chaos and honey

Nice

2010-10-01T19:28:00.002+02:00

Nice, a Hamas leader admitted today that Arafat gave Hamas the green light when he felt the peace talks with Barak had failed after Camp David. While this may not be major news, it is interesting to see it out in the open now. Arafat simply put failed his people in the end and they are still waiting for a real answer.

Surprised

2010-09-25T08:36:00.003+02:00

Surprised to still see Chaos and Honey in the blog world and that it has not been swept from the depths of none use and into the bin.........it is true what they say about space, existence is eternal - but nobody knows you are out there.

Is It Time?

2008-03-09T22:49:00.003+02:00

To begin another death watch? To begin wondering if everything is going to turn to dust and ashes and eroded dreams and shapeless mass?
I die therefore I was.
Such happy thoughts.
The people of Gaza elected the Boola in and continue to fire rockets at Israel and people ask why Israel elects to defend itself. Stop me if you have not heard this five thousand times before.
Israel would be a great thing if it didn't exist seems to be the guiding thought.
It is a great idea, this homeland of the Jews where they can live as a nation, a people, in peace.......and bows to its custodians at all times.
One of these days Israel will have to choose between its own survival and that of pleasing the entire world of which would not give a rat's arse if Israel vanished tmrw except for a few select countries and people.

What is a Break?

2008-02-18T07:54:00.000+02:00

Can It Possibly Be?

2007-08-21T17:47:00.000+03:00

that we have made it through a summer without having to fight a war with someone?

Yes, the Palestinians largely took care of themselves this spring thus not having much time to spend on the Israelis.

The Syrians are talking, moving, talking, moving, talking, moving and no one seems to have a clue on either the Israeli or Damascus led side as to what the other one wants.

And we the Israelis wait for a change in our government yet again, of which most of us want and wait for patiently as Olmert rides out his last days - which may take another half year or so.

Having said that Likud and Labor are both talking, vying, talking, vying, talking, vying and no one seems to have a clue as to what either side stands for.

Smack me if it sounds like I am repeating myself. Smack if this entire world is repeating itself.

You know, you can find all of this world's great books in a dictionary if you know how to put the words together. Yet very few seem to have a clue to decipher meanings or agree to take action.

Perhaps we should all work on being happy idiots?

Along the Path of History We Stumble

2007-04-21T09:54:00.000+03:00

While walking the dog this morning, I tried to decide if Israel was a young country or an old one. And what I was left with was that we are a child wrapped in an ancient ancestors blanket.

We stumble through life expecting all things to be perfect for us and get frustrated when many parts of our government, infrastructure, and internal political doctrine acts immature.

Yet we have somehow made it here, but we are only now reaching the 59th birthday that by the sound of it from critics one would suspect that we have been around for much longer.
And yes we have. We are a nation of Jewish people, but one with a vast array of baggage and including achievement and despair.

Their is a particular mindset today because of the technology that has been invented the past 100 years that has led us to look at time in a way that is probably much different than that from the past.

We know all things almost as they are happening, we are not waiting for a tall ship to arrive with letters from a distant continent, or messengers of whom have galloped across the countryside to bring us tidings. In fact we try to be philosophical without any hindsight often.

It is this communication revolution which profoundly alters the way we look at our daily lives and the history that has created each of us. There is a large equation which is frequently unbalanced between our own illusions and a factual reality.

We tend to be myopic in our viewpoints never really looking at events which are happening at a great distance and seemingly with nothing to do with us - yet given room to grow find their way to bring on a close encounter understanding.

Thus, I have been in this tiny country for nine years now with all the papers that makes one a citizen. And I have spent an even larger amount of time here before deciding to move here permanently.

Israel is small and it really needs to be understand that one can travel the entire country in with a leisurely drive. Because of this, it is easy to believe that you know the people and geography when in fact behind the doors and hidden beneath the soil lurks so much more.

I hesitate to make predictions for Israel on its 59 birthday.

X-Mas Prediction

2006-12-24T19:20:00.001+02:00

as my little x-mas present to everyone allow me to give you a prediction, as outlandish as it may be the ethiopian/ somalia conflict could be one that quickly engulfs many countries and one that could pull in enough players to trigger something huge.....
why?
first of all take a look at this map and remember that good fences make good neighbors and that there is a spectacular LACK of good fences in eastern africa.
MAP
who are the potential players:
somalia - and its multi-bands of various destruction, including one puppet govt, & one radical islamic govt.
ethiopia - which will not allow if it can a islamic radical govt next to it since sudan is already becoming this.......
sudan - and its ever emerging radical chic which includes the like of darfur.
eritrea - always a 'dear' friend of ethiopia.

other potential countries -
uganda - which would side with ethiopia and go after sudan.
kenya - which would possibly interfere with somalia if it saw ethiopia about to fail in its mission.

and the bigger lynchpins and possible entrance into a black hole club:
saudi arabia who might join in if kenya decided to enter the fray to help its poor friend somalia.....

and if this were to happen then it would really become a blood bath of which no one in the end would even remember why they were fighting.

simply put the over/under on the death count for this conflict starting today and ending sometime about 2012 should be about 2 million people.

yet another outstanding job being done by the world govts who care so much about this area. needless to say the UN should take a large bow also.

With Friends Like These........

2006-12-12T22:26:00.000+02:00

who needs enemies?

Still

2006-12-09T15:56:00.000+02:00

Still alive, still stuck in history, still alive, still stuck in fantasy.....

Ice Coffee

2006-08-22T22:45:00.000+03:00

while up north in a border city called nahariya this past weekend and visiting the locals and trying to show some support and spend a little cash within their towns,
i went into an 'aroma' - israel's upscale version of starbucks - for my ice coffee fix.
i walk into the cafe, there is the standard eight people working there, looking very busy and efficient........kind of like any place you would find in california.
i saunter up to the register and ask if it is possible to order two ice coffees.
the register chick says yes and then looks at me and asks, "what's your name?"
now please note she wasn't flirting, she was merely asking me my name so she could put it on the order and have it organized.......
BUT there was one slight problem.
i was up north and maybe ten kilometers from the border of lebanon remember, i was the only friggin' customer they had in this cafe.
i turned around and looked over the entire place and looked at the blond, yes - she was blond....., and said, " i am the only one here."
she looked at me and couldnt quite understand why i would be upset.
so i added, " it would be impossible to mix my order up with anyone else's.."
she simply looked at me and meekly offered, "yes, but i am used to asking for the name."
and this my friends is the problem with life, this is the 'retail management' conspiracy against our planet......
people refuse to think out of the box, and if they do they are treated like scum.
we live in a world where it is much easier to just give in and say, i will do as i am told, i will think what i am told, i will be who i am told.

Apology From The Future

2006-08-18T01:38:00.000+03:00

dear jews,
we are sorry, yes, again.
we have let our own hatred and jealousy stand in the way of what was correct and have allowed israel to be destroyed.
we didn't mean for it to end this way. we actually believed some years back we were doing the right thing when we stepped in the way and helped manipulate pressure against israel in order to stop the war it was waging against the hezbollah.
we didn't believe that the hezbollah would be able to re-arm so quickly. well, ok, maybe we did, but we didn't believe that they would use the new arms to spark another war for it's nebulous benefactor - iran........
and lead to nuclear mass murder .
again, please forgive us. we didn't mean to allow seven million israelis to perish from the iranians. yes, we thought the iranian govt. were a bunch of fanatics, but we believed that they would be convinced with economic incentives to join the brotherhood of nations.
as jews you should know that we have frequently looked the other way when it comes to your well being, but now that israel isn't around anymore at least you will be able to rest comfortably within your host nations and aspire to great things again.
and people will be less inclined to blame you for everything, this gives you at least another 60 years or so before people find enough reason to start killing you for all the troubles of the world once again.
we will always stand with you, if not on the ground at least always in spirit.
your plight is ours, we wish only the best for the jewish people.
again, we are sorry and will try to do better next time around.
yours sincerely,
the nations of our fine world

To Be Continued

2006-08-06T15:37:00.000+03:00

what shall i write today? shall i tell you i am confident, feeling down, inspired, or sullen?
should i tell you that victory is near and that there is no fear? perhaps.
but i am asked all too much, when it will be over, when will this war end. when will be able to stand in some sort of victorious manner..........
and i have no answer,
not because i don't believe it isn't going to happen, but because i have a grasp of history.
even after a victory over the 'boola, it will be seen in a historical text a hundred years from now as only a battle within a greater fight.
perhaps you think i wax poetic, that i enjoy this mood, but know that i simply believe i understand what is coming. this is not a hallucination i am suffering from but a logical thought deduced from what i have learned.
we may indeed beat the 'boola, we may cause them much in the way of harm, but it will all be for naught if we do not have a legitimate plan to deal with iran.
this is why i don't write everyday, why i don't give some type of statistical evidence about gains and losses won or suffered by the israeli people.
life as i have written before is more complicated than a five minute newscast.
we are not a mere film strip to be scene by the world and something that doesn't exist afterwards. we are not entertainment.
we have the unfortunate task of living within history as it occurs. as the players within we must have a stomach for consequences that others may no longer have.
we may have to witness terrible bloodshed, suffer immense injury........we must be willing to kill also.

2006-07-29T21:49:00.000+03:00

Scenes From The War 29th July 2006, Herzilya - Israel

How Nice

2006-07-25T00:36:00.000+03:00

isn't it?
the united nations wants to send an international force to southern lebanon to keep the peace.
only one problem they already had their chance, there was a united nations contingent of peacekeeping soldiers on the border when the 'boola attacked the israeli side and kidnapped two israeli soldiers.
not only that there have been other instances when the u.n peace keepers have stood by and watched as the 'boola have acted in aggressive ways.
so what gives now? suddenly i can expect some group of new peace keepers to do what the others could not? will they stop the 'boola from firing missiles, digging tunnels, pouring concrete bunkers, building camouflaged firing areas within the mountain and tree laden terrain?
no, no they won't and it is all bullshit. it is all crap. simply put the world is trying to have one over on israel, and if israel allows it to happen woe be to her. the 'boola must be destroyed completely from a military perspective. it must be beaten as one of my friends puts it, into shells. this is a war, this is not about being nice.
'boolas stated goal is to destroy israel, what needs translating from that communication? what is it that we are trying to decipher?
if the 'boola wants to remain a political sphere good for them, but they should not have one hand gun to their own.
not that this solves the whole puzzle either. because as much as people don't want to hear it, as long as iran is around and controlled by fanatics israel is still an iranian deathcamp waiting to come true. every day that iran gets away with out having to stop its nuclear research and bomb building exploits is another day closer to israel's destruction. iran gains everyday the world turns its head from what is going on in israel and lebanon.
which leads me to this question, just how close is iran to building a bomb? could it be that the iranians have a timetable, in fact have made a bet, that if they can get another six months of time that they will have the technology down and be ready to start producing weapons that can wipe out tel aviv?
maybe it is far fetched, maybe paranoid, but it is certainly not out of the realm of possibility.
anyone with common sense can figure out that the 'boola wasn't given a green light to attack israel because it suddenly thought they could wipe israel out.
it only stands to think that iran told the 'boola to go ahead, knowing that they might loose the military of the 'boola and hope they could save the political head for another day. that they could in fact draw israel into a war of attrition while iran gets time to build a bomb...........
because if the iranians get the bomb, what does it matter that the 'boola looses its military. they can simply out produce the normal folks of lebanon by having a bus load of kids in each family, continuing to practice democracy in lebanon, continue to build on their seats in parliament while their close friends in iran build the mother of all deterrents.
and then what is to stop the 'boola from rearming again? the u.n peace keepers, yes, they have done a wonderful job already in lebanon, not to mention africa.
not to mention their ability from keeping pakistan and india from building a nuclear arsenal, or for that matter north korea.
yes the world is a wonderful place, full of good people who are so well meaning that they would rather be nice and die then live having to fight for what is right.

2006-07-14T16:24:00.000+03:00

Once Upon A Time In The North...

We Interupt This War.......

2006-07-13T19:48:00.000+03:00

.......to bring you more bad news Barbaro is apparently in poor health.

How Is It On Your Side Of The Fence?

2006-07-13T18:14:00.001+03:00

........things here are not tense but people are firm in their convictions that this situation must be dealt with.
Lebanon is under duress from Israel and rightfully so, this because the 'boola boys are part of the governing coalition within Lebanon, that makes the Lebanese govt. responsible too for what happened on Israel's side of the border yesterday.
Remember now, Lebanon was supposed to disarm the 'boola boys after Israel pulled out of Lebanon, they have had nearly six years to do so, but instead of disarming them they have allowed them to enter the govt. as an accepted political party and also permitted them to continue their struggle against Israel.
So I ask (jokingly), where is the love?
And again let's point out, it was Israel's side of the border, we pulled out of Lebanon almost six years ago. The border area had been certified as recognized by the U.N also as being under correct boundaries.
Thing about this nonsense is, most of us in Israel know Lebanon and particularly many of its citizens want nothing to do with the 'boola boys, we know Syria and Iran do. This conflict will be hard to extinguish and will probably ignite into a greater regional conflict. I imagine that if one more major incident happens and Syria sits in the background smiling or issuing statement against Israel that we will begin to see Israel hit Syria and hard.
Now as i have asked before, there is a major question - what is it that the 'boola boy and hamas is hoping to gain from all of this? What is it that they know. i believe they want a conflict with Israel which is kept at a low burn in order to gain political and propaganda points among thier supporters.
They are hoping to kill some israelis, kidnap some soldiers, and hoping to make Israel negotiate under duress.Believing Israel will keep things in perspective and let the enemy live to fight another day.....
What they are keen miscalculating though may be the size of Israel's response. Just how much can Israel be held on a short leash when it is clear that Hamas and the 'boola boys were the ones that started this fight? Just how much will Israel hold Syria and Iran accountable for what is going on when it is so obvious?
Here is the thing, this is a giant test...
Hamas and the 'boola boys do NOT think Israel will counter with blowing up whole towns, entire govt. buildings, take out a swath of the population in order to kill armies and bring their enemies to their knees.
and they may be correct,
but i believe they - hamas and the 'boola boys - have miscalculated.
I believe that if they have been given a green light from Iran and Syria to test the waters much like Arafa-quack did with his failed intifada that these parties are at risk of being destroyed in a way that they cannot imagine.
And it is time, it is time for Israel to take these corrupt and hostile goverments out. It may cost the lifes of 1000 - 5000 Israelis in battles and missile attacks, but it is time to make these fanatics and corrupt institutions understand that we will no longer tolerate their madness.
We want peace, we want it on our terms no doubt, but we have been willing to give up much of the West Bank and Gaza for a long time. But apparently that isnt good enough, and just like in the 30's and 40's with the Nazis, the Jews are facing a threat against their existence.
In short Hamas and many other Palestinian elements, the 'boola boys, Syria, and Iran want to wipe Israel out. It may be tough for people to accept this, it is however more important for Israel to realize this and act upon this known reality (it is not merely philosophy).
In short the other side has committed acts of war, good for them, now they should not be surprised when we actually fight a war instead of merely acting like a tough cop.

Black Hole Check Up

2006-07-12T16:35:00.000+03:00

black hole check up time:
civil war in iraq officially by most standards rating blood spilled but still unannounced, this due to police action and not military action being waged. nice guys finish last phrase summing up political correctness gone mad.
iran playing poker with atomic research in hand and feeling as if it may be able to land an other ace on the river card.
terrorist attacks on indian rail system in heart of financial district killing at least 175 and injuring hundreds.
n. korea playing poker with atomic strategy in hand and feeling as if others will not call their bluff.
seemingly coordinated actions from 'boola and hamas 'wellspring' against israel in the span of 10 days kidnapping soldiers and launching missiles at israel........all well within the shadow of syria and iran smiling happily in background.
chechyen wacko leader blown up when apparently loading a truck with explosives to welcome guests at the g-8 goes wrong.

and the utterly peaceful but bad tidings and
odd coincidence of boston long tunnel cement falling off, house on upscale east side of manhatten blowing up, and chicago subway fire all within the past few days........
and russian plane going down in siberia.
NO SIGNS of terrorist activity in any of the cases......

but a clear sign that one should perhaps take out some insurance in case anyone is still around to pay it out and there is someone to collect.
Chaos Theory anyone?

per a question a month or so ago regarding if i am optimistic about what is happening with the arabs and palestinians and my saying no..........
i believe we are about to see the doors of hades open here in the middle east.

on deck.......for israeli military operations.....and politicos.
the 'boola boys, southern lebanon infrastructure, syrian infrastructure.........iran (making believe they are n. korea), and the world media onslaught.
my thoughts are these, olmert does not have the backbone to see this thing through and is still too interested in his political life. ONLY public demand will give him the balls to seek a solution....
and i can tell you the public is about about one more serious adventure away by the arabs in demanding an extremely strong response. we are not there yet,
again the classic question arises regarding how much the arab politicos and militaries are and will mis-read this situation.
again i ask, what is it that they know that we don't?
do the arabs & iranians actually have a plan that they are carrying out jointly? what is their end game scenario?
i am certain israel does have an end game scenario and has NEVER inflicted it upon its enemies. i am NOT speaking about nuclear weapons but am speaking about wiping out military infrastructures and units.
there will be war in our time it appears........

On Italia & Zindane

2006-07-12T03:54:00.000+03:00

the zindane 'incident' happened right in front of us all........i have no idea what was said, but can assure you that whatever it was, it was not important enough to get yourself thrown out of the world cup final and supposedly your last game.
secondly, lets note that zindane has done this before. he stomped on a saudi player in the 98 world cup, did the guy call him a terrorist too?
he also head butted another player in 2000 in a serie A match when playing for Juventus and was suspended for five games.
no, i doubt zindane was called anything worthy of his actions, he merely lost his self control which he has managed to do a few times in his career.
having said that, he is still a great player, and i actually feel bad for him that he didnt have more control.
be as it may, italy was the best club at the tourney, we can argue till we are BLUE in the face about the last game, but i think if italy played france ten times with the same two teams italy would win about eight of those games.
the french for all their crying got to play an extremely tired italian team that by the second half of the game was utterly exhausted from their momentous game vs. the germans which will surely be remembered as one of the great games of all time.
ok, i know some of you are not interested but i think the top four teams in the tourney were: italy, argentina, germany, france.
if argentina had played germany anywhere but germany they would have certainly have beaten them. the only team i was glad that italy did NOT play was argentina and this was for the sake of my marraige and the fate of the italian team which would have been sorely tested.
as for zindane, he played fantastic throughout the tourney until his shakespearian finale which i still am in amazement about. he had a fantastic futbol life and he will be remembered among the greats but human, all too human.

Time?

2006-07-12T03:35:00.000+03:00

what is time?
what if we were to say that in actuality that one year was really only one day? that in essence a day as we know it was merely an interval of a 365 part of a 'real' day as we would now call it?
thus a year would now be perceived in what we now mistakenly perceive as 365 years and a century would be - alas - approx. 3650 years in our human time.
and why do i say human time? that is because it is merely that, it is our measurement of space not anyone else's.
imagine if we decided to study history in such a way or even considered it in some parlance?
i am not joking about this.
science in many respects must look at time in a very oppositional way to human existence and our mere desire to mark things in such a short and finite manner. one in which we give so much importance to our individual consciousness instead of a collective whole.
look at the following photos
and this photographer's outlook on time within another dimension.
in regards to the planet and our existence within this scope, if we were to imagine that on a whole we only live on average 70-90 days it might change our philosophies profoundly in which we see our selves in this world when under the light.

Missiles Hit Tokyo & Seattle

2006-07-06T18:11:00.000+03:00

so lets say some of those stupid missiles from n. korea somehow land on vacant schools in downtown tokyo & seattle what would the response of japan and the united states be?
would they declare war against north korea? would japan and the united states react..........?
they most certainly would.
now lets turn the tables a little, missiles are falling on israel from a palestinian enclave, one in which the palestinians have national powers such as being able to elect their own govt and their own security forces.
never mind that the palestinians elected a govt that has not only sworn it wants to wipe israel out, never mind that it openly condones and congratulates the killing and kidnapping of israeli soldiers,
we in israel should simply be grateful that we haven't been killed sooner, because that is after all what jews are supposed to do...........give up and die.
time once again for israel to kick ass and do it now, not just a simple kicking of the ass, but one in which it makes sure the punks cannot walk again.

Plans For Gaza, #1 Parking Lot

2006-07-06T00:19:00.000+03:00

OVERVIEW
Parking as part of an overall transportation system is one of the crucial issues of our times. As the number of automobiles increases exponentially, the need to house them in close proximity creates a challenging design problem. The parking garage or lot must foremost deal with the Functional/Operational - as in providing for safe and efficient passage of the automobile. This is a very complex challenge as automotive, engineering and traffic issues relative to site locations must be integrated to create the appropriate solution. Therefore designing the parking garage requires an integrated design approach of many professionals. Parking has often been reduced to the construction of the most minimal stand-alone structure or parking lot without human, aesthetic or integrative considerations. This has given parking a poor public perception and has frequently disrupted existing urban fabric. However, many architects, engineers, and planners have envisioned and constructed far more complex, aesthetic, and integrative structures. This should be the goal of good parking design.

BUILDING ATTRIBUTES
Although parking garages can take many forms as stand-alone or part of a mixed-use structure, self-park or valet, and automated in urban or rural settings, all parking garages should seek to meet the following basic criteria:

Functional Requirements

The garage should account for the complex spatial needs of the driver and the automobile:

The size, height, and turning radius of current automobiles as well as past and future trends of automobile size and statistical quantity must be taken into account these are called parking geometries.
There are many ramp design configurations and different ones are appropriate for the primary purpose of the facility to insure that your intended use is compatible with ramp design.
The streets surrounding the garage and their traffic flow must be taken into consideration when planning entrances and exits and deciding on ramp designs.
The entrances and exits are very important to the smooth functioning of the garage, with the type of use again determining the length from the opening and placement of the entry booths, as well as the quantity of entrances and exits.
The type of equipment and the necessity of a booth and office are also determined by the garage use.
Zoning issues require the number of spaces for parked automobiles. The designer must work within local codes to meet these requirements.
In mixed-use projects there has been shared parking documenting how different users can maintain full garage occupancy, such as movie/theater goers, night use and residential use during the day. This can be calculated to the advantage of the garage owner and the community by eliminating the empty night garage syndrome.
Optimizing site potential, by choice of site and its relationship to walking, driving, other transportation linkages and good design opportunities.
The operation and maintenance of a garage is very critical. Revenue control equipment and other issues related to the smooth functioning of the garage must be taken into account during the design process.

Summer Of Missiles

2006-07-05T16:49:00.000+03:00

btw, at last count via the press the n. koreans have fired seven missiles as of this afternoon since yesterday.
this goes a long way in showing iran just how serious the world is about stopping this sort of behavior. i am sure they must be quaking in tehran just about now with the threats that the u.n. has so effectively been able to shower the north koreans way.
yes, once again, the world proves it is merely a wayward station for delinquents who know how to manipulate their evils and those who believe in rehabilitation......
this just might go down as the summer of the missile, still two months to go and plenty of action to come. it will prove interesting to see who shows the most envy as the days go by.
almost as compelling as the world cup. i understand you can hear a pizza being eaten in berlin today.......

Magic Weapon

2006-07-04T21:35:00.000+03:00

i pause, hesitate in fact to consider the consequence of what if.......
does hamas know something israel doesn't? does it have at its disposal a magic weapon that is going to make the jews vanish?
what is it that we as israelis don't understand, that is supposed to make us suddenly surrender to quassams being fired into sderot, and now a quassam being fired into a school (no one was injured) in ashkelon?
what don't we know about ourselves that hamas and most of the palestinians seem to think that we don't understand?
help me please with this answer because after nearly six years of nonsense and this new escalation i really am at a lose of ability to contemplate what must be my very own ignorance.
i repeat here quickly for the record, we pulled out of gaza, which should have given the palestinians the ability to prove that they would be a worthy partner and the chance to make a garden bloom BUT instead they elected hamas into power, continued to send quassams into sderot, increase weapon smuggling from egyptian border area, continue to build tunnels to attack israeli outpost, have recently kidnapped an israeli soldier..........etc, etc,
yes, yes, to my detractors or devil advocates, i understand we are at war. but if this is the argument from the other side, well, then they had better be ready for the israelis to fight a war too.
BUT NO, they actually aren't. the palestinians bomb us, turn their back on peace efforts, elect people who say to our face they want us all dead, and then don't seem to understand that we don't react the way they want us too. that we don't simply give up, leave, kill ourselves from our own cowardice fear, etc, etc.....
really, i need to know. are the israelis so stupid that we are somehow missing the point, or is it that the palestinians are so engulfed in their own lies, hysteria, brainwashing that they do not understand that in fact there is a central reality?
a universal truth which does exist until it doesnt anymore, AND THAT is that we the jews, the hated israelis aren't going anyplace.
that we are going to continue to build a modern country, with a modern economy, go forward with learning including science in bio-chemistry and computers, banking, general industry and continue to try and be a part of western civilization.
and therein is the rub, the palestinians for the most part i believe want to be part of modern civilization, but perhaps not enough to leave their hatreds sleep and dissipate. we have built a fence for sure that keeps out suicide bombers and helps our security, but the real fence is in the minds of the palestinian society which refuses to knock down the walls that were built by the ill foundations that their entire system rests on. the corruption is absurd and it only hurts the palestinian more and more.
unless they have a secret weapon, a death sentence that can be carried out on all of the israelis, they had better wake to the reality of our world before it is too late for them.

In This Oppressive Sun

2006-06-26T16:00:00.001+03:00

In This Oppressive Sun

I am an old woman
on a chair in this oppressive sun
selling things of petite merit to survive.
I eat but do not worry about taste.
I am invisible, having moved here and
been abandoned by family that has
disappeared into the abyss.
I hear screams, witness parking lot
snarls, listen to arguments and
continue to sit.
I do not investigate
since no one would choose me as
judge. I am too frail to move much and
I have little motivation except enough
money to buy food for tomorrow.
I shall not be rewarded for being a
living corpse near
this office building's door front.
I am less than human and
I will never be part of the modern machine.

They walk by me, bow their heads, do
not attempt to speak with me
from fear I will drool or utter
absurdities in a language they don't
comprehend. My undergarments are gray,
my dress is bedraggled,
My hair is gone. I wear a poor hat, I cannot
afford a decent wig. I am a scrap of
paper that the street sweeper waits to
throw away. My face has
become a lemon with heavy folds
covered with wrinkles.

Cars abound, I haven't
ridden in one for years, I see
mobile phones but no one will call me.
My funeral shall be devoid of
sorrow except for a few people who dwell in
our dilapidated apartment building and
who will whisper - she is better off...
A club without enough members,
the last one to perish
will have no one left to turn out the light.
The trees turn, the days
continue and life will go on without
me not pausing for a second.
My knick-knacks lay on a dirty cloth sheet.
People gaze at the objects
embarrassed for me, and try to
find the cheapest thing to buy.
I am only a little better than a beggar with a
cup in my hand, or a man holding a microphone and
singing folk songs from the old country.

And the people continue to walk by
entering the cement building for their
appointments trying to control the future.
The guards for the building dare not
ask me to move since I am older than the wind
in their eyes. I have only entered
the building a few times since I began
selling my things a few years ago,
and that has been to escape torrential rains.
I have been allowed to drip and
dry off on an old wooden chair
which I assume they keep around for
discarded boxes and the unclean
waiting for delivery trucks or the
ambulance to pick up the burdensome.
I am afraid I shall die here on the
pavement and nobody will bother to move me
until the birds have made an intolerable mess.
I hear news via a radio in the mornings and
evenings before and after I have sold
my wares on the sidewalk. I know
other places exist, and I imagine these
far away places are paved with gold and
the people sleep on silk sheets as
I eat my soup and drink my weak tea.
Every day I wake and I am grateful
but no longer understand why.
Until I remember the children who I occasionally
see and make me smile. Their
innocence, their joy, their satisfaction with
the world is clear and I know
that once too I felt I was part of
something grand and that I was
not merely a ball of dust,
which has not fallen completely apart yet.

by Zevchi - Kfar Saba - June 2006

Militants?

2006-06-25T20:56:00.000+03:00

so lets get this right, an israeli army outpost that was attacked today which functions on israeli soil by every legal definition and suffers two soldiers deaths and one soldier being abducted was merely being attatcked by 'militants'?
my question is this, if the militants were backed by hamas, publicly congratulated by hamas, and hamas is running the palestinian govt. - why isn't the attack described as an action by the palestinian govt against that of the israeli govt?
why shouldn't israel act as if a nation committed an act of war and proceed from there?
what other country on the planet would be asked to show restraint under such circumstance? what other country on the planet must sustain a daily barrage of missiles being fired into towns and told to understand the 'enemy'?

what have we gotten since we left gaza? we have watched as hamas was elected into power, qassams rain down on sderot and other areas, a couple of suicide bombings, and now this attack upon the israeli army.
ok, good, if the world but more importantly the israelis refuse to see the light and understand that nothing we ever do will be good enough for these people we are destined for only more trouble.
we must put our politically correct manners aside and fight a war.

eliminated from the world cup

2006-06-23T11:23:00.000+03:00

as for the Americans playing futbol in the world cup.
if you play bad enough to let the refs decide the game for you than you are playing bad to begin with in most cases.
America let the refs give the game to Ghana.
the Americans seemed to lack heart, they seemingly lacked the ability to really want to lay it on the line. it seemed to me their effort in an elimination game was not near enough.
too they lack size and speed when it counts. not all of their players need to be tall, but they could use a couple of guys who can play in the air.
speed and strength count for something too........the Americans were pushed off the ball all too easy in many cases.
and importantly the States still lacks ball technique. they lack the ability to keep the ball on their foot. that may sound ridiculous but watch the Argentines or Brasilians, they have the ability to be in traffic - not panic, move (dribble) or make a pass threading the defense around them.
in order to finish up a possession with with a goal, ball technique is a crucial deficiency that was all too evident, the inability to finish killed the Americans.
America is better than they showed, but they imo need to make (read ORDER) their top twenty players to play in Europe no matter what league it is that wants them within England, Spain, Italy, etc.........and hey they could even send players to the Argentine league.
i know several players are overseas, but they need to make their entire international team play in foreign leagues.
soccer is still thought of as a finesse game in the states, while it is artistic, it is also a brutal game at the top level.
people bleed while playing the game. they play in pain and they must play through any thoughts of being worn out - mentally as well as physically.
watch the Italians, they absolutely crush anyone who stands in their way as do the Argentines........
they will test your legs on tackles and make sure you are aching after trying to head balls.
Brasil does the same thing but acts like the Lakers (of old in basketball) used to, "no, no, i would never foul anyone, i am from Brasil afterall".

at this point Bruce Arena had a nice run, but it is time for him to hand this team off to someone else. the Americans need a coach with charisma to sell soccer in the States and make his players understand that they will not get better if they are mostly playing in the MSL.

lastly, what the Americans lacked the most, was PASSION, they did not show it against the Czechs or the team from Ghana. i don't know why they could play so tough against Italy and lack heart against lesser teams. yes, i know the Czechs are a highly respected team, but that doesn't mean you need to bow down to them as per their getting beat yesterday by Italy and losing previously to Ghana and being eliminated too.

Been So Long

2006-05-01T17:31:00.000+03:00

sorry i have been away for quite a while traversing the inner turmoil that comes about when watching an election that doesn't seemingly take into account the reality of our world. only 64% of the israeli public voted in affirmation that many no longer are interested in a process they feel they have little voice in and which only can confirm the status quo for good and bad.
in the meantime iran continues to shake, rattle, and roll its way into a realm of the neverlands.
and hamas, our next door neighbor, has little possibility of putting out a welcome mat for israelis.
but none of this matters, we march happily into oblivion closing our eyes to the danger and repeating mantras of unilateral visions which will obviously turn into merely a prologue of yet another action.

2006-04-02T14:15:00.000+03:00

View From Nimrod's Fortress

Safe Sex? - Part 2

2006-02-09T21:15:00.000+02:00

more thoughts on the cartoon crisis, one of the comics in question shows the prophet mohhamend telling men not to be suicide bombers anymore because 'they' have run out of virgins.
i ask you what the...heck,
what guy with any skills wants a virgin?
teaching is one thing..........
consoling 'her' afterwards that she is not going to hell for giving a kiss on the pecker is another........
no wonder the fanatics are so angry, not only were they told they must have sex with woman who were untrained but now there are no women left............
which reminds me of another funny thing, an italian woman i used to know insisted that if she only had anal sex she would remain a virgin........dear woman.......how i loved her.

2006-02-08T00:53:00.000+02:00

Beauty In The Ruins - Part 2

2006-02-08T00:50:00.000+02:00

Beauty In The Ruins

Safe Sex?

2006-02-07T09:12:00.000+02:00

an iranian newspaper has announced that it is holding a cartoon contest for the public in which its participants are asked to offer something witty on the holocaust.
does the winner gets an all paid week trip to Tehran and if so are prostitutes parlayed to the room as a bonus if you are not married? i am certain that no alcohol is supplied as a gift.
what strikes me most about this entire danish cartoon fiasco is the lack of humour that the fanantical elements have shown which truly shows a one dimensional mind.
having said that, i wonder if the cartoon drawn by the muslim group from belgium and the netherlands with anne frank and adolph hitler made sure hitler was wearing a condom while he was in bed with the child?
the girl was underage, wasn't she?

So Much Hate

2006-02-06T11:19:00.000+02:00

if there is no god, then all that believe are wrong.
if there is only one god and all who believe there is only one god and claim to belive in such should be able to get along no matter who or who is not received as prophet/s.
wouldn't be such a bad idea for jews, christians, muslims and others of monothestic faiths to become freemasons and
simply accept that the world is a multi-layered event and allows for multi-layered thoughts while agreeing to 'one great architect of the universe'.
why do we hate? why do we need to hate?
maybe i drank the wrong water this morning, but i just don't get it anymore?
corruption and injustice are a deadly brew for all cultures. at some point people must start to take responsibility for themselves and allow for words to be merely that.
there are very few objective realities on our planet.

Iranian Death Camp - Part 2

2006-02-04T15:54:00.000+02:00

per the statements from vienna it is apparent to me that iran will now have a green light diplomatically to build a nuclear arsenal. they have won the poker game played it would seem by the same fine people who tried to stop n. korea from building a weapons system.
why? because any inclusion to call for a nuclear free middle east is an obvious political ploy to pull israel into this game and blame them for iran's policy.
israel will not give up its nuclear arsenal until there is a peace agreement. everybody in the world knows there will be no universal peace agreement between israel and all the muslim nations before iran has the bomb.
in short israel has been put in the position to become the scapegoat for iran's bomb making. the failure of the world body to do anything about it is clear.
anyone who reads this as some sort of victory against iran diplomatically will have their eyes opened shortly.
because of this decision last night and america giving into euro influences we will now see a war between iran and israel.
carve it in stone.

though i agree the game is not over it has clearly reached its end game. iranians will find some way not to agree to the russian plan, the security council will go forth, israel will be asked to take a stand and state what its nuclear ambitions are, and iran will be in the position to say if they are allowed to say they care not to answer the question why should it - the iranians - be made to do so........
and from a logical standpoint the iranians are correct.
as for israel announcing that it is a member of the club now, problem is that everyone knows this answer already and by saying yes it is will not change the madate but only make voices louder on the iranian side and anti-israel side.
i am not optimistic about this and find little reason for any sunshine.
it is quite possible that a million or so people will perish because of this decision last night.
we are reaching the proverbial see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil epic.........there will be a blood bath.

Some Will Be Certain To Say ' I Told You So'

2006-01-04T20:46:00.000+02:00

chaos galore breaking out in gaza now, armed factions are running the show and have even taken to controlling the border entrance today. Al-Aqsa is apparently perturbed because one of their own is being held for suspected involvement in the abduction of foreign nationals. Allow me to point out the 'suspect' is being held by Palestinians and no one else.....

and as the story progresses:
and now this from the border between palestine and egypt.....
_______________________________________________________________
from ha'aretz:
RAFAH - Members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, angry at the jailing of their leader by Palestinian Authority police, stole two bulldozers on Wednesday and demolished part of the border wall between Gaza and Egypt in protest, witnesses said.
_______________________________________________________________

needless to say the international soldiers down there who are supposed to keep order are keeping to the historic record of being nothing but toy soldiers who are not going to do a thing to maintain order. looks for things to get worse......

geez, it took all of what one month for all chaos to break out on the gaza border, this just being reported:
_______________________________________________________________
from ha'aretz NOW as the story builds today:

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz on Wednesday voiced his deep concern over recent developments along the Gaza border, warning Egypt that if the mayhem along the border does not stop, Israel will be forced to prevent movement between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.
Mofaz issued the warning several hours after gunmen from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades commandeered two bulldozers and smashed through a section of the wall on the Gaza-Egypt border to protest the jailing of one of their leaders.
Meeting U.S., Egyptian and Palestinian officials, Mofaz requested the Egyptians halt the uncontrolled passage of Palestinians and weapons into the Strip through the Rafah crossing.
-----------------------------
point is if we cannot put faith in the palestinians to operate a safe and secure border at Rafah, what point is there in allowing them any other power. there is no authority in the p.a. it merely one 'mafia' like enterprise vying against it rivals which clearly are in control of very defined turfs.
since gaza has been given back to the palestinians we have seen nothing but its best intention to mimic iraq.
the party is just beginning. sharon will win election with a mandate to make peace. but who do you make peace with exactly when there are ten people who claim that they are the ones who need to be spoken to?
sharon actually might not have the ability to pull off a deal with the palestinians because of this. can you hear a tree fall in a vacuum? BTW, a unilateral pullout of the west bank is not in anyones gameplan in israel.
it really is all starting to smell, the states are pressing the israelis to allow for elections within a week or so, this while hamas is showing that they are willing candidates to begin collecting trash and then shooting it over to the israeli side in a qassam.
this party is just getting started.........we are in for a heightened year of intrique.

2005-12-24T21:18:00.000+02:00

Happy Chanakuh

The U.N. At It Again

2005-12-23T20:47:00.002+02:00

transparency and the u.n go together like oil and water. the following link from a financial times article linked by the ny times reporting that up to 1/3 of the money for the tsunami relief in asia is going to administrative costs which the u.n. refuses to disclose how the money is spent - this after promising last year that they would fully disclose all details. once again the u.n. shows us why it is a failed institution........
anyone hear anything good out of sudan lately btw (i mean ever)?

1/3 Gone On What Exactly?

Perspective On Elections

2005-12-23T00:02:00.000+02:00

as much as some would like to think that today is a new era and circumstance and all things are different allow me to point out that politics have not changed since the beginning of time.
politics are local, and the locals all have their favorites, rudimentary.
was someone really expecting the shi'ites to suddenly in large measure vote for sunni or kurds in iraq?
why is it that so many in the media are taking umbrage at numbers that would mirror most other communities in the world.
correct me if i am wrong, but by and large politics is frequently a matter of sects voting for their tribal favorites.
in city elections in the states you frequently have black vs. white, italian vs. jew, working class (studied publically and did a lot of handshaking) vs. silver spoon (some studying privately and made sure he maintained status in proper clubs)....
for all those saying that the iraqi elections are marred by voters making sure they are part of the correct sect we should ask for perspective.

as an example, when amir peretz recently wrestled away the labor party from shimon peres, it was widely said that part of peretz's method was to get as many sephardic jews (read jews from the arab lands) to newly register as labor members and vote thus taking the power away from the azhkanazi jews (read jews from euro & new world) who controlled the party.
and as much as no one wants to start a fire fight, it may be true.
thus part of the reason so many labor voters (read azhkanzi jews) have moved over to sharon's party or slipped into other parties quietly.
....we are going to have an election in israel in less than 100 days..........
we essentially have three genuine leaders to choose from,
we have a union leader - peretz - who is being portrayed as uncorruptable (pardon me while i choke),
we have a another man - bibi - who was an excellent finance minister but is widely disliked for his ability of speaking well and seeking power while doing it,
and an overweight jew - sharon - who at a very advanced age decided to have a stroke recently but is still able to out think the entire country......

2005-12-22T17:07:00.000+02:00

Flowers In The Sand

The Big Pharaoh Doesn't Disappoint

2005-12-22T12:33:00.000+02:00

interesting post in the BIG PHARAOH
as always.........this is a blog that should be read consistenly.

Thoughts On 'It' Didn't Happen

2005-12-21T13:33:00.000+02:00

i am going to start a list here of sites, and other links regarding holocaust denial that is taking place now.........
Muslim Brotherhood Leader Speaks this link added on thursday night the 22nd of Dec.

Guardian Opinion

Free Muslim Coalition Thoughts

Wikipedia Info

ADL On Bradley Smith

Iranian Death Camp

2005-12-16T16:16:00.000+02:00

simply put, israel as a nation which is supposedly responsible for the well being of its citizens should wipe the iranian military infrastructure out.
israel should use its full military capability and destroy the threat.
anyone that denys that the threat doesnt exist and that not enough venom has been spewed by the leadership of iran to justify the israeli action is either deaf or dumb.
the longer israel waits, the more realistic the thought becomes that israelis are living in an iranian death camp.
how many of us will die? that is the question....

some more thoughts on the iranian/ israel saga. it is less than likely that israel will undertake any operation against iran unless it has full backing by the states and europe as i have written about before. that being said, it is not for israel to prove its intentions are worthwhile to iran,
IT IS iran that now needs to prove its intentions for the 'good' (hopefully) to israel.
want to bet that this isn't going to happen?
no doubt we have reached a very serious escalation in 'the crisis' but much to my chagrin there is no one at the helm right now in israel who can manage this theatre - not even sharon, this mainly because of the election tumult he is now involved in.
perhaps after the election in israel - march - more serious focus will come about but until then israel will make believe that the iranian leadership is merely full of hot air - and it will be israel's mistake just as it was a mistake by european jews not to take the threat of hitler seriously.

On Democratic Reality

2005-12-16T07:40:00.000+02:00

there are some among us who think hamas should be allowed to openly run for govt in palestine.

Palestinian Election Results

this because when elected as leaders of their various districts they will suddenly have to go from 'revolutionary' to trash collector.
and the thinking goes.......eventually hamas will prove that they are as ineffective as picking up the trash as anyone else in the world and suddenly will be stained by the onslaught of reality (and the smell from the trash).
this in essense is the great thing about democracy, it eventually levels the playing field and gives a wide opportunity to the many seeking power only to allow them to prove that in fact they are human like everyone else.
this policy btw worked fairly well in northern ireland when implemented by the brits, the ira - sein fein - when allowed to run found themselves dragged into the mirth and proved to be just as corruptable as all others.
and thus we get to the elections just held in iraq, no matter what detractors say, this is a victory for bush and united states policy.
eleven million people voted in the elections choosing from a wide range of candidates including secular and religious and ethnic oriented political parties.
perhaps all sects will fall into a vicious civil war in iraq, but perhaps the sects will actually learn that they can work together.
again this will not take place in a kodak moment, we will need to give all of the people and their groups time to become accustomed to the tasks and workings of political and civil oddities such as trash collecting, the clearing of snow, making sure mr. nassar's mail get delivered to the right house.

Spanish Architecture

2005-12-12T00:01:00.000+02:00

Spanish Architecture

interesting article from ny times on spanish architecture which is inspiring many......

2005-12-10T15:14:00.000+02:00

Istanbul, Turkey - Emblem In St. Sophia

The Sidewalk

2005-12-10T14:56:00.000+02:00

THE SIDEWALK - Zevchi – December 2005 - Kfar Saba, Israel

Waiting for the accident to happen.
Warned of imminent catastrophe,
Nobody has the desire to stop.
Seams coming undone
And not only the wearer knows.
Yet the machine that stitched and distributed
Cares not for the user as long as they consume.
It is for the public to worry and despair
About it clothes falling off and being naked.
We grasp for evermore, the cars and the furniture,
New bottles of wines - likely only better locations,
Lively cheeses to tumble into breads
That crumble and remind us of real dilemmas.

We traverse the sidewalks, across the bird droppings
Seemingly implanted in the gray and damp cement,
Which meanders through a toxic park of graffiti laden walls
Stained from mildew and pollution.
The sandbox listlessly awaits children,
But the drunks with their cheap plastic bottles
Anxiously long for those merely visiting the grounds
To exit so they can rest and think about yesterdays – good and bad.
A girl of fifteen talks on her mobile phone
Loudly so others can dutifully listen
And know that she is angry with her friend
Who has disappointed her so, for refusing
A party that will no doubt be awash in drugs and lunatics.
Other paths to the center foam with immigrants
Who do not speak a common language and probably don’t want to.
They come from all the continents and there most remain in their minds.

Discarded newspapers tumble about,
Occasionally a lucky page
Plastered to the pavement via spilled soda and dog urine is read.
On the main street either in rain or sunshine,
There is a stench that does not change in winter or summer.
The printed word makes no difference,
There are too many words nowadays.
Engrossed with hopes,
While dwelling on despair
Faces cannot wash the discontent away,
Nor the absurd style of walking
Stigmatized by not giving way and
Colliding
Without apologies.

Happy Holocaust Day

2005-11-01T18:24:00.000+02:00

Holocaust Day

i am 100% against this idea (now realization), just what the world needs another commemeration day.........
this idea will backfire in ways that we cannot possibly imagine yet.
it will be used by every political activist group worldwide to bring about 'needed attention' to their particular plights. it will water down history and make it more of a 'totem' than the actual event which was a very real thing.
we will see its inclusion upon our multi-cultural world and the making of the holocaust as nothing but another memorial event to be forgotten, it will be less important than valentines day within a couple of years......
a new hallmark moment, happy holocaust day.
it is a little like going to the priest and asking for forgiveness and being told to say a few hail marys and repeating the same sin a couple of months later.
now everyone will be free to offer their interpretation of the holocaust and why it happened, get ready to be offended repeatedly.

On Being Within The Status Quo

2005-11-01T16:59:00.000+02:00

maybe you will agree when i say, dead is dead and i should not be given more points because i have a better chance of being blown up by a maniac, this because we all live with certain dangers around us which are quite capable of bringing the same results in a host of ways.
we live in a world in which life some how seems to have become cheaper, and we frequently live life as a mere statistic - numeral sequence for identification per the state........unless we are somehow living in the spotlight of some camera no one is particularly keen on the aspects of how we live or die.
it is up to us to make our lives worthy and full. none of us are guarenteed anything at birth.
thus we all have to defend our right to existence and try to prevail and see that we are treated with respect as a people and nation. (all of us, all nations).

Super Size Me - Movie Review

2005-10-12T10:16:00.000+02:00

what has gone wrong in america?

super size me starts off with seemingly good intent. it will show that america is eating itself to death........
the documentary has good pace, it is filmed well, and written for its audience to please.
the star, the man making the movie becomes the central character as he eats himself to poor health.
and that is where absurd meets stupidity fairly quickly, turning an entertaining documentary into an annoying film.
clearly people should not be eating mcdonalds everyday.
clearly it would be better if we were eating balanced meals at home and making sure our kids don't overdose on sugar daily.
at what point does a movie become propaganda and a self fulfilling journey in which you believe the film maker is also an idiot?
why did he keep eating mcdonalds only after the 12th day and being warned he was destroying his health?
why did he keep eating mcdonalds after the 22nd day after being warned he was putting his liver in danger?
because he seemingly had decided that he would make his point no matter the consequences.
but what is his point and do we believe it?
why did he underplay the amount of responsibility people should have for themselves? is someone forcing them into mcdonalds? is mcdonalds making us take our children to their franchises throughout the world?
he speaks to the lawyers spearheading the fight against mcdonalds.
thankfully he allows one of the lawyers to admit on film that there may be a motivating factor of winning money that entices him to take on such a lawsuit.

it is a movie where political correctness meets a good amount of left leaning sentiment and allows the viewer to walk away saying the goverment should not only be stopping mcdonalds from selling certain types of food and over sized portions but also hints strongly that the politicians in washington are bought off by lobbying to allow these companies to grow and become monster size profit making machines.

problem is life isn't that simple, people must start exercising, walking.......people must stop feeding themselves to over compensate for other weak points in their lives.........
never once it is questioned that it is our hollow existence which leads to our hollow feeling in our stomachs which leads us to eat like maniacs.
psychology, where in fact does it come into play in this movie? why is the movie maker suffering from heart palpitations? why is he suffering from a weak libido? is it merely the food or is it something in his head?
what results did the film maker believe he was going to get before he started making the movie? why do we need to see his vomit on the sidewalk? why do we need to listen to his girlfriend tell us that eating meat is part of a corrupt system?

simply put it is a movie where the results were a foregone conclusion.......what we see is that the film maker proves that he too can kill himself if he chooses.

his choice shouldn't be ours.

allow me to say the movie does make some good points, the movie shows how much mcdonalds and others spend on making sure children know who ronald mcdonald is and what other tasty foods are available to them. the film shows how much 'the clown' is a part of their (our ) lives. the kids believe in the goodness of 'the clown'. there is no doubt that the kids are being manipulated.......
but it should be up to the parents to get their kids away from the tvs and fast food joints, it should not be the job of the government or mcdonalds for that matter.
lifestyle equals ability equals common sense.

americans need to take responsibility for themselves, the belief that we are somehow not to blame for own our well being is not only foolish but dangerous.

New Orleans & Urban Legends

2005-09-19T12:37:00.000+03:00

New Orleans Urban Tales

imagine this, people are finally starting to question some things that were reported, this from the ny times.

OPEC & Its Happy Idiot Followers - Us

2005-09-19T11:10:00.000+03:00

OPEC AGREES TO BE MERCIFUL from the ny times.

interesting to me that no one here last week mentioned england's gordon brown's whining to opec that they must help produce more oil to help with the 'shortages' and price increases taking place throughout great britain and elsewhere.
at some point you would think politicians would actually lead a change. that they would stand up and say we really have to get new technology going and stop our reliance on this commodity called oil. BUT NO that doesnt happen and we all know why it doesnt happen because politicians 99% of the time do not lead they just parrot what their public wants them to say particualarly when we are talking about such basic needs.
and therein lies the rub, we are screwed, we are not going to progress any until the publics understand that they are part of the problem and until they decide to be part of the solution - oil is going to remain a key component of our daily lifes.
what is so tough about using hybrids, about using other fuel mixtures, about using all things new? why is it that we love all types of new gadgets and buy them like crazy but for the life of us cannot stop buying cars that guzzle nothing but oil based gasoline?
as for the companies making the cars, they will only be compelled to sell other type of vehicles when the demand shows them that a profit is going to be made. they are not in business for the betterment of mankind.
people must lead this charge.........and until then we are going to continue seeing speechs like browns where officials beg for mercy from opec.

Death Reality

2005-09-12T08:34:00.000+03:00

death sells.
death sells in politics - the mayor of new orleans claiming that 10,000 people in his city had died.......
death sells in the media, they love a good death story because they know viewers are attracted to them and they have no problem about repeating (or creating their own exaggerations) in order to feed the frenzy.
NOT to say the catastrophe in n.o and all gulf states wasn't bad but the death toll is going to be far less than predicted.
what is essentially left will be a clean up and engineering task over an area that is the size of great britain. it too will need to be financed properly.
i have read many predictions about new orleans being the first modern city to die, this is another example of the above. not only were great amounts of people said to be dead, but now an entire city was predicted to DIE. there were even comparisons given to ancient greece, egypt, rome in some articles.
news flash - expect to see mardi gras take place in new orleans this coming year.
ALSO, the real thing that needs to be examined and will NOT be is the amount of politics that has effected this mess. we have a n.o mayor who is not above party politics, a corrupt police force (the worst in the country in many surveys), a democratic gov. and state legislation known for graft accusing the feds (read republicans) about who is to blame.
more? ok.........the mayor of n.o and other dems would love a high body count and are counting on it to win more votes......because this is really all it is about. not polite to say but what we are witnessing is politics played at it lowest level.
chicago politicians know that in order to get elected first and foremost they have to make sure snow is removed from their neighborhoods promptly.
all politics are local.
the fact that the tv and print media were so keen to show the chaos breaking out is nothing surprising, nor is the fact that politicos such as the louisiana machine got involved quickly. howard dean is even jumping into the fray now.
the death count will be fairly accurate, they will NOT be able to lie about it. too much is at stake, it is like counting votes in florida at this point, each party is going to have their own people staked out at each office making sure numbers are accurate.
as sick as it is, it is the reality.
nice, isn't it?

Architecture & Copyright

2005-08-29T09:08:00.000+03:00

Haven't I Seen You Before?

in an effort to bring forth something more than talk about bloodshed, here is an article from the ny times internet this morning on architecture and the idea of intellectual property.

2005-08-28T15:41:00.000+03:00

Will It Come From Beyond Those Hills?

Silence Broken

2005-08-28T15:01:00.000+03:00

why haven't i written in so long?
it isn't because i didn't have anything to say, in fact i would say that i had too much on my mind, too many thoughts which would have come out in a complicated alphabet soup.
news today coming from beersheva suggests that an islamic jihad operative acted as a suicide bomber today, injuring people and if not for the heroic action of security guards both of whom have been injured badly that the bomber would have killed many. apparently a bus driver was able to confuse the bomber and told him a bus he was looking for was 'over there' and then the driver alerted the guards.
this is what we are faced with isn't it?
we have given back the gaza area and we are left to sit in our own filth once again while the palestinians misinterpret our actions and we wait to be attacked.
i have been warning for months now that soon after the gaza handback occurs we can expect an upsurge in terrorism and a new intifada. i would prefer not to be correct about any of this and we still have a way to go to make this nightmare reality, but i am afraid we are on the way.
how else are the palestinians going to react when they are being told that the reason that they have received gaza back was because of their armed struggle by their leaders?
if you were living in the west bank now as a palestinian wouldn't you feel just a bit more confident that your actions as a militant might eventually have a greater good for your nation of which you have dreamed about and been told to expect all of your life?
who on the palestinian side is going to stand up and say, no, now we have reached the point where we must give up our armed struggle and sit with the israelis to make peace?
the head of hamas was quoted on friday as saying that the destruction of israel is the goal of his organization.
thing is i could go own for a book lenght diatribe here but i will not. what we have just witnessed is an act by israel to get out of gaza, a place that it faced a losing proposition and one in which was going to always be a focal point for violence.....
and now we face the mob mentality and all of its ill wind.
i fully expect things to get worse before they get better here, i fully expect for missiles to be shot from west bank villages into israeli towns including my own - kfar saba.
thing is i want peace but as i was reminded last week, no body has ever lost money betting against peace in the middle east the past hundred years.
i was really hoping to turn this blog into something else other than a political/ war commentary........
i was hoping to have notes on architecture, music, books - and i still may get that chance.
i fear that there is a snake that is crawling towards the surface and that my family and i are once again the prey.
good luck to everyone and i hope i can meet you on the other side of the rainbow.

2005-08-03T00:19:00.000+03:00

Blue Cave, Israeli Coast Near Habonim

Big Publicity For The Big Pharaoh

2005-08-02T22:44:00.000+03:00

Big Publicity

the big pharoah and his cohorts in egypt are getting world wide press, here is an article from today's ha'aretz regarding their attempts at having an anti-terrorism march in cairo and it getting called off.
at this point since the big pharoah and his cohorts have garnered so much publicity i believe it wise to give them as much help as possible, this because if enough people know about him and his cohorts perhaps this will help them stay within a safe boundary.
i do not know the big pharaoh personally except for exchanging emails, i do not even know his name.
i can tell you that i believe what he and his associates are doing takes a lot of balls and that they should be supported world wide for their efforts.
they are putting their necks on the line to change a system. they are using blogs in a way that will make all of us just a bit more knowledgable regarding the middle east and the way it really works.

THE BIG PHARAOH

The Bomb & Dialogue

2005-08-02T20:16:00.000+03:00

here are some of my thoughts continued based on questions asked..........per the Next Bloodbaths post......

semantics are not needed when we are discussing nuclear bombs or the potential of them.
is the world a safer place with a nuclear arsenal in the hands of iran?
imo, no.

i have no problem with dialogue provided it is between two parties/ + that are able to speak with one another logically. in a utopian world it would be easy to say that no bombs in anyones hands would be best.
however, since we live in the real world with real differences on philosophy and the meaning of life and its values, suffice it for me to say that i prefer if NO nuclear bombs are within the grasp of any fanatics. why would anyone think that a dialogue between a logical party and a fanatic would have a good result? as for judging who is the logical party and who is the fanatic, that is up to the individual - and i trust there will be large disagreements about who is right and who is wrong.

it is too easy a (defense) lawyers ploy to simply play devil's advocate and suggest that if everyone had the bomb there would be no more war because everybody would have mutual respect for each other's pond.
weapons are made to be used, for the most part nuclear weapons have not been used because the only countries having them have been a limited number. that is changing, the more bombs, the greater the risk of one going off, and if one goes off the greater the risk of many exploding.

nuclear war is no longer the domain of the desk & chair military chief who wonders about MAD. it is within the realm of making sure maniacs and radical govts dont have the capability of igniting the world on fire using every means necessary to keep the fanatics from gaining nuclear capabilities.
and yes i am very much afraid of the fire and i dont believe the maniacs who make up a large segment of the fanatics - who the west is battling have the same belief system on the meaning of life. perhaps that is not politically correct, but i would rather make an enemy and be alive, then make a friend and be dead.
for those of us who believe in this life only, it seems an important task to make sure we create as good a place as possible here for our well being, sometimes that means that ugly things are done to achieve our tranquility.

as for dialogue and my objection to it sometimes, sanity, logic is a good place to start when trying to have a conversation but how do you talk to maniacs coherently?
case in point, north korea. just how are things going with that utopian based country as of today? how is china, the states, russia, and south korea doing in terms of handling 'the dialogue'?
seems to me every time i turn around the north koreans have the other 'dialogue' participants offering a little bit more.......this week south korea offered electricity to their 'great' northern brethren.
imo, the participants should tell north korea the following, "get rid of your bombs or be completely isolated,"
since no one can agree on what this means we have this 'logical' dialogue going between all participants except for the one who the talks are aimed at - a brutal utopian nightmare communist regime.
lets see where these dialogues go, perhaps to hades.

dialogues are fantasy based tools of diplomats and other foreign dept/ ministry/ formats and are typically destined to fail unless there is a cohesive plan by all attending and a common goal among the leaders.
nuclear game theory doesnt work this way, because countries without want their bombs
and countries with bombs dont want those without to have them.
participants know kings ransoms are at stake and that they can win big.

i said before i cannot blame the iranians for wanting a bomb. it makes perfect sense for them to try and achieve this.
thing is i live on the other side of their 'neighborly fence' and sometimes we have been known to have an argument with the iranians because our trees are blocking out their sun or vica-versa.
the iranians really dont scare me much more than anyone else having the bomb. one for all and all for one and then we all die.
as i have pointed out a long time ago, iran was an ally of israel's at one time and if the iranians ever get past their islamic 'revolution' i suspect that we will be allies again.........a fine example is turkey and israel. imo iran would know better than to drop a bomb on israel because if she destroys us she surely knows she will be destroyed too.
the iranian bomb isnt meant solely against the 'zionists pigs', it is meant to be a warning (if it comes to pass) against the saudis, the sunnis in iraq, india.......and a few others.
we live in a fine world with large toys helping build a 'better' tmrw.

Bibilical Theatre

2005-08-01T10:24:00.000+03:00

nothing like a 'learned' rabbi inciting fear in people.......this from ha'aretz today....

Cancer On Them

i am sure when this rabbi is asked about this later - in a year or so - he will find some way to talk his way out of this hoped for pox. nothing better than maniacs leading the way in life.
makes it a joy for the rest of us to watch the coming fiascos. and of course this will all be filmed in the coming weeks as nothing more than reality t.v..
what i fear is that some of the settlers or perhaps their supporters have the 'masada complex' and will try their best to creat biblical theatre for all of us to watch.

Next Bloodbaths

2005-08-01T10:18:00.000+03:00

Sudan Leader Killed In Accident

above is from the ny times.
the vice president of sudan died when his helicopter supposedly crashed yesterday in bad weather. look for sudan to be a tinderbox (excluding darfur which already suffers everyday).
the vice president represented the southern faction of sudan but was consistent in his viewpoint that there should only be one sudan and that it should not be broken up. his soldiers who sit in their camps have never widely believed this and they are certain to think that his death was no mere accident.
if the u.n. and others dont step in TODAY they will be too late.

OUR IRANIAN NEIGHBORS LOVE OF URANIUM
on a 'happier' daily note, it looks like all the negotiating that the euros did with iran regarding their nuclear program have come to fruit now.
iran announced yesterday they are going ahead with their program and in good measure just proved that the two past years talking to the euros bought them nothing but time to continue their research in achieving 'the bomb'. france and germany who spearheaded 'the talks' are now left red faced and will soon be asking for 'help'
- from whom they will get it is anybodys guess.
my warmest congratulations to the euros who believed they would honestly make a difference with the iranians their current leadership.
aaaaaaaah yes, another member of the nuclear club about to join. we should all be quite happy.
the question that begs is how do you really stop a country from attaining nuclear capability? there appears to be no answer on paper except outright sabotage or military operations such as when israel eliminated iraq's nuclear facility in the early 80's.
talking seems to only buy the other side time as is the case with the north koreans and now the iranians. same goes for pakistan and india.
once a country has a nuclear arsenal one does not simply change the outlook of the 'offending' country which knows that it must be taken seriously.
it is not only about creating a deterence against your 'enemies' but it is a mechanism which creates profound respect in even the most vocal of your critics.
if iran achieves the nuclear capability it re-shuffles the middle east card table clearly.
dialogue is created overnight among protaganists that would not have paid attention to each other the day before.
iran cannot be faulted for wanting to build a nuclear arsenal, it is the rest of us that need to decide how to react. everyday that goes by is another day closer to a new reality.

Tall Is Good

2005-07-27T21:08:00.000+03:00

Getting Taller

the above is from the ny times on the newest skyscraper editions due throughout the world. i personally love good tall buildings but i would also like to see something that is beautifully done. many of the designs now being fashioned and presented look nothing more than twisted cigar cylinders.
buildings within cities represent what we think about ourselves and our times and the way we envision the future. imagination must allow for something other than a broad pencil stick reaching into the sky.
too often now the beauty of these steel beasts are in the engineering and not for the untrained naked eye. a building must have a reason for getting built, it should fit into its neighborhood/ area, and it should convey its strenght and beauty to us.

the following is from the chicago tribune regarding the newest tower planned there...
Chicago Tall

The Big Pharaoh

2005-07-27T12:27:00.000+03:00

i have come across one of the most interesting blogs i have ever seen, written by someone in cairo, egypt. if you have the time you must take a look at it. though i have not read all of it, it seems to be extraordinarily forward thinking.

The Big Pharaoh

Questions For The Brits

2005-07-24T22:59:00.000+03:00

some questions for the brits who somehow seem to have bought into the idea that if israel simply makes peace with the palestinians that all of their problems will somehow be solved and islamic fanatics will disappear and no longer bother them.
what will you do when israel has given up the land and the bombers keep coming for you?
why exactly did jordan, syria, and egypt try to invade in 67', so which land are you speaking about exactly that israel is supposed to give up?
if you think for a second that the fanatics are going to stop bombing after the palestinian situation gets resolved you are sadly mistaken. what do a bunch of pakistani/& converted muslim brits have to do with israel?
why is there civil war in sri lanka with the tamils, conflict in south thailand, endless bullets flying between pakistan and india and a nuclear aresenal, urgur extremists in china, sunnis killing shites in iraq and vica versa, civil war in aceh in indonesia, bombings in egypt in a red sea resort in which mostly muslims died, fighting in serbia & bosnia, tension between albanians and serbs, mass killings in darfur, massacres in nigeria, and low and high grade wars in russia's muslim outposts.........such as checheyna, and ubekistan?
oh yes it is the jews, it is the israelis.........good thks i can rest easy now that you have explained all. ken livingstone and the rest of you can now be free of worry.
have fun riding your subways.

London Doesn't Understand Yet

2005-07-22T12:23:00.000+03:00

per earlier comments on ken the red - the mayor of london, please find his analysis of suicide bombings rather interesting.......this was before the latest 'criminal attacks' carried out in london ( i use the term criminal attack sarcastically, because that is how a good many are referring to them in london instead of 'act of war').

LONDON MAYOR IS AN IDIOT

really ken, really?
why not just stand up and shout all we need is dialogue with the fanatics in order to attain peace in our time.........oh, wait your prime minister is pretty much doing that.
when i read livingstone's comments i somehow fail to see how the brits will win any war against terrorism. they simply do not get it, livingstone is a prime example of this.

livingstone may not be heard in 'higher' offices because he is not well liked by much of the political elite in britain but what worries me he represents the people, he is a 'populist' at best. thing is populist leaders and their followers want the easy way out, they want soothing answers.
the larger problem is that i believe the govt of britain (like most others) tends to ask soothing questions which makes room for subtle philosophys and political correctness while rome burns.
if people dont understand that what they are facing is a war of ideology then they are destined to either be defeated or to be dragged along towards victory depending on the 'camp' they sleep in.
we are losing the war against the fanatics mostly because many of us cannot admit that there is even a war.
we cannot be bothered with history in the west apparently, it interferes with our cafe lifestyles.

Please Don't Push, Kill Instead

2005-07-22T12:15:00.000+03:00

maybe it is the heat that has brought on a foul mood, but i find it laughable that secretary rice can get bent out of shape about journalists being pushed around by sudan security and yet offer only hollow words as the butchering of sudan's citizens in darfar continues directly under the watch of the world.
you watch the media will get more bent out of shape about watching their press brethren get pushed around than it will that a million people in darfar have been displaced, hundreds of thousand massacred, and rape on a massive scale has take place.
Please Dont Push, But You Can Kill If We Are Not Standing Near
nice world isnt it?

I Predict A Riot

2005-07-19T14:34:00.000+03:00

part of the human condition is the need to be part of a crowd, an entity that is bigger than the self, something in which you are a mere cell in an organism of violence........regarding the moronic actions of crowds and riots, i have recommended here before and do so again, read - among the thugs - it is one of the great modern studies on how innocents get caught up in the swelter of the crowd. it is a basic instinct. the book is fall down funny and spine tingling scary......it is a true story about an american who is assigned to england to write for a publication and suddenly finds himself caught up in the frenzy of english football crowds - mind you the fellow doesnt understand a thing about football - but what he admits to is that the rush of being part of the crowd leaves him hankering for more.......that is, i should add, until he has seen a bit too much, heard too much and suddenly grasps that being part of the crowd is like a drug that allows for a high but also can cause you to crash.

Chinese Pollution Riots

above an article on protests in china and touching upon the organizing of such 'festivals'. would love to know the exact nature on the quality of personalities making up such a massive protest in china.
what is spurring on these people? pollution seems like a fairly abstract thing to protest unless one has read widely and somehow has gleaned idealism from greenpeace or some other like brethren.
my point, if china is really having protests over enviromental impact then they have certainly joined the rest of......but then again, they have always been a part of us, it is we who were not a part of them.
the following is a short note written to me by a chinese associate who lives in shanghai........of which his candor surprised me and i am including for all to read,

"Mass protest re environmental issues is everywhere in China nowadays..Legitimate concern for the folks and those factories which cause such a havoc should all be shut down too..They are just ordinary folks who are worried about their safety..The folks were shocked when the first Chinese orbitting the earth brought back the picture of China from the space..Balding mountains and loss of forests all over the places compared to 20 years ago..The campaign is underway to build green-cities and villages but it will be a few decades before these balding mountains and dirty rivers get any improvement..If someone organize the Green-Party in China,I am almost certain it will outnumber the ruling party."

Settlers Upon Gaza Demonstrations and this from ha'aretz on the settlers massing....

Thoughts On What We Are Being Confronted With

2005-07-16T10:51:00.000+03:00

i would like to offer my opinion based on what i have seen with my own eyes and have learned the past fifteen years.........
the muslim fanatics have found out that the west is very capable of being defeated because the west allows for the 'rule of law' instead of declaring what the actual 'reality' is.......
and that is that we have fanatics in and around countries that allow for incitement, recruiting, and thus a flourishing of the belief that 'a heaven for god' can be made on our planet if they can just get rid of those who will stand in paradises way.
please check out britain's appeasement of their fanatics over the past ten years, ny times had an article in it this sunday.
last time i checked war was not a pretty entity, people die - including my friends. sacrifice is needed to fight a war.
the west and all other govts that want a secluar foundation will lose this war unless they stand up and acknowledge that its basic tenets and its way of life are under seige.
we can argue until we are blue in the face about what causes the 'other side' to act in the way it does.....
for example, do the extremists become more extreme because we push forward with the war in afghanistan and iraq?
or do the extremists become more extreme because after they bombed madrid last year they saw they could get a country to actually vote a ruling govt out of office who wanted a quiet way out of the fight ahead?

the problem for the west is that we are too comfortable and we are fighting an enemy that is not. we refuse to give up our privileges while those we battle are united in a zealots fantasy.
the west has as of yet not been woken up from its stupor of excess and leisure activity.
it will be interesting to see what happens when the day comes that a european nation gets completely fed up with attacks coming from its own citizens of whom they have done everything possible to make their own.

THE FOLLOWING i wrote to a friend in march of last year after the madrid bombings.....and the the defeat of aznar's govt. in spain in the ensuing days....

"do you really think you would hear anything about appeasement coming out of anyones mouth in europe? when chamberlin told the english and the world that all had been settled with hitler there were not many voices warning against him, except for churchill.

i do not have a crystal ball into the future but i see what happened yesterday as a way of showing the terrorists that their actions have direct and positive effects. as has been pointed out the popular party was ahead in the polls until saturday when all things became obvious about al-qaida being involved.
perhaps the popular party committed a mortal sin if they lied and knew that it was al-qaida that had attacked but nevertheless it is not a reason for the victim to blame themselves or their govt for being attacked. as i pointed out yesterday attacks have occured nearly every place soft targets have existed.
what i see is the following:
italy possibly going left in the next election,
germany turning right but staying neutral,
france possibly going left, but no matter what staying above the fray as they see it.
great britain continuing its path but with a large amount of voices that say they should talk this problem out.......
and therein lies the problem, this cannot be talked out. it must be dealt with. europe is not united except in their ability to hide from what is coming.
this will become a war of attrition and it may take one hundred years to play out because of the need to be politically correct in europe and elsewhere in the west, the desire to please everybody is going to backfire very badly.
europe will find itself fighting a war for its soul........
it could take another 10 to 20 years before the fanatics control saudi arabia but so be it. it could take another 20 or 40 years for them to control turkey but so be it.
the only thing that can save our world is one unified policy of stoping fanatics and extremists at the roots. but this is not going to happen, we dont want to upset anyone.
gross amount of corruption within the arab states leading to total poverty, allowing radical teaching of children to hate the west and make them believe they suffer because of the west.
i really dont want to go into the depth of this long term struggle, but i will say that madrid is not the final stop in this terrorism parade.
i am quite certain spain signed the death sentence of many people yesterday, i hope i am wrong."

Welcome Violence Please Come In

2005-07-16T10:37:00.000+03:00

ok, so as predicted the world seems on the verge of ending its rest period......
i have waited to add any thoughts on the london bombings and the growing violence once again in israel because i didnt want to spew irrationally.

egyptians did their typical dance this morning saying the egyptian suspect arrested yesterday is DEFINITELY not linked to al-qaida and that they KNOW he is innocent of any wrong doing in the london bombings.

Suspect Arrested

this is the same routine sung by the egyptians forever, they never take responsibility for their people carrying our terrorism world wide. it seems to be a question of honor for them.
seems strangely coincidental that the egyptian man arrested has advanced chemical university degree, has a home in leeds in which expolosive material was found, and happens to live on the same block as the jamician 'convert' to islam who is being named as the forth suspect who choose to blow him self up.
good for the egyptians that their honor comes before all else.
none of this fanaticism will ever be solved until the top muslim countries crusth the maniacs growing from within........
if egypt, pakistan, the saudis refuse to do the job, eventually someone else will have to.......for the sake of human kind it would be much better if these govts tackled this problem head on..........
something must lead them to the water and make them drink.

Missiles Starting To Fly Out Of Gaza Once Again, Suicide Bombers Attacking:
another israeli citizen was killed north of gaza while she was innocently sitting on a bench outside with her boyfriend, the woman 22 died instantly upon being hit, her boyfried is in clinical shock as of yesterday.
this happened shortly after the suidicide bombing attack in netanya in which two people dieD in a cross walk near a shopping center. this because the bomber who happened to be a young woman apparently thought she would get caught trying to enter the mall and blew herself up in a group of teenagers who mistakenly believed that life was meant to be carefree and easy.
i frequently make the same mistake btw, but as of yet have not been punished too severely for it.
because of the attacks, israeli helicopters attacked hamas members who happened to be on the move within gaza and nablus killing 6 of them. thus proving that israel still has the capability of knowing where these bastards are and can and will remind hamas and islamic jihad for that matter that there are no free passes.
in the meantime the pa and hamas are fighting fierce gun battles in gaza trying to show who is actually in power. the pa is in serious trouble and if they dont control hamas and make them heel there will be a long and bloody power struggle in gaza when israel leaves the palestinians to themselves. israel should do everything in its power to help the pa win the struggle, this while not letting the pa feel as if they owe the israeli govt something and not making the pa look like a lap dog of the israeli govt of which hamas has claimed for some time now.
and just for kicks, condi rice is on the way to the mid east and is about to get a tasteful of he said, she said. it will be of interest to see how rice handles the circumstance which may even heat up more before she gets here.
that being said, israel is intent on the pullout and will carry it out. israel has no choice in the matter and i believe has actually come to the realization of how many political points it is about to score internationally in getting the settlers out of there.
this being said, israel is ready to take over gaza from a military standpoint at a moments notice if anything outlandish should occur this week.
when israel leaves gaza and gives the palestinians control of it, do the palestinians realize that the type of action that it took today by firing its missiles (crude yes, but missiles none the less) into another nation's land that it will be looked upon in a much harsher light? in other words it will be the act of war against another nation.
i will say it for the umpteenth time here, we are going to have another intifada here and if the palestinian leadership isnt smart enough to shut it down effectively (and in fact eggs it on), israel will crush the palestinians like never before.
if you think gaza is crowded now wait until the next intifada is over........

WTC Folly

2005-06-30T12:26:00.000+03:00

WTC New Design Opinion & Info

opinion piece from the ny times on the architectural design of the new wtc.
it also has good interactive information on the new design in order to look at it in greater detail.
i am even in more agreement with donald trump (scary as they may seem) on this matter now.
they should simply rebuild the same two wtc towers almost exactly as before (using new technology to insure what you are able to against attack) and leave it at that.
i truly think that simply rebuilding the twin towers would tell those who attacked it that, " you will not be allowed to alter our vision for tomorrow."

Wild West

2005-06-24T10:24:00.000+03:00

the people of arizona are among the most passionate in the u.s. regarding the rights of individuals.
clearly there are many in arizona who are against the ruling by the supreme court yesterday that interpreted more rights of eminent domain to cities/ & private projects for the 'good' of communities. the following is from the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson, Arizona:

Wild West

on a sub consious level it occurs to me there is a relationship that i feel regarding this subject with israel, particularly because of the way i titled the link.
but there is a difference, in arizona and the states i agree that if you own a piece of property it is yours until you choose to sell it.
(though too i understand there are situations that the 'public good' can be argued and therefore implemented).
the people are afterall on land they rightfully own through purchase and title held.
in the case of the settlers in gaza, they are paying the price of a bad combination of govt decisions which let them live there and their own zealotry.
however, evacuating gaza isnt going to settle all of our problems in israel and will serve as a lynch pin for chaos if the evacuation is not coordinated fully between israel and palestine authorities.
many palestinians may interpret wrongly that the evacuation is a reward for the violence that surrounded us the past four years.
my post here is a short prologue on a subject that could be written as an epic.......
i am hoping that i am genuinely wrong and that the circumstances will end happily but i respect the the hatred here too much that surrounds us.
sharon and some of his principles seem to still have illusions that they are going to be able to hold onto vast enclaves within the west bank.
it may be rational to hold onto some of the communities that border the 'state of israel' within the sphere.
however, i know that the palestinians will not stand for a country - their own - if it is merely made up of autonmous cantons - this is not a viable option in the long run for a nation that can work well.
importantly, the palestinians will make a huge mistake if they instigate another intifada after the pullout from gaza. because they will lose yet again more credibility and the ability to negotiate a settlement that is favorable.
four years ago many said correctly when arafat did not agree to what barak offered and started 'his' intifada that it was a certainty that the palestinians the next time around at the 'peace' table would get even less than what they were being offered then and it has born fruit.
if the rumor is true and the egyptians have decided to give some land along the sinai to the palestinians and israel allows for a land bridge between gaza and the west bank maybe an agreement that is viable can be accomplished.
in all though i am weary of forced agreements and i am afraid the wild west soon might be in my own back.

Another Intifada

2005-06-21T11:05:00.000+03:00

maybe i will start constructing some type of two hundred foot high wall in order that the missiles dont hit my apartment when missiles are fired from villages not so far from us.
it feels as if we will begin playing death's lottery within four to six months once again.
all the the signs are there, discussions that are going nowhere, recriminations and accusations from the folks of hamas and islamic jihad, a power vacuum within palestinian society (who is in charge other than mafia-type fiefdoms?), utopian visions of the future by the israeli and american administrations, lack of any real progress on the ground within palestinian society and culture regarding how it is going to move forward with israel and the same type of non-thinking being done by the israelis, the re-arming of militants and ingathering of recruits during this 'calm' period, ..........this list could go on and on.
once again, we will prove just how dumb we all are.
we are about to embark on another parade of death here and i predict it will be 'end game' tactics this time around.
no more, not again.........

OpinionHa'aretz

An Almond Of Forbidden Taste

2005-06-20T14:49:00.000+03:00

following link is from the ny times on a review of a book written by a north african woman under an assumed name who has taken on the subject of love within the arab world.
LINK

Shocking, No Actually Expected.....

2005-06-18T11:23:00.000+03:00

you want a crisis, i will give you a crisis.....is anyone really surprised that this is playing out? britain is once again finding out that the country it has most in common with is not any of its european brethren but its american allie overseas.....chirac and schroder are at the end of their political ropes and blair has probably decided that making them angry does not matter at this point politically.
chirac as per usual has started his polite recriminations against the stance of britain, what interest me is what britain will say now........seems to me that britain is holding the power in her hands, if it decides to tell the euros to go to pot it could end the euro vision (not the dance contest - but the utopian dream) in a moments notice.......i dont think that is going to happen but i suspect the brits are about to play some hard ball. here's the quote.........from the ny times article.....

".........Germany's chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, stood behind Mr. Chirac. He attributed the impasse to "the stubbornness" of Britain and the Netherlands, and in particular he accused Britain of "not helping the new countries."

"My enthusiasm for Europe has suffered a profound shock," said Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourg's prime minister and the current European Union president, after the talks broke down. "People will tell you that Europe is not in crisis. It is in a deep crisis."........

Batman Is Hamlet

2005-06-15T17:41:00.000+03:00

thought for the day, batman has become our modern equivalent to shakespere......it seems that we will have a new version about the 'dark angel' every twenty years or so now.......just like hamlet.
apparently the newest film is quite good......
to be or not to be here next week at the same time and same bat channel.......that is the question.......

http://movies2.nytimes.com/2005/06/15/movies/15batm.html?8dpc

African Debt

2005-06-13T10:01:00.000+03:00

i would like to see the estimated amount of money that the leaders of africa and their cohorts have stolen out of their countries over the past 45 years.
would the amount of money equal the total debt that was owed to g-8 countries?
what is the amount of money stashed away in off shore and numerical bank accounts in switzerland and luxemborg?
what is the value of real estate and the other holdings these leaders and ex-leaders maintain outside of africa now?
it is good to be the king...........

Batting Now The Dutch

2005-06-01T11:52:00.000+03:00

well now stepping into the box are the dutch who unless a major upset is somehow accomplished look set to add an additional nail to the coffin for the entity known as the 'european state'.
speaking to a biz associate of mine yesterday in latvia, he said his feeling is that the 'western eu states' are not ready to share power with their eastern brethren, right or wrong this is how some are perceiving it in latvia he went on to say.
he added that it could almost be looked upon as a conspiracy by the 'western eu states'...........that what they did was get the eastern brethren to agree to tidy up and make some economic reforms in order to make labor and goods on a scale that is equal throughout europe, thus slowing down the development of the eastern states while the western ones continued to plow along and fix cracks as they appeared giving them a chance to compete when selling goods. AND now that the eastern states have committed to these economic austerity moves the western states are no longer compelled to go the full distance and actually share power with the eastern ones because the west as alluded to above wants to continue to hold onto its domain.
just a voice from the wilderness perhaps....

UPDATED TONIGHT........
will the last country leaving the eu dream behind please close the door? it is getting cold in here.
the dutch it appears have voted 63 % no, 37% yes according to exit polls just released - thus putting a very solid nail in this political dream which will in fact have large economic effect.
what strikes me most is the almost drugged looks of the victors who make up a rather odd looking mish-mash of folk. somehow in their excitement they fail to understand that all that they think they are voting against will actually be things they long for within a few years time......
this after they realize the ramifications of being part of a largely disjointed malfunctioning vehicle that can no longer get them anyplace.
well to each there own, and alone they all shall be.
the u.s. and china are the real victors here........

i wonder when tony blair is going to decide to somehow put off the brit vote on passing the constitution?
look for the brit press now to begin asking blair about this as they are egged on by the conservatives who know full well that this is additional ammo and will only make the labor govt in britain weaker.
all we need now is some wavering by the brits on voting about the constitution and a rather big defeat for the current leadership in germany this coming fall and a conservative victory there .....and then things will have sunk about as low as they can go for the eu as a political entity.........and maybe from the trash heap someone will arise and speak with common sense.
but then again it says somewhere that the messiah will come from the middle east........hmmmmmmmm.

What Exactly Did The French Say No To?

2005-05-30T18:18:00.000+03:00

.............anyone care to try this one out?

some of my take.........
ok now that the 'citizens' of france have made their decision, next up is the dutch who are sure to vote no - particularly now that the french have shown them the way........
is there any chance the british public will vote yes on the consitution if given a choice too?
seems to me as an outsider that a yes vote would have solidified the once utopian dream of trying to unite europe under one political banner and economic mode.........
the no vote shatters this hope and keeps alive the old europe of many cultures under a leaky umbrella.........
all of this being said, turkey is the country that will be sure to remember yesterday's vote. they made a political deal with france that would allow them to get into the eu sometime down the road for a 'we will not support' the u.s. effort in iraq........
well, turkey has now quite possibly been shown the door because of yesterday's vote and may coming crawling back to the 'u.s. sphere of influence' in the coming months.
end of day, as much as democracy is supposed to be for one and all, this vote yesterday proves politicians with NO cohonees that leave the tough choices to 'their public' even after being voted in can and will find that the public much of the time is too busy voting with their emotions instead of their brains.
this vote should have never been allowed into the public arena. it will take the eu another twenty years to put this past them. i suspect several politicos in the states and china just about now are having nice tall drinks and saluting the french 'citizens' for allowing them to stay ahead of the game.........
paris is about to get attention, and the 'french' love attention, lets see how they talk themselves out of this one........
"Yes, but it is a beautiful remindier that citizens expressions are heard, even if the music isn't quite played the way we want......"
i can hear it now.........
the real trouble will begin when the dutch vote no and the european govts start to realize that their vision of the eu is a dead end in the hands of the folk.
if the eu is to grow into a unified, cohesive entity that is economically sound and not consisting of different platforms in every other backyard it has a long way to go.
in essense what the europeans are now being asked to vote on is a commitment to an entity and a foundation in which to let it proceed politically and economically as a unit. there is a very clear historical parallel with the united states when it tried for over ten years to create its constitution in order to bring its states under one federal jurisdiction.
what transpired on sunday is bad long term for the eu.
the vote no by the french and tomorrow's NO vote by the dutch will set this process back quite a bit and will give 'local' govts the ability for a time to take even wider lattitude in their economic budgets and they will feel lesser possibility of being held accountable for transgressions.
the eu will go forward, but i predict it will be the 'eastern' states that push for a cohesive unity now and they will do this because they first and foremost know what it is like to exist on the edge and have their nations existence threatened.
in the end, if a united europe is too suceed it would be wise to look at the forumla used in the states to create tiered govt that works.
that should take only about a hundred more years for the europeans to learn to accept.

2005-05-27T11:05:00.000+03:00

Orchid

2005-05-27T11:04:00.000+03:00

Full Bloom

Tranquil Border - Not Exactly

2005-05-24T13:24:00.000+03:00

scarface revisited......

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/24/international/americas/24mexico.html?hp

Time Magazine Top 100 List

2005-05-24T10:28:00.000+03:00

http://www.time.com/time/2005/100movies/the_complete_list.html

here is an interesting list compiled by a couple of Time magazine critics. everyone i am sure will have their own version of what should be on it and what should not, but i was surprised that this list actually includes many good movies and it is not as top heavy as i thought it would be with 'newer' movies.......

Call For Israel's Destruction In Britain

2005-05-22T18:10:00.000+03:00

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1116642367186

nice little rally against israel held in britain, love was not exactly in the air......

NBA Draft Thoughts

2005-05-22T15:38:00.000+03:00

sports.espn.go.com/nba/dr...id=2063740

above link are doug gottlieb's thoughts on nba teams drafting high school kids and he is obviously not a fan of the practice.
he is also wrong imo.
so what is his point exactly? that if you flounder in college it is better than fizzling in the nba and never having been awarded a multi-million dollar first round contract?
and since when does even competing at the college level and becoming eligible for the nba draft make you a 'certain success' in the nba?
doesn't happen, most guys drafted into the nba in the first round are no longer playing in 'the league' within five years.......
why do i take umbrage at this article? because as much as he thrashes the idea of kids going from high school to the nba draft, he doesn't say that the success/ failure rate is proportional to all of our lives.
not all of us become first round draft choices. some of us go unselected and mature into great people, some of us continue to wallow in turmoil.
most of us take chances in life in order to go forward and attain our goals - win or lose.as for the age minimum in the nba, why do we want it in place exactly? to spare a life of desperation for the kids that don't make it into the nba? i highly doubt that, what happens to the kids who sign major league baseball contracts out of high school who fail, what about the teens active in the tennis tournaments throughout the world? what is the rate of success amongst their numbers trying to attain the top levels of their sporting professions?
no, seems to me that we want the age limitations because it would help the universities with millions of dollars on the line and fans who want their college game to be what it was twenty years ago (me included).
as much as i am for watching the best kids play in college and a well played game, too, i think it should be the right of the young man and his parents/ guardians (if they have a say) as to when the young man wants to take on the risks & responsibilities - win or lose..........of playing professional ball.

Odd News Of The Day

2005-05-20T11:39:00.000+03:00

odd news story of the day imo, a brief quote.....
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOSTON, Massachusetts
The Massachusetts Legislature has repealed a 330-year-old law that barred American Indians from entering Boston and has long irked area tribes _ even though it hasn't been enforced. Both the House and the Senate on Thursday voted to strike down the 1675 law passed during King Philip's War between colonists and area Indians, and that has remained on the books ever since..............

Trump's Vision

2005-05-19T14:10:00.000+03:00

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/05/18/wtc.trump/index.html

i agree with donald trump regarding the wtc and its rebuilding. he makes a significant and important point, i will paraphrase him
" if someone destroyed the statue of liberty you wouldn't replace it with something else, you would build the same thing"........

On Looking Good

2005-05-17T19:20:00.000+03:00

oil for food (actually turns out cash) crisis is getting interesting now,
this because politicians being named are screaming bloody murder. interesting that the politicians are screaming and the u.n. does nothing but say that 'over sights and mistakes' were made.
this is probably because politicians fear losing their jobs and the u.n. people do not.
also interesting to see people try and turn the story around and blame the u.s. now for not acting.
what exactly were they going to do? bomb the french, english, germans, russians, and one biz guy in texas?
no, the u.s. is the only one to my knowledge making sure this investigation comes to light while all others wished it away.
all politicians and businessmen who have been named should get their day in court ( & in front of various hearings too) and if found guilty should be made to issue statements of apology and be skewed publically.
BUT this does nothing to the u.n. which looks to get away with this heist while being the biggest transgressor of all, afterall, it was their program that was corrupt and corrupt from within i might add.
days of wine and roses continues for the u.n.........looking good is still much more important than having any substance.

Futbol & Ronaldo

2005-05-17T09:13:00.000+03:00

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/576798.html
for a long time i have been advocating getting both palestinian and israeli kids together under a cultural and sports guise. it seems that little by little people are beginning to realize that getting children together and having them see and participate with known icons and activities that are close to their hearts is a way of showing them that they are not so different from one another.
yesterday an attempt at bringing ronaldo into israeli backfired when the crowd got out of hand cutting short his visit.
i could write an entire essay on the failure of police in israel on knowing how to be 'real' police, this because they have been trained essentially regarding in dealing with security threats. they are not the best in dealing with crowds that get out of hand who are not a mortal threat to the country. they tend to let things get out of control and stand helplessly by as people nearly riot.
want an other example look at the gush katiff/ settler movement which shuts down the highways here when demonstrating against the pull out. the police are ineffective at best and allow the demonstrators freedom of movement causing delays on major highways and making it impossible for people in need to get to destinations. i witnessed an amubulance stuck in traffic yesterday, idling in place with its sirens wailing for fifteen minutes as it tried to make its way though a jam of cars on highway 4. but i digress.........
futbol, music, art, and other activities are ways of getting people and children together......
hopefully they will choose to be a bit more polite to their icons in the future though.

World Series Of Baseball

2005-05-15T11:00:00.000+03:00

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2057633

i hope that this idea goes the distance. will be very interesting to see how a real 'world series' plays out and how it will develop over the next twenty years. latin america and asia will give the states a run for their money in nearly no time.
if the 'high commission' of baseball does their homework they could make this competition worthy of international attention second only to the world cup.

Illegal Immigration

2005-05-15T09:52:00.000+03:00

the mexican / u.s. immigration saga is a two way street. much of this post is a compilation of notes written by me to a friend.
mexico needs the cash inflow from its citizens working up in 'gringo' land to be sent back home.
what is the dollar value of money sent from illegal workers to their families?
got to be in the billions i presume annually.......
states needs cheap supply of labor, and allow me to point out this labor consist of not only farm labor but many jobs in small to medium sized factories such as stone fabrication facilities. there a good worker of illegal means can still earn from $ 15.00 to $20.00 an hour if they are trained and provide their shop with good production..........
the 'illegals' know enough to be aware that if they are not paid well for their work that they can go to a competitor down the block.
simple fact is that u.s. companies small and medium sized can get better production and a lower cost of labor using the illegals. simply put there is profit on both sides of this equation for the americans and mexicans (and other illegals).......
it is not only a question about money but just as importantly how the money is made. production from the illegals is almost twice that in terms of real work done than compared to almost anyone else any agricultural companies can find who is a 'citizen' and doesn't feel the need to work quite as hard.......
same goes for factory production when comparing trained 'illegals' to that of trained and often soon to become disgruntled 'citizens' who will fight for a couple of more coffee breaks and manage to blow another hour during the day in conversation.......instead of really working.
same goes for construction crews who are hired and run by the medium and small companies compared to union guys who manage to work in a cohesive unit on the slow....
mind you i am not making light of the american workers, i am making light of 'citizen' workers around the globe compared to those who feel like their job is a need and salvation instead of somewhere to hang out and collect a pay check the end of the week.
let me point out that i would hire a palestinian over an israeli as an example in a split second for any job that was labor intensive for the same reason........it is a cold hard fact around the world that we in the 'first world & emerging markets' have for the most part become spoiled and would rather let someone else toil for us instead of getting our own hands dirty.
while i will agree 100% that the states needs to protect it national security, it should be pointed out that a terrorist could just as easily come from within and be a citizen or holding a green card or merely a valid visa. big borders create big headaches but i suspect if it is a question about which is going to win a battle in terms of importance - the economy will win over issues of security in this particular venue..........
things could change as we know, another day of 'where were you when such and such happened?' is all it will take.
but until that wretched day or until massive unemployment hits, the jobs being filled by the 'illegals' are ones the 'citizens' simply do not want, nor can the 'citizens' function properly within them.

what is the unemployment rate in the states right now? around 5-5.5 % - is that correct?
since when are all 'citizens' entitled to not only employment but superior job satisfaction as well......my point, most americans would not accept the jobs that illegals are taking if they were expected to produce at the same rate as the 'illegals'.
as for it being a question of capital investment over cheap labor i am not sure i agree.
my thinking is that there is no way to substitute cheap labor and high production particularly in the small to medium construction companies that are involved in much of the building industry through out the states. any time you can hire a crew of five guys and get the day over at a costs of less than $900 - $ 800 dollars a day you are doing pretty well compared to companies that are bound to use union employees or 'citizens'. this because the union employees will cost almost triple that amount of money and because the 'citizens' even though being paid almost the same will produce at a rate that is almost half - thus double time/ costs.
as for capital investment it is always needed......but if i understand the usage correctly capital investment goes towards machines and technology as much as it does towards training of employees.
construction industry imo spends a great deal of money on its tools, machines, and training of individuals - including 'illegals' this because you never want to see a good employee walk out the door and work for a competitor.
as for the idea of LEGAL immigration, it is a good idea and one that could be tried. but a rather politically Incorrect question comes up, why isn't it tried? is it possible ( i really am asking - not simply being rhetorical ) that the states doesn't want to open its doors completely because if fears the 'browning' of america? this because most of the immigrants would come from latin america at this time....

Infighting

2005-05-14T10:18:00.000+03:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/13/nyregion/13hillary.html?hp

i am wondering if the pressure now on tony blair to step down as prime minister can be compared to the infighting that seemingly is taking place amongst the republicans in the states, i.e. bush's u.n. nominee getting whacked (though not knocked out yet) and DeLay's battles......
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/14/international/middleeast/14seddigh.html?hp
as much as the public doesn't like long wars and bloodshed, political parties particularly from democratic environs seem to tolerate them almost less and leave for weak stamina and sometimes an even weaker game plan.
much as i hate to say it, america may be winning the ground battles, but they are losing the propaganda war.......
blair may well be a casualty from this onslaught politically.
seems that all bets on the republicans (even though it is spectacularly early) to perform well and hold their power will depend on the economy (including budgets, taxes, social security, inflation & interest rate) ..........
having said that democrats seem to be finding a unified topic in one simple campaign synapses -
and that is...... you cannot trust g.w. bush.
if they keep hammering away at this they might regain power in the span of four years. having said that 'the good ship lollipop' has a long lasting staying power.
bush has the benefit of not having to run for office again, he has enough time to realize this still and make political hay out of it and use what ever political force he has to consolidate a certain type of mandate..........
question is if the republicans will actually feel as if they share his beliefs and respect his power.
democrats also have the uncanny ability to shoot themselves in the foot time and time again. naming of howard dean as democratic watch dog will work against them long term.
i suspect hillary will tear apart the party too.
democrats have only themselves to fear and that seems to be plenty nowadays.

2005-05-14T10:14:00.000+03:00

An Orchid Grows In Kfar Saba

Why Ask Why?

2005-04-29T09:15:00.000+03:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/29/international/africa/29darfur.html?hp

why ask why?
why do we need to investigate sudan for 'possible' int'l criminal proceeding regarding darfur when we already know the answer?
why can't the u.n. send in troops and put the massacres to an end?
why, because it is the u.n. and as always it would prefer to look good than actually work hard.
is there the slightest possibility too that it would be impolite to actually list the reasons why this genocide is taking place?
could it be that we don't want to rankle the temper of the african continent for once again failing its people? but who are the african people?
actually africa is made up of the widest distribution of racially diverse people on the planet.
so what can it be?
could it be that this is a massacre taking place by 'arabs' against 'blacks' that we are trying to publicly not discuss? probably not because massacres in africa seem to occur by just about all the ethnic divisions against others at some point.
OR IS IT THAT NO BODY REALLY CARES, and that the world simply accepts this type of bloodshed in africa because it has nothing to do with us and our day to day lives in the 'modern' world. afterall it is not the middle east where the entire planet focuses its cameras while waiting for the messiah and apocalypse.
africa, particularly eastern africa is nothing but people who are meant to kill each other in annonynimity and we are too busy to keep score apparently.
real work apparently is only for low level people and not for those in the u.n. occupying air conditioned offices in new york and geneva who are supposed to do something about this.
while the people of darfur are raped, mutilated, murdered, and burned the u.n. and world continues to turn a blind eye to an actual solution and instead worries about the ABSTRACT.
congratulations are in order to this fine institution once again for being 'better' than us all........

The Amsterdam Mayor

2005-04-25T10:24:00.000+03:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/25/international/europe/25amsterdam.html

article on the mayor of amsterdam from the ny times........

Optimism Can Be A Flaw

2005-04-24T20:15:00.000+03:00

anyone besides me who thinks that the states is on the verge of loosing any grasp whatsoever that it held in iraq?
perhaps i am wrong but it seems that the states is playing a game of blind man's bluff and wishing away what appears to be massive military & pychological vulnerablilities 'a la vietnam'.
does the united states actually know that it is fighting a war and that to win a war sometimes an army needs to be aggressive and kill the enemy in the ugliest of ways?
time = victory........
unfortunately the insurgents/terrorists seem to have more of it than any policy that 'exist/existed' to fight them.
downfall of civilizations occur when 'they' dont take the 'risks' seriously enough, or worse simply dont understand what they are up against.
the united states seemingly is intent on looking good while chaos reigns and repeating a mantra as if that somehow will make all of the problems go away.
please note, i said when civilizations dont understand. i believe that there are people and organizations that do get the 'point' but on a whole it appears that by and large many people dont quite understand that the 'west' is at genuine risk and this puts all of us in danger.
many of you will not agree with this and i understand this too, believing that others have the desire to destroy you will never make any sense because we live isolated from the abyss of the enemy. we do not understand them because we try to always think the best about things. optimism of the human spirit works against us in this case. this is not an easy notion to simply discard because to be cynical goes against most things we have been taught about.
this is a LARGE problem and if correct it spells huge trouble in many different ways........
as i pointed out long ago, the big question was if the states had the stomach for the fight.
bush and rumsfield seemingly are content with transforming the u.s. army and all of its mechanisms into nothing but a large police force.
can you say MISTAKE?
in other words it appears the u.s. is losing control of the crowd and trying to deal with with the situation as if it were nothing more than a riot caused by hooligans.

and on cue the chicago tribune has a few stories on vietnam today and this one including its impact on the american mind......
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0504240308apr24,1,4149413.story?coll=chi-news-hed

amazing to me that within the article in the tribune speaking about how divided america still is over the issue of vietnam that there was not one mention of iraq and the effects that are being felt now due to this malaise of intent which still lingers........

Cross Town Traffic

2005-04-24T12:20:00.000+03:00

the following explains why i sat in traffic last night from midnight until 3 in the morning........ i hope those around me enjoyed the jimi hendrix concert i provided for them with my car stereo......

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/568469.html

Wendy's Evil 'Sister'

2005-04-23T15:57:00.000+03:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/23/national/23wendys.html

above is a link regarding the woman who claimed that she bit into a finger while eating at wendy's.
my question is this, if in fact she is guilty - which i highly suspect she is - what is the proper punishment for her?
this woman has probably cost wendy's over fifty million dollars in damages. and i presume that even though she has been arrested that the chain can expect to continue to take a hit financially for a while since people tend to believe and remember the ugliest type of lies and trickery.
my point is that through the years we have seen people awarded a hundred million dollar lawsuits against large corporations as if candy was being handed out. just how in the world does a large corporation get its reputation back and make up for earnings when a low-level criminal such as this woman single handily almost destroys its company's name?
she should go to jail in my estimation for at least twenty years. problem is that from what i gather she may only be able to be sentenced up to six for this escapade.
if i were in charge of wendy's i would be livid with anger about this.........
maybe she should have one of her fingers chopped off......

i have a very simple solution for the mayhem the woman caused.
for every million dollars worth of damage wendy's and their holding corp. can prove she has contributed to, she should be fined that amount of money. then she should be sentenced to one year of prison for every one million dollars she is not able to pay.
that would be justice.

Lebanon, Updated

2005-04-20T15:35:00.001+03:00

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/568774.html
the above written by ha'aretz 25 april 2005 regarding the lebanese pro-syrian security minister, who has decided to leave lebanon along with the syrian army, except he has chosen to 'retire' in paris.
seems the fellow might have had something to do with the hariri assassination.
interesting that one can be implicated in this sort of affair which meets criteria for int'l criticism and then be extended a welcoming hand by the french and not have anyone else cause a stink about it.
one wonders why the chap didnt decide to move to damascus. probably not enough good wine there for a civilized soul such as this.....
hariri job now has the smell of an int'l job carried out in agreement by an assortment of the 'upstanding'.

an opinion piece from ha'aretz on what is happening in lebanon..........a hopeful note.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=567114&contrassID=2&subContrassID=20&sbSubContrassID=0

Slide Salmon Slide

2005-04-19T13:15:00.000+03:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/19/science/19salmon.html?8hpib

Can A Movie.....?

2005-04-09T16:59:00.000+03:00

can a movie help to change palestine? can a movie hope to change any of us? following is about showing the movie 'ghandi' in the quest for inspiration....

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=561997&contrassID=1&subContrassID=9&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y