Tel Aviv with no Airconditioning

There was a fire in the electric cupboard that feeds the elevator and airconditioning system. Unbearable - I can't work so I am blogging instead.

My father says all I ever do is winge (moan) winge winge. So I have refrained from blogging for a week just in case all I have to say comes out as a massive winge fest. Unfortunately, blogging for me is about venting all my frustrations and thoughts. I think though that I have had some nice things to say...

So in the spirit of not moaning - I saw this T-Shirt on a google search last week and I thought it was just brilliant.

It's a FIRST

I have been avoiding writing about the goings on at the Jerusalem Post because it was starting to get a bit boring. But I just heard that The Jerusalem Post Newspaper did NOT come out this morning. Citing "press breakdown" the publishers claim they may print an edition later this morning.

In my 8 years in a top position at the paper not ONCE, never ever (even when the image server wasn't working) did that newspaper NOT come out!

I am shocked!

Lesson from Leeds

I am thinking that there may be a specific lesson Israeli parents need to learn from what has happened in the UK since September 7. In the city of Leeds, where three of the terrorists who attacked the London transport system were born and grew up, most of the Muslim community are saying "we didn't know, we never imagined" ordinary boys could go wrong so badly. "I can guarantee you if you go to all the bombers, they probably had upstanding parents who had no idea what they were up to," said Rizwan Haq, 34, the manager of a small grocery store down the block from the purported bomb factory in a small apartment. (Quoted in Washington Post 15/07/2005)

Children are impressionable. They lack the depth of experience that enables a person to understand complex issues, and they tend to take statements, especially those by their parents and community leaders, as given truths. It's not hard to see how young boys growing up in Leeds, exposed to a constant stream of biased, politicised and distorted information from their elders, will arrive at the untenable position that led these to commit their horrible action.

So where does this lead us to in Israel. Parents who openly disdain the democratic process of the country, who present their opinions about a highly complex issue like disengagement as a given truth, who encourage and reward actions that would otherwise be, if not punishable, at least subject to reprimand, are laying down the foundations of consequences like Leeds. Standing out on the street corner handing out orange ribbons may seem cute, but the message being passed on with the approval has frightening implications, and parents owe it to their children to be able to discern the border between disapproval of, and rejection of, authority, because their kids can't. Saying that impeding the progress of the disengagement is a mitzvah may sound like a rational statment to you, but to your children, that takes on a completely different meaning. Can you be sure just how far your child will want to go in performance of a mitzvah? Are you going to say "we didn't know, we never imagined", when it's too late?

Lies, Damn lies, Statistics

The press has had a field day recently, promoting the publication of a survey by an organization called Iraq Body Count, that claims the civilian death toll in the two years of conflict in Iraq has now reached 25000, with 42500 injured. The blame for all of this, obviously, is placed squarely at the feet of George Bush and the imperialist, oil-ravenous White House.

Something struck me as strange about these figures, and prompted some further investigation. Doesn't it seem odd, that the number of injuries is less than double the number of deaths. We've seen just in the last month, the figures from the London terrorist bombing, where 56 were killed, and over 700 injured sufficiently to require hospitalization. Over the five years of terrorist attacks in Israel, about 1000 have been killed, and more than 15000 injured. This ratio, of roughly 10 injured to 1 death, seems to hold fairly true across most areas of conflict that I have seen reported. So, if the "maximum" death count is true, then we should expect nearly 5 times more injured. And if the injured count is true, then the "body" count is overstated by a factor of 6.

What makes the attacks in Iraq so deadly? Are the victims being deliberately shot dead after they are injured? Are they using some form of explosive that is deadly over a short distance, but peters out beyond that range, so that people standing 10 feet away from a blast are always killed, but those 11 feet away do not even get a scratch?

Before I'd believe these, or other equally ludicrous suggestions that may support these figures, I'd rather look at the methods, motive, source and funding of the survey itself. Dare I say that this is something the press should have done itself before giving such wide publicity to the so-called survey, but still, we know by now what to expect of yellow journalism.

Iraq Body Count is an organization founded in 2003 to "establish an independent and comprehensive public database of media-reported civilian deaths in Iraq resulting directly from military action by the USA and its allies in 2003. In the current occupation phase this database includes all deaths which the Occupying Authority has a binding responsibility to prevent under the Geneva Conventions and Hague Regulations. This includes civilian deaths resulting from the breakdown in law and order, and deaths due to inadequate health care or sanitation".

Note - they don't collect data themselves from any independent source, they read newspapers and websites, and collect statistics. And what are their criteria for inclusion in their count?

"Maximum deaths". This is the highest number of civilian deaths published by at least two of our approved list of news media sources." So if any two sources publish a claimed fatality, then it's in. And who do their sources comprise? Amongst others, the following ...
Al Jazeera network
Commondreams.org
Jordan Times
Nando Times
Middle East Newsline
Middle East Online
Middle East Report
Human Rights Watch
Hindustan Times

So if, for example, Hindustan Times and Al Jazeera, two outstanding examples of free, unbiased reporting, come up with an estimated body count after an incident of 50 civilians murdered by Iraqi criminals, or dying from disease induced by rotten food, then the number is in, and Bush did it. It's interesting also to see that they have concocted a "minimum body count", which anyone who hasn't studied their method would conclude is a rock-bottom count that has been verified and validated widely. However, the "minimum" will only differ from the "maximum" if more than two of their sources quote a different, lower, figure from the maximum. Far from a "minimum", this is just another estimate with exactly the same reliability as the maximum.

So much for the veracity of the method. Another look at the organization behind the study gives further interesting insights. It's principals are HAMIT DARDAGAN and JOHN SLOBODA . Dardagan is a freelance researcher currently working in London. His only claim to fame is that he has written for Counterpunch (one of their sources). He is such an eminent social and academic force that a search of Google with his name turns up nearly a thousand entries. However, I was unable to find a single one that wasn't directly connected to the IBQ organization. As a prominent research personality, he scores zero.

John Sloboda, however, is a notable person. He is (wait for this) Professor of Psychology at Keele University in the UK, where he directs the Unit for the Study of Musical Skill and Development.

Nuff said???

5 things I hate about James Blunt's new song

5. It's on Galagalatz 17 times a day, and just my luck it's on every time I'm in the car and the radio is on.
4. It doesn't mean anything - the words are soooo boring.
3. Why does he have to use one swear-word in the middle of the song for no reason - I mean seriously, is it really necessary
2. I hate the line "There must have been an angel playing with my heart - when she thought-up I should be with you" It doesn't fit to the music and "thought-up" is naff.
1. He doesn't sing - he screeches.

My 2 cents!

So disgusting I want to be sick

My husband sent me a link to this article, where Shmuel Sackett writes how disgusted he is that "Jewish money" was sent to help the victims of last years Tsunami disaster. Shmuel Sackett you are a despicable human being.

You say in your article, and I quote:

When will we learn that Jewish money must remain in Jewish hands until every Jew has what to eat, where to go to school and receives proper medical care? Does every Jewish bride have a nice dress? Are our elderly being cared for? Are the security needs of those Jews living on "the front lines" attended to adequately? Are the "outreach" programs properly funded?

What the hell is Jewish money, what makes money "Jewish" money? Is it money that only comes from dealing with Jews? Does it have to have been made by Jews? Does it have to have never been touched by, dare I say it, goyim? Is persons life less important if they are not Jewish than a nice wedding dress for a Jewish bride?

What would happen if there was a terrible natural disaster in Israel - what an outcry for the world to say - we are not giving our "Christian, Muslim, atheist" money to those Jews? You are a pig and your ideas disgust me. Why can't people see that there is no reason for things to be so black and white. I earn a good salary, I try and give money to victims of terror in Israel, I raised 4,000 shekel in a sponsored walk to go towards the building of a new children's ER at Hadassah Hospital, and when the Tsunami hit I was appalled at the devastation, it sickened me to see all that suffering. The tsunami didn't target those bad UN voting politicians, it didn't come out of the sea and say you naughty naughty little children - you voted for a government that believes that all Jews are bad and there should not be a state of Israel therefore I am going to strike you down. It hit - tourists, visitors, Jews, Muslims, children, mothers, doctors, good people and bad people. I GAVE MONEY!

And the worst - most despicable part of your article:

What makes matters worse is the fact that this Jew hating, Israel bashing, idol worshipping country teaches this to their children in schools that are now being restored thanks to the "Kids for Kids of Sri Lanka" program founded by Rambam Mesivta of Lawrence.
My heart bleeds when I think of this. My Jewish souls cries when I remember how my children went to Yeshivot in Karnei Shomron and Kedumim and studied in trailers with no heat in the winter, sitting the entire day in coats and hats.
How about a "Kids for Kids" program for the 400 children in Atzmona who attend school and have no playground? How about a "Kids for Kids" program to restore the schools in Itamar and Otniel, which were attacked by terrorists paying with young Jewish lives?

>

What is your "right" to live in the territories and then bemoan the danger to your children's lives. Do you work or do you sit and learn in Yeshivah all day?

How revolutionary it would be to focus on the fact that there is a disease in Jewish Ultra-orthodox societies, where they think it is acceptable to study torah and rely on tzeddakah money to feed their children and put a roof over their heads. They too have a choice to go out each and every day as millions of Jewish people around the world do and earn some "Jewish" money. Surely this is a way more important issue than whether or not Jews send money to help victims of a terrible natural disaster.

If we don't care about the rest of the world then next time there is a holocaust, or a fight for a Jewish homeland why the hell should they care about us.

I wish people like you Shmuel Sackett should only know what it is to have no money - I don't think you would care whether it came from a Jew or a dead cow!

iPod Song of the Day

Yesterday's:

Elton John – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road


Today's:

The Kinks – Dead End Street

Of London and Bombs

A few sad things about the London bombs which I've yet to write about:

1. When I talked to my husband (and since with other people) he did not seem all that surpised, he thought it was inevitable - now that is sad...
2. The thought that we go to London to get away from it all and be able to take buses and tubes without thinking about it has been somewhat ruined - now that is sad...
3. The fact that there are countless bodies that the forensics experts still have not identified and that we here in Israel have so many experts with real field experience, just 5 hours away, if only the British people would reach out and accept our help - now that is sad...
4. The Israeli who was living in England because she was too scared of the bombs here and she was killed - now that is sad....

All in all I thank Hashem that the people closest to me are all safe - but I feel so sorry for all the people that were hurt or killed. The fact that we have to live with these fears every day is saddest of all.

My guest bloggers suck!

Ok so I have a real excuse not to blog - I have kindof been busy with my latest obsession (more on this in a minute). But my guest bloggers have NO excuse.

Come on Rampisad and Ushyman - speak up!

Well Done London

I knew they would win the Olympic bid!

A sure way to stop disengagement - NOT

This guy sure knows how to make an effective protest - just close your eyes before you look his way!

Looking at the world through (euro)vision

Watching the news last night with my husband, there was a report on a planned joint pipeline project between Turkey and Greece, that the reporter claimed would "help strengthen, often strained relations between these two rival countries"

My response (which I think is a classic) was, "oh no! Now they are going to vote for each other in next year's Eurovision song contest."

ha ha