Giving new vitality to a sleepy Israeli town, MIT students join Israeli researchers in an exciting international collaboration for urban renovation. Reported by Ariel Schwartz, Senior Editor, at Co.Exist:

“In the 1950s, rapidly built planned cities (also known as “development towns”) sprung up in Israel to accommodate the influx of new citizens, including Jewish refugees from Arab countries and Holocaust survivors. Now many of these development towns are struggling due to depopulation and an aging populace. Teams of MIT graduate students and researchers at Tel Aviv University are using one –named Kiryat Gat–as a living lab for a new kind of high-tech, environmentally sound planned city. The goal is to create a plan for Kiryat Gat that can be used in urban communities around the world…” More here.

Argan oil, rich in vitamin E and fatty acids, has become the sensation of the decade, sought after by chemists, dieticians, hair salons, chefs and cosmeticians. The only problem with Argan was its availability: The Argan tree takes 15 years to yield nuts and one tree can yield only a couple liters of oil, making production costly and limited.

Until recently, it was a rare product grown only in the Atlas Mountains and traditionally made by Moroccan tribes, as the Argan tree could not grow outside of Morocco.

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Now, Israeli company Sivan is developing “Argan 100” – a super strain of Argan that is tolerant of the Mediterranean climate and can produce ten times more nuts than the average tree in Morocco, they say.

“We are the only company that knows how to raise Argan trees and to bring them to market professionally, so that every year we will know how much oil to expect,” says company’s chief agronomist Chaim Oren.

Based on 25 years of field research, Sivan’s agronomists found a way to produce the oil from their own groves and refuted the widespread legend associated with the production of the oil. According to this legend, Argan oil could only be processed from the nut – which looks like an unripe olive – after its hard shell was removed via a goat’s digestive tract.

Argan nuts and shells

Oren says there is in fact no need for goats to perform the job of middlemen.

“I was exposed to the Argan trees many years ago, and we did a breeding session in Israel,” Oren says. “We pollinated trees with other trees. Ours are resistant to soil disease, giving these trees a steady yield every year.”

To date, about 2,500 Argan trees have been planted in the Ashkelon, Arava and Negev regions in Israel.

Sivan, founded in 2007 and based in Ramat Hasharon, Israel, sells Argan oil to wholesalers, with small quantities of leftovers sold online. Their eventual plan is to sell their Argan 100 to other countries.

Many of us know the drill: blood tests reveal that our diet isn’t sufficient in providing us all the vitamins and minerals we need, causing us to take additional food supplements. Israeli researchers now found a way to better protect these sensitive nutrients from degradation in liquids or inside our bodies.

The researchers from the Biotechnology & Food Engineering Department at the Israeli Institute of Technology, the Technion, in Haifa, created nanocapsules that are based on natural food components, and trapped in them are those vitamins and health-enhancing nutrients that otherwise do not dissolve well in liquids. These tiny nanocapsules can be added to drinks, while also protecting the nutrients inside them.

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Researcher Dr. Yoav Livney tells NoCamels: “We used several food ingredients, such as maltodextrin - which is a break-down product of starch – and Casein. By heating them we connected them together. We studied their structure and self-assembly properties, and later found ways to entrap hydrophobic nutrients within these nanocapsules.”

The bioactive compounds studied were vitamin D – which is essential for bones, muscles and the immune system – and EGCG: An important compound found in green tea, which is effective in the prevention of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s, cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

“We studied the transparency of the solutions obtained, and the protection conferred to the entrapped compounds by the nanocapsules during production, product shelf-life and digestion,” adds Livney.

The research team found that the nanocapsules protect the vitamins “packed” in them. As Dr. Livney indicates: “The nanocapsules protect the bioactive compounds during the harsh conditions of gastric digestion, which suggest this may be useful for oral delivery of sensitive drugs to the intestine.”

These results have significant implications on future drug development, as the nanocapsules can potentially be used by the pharmaceutical industry to protect medicines in the stomach and control their release in the intestines. According to Dr. Livney, “we also intend to investigate the encapsulation by this method of other bio-active components, such as anti-cancer medicines.”

Dr.Livney and his team are currently working on such applications in continuation projects. “A couple more publications will come out soon and a new research project has recently commenced, taking this approach to targeted nanodelivery of anti-cancer drugs,” he says.

Photo by e-MagineArt.com

News outlets around the world report on the rising trend of online shopping. In many instances, they say, it even overtakes shopping in stores. But while buying online is on the rise, are our concerns about providing credit card information online any less pertinent than they were years ago?

Many still worry about online shopping and that is why Swedish-Israeli company Klarna says it is continuously working to make online consumers feel safer about sharing their information.  Founded in Sweden in 2005 by three students from the Stockholm school of Economics, Klarna is one of Europe’s leading providers of payment solutions for online businesses.

“We do this by letting the consumer receive the goods first and pay afterwards, while we assume the credit and fraud risks on goods from the e-stores.”

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The company’s payment solutions,which are built using the Israeli programming language Erlang, are offered by more than 12,000 e-stores across Europe – mainly in Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark. The office in Israel focuses on Research & Development (R&D). Today the company has over 600 employees, most of them working at the headquarters in Stockholm.

“The main idea is that we – instead of just looking at the credit information of the customer – analyze and predict the buying behavior of the consumers,”  Yuval Samet, one of the company’s founders, tells NoCamels.

Klarna’s aim is to attract those people who currently avoid online trade due to information security breaches and the possible risks in providing websites with credit card details.

In May 2011, Klarna acquired the Israeli company Analyzd. “We see a great opportunity to dip into the talent pool of Israel and attract new talents to our company, especially within the high-tech segment,” adds Samet.

Last month Klarna received $155 million from new investors. The funding, according to the company, will be used to expand to new countries in Europe, grow in existing markets, develop their services and attract more talent to the organization during the coming year.

Photo by Jorge Franganillo

Children love to sit with the computer. In addition to making them feel like an adult, the computer also makes use of the visual and sound medium to make learning fun and easy. Streaming video and audio show various scientific processes in great detail. The colorful pictures and the various techniques used help to effectively bind the data to the child's memory.

Many online resources have a fun testing center that aims to measure the knowledge and skill level of your child. Complicated math and science problems are dealt with deftly and elegantly. A visit to an e-library can also be fun, especially when there is an audio clip that reads out the passage to you.

E-learning has just begun to revolutionize the world of studies. If harnessed properly, a child can assimilate an astonishing amount of information from that great resource sitting right there at your table - your P.C.

If social concerns are worrying you, look for interest-oriented associations, clubs and societies. These offer a lot of support for leaders, opportunity for shared experience, and foster a sense of belonging. Make up your own group or share this responsibility with someone else. Home education support groups provide fantastic opportunities to meet your child's needs. This is the best way to develop intelligent, self-motivated, healthy and able young people.

If the growing burden of some of the higher level Math or Science seems to be beyond you, enlist the help of someone who knows more. You can even barter your own services and thus save some money. With homeschooling becoming more and more popular, support groups will have innumerable resources that help you find the right teacher for your child.

The underlying principle that guides homeschooling is this: any child has the innate capacity to grow, develop and achieve its full potential. All it needs is the right environment and all the right answers. Be there to provide these and think twice before you turn over this responsibility to a third party.

The responsibility of teaching your child rests solely on you. You cannot blame anyone else if your child is seen wanting in the skills that his peers excel in. If your child cannot do the things that are expected from other children of his age group, it reflects badly on you as an educator as well as a parent.

A critical part of homeschooling is the time that you have to spend with your children. You may have to give up your friends, shopping and other entertainment and dedicate all these to your child. This can become frustrating at times. You have to learn to take the aggravation with equanimity and wait for the rewards with
patience and enthusiasm.

A parent who is dedicated to tutor his or her child single handedly does not realistically have much time left over for a career. This means that the family is robbed of an additional source of income. In turn, this may lead to stress over finances. You will have to train yourself to live on a strictly controlled budget. While this is a matter of habit, it does need some getting used to.

You cannot take a break when you feel like it. Feelings of guilt will assail you if you neglect studies just because you are feeling blue. You also fear that the child will take advantage of the situation. Even when you have given homework, you have to be around to give a helping hand. This means that anytime your child is around you, you are on duty! For some, this may mean working every waking hour. The child studying at home also needs to get out more. This comes from staying at home all the time. Interaction with adults and other children needs to be given special attention.

Children tutored at home cannot develop in the various directions that are open to children attending public schools. To achieve that kind of exposure, you either have to be a super-parent skilled in everything, or enroll your child to various activities. This may not only prove too costly, but also be
counter-productive.

It is sometimes observed that homeschooled children do not do as well in SAT tests as their school-going counterparts. Without a diploma or a GED, some students find it difficult to get into the military.

Lastly, if you envision enrolling your child to a public school, there may be a certain period of emotional as well as social adjustment. A child who is used to being at home for the whole day and enjoying so much of uncontained freedom may have to undergo some distressing emotional upheavals before he or she gets used to the rigors of a regular school life.

Our favorite one-day Jerusalem tours to make the most of your time here.

The Likud Member of Knesset who is the Chairwoman of the Status of Women Committee, on Thursday morning sat at the front of a bus which the Haredi  Community are trying to enforce female segregation, according to the Jerusalem Post.

This followed a further attack against a female solider sitting on a bus on Wednesday.

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Avg. tempratures in Israel


Maybe Al Gore was right and the world is getting warmer. Maybe I am just getting older and softer. But there is a general consensus: it is HOT and HUMID. Looking for a free Sauna treatment? No need to look for a Groupon - just step outside.  Or better yet, turn off the A/C in the room. I must admit that California, and particularly the San Francisco Bay Area spoiled me. Silicon Valley is situated right next to a large body of water and between mountain ranges. I am no meteorologist, but it seems that the special geography of the Bay Area created a moderate micro-climate. It is not too cold in the winter and it is not too hot in the summer. You can easily get used to it and forget that the rest of the world is different… One winter I got on a flight to Colorado wearing just a light jacket. It was all I needed in Silicon Valley, but it nearly got me frost bites in Colorado. One summer I got on a flight to Phoenix Arizona and the “furnace-like” heat was a far cry from the Silicon Valley breeze I experience an hour earlier. But I am in Israel now, and it is the infamous July/August season. Life is bearable before 7:00 am and after 10:00pm. However if you need to be away from A/C any other time during the day – run for cover! It is a survival game where you sprint from your air-conditioned house, to the air-conditioned car, to the air-conditioned office… and back. Should you find yourself trapped outside an air-conditioned zone - prepare to get wet; soaking wet. Make sure you pass through a shower and change your clothes before your next move. Night time isn’t tranquil either; it raises the debate of: “to A/C or not to A/C”?  Some people can’t sleep when a cold wind is blowing over them. They have nightmares of being stranded in Antarctica and wake up with a sore throat. Others can’t sleep without the A/C in full blast. I leave it for you to guess who’s winning that one. Back to Al Gore: If you have seen the movie “Inconvenient Truth” you appreciate the dangers of Global Warming. If there’s even a small chance that our actions accelerate Global Warming , than we’d better do something about it quick. If you doubt that – come to Israel in July…

Strategists from around the world agreed that “Israel is a laboratory” for eco-innovation and can serve as a platform for larger countries looking to harness sustainable technology during a special conference held by the United Nations Economics Commission in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.

Experts from around the globe came together to strategize about how to generate policies and achieve cooperation to further the spread and efficiency of green technology tools.

Israelis excel at inventing innovative solutions that can be put together quickly and applied by others. In this way, Israel can serve as an eco-model for other nations.

As solar water heaters are just now starting to pique interest here in the US, they were the norm in Israeli households by the 1980s. Israelis are also experts at water desalination, enabling a desert nation to have sufficient water by virtue of bordering a major body of water, albeit salt water.

It all comes down to doing more with less...read more about it here

I'm off to enjoy a sunny day, till next time!
-J

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The Diner by Gootcha – Ibn Gvirol 14

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Civil revolution fever is gripping Israel. Where we once thought we were immune to the Arab Spring and protests in Tahrir Square, Israelis are taking to the streets in there thousands. But this protest is not about security or politics rather social and economic realities – the perceived destruction of the middle classes.   From the very first day I arrived in Israel I was shocked by the price of goods and living expenses in this country. Everything is so expensive and average salaries are very low. Yes we are far better off than third world countries and some European ones, like Greece, but one has to understand that healthy job figures alone is not enough. What is the point of earning a salary that doesn’t pay off monthly expenses and you find yourself constantly two steps back in debt? The irony here is that the government preaches that we have never had it so good and that pure capitalism is working in Israel. The truth is that capitalism and privatisation in Israel is ugly as it leads to a small handful of people controlling business and government, making enormous profits on behalf of the vast majority of the population - This is only exasperated in a small country. However, the behaviour is also a reflection of all of Israeli society a historical merchant and highly intelligent people which favours family owned businesses and who like many suffer from greed. In general these tycoons are looked up to and It is precisely for this reason that Israel cannot practice pure free market politics but needs a generous measure of independent checks and balances.   THE SYSTEM MUST CHANGE What about protest? At first it seemed like a group of bored students, looking for a Woodstock style summer experience, camped out on Roschild Boulevard. But this was only the catalyst to something felt and experienced by many in the country. The protests themselves have no single agenda as it is the system that is at fault. Sometimes what works for the US (well even there it is a disaster - debt anyone) won’t work in Israel. I must point out that it is very humbling and one feels great pride in a country where 150,000 people protest with no looting, fighting or sense of danger. As a person who has seen mass protest in the UK, France and the US, I cannot believe how peaceful it is! Amazingly a lesson in protest pacifism from a country most outsiders associate violence with. What will the future bring? Well I am an old cynic so I don’t expect much as I find it hard that anyone will be able to change a whole system. But then again I didn’t expect anyone to protest at all, let alone 150,000! The Diner by Goocha I will now get of my soap box and get back to business. Goocha restaurant has always been a favourite of mine for casual seafood dishes. The restaurant had two locations; one on Ibn Gvirol and one on Dizengoff. I was sad to see that several months ago the Ibn Gvirol branch had closed and was being replaced by ‘The Diner by Goocha’. It seems odd to me to change something that is liked by many, though I promised to give it a chance. The new restaurant has transformed but still maintains the very Israeli style of large room with bar and open kitchen. At first I thought I had walked into ‘The Brothers’ restaurant. The restaurant is trying to look like a diner with brown cushioning and black tables – though to me it looked like a brasserie. The evening we arrived it was not full and we got a table for two. Initially the table next to us was dirty from the previous occupants and the restaurant felt warm but with every few minutes an occasional drop of water from the air conditioning units – this forced us into a little table moving dance. However, all of these things I forgive as it is a new restaurant and is only ironing out its teething problems. The menu is varied with many diner style favourites, if limited as it was divided into breakfast, lunch and dinner, where an average diner is an all-day menu. We ordered a burger and a roast beef sandwich accompanied by French fries and home fries. As always I was worried with the burger as the brunette had ordered it, but with the first bite she seemed fine and said it wasn’t bad – high praise. I tasted it and got some gristle in my bite so wasn’t blown away by it. My roast beef sandwich was warm and tasted ok like a sandwich I would get at Olive (Reuben has a much better sandwich but I will not forgive them for offering pickles from jars). On a side note, there are many cravings I have in Israel for food which is hard to come by and sliced rare roast beef is one of them. Why does this country have to cook it to death?   Some words about the fries – the brunettes French fries were fine but my home fries were unusual as it is the first time I have had American style home fries in Israel which are similar to the breakfast variety in the states. Basically potatoes cut into cubes and coated with a sweet stick sauce.  To date the home fires I have had in Israel have been anything from chunkier chips to spicy ones. Unfortunately it didn’t go well with the sandwich – it would have gone better with bacon and eggs. The one thing I did enjoy was the coleslaw that accompanied the burger. Service was good throughout, but I generally like the casual service standards one finds in Israel as it is a reflection of the warm hospitality one receives in the country. Overall we only ordered a couple of dishes and they were of the average variety in a restaurant that is still finding its feet. Though I think it is a shame that they closed down a much better concept to open only an average one. Finally as the brunette likes to say ‘we won’t be coming back’ but maybe it is still worth giving them another chance in a couple months’ time. 3 stars out of 5 TDD

Israel's Cabinet is seeking to further promote the production of electricity from renewable resources! The goal is to use renewable sources of energy to generate 10% of Israel's electricity needs by 2020.

The decision sets a quantitative goal for electricity generation from renewable sources of 2,760 megawatts by the end of 2020, constituting 10% of electricity production in Israel. An interim goal of 1,550 megawatts by the end of 2014 was also set.

In the first stage, between 2011 - 2014, the quotas that have already been allocated for the production of electricity from renewable, non-polluting sources, as well as additional quotas, will be realized: 460 megawatts for large installations, 110 megawatts for installations designated for independent consumption (rooftop photovoltaic facilities), approximately 210 megawatts for electricity generation from biogas, biomass and waste, and 800 megawatts of electricity from wind power..

The decision includes an allocation of at least 210 megawatts for the production of electricity from biogas and biomass, which will further promote the recycling and separation of waste at source revolution and provide a significant economic incentive to local authorities and the private sector for utilizing household waste for the production of clean energy.

Source: Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection

Off to turn off the lights and light a candle, till next time!
-J

"אלה מסעי בני ישראל, אשר יצאו מארץ מצרים לצבאתם, ביד משה ואהרן. - These are the journeys of the Children of Israel, who went forth from the land of Egypt by their legions under the hand of Moshe and Aharon."
(במדבר, לג:א)

This week's Parsha is the final installment of the book of Bamidbar. In it, we have read of the Jewish people's travails in the desert on their way to the Holy Land. Before going on to describe the land of Israel and appropriate it to the various tribes, Parshat Massei serves as a reminder of the numerous treks and journeys that the Jews completed on their way.

Rav Zalman Sorotzkin writes in Azanim LaTorah about Hashem's intention in compelling Am Yisrael to make these arduous, energy-sapping expeditions. Typically, the answer to this question is that because the people sought to return to Egypt after listening to the smears spread by the spies, they were "sentenced" to 40 years of exile in the wilderness. But this seems strange, though. First of all, weren't the Jews taken out of exile? What would the point be of taking them out of slavery in one place, only to have them broken in another? The real answer lies elsewhere.

Rashi's commentary gives us our first hint. Citing Rav Tanchuma, he explains that Hashem's actions vis-a-vis the Jewish people were akin to the act of a King sending his ill son far away so that the son can be cured. On the way back, the father counts his sons journeys. "Here we slept", "here we felt cold", "here you had a headache" and so on.

Still, this doesn't quite explain what the process of traveling was intended to do. If it wasn't simply a punishment, what was it? Rav Sorotzkin posits an answer: the generation who left Egypt were on the lowest spiritual level possible. For these people to suddenly become observant was very difficult. These people had lived a very unspiritual life and it wasn't possible for them to learn and adjust overnight. Hashem, therefore, devised a specific way of preparing them for life in Israel.

Normally, the process of reward and punishment is delayed. Reward is delayed so that we may enjoy it in the next world, where reward is eternal. Punishment, however, is typically suspended for a different reason - so that we may have a chance to mend our ways. But in the desert, the process was sped up. Open miracles occurred, as was the case with Miriam's well, the Clouds (and Fires) of Glory that accompanied the people on their way, and countless other amazing phenomena. And, in stark juxtaposition, punishment was much closer than usual, too. When the people sinned, they were not given much time, if at all, as the followers of Korach and the generation of the spies found out. All this contributed to a remarkable period in which Hashem personally trained the Jewish people for their new lives.

So these were the "Masa'ot" of the Jews. Less journeys or punishments than training missions, the served as the ultimate preparation. Later in the Parsha we read of how the land was to be divided between the tribes. Hopefully our generation too can find comfort that while we are going through many trials, we shall soon be able to live peacefully in this land once again.

(Sourced from the Yalkut Lekach Tov)

Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom!

Somehow or other, they are working as hard to panic the populace as the president himself. The ‘Tea Party freshmen’ are in revolt, and good on them for it.

The establishment herd has panicked itself so badly that some of the more congenital idiots among the Republican ‘elite’ are actually suggesting that Conservative Republicans and Patriots are helping the Benighted One by opposing the Boehner bill.

That’s pretty desperate, and I understand that some of the arm-twisting in the House by the leadership is pretty intense. There are some who are waffling or just want to compromise to get the heat off their backs. You folks, you freshman patriots, are holding the line despite all they can do. Take heart. You’re an inspiration to us out here.

As of last night, Boehner does not have the votes to pass his really bad bill. Just in case he does, Harry Reid has already pronounced it DOA in the Senate and should it survive by some incredible happenstance, the August hand of Obama the First would be there to strike it down with the scimitar of his peerless veto pen.

House conservatives are threatening to filibuster the bill if it should go forward… and we encourage them to do all that and more. Remember, when one of these RINO patsies rounds down on you, you have the complete support of the entire Patriot Movement… tens of millions of us. Estimates range as high as 60 million very angry and very motivated patriots out here, which is plenty enough to turn any election.

How soon we forget the total ass-kicking of last November. Aside from the overwhelming Republican victories in the House, some twenty three state legislatures went GOP. Stunning figures that were echoed in cities and counties throughout the states.

This bill, and the others just like it, are emblematic of what passes for reasoning, or lack of it, in the Republican establishment. If it was the military, heads would roll, careers finito. Hell, in the private sector, heads would roll. The bill solves nothing… it saves nothing… this is a leadership problem.

Don’t let up on these guys for a second. Don’t take your eyes off of them for a lot less than that.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2011

Above, the pro-terror liar celebrated by the Supreme Cult
This week

I have an Op-Ed in the Jewish Press

Just in time to prove my point, the Court issued the same day its latest judicial outrage:

Israel’s Supreme Court continues its battle against democracy and freedom of speech. To be more precise, it defends defamation as “protected speech” whenever the defamatory comments are made by radical Leftists or by pro-terror Arab nationalists, while labeling exercise of freedom of speech by non-leftists as defamation.

In the latest twist, the Supreme Court has ruled that a vile anti-Semitic propaganda film by Arab propagandist Mohammed Bakri is full of lies but is “not defamatory.” The film “Jenin Jenin” invented lies about Israeli soldiers supposedly massacring innocent Arabs in the battle, and that according to the “Palestinians,” almost all of them terrorists, while Israel lost 23 men.) A group of Israeli soldiers involved in the battle sued Bakri for libeling them. For a while the Israeli film board banned the film altogether, but then the tenured Left decided to start screening it on campus as part of the academic jihad, and the ban was dropped.

The film is a tissue of lies, some of which have been documented here. Bakri has denounced Israeli soldiers as murderous “drooling dogs,” but of course has never been indicted under the Israeli law against insulting public servants (see this). He
also calls them Nazis. So guess whom the Court has NOT convicted of the offense of using Holocaust-era rhetoric in political discourse!!

The Supreme Court just issued its ruling that Bakri is NOT guilty of defamation. The ruling was written by the leftist judge Yoram Danziger, who used to be on the board of the radical Far-Leftist NGO misnamed “Association for Civil Rights in Israel.” The ACRI is also opposed to freedom of speech for non-leftists.

SO let us see if we have this straight. Bakri calls Israeli soldiers Nazis and murderous dogs, and that is protected speech. But criticizing the illegal pro-terror public political behavior of Neve Gordon and referring to his group of friends serving as human shields for murderers as a group of “Judenrat wannabes” is not only defamation but is a violation of the (non-existent except in the minds of the judges) Israeli prohibition against using “Holocaust era rhetoric in political discourse.” And the Court gave Gordon an award of 10,000 NIS on top of that.

The bottom line is clear. Israel’s Supreme Court continues to issue partisan politicized leftist “rulings.” It defends freedom of speech for Israel-hating Arab fanatics and radical anti-Israel Jewish leftists, but not for anyone else. My guess is that at least half and maybe 2/3 of Israel’s current Supreme Court judges identify with the 5% of Israeli public opinion that is furthest to the Left.

Supreme Court or Supreme Cult?

Introducing “concentration camp Gaza’s Paris Gardens resort.

Oh yeah, I forgot one photo.

No, these are not renovations.

Assailants burned a Gaza resort at dawn Wednesday, the manager said.

Imad Al-Wazeer told Ma’an a group of 30 armed and masked men arrived at the Rais resort in Gaza and threatened employees.

The resort was damaged in Israel’s Operation Cast Lead but Al-Wazeer says he reopened the facility in order to show Israel that the people of Gaza would live their lives in spite of the attack.

“This time, unfortunately, my resort was damaged by Palestinian hands,” he said.

The resort cost some $120,000 to establish and has swimming pools, restaurants and other facilities. After the attack, however, 13 employees have lost their jobs, Al-Wazeer says.

He held the police in Gaza responsible for the attack, saying they should provide security.

“I asked the police several times to provide protection and security but no one paid any attention,” he said.

I love how they can still work in an anti-Israel angle to it.

Update: Surprise, surprise. Free Gaza is silent on this, as is the ISM. 

No Zionist occupiers to blame here, move along.

For a group of lawyers, they certainly did not do their due diligence. Last week, Red Tulips sent me an invitation to an event being sponsored on Thursday by the Association of American Jewish Lawyers and Jurists. The American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists (AAJLJ) PresentsEnsuring Israel's Security Through a Two-State SolutionA Conversation withAmbassador Alon PinkasWith a UN action

One of the more interesting themes I have noticed among the twitterati of the anti-Israel left is that, no matter what the news story is, they have to relate it to “occupation.”

People in Tel Aviv protesting high housing costs? Why aren’t they mentioning the “occupation”?

A new publicity initiative from the Foreign Ministry? Well, it is propaganda because it doesn’t talk about “occupation!”

Another group making videos about Israel that make Israels look like normal human beings? Feh! The country is defined by “occupation!”

So for those of you who are jealous of people whose worldview can be simplified to a single word, I have the solution for you:

Occupation glasses!

Any time you look at a map of Israel, or photos of Israelis helping out poor people in Africa or victims of disasters, or the latest numbers at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, or a live performance of the Israel Philharmonic simulcast at movie theatres across the US tomorrow night, or a potential better alternative to mammography for women made by Israelis  - just put these on, and all will make sense again.

Sure, it is a little difficult to discern reality when you are wearing these, but that isn’t the point. Constantly reminding people how evil Israel is – now, there’s a cause these guys can get behind!

Original post source

Will the Islamophobia never end? “Kandahar mayor killed by suicide bomber with explosives in turban,” by Jon Boone in the Guardian, July 27 (thanks to Bill):

Afghan insurgents appeared to continue their assassination campaign against key public figures on Wednesday with the killing of the mayor of Kandahar.

Ghulam Haider Hamidi was targeted by a suicide bomber who got into the municipality compound in Kandahar City with explosives concealed under his turban. The technique was first used earlier this month in a mosque in the city during a memorial service for Ahmed Wali Karzai, a regional strongman and half-brother of the president.

Abdul Manan, a municipality employee, said the mayor had emerged from his office into the garden, where he made a call on his mobile phone.

The assassin grabbed him and detonated the bomb.

“I rushed outside and saw the mayor was lying still on the ground,” said Manan. “Another headless body was next to him and the mayor had deep wounds on his face and chest.”

The death of Hamidi will raise further concerns about whether military gains by the US military in the Kandahar region, particularly in districts adjoining the city, will be undermined by the remorseless killing of top public figures….

Posted by Robert on July 27, 2011 9:10 AM

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Original post source

It's been in the news for a few days: Amy Winehouse passed away at the age of 27. They say she was a really talented singer. I've never heard her sing. I guess that I will take their word for it.And she was a Jew. Among the things I saw on the web concerned her burial. One writer mentioned the fact that she chose to be cremated, something which is clearly against Jewish law. True, however, I

Causation is a complicated matter. One event can have multiple causes and the causes can be of different types. Attributing causes to terrorism is often a matter of one's sympathy with the terrorist. The most sympathetic cause one can attribute to a terror attack is what the terrorist himself says made him angry or what the terrorist himself says he is fighting. Hence the Norwegian ambassador to Israel, as reported by JTA and noted by many bloggers, recently commented, "We Norwegians consider the occupation to be the cause of the terror against Israel."

A somewhat less sympathetic attribution of causes sees incitement or recruitment by other terrorists or extremists as causing terror attacks. I won't elaborate here because those notions of causality are receiving a lot of attention lately.

The least sympathetic attribution of causes sees the terror as resulting from the immorality of the terrorist, his willingness to murder to achieve political ends. In a very confused piece, Simon Jenkins of the Guardian writes:

The Norwegian tragedy is just that, a tragedy. It does not signify anything and should not be forced to do so. A man so insane he can see nothing wrong in shooting dead 68 young people in cold blood is so exceptional as to be of interest to criminology and brain science, but not to politics. [...]

Terrorism is a specific and rational political form: the use of violence to achieve a multiplier of fear through a civilian population to a particular end. Visiting "shock and awe" by bombing Baghdad in 2003 was terrorism, as were the bombs on the London Underground. Killing Norwegian teenagers (not Muslims) to express some vague hatred for society is not. It is merely deranged. [...]

Jenkins appears to be so used to the mindset of "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter," the mindset that goes with the assertion that Hamas must use suicide belts and Qassam rockets because they do not have "F-15's and Apache helicopters," that he cannot bring himself to see even an ultra-right terrorist as an example of fairly common type of politically-motivated criminal. And Neo-Nazi groups do organize in cells and nurture fantasies of committing terror-attacks. Jenkins writes:

No, Anders Breivik does not tell us anything about Norway. No, he does not tell us anything about "the state of modern society". He tells us nothing about terrorism or gun control or policing or political holiday camps. His avowal of fascism could as well have been of communism or Islamism or anarchism . . .

Anarchists in the early 20th century attacked crowds of ordinary people with bombs. It would be interesting to see Jenkins explain further what he thinks makes Breivak exceptional. The youth of his victims? The Taliban just strangled an 8-year-old boy. The left needs to stop making excuses for terrorism. If an ultra-right terror attack won't convince them of that, what will?

It seems the Iranians are not just really bad sports. They are also really bad liars.

The Iranian swimmer who withdrew from a heat featuring an Israeli at the world championships maintains the move was not political.

“My flight was exactly the day before my race, so I was so tired and drowsy. Because I had to wait for my visa,” Mohammed Alirezaei told AP two days after not starting a 100-metre breaststroke heat that featured Gal Nevo of Israel.

Speaking after completing his 50m breaststroke heat on Tuesday, Alirezaei added that he had “no problem” competing against Israeli athletes, saying he did so at junior worlds.

However, Alirezaei also pulled out of an event against another Israeli, Tom Beeri, in the 100m breaststroke at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee accepted the explanation then that he was ill.

Alirezaei said the fact that both withdrawals came against Israelis was merely a coincidence.

Asked about the latest withdrawal, IOC president Jacques Rogge told AP on Monday: “I’m sure knowing the rules of FINA, the athletes will have to explain why and that most likely the athletes will have to come up with very good reasons.”

I guess there is some truth to his explanation in that Israelis make him sick.

Here is the Paris Gardens Resort – in Gaza:

Assailants burned a Gaza resort at dawn Wednesday, the manager said.

Imad Al-Wazeer told Ma’an a group of 30 armed and masked men arrived at the Rais resort in Gaza and threatened employees.

The resort was damaged in Israel’s Operation Cast Lead but Al-Wazeer says he reopened the facility in order to show Israel that the people of Gaza would live their lives in spite of the attack.

“This time, unfortunately, my resort was damaged by Palestinian hands,” he said.

The resort cost some $120,000 to establish and has swimming pools, restaurants and other facilities. After the attack, however, 13 employees have lost their jobs, Al-Wazeer says.

He held the police in Gaza responsible for the attack, saying they should provide security.

The Al Mezan Center adds that the armed mob tied up the guard, burned down four kitchens in the resort, trashed rooms, burned and smashed tables for about an hour and a half. One huard who escaped called police but they didn’t arrive until over an hour later after the arsonists had left. The masked men had earlier warned the owners of the resort.

Previous similar attacks were done in the name of morality; presumably women swam at this resort, or maybe men and women ate together.

While this may be true,  I think that this really happened because of the occupation, which has replaced Satan as the ultimate source for all evil on the planet.

Original post source

In March, Israel's Supreme Court suggested to 'Israeli Arab' filmmaker and actor Mohamed Bakri that he apologize to five IDF soldiers who had sued him for libel due to the way that the IDF was depicted in the 2003 film Jenin, Jenin.On Wednesday, the Supreme Court dismissed the case, ruling that the film was 'not defamatory' to the five soldiers. Ofer Ben-Natan, Doron Keidar, Nir Oshri, Adam Arbiv

Denis MacEoin. In March of 2011 Mr. MacEoin, wrote an open letter to Edinburgh University Student Association. Middle East Forum – he is a senior editor of the Forum’s flagship publication Middle East Quarterly   Around 270 students at Edinburgh University voted in favour of a motion which described Israel as an apartheid state and [...]

David Swindle

It’s difficult to count the number of economic myths Sowell debunks. More challenging is to determine which are the most important. Political ideologies can be a bit like dominos – just disrupting a single idea can be the beginning of a chain reaction that will eventually result in a changed mind. These three insights are perhaps some of the most important talking points to keep in mind when stumbling into political discussions with those less informed on basic economic principles. Economist Thomas Sowell drew from his years of teaching the subject at some of the nation’s most prestigious ivy league schools and gave himself a challenge: to create a book on economics for the lay reader without using technical language or visual aids. His book was a success, and is now in its fourth edition. Basic Economics: A Citizen’s Guide to the Economy is a straightforward and readable guide to economics’ core concepts.

It’s difficult to count the number of economic myths Sowell debunks. More challenging is to determine which are the most important. Political ideologies can be a bit like dominos – just disrupting a single idea can be the beginning of a chain reaction that will eventually result in a changed mind. These three insights are perhaps some of the most important talking points to keep in mind when stumbling into political discussions with those less informed on basic economic principles.

3. We do not have enough resources to meet everyone’s desires.

The very definition of Economics already begins to challenge any utopian scheme. Sowell cites the British economist Lionel Robbins:

Economics is the study of the use of scarce resources which have alternative uses.

Using resources to do one thing requires us to take resources away from somewhere else. And “resources” does not always refer to money or raw materials either. Time, manpower, talent, and knowledge are all resources too that individuals, businesses, governments, and families have to figure out how to use in the most effective way. And these resources can be used in any number of combinations, some much more effective than others.

With this point Sowell demonstrates that economics really isn’t about money or becoming rich:

It is about the material well-being of society as a whole. It shows the cause and effect relationships involving prices, industry and commerce, work and pay, or the international balance of trade—all from the standpoint of how this affects the allocation of scarce resources in a way that raises or lowers the material standard of living of the population as a whole.

In other words, Sowell and other economists are going to study what the real results are when certain policies are put into place, instead of focusing on the high-minded hopes and expectations of those who dreamed the into existence. It’s this approach that he brings to analyzing such misunderstood concepts as prices and profits.

2. Businesses cannot survive if they arbitrarily set high prices because their owners are “greedy.”

One of the most persistent memes to embed itself within the popular consciousness is the idea that those participating in capitalism are “greedy.” It’s all too easy to look at rising gas prices and rising oil company profits only to assume that it’s because of “greedy” oil executives just adjusting the price in their favor.
Sowell summarizes the flip side of this economic fallacy to make the logical error more apparent:

To say that prices are due to greed is to imply that sellers can set prices by an act of will. If so, no company would ever go bankrupt, since it could simply raise its prices to cover whatever its costs happened to be.

Driving the idea that the “rich” are out to “exploit” the less fortunate is the fact that often the same goods one can buy in a rich suburb are more expensive when sold in the inner cities. Self-proclaimed advocates of the poor will point to this as evidence of malevolent, “predatory” capitalists taking advantage of those who supposedly cannot afford to travel to discount stores. They do not factor into their thinking the fact that any number of causes can affect the price a business charges. Smaller food markets in inner cities both have to order stock in smaller quantities and spend more on security. Thus, of course the prices are going to be higher than at some suburban Costco far away from crime.

1. Profits often go up because a business has figured out a way to make something that’s actually at a lower price than someone else.

Sowell declares that profits are the most misunderstood idea in economics. He cites socialists such as George Bernard Shaw and Karl Marx who regarded profits as “overcharge” and “surplus value.” But profits are only half the story in a price-driven economy. The more important other half in Sowell’s view is losses:

The hope for profits and the threat of losses is what forces a business owner in a capitalist economy to produce at the lowest cost and sell what the customers are most willing to pay for. In the absence of these pressures, those who manage enterprises under socialism have far less incentive to be as efficient as possible under given conditions, much less to keep up with changing conditions and respond to them quickly, as capitalist enterprises must do if they expect to survive.

Contrary to the idea from the previous point that businesses will raise prices to raise their profits, actually the opposite is how businesses succeed. An entrepreneur who can take an expensive product and figure out how to make it for less (a more efficient use of scare resources) will enrich the lives of the poor who now have access to it. Where a few decades ago computers were bulky devices available only to the affluent now exponentially more powerful and less expensive cell phones are commonplace amongst those on welfare and food stamps. And in the process the profits for the technology industry have only grown.

That’s the hidden pattern that Sowell reveals throughout Basic Economics: the more efficiently a society utilizes its scarce resources the more everyone benefits. And humans have yet to find a more efficient system than a free market economy coordinated by prices, profits, and losses.
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Richard Landes

Some readers may have already seen the article by Bret Stephens that cites me.

In a superb new book, “Heaven on Earth: The Varieties of Millennial Experience,” Boston University’s Richard Landes notes just how pervasive this kind of impulse has been throughout history and across cultures, and how much its many strains—Christian, Marxist, Islamist, Nazi, environmentalist and so on—have in common. Breivik, Mr. Landes says, was of a piece: “Like many active cataclysmic apocalypticists, he believed that the socio-political world is in huge tension, like tectonic plates about to crack, and if he can set off a small explosion in the right place it will unleash far greater forces.” In this sense, Mr. Landes adds, “the thing he resembles most is the people he hates.”

Obviously, I’m pleased at the praise. I can’t, however, say that I like his list of millennial movements. If he’s going to put environmentalism in there he needs to include democracy and Zionism — all forms of millennialism although dramatically different from the death-cults worshipped by others on this list. To put environmentalism after Nazism is not really fair, either to environmentalism (except the most extreme varieties that feel only with the death of some six billion people can the planet be saved), or to my understanding of the varieties of the millennial experience, which includes a wide variety of actors, including both Francis of Assissi and Stalin.

The article continues:

What it is, is millenarian [in my terminology, "apocalyptic"]: the belief that all manner of redemptive possibilities lie on just the other side of a crucible of unspeakable chaos and suffering. At his arrest, Breivik called his acts “atrocious but necessary.” Stalin and other Marxists so despised by Breivik might have said the same thing about party purges or the liquidation of the kulaks.

Eloquently said. And probably no small number of Nazis who did not like the unsavory business of exterminating a whole people convinced themselves with similar arguments. Active cataclysmic apocalyptic is the most destructive ideological force the world has ever seen, and in the past, when those forest fires have “taken” (like the Taiping in China, chapter 7), tens of millions lie dead in their wake.

The article concludes:

Norway, Europe and probably the U.S. will now have anxious debates about xenophobia, populism and the rise of neofascism. These are worthy topics, but they are incidental to understanding what happened on Friday. What we witnessed was the irruption of an impulse—more psychological than political—that defines a broader swath of the ideological spectrum than most people would care to acknowledge.

I received the following email today from someone for whose intellectual integrity I have a great deal of respect.

I can’t agree in any way with the journalist’s conclusion that ‘xenophobia, populism and the rise of neofascism … are incidental to understanding what happened on Friday’. Certain (significant and influential, I grant you) elements of the left try to disassociate violent political Islam from the rest of the religion entirely, as if there were no connection; some of the commentariat seems to be doing exactly the same with respect to this guy and the new European populist right. Other than partisan point-scoring, I can’t see the how that helps in any way.

I initially agreed with this note, and was somewhat dismayed by Stephens’ use of “incidental” (even though in some senses it replaces the “right-left” split with my apocalyptic analysis, in which the psychological tendencies to be found on both – all – sides of the political divide are more significant than the the differences). But as I reread Stephens, I think he is on to something here.

This is not about xenophobia – I’m willing to bet that Breivik is not hostile to every stranger in Norway. The fear of Islamism and its military wing of global Jihad is an entirely legitimate concern, and to dismiss it as xenophobia is both dishonest and dangerous. It is an active cataclysmic apocalyptic movement aimed at a hierarchical millennium (i.e., it believes that massive destruction must occur and Jihadis are Allah’s agents in bringing that destruction about, in order to bring on a millennial kingdom in which Dar al Islam dominates the globe (my chapter 14).

This is also not populism, although clearly people who are not part of the elite in the public sphere are more ready to break with taboos that constrain intellectuals who want to avoid being called racist, in order to talk about the problems of Islam. But there are plenty of serious observers who see a serious problem. Bruce Brawer is not a populist.

This is also not about “Christian Fundamentalism” – a favorite trope of anti-Islamophobic discourse. As Massimo Introvigne, one of the more astute observers of new religions noted:

At first, the media called Anders Behring Breivik a Christian fundamentalist, some of them even a Roman Catholic. This shows the cavalier use of the word “fundamentalist” prevailing today in several quarters. In fact, Breivik is something different, as evidenced by his videos, his postings on document.no and his 1,500-page book 2083 – A European Declaration of Independence which, interestingly enough, was first made publicly available on the Internet by Kevin Slaughter, an ordained minister in Anton LaVey (1930-1997)’s Church of Satan which, by the way, has a sizeable following in Norway.

The eagerness to label him so betrays an almost irresistible meme among some, as evidenced in this mistake-filled paragraph by Peter Beinart.

It may be about neo-fascism, although given the highly selective use of fascism these days (which dates back to the 60s when anyone we didn’t like was a fascist, and today must not be applied to Islamism), that would take some serious – and worthwhile – discussion.

What I do think is that Breivik has given us all something to think about and worry about. I think those who have stepped out into public to warn about Islamism and global Jihad, despite the near-certainty that they will be smeared as racist Islamophobes, need to think about our rhetoric.

I am cited by Breivik in his interminable 1500-page manifesto.

In the view of blogger Richard Landes, the media play a critical role in the global Jihad’s success. The major media outlets “are the eyes and ears of modern civil societies. Without them we cannot know what is going on outside of our personal sphere, with them we can make our democratic choices in elections, assess foreign policy, and intervene humanely in the suffering around the globe. But as any paleontologist will tell you, any creature whose eyes and ears misinform it about the environment, will not long survive.”

That’s a line I’ve written many times, sincerely believe, and will stand behind in any forum, intellectual or polemical. And, in the past, I would have agreed with the analogy Breivik makes from my point:

This can be compared to being attacked by an angry and hungry polar bear, while your eyes and ears, the media, tell you that it’s a cute koala bear who just wants to be cuddled. Meanwhile, your brain has been indoctrinated to think happy thoughts about diversity and smile to all creatures, regardless of their nature or intentions. This is pretty much how the entire West is today. The heavy bias of our media and our education system constitutes a very real threat to our survival.

I’ve even used the saying “sharing your lunch with a polar bear.” And I have written in my book about Stephen Spielberg’s contribution to the idea that if we just hug them, the ET’s are eager to be our friends (chapter 13). But when someone like Breivik takes it literally (if you’re being attacked by a polar bear, you should shoot it), then I clearly need to be very careful how I use rhetoric and analogies.

On the other hand, if people who claim to represent the “left” (I think the whole “right-left” spectral analysis has become counterproductive, but here I’m addressing people who do think it’s meaningful), would engage in a little self-criticism (no more than they demand of Israel, for example), then I think we might begin to hear some “progressives” and “liberals” addressing their inability, unwillingness, to deal with the problems with Islam. It would be hard to argue that Breivik did not act in response to a threat he perceived, that he could not get the mainstream to pay attention to.

All those people who, in the mid-aughts, like Cherie Blair and Jenny Tonge among so many, thought that Palestinian terror was an understandable response to their hopelessn condition, for which Israeli was responsible, owe it to themselves to think: what did I to contribute to Breivik’s despair, with my insistence that anyone who sounded the alarm was an Islamophobe? How much have I contributed not only to the apocalyptic radicalization of Breivik, but to driving many people who would ordinarily not have gone there, into the arms of “right-wing” protofascist groups?

Of course that means going beyond the currently operative definitions of Islamophobia – which in principle is a “irrational” fear of Islam but in practice operates as a term for anyone who criticizes Muslims and Islam sharply. People who use this term to marginalize critics of Islam(ism) need to ask themselves how much their accusations of Islamophobia as a form of racism are motivated by another Islamophobia, the fear of criticizing Islam, a form of cowardice.

This is not just about infidels and Muslims. Many – indeed most – Muslims are in danger if global Jihad continues to expand its reach and its grip. The joke about apocalyptic politics runs that “my enemy’s enemy is my enemy.” Right now the “left” is treating people who are neither fascist nor xenophobic as the enemy, when in fact we are all on the same side – in favor of decency and dignity and treating the other (and being treated by the other) with respect. It’s time to stop the culture wars within the West (the narcissism of small differences) and deal with an apocalyptic enemy that threatens, even if it will eventually fail in its goals, to engulf us in war.

The Romans coined the expression si vis pacem para bellum (if you want peace, prepare for war). The opposite is also true, and a lesson that the obsessive peace camp in Israel, who believe that adopting the Palestinian narrative will bring peace, might well take to heart: si vis bellum, para pacem. You cannot make peace with apocalyptic enemies. But you can defeat them without descending to their level. You will certainly not defeat them with cowardice masquerading as generosity of soul.

Guest comment: "...his regard for outsiders in Norway, 12% of the Norwegian population are not Nordic. Half of these are from Africa, and Asia (about half of this group are Muslim), and another 6% are immigrants mostly from Eastern Europe. I have not waded through the Manifesto, but have not picked up from any reports that Breivik was hostile to immigrants from Serbia or Poland. The WSJ had an article today india that there were 99,000 registered Muslims in Norway. Registered Muslim? Do they have registered Christians?" Thanks RB
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Op-ed: Arab reaction from 1949 shows Israel isn’t exclusively responsible for refugee problem

Alexander Joffe, Asaf Romirowsky
Israel News

The late Palestinian intellectual Edward Said called Palestinians “the victims of the victims.” As the September deadline for the Palestinian “Unilateral Declaration of Independence” approaches, and the certain endorsement by the United Nations General Assembly, it is worth asking again who originally victimized the Palestinians. Today, of course, the unanimous consensus among Palestinians, and the Arab and Muslim worlds, is that it was Israel that, in 1948, attacked and expelled Palestinians. But who did Palestinians blame for their fate in 1949? The two largest Palestinian communities in the US are located in Dearborn Michigan and Jacksonville Florida. On December 15th, 1949 the Michigan Arab newspaper As Sabah (literally the Morning Tribune) published an editorial on the question of the Palestine Arab refugees:

“What is the crime of the refugees in the eyes of the lords of Arabia who stand by and watch the misery of the refugees, and who suck the blood of the poor and needy-without shame before God and the world? Yes the poor refugees committed the crime of listening to those deceivers, they believed the liars, and went to the extreme foolishness of leaving their homes, counting on their deceitful leaders to bring them back! And because of what is happening to the Palestine refugees, Arab public opinion is changing little by little to support the Jews in Israel where not a single Arab dies from starvation and cold! And if there should be another war, it should be against the Arab leaders, the princes and kings who brought this catastrophe upon the poor people of Palestine.”

The editorial’s analysis regarding Arab public opinion favoring Israel was incorrect, to say the least. But the claim that Palestinians fled their homes in response to Arab leaders has been controversial since the events occurred. The Palestinians of Michigan in 1949 thought this was the case.

In October 1949, Palestinian intellectual Musa Alami wrote: “What concerned (the Arab states) most and guided their policy was not to win the war and save Palestine from the enemy, but what would happen after the struggle, who would be predominant in Palestine, or annex it themselves.”

British testimonials

But in addition to the usurpation of the Palestinian cause, which upset As Sabah’s editorialists, there was another dimension. British officials on the scene at the time, hardly pro-Zionist, were convinced that Palestinian leaders were steadily abandoning their people. In December 1947 the High Commissioner, General Sir Alan Cunningham reported that “panic of (the) middle class persists and there is a steady exodus of those who can afford to leave the country." He added later in April 1948, “In all parts of the country the effendi class has been evacuating in large numbers over a considerable period and the tempo is increasing.”

In June 1949 Sir John Troutbeck, head of the British Middle East office in Cairo reported that the refugees “express no bitterness against the Jews (or for that matter against the Americans or ourselves) they speak with the utmost bitterness of the Egyptians and other Arab states. “We know who our enemies are,” they will say, and they are referring to their Arab brothers who, they declare, persuaded them unnecessarily to leave their homes…I even heard it said that many of the refugees would give a welcome to the Israelis if they were to come in and take the district over.”

Israeli officials maintained from the beginning that a majority of the Palestinians were encouraged to flee by their own leaders and those of Arab states, who then abandoned them before or in the midst of battle. This has long been dismissed by Palestinians and their supporters as Zionist propaganda. But British officials on the scene and opposed to Israel, and Palestinians in America, would not have simply parroted their enemy’s assessment.

The implications of this long-forgotten editorial, and all the other statements, are in the first instance that Israel does not bear full and exclusive responsibility for the Palestinian refugee situation – the Arab states and the Palestinians themselves do too. This also puts their upcoming “Unilateral Declaration of Independence” into a wholly different light.

In effect, Palestinian leaders have asked the United Nations for yet another opportunity to turn the clock back to give them another chance at achieving statehood that could have been theirs in 1948 or even in 1938. Meanwhile, some Palestinian officials have begun floating the idea of returning to the 1947 partition plan, the same plan that their predecessors rejected summarily in 1947. When do these chances run out? In the process, as their predecessors did in 1949, they blame everyone but themselves for not having achieved their goals to date.

A culture without a sense of responsibility for its own decisions, that blames others for its own decisions and at the same time perpetually demands that its maintenance is someone else’s responsibility, is not likely to create a stable, functioning nation-state. Any new Palestinian state would be an instant pauper, utterly dependent on aid, primarily from the American taxpayer.

Little wonder then that at least some Palestinian leaders are trying to back off from the Unilateral Declaration of Independence. The “deceivers” that Palestinian Americans of 1949 railed against are ultimately their own leaders and other Arab states. Until new leaders can be found for both, and a new culture of responsibility and self-reliance installed, little progress will be made.

Alexander H. Joffe and Asaf Romirowsky are the authors of "A Tale of Two Galloways: Notes on the Early History of UNRWA and Zionist Historiography,” published in the journal Middle Eastern Studies
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I received the following via email.July 27,2011 25 Tammuz 5771 - LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD - on behalf of American citizens born in Jerusalem who are denied the right to have their country of birth – ISRAEL – listed as their place of birth on their U.S. passports. The case of

As I mentioned in June,  the high street chain Lush Cosmetics is running an anti-Israel campaign on its website:
http://daphneanson.blogspot.com/2011/06/its-lush-its-green-and-its-frothing.html
http://daphneanson.blogspot.com/2011/06/lush-soap-opera.html

The company has opened a new store in the large Outer London shopping centre Brent Cross, as reported by Richard Millett on his blog: http://richardmillett.wordpress.com/2011/07/20/anti-israel-lush-opens-in-brent-cross/

The Lush website contains a number of falsehoods concerning Israel and the Palestinian Arabs:
http://www.lush.co.uk/articles/our-ethical-campaigns/oneworld_100-10285_10.html

As the UK Zionist Federation observes, it would be worth refuting some of these, in complainants' own words.  As mentioned in the second of my two posts cited above, blogger Edgar Davidson contacted the company as soon as he became aware of its mischief, and his example is worth following.

For instance, Lush claims: “Israel’s siege of Gaza has condemned its 1.5 million inhabitants to levels of poverty more commonly associated with sub-Saharan Africa – a humanitarian disaster with no end in sight.”

In fact, as recently as April this year he International Committee of the Red Cross declared that there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza http://www.haretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/red-cross-official-gaza-isn-t-experiencing-a-humanitarian-crisis-1.357268

As with any population, Gazans form a mixed socio-economic group, and while there are undenianly poor people there, the more affluent are also very much in evidence, as witness the shopping malls that have been recently opened, where luxury goods are among the merchandise. http://gulfnews.com/news/region/palestinian-territories/biggest-mall-in-gaza-strip-opens-its-doors-1.840744

Food and other provisions are plentiful at the markets, and thousands of tons of supplies are conveyed into Gaza from Israel weekly:
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/HumanitarianAid/Palestinians/Humanitarian_and_Civilian_activities_towards_Gaza_Strip_June_monthly_report_2011.htm

As for the West Bank, it receives the second highest amount of economic aid in the world:
http://www.nationmaster.com/country/we-west-bank/eco-economy
 In fact, the West Bank economy is one of the fastest-growing economies anywhere on earth.

It will come as a surprise to Lush, but the life expectancy of the average Gazan is longer than that of the average Glaswegian:
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/society/health/factcheck+glasgow+worse+than+gaza/2320267.html

The Lush website notes:“A third generation of Palestinian children is now being brought up in refugee camps inside and outside Palestine”.

Surely it should be pointed out to the company that the Arab nations have done nothing to help these people, who they have cynically used as pawns for the past 60-odd years. Perhaps Lush could direct its indignation at the Arab governments, and suggest to them that they help the children whose plight they so unfairly lay at Israel's door.  Whereas Israel successfully integrated the hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees made homeless by Arab states, the far richer Arab regimes made no effort to integrate the Arabs who left Palestine.

And then, trotted out on the Lush website is the familiar trope “All the above actions are illegal under International Law”

They should be informed that (unlike Hamas, which has never permitted the Red Cross access to Gilad Shalit and which  terrorises its own people) Israel adheres fully to the tenets of the Geneva Convention.
Perhaps Lush can be asked why it fails to demand that Hamas cease its persecution of gays, its increasing repression of women, and its habit of firing Qassams at civilian targets inside Israel.  Needless to say, Lush is unconcerned  with the fact that the Hamas Charter that calls for the destruction of Israel and the slaughter of Jews wherever they live.

Lush should also be informed that far from being a counterpart to Apartheid South Africa, as insisted by the One World campaign that Lush promotes, Israel’s minorities enjoy more rights than do the mass of citizens elsewhere in the region who are clamouring for democracy, the form of government that has prevailed in Israel since its foundation in 1948. Israel, Lush should be informed, was the first country in the Middle East in which Arab women were able to vote; there are Arab members of the Knesset; an Arab sits on the Israeli Supreme Court, and if they wish Arab citizens of Israel can serve in the IDF.

Moreover, there is complete freedom of worship in Israel, and the Bahai, so terribly maltreated in Iran where the Bahai faith began, have their world headquarters in Haifa.

How to Contact Lush:

Chief Executive and Founder:
Mark Constantine
18-20 Market Street
Poole
Dorset BH15 1NF

Lush Press Office:
Tel: 020 7434 3948
Email: sean.gifford@lush.co.uk

Customer Care
18-20 Market Street
Poole
Dorset BH15 1NF
Tel: 01202 641 006
customercare@lush.co.uk

by Moshe Newman with edits by Reb Akiva

I received one of those good-luck chain emails today.  Since everything is Min HaShamayim (from the hand of heaven), I decided to read it and add a Jewish perspective.

Note, if you read this post and forward to 5 friends within the hour you’re certain of good karma.  And if you ignore it, well, lets just say we know 3 people who did and it didn’t work out well for them…

> I don't know if it works, but who am I to tempt fate???

The above statement is ridiculous. Please do not read this and worry about tempting "fate". Rather, have faith in the One Who controls all and if you think the following statements are reminders of good approaches, behaviors and outlooks in life, please send it on to those about whom you care. In my opinion, in our daily busy lives, it is good to be reminded of helpful attitudes. And G-d "likes" positivity.

> *Feng Shui*
>
> This is without a doubt one of the nicest good luck forwards I have
> received.. Hope it works for you -- and me!

There is no such thing as "luck". However, G-d wants free choice, so he made the world look like luck.

> Lotus Touts: You have 6 minutes…

or as long or short as you want. G-d has Infinite patience.

> There's some mighty fine advice in these words, even if you're not
> superstitious. This Lotus Touts has been sent to you for good luck.
> It has been sent around the world ten times so far.

Ten is the number which signifies the next level of spirituality. The next level is faith that good and bad in your life comes from the Creator of all good and bad. There is no luck, no fate, no superstition.

> Do not keep this message.

or go ahead and keep it if that is what your heart tells you to do.

> The Lotus Touts must leave your hands in 6 MINUTES.

or whenever you wish. Your actions are up to you as your Creator has given you free will.

> Otherwise you will get a very unpleasant surprise.
> This is true, even if you are not
> superstitious, agnostic, or otherwise faith impaired.

Your actions may be up to you, but what happens to you is not.  Everything is in the hands of Heaven except for the fear of Heaven.

> ONE. **Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.* *
>
> TWO. **Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their
> conversational skills will be as important as any other. **
>
> THREE. **Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you
> want. **
>
> FOUR. **When you say, 'I love you,' mean it.**
>
> FIVE. **When you say, 'I'm sorry,' look the person in the eye. **
>
> SIX. **Believe in love.**
>
> SEVEN. **Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams
> don't have much. **
>
> EIGHT.. **In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling. **
>
> NINE.** **Don't judge people by their relatives. **
>
> TEN. ** Talk slowly but think quickly. **
>
> ELEVEN. **Remember that great achievements involve great
> risk. **
>
> TWELVE. **When you lose, don't lose the lesson.** **
>
> THIRTEEN. **Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for
> others; and Responsibility for all your actions. **
>
> FORTEEN. **Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship. **
>
> FIFTEEN. **When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps
> to correct it.**
>
> SIXTEEN. ** Spend some time alone. **

And additions to bring it home…

SEVENTEEN: Pray to God in the following way:

- Acknowledge Him as the Ingenious Orchestrator/Choreographer of all ideas that come into the world.

- Ask Him for His Truth, acknowledging that it is possible to be attached to lies without even knowing it and that, if there is anything in your life that is a lie, He should reveal it to you such that you can release it and cling only to His Truth.

- Pray that God gives you the ability to remember and implement any and all of the above that is a reflection of His Truth.

- Ask that He should allow the above perspectives to permeate His world.

-  Thank Hashem for the opportunity to promote Good in the world.

-  Do tshuvah.

-  Acknowledge to God your mistake of believing in fate/superstition.

- Acknowledge God as the amazing Creator of you, your mistake, and the mistaken perception itself. Regret the mistaken perception and promise not to do it again.

There is no fate, only faith in Divine Will and prayer always helps!

> Now, here's the FUN part!
>
> Send this to at least 5 people and your life will improve.

Sending it to one person or just applying it to your own life will help the world. The more positivity you send out, the more Hashem sends back to you, especially if you are aware that you are being a messenger for Godliness by distributing these ideas.

> 1-4 people: Your life will improve slightly.
> 5-9 people: Your life will improve to your liking.
> 9-14 people: You will have at least 5 surprises in the next 3 weeks
> 15 and above: Your life will improve drastically and everything you ever
> dreamed of will begin to take shape.

The more positivity you engender in the world, the more Light comes into your life. Especially when the positivity is based in Truth, i.e. that God runs everything.

> A true friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your
> heart.  Do not keep this message.

Or go ahead and keep it if, after you've prayed about sending it or not, your heart tells you not to. Ask God to bestow Good upon you and all the world and Good will certainly happen whether you send this or not.

In my humble opinion, these additions of FAITH make this now a far more valuable chain e-mail and more worthy of going around the world.

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One would want to write something in the line of "our Courtney, blah blah" just to feel kind of belonging to that phenomenon called Courtney Messerschmidt. But one should know one's place in the system. So, without further ado, here is an interview with an extremely bright (and funny, too, which is important to bloggers dedicated to extermination of serious people) person called Courtney aka GrEaT sAtAn"S gIrLfRiEnD.Not without a remark, of course: that opinion "Someday Courtney will run State or the NSA..." is of course, limited by the author's imagination and should be treated as such. Someday Courtney will run the whole shebang, I suggest.Oh, and don't forget to look at this week's crop of the best stuff at the Watcher’s Council nominations.

Norway’s ambassador to Israel has responded to Israel’s condolences to his country in the aftermath of last week’s terror attack.

By making a point to distingish Norway’s terror attack with the terror attacks we here in Israel experience.

Photo: Svein Sevje's Facebook page

Norway’s ambassador to Israel drew distinctions between the Oslo and Utoya massacres and Palestinian terrorism.

Svein Sevje said in an Israeli newspaper interview Tuesday that while the Norwergian bomb and gun rampages that killed 76 people and Palestinian attacks should both be considered morally unacceptable, he wanted to “outline the similarity and the difference in the two cases.”

Palestinians, the ambassador told Maariv, “are doing this because of a defined goal that is related to the Israeli occupation. There are elements of revenge against Israel and hatred of Israel. To this you can add the religious element to  their actions.”

“In the case of the terror attack in Norway, the murderer had an ideology that says that Norway, particularly the Labor Party, is forgoing Norwegian culture,” Sevje said, referring to suspect Anders Breivik, a Christian nativist who is opently anti-Islam and anti-immigration.

Unlike European Union states, Norway has engaged Hamas and often been fiercely critical of Israel, to Jerusalem’s dismay.

While Sevje voiced sympathy for Israeli terror victims, having experienced “the inferno” of such attacks during his posting, he saw little chance of Norway reviewing its Middle East policies.

“We Norwegians consider the occupation to be the cause of  the terror against Israel,” he said. “Those who believe this will not change their mind because of the attack in Oslo.”

He added, “Can Israel and the Palestinians solve the problems without Hamas? I don’t think so.”

If Sevje believes both “types” of attacks are not morally acceptable, why did he feel the need to make the distinction? Sounds to me like he is implying terrorism against Israel is completely understandable.

Also, leaving aside the fact he is utterly wrong – I have proved on here time and time again, the root cause of the terrorism here is not the so-called “occupation” – what kind of person would choose to make this point to a nation beseiged by terrorism, let alone at a time when we offer our shoulder to cry on?

I would suggest Israel reacts to Svein Sevje’s “occupation” of the Norwegian embassy in Tel Aviv and – to quote Avram from the Frisco Kid – shows this poor asshole the way out of town.

Why travel the path to totalitarian power alone when you can do it with a friend?

Venezuela’s National Assembly Speaker, Fernando Soto Rojas, has said Iran’s revolution and its resistance against global arrogance is a model for other countries.

Rojas made the remarks in a meeting with Iranian MP Hossein Sobhaninia, who traveled to Caracas to submit an invitation letter by Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

The two sides discussed issues of mutual interest.

Rojas said he attaches great importance to anti-hegemony revolutions in Iran, adding the positive attitude of Venezuelans toward Iran resulted from an important role Iran plays in regional and international arenas.

The Venezuelan official also called for the expansion of ties between the two countries and expressed his readiness to travel to Tehran to exchange views with Iranian officials.

Sobhaninia said Iran’s Majlis is ready to increase parliamentary cooperation with Venezuela’s parliament. [...]

"Parliamentary cooperation"? What does that involve? Maybe Iran could propose some legislation for the Venezuelan parliament to pass?

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/25/us/25debate.html?_r=1&hp

The writer, Scott Shane, takes particular aim at bloggers and activists like Robert Spencer and Pam Geller. That is hardly fair. Virtually none of the individuals or organizations mentioned in this article has expressed anything other than shock and disgust of what happened Friday in Norway. Nobody is celebrating and nobody is expressing support for this evil act. Had the victims been Muslim, the reaction would be the same. It was wrong-period.

It is undeniable that many people, both in Europe and America, have spoken out against Islamic terror, as well as shariah law and its attempt to gain a foothold in the West. In Europe, especially, uncontrolled immigration has disrupted virtually every western European country. One reason is that Europe never attempted to assimilate their immigrants, most of whom came to do manual labor or came as refugees-real and imagined. Immigration is a positive thing as long as it is controlled and people come and stay legally. That immigration in the US and Europe has broken down (due to different factors) is clearly the fault of our political leaders.

It is true that decades ago, when the first Turkish Gast Arbeiters (guest workers) began arriving in Germany, many were met with discrimination. A German writer actually went undercover posing as a Turkish shop cleaner, experienced the discrimination, and wrote a book about it (Ganz Unten-"At the very bottom").

Things are different now. We have the specter of Islamic terrorism sweeping the world and militant Muslims on the march, many openly telling us that we will all become Muslim. That has offended many people on both sides of the Atlantic. In Europe, most countries - including Norway-are witnessing a dramatic upsurge in crime committed by Muslim immigrants, who, as stated, have generally arrived as part of worker-refugee families with little education and a resultant low degree of assimilation or any regard for the host country values and culture. Their abominable behavior-as always- hurts the decent Muslims in Europe just trying to live better lives and become part of their new country. That applies here as well. When a group like Hizb-ut- Tahrir holds a conference in Chicago and speakers get up and rant and rave about the US, while predicting a world-wide caliphate under shariah law, people are going to be offended. That is not racism.

It is undeniable that Muslims, especially in Europe, are not popular. Yet, is it simple Islamophobia or racism-as the Times writer would have us believe to be angry about seeing sections of major cities become areas where they dare not enter? Is it racist to resent entire streets in Paris being illegally closed off and used for Muslim prayers? Is it racist to fear that your country will not belong to the indigenous people in 20-30 years? Is it racist to resent riots in the streets by immigrants? Is it racist to resent the fact that Jews can no longer walk the streets of the cities they have lived in for decades wearing Jewish garb because of harassment and assault by Muslim immigrants? Is it racist to resent an ideology (political Islam) that will strip away the rights that people, especially women, Jews, gays and non-Muslims enjoy as a given? Is it racist to fear Islamic terrorism? Is it racist to rebel against hate and intolerance itself?

This is where the Times is blatantly unfair. This phenomena in Europe-and to a lesser extent in the US- cannot be laid strictly on the doorstep of white, Christian, conservative racists. If there were no such thing as Islamic terrorism, and Muslim immigrants simply wanted to find a better life in the West, it would be certainly racist to not welcome them just because they have a different skin color, speak a different language or practice a different religion. I think that Asian immigrants from the Far East fit into each of those categories, but they are not being met with the same resentment. Why?

The action of one crazed gunman cannot be used to paint entire classes of people. Yet, for the Times and the left, it presents them with just such an opportunity. First it was Timothy McVeigh; now it is Anders Breivik. Two deranged individuals; two horrific acts. This is not a trend. The people they represent is a minuscule group of fanatics. They do not represent Pam Geller or Robert Spencer. They don't represent Gates of Vienna. I read Gates of Vienna. I have heard Geller and Spencer speak. They do not call for the murder of anybody. Nor do I think they are calling for mass deportations, which would not be reasonable. What is reasonable is to crack down on the criminals and troublemakers and send them packing. It is also reasonable to tell would-be immigrants that they are expected to come legally, assimilate, obey the law and accept our values. If they do, I say, "Welcome."

The Oklahoma City bombing was in 1995. Oslo was 16 years later. If, God forbid, other such attacks occur, I would predict they will be few and far between. There will not be a rash of similar attacks by like-minded people. Yet, how many acts of terror inspired by Jihad have occurred in the 16 years between McVeigh and Breivik? There is no excuse for our politically-correct Department of Homeland Security to lose its focus and operate as though the threats are the same from both sides.

Yet, the challenge for those of us who are speaking out is not to be radicalized a'la Breivik and lash out at all Muslims. Most are not terrorists or even terrorist sympathizers. Most probably, deep in their hearts, don't care about the whole world being one big, fat Islamic caliphate. I still hold to the view that the Muslims I know appreciate the liberties they enjoy here in America. To them I say, "Stand with us against the bad guys."

Between 20 June and 8 July this year, under the sponsorship of the Israel Project,  the American pollster Stanley Greenberg in partnership with the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion carried out a poll of 1,010 adult Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in an ‘intensive, face-to-face survey in Arabic’.

As the UK-based research organisation Just Journalism notes, there was mixed support among respondents for a two-state solution:

"Only 15 per cent of Palestinians polled viewed a ‘[t]wo state solution with independent Palestinian state side-by-side with Israel as a Jewish state’ positively, with 73 per cent disapproving of the idea as a solution to the conflict. When asked if they would accept a ‘two-state solution’ but without mentioning Israel’s Jewish character, 52 per cent were in favour and 44 per cent opposed.

In contrast to this, 51 per cent expressed support for a ‘one-state solution’ and only 27 per cent were against the idea.

52 per cent of respondents agreed that the establishment of two states should only be viewed as a first stage, after which it should ‘move to it all being one Palestinian state.’ Only 25 per cent agreed, to varying degrees, that ‘a two-state solution that keeps two states living side by side’ was preferable. [My emphasis]

Only seven per cent of Palestinians polled believed that ‘Israel has a permanent right to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people’. 84 per cent instead agreed with the statement, ‘Over time Palestinians must work to get back all the land for a Palestinian state.’

On the topic of Jerusalem, only three per cent agreed it should be split between Israel and any future Palestinian state, whereas 92 per cent answered that it should serve only as the capital of Palestine."

Among other findings, as outlined by Just Journalism, is the following:

"The study highlights the extent to which extremism is deemed acceptable within some aspects of Palestinian society.

On the targeting of Israeli civilians and the glorification of attacks on civilians, more than a quarter, 29 per cent, of those asked fully supported the recent Itamar killings, in which 5 members of the Fogel family were murdered in their sleep, including an 11 year-old, a 4 year-old and a three month-old baby. Only 42 per cent described the attack as ‘wrong.’

61 per cent felt it would be right to ‘Nam[e] streets after Palestinian suicide bombers [...] who killed civilians in Israel.’ 27 per cent were opposed to this. Media elision of the culture of incitement found within the Palestinian territories was reported by Just Journalism earlier this year.

The figures concerning support for inciting hatred towards Jews by indoctrinating children were particularly worrying. 53 per cent felt that ‘Teaching songs and chants in Palestinian schools that talk about hating the Jews’ was legitimate, whilst only 34 per cent expressed opposition to the idea."

For a full analysis of the poll's results, and a link to the poll itself, see http://justjournalism.com/media-analysis/israel-project-poll-results-of-palestinian-public-opinion/
(Hat tip: reader Shirlee)

I had to get away from all this horrid male energy. It was like every male in my family thought they were right ranging from my 4 year old grandson who was screaming in the elevator and we're like "Why are you screaming?".  He tells us, "I'm not screening!!!" surprised at our accusation, to hubby who was sitting comfortably in his chair on Friday night, while we were all sweating profusely. The air conditioner was on at its lowest setting and blowing warm air out.  We're all telling him it's not working and he's sitting there looking like the man from the Mr. Clean bottle, with his hands across his chest, telling us that it's fine, it's working and there's nothing wrong with it.  It's just that we're on the top floor and that's why it's spewing warm air.  I didn't buy that ruse and told him I'll get a professional to look at it myself.  He is totally insulted at the audacity of thinking that he might be wrong and leaves the table.

No better place to flee to, than a concert from an American superstar in Tel Aviv.  I'm about to go to see Paul Simon concert in Tel Aviv's Yarkon Park.  The hot sauna weather in Tel Aviv doesn't bother me anymore.  My friend from New York tells me she met him once in the 70s and he was rude.  I listened to his latest album and I felt that he was more spiritual these days.  I tell my friend that many were obnoxious when they were younger, especially in the 70s, but that he must have mellowed out with age.  Surely he can't be like the men in my family.

I get on the bus to Tel Aviv from Jerusalem and get to the train station in Tel Aviv - the quickest way to the stadium.  I'm wiping gum off my ass that someone left on the bus seat and I hadn't noticed when I first sat down, as I'm running to catch a train the ticket woman says is leaving in two minutes.    I sought refuge in the beautiful Ayalon Mall right next to the stadium.  I never knew this mall existed and I discovered  it was an air-conditioned haven for most of the concert goers who did not want to sit out in the heat an hour before the concert started.

My friend, with whom I bought the tickets, had just landed from a trip to the US, 2 1/2 hours before the concert began and had one of her kids drive her to the stadium straight from the airport.  Half hour before the show, we ventured bravely out into the Tel Aviv humidity and went to our spots.  We found that though we bought the cheapest seats, we weren't too far from the stage because the stage was situated in the middle of the stadium rather than the far end.  We splurged for expensive beers.   Though the heat is unbearable no one is allowed into the stadium with water.  Strange and horrible rule, but the cold beer did the trick.

"Do you want to hear the setlist?"  I asked my friend.

"You have the setlist?  No, I don't want to hear it.  It's like knowing what you're gonna have before you give birth."

Once Paul came on with his band - I think he won the audience over immediately.  The band was terrific and he was in tip top shape.  I was surprised that he doesn't sound any older than he did 40 years ago, the way other singers do.  Even Paul McCartney can't reach those high notes any longer.  Paul Simon launched into Slip Sliding Away in the middle of the set.

"This is sorta like Hatikva, isn't it?"  my friend noted.  I nodded.  Sort of.  An iconic song it was, but once he came back for his encore and began with a beautiful solo of Sounds of Silence, I said to my friend - "Now THAT's Hatikva!!"  If the crowd was polite and laid back until now, they were really getting into his renditions of that and Here Comes the Sun, which he sang as if it were his own song. When he sang You Can Call Me Al, it seemed as if everyone in the stadium got up to sing and dance.  The Boxer was the last song and he sang it as a prayer for peace in our region addressing us with a Shalom Aleichem and Salaam Aleikum.  He seemed grateful for the show of appreciation from the audience and I must say, it was one of the most enjoyable concerts I've ever gone to.

Citing three respected Republican presidents, none of whom would have given Barack Hussein Obama the time of day, the Anointed One rushed once again to put his mug and carny pitch in front of the cameras for the umpteenth time.

It was fifteen minutes of soundbites of everything Obama has said in the last two and one half years. It was enough to gag a maggot… though if you’re into having other people’s money, I guess you were in Nirvana.

Obama shouldn’t be surprised if his little campaign speech doesn’t make anyone swoon with admiration at his eloquence. That’s what comes from having heard it all before… only this time we’re ready for him. All Obama could do was to excoriate the GOP for their intransigent stubbornness in not embracing his magnanimous offer to complete the devastation that he and his Marxists have so assiduously wrought.

Speaker of the House John Boehner’s reply had no soaring rhetoric, nor pleas for revenues derived from the coffers of the ‘rich’. It simply laid out the Republican position. Meanwhile, our glorious leader proclaimed loudly how the ‘rich’ had ‘stepped up before’. More of Obama’s tax the rich. You know… those millionaires and billionaires and their horrible loopholes.

You see, only a skilled guest lecturer-cum- community organizer, someone for whom someone else has always paid the freight, could fail to recognize that none of us has ever gotten a job from a poor man.

What this is, and why it is so important that Speaker Boehner and the rest of the Republican leadership do not waver, is that this is Obama’s own war with the middle class in America. The middle class is the only barrier between ObaMao and the complete communist takeover of this country. Don’t kid yourselves, Obama is running scared. If he gets any more rattled, he’ll have to wear Depends.

The truth here is that this Conservative agenda is Tea-Party driven. The Patriot Movement has grown exponentially since 2008, and we’ve gained in knowledge and sophistication. We’ve become a real force to be reckoned with. We’ve literally supplied the spine that the Republicans have shown thus.
The heat is unremitting and the Tea-Party Patriots are just warming up.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2011

A few days ago this guy left his magnetic calling card on my front door[click on the pic to enlarge]:A quick translation:With God's HelpGamliel the ultra-Orthodox PlumberImplementation of all water and sewage workQuick and reliable serviceWork is guaranteedHis magnetic calling card also mentions that his gives discounts to "Bnei Torah".One of the greatest libels against the ultra-Orthodox

This week's edition comes in two parts:Haveil Havalim - The Makeup Edition Haveil Havalim #322b - The Make Up Edition Supplement

The City of David project has been excavating the ancient city of Jerusalem underneath the more recently built area nowadays called Silwan (for those familiar with Jerusalem, this is the area which you would enter if you continued out the Dung Gate of the Old City and head straight).

Underneath, far underneath the modern ramshackle structures it turns out the ancient city of the kings of Israel rests.  A dedicated privately financed team has spent many years carefully excavating and doing a full set of archeological research.  Along the way they’ve found ancient structures, possibly a palace, the water channel of Chizkiyahu, and more.

Recently they’ve been doing their most ambitious project.  As part of their excavations, they found the primary paved road that provided the path to the 2nd Beis HaMikdash, the Holy Jewish Temple in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount (today where the Dome of the Rock sits).  They’ve been carefully excavating the road (deep underground) back up to (not in, not under) the Temple Mount.  Along the road also runs an ancient drainage channel, basically an old sewer drain.

During their excavations they found a variety of artifacts under the road and in the channel, many apparently from where Jews tried to hide during the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and leaving behind some artifacts after they were found and slaughtered by the Romans. 

A few days ago their most significant find EVER was announced.  They found a small golden bell with a loop for being tied to a piece of clothing near the wall of the Temple Mount (deep under the current above ground level).  If religious Jews reading this recognize that description, it’s because…

Exodus 28:31-34:  And you shalt make the robe of the ephod all of blue…. And upon the skirts of it you shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the skirts thereof; and bells of gold between them round about: a golden bell and a (cloth) pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the skirts of the robe round about.

That’s the description of the blue robe of the Kohein Gadol, the high priest of the Holy Jewish Temple.  The Kohein Gadol was the ONLY one of the priestly class to wear such a garment with bells.

The press and the archeologists are trying to hem and haw around the find.  Maybe it is from the high priest, maybe it’s not, maybe it’s from some other rich person who liked to wander about with gold bells.  But let’s engage in a bit of informed speculation…

1. Only the Kohein Gadol wore a garment with golden bells among the kohanim.

2. No one, rich or otherwise, is going to go to the Beis HaMikdash wearing a garment that imitated the Kohein Gadol with golden bells.  L’havdil, it would be equivalent to going to a papal mass in the Vatican carrying a large gold cross on a 5 foot staff and wearing a big red pointy papal style hat.

3. The Kohein Gadol only wore the ephod, the garment with bells for certain special services such as for Yom Kippur.  These services took place near the mizbayach (the altar) and in the heichal – meaning the Kohein Gadol only wore the ephod when doing services some distance away from where the bell was found.

4. There’s only 1 service where the Kohein Gadol wore the ephod (with the golden bells) and physically left the Beis HaMikdash.  That service was the sacrifice of the Par Adumah, the sacrifice and preparation of the ashes of the red heifer. 

The Par Adumah was slaughtered and burned (to ash) by the Kohein Gadol on Har HaZaytim, the Mount of Olives.  The Kohein Gadol would proceed out of the Beis HaMikdash down the entrance street (to which everyone coming to the Beis HaMikdash had already ritually prepared, so there were no issues of tumah – ritual impurity).  From the City of David area, a wooden pathway would be built across the valley and up the Mt. of Olives, to prevent the Kohein Gadol from encountering tumah.

This is the path the City of David team has been excavating.  Which means, in my informed speculation…

This is a bell from the Kohein Gadol on his way (or returning) from performing the ritual of the Red Heifer.

This is the first and only artifact from the Beis HaMikdash known to exist and in Jewish hands.  (Rumors of such artifacts in the hands of the Vatican are strong but have never been proven.)

And it was found (or verified or announced) during the 3 weeks (mourning the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash)!

…I am astounded!

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Once again Caroline Glick provides us with important insights and observations by drawing our attention to the uncomfortable reality that “…Israel faces daunting challenges today and that those challenges will multiply and grow in the near future should not be construed as a partisan or ideological statement. Rather, it is a statement of fact.” (http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=23044 [...]

Here's something to listen to while doing the ironing.  In these videos (sound only, since they're from a radio programme in the United States) host Anton Batey and pro-Israel lawyer and journalist Paul Kujawsky politely go head to head:

Introductory afterwordThis really should have been an afterword, but I had to put it in the beginning, otherwise the meaning of all these footnotes will be lost on the reader. You see, my dear reader, while writing this post I have been high*, that without ingesting or inhaling any mind-altering substances. The cause of my exalted state shall be explained later, in the body of that post. But, while re-reading the post, I have discovered that several statements in it require a footnote. So there.(*) After yet more R and R, I see that there is a need to correct that. I wasn't really high, rather somewhat elevated. Compared to the main protagonist, Mr D’Amboise and the man who caused his high, I was on a relatively low level.Main partYou may remember a run-in that Andrew Ian Dodge (AID), a candidate for senate from Main, had with one Steve Martin (SM) - not the comedian. SM, being a man of strict principles (but so many of them that he gets confused trying to stick to) and impeccable moral position (which he lost in the Maine woods and can't find since), "outed" AID as: Libertarian, libertine, closet Marxist-Leninist, non-citizen, Wiccan warlock, sexual deviant, barfly, lounge lizard, running lackey dog of the world government - all that simultaneously (1). If we add to this list hard rock, writing and other AID's favorite occupations, the list as a whole certainly witnesses a stellar activity level and a unique variety of talents. I have been looking lately at SM, being interested in the life according to this, definitely unorthodox and turbulent person. Life according to SM is a deadly maze of conspiracies, starting with the main one: the "bankers" (if you are with it, you know who is meant): The "system" isn't broken. We just don't use it anymore. We've allowed our Constitutional Republic to be taken over by a corporate criminal syndicate, working at the behest of the Rockefellers and the oilogarchy that they control. If I were a scion of Rothschild family, I would be insulted by this modification of the ancient formula, but let's leave this alone for now.  SM, of course is also concerned about the black helicopters of the world government (It is certain that he suspects AID of being able to fly one of these, although he didn't mention it publicly - add another one to the list of AID's talents).Other complementary beliefs SM holds dear:On the 9/11 terrorist attacks: The official story is a “fairy tale,” perpetrated by “the obvious winners of 9/11: the globalists, people who want to form a world government.” (3/15/2011) “Al-Qaeda is a CIA creation.” (11/1/2010)On Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: “He’s going to be on the ark when the flood comes. He’s a bought and paid for new world order stooge, just like the ones at the U.N., just like the ones inside the beltway. And he definitely knows. You don’t get that high without knowing.” (10/4/2010)         (Emphasis mine - getting high is a key point in this post)On Aroostook Watchmen’s role in the media: “Really the point that we’re trying to make with this program is that there truly is a cosmic struggle between good and evil and we’re merely pointing out to you how that struggle is playing out locally and in America. The conspiracy that is seeking to bring down this nation, because it was the only nation founded on Christian values, through and through, is the Devil’s conspiracy.” (12/15/2010)Indeed - you don’t get that high without knowing. Or vice versa, both versions are applicable where SM is concerned, I hope you understand it by now.SM belongs to a group of folks (grass-root all, but on what grass do they grow and thrive(2)?) that calls itself Aroostook Watchmen and ask the ominous question:If you are willing to die for your country are you willing to kill for it(3)? It is easy to die but it is a very different thing to fight for the preservation of our country and sad to say there may be a time when you will have to kill to save our country.Sad to say? The author of this text sounds rather willing and even kind of happy to me(4). Meanwhile, before all that dying and killing starts, Aroostook Watchmen try to make the best of it, sponsoring some strange products, such as (but not limited to):Ganoderma Healthy Coffee - Healthy Coffee For LifeTM. This coffee contains Ganoderma Lucidum (Red Mushroom)... oops, this could be it! I shall certainly order some, to get to that highest level of awareness.OXYSILVER™ pioneers a new class of mineral waters (sic!). Must be good after (or during) partaking of the Ganoderma Healthy Coffee, I guess.ZeroPoint Red NaturaLaser Pointer. This one is special for me, since it is supported by extra-strong scientific evidence: "...light has been shown to be one of the most efficient conduits of energy ever harnessed. It’s why fiber optic wire was chosen for the world’s most critical communications platforms, sending pulses of information-laden light around the world in milliseconds." Mmm... not clear where one should stick that pointer before activating it, but I gather it's good against every malady.And more, but let's not take over the lucrative business of sponsoring. I just thought it is worth mentioning. After all, good old snake oil wouldn't feed you indefinitely these days, good and old as it may be.His self-defined goal is: Educating the people of Maine about the threat of world government as represented by the Trilateral Commission, the Bilderburg Group, and the Council on Foreign Relations and the close ties between our two Democratic senators and these treasonous groups.Yes, SM is aiming high, but then we have established to our satisfaction that he is flying high. High as kite doesn't even start to describe it - he is somewhere close to the Moon (Luna may be the more suitable term in this case, I suggest) (6). My exploration of his teachings got me only slightly elevated (6), and even this was enough of a revelation to me. A few days after this event I still have mercifully short but still powerful relapses - thus I am trying not to blink, so don't get spooked if you see me this side of 2011. While being negative about AID challenging the incumbent Maine senator Olympia Snowe, SM is supporting  another candidate: one Scott D’Amboise (SDA). The good SDA's fate was a sad example of SM's mind-altering influence. Probably starting like I, with perusing SM's body of work, SDA proceeded next to phone conversations with SM (bad mistake), sliding further down the chute. And then the inevitable happened, and SDA started his fateful descent(7) into the SM's world. Whether SM did use some mind-altering mushrooms (the Ganoderma coffee, I wonder?) on SDA, or was SDA affectedby something similar to secondary smoking, I wouldn't even try to guess. The fact is, SDA has definitely reached the altitude where SM resides more or less permanently:Martin: Right now, of course, everything’s mandatory and you have all of this false pursuit of people for political reasons. You have the IRS ‘siced’ on people for political reasons.D’Amboise: Right.Martin: We could talk about our good friend Eric Hoven who went to jail because he was so good at exposing the fallacies of the evolutionists.D’Amboise: Right.Martin: Well, the vice chairman who served with him, a guy named Kaufman, has now come out as a queer and joined the Democrats, so that should tell you something about where the Republican Party has been recently.D’Amboise: Exactly, exactly.Martin: I’ve had people like best-selling author John Perkins come on the show here recently telling me that there’s probably only, Scott, 6,000 total in the so-called Anglo-American elite and they call the shots for the other 6 billion people on the planet.D’Amboise: They do, they do. And it’s sad that we’ve allowed it to get to that situation.I suspect that if at this stage of the discussion SM had postulated that the Earth is flat (which it is, as any straight-minded person would agree), SDA would have readily agreed to this, such tremendous was the altitude he reached. Of course, later he disavowed all that, probably in a rare moment of lucidity, but is there a way  back to the pedestrian level for him now? I seriously doubt it, and my doubts are based on additional reports.The most prominent Republican challenging Olympia Snowe in the Senate GOP primary in Maine says President Obama is “exercising a lot of Muslim faith” and doesn’t believe he is a Christian.Or this:It isn’t about the birth, it’s about the birth certificate, and whether they can prove it or not, I think we can take our energy and use it in different areas of trying to get this country back.(Is there such thing as a half-birther, I wonder? After all, there are halfwits.) Anyhow, I fear that the brain damage caused by the mysterious influence of SM and his Aroostook Watchers to be irreparable.  But of course, if you are into illogical, impulsive and senseless acts of charity, you can still vote for him, you know... it's a democracy, after all.You can also join the fine Aroostook Watchmen and go with them out there to the forests of Maine, wearing the camo, drinking Ganoderma Healthy Coffee and OXYSILVER™ mineral waters (at the same time), lighting your way in the darkness by the famous ZeroPoint Red NaturaLaser Pointer (unless you have it stuck elsewhere for medicinal purposes) and watching out for azure, baby pink and green lobsters hiding up there in the crowns of the trees(8). And the best of luck to you.Yeah, them footnotes(1) Only after penning this old post, I have found out that SM also added another facet of AID's busy life: "British socialist". This is a real heavy hit, there is only one more severe accusation one may level at a person, that of British... no, I can't do it here.(2) I am asking this question because all kinds of mind-altering substances are associated in my mind with hot and humid climates, such as these of South America with all these jungles and stuff. Maine doesn't look to me as a place where one will go to get some interesting looking/tasting mushrooms and what not(5). Unless, of course, it's all about Ganoderma Healthy Coffee.(3) People, when they are high, should generally avoid carrying and,especially, using arms. It may be hazardous for their health, I suggest.(4) While re-reading this I have asked myself: how come that people who are that high and, as it goes with people who got to this level of high, should be exceedingly mellow, so how come that the Aroostook Watchmen sound so militant. I understand that militia members should be tough, non-nonsense and overall manly, but...(5) But maybe Aroostook Watchmen found some other new recipe, like grounding and smoking the lobster carapaces? Or pine cones?(6) In the hindsight I recognize this point in my reading of SM's website as one where my state of mind was altered. I definitely remember the moment when my, usually flat and two-dimensional screen, opened for me to get a glimpse of the horrors waiting in another dimension, like Bilderburg gang (not to be confused with Bilderberg one), Spaghetti Monster, ZioMasonic reptilians and much, much more.(7) Surely you understand that "descent" is a totally wrong word for the powerful experience of getting high in the company of such an uplifting personality as SM. Apologies for using that cliche.(8) It is obvious by now that I am still experiencing  flashbacks. Potent stuff, that...

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

Book of Obama: Chapter 13

His Excellency, The Most High, Master of the Nation, President Barack Hussein Obama (May He Reign Forever) spoke to the peons of the population.  None of this problem is MY fault, the Great One exclaimed.

"I blame Bush! He spent $1 Trillion in 8 years. And there was the Recession. We had to spend, spend, spend to Save the Nation. It is the fault of the Republicans. Those nasty TEA Partiers. It is the fault of everyone else. I am your King. Nothing is MY fault. It never is.

We need to make the rich give up their money. The Corporate CEOs with private jets need to give all their money to ME. The Billionaires and Millionaires have too much money, I need it more.  I need much more.

Although I am Omnipotent, I need your help.  If I don't get the debt ceiling raised, the world will come to an end.  The elderly will be forced to eat cat food.   The military will not be paid.  Veterans will starve while being thrown on the street. All this because the evil Republicans with their allies the rich fat cats, will not do as I order them to.

Every President for many years has gotten what I demand.  The Great Reagan spoke thus:

"Would you rather reduce deficits and interest rates by raising revenue from those who are not now paying their fair share, or would you rather accept larger budget deficits, higher interest rates, and higher unemployment? And I think I know your answer."

And yet these evil men will thwart MY plans, MY desires, what I want.  It is very simple.  Without this ceiling raise, we will DEFAULT on our debt.  The nation will be destroyed.  It will not be MY fault!  We have only a week.  I need you to call Congress and demand that they raise the ceiling.  Raise it enough so that We don't have to do this until after November 2012 (So I don't have to bring this up again until I am reelected!). Only you, the Middle Class, the Poor need to do this.  Together We can defeat the rich, the ignorant, the Republicans.

Thank you MY subjects.  I bless you!"

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
-----Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence

Thus the Anointed One spoke to the people.  And they would have listened to Him but for the voice of the House Speaker, Boehner of Tears.  He spoke quietly, passionately, and with a firm voice.  His words bespoke of the truth and the people listened:

"I am not a fat cat, I was just a small business owner before I came to Congress.  I am one of you, the Middle Class, the people who find all of this too complicated to understand.  But it isn't too complicated.  It is as easy as your own home budget.

The President wants us to raise the debt ceiling for the next 18 months. This is so He will not have to face this problem during an election. The President swears that if we don't raise the ceiling the nation will end. We will default on our debts, the old will starve, the military will not be paid and veterans will be homeless. This is a lie. None of this will happen. What will happen is that for the first time the nation will have to live within our means. We will have to cut spending. We will have to trim the fat.

The President refuses to cut the fat, the port, the earmarks. We had a deal, but the President threatened to veto it. We have another deal, but it forces the President to cut spending, and will only raise the debt ceiling for 6 months.

The President is acting childish. He is carrying on a temper tantrum: "Do it my way or face the consequences!" The President can quote Ronald Reagan, but he will never be Ronald Reagan. Nor does he understand what Reagan stood for.

We will call his bluff. The President will be taught the lesson of the Constitutionality of this issue. He will be denied. He believes to be our King. But he forgets. We are Americans! WE HAVE AND WILL HAVE NO KINGS!!!!

And with that, the American people awoke to the truth of the argument.  The did call the Congress telling them to stand firm, don't give in to Obama's demands.  If we can stop him now, he will be destroyed. And they remembered this:

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury.


A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

---Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence

Yes President Obama has become a Tyrant.  It is time to take down the tyrant.  Call your Congressman or woman.  E-mail him or her.  Let them remember what happened in 2010.  You put them into Congress and you can take them out.  Time is running out. the nation and our freedoms are at risk.  It is time to stop the Tax and Spend culture of the Presidents and Democrats now.

By Alex Joffe Every summer, the Israel Antiquities Authority holds a reception at the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem for foreign archeological teams excavating in Israel. The Jewish Ideas Daily This year’s reception in early July was attended by over 200 archeologists from over 50 different Israeli and foreign projects, who are investigating sites ranging in [...]

A reader asked:

     “The blessing that the kohanim (priests) bless us with is called the triple blessing, but in it we ask for four blessings. They say that the first two (blessing and guarding), are really one, because one without the other is worthless.

     “So it seems that all of our prayers are like this. Although we usually pray for only the most urgent things, the Sages have taught us to pray for many things, because any one of these things without the other is meaningless. You need a balance of all these things to live and prosper.

    “This theme of balance is evident in all of Hashem’s creations. The ecosystem, the universe, even our own bodies; if even one little thing goes off balance, the ripple effects are catastrophic.

“Do you have any insights to share?”

Gutman responds:

     That famous blessing is called triple, because in it we ask Hashem to bless us three times.

     “Hashem bless you and guard you. Hashem make His countenance shine upon you and be gracious to you. Hashem turn His countenance toward you and grant you peace.”

     As for your desire for balance, the Torah does teach us to take the center path, so in a way, you could say that this represents balance. Certainly what you say seems to make sense.

     But in truth, my personal goal is not balance. I am an extremist--an ultimate-ist--and as such, I always search for the most complete solution… revealing G-d’s glory in all that I do. I do not want a little good mixed with a little bad, or a little of this with a little of that. I would like to see the ultimate, final Redemption come right now.

     Yes, if you have a toothache you do not pray at that time for your livelihood, but you know what? When the redemption comes, there will be no more tooth aches. Yes, I yell about the toothache, but I say, “G-d take the toothaches away! Bring Your final redemption now.”

     I do not see those blessings as representing a balance because they just keep getting better and better, until finally the blessing ends with peace. There can be no peace if anything good is missing. Not even a tiny toothache, nor a single lost soul can remain. So, I do not see balance as the goal, but rather G-d revealing His glorious Presence and all of the other things will also be healed.

     The one blessing of peace really includes all of the other blessings. You cannot have true peace if you do not have all of those other important things. And this is why His Name is Shalom (Peace).

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Also: Danon affirmed that Israel is “a strong democracy” but that implementing limits is a necessary evil.Much more of that in the article and in the clip. Is Danon's brand of stupidity a necessary evil or an unnecessary one?

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Nothing like a dictatorship for high voter turn-out:

The election of deputies to the provincial (municipal), city (district) and county people's assemblies of the DPRK was successfully held on Sunday.

According to data available from the Central Election Guidance Committee, 99.97 percent of voters except those on foreign tour or working in oceans participated in the election as of 18:00.

Those who were not able to go to the polling stations due to old age, illness, etc. cast their ballots into mobile ballot boxes.

All voters took part in the election with the revolutionary will to demonstrate the high spirit of Juche Korea making a leaping advance toward a thriving socialist nation and consolidate people's power under the Songun leadership of Kim Jong Il through the election.

I remember in Tel Aviv, I decided to buy some bread from Piece of Cake, one Friday morning.

It was a gloomy day. I thought it was one of those days.

I had gotten used to Tel Aviv’s dark-grayish skies that seemed like rain is forthcoming, but would not deliver.

But, that day it did. And rain poured down like madness.

People inside the bakery came to the windows to check on the waters as they gushed through the sidewalk gutters, like fast-flowing stream.

Rain waters created a torrent of sorts, quickly rising up to the levels of the sidewalks of HaYamit.

In Israel, rains are few and far between.

Hence, for most Israelis, rain is like a blessing. Manna from the heavens is more like it.

I can only imagine the awe and gratitude those people in Piece of Cake must have felt.

How I wish I could bring them all to Manila and experience its monsoon rains.

Ten minutes and it has done. The rains were gone.

The skies, however, treated them to a spectacle of rain waters.

I treated myself to some piping-hot, freshly baked potato bourekas.

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Within the Judaic, mundane-societal context, the role of the 

Being an admirer of Israel, Behring Breivik does appear to have treated his fellow countrymen in the same way that the Israeli armed forces treats Palestinians.”