road say, yeah if it hasn't actively hurt me it certainly hasn't helped, and most of them can point to specific instances that they feel sure that not having served was an influential factor in their not getting particular jobs, promotions, and so forth. In general, people tend to feel a great deal of resentment toward the populations that don't serve whether they are religious jews or arab-israelis.

Arab-Israelis are not legally required to serve on the basis that, were they to serve, they might be called upon to fight members of their families who live in Egypt, the Palestinian Territories, Jordan, Lebanon and so forth and that this could be problematic for them. Another factor that undoubtedly went (silently) into the decision to "privilege" them by not requiring service was the fear that we might be in effect training a segment of the army that would then attempt a coup or start a civil war, or at least put weapons into the hands of a few nutters that might go off.

In a country which is a) extremely tiny, b) surrounded by lots and lots of people who want to see us destroyed, and has gone through 5 major and 1 minor wars starting from 48 hours after the country was founded PLUS this latest one (can we call it a war yet?) whether or not you've "served your country" is a big deal. Not a single generation of children has grown up without enduring a war here. Certainly suspicians that you may actually harbor disloyalty to your country is a very big deal. And such perceptions of disloyalty are certainly not helped by the most visible among the Arab-Israeli population: the Arab MKs who are elected to serve in the Knesset and who are constantly praising anything that damages the country. The fact is, however, that these MKs are far more radical than the average arab citizen and win fewer votes from the arab populace than do the Zionist candidates. But, while they are not representative they are certainly the most heard from and they do a great deal of harm to their communities by furthering perceptions that "these people can't be trusted and are treasonous."

So, my proposal is that everyone must serve no matter who the heck you are. We currently have two tracks in place and there is no reason on earth those two tracks could not and should not expanded to include everyone. If you have a problem with doing active military service, fine, you get to choose the National Service option. The National Service program could be expanded to take on tons of social projects that would advance this country as a whole such as building playgrounds in economically depressed areas, putting more tutors in place in schools for children. We could do away with the need for a lot of the temporary foreign workers by, for instance, saying "ok for the privilege of serving your country without risking getting shot at, you get to harvest the fields of Kibbutz X or company Y." There are many, many projects that could be included.

This would go a long way to a) instilling a greater sense of pride and investment in this country among the Arab-Israeli and the Super Extremely Religious populations b) reducing the stigma attached to these groups because they don't serve c) putting everyone on more equal footing, increase inter-mingling and thus greater acceptance, and so forth and thus engendering greater equality all down the line, and d)improving our country and our social services in numerous ways.

Bottom line: Everyone serves equally, everyone gets treated more equally, everyone feels greater investment and loyalty to their country and fellow citizens.

NOTE: National Service is non-military and involves such things as volunteering in hospitals, working with the elderly, tutoring children in need, and other community-building projects. How is it that people who live here don't know this??

Stratfor : the best place to get unbiased world news

2006-08-21T08:34:00.000+03:00

Never heard of Stratfor before? Until a couple of weeks ago, neither had I. The analyses of the situation here in the Middle East that they've put out has been right on the money and takes neither a pro nor anti Israeli (or anyone else) slant. When they note that they provide "predictive, insightful global intelligence" they really mean it.

The Stratfor center is located in Austin, Texas my own hometown in the States and they've got some of the best intelligence experts working for them from around the world. While they don't cover local news, they certainly do a bang-up job on everything with international implications for business, security, and politics. They offer free reports that are extremely useful and can be downloaded off their site. You can also join for access to all their analyses as they come out and their discussion forums for $100 a year --that sounds like a lot but is actually less than the cost of subscriptions to local newspapers for a year --and they do a much better job at presenting and analyzing what is going on than the mainstream media does (in fact, the MSM relies on them quite a lot for information). I'm sounding like a paid advertisment here (sorry, sorry) but that's because I've been sold after checking out their stuff.

You can get a really fantastic report titled Hezbollah and Iran: Security Risks Beyond the Middle East for free here. One of the most useful parts of this that I found was their information on the structure of Hezbollah and particularly on "Where Hezbollah has illicit business interests, and how this impacts its capabilities in conducting terrorist attacks." They give a really good analyses on how and why the events unfolding in Lebanon are raising security risks around the world.

Arab nations recognize threat that EU fails to see

2006-08-20T01:38:00.000+03:00

One of my extremely kewl readers, Lisoosh, pointed this out in the comments but it definitely deserves its own post (thank you for pointing this out!)

Saw this on the AP... It is very interesting from the Arab perspective - they realize the threat of Hez, even if the EU and others don't.

"Arab Nations Urge New Israeli Peace Plan
By SALAH NASRAWI (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
August 19, 2006 2:55 PM EDT
CAIRO, Egypt - Worried the Lebanon war has given a boost to Iran and militants in the region, three U.S. allies in the Mideast are spearheading an Arab effort to present a plan for reviving the stalled peace process and talks with Israel.

Details remain sketchy, and already Israel has expressed skepticism, saying it doubts any plan the trio put forward will take its security needs into account. But the effort by Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan is a clear sign of their worries about tensions and Iran's influence.

So far, the United States has not talked about a wider peace effort in the wake of the Lebanon fighting, instead focusing on ensuring the Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah is reined in.

Leaders of the three moderate Arab governments, however, want to seize the opportunity in the war's ashes to restart negotiations with Israel for peace on the Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese fronts.

They fear letting the situation stagnate could increase the appeal of radical Islamic groups and allow Iran and Syria to keep using Hezbollah in proxy wars, breeding more resentments and more militancy.

Hesham Youseef, top aide to Arab League chief Amr Moussa, told The Associated Press the Arab countries are putting together a peace plan to present to the U.N. Security Council next month because they believe "we should build on the international concerns on what is going on in the whole area."

"Big crises sometimes create opportunities to find comprehensive solutions for difficult problems," he said, noting Arabs and Israelis began the Madrid peace talks just months after the 1991 Persian Gulf war that expelled Saddam Hussein's army from Kuwait.

"The war in 1973 also led to peace," Youseef said, referring to the diplomacy which began after that Arab-Israeli conflict and eventually resulted in the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel."

BBC accurate for once

2006-08-19T23:16:00.000+03:00

Miracles will never cease --the BBC has finally put up a story about Israel that is accurate for once. Granted, they waited until after the war was over to say anything about the damage and trauma Israelis experienced but better late than never. You can read the article about Kiryat Shmona here. I sent them a little note thanking them for providing a bit of accurate coverage about Israel. I noted that we do not expect "positive" articles but we do expect accurate ones and that in future it would be nice to see more balanced reporting when it comes to this region because that has been seriously absent in their coverage of the war against Hezbollah. [Anyone who is interested in writing them can do so here]

In other news, the German police have arrested two people who are suspected of being involved in the plot to bomb two trains in Germany. Interestingly, there may be a connection to Hezbollah as a list found with one of the bombs not only lists grocery items and bomb-making materials but also has a phone number written on it that is in Lebanon. Thankfully, the two bombs were not put together correctly and did not go off or there would have been many hundreds of people killed on those trains. Before anyone decides there is a connection between the war between Israel and Hezbollah and these bombs, please remember that this bomb plot occurred pre-war and while we Israelis were considering our Lebanese border to be the safest and most tranquil save the area along the Sea of Salt across which is Jordan.

In personal news, today was one of those days that really just might as well not have happened. You know the kind, you don't really get anything done and wonder where the heck the day went given that you got nothing done. Well, I got the floors swept and mopped and my feet still get black after walking across them a few times. I did dishes and now there are more dishes to do. I got nothing done as far as work although I stared at my work stuff hard enough that there should be at least four or five papers written but alas...I did have a lovely conversation with my mother. The cats have undone all the other straightening I did. I'd say why bother to straighten to begin with if that were the case but trust me they would make it far worse.

Oooooo anyone know how to get stains out of a white cotton skirt? Not sure what kind of stains they are --something I sat on for sure like when I sat down on a wall or a bench. Definiely not coffee or tea or anything of that variety. The skirt has only been worn once, washed once, and yikes where did these stains come from?

Aliyah Anniversary --one year on

2006-08-19T01:33:00.000+03:00

So one year ago, on August 18, 2005 at 6 a.m. in the morning I stepped off of the El Al plane
with my cat Buffy in tow and two more kitties riding cargo and became an Israeli citizen. It has been one heck of a first year in my new country, my new home. I've personally experienced gains and losses over this year. One of my kitties, Pandy, was able to enjoy her new home and new citizenship for far too short a time and not a day goes by but that I think about her and miss her, my little psycho kitty as I teasingly called her. But I've gained three new sabra kitties and Mischa and Buffy are proud of their new Israeliness.

I certainly never expected our country to be attacked and war to break out when I was packing my boxes and dreaming of being here. No, back then I, as was this nation, I was dreaming of a peace that seemed tantalizingly within reach. I supported, from afar, the disengagement from Gaza and indeed I arrived on the day that the disengagement began. I remember being worried about what I would wear because most of my summer clothing was in various shades of orange and that, of course, was the colour chosen by those against disengagement as a political statement. I shipped all my orange attire rather than packing it in my suitcases to carry along. If I were packing today, it is possible that I'd put all the orange into my carry-alongs. I have to think about that a bit more but I certainly no longer feel the certainty that our withdrawal from Gaza was a good step. I am not certain at all that the election of Hamas and the attack by Hezbollah were not, in fact, set fully in motion by our doing so.

But back then, just one scant year ago, I was experiencing the euphoria of the disengagement with the seeming promise that this was a first and very big step toward having peace with our Palestinian neighbors. That euphoria lasted for almost two months for me and for my new country until a suicide bombing brought us all back to reality, followed by Sharon falling into a coma, Hamas being elected, additional suicide bombings, katuysha rockets pounding our towns in the south day in and day out, and then all hell really breaking loose.

One year on I see very little chance of peace in the near future with our Palestinian neighbors. I see very little chance of lasting peace with Hezbollah, a terrorist group operating out of a country with which really we could and should have a peace treaty and neighborliness --if it weren't for the terrorist entity within their midst. A year ago Hezbollah and a war taking place in Lebanon was not even on my radar. I, a new and green olim, and the vast majority of the most veteran of Israeli-borns would have laughed and scoffed at the idea of a war happening in Lebanon in the summer of 2006 on the day that I disembarked from that plane. But we were wrong.

My first year has been difficult in many other ways. While I can read and write in hebrew passably well (halfway through the second book of Harry Potter and kinda sorta maintaining a hebrew blog though the war has certainly put a stopper on the latter), I actually speak less well than when I got off the plane. That is a sad but true fact. It is something I intend to change and change dramatically during my second year here. The dramatic cut in salary has been a serious shock. But I've got an Israeli credit card now (Aha!) and just grinned when my bank helper, who gave me the card, noted that I'm in very good shape for getting it being as I am only 1200 shekels into my overdraft by the 16th of the month and thus have an excellent credit rating.

I've learned not to be upset and gring my teeth when in the grocery line at least two people jump the queue in front of me, placing their many purchases they've been off collecting for the last 20 plus minutes down next to the single bag of bamba or the cola from the as-you-enter-fridge that is sitting innocuously at the back of the conveyor belt and note that they were there first and thus get served first. No, I don't get upset. Now when I enter I grab a coke from the fridge and place it at the end of the belt, go off and do my leisurely shopping and then jump in front of all the "friers" who didn't think to do so. And I get served ahead of them. I've learned the system.

And, in spite of my losses and the pain I feel over them, in spite of the war that took place in a country in which I now have many friends living, in spite of sometimes being afraid and sometimes being angry, of sometimes being frustrated and sometimes losing hope for a better future....in spite of all these things, I have have no regrets. Indeed, I've gained far, far more. Friendships of a good and deep variety I've forged. As I write this I have a sabra kitten curled in my lap and another curled behind me. Mischa is showing Israeli ingenuity and helping himself to food from a container that is theoretically childproof but certainly not Cat-olim proof. Buffy is proving she is the princess of any country in which she resides, be it the U.S., Germany, or her home in Israel. Matan showing true sabra colours is gently giving Gingi a bath (after having chased him round the apartment earlier). And me, I'm looking forward to starting the second year of the rest of my life in my country, as an Israeli.

And that, my friends, is cause for celebration.

Desecration of Israeli Bodies by Lebanese Villagers

2006-08-18T12:38:00.000+03:00

I think I am about to be ill. Little Green Footballs has a video up of that has been being shown on Future TV in Lebanon. The video shows body parts, they claim from Israeli soldiers, being poured from a bag and the villagers then stomping on them and holding them up for the cameras.

I'm putting a warning here up about the extremely graphic and gruesome nature of this video. But I also think that it is important that people see it and know about it. Israel has been so maligned in the International media about our "brutality" in Lebanon --the world needs to how the other side reacts for a bit of a comparison. Sorry but they win with a brutality award on this one.

In fact, if you have a blog in the U.K. or in France or other parts of Europe I urge you to blog this.

[Folks at the BBC since at least some of you are reading my blog --wanna cover this?]

To the International Community: Sorry Guys You are Too Late

2006-08-18T11:38:00.000+03:00

So says the folks at the Lebanese Politcal Journal in an extremely insightful analysis of what is going on in Lebanon currently. They note that

Hezbollah's already retaken all of their old sites, and they've probably already found new and better sites for the next attack.

Does Israel have anyone on the ground or in the sky monitoring what Hezbollah is doing right now? Probably not. Israeli PM Olmert and Defense Minister Peretz have already proven their incompetence. Thinking ahead is way beyond their capabilities.

Have to agree with you there guys, along with much of the rest of the analysis they provide (very worth a read).

What I want to know is if the International Community has managed to get exactly what they wanted for the present and the future. Let's take France. France has been cozying up to Iran quite a lot lately. And if you remember my post here about the Red Cross openly helping Hezbollah back on August 10th, the statement that jumped out at me in that article at the time was that of a Hezbollah man: “This comes from Iran but maybe after a while, the next shipment will come from France,” the man said, a slight but knowing smile spreading.

So we have France who jumps up and down screaming for an immediate ceasefire along with a lot of other people. France cobbles together a UN Resolution that does everything to keep Hezbollah armed and dangerous and nothing to disarm it. They claim they will lead the charge with UN Forces that are supposed to go in --and then say no we might send 12 advisors, oops there's an outcry, ok 200 soldiers, ooops people are still yelling at us. Ok, 400 soldiers and that's our final offer. And of course no one will disarm Hezbollah. They are thus singlehandedly endangering even the totally useless UN Resolution that THEY CREATED.

Then we had Condi Rice here right after the Qana incident running around crying we have to work out an immediate ceasefire. At that point she and the Bush administration put a lot of pressure for greater restraint to be used. And a lot of Olmerts squirrel activity was the result of calls from Rice saying ''Oooo wait there might be a ceasefire deal at any minute." And then the U.S. caved in to the UN deal which really left us no options but to agree to it even though it may well place Hezbollah in a position of greater strength than ever. And it has certainly emboldened the radical groups in the Palestinian Territories.

Check this out from Al-Aqsa "They [Israel] threatened to demolish Gaza and Lebanon and we saw that wasn't so terrible. The question is if we, the Palestinian organizations, can withstand the initial fire of Israel. If we succeed in prevent collapsing after the first hit – there is a chance we will win." They go further to note that they have learned a lot from Hezbollah's tactics and will begin building bunkers in their cities from which to strike and so forth. And they, along with everyone in the Middle East if not in the "wise International Community" believe that there will be a next time:

"From our acquaintance with them, there is no way they are going to disarm. The organization has strategic objectives and the current battle proves that if it will decide to initiate another battle – the road is paved. The next time Iran will be in the picture and missiles on Tel Aviv will be part of the game. When this happens, it will be a lot easier for us. We are proud of our brothers, the Hizbullah fighters. They are inspirational teachers that demonstrated everything we have been feeling in recent years – Israel is falling apart," he said.

The Cat Who Crossed the Border to become Israeli

2006-08-17T21:39:00.000+03:00

Thanks to one of my readers, Doug, I found out about this very cool story:
An unusual sight was seen a few days ago, with the exit of Paratrooper Brigade forces from Lebanon: one of the brigade reserve soldiers was carrying, along with all his heavy equipment and weapon, a white kitten. "On the way back to Israeli territory we passed through the village of Kauzer," said the soldier, "and all of a sudden I saw a kitten coming out of one of the houses. After a few seconds I realized it is wounded and that its hearing has been hurt. I picked it up and carried it for six kilometers, until we reached Israeli territory. I decided it deserves a better future. After all, it is not its fault that war broke out." The first thing the cat and its new owner did after having crossed the border into Israeli territory was to share IDF military canned meat. The cat was named Kauzer by its new owner.

And you can read other cool stories about the IDF here

Of course this story, for someone who is very cat-owned, just got right to my heart. Doug shared with me and so I had to share with you :)

I love impossible tasks

2006-08-17T15:06:00.000+03:00

Yes, being just a tad sarcastic there. My current impossible task is to take a syllabus which was approved by powers higher than just a regular university and pull four lectures from it to fit within another syllabus (for which I have almost no information -just one line titles for each lecture which tells me nada --and which covers areas and equipment and so forth I have no training in). Further, syllabus 1 (my syllabus) has absolutely nothing to do with syllabus two. As in zero, zilch, two ships passing on separate planets. Now, about a month and a half ago I was given this same task --pull four lectures and make them relevant to this course. I managed to create the closest thing I could figure out given that these two things have less than zero in common. But, it wasn't good enough. In fact, it was completely scrapped (not by me). I have to try again. But I can't just create new lecture topics that would fit (like I would have a clue what those might be to begin with) because I have to use the ones that have already been approved by high and mighty your university gets a stamp of approval people. BUT THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH EACH OTHER. My level of frustration is reaching new highs, right along with my blood-pressure. This_is_not_possible!!!!

Top BBC reporter caught in blatant lie in Lebanon reporting

2006-08-17T09:11:00.000+03:00

You can see the video report by Orla Guerin over at Little Green Footballs. In her report she states "I havent seen a single building that isn't damaged in some way. Many have been flattened, many have been singed. This town has really been wiped out."

Channel 4 news was also covering the same scene and reporter Alex Thomas's coverage stated, "As you can see, the centre of the town destroyed on a really wholesale scale, more so than since the last civilians left here, though it has to be said that on the outskirts, the suburbs -- pretty much untouched by the Israeli attack and invasion."

You can read about an exchange, showing where her bias may be coming from, that she had with a reporter from the New York Sun in Jerusalem a while back here. Yeah, that's right Orla, us Jews "are all the same," we're all "troublemakers." Nice call there.

There are loads of funky photos that have now been identified coming out of the coverage in Lebanon. You can see Herbie Reads the Koran and Herbie Not Fully Exploded here. There are so many photos that it is impossible to keep track of them all. What I want to do is to create a webpage where all of the proven-to-be-faked or falsely captioned photos (as admitted by the media) are placed, and then are followed by all of the other highly suspect photos so that they are all in one place. There are two reasons for this (well probably more but I haven't had enough coffee yet to corral them all): first, because many people seem to think that it was just Hajj who took funky photos, and two because while Reuters has come out and admitted that Hajj's photos and some of their captions provided by other photographers were misleading, AP and other news agencies have circled the wagons and denied that anything is amiss. So let's round them up all in one place, with the photographer each was taken by, the news agency each worked for, and the venue in which it was published and see. This is a big project and not one I can take on myself entirely. Are there any volunteers to help round up and present the photos? I'm going to create a blog for them today and if you email me (yaeli dot kaynan at gmail dot com) to get onboard I'll give ya the keys to the blog and you can get to the round-up. Let's herd some photos!

Treated like dirt: Israeli Arabs back away from Palestinians

2006-08-17T00:34:00.000+03:00

Two separate conversations I had today mirrored the sentiments expressed in a YNET article that came out today and so I'm thinking this really must have been an overwhelming experience for many Arab-Israelis and with a spreading effect. When the bombs began falling on Haifa and points northward, many Arab-Israelis heeded Nasrallah's suggestion that they should get out and away. Because many have family in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem those destinations became popular with our fleeing arab citizens. It seems they did not, however, receive a warm welcome and that quite a significant part of our Arab population are quite het up about it. Many found themselves physically attacked by Palestinian residents, others were threatened, insults were hurled at the girls and women, they were over-charged for everything from bottled water to hotel rooms.

And many decided the rockets might be dangerous but they were better than the treatment they were receiving in the West Bank and so returned home. Their ill-treatment at the hands of Palestinians may well leave lasting scars. This was a sentiment echoed by many: "'We will never again make a donation or participate in a demonstration for the West Bank from now on."

Meanwhile, the widow of Arafat has married the brother-in-law of the Tunisian President. Suha Arafat is given 22 million dollars a year from the secret fund of the Palestinian Authority. This fund is reported to be approximately four (4) billion dollars. So, why is it again that the Palestinians have been given yearly more monetary support from governments world-wide than all the other nations-in-crises combined? I mean, geez, if you can afford to give 11 million dollars to cover one person's life-style for half-a-year in Paris every 6 months you'd think you could get along quite nicely...

Syria wants to destroy us and my cat is not fat

2006-08-15T21:58:00.000+03:00

Hmmm, the two major things I want to talk about are fighting it out to be first. Like any good news person (heh) I will give the hard news first and the happy feel-good news last --at least my cat is feeling good about it.

So, on the news front, Assad spoke about Syria's support of Hezbollah and noted ""This resistance is a medal to pin on the chest of every Arab citizen, not only Syria." He went on to say that ""We tell them [Israelis] that after tasting humiliation in the latest battles, your weapons are not going to protect you - not your planes, or missiles or even your nuclear bombs... The future generations in the Arab world will find a way to defeat Israel."

The German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier cancelled his trip to Syria after that speech and said, the speech was a "negative contribution that is not in any way justified in view of the current challenges and opportunities in the Middle East. Syria can gain back the confidence of the international community it has lost with positive and constructive action - and on that basis pursue its legitimate interests. The speech today... goes in the opposite direction."

Hezbollah is still not disarming and now the Lebanese govt is trying to work out some deal where Hezbollah gets to keep all their weapons in Southern Lebanon: they just have to keep them out of sight. Uhhhhhhhh yeahhhhhhhh.

Now on to the fat cat that isn't. My cat Mischa looks more like a panther than a cat. For one thing he is black but mostly it is because he is BIG. Really, really big. Back when I had Pandy the two black beasts were affectionaly called Fatty 1 (Mischa) and Fatty 2. Several people who have visited my apartment commented that Mischa is not a cat, he is more like a small horse. Yeah, that kinda sums it up. And he's gotten even bigger lately. The fact that he is like Alice in Wonderland after she nibbles on the Eat-me cookie and grows and grows despite being on a strict diet cat-food (and not a lot of it), along with a nagging cough he's had for the last month spurred me to ~~carry, heft, lug~~ nearly give myself a hurnia bringing him the block and a half to the vet. (Seriously folks, getting whacked by a car was nothing compared to the aches in my arms and shoulders after this excursion!).

He was given every test known to cat-kind. He was examined by not one, but two vets. Heart checked, blood tested, biometric stuff done for fat-to-muscle ratios, weighed, poked and prodded. The answer: well he does weight 9.5 kilos (21 pounds) but it ain't fat. It is muscle. He is just a very big boy. In fact, he should be eating more than I'm giving him cos he has too much muscle to fat (ACK). Why is he coughing? Hairballs. He is a shedder (oy va voy, you are telling me) and being that it is hot he is shedding apace and licking himself into hack hack (ulp) worry-your-mother space. And can you believe that when I got him he fit entirely, from ears to tip of tail, in my hand? No, no I can't believe it either. He gets a bigger dinner tonight but I ain't ever moving houses again cos it will take a crane to get him out of here.

4000 new olim (immigrants) arrived during the war

2006-08-15T12:47:00.000+03:00

4,000 Jews Immigrated to Israel During War
12:13 Aug 15, '06 / 21 Av 5766

(IsraelNN.com) During the course of the war, more than 4,000 Jews from around the world immigrated to Israel, the Jewish Agency announced Monday.

And 550 more new immigrants will arrive tomorrow morning, on three chartered El-Al Flights from New York, Toronto and London. According to the reports not a single person backed out or postponed their arrival because of the war. And I can tell you from my personal experience the war has sparked interest in aliyah to a high degree --I still have nearly 60 emails to respond to from people asking questions about how they go about it (and have been answering everyone as fast as I can over the last few weeks --those in the queue please be patient I'm getting to you). Yalla l'Aliyah!!

Lebanese govt helpless in the face of Nasrallah, Annan tranq'd out

2006-08-15T09:00:00.000+03:00

Well here's the big surprise (NOT): Nasrallah is refusing to disarm Hezbollah and the members of the Lebanese government are saying they can't do anything about it and are wringing their hands. The guys over at Ouwet Front sum up what the thinking people in Lebanon are thinking at the moment in this well titled post: Nasrallah --Fuck Off!!

The Lebanese Bloggers (another great website if you aren't already reading it) echo that sentiment a bit more politely but the sentiment is certainly the same. The guys and gals over at The Lebanese Political Journal are mourning the situation in a post entitled" "I Was Wrong: Hezbollah is Much More Powerful Than I Ever Imagined" And there is an excellent post that gets highest recommendation for reading over on Free Cedar that calls for some critical self-examination in Lebanon and it is one of the most thoughtful posts I've ever read.

Does the Lebanese government saying they can't do anything about Hezbollah and wringing their hands sound familiar? It should, they've been doing it for the last six years. To give them credit, however, they really don't have a hell of a lot of power to actually disarm Hezbollah and Kofi Annan and his little UN resolution made damn sure that they won't have that power. In fact, Annan is now re-interpreting clauses of the ceasefire to make them even more ineffectual than they already were. I mean, heck, being 95% ineffectual just won't do, gotta make sure it is 100%.

[I HATE blogger. Archives of previous posts are now by the week and located waaaayyyy at the end of the sidebar. Otherwise it wouldn't let me write another word It also won't let you do a partial list of archives so, uh, yeah the list is kinda long. Kinda scary that I've used 1 MB of space already this month though!]

A personal and news mix plus last will and testament

2006-08-14T22:36:00.000+03:00

I just heard a bit ago that two Fox journalists have been kidnapped by armed gunmen in Gaza. One of the journalists is Steve Centanni and another is an Australian camera man. I'm really hoping they are released soon and safely.

FOX on tv at the moment is covering the faked photos that came out of Lebanon. Very kewl.

If I die tomorrow my life may be pretty close to being complete because I got linked by Little Green Footballs. Thud. When linked by people you consider among your personal heroes that is a WOW experience.

Speaking of dying tomorrow the following is my last wishes in case I croak within the next 20 plus years. No, I am not posting it because of fears a rocket will fall on me, nor because of the suicide bombers that like to hang out in my neighborhood. Nope, nope, nope. It is definitely the result of the second close call in three days from inattentive Israeli drivers. On Saturday I nearly got creamed by a guy who didn't notice the light had turned red. Today, just down the street, I nearly got creamed. The car at the light attentively and politely stopped, I started my happy little crossing to meet my student at the cafe on the other side, but the car behind Ms. Polite slammed into her thus making her nearly slam-kill me. I actually got hit and knocked about 3 feet. I got a big bruise but nothing else. Lucky me. I figure putting this really publicly is better than getting a lawyer I can't afford (any time soon) so here is the deal if I get whacked off in any form or fashion:

I want a proper funeral for a nice socialist zionist girl. This means I want it on a kibbutz without any religious mumbo jumbo, but of course in the jewish section. I want a proper Ha'shomer Hatzair/Dror kinda affair. Someone --yo all you people I know here any or all of you will do --gets to a) feed my cats before the family arrives to care for them, b) tell the family they better get over here before I get buried cos we get buried real quick (heh) c) do the hebrew speak to whoever it is you tell this to that I wanna blue rather than a white shroud and if it is allowed I'd like our flag to be kinda wrapped around me all the way up to the point where I get buried but, of course, don't bury the flag. Family gets first dibs on my totally useless stuff but my mother is not allowed to keep everything I've ever touched, doodled on, and so forth --someone control her please :) --and dvds, books and such you all get to divvy up. Then I want you all to throw a big party, play some Sarit Hadad, Tipex, and whoever else floats your boat, and celebrate your life, celebrate my life. It has been darn good and, if you are gonna get run over by any crazy driver this is the best country to get run over in :)

Updates coming in a bit cos there are some very kewl links to some very interesting posts I came across but first I have to eat something.

P.S. After nearly getting killed to get to my meeting, the student was a no-show!

Palestinian "collaborator" murdered--horrific scene

2006-08-14T10:57:00.000+03:00

I'm putting a warning up here: the scenes of the murder and subsequent mutiliation in public yesterday of
Bassam Mallah, the 22 year old Palestinian that Islamic Jihad accused of being an Israeli collaborator are very graphic and horribly disturbing. This young man was accused of giving information to Israel but he was not arrested, he was not tried, he had no chance to defend himself. He was shot like a dog in the street to much fanfare by the onlookers. There are pictures at the link above of his execution, of the crowd jostling in to get pictures of his corpse with their cellphones, his body being kicked, and most horrific of all pictures of a woman --the mother of an Islamic Jihad member who had been killed 4 years ago --walking up to the corpse and then stomping on this boy's head and neck repeatedly until well I'm not even going to write the until.

The major media, outside of Israel, of course did not give this incident even a mention.

"Welcome to the shooting gallery"...

2006-08-13T23:53:00.000+03:00

That title says it all: check out Lisa's blog. If a title doesn't do it here's a taster:

The nearly abandoned city reminded us of scenes in Hollywood movies set in Grozny - or Sarajevo, circa 1992. Brush fires set off by Hezbollah rockets blazed everywhere, creating a thick pall of smoke that dimmed the usually bright Levantine sunlight. Bits of ash floated about like snowflakes, the smell of smoke permeated the air and was absorbed in my clothes and hair. And the constant booms, explosions and sirens provided loud background music - a live, post-modern version of Albinoni's Adagio in G Minor for this long shot of Apocalypse Now: The Middle Eastern Version.

Pres. Ahmadinejad trying to infect Israelis with web viruses?

2006-08-13T23:19:00.000+03:00

****Update: Israelis strike back -Crash site on Monday*** [My understanding is that there was malicious code in the form of malware on this site on Aug 14th targeted at Israelis. It was there for slightly less than 24 hours. It is no longer there. The site is currently clean]
****Update: This in from Symantec:

We at Symantec Security Response have investigated this issue thoroughly and can find no indication of malicious code being present on that nor on the www.ahmadinejad.ir landing page that triggered the alert.
We believe what happened was that an IPS (Intrusion Prevention System) signature in Norton Personal Firewall triggered an alert on the www.khamenei.ir website due to HTML code on that page that must be present to exploit the MS IE DragDrop Embed Code vulnerability. Upon investigation, it appears that while the code in this case is harmless, its presence was suspicious enough to trigger an alert. Additionally, this issue is not limited to Israel, as we were able to reproduce the issue ourselves.
We have taken steps to modify the IPS signature which was causing this alert to appear and the updates will be available shortly. In the meantime, we recommend that all user ensure that their software, such as browsers and operating systems, are fully patched and their security software up to date with the latest updates and definitions.

Information forwarded to me:

The Iranian president, Ahmadinejad, has opened his very own blog. You can read the news here. Wouldn’t it be nice to pay him a visit and tell him what you think about his terror-supporting regime? Don’t do this! It’s a trap!

Does Iran now use the Internet to harass Israeli citizens? To take advantage of the increasing Iranian-Israeli dialog online? If you do visit the blog, the first screen looks innocent:

But if you click on one of the links on the left side of the page (and you are coming from Israel), you get this alert from your firewall:

And here is what Norton Internet Security has to say about this alert:

Looking up IP address 62.220.121.131 on DNSSTUFF clearly shows it is indeed an Iranian address. Here is the contact info for it:

“HTTP MS IE File DragDrop Embed Code”, according to Symantec is “an attempt to exploit a vulnerability in Internet Explorer […that] if combined with other vulnerabilities, […] could aid in execution of arbitrary code on the client computer”. Bad stuff.

Want to check this out yourself? Unless you are a security expert, don’t. If you understand the risk, and want to see for yourself, go to www.ahmadinejad.ir and click on www.khamenei.ir. Anyway, make sure all your defenses are up before you enter!

And yo, people who aren't Israelis and who are computer savvy, do you get this or no?

LIVNI for Prime Minister!!!!!!

2006-08-13T13:16:00.000+03:00

Yo folks, I think it is time we start the Livni for Prime Minister campaign.

The woman is smart, she is articulate, she shoots straight from the hip, she is the closest thing we've ever had to a Golda Meir. Maybe the most important thing about her is that other countries REALLY LIKE HER. They find her appealing and persuasive. They like her style and don't take offense at her straight-forward manner. Maybe that is because while she is straight-forward she actually also has manners. She knows how to lay out information to the non-Israeli (e.g. the people in the rest of the world who find a blunt stating to facts to indicate rudeness and arrogance) public as well as to us, knowing how to call a spade a spade in the bluntest language of the big boys.

She was an officer in the IDF and she was in the Mossad. She knows whats what!

Olmert hates her because she shows "independence." He didn't want her heading off to the UN because, for one thing, people tend to LISTEN to her and RESPECT her and that is just way too much competition.

Even people outside of Israel are saying, yo Livni should be the top dog and Olmert relegated to the doghouse. This blogger from Egypt says

"I like her. She is cute, She is smart, and Olmert dislikes her, which gives her total "Not retarded" points right about now. Hell, it seems like she was the only one who took sane and logical measures those past few weeks ...
Plus, she is a woman. Israel does really well under female leadership. It did well under Golda, and ever since Golda was no longer in power it has been acting really stupid. Maybe what Israel needs is another female leader.

For all of those reasons, this blog supports Livni for PM of Israel. I am not isreali, and I can't really affect things either way, but seriously, can you think of someone better or smarter at this point from both the israeli or arab perspective? "

Other Israeli bloggers blogging for Livni: Lena
Yeah, Livni for PM. LIVNI FOR PM!!!

Photographer saw bodies de-graved for photo shots

2006-08-13T01:39:00.000+03:00

I read this earlier today over on EU Referendum who broke the story and planned to blog about it but cold potato soup and good company called my attention, followed by a 3 hour long phone call with my Ema :) and then checking out the Israeli blogs and snarking about Mr. Squirrel (aka Olmert). Little Green Footballs has now picked it up.

So what is the scoop? Well, a photographer who has been covering the beat over in Lebanon took part in a thread on a site for professional photographers dealing with the photo fakery coming out courtesy of Hezbollah-inspired "journalists." Bryan Denton, who's photographs have appeared in the New York Times wrote:

i have been working in lebanon since all this started, and seeing the behavior of many of the lebanese wire service photographers has been a bit unsettling. while hajj has garnered a lot of attention for his doctoring of images digitally, whether guilty or not, i have been witness to the daily practice of directed shots, one case where a group of wire photogs were choreographing the unearthing of bodies, directing emergency workers here and there, asking them to position bodies just so, even remove bodies that have already been put in graves so that they can photograph them in peoples arms. these photographers have come away with powerful shots, that required no manipulation digitally, but instead, manipulation on a human level, and this itself is a bigger ethical problem.

whatever the case is—lack of training, a personal drive as a photographer to show what is happening to your country in as powerful a way as possible, or all out competitiveness, i think that the onus is on the wire services themselves, because they act as the employer/filter of their photogs work. standards should be in place or else the rest of us end up paying the price. and i’m not against the idea of local wire photographers, but after seeing it over and over for the past month, i think it is something that is worth addressing. while i walk away from a situation like that, one wire shooter sets up a situation, and the rest of them follow.......

by Bryan Denton Fri Aug 11 07:36:08 UTC 2006 | Beirut, Lebanon

Holy guacamole batman.
[bold is my emphasis]

Olmert is weak and an indecisive idiot

2006-08-13T00:24:00.000+03:00

That seems to be what just about everyone on the left is saying --just imagine what the right, and the right religious will be saying (the latter once they get back to their computers tomorrow with shabbat over). Rinat who is definitely leftier than me says he is a weak, indecisive leader and she is ashamed to have him as a prime minister. Live from an Israeli bunker echoes my thoughts from the other day but says it and much more much better. The folks over at Neither here Nor There feel sure that we will be doing the election thing again this year and note that Olmert and company might want to take a little trip: "I and many like us would be happy to pay for air fare. One way naturally."

The only person I've been able to find that is happy about the agreeing to a "let's go back to square one and have another war once Hezbollah has had a chance to rearm with much bigger and nastier weapons in a just a few years" UN resolution and our prime minister who has acted more like a squirrel trying to cross a street with a car coming along at it (forward, no back, no forward no....!!!!!!) is Stefanella.

And it seems that the UN and Olmert have all forgotten 2 very important things: Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev.

And thanks to the U.N. Lebanon is going to get to play host to Hezbollah for who-knows-how-long. Lebanon will get pushed around and in essence taken over once again by Syria and with added influence by Iran. We have two countries with a massive amount of damage, not to mention loss of life, nothing to show for it and nothing good likely to come out of it because Hezbollah, Syria and Iran will start this all over again in the future. It is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when.

****The folks over at Ouwet Front who are very smart cookies have just made me feel a bit better about the outlook in general (though not about Mr. Squirrel). They seem to think that Hezbollah has come out the biggest loser and that "Lebanon and Israel won equally." However, they seem to think we've (Israel) pretty much wiped out Hezbollah whereas from all the information I've heard it would take another 3 weeks of fighting for that to happen. Still they point to some other things that indicate some advances for the Lebanese people and for Israel. Worth a read.

Israel's Mossad interrogates a Hezbollah terrorist --video

2006-08-12T11:34:00.000+03:00

Israel's Mossad interrogates a Hezbollah terrorist

Check this out.

Walid Phares warns UN has created "mother of all world threats since Hitler"

2006-08-12T11:25:00.000+03:00

This from the Counterterrorism Blog:

For anyone who still thinks the Israeli-Lebanon war is just a border scuffle, one Middle East expert shouts a dire warning: "As soon as a cease fire occurs, the ‘Hezbollah Blitzkrieg' will crumble the ‘Lebanese Republic of Weimar' and install its own ‘Khumeinist Republic' on the Eastern shores of the Mediterranean. The consequences of such a development are far beyond imagination for the region and the world. Hezbollah would have paved the way for Iran to create the mother of all world threats since Hitler."

So cautions Professor Walid Phares, author of "Future Jihad," a visiting fellow with the European Foundation for Democracy in Brussels, and a senior fellow with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington, D.C.

In an exclusive interview with NewsMax, the Lebanese-born Phares likens the current Hezbollah offensive in Lebanon to a "putsch" -- with the convoluted aims of reestablishing a pro-Syrian-Iranian regime in Lebanon, reconstructing a third wing to the Tehran-Damascus axis, reanimating the Arab-Israeli conflict, rejuvenating Syrian dominance, isolating Jordan, reaching out to Hamas, crumbling Iraq, and unleashing Iran's nuclear programs.

The author also sees half-measures and premature truces as catalysts to even bloodier future conflicts:

Read the rest.

Allah has a good round-up of reactions to the ceasefire.

If you don't read anything else, read this from LGF

2006-08-12T02:00:00.000+03:00

Ever wanted to know why we tend to get the news with the news slants that we do, all around the globe? Little Green Footballs has an exclusive report that needs to go viral: How Much Does It Cost to Buy Global TV news? Here's a taster...

The vast majority of the TV news pictures you see are produced by two TV news companies. Presented here is a case for how a large amount of money has been used to inject a clear bias into the heart of the global TV news gathering system. That this happens is not at question, whether it is by accident or design is harder to tell.

You may not realize it, but if you watch any TV news broadcast on any station anywhere in the world, there is a better than even chance you will view pictures from APTN. BBC, Fox, Sky, CNN and every major broadcaster subscribes to and uses APTN pictures. While the method by which they operate is interesting, it is the extra service this US owned and UK based company offers to Arab states that is really interesting.

Olmert is an idiot

2006-08-11T21:54:00.000+03:00

That is my feeling at the moment. It is subject to change. It may well change. At the moment though, I feel like Olmert is a total imbecile. If we were going to go in, we should have really gone in. Ground troops should have gone in sooner, there should have been more air support all along. Olmert has been putting troops in and pulling them back out and then putting them back in...we have a lot of firepower but we've sent our kids in there again and again with insufficient back-up.

What the hell is this thing with Olmert not "allowing" Livni to go to the U.N. meeting? What personal political bullshit is he pulling (and this is definitely personal --welcome to Israeli politics). Livni shoots straight from the hip, whether you agree with what she is saying or not, you can't argue that she doesn't play it straight. Olmert is the epitome of wishy washy.

I no longer (again subject to change should events change) support the whole "convergence" deal. I voted for it. Was a huge proponent of it. Was extremely happy about it. But. The only border we aren't being attacked from is the border that we are still "occupying". We have been attacked repeated from Gaza. We are no longer in Gaza. Haven't been in Gaza for a year now. Yet, from days after we pulled out and de-occupied we have been attacked from there. We are attacked repeatedly from Lebanon. We haven't been in Lebanon in 6 years. No occupation. Yet attacks. So tell me, Olmert, why should we pull out of the west bank again....?

And if Olmert agrees to a U.N. resolution cease fire thing based on a Chapter 6 I will be out demonstrating on the streets calling for a new election immediately. I feel like this and I'm a Labour voter for G-d's sake. I talked with a couple of friends who voted Meretz in the last election and they are spitting nails. Dude when even Meretz voters are saying no cease fire unless it is based on a Chapter 7 you better perk up your ears!

Meet the first ever Socialist Republican

2006-08-11T12:46:00.000+03:00

Hi, how you are doing. Yes, that would be me: A Socialist Republican.

I used to be a socialist and a democrat. In fact, I was about as dyed in the wool life-long democrat as you would ever find. I wasn't a centrist democrat either. Nope, I was as lefty left as you could get. And I wasn't quiet about it. Nope, I actively worked on campaigns for Democrats, I marched, I protested, I held signs, I wrote letters. But slowly I began to become alienated from the Left as the movement began itself to change. Or maybe it didn't really change and I just began to see it differently and to start researching things more thoroughly when the Left took issue with an issue near and dear(obviously --duh look where I live) to my heart and I intimately knew that the "facts" the Left relies on were wrong and misrepresented. A little bit more than a year ago, in July, I met with another woman who was to be moving here a few weeks after I myself made the move. She is an artist, still has the distinctive "I was a hippy activist" air about her, and very left and liberal views. We had a very interesting conversation and I blogged about it on July 1, 2005:

Making aliya gives you something in common to talk about but I had no idea just how much in common we shared. We are both very liberal left-leaning kinda gals and one of the most interesting components of our conversation was sharing our shock and disbelief (leading to a sense of disillusionment and alienation) at the position taken by the left in general and our many left-leaning friends in particular on the whole Israeli-Palestinian issue.

Shoshanna made a very interesting point, as we were discussing how it could be that these normally intelligent and informed people had come to have such slanted views that are not based on actual facts. Indeed, they have no real knowledge or understanding of the hard facts --I'm not talking about anything that is open to interpretation here. I often want to scream "look people, go and read the U.N. resolution, the newspaper articles (on both sides) etc that were written at the time and before Israel was declared a nation." Rather they spout off various revisionist-versions and often have absolutely no clue of even the most basic facts(for instance, we both know very educated people who are convinced that the Palestinians actually had an official world-recognized country right where Israel is sitting and that their country was taken away by force). Well to get back to her interesting point...[if you are interested you can read her interesting point back in the July 2005 archive]

Since moving here, I've really become estranged from the Left as it exists outside of Israel. I've joked with friends that I've become the first socialist republican ever. And it really is true.

Nonetheless, I was extremely (like way more than extremely) shocked to see this footage of supporters close in the ranks of Democratic candidate in Georgia Cynthia McKinney hurling anti-semitic remarks: See the video of it here

Qana staged: A Smoking Gun with Green Helmet

2006-08-10T21:37:00.000+03:00

Green Helmet acting as cynical movie director in qana

Ya wanna tell me now that Qana was not staged? Ya wanna tell me now that there was not more than something fishy going on there? Ya wanna tell me that Mr. Green Helmet is merely a "rescue worker?" Ya wanna tell me now that those unfortunate dead children were not taken out and then trotted out again and again for the cameras?

Watch this video and there ain't no way you can tell me that.

Sky News highlighting Israeli Security for flights

2006-08-10T13:38:00.000+03:00

Sky News is right now doing an interview here at Ben-Gurion airport and talking about how our airport is the safest in the world, how our flights (El Al) are the safest and have the best security procedures of any airline in the world whether flying out of Israel or flying from any other destination in the world. Yeah, we know how to do security. We've had to learn! They were pointing out that we have a special school that all security people for our flights have to go through and that the training is intensive --that other airlines have turned to Israel in the past for help in training advice for their security but that none have the kind of training or safety check procedures like we do.

We rock. Yes we do.

So, what are some of the things that we do differently?

First, you have to arrive 3 hours ahead of a flight rather than just 2 hours because of the extra checks you go through. When you arrive at the front check-in terminal you cue up first, you and all your luggage, to go through a pretty intensive questioning about who you are, where you are going, why, where you have been and so forth. If you are flying to Israel as a visitor they may ask at this point for the address and telephone number of the place you are going, they may ask for names of family members in the country, where they live, their ages. [As Kat just pointed out in the comments, they often will call your hosts to verify] If you are jewish they may ask things like "so what did you read for your bar/bat mitzvah." You may be questioned at this point for anywhere from 5-25 minutes (we're talking you answering questions not length of time waiting while others answer questions). Then you walk forward and your luggage goes through a massive x-raying while you stand and wait for it to come out the other side. They may ask you to unpack it right there.

Only then do you get to proceed to the ticket check-in counter in order to get your boarding pass in order to go through to the gate area. You check your bags here and get your boarding pass. You answer the standard questions here that non-El Al travelers are only asked "Did you pack your luggage yourself?" kind of questions.

Then you go through the x-ray of your handbaggage and of your person again prior to getting to the gate areas. This is standard for all airlines and in all airports, of course.

You are not done with screening yet. At your specific gate you and all your [Ed: carry-on] luggage will again go through a screening before you can get on the airplane. You are again questioned prior to your things being x-rayed. This can, again, take from 5-25 minutes of actual answering questions. I've gone through when I was only "chatted up" --and some of that nice chit chat is meant to see if you answer something suspicious without realizing it --for a couple of minutes and other times where I stood there answering questions ranging from where I went to elementary school and forward for nearly half an hour. Only after this screening do you get on your flight.

***In thwarted terrorist attack United, Continental, American and British Airways flights were targeted. Destinations from U.K to New York, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles***

Arrests in U.S. and UK --air travel off my list for awhile

2006-08-10T10:40:00.000+03:00

Anyone else feel like flying the becoming-less-than-friendly-skies? check this out:

Two men have been arrested in Ohio: Investigators: Pair with passenger info, phones linked to terror. Osama Sabhi Abulhassan, 20, and Ali Houssaiky, 20, both of the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, were arrested and charged with money laundering for a terrorist organization among other things. In their possession they had the flight documents along with $11,000 cash and 12 phones in their car. They had detailed information on airline security checkpoints. They also had maps with the location of Walmart Stores marked on them from Ohio through Kentucky, Tennessee and into North and South Carolina.

But don't go thinking the U.S. authorities were hot on their trail or anything like that. Nope, these guys got caught and found with all this stuff because they were stopped for a routine traffic violation.

They were arrested about 8 miles from where I used to live in Ohio. I am telling you now that they fact that they were arrested at all, given that little tidbit of info, puts their capture somewhere into the realm of miraculous accident. That they were stopped to be ticketed for speeding is not surprising, however, as that is a (for people in the area) notorious "speed trap" stretch of road. That the cops could figure out....that is where the miracle comes in.
*****Update: Michelle Malkin is all over this story and provides loads of information and connection to other information that has come out previously. (And, it seems that, while these guys only had 12 cellphones related to terror on them, they have bought and distributed more than 600 of them in the past couple of months). Go read Michelle's blog!

And the big news in the U.K. today is the arrest of 18 21 terror suspects who were planning to blow up airplanes on their way from Britain to the U.S. Now, if you are flying into or out of the U.K. you are not allowed to bring on hand-luggage. Not even purses. You have to put your wallet and passport in a clear plastic baggie and that is the only thing you are allowed to bring on. Just. wallet. and. passport.

******6 9 airplanes were to be blown up: United, Continental, and American flights*****

This is why I only fly El Al --service kinda sucks and it is usually more expensive but it is the safest airline in the world with far more security checks at every point than any other airline out there.

Additional thoughts: Will the BBC now drop their love affair with Hezbollah and Hamas? I'm doubting it. As Hashmonean points out in an excellent post (recommended reading) Israel is considering cenuring tthe BBC. He quotes "Senior diplomatic officials in Jerusalem went as far as saying that "the reports we see give the impression that the BBC is working on behalf of Hizbullah instead of doing fair journalism." Boy, you got that right.

Aha anyone else notice this: The BBC has just changed their headline of "Israel Seizes South Lebanon Town" to "Israel 'Takes' South Lebanon Town". Hmmmmm :)

Red Cross Openly Helping Hezbollah

2006-08-10T10:25:00.000+03:00

Read the full article in the NYTimes. One interesting comment that really stood out from one of the Hezbollah men being interviewed about the food that the Red Cross was helping to bring in to them that came from Iran was this comment: “This comes from Iran but maybe after a while, the next shipment will come from France,” the man said, a slight but knowing smile spreading.

Technorati Tags: Lebanon Hezbollah Red Cross

Photos of the Chatulim Brigade doing an Air Raid Drill

2006-08-09T20:11:00.000+03:00

Note, the scene you are about to see is staged. These are not pictures of an actual air raid siren drill in my apartment for the very simple reason that...I didn't have enough hands to take the pictures while doing the drill. So you will get a semi drill (e.g. step 1, stop, pick up camera, take picture, step 2..)
Here we are pre-drill with everything waiting by the door at the ready. (I should note that the top carrier frequently gets knocked down and not by me, with much accompanying noise because the little ones have figured out that the ziplock container -er contains food--and they try to get to it)
Here is a close-up up the container. Notice the fantastic little tab on the lid for easy bit and rip-off ability.
Here are the youngest members of the Chatulim Brigade. They are very intent on their (eating) duties. You will notice that one soldier is missing. Matan has indeed gone AWOL --he seemed to think my reaching for the camera to get the "first ever" shot of Soldier Buffy (below) as a sign that he could leave early for his Shabbat leave.

Here is the most astonishing occurance: the conscientious objector decided to drop her objections and take part in basic training voluntarily! In fact, she shot into the carrier just behind Arie, Gingi and Matan rushing into the other. Surprised, I did not lock the door behind Matan and he...yep AWOL he went. Mischa, seeing Buffy in the carrier obviously decided that such an anomoly signalled RETREAT and retreat he did.

And this picture is just too darn cute not to include.

Hezbollah clearly you've got no chance against these ferocious troops. Give it up now.

Beaches in Beirut packed, business is good

2006-08-09T15:07:00.000+03:00

Yo, BBC are you going to report on this?

While the effects of war are readily apparent in northern Israel and southern Lebanon, life largely proceeds as usual in both Beirut and Tel Aviv, according to president of the International Red Cross, Dr. Jakob Kellenberger, who arrived in Israel for a visit Wednesday.

The beaches in Beirut are packed and businesses downtown are doing well, Kellenberger said, and compared the situation to the ongoing routine in Tel Aviv and central Israel, which he noted are disconnected from the fighting at this point.

From YNET

That said, I'm off to the beach myself...

The Neighborhood Bully

2006-08-09T13:42:00.000+03:00

A really kewl blogger reminded me about this song written by Bob Dylan in 1983...seems even more relevant today:

Well, the neighborhood bully, he's just one man,
His enemies say he's on their land.
They got him outnumbered about a million to one,
He got no place to escape to, no place to run.
He's the neighborhood bully.

The neighborhood bully just lives to survive,
He's criticized and condemned for being alive.
He's not supposed to fight back, he's supposed to have thick skin,
He's supposed to lay down and die when his door is kicked in.
He's the neighborhood bully.

The neighborhood bully been driven out of every land,
He's wandered the earth an exiled man.
Seen his family scattered, his people hounded and torn,
He's always on trial for just being born.
He's the neighborhood bully.

Well, he knocked out a lynch mob, he was criticized,
Old women condemned him, said he should apologize.
Then he destroyed a bomb factory, nobody was glad.
The bombs were meant for him.
He was supposed to feel bad.
He's the neighborhood bully.

Well, the chances are against it and the odds are slim
That he'll live by the rules that the world makes for him,
'Cause there's a noose at his neck and a gun at his back
And a license to kill him is given out to every maniac.
He's the neighborhood bully.

He got no allies to really speak of.
What he gets he must pay for, he don't get it out of love.
He buys obsolete weapons and he won't be denied
But no one sends flesh and blood to fight by his side.
He's the neighborhood bully.

Well, he's surrounded by pacifists who all want peace,
They pray for it nightly that the bloodshed must cease.
Now, they wouldn't hurt a fly.
To hurt one they would weep.
They lay and they wait for this bully to fall asleep.
He's the neighborhood bully.

Every empire that's enslaved him is gone,
Egypt and Rome, even the great Babylon.
He's made a garden of paradise in the desert sand,
In bed with nobody, under no one's command.
He's the neighborhood bully.

Now his holiest books have been trampled upon,
No contract he signed was worth what it was written on.
He took the crumbs of the world and he turned it into wealth,
Took sickness and disease and he turned it into health.
He's the neighborhood bully.

What's anybody indebted to him for?
Nothin', they say.
He just likes to cause war.
Pride and prejudice and superstition indeed,
They wait for this bully like a dog waits to feed.
He's the neighborhood bully.

What has he done to wear so many scars?
Does he change the course of rivers?
Does he pollute the moon and stars?
Neighborhood bully, standing on the hill,
Running out the clock, time standing still,
Neighborhood bully.

Copyright © 1983 Special Rider Music

NYTimes and Hezbollah Raise the Dead!

2006-08-09T12:04:00.000+03:00

NYTimes & Hezbollah Raise the Dead!

Wow talk about miracles!

For a full analyses of this (and in case the video hangs --tons of people seem to be watching it and causing it to not load for eons) check out Michelle Malkin's post.

To send comments and suggestions (about news coverage only) or to report errors that call for correction, e-mail nytnews-at-nytimes.com or leave a message at 1-888-NYT-NEWS.

E-mail the ombudsman at public-at-nytimes.com or call (212) 556-7652.

E-mail the Editors at executive-editor-at-nytimes.com and managing-editor-at-nytimes.com

Oh the trash they print..

2006-08-09T01:31:00.000+03:00

Photo exposes continue apace. Just about everytime you check back on blogs such as Little Green Footballs, The Riehl World, EU Referendum, and Hotair you see yet more faked or staged photos that have been splashed across a news source near you. This one I think is hysterical, from over at Hotair. As you can see, it was the cover of U.S. News
and it was taken by our friend Adnan Hajj. It purports to show the results of an Israeli airstrike that caused mayhem and damage. Our friend Hajj was fond of fire and smoke as you recall. But a close-up of what is burning reveals...Ta da!! It is a garbage dump! They are burning tires! In another photo shot (available over at Hotair) you see the brave Hezbollah fighter shooting at...no, not Israeli troops but --those flaming tires! Staged? Nahhhhhhh.

And our friend Hussein Malla of AP also just happened to stroll down this road and catch this same Hezbollah militant sniping away at that dangerous burning rubbish heap as his photo on The Guardian site in the U.K. shows. Just astounding how these photographers just happen to happen upon the same people over and over again, like the old woman and her many houses many weeks apart.

Honestly, the number of suspect and clearly faked and staged photos being documented on blogs and in the news is now just too numerous to even think about showing or talking about them all. I'm reduced to writing up just my favourites.

****Update: From Michelle Malkin's blog:

When I saw the US News photo I knew I'd seen it somewhere else as well. This exact same scene is shown on page 45 of the July 31st issue of Time Magazine. The caption reads: "The wreckage of a downed Israeli jet that was targeting Hizballa trucks billows smoke behind a Hizballah gunman in Kfar Chima, near Beirut. Jet fuel set the surrounding area ablaze." The photo credit is to Bruno Stevens - Cosmos. Upon closer inspection the blaze indeed appears to be a tire fire.

Notice too yet another photogrpaher....

****Note: I screamed about the Guardian not retracting the 40 killed and revising it to 1 in the article linked above with photo by Malla. I was wrong. I was wrong. Apologies to the Guardian --they were talking about a different air strike.****

Oh no, say it ain't so

2006-08-09T00:42:00.000+03:00

There is going to be heck of a wedding celebration and it is going to be in my neighborhood. 40 couples from the north whose weddings would otherwise be cancelled by the war are getting hitched in a mass wedding ceremony just down the street from me. Each couple is limited to inviting 100 people. Someone correct my math if I am wrong but does this not add up to like 4,000 people who are going to be descending (driving, honking, walking, yelling, calling, celebrating) on my street? The director of this thing (yeah there will be film crews there too) has promised the couples that there will be quiet areas for their guests to hang out in. With 4,000 guests there isn't going to be a quiet corner in a 10-block radius!

Ahem, mazel tov.

Arab-Israeli civilians suffering high casualty rates and they are pissed --at Hezbollah

2006-08-09T00:02:00.000+03:00

******I blogged about a conversation I had with someone yesterday and should have checked with that person prior to blogging it. While I took care to preserve anonymity this is a small country. By request, this portion of the post has been removed******

Many people outside of Israel may not realize this but a very high proportion of our civilians that have been killed in the 3,500 plus rocket attacks by Hezbollah so far were Arab-Israeli citizens. A good number of our military casualties were also Arab-Israelis. And they are pissed.

On Sunday rockets slammed into the Abu Nisnas neighborhood of Haifa which is predominantly Arab-Israeli and right in the center of the city. Dozens of people were injured in the attacks on Haifa that day and 3 people lost their lives. As one young Arab-Israeli who was injured in the attacks said, "I hope Nasrallah gets a rocket between the legs for what he is doing to me here, for harming grandma and grandpa." The Sandmonkey noted that "Someone yesterday told me that while watching an AlArabiay report on Israei arabs, a couple of Israeli arabs started chanting "Blero7 Beldam , nefdeeky ya Israel" (With our Souls and Blood we die for you Israel), which is a very arab chant usually in dedication to our leader." [My emphasis].

AP and the BBC doing some Reuters tactics

2006-08-08T10:44:00.000+03:00

If you pop over to Drinking from Home you'll see a woman so unlucky that she's lost multiple houses several weeks apart all over Lebanon: this must be why the BBC has featured her so prominently. Not only that, multiple photographers from different news agencies have somehow managed to stumble across her impromtu performance. Well, now, how random is that? Reuters photographer Issam Kobbeisi just happened to come across this woman on the street as she through up her hands and wailed over the destruction of "her" apartment building on July 22nd. Then, in proof that not only does the IDF strike twice but that reporters seem to be psychic, Hussein Malla from AP saw her impromput hand-raising despair over the destruction of "her" private home in a Beirut suburb on Aug. 5. And the BBC thought her picture was so moving that they put two copies of her up on their front page in prominent positions (you can see the screen capture and then their stealth edit over on Drinking from Home).

And how about those 40 people killed in a deliberate Israeli massacre yesterday, hmmm? Oh, ooops, you mean it was really only 1? And amazingly, from my own observation of the BBC yesterday to see how this would be handled since they had a screaming headline about the massacre of 40 civilians --it took them several hours after the ticker on Ha'Aretz was showing that the number had been revised to just one person for them to change it. And no, of course they didn't make it a headline: the 40 massacred headline got changed to Israel bombs...and in the text description beneath there was a little note that it was one person and not 40 as previously reported. Of course.

BTW: all the folks who are popping over here from the Aljazeera in Italy site and making the troll comments, death threats, personal attacks and so forth, whether in english or in Italian --I'm not publishing so just don't bother, ok?

Whew close call for Tel Aviv

2006-08-08T00:49:00.000+03:00

We nearly got bombed today in Tel Aviv. Thankfully the news tonight is how we didn't get bombed. Hezbollah sent a drone on a direct line to Tel Aviv and it was filled with all kinds of horrible explosive pieces parts that would have caused a lot of damage. But our military was on the ball. They were able to shoot it out of the sky just before it flew over the coast by Haifa and it fell harmlessly into the sea. Good shooting boys and girls! Thank you. Really and truely thank you. My cats, who are not in their carriers and me, not having to think about how many seconds it is taking to get them into their carriers, thank you from the bottom of our little hearts. I sent 4 pizzas to our troops which was all I could afford (ok, more than I could afford but if I can feed about 40 cats I can sure as hell feed 40 of our soldiers some pizza when they may have saved my life and the life of the 40 cats in my apartment and around my apartment building).

We are safe and sound here in Tel Aviv at the moment. Our boys and girls in uniform are on the alert.

(And yes there is a lot of air activity. IDF says it is normal military activity. My take is that it is, indeed normal flight activity --for situations when rocket things are being sent at the center of the country. Yep. I'm not too far from where these things take off, land, and so forth and there are a whole lot more of them and they are a whole lot lower. The noise doesn't bug me. On the contrary, makes me feel more secure!)

2006-08-07T10:58:00.000+03:00

Video Showing More Reuters Faked Photos

Here's a video showing more faked photos coming out of Lebanon and published in a newspaper near you via Reuters.

Adnan Hajj scandal goes viral, Green Helmet strikes again

2006-08-07T09:20:00.000+03:00

Reuters look out, the Hajj scandal of the doctored photograph has gone extremely viral. I tried to post about this last night but my connection went on the fritz --it is just as well, however, because the 'net frenzy and the scrutiny of Hajj's other photographs has exploded even further overnight. Reuters has now moved up to Number 1 on technorati's most-searched terms, followed by "Adnan Hajj" at Number 3 (anti-semite Mel Gibson is at 5).

Everywhere you look you see professional photographers and the layman alike scrutinizing Hajj's photographs --and coming up with some mighty suspicious candidates that appear to have been altered. Our own Lisoosh identified this photo below as being altered and the girl has a good eye -- here it is now also identified as being altered from over on Little Green Footballs
. And that is not the only questionable photograph to have been identified already --seems Hajj was a busy boy "removing dust marks" from lots of photographs.

Word on the web street is that Reuters is not planning to examine any of Hajj's other images for fraud. Dudes, you are making one huge mistake. Everyone else is already examining his images and coming to their own conclusions --and one of those conclusions is going to be that they can't trust the news coming out of Reuters if Reuters does not conduct a full investigation and detail which of his photos were doctored. Reuters can save face if they investigate and fully come clean. If I were Reuters I'd actually be examining all of the photo work that has come out of Lebanon whether by Hajj or by other stringers simply because --that's what folks on the street are doing. Already images from other Reuter's stringers are being closely examined by the average web-guy and gal; and already suspicions are being cast, if not about photoshop editing, then about stagings of photos. Reuters, folks, you gotta act or you are going to end up with a far bigger P.R. nightmare than Hajj has already created for you.

Mr. Green Helmet has put in another appearance. Yesterday he was back in Tyre for a photo-op next to some more dead bodies. Yo, this dude certainly gets around. I must say, along with just about everyone else right now, that the Hajj scandal has certainly cast yet more suspician on the events at Qana. Hajj was there and took some photos that look mighty staged. Reuters and other news agencies, such as AP, reviewed the Qana photos and concluded they weren't staged --of course, that was before Hajj's chicanery came to light. Maybe they should take another look...

Hmmm, who took this photo above?...Yep that's the way people are thinking.

Technorati tags:Adnan Hajj reuters

Kitty air raid siren drills

2006-08-06T21:29:00.000+03:00

Before reading further, you are instructed not to laugh. Got that? No laughing allowed, or at least, not aloud.

Now that it seems like there is the distinct possibility that Tel Aviv is going to be hit with rockets, I am taking things much more seriously. Granted, when this war first started and Nasrallah was threatening to send rockets careening into Tel Aviv I was a bit panicky. Ooo la, said I to myself, this is like, maybe bad. So I went out and got waters and all kinds of other things our va'ad bayit told me to go get. Then, when no rockets were hitting toward the center of the country I got a bit complacent. Naaa, I thought, won't happen. Then Haifa got it and it suddenly seemed a much more real possibility. Still, now that Haifa has become a regular target (all hell is breaking lose in Haifa at the moment from rockets and a lot of people are in a shape somewhere between dead and seriously injured under rubble of collapsed buildings) it seemed a lot more, uhhhh yeah. When even folks like the laid-back and take-it-in-stride cool and sabra-like Lisa start thinking that yeah it is most likely going to happen...

So I've been doing the only sensible thing a girl with 5 cats can do: siren drills. Siren drills for cats. (Believe me, there will be pictures hopefully tomorrow because this has to be documented). While we get a 1 minute warning, the cats only get 15 seconds because otherwise I won't get down those stairs in time. So the cats have got to be in tip-top-training shape. They are in the kitty army now. You've heard about the Golani Brigade? They are in the more ferocious Chatulim Brigade.

I've got 4 of them obeying the routine but, alas, they are still taking 20 seconds to do it. Buffy is, however, a refusenik. She has been trying to claim conscientious objector status. I'm having none of it. So, here is what we do with the kitty drill:

The two big cat carriers are stacked one atop the other by the door with their doors open and ready for entry. A tupperware container with food and an unopened can of tuna sits atop that. Pretend siren sounds and I sprint from wherever in the apartment I happen to be when I decide it is kitty drill time. Grab tupperware in one hand, tuna can in the other, knee the top carrier so it falls to the floor while simultaneously prying the top off the tupperware container with my teeth. Throw food through the door of one carrier and then through the other. Arie and Gingi (the babies) are with the program. Even before those kibbles start bouncing around in the carrier they are streaking inside. Matan, slightly slower follows them into the same carrier. I have to be quick now because if I hesitate Matan will change his mind and decide the food is tastier in the other carrier. Slam door and lock; three in position. Mischa runs up and meows but doesn't want to enter the carrier. But he does want food. show Mischa the tuna can. The conscientious objector leaps to the table just behind me at this point because she also wants tuna. Lower can to draw Mischa closer, grab the fat cat with other and shove him in the carrier. Slam door. He begins to eat kibbles. Pivot and grab the conscientious object who objects loudly. Drop tuna can, open door, shove the refusnik into jail, lock. Open door, grab carriers and ...we haven't practiced going down the stairs and we won't until it is the real deal or none of them will ever get in those carriers again, heh.

They all then get a tuna treat in the carriers to reinforce "nice carrier, good carrier, tasty food in the carrier..." mentality.

Gotta shave off those 5 seconds...
(And lest you think I'm completely crazy I've at least got good company: Noorster just im'd me to say she was about to post about siren drills with her kitten :)

Reuters admits photo altered, suspends photographer

2006-08-06T17:41:00.000+03:00

YES!

Reuters admits altering Beirut photo

Reuters withdraws photograph of Beirut after Air Force attack after US blogs, photographers point out 'blatant evidence of manipulation.' Reuters' head of PR says in response, 'Reuters has suspended photographer until investigations are completed into changes made to photograph.' Photographer who sent altered image is same Reuters photographer behind many of images from Qana, which have also been subject of suspicions for being staged

Now I'm going to write to thank them for taking action. But I'm also going to ask that they investigate the photos Hajj took of the events in Qana and elsewhere in Lebanon during this war.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BLOGGERS!!!!!!!!!!! Charles, you are my hero!

Fishier and Fishier Fotos out of Lebanon

2006-08-06T11:51:00.000+03:00

It is looking very much like a stringer for Reuters has doctored at least one photograph that has hit a news source near you. Little Green Footballs has an excellent expose on this, showing quite clearly that this particular photo had a major make-over in Photoshop to make the scene look much worse than the reality. Here's the photo and I'll give a brief breakdown of what has been discovered about this photo below it, though you should check out Little Green Footballs to see in nice big and clear pictures exactly what was done to this photo to create it for your media manipulation. [Note and more below: This is the Reuters photographer who took a questionable photo at Qana --also splashed across the media]

So what is wrong with this picture?
1. The smoke. See the repeating spirals of black smoke? Smoke doesn't repeat in spirals like that. Professional sports photographers are discussing the photo here and they picked up on the smoke issue immediately. One of them notes: "I'll second the cloned smoke...but it looks so obvious that I don't know how the photographer could have gotten away with it."

2. Buildings that do not exist. Or well, actually, they do exist but they only exist in one incarnation in reality. In this photo it seems that damaged buildings have managed to replicate themselves magically. In other words, they have been cloned, using the clone tool in photoshop. Again you need to pop over to LGF to see the blowup of this photo of this and they have highlighted some of the cloned buildings, and Rob has highlighted additional cloned buildings.

We know these buildings have been cloned for two reasons. First, it is highly unlikely that two identical buildings even sitting in close proximity would suffer exactly identical damage. More importantly, other photographs of this same city block region show that only one of these buildings exists on the ground (in other words, outside of this picture).

3. LGF has found what may be the original (pre-doctored) version of this photo --or at the least, the photo was taken (ed: my bad, it was taken on July 26th and not on the same day), from the exact same angle, and shows quite a different scene. Notice when you pop over there that the smoke is not black and not rising in huge towering spirals. Rather it is white (Psst: Dust from collapsed buildings people, remember the dust issue from Qana!) and low and blowing along.

Now speaking of Qana, this same photographer, Adnan Hajj, took the now famous picture of the infant that was covered in dust --which is indeed compatible with having been pulled from a collapsed building and thus I completely believe that this unfortunate child was buried under rubble (in contrast to the photos of the other bodies theoretically extracted at Qana from under piles of rubble which had not a speck of dust or dirt on them or their clothing). The thing about this photo of the infant that caught people's attention, however, was that while the body was absolutely covered in dust, the pacifier and the plastic chain of the pacifier that hangs down off the child looks like it just came out of a newly purchased package --no dust, no dirt, not even a smudge. In fact, the clean, blue plastic of this chain makes a pictorially striking, even jarring contrast to the body:

One of Germany's largest newspapers Bild Zeitung has decided that our friendly rescuer in the Green Helmet is indeed Mr. Hezbollah Propoganda Spokesman and that the pictures coming out of Qana were staged.
In fact, they've also put up some pictures of him in 1996--holding up dead infants for the camera.

Oh, and we now know why the roof of the building at Qana was completely undamaged --according to a witness the missile decided to enter (what, it was trying to be polite?)through the front door “It came in right at the door. I saw it. It was aimed right for the door” (hat tip: A Whiff of the Med)

Personally, I intend to write Reuters and ask for a full investigation of the photos submitted by Adnan Hajj.

Armed Palestinians break into jail and execute 'collaborators'

2006-08-05T11:26:00.000+03:00

I've noticed that the world seems to be silent when Palestinians engage in activities such as this:

Five Palestinian gunmen dressed in military uniforms broke into a prison Friday in the West Bank city of Jericho and shot six inmates dead, security sources said.
The assailants were armed with handguns equipped with silencers.

Four of these men were accused of collaborating with Israel, though they had not yet been tried. The two other men in the cell who were killed simply had the bad luck to be in the same cell with these four.

According to Ynet, "A senior Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades member told Ynet that the organization decided to execute the collaborators after the Palestinian Authority refrained from doing so for more than year." But fear not, Abbas is on the case. He is speeding up the process whereby those suspected of passing information to Israel can be executed --"Following a number of raids on PA prisons President Mahmoud Abbas decided to transfer the collaborators’ cases to the Mufti, so that he may authorize their execution; a number of prisoners suspected of collaborating with Israel have indeed been executed in the past few months."

Remember the hue and cry when Israelis broke into, yes this same prison, less than one year ago and removed terrorists being held there after the Palestinian Authority violated the international agreement that was signed regarding their imprisonment? Remember how the international monitors withdrew from the prison because their own safety was at risk, that they had repeatedly asked the Palestinian Authority to abide by the regulations regarding the prisoners and were met with refusal, and that the palestinian government was claiming they were going to free these men in violation of the international agreement? The whole world comdemned Israel for going in and taking these guys out of the jail and putting them safely, fully alive and breathing, in another jail --this time one in our country and where they could finally have a fair trial, you know with their own lawyers and witnesses and stuff.

But there seems to be no condemnation, no notice even, when members of the Palestinian Authority's own party break into a jail and summarily execute people without giving them the benefit of a trial. And of course those two who had the bad luck to be in the cell, oh well for them, ho hum.

And, of course, in Israel we don't have th death penalty and so those terrorists --involved in the assassination of one of our government ministers --will live out long lives, whether they are found guilty or innocent. In jail if guilty, free if innocent. Yet, we are condemned...

IAF did not strike in villages of Taibeh, Aita al-Shaab

2006-08-05T01:17:00.000+03:00

Breaking news:

IDF: IAF did not strike in villages of Taibeh, Aita al-Shaab

The Israel Defense Forces responded to publications according to which the Israel Air Force bombed buildings in the villages of Taibeh and Aita al-Shaab in southern Lebanon, saying that no strikes were carried out in those areas.

News agencies reported Friday afternoon that buildings collapsed during IAF strikes in the two villages, and that 57 people were buried under the rubble.

So did buildings collapse there? Why did buildings collapse there if so? And what is up with this number 57? Reports earlier this evening said the Lebanese were saying there were 57 people trapped in the rubble. They were claiming 57 people in Qana. Is there something special about this number? Can we at least get a bit more creative with the numbers folks. I know that some bizarre coincidences can occur but this would be a little too bizarre.

Tel Aviv on heightened alert

2006-08-05T00:45:00.000+03:00

Hadera is just up the road from us. Not very far at all from where I sit. So now, as a result of the bombs that fell there today, we here in Tel Aviv have been put on heightened alert.

Following Friday night's rocket attack on the Hadera area, Colonel Yechiel Kuperstein, head of the Home Front Command's defense department, told Ynet that the new procedures issued for residents south of Haifa apply to all residents on Israel's coastline plane, including Tel Aviv.

So this is the deal. If the siren sounds we should have one minute to get somewhere as close to safe as possible. If you are in a new building then you have a bomb shelter inside your apartment --every individual apartment unit has its own if it was built after like 1980 something. If you are in an old building, like mine, you should get to the basement or the stairwell. Except in my building there is a nice big glass skylight above our stairwell and if you peer over the edge of the stairs from outside my apartment you can see all the way down to the ground floor. So the stairwell is definitely not a good bet. Of course, neither is my apartment: top floor, no rooms without nearly wall-to-wall windows. The cats and I will definitely make a dash down those stairs toward the basement.

If you are outside or away from home you should get in a building with a stairwell and lie down flat if possible. If you can't get inside, press yourself against the nearest wall and lie down flat. If you are driving get out of your car and away from the vehicle and lie down in the safest spot you can spot.

Stay there for at least 15 minutes after the siren sounds. If you hear bombs landing do not go out to see where they hit even after several minutes have passed of quiet: they often shoot several volleys (says a friend from up north who is intimately acquainted with these bombs by now).

Why Israelis are so sceptical about Qana

2006-08-03T21:32:00.000+03:00

If you are wondering why Israelis are so sceptical about what really occurred at Qana, the answer is quite simple:

The Massacre at Jenin (that wasn't). From wikepedia "The battle attracted widespread international attention because journalists, particularly in the UK, falsely reported that a massacre of Palestinians had taken place during the fighting, and that hundreds, or even thousands, of bodies had been secretly buried in mass graves by the IDF, allegations that were later shown to be baseless." For weeks there was a media frenzy with grieving relatives interviewed, coverage of funerals, and claim after claim of atrocities, each worse than the last, that Israel supposedly committed. The media continued to report as fact that hundreds of innocent people, mainly women and children, had been brutally, cold-bloodly murdered despite being shown evidence that funerals were being faked such as being shown this video caught by a drone flying overhead. This clip would be funny if the accusations being thrust at us had not been so serious: the supposedly dead person keeps falling out of the funeral shroud he's being carried in --and then getting up to climb back in again so they can proceed along. He falls out again and again. It took some 6 months for the independent investigations by human rights organizations to make clear that no massacre had occurred. Of course, by then the damage was done in the media. No one was covering the story of the "massacre that didn't happen" --the "massacre that didn't happen" didn't get weeks of airplay, it got a small mention if it got any mention at all. You can still hear many people in the U.S., Germany and elsewhere talking about the horrible Israelis and how they cold-bloodly mowed down hundreds of innocent children in Jenin a few years ago.

More recently we had the Hamas accusations that Israel bombed a rally and killed and injured nearly two-scores of people, including many children. We claimed it wasn't so. In this instance, the Palestinian Authority came out and supported Israel and stated very clearly that it was a Hamas car at the Hamas rally that was filled with rockets and weapons that exploded due to Hamas negligence, thus killing the children and adults who were gathered around it. In fact, over this two week period of time Hamas claimed we bombed a house and several other targets and Fatah came out and said nooooooo those were additional accidents in which bomb-makers accidentally exploded themselves and their family members. Why did Fatah suddenly become so honest? Well you see, this was right before the Palestinian elections...you know, Hamas vs. Fatah...

A lot of the news clips that make it onto the nightly news of reputable news channels such as CNN, NBC, BBC, and so forth, showing theoretical Israeli aggressions and horrible activities against the Palestinians have also been shown to be....fabricated. If you watch the documentary below (it takes 18 minutes --you won't be sorry you spent them) you will get to see the official news reports with the clips and then the raw footage from which those clips were taken --clearly showing that the clips had been staged: that there was a director and actors and that the event being reported was wholly fabricated.

So this is why we scrutinize and ask a lot of questions when claims of mass deaths are reported...

Not blaming the journalists

2006-08-03T17:48:00.000+03:00

I should make clear that I am in no way blaming the journalists who covered Qana or accusing them of being in cahoots to create a media story. I think the photo-journalists who were on the scene were doing their jobs and taking pictures of what was presented in front of them. I don't think they were bothering to check with one another --hey did you by chance take a picture of that same rescuer with the same body passing by an hour or two ago? If I arrived on the scene with my camera at the ready I would be quickly snapping away at whatever was in front of me. It would not enter my mind that what was in front of me might have been in front of a colleague at an alternate time of the day. It would not enter my mind that what I was seeing may or may not be reality. I wouldn't be questioning. I'd simply be snapping away. I'd be getting the story as it appeared before me.

The journalists have done nothing wrong here. They were just doing their jobs. The news agencies do need to make further clarifications not to "clear" their reporters --but to explain what it was that was presented to their reporters. The news event their reporters were covering is filled with dubious and contradictory information. They don't need to question their reporters as to their veracity, but now that the dust has settled they do need to take a look back and clarify what they can of what they captured on film and what they witnessed.

AP and news agencies still have much to answer

2006-08-03T15:29:00.000+03:00

The major news agencies of AP, Reuters, and AFP issued a joint statement in response to the growing questions that bloggers have been raising. In it, AP notes:

The AP had three different photographers there who weren’t always aware of what the others were doing, and filed their images to editors separately, said Santiago Lyon, director of photography.

There are also several reasons not to draw conclusions from time stamps, Lyon said. Following a news event like this, the AP does not distribute pictures sequentially; photos are moved based on news value and how quickly they are available for an editor to transmit.

However, from an internal AP memo that was leaked we know that their 3 photographers arrived on scene at staggered times during the morning:

Rumors surfaced early Sunday morning that an Israeli airstrike had flattened a house in the southern Lebanese village of Qana. The number of deaths wasn't immediately known, but the seriousness of the incident was clear. Beirut-based photographer Hussein Malla immediately called AP photographers Nasser Nasser, Lefteris Pitarakis and stringer Mohammed Zaatari and advised them to rush to the scene. Nasser arrived as the bodies of many civilians — including numerous children — were being pulled from the rubble. Lefteris later took over, enabling Nasser to get his pictures swiftly onto the wire. Kevin Frayer was dispatched from Beirut to boost AP's presence. Throughout the morning, AP's team filed a steady stream of powerful images.

Yet, these guys all managed to snap photos of the same guy carrying the same corpses One of the pictures (credited to Nasser) was either taken or filed at 7:21 a.m. soon after the first rescuers and reporters arrived on scene. This particular photo (see photos here and here) shows the victim laying in the ambulance--photos of this same victim and rescuer (he in different attire) were taken by the other AP photographers --they have later time stamps/or times of being filed and show the victim being carried --thus one would think pre-ambulance photos. Yet, Nasser was the only one on the scene at 7:21, the others took over later --no matter how you cut it, it seems that the body of this particular victim seems to have gotten out of the ambulance for the later-arriving photographers. Of course, it could be that Nasser took them all and is just letting the other guys get some photo credit to boost their careers. Now, if there is a picture out there that shows the rescuer sitting the corpse down in order to take off his jacket and helmet before continuing on... There are a lot of other questions raised that were not addressed in their response. [note: I am not accusing the journalists of deception --see most recent post]

Meanwhile questions about the body count in Qana continue to rise: "Although five days have passed since tragic incident in which 57 Lebanese civilians were killed, Red Cross reports 28 bodies retrieved" (The body count has alternately been reported as 58 causualties, 60 casualties, and more than 60 casualties in news reports). The Red Cross says that the information from sources in Lebanon report that there are many bodies still under the rubble --as the article above asks :
1. What are the bases for estimations that more bodies remain under the rubble and how do they know how many bodies are there?
2. Why wasn't the 48-hour ceasefire used to bring in heavy equipment from Beirut to dig in the rubble?
3. And my own question, if there are so many bodies buried under the rubble why had all rescue activities completely ceased by the following day as was clear from the variety of reports made by reporters who visited Qana the day after the tragedy? --Most notably, the report by NBC's Richard Engel.

And why assume they are all dead? I mean, we've all heard of air pockets right? We've all read about survivors being pulled from wholly decimated and reduced-to-rubble buildings days later after earthquakes, right? Rescue efforts went on for days after the twin towers came down --though only one person was brought out from the rubble of that alive after 24 hours. Still, why assume they are all dead and just stop...