tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-163465412024-03-12T18:47:28.432-07:00The funny site of IsraelA humorous look at life in Israel - and the people that live it!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16346541.post-56673060514013547472013-07-27T12:59:00.001-07:002013-07-27T22:57:38.733-07:00An Avian Spy In The Sky? Not Really!<div style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 9.95pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AZLZtKa9pJc/UfQmTuFwHSI/AAAAAAAAA40/LUu2N60PuGk/s1600/kestrel.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AZLZtKa9pJc/UfQmTuFwHSI/AAAAAAAAA40/LUu2N60PuGk/s320/kestrel.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #333333;">Poor
kestrel! It was happily flying over the Turkish province of Elazig when it was
captured by villagers in Altinavya. Its crime? It was wearing a bling ring with
the text “24311 Tel Avivunia Israel.” The villagers deemed the bird to be a
feathered Israeli spook and promptly handed it over to the local authorities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 9.95pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
Scientist
the local <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C4%B1rat_University" target="_blank">Firat University</a> initially deemed our feathered friend to be indeed
an “Israeli Spy” until tests, including X-rays, showed that the poor kestrel
was just a bird – no microchips or hidden tracking or transmitting devices
anywhere in or on its body.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Turkish authorities decided that he did not
pose any national security risk and decided not to press charges. <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/turkey-frees-bird-accused-spying-article-1.1409894" target="_blank">The lucky bird </a>was allowed to fly off.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in 0in 9.95pt;">
<span style="line-height: 18pt;">This </span><span style="line-height: 24px;">isn't</span><span style="line-height: 18pt;"> the first time that a bird was suspected of spying for Israel. <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/9734674/Vulture-spying-for-Israel-caught-in-Sudan.html" target="_blank">Sudan suspected a vulture</a> that was captured in the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/darfur" target="_blank">Darfur</a> region of spying for Israel. According
to Egypt’s</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="line-height: 18pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.el-balad.com/" style="line-height: 18pt;" target="_blank">El
Balad</a><span style="line-height: 18pt;">, the bird of prey was equipped with </span><span style="line-height: 18pt;">a
<a href="http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2009/02/12/gps-chips-are-now-sm.html" target="_blank">GPS chip</a> and solar-powered equipment that enabled it to take pictures.</span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 9.95pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
The evidence
brought against our avian spook was a logo tagged to its leg, which convinced Sudanese
security officials that the <a href="http://new.huji.ac.il/en/" target="_blank">Hebrew University of Jerusalem</a> was spook central. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 9.95pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
Also Saudi
Arabia does not rust vultures to be just birds. <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/saudis-arrest-unlikely-mossad-spy-102546" target="_blank">Authorities captured a griffon vulture</a> suspected of being part of a “Zionist plot” - based on <span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">GPS transmitter on its leg bearing the name of <a href="http://english.tau.ac.il/" target="_blank">Tel Aviv University</a>, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18pt;">Israeli researchers tried to explain that young vultures are often
tagged with a GPS chip to monitor what happens to them for scientific research.
Needless to say, it fell on deaf ears.</span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 9.95pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333;">Poor birds of prey - they now know how <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/171538/Dreyfus-affair" target="_blank">Dreyfus</a> must have felt....</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16346541.post-26220810570473704212012-04-22T11:58:00.000-07:002013-07-27T13:00:53.695-07:00You Can Now Google The Streets of Israel<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-keWocFHYzuQ/T5RTZ63jPDI/AAAAAAAAAfY/FTKRKclBiYg/s1600/tlv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-keWocFHYzuQ/T5RTZ63jPDI/AAAAAAAAAfY/FTKRKclBiYg/s1600/tlv.jpg" /></a>It took quite some time, but you can now finally (if you want to) get a street view of Israel's main cities. For now, the popular <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h8cTYJ3cMU" target="_blank">Street View</a> service is limited to the country's three largest cities.<br />
It will give you insight into ordinary life in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa. Needless to say, due to security issues, areas around several sensitive sites (e.g., military headquartersand the PM's residence) are blurred out.<br />
<br />
Google Street View was held up in Israel due to concerns that images of its streets could be used by terrorists. The Islamic Jihad militant group in Gaza for one has boasted that it used Google Earth to aim rockets at Israel.<br />
<br />
In August 2011, after a panel of government ministers met for six months to draft security guidelines, Israel announced it had reached an agreement with Google.<br />
<br />
Israel is the first Middle Eastern nation to display its cities and streets online. Iraq's National Museum is also available on Street View.<br />
<br />
Images show typical street scenes, including bicycles chained to the gates of apartment gardens in Tel Aviv, tourists sunbathing on Haifa's beaches, and the crowded Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem's Old City.<br />
<br />
Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai said that militants know the city well even without the Google service. <br />
He also stated that other urban military installations (e.g., the Pentagon outside Washington) were also was left off Street View.<br />
<br />
However, not all Israelis are happy with Google Street View. Retired Lt. Col. Mordechai Kedar, who served for 25 years in Israeli intelligence, thinks that he service would be a boon to militants seeking to attack Israel. "<em>They will use it daily</em>," Kedar said. "<em>Every day Street View is online, it's causing damage</em>."<br />
<br />
Google Israel's country manager, Meir Brand, said additional cities will soon join Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa, including Beersheba, Nazareth and Eilat.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16346541.post-35678504204995673912012-04-14T02:08:00.009-07:002012-04-14T02:19:18.598-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IdSaVfIJco0/T4k-6I3ZD3I/AAAAAAAAAe4/NvSbcm_qeSQ/s1600/carlsberg.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 78px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IdSaVfIJco0/T4k-6I3ZD3I/AAAAAAAAAe4/NvSbcm_qeSQ/s200/carlsberg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5731181169338814322" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Logos in Hebrew</span></span> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Once you live in Israel, you will see that global brands, such as Coca-Cola, have their logo in Hebrew lettering. “Translating” a brand so it keeps its instant recognition is not easy.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">To illustrate how difficult it can be, let’s have a look at the Carlsberg logo. </p> <p>At first glance, it looks like the Hebrew lettering is amazingly similar to the Latin one.<span style=""> </span>However, the Hebrew logo tries to stay a bit too close to the Latin glyphs. </p> <p>First of all, the L has almost no the horizontal line at the top, while the curve at the bottom is too pronounced. In this case, flipping the B to stay faithful to the design guidelines did not quite pay off.....</p> <p>The first Reish (reading from the right) could also be mistaken for a N (Nun), while the second one (with the leaf on top) is so stylized that is could easily be read as a B (Beit).</p> <p class="MsoNormal">That said, the logo has been in use for the past 20 years and is easily recognized by consumers. (Located in Askhelon, <a href="http://www.carlsberggroup.com/Markets/ExLid/Pages/Israel.aspx">Carlsberg</a> has been in Israel since 1992, and produces Carlsberg, Tuborg, and Malty. It also imports Guinness, Weihenstephan, Baltika and Kilkenney).</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Consumer brands tend to “localize” their brands. <a href="http://www.israeli-t.com/Hebrew-t-shirts/Hebrew-Coca-Cola-T-Shirt-2018/">Coca-Cola</a>, Fanta, Ariel, Knorr, and AEG all have created Hebrew logos. Other brands, such as IBM, prefer their logos to remain in Latin characters, no matter the native tongue of their target audience .... </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Local brands, such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tara_%28Israel%29">Tara</a> or <a href="http://www.tnuva.co.il/Pages/Home.aspx">Tnuva</a>, , have their logos in Hebrew. Just check out the supermarket close to you - the designs are amazing!</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16346541.post-1742476347430395882011-11-30T07:59:00.000-08:002011-11-30T08:00:01.449-08:00<div id="yui_3_2_0_1_13226654893141131"> <p align="center"><span style="font-family:Kristen ITC;font-size:6;color:#ff8000;"><strong><em>IT'S FANGA TIME!!!</em> </strong></span></p> <p align="center"><span style="font-family:MV Boli;font-size:180%;color:#ff0080;"><strong><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1322668494_0">Thursday 8 December 2011</span></strong></span></p> <p align="center"><span style="font-family:MV Boli;font-size:180%;color:#ff0080;"><strong> Yad Lebanim Hall</strong></span></p> <p align="center"><strong><span style="font-family:MV Boli;font-size:130%;color:#ff0080;">(147 Ahuza Street, Raanana)</span></strong></p> <p align="center"><span style="font-family:MV Boli;font-size:180%;color:#ff0080;"><strong><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1322668494_1">9:30pm</span></strong></span></p> <p id="yui_3_2_0_1_13226654893141166" align="center"><span id="yui_3_2_0_1_13226654893141165" style="font-family:Rockwell Extra Bold;font-size:6;color:#ff0080;"><strong id="yui_3_2_0_1_13226654893141164"><a id="yui_3_2_0_1_13226654893141163" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://vimeo.com/29219026"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1322668494_2">Hillary Sargeant & FANGA Band</span></a> </strong></span></p> <p align="center"><span style="font-family:Calibri;color:#ff0080;"><em>(click above to see highlights of last year's show)</em></span></p> <p align="center"><span style="font-family:Bookman Old Style;font-size:180%;color:#ff8000;"><strong><em>will light up the stage like never before!</em></strong></span></p> <p align="center"><span style="font-family:Tahoma;font-size:180%;color:#0d8813;"><strong><em> </em></strong></span> </p> <p align="center"><span style="font-family:Tahoma;font-size:180%;color:#0d8813;"><strong><em>Meet the Faces of FANGA!</em></strong></span></p> <p align="center"><img alt="" align="baseline" border="0" hspace="0" /></p> <p id="yui_3_2_0_1_13226654893141173" align="center"><span id="yui_3_2_0_1_13226654893141170" style="color:#008000;"><span id="yui_3_2_0_1_13226654893141167" style="font-family:Calibri;font-size:130%;">Shai Bachar (USA)- Keyboards/ Musical Director<br />Tomer Cohen (IL) - Woodwinds<br />Jamale Hopkins (USA) - Drums<br />Royn Iwryn(IL) - Percussion<br />Gabriel Polak (IL) - Guitar <br />Yogev Glusman (IL) - Bass<br /></span><br /></span><strong><em><span style="color:#008000;">BACKGROUND VOCALS:<br /></span></em></strong><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;color:#008000;">Naama Cohen (IL)<br />Talia Kliger (IL)<br />Jacqueline Fay (IL)<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:180%;color:#ff0000;"><strong><em>FEATURING:</em></strong></span></p> <p align="center"><span style="font-family:Calibri;font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;">Eyal Ganor (IL) - Contra Bass</span></p> <p id="yui_3_2_0_1_13226654893141128" align="center"><span id="yui_3_2_0_1_13226654893141125" style="font-family:Calibri;font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;">Yankale Segal (IL) - Oud</span></p> <p align="center"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;">Nii Adzah Ananag (Ghana) - African Drums</span></span></p> <p align="center"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;"> Naama Cohen (IL-Season 9 Kokav Nolad ) - Soloist</span></span></p> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16346541.post-10026958156648847822011-11-30T07:58:00.001-08:002011-11-30T07:58:47.011-08:00<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/29219026?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen="" width="400" frameborder="0" height="300"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/29219026">Fanga ! Experience</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user3990410">Hillary Sargeant Fanga</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16346541.post-15999391942159318922011-11-29T03:35:00.000-08:002011-11-29T04:06:10.593-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o3B9JVwcsbc/TtTKhyOvH6I/AAAAAAAAAYM/HnARBIa14Zs/s1600/LetterIsraeliReserveSoldier.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 230px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o3B9JVwcsbc/TtTKhyOvH6I/AAAAAAAAAYM/HnARBIa14Zs/s400/LetterIsraeliReserveSoldier.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680387711789113250" border="0" /></a> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;" ><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A letter from an Israeli Reserve Soldier Stationed at the Border with Egypt</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">My name is Aron Adler.</span></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;color:black;" ><br /><br />I am 25 years old, was born in <a href="http://www.visitbrooklyn.org/"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1322566188_2">Brooklyn</span> <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1322566188_3">NY</span></a>, and raised in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efrat">Efrat</a> <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1322566188_4">Israel</span>. Though very busy, I don’t view my life as unusual. Most of the time, I am just another Israeli citizen. During the day I work as a paramedic in <a href="http://www.mdais.com/">Magen David Adom</a>, Israel’s national EMS service. At night, I’m in my first year of law school. I got married <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1322566188_5">this October</span> and am starting a new chapter of life together with my wonderful wife Shulamit.</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;color:black;" ><br /><br />15-20 days out of every year, I'm called up to the Israeli army to do my reserve duty. I serve as a paramedic in an IDF paratrooper unit. My squad is made up of others like me; people living normal lives who step up to serve whenever responsibility calls. The oldest in my squad is 58, a father of four girls and grandfather of two; there are two bankers, one engineer, a holistic healer, and my 24 year old commander who is still trying to figure out what to do with his life. Most of the year we are just normal people living our lives, but for 15-20 days each year we are soldiers on the front lines preparing for a war that we hope we never have to fight.</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;color:black;" ><br /><br />This year, our reserve unit was stationed on the border between Israel, <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1322566188_6">Egypt</span> and the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1322566188_7">Gaza Strip</span> in an area called “Kerem Shalom.” Above and beyond the “typical” things for which we train – war, terrorism, border infiltration, etc., - this year we were confronted by a new challenge. Several years ago, a trend started of African refugees crossing the Egyptian border from Sinai into Israel to seek asylum from the atrocities in <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/israel-to-grant-citizenship-to-hundreds-of-darfur-refugees-1.228881"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1322566188_8">Darfur</span></a>.<br /></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;color:black;" ><br />What started out as a small number of men, women and children fleeing from the machetes of the <a href="http://www.insightonconflict.org/conflicts/sudan/conflict-profile/key-people-and-parties/?gclid=CPfg4q7j26wCFcWGDgod3V0erA">Janjaweed</a> and violent fundamentalists to seek a better life elsewhere, turned into an organized industry of human trafficking. In return for huge sums of money, sometimes entire life savings paid to Bedouin “guides,” these refugees are promised to be transported from <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1322566188_9">Sudan</span>, <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1322566188_10">Eritrea</span>, and other African countries through Egypt and the Sinai desert, into the safe haven of Israel.</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;color:black;" ><br /><br />We increasingly hear horror stories of the atrocities these refugees suffer on their way to freedom. They are subject to, and victims of extortion, rape, murder, and even organ theft, their bodies left to rot in the desert. Then, if lucky, after surviving this gruesome experience whose prize is freedom, when only a barbed wire fence separates them from Israel and their goal, they must go through the final death run and try to evade the bullets of the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2067545/Egypt-Soldiers-Heads-win-Tails-win.html">Egyptian soldiers</a> stationed along the border. Egypt’s soldiers are ordered to shoot to kill anyone trying to cross the border OUT of Egypt and into Israel. It’s an almost nightly event.</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;color:black;" ><br /><br />For those who finally get across the border, the first people they encounter are Israeli soldiers, people like me and those in my unit, who are tasked with a primary mission of defending the lives of the Israeli people. On one side of the border soldiers shoot to kill. On the other side, they know they will be treated with more respect than in any of the countries they crossed to get to this point.</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;color:black;" ><br /><br />The region where it all happens is highly sensitive and risky from a security point of view, an area stricken with terror at every turn. It’s just a few miles south of the place where <a href="http://www.ynetnews.com/home/0,7340,L-4244,00.html">Gilad Shalit </a>was kidnapped. And yet the Israeli soldiers who are confronted with these refugees do it not with rifles aimed at them, but with a helping hand and an open heart. The refugees are taken to a nearby<a href="http://www.idf.il/english/"> IDF </a>base, given clean clothes, a hot drink, food and medical attention. They are finally safe.</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;color:black;" ><br /><br />Even though I live Israel and am aware through media reports of the events that take place on the Egyptian border, I never understood the intensity and complexity of the scenario until I experienced it myself.</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;color:black;" ><br /><br />In the course of the past few nights, I have witnessed much. At <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1322566188_11">9:00 PM</span> last night, the first reports came in of gunfire heard from the Egyptian border. Minutes later, IDF scouts spotted small groups of people trying to get across the fence. In the period of about one hour, we picked up 13 men - cold, barefoot, dehydrated - some wearing nothing except underpants. Their bodies were covered with lacerations and other wounds. We gathered them in a room, gave them blankets, tea and treated their wounds. I don’t speak a word of their language, but the look on their faces said it all and reminded me once again why I am so proud to be a Jew and an Israeli. Sadly, it was later determined that the gunshots we heard were deadly, killing three others fleeing for their lives.<br /></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;color:black;" ><br />During the 350 days a year when I am not on active duty, when I am just another man trying to get by, the people tasked with doing this amazing job, this amazing deed, the people witnessing these events, are mostly young Israeli soldiers just out of high school, serving their compulsory time in the IDF, some only 18 years old.<br /></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;color:black;" ><br />The refugees flooding into Israel are a heavy burden on our small country. More than 100,000 refugees have fled this way, and hundreds more cross the border every month. The social, economic, and humanitarian issues created by this influx of refugees are immense. There are serious security consequences for Israel as well. This influx of African refugees poses a crisis for Israel. Israel has yet to come up with the solutions required to deal with this crisis effectively, balancing its’ sensitive social, economic, and security issues, at the same time striving to care for the refugees.<br /></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;color:black;" ><br />I don’t have the answers to these complex problems which desperately need to be resolved. I’m not writing these words with the intention of taking a political position or a tactical stand on the issue.<br /></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;color:black;" ><br />I am writing to tell you and the entire world what’s really happening down here on the Egyptian/Israeli border. And to tell you that despite all the serious problems created by this national crisis, these refugees have no reason to fear us. Because they know, as the entire world needs to know, that Israel has not shut its eyes to their suffering and pain. Israel has not looked the other way. The <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1322566188_12">State of Israel</span> has put politics aside to take the ethical and humane path as it has so often done before, in every instance of human suffering and natural disasters around the globe. We Jews know only too well about suffering and pain. The Jewish people have been there. We have been the refugees and the persecuted so many times, over thousands of years, all over the world.</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;color:black;" ><br /><br />Today, when African refugees flood our borders in search of freedom and better lives, and some for fear of their lives, it is particularly noteworthy how Israel deals with them, despite the enormous strain it puts on our country on so many levels. Our young and thriving Jewish people and country, built from the ashes of the <a href="http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/holocaust/index.asp?WT.mc_id=ggcamp&WT.srch=1">Holocaust</a>, do not turn their backs on humanity. Though I already knew that, this week I once again experienced it firsthand. I am overwhelmed with emotion and immensely proud to be a member of this nation.</span></span><p style="font-style: italic;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;color:black;" >With love of Israel,<br /></span></span></p><span id="yui_3_2_0_1_13225590650061301" style="font-style: italic;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span id="yui_3_2_0_1_13225590650061298" style=";font-family:Arial;color:black;" >Aron Adler writing from the Israel/Gaza/Egyptian border.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16346541.post-16994171083106202062011-11-07T10:25:00.001-08:002011-11-07T10:27:06.573-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eoBvDEBZQww/Trgi6Vzd3uI/AAAAAAAAAW4/G44AS0N_rx4/s1600/tn.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 283px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eoBvDEBZQww/Trgi6Vzd3uI/AAAAAAAAAW4/G44AS0N_rx4/s400/tn.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672322116353908450" border="0" /></a><br /><p id="yui_3_2_0_1_1320687537832981" align="center"><span id="yui_3_2_0_1_1320687537832978" style="font-family:Eras Bold ITC;font-size:6;color:#d71e2c;"><strong id="yui_3_2_0_1_1320687537832975">Hillary Sargeant & FANGA Band 2011 Concert!!!</strong></span></p> <p align="center"><strong><span style="font-family:Iskoola Pota;font-size:130%;"><em>performing a mix of <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1320690245_0">Caribbean</span> & Middle Eastern Grooves, Soul, R&B & World Music!</em> </span></strong> </p> <p align="center"><span style="font-family:Calisto MT;font-size:130%;">This year we are putting on a BBB (<em>Bigger, Brighter and Better</em>) Show</span> </p> <p align="center"><em>at</em></p> <p align="center"><span style="font-family:Forte;font-size:180%;color:#00c400;">Yad Lebanim Hall, <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1320690245_1">Raanana</span></span></p> <p align="center"><span style="font-family:Andalus;font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;color:#000000;"><em>on</em></span> </span></p> <p align="center"><span style="font-family:Andalus;font-size:130%;color:#c11cbd;"><strong><em>Thursday 8 December, 2011 - 9:30pm</em></strong></span></p> <p id="yui_3_2_0_1_1320687537832973" align="center"><em><span style="color:#0000ff;"><span style="font-family:Baskerville Old Face;"><span style="color:#000000;">Click</span> </span> </span></em><a id="yui_3_2_0_1_1320687537832972" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://soundcloud.com/search?q%5Bfulltext%5D=hillary+sargeant"><em id="yui_3_2_0_1_1320687537832971"><span id="yui_3_2_0_1_1320687537832970" style="font-family:Baskerville Old Face;color:#0000ff;"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1320690245_2">here</span></span></em></a><em><span style="color:#008000;"><span style="font-family:Baskerville Old Face;"><span style="color:#0000ff;"> </span><span style="color:#000000;">to listen to the whole EP, <strong>Trilogy of FANGA</strong> - FREE !</span></span> </span></em></p> <p align="center"><em><span style="color:#008000;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-family:Bell MT;color:#000000;">**************************************************************************</span> </span></span></em></p> <p align="center"> If you were at <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://vimeo.com/29219026"><em><span style="color:#0000ff;"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1320690245_3">last year's show</span></span></em> </a>at Reading 3, <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1320690245_4">Tel Aviv</span> you know you don't want to miss this year!</p> <p align="center"> So be sure to call me early to get your ticket. </p> <p align="center"><em><strong>Tickets</strong></em>: 052-882-0202; 052-881-7500 </p> <p align="center"><span style="color:#ff0000;"><strong><span style="font-family:Bodoni MT Poster Compressed;font-size:180%;">Price: NIS 120</span> </strong> </span> </p> <p align="center"><em><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Tunga;"> (buy 2 and you pay <strong>NIS 200.)</strong></span></span></em></p> <p align="center"> Thanks again Debra for your continued support and <em>please</em> pass on the word to your friends......you won't want them to miss it this time!</p> <p align="center">Neshikot,</p> <p align="center"><span style="font-family:Rage Italic;font-size:180%;">Hillary</span></p> <p align="center"> P.S. To watch FANGA 2010 Show be sure to click <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://vimeo.com/29219026"><em><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1320690245_5">here.</span></em></a></p> <p align="center"><strong><span style="font-family:Viner Hand ITC;font-size:6;"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.fanga-music.com/"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1320690245_6">FANGA!</span></a></span></strong></p> <p align="center"><span style="font-family:Utsaah;font-size:130%;color:#0000ff;"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.fanga-music.com/"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1320690245_7">www.fanga-music.com</span></a></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16346541.post-30268521492756800142011-03-06T21:49:00.000-08:002011-03-06T22:23:12.704-08:00<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aCUQS4sa5vo/TXR5Y3hMwnI/AAAAAAAAAPc/itdzj5nUvRI/s1600/rebecca_chayeisarah.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581219306345906802" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 190px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aCUQS4sa5vo/TXR5Y3hMwnI/AAAAAAAAAPc/itdzj5nUvRI/s200/rebecca_chayeisarah.jpg" border="0" /></a><strong>God's Own Official Guide to Locating Everything...how the internet started</strong><br /><div></div><br /><div>By Morris Ellis*</div><br /><div></div><div>A revelation with an Incredibly Big Message (IBM): Well, you might have thought that you knew how the Internet started, but here's the TRUE story....</div><br /><div></div><div>In ancient Israel , it came to pass that a trader by the name of Abraham Com did take unto himself a young wife by the name of Dot. And Dot Com was a comely woman, broad of shoulder and long of leg. Indeed, she was often called Amazon Dot Com.And she said unto Abraham, her husband: "<em>Why dost thou travel so far from town to town with thy goods when thou canst trade without ever leaving thy tent</em>?"</div><div></div><br /><div>And Abraham did look at her - as though she were several saddle bags short of a camel load, but simply said: "<em>How, dear</em>?"And Dot replied: "I<em> will place drums in all the towns and drums in between to send messages saying what you have for sale, and they will reply telling you who hath the best price. And the sale can be made on the drums and delivery made by Uriah's Pony Stable (UPS)."</em></div><br /><div></div><div>Abraham thought long and decided he would let Dot have her way with the drums. And the drums rang out and were an immediate success. Abraham sold all the goods he had at the top price, without ever having to move from his tent.To prevent neighbouring countries from overhearing what the drums were saying, Dot devised a system that only she and the drummers knew. It was called Must Send Drum Over Sound (MSDOS), and she also developed a language to transmit ideas and pictures - Hebrew To The People (HTTP) - but this success did arouse envy. </div><br /><div></div><div>A man named Maccabia did secrete himself inside Abraham's drum and began to siphon off some of Abraham's business. But he was soon discovered, arrested and prosecuted - for insider trading. And the young men did take to Dot Com's trading as doth the greedy Horsefly take to camel dung. They were called Nomadic Ecclesiastical Rich Dominican Sybarites, or NERDS. </div><br /><div></div><div>And lo, the land was so feverish with joy at the new riches and the deafening sound of drums that no one noticed that the real riches were going to that enterprising drum dealer, Brother William of Gates, who bought off every drum maker in the land. And indeed did insist on drums to be made that would work only with Brother Gates' drumheads and drumsticks. </div><br /><div></div><div>And Dot did say: "<em>Oh, Abraham, what we have started is being taken over by others</em>."And Abraham looked out over the Bay of Ezekiel , or eBay as it came to be known. He said: "<em>We need a name that reflects what we are</em>."And Dot replied: "Young <em>Ambitious Hebrew Owner Operators</em>." "YAHOO," said Abraham. And because it was Dot's idea, they named it YAHOO Dot Com.</div><br /><div></div><div>Abraham's cousin, Joshua, being the young Gregarious Energetic Educated Kid (GEEK) that he was, soon started using Dot's drums to locate things around the countryside.<br />It soon became known as God's Own Official Guide to Locating Everything (GOOGLE).</div><br /><div></div><div>And that is how it all began.; despite the claim of rapper Al Gore Rhythms...</div><br /><div></div><div>(<em>image courtesy of </em><a href="http://www.g-dcast.com/"><em>www.g-dcast.com</em></a><em>)</em></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16346541.post-59098919313063149292011-01-26T09:01:00.000-08:002011-01-26T10:33:45.485-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_weu6ygoh0Nw/TUBo6HZvdkI/AAAAAAAAAOo/QE99oVGxkdo/s1600/Funny-Story-Contest-cropped1.bmp"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 124px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_weu6ygoh0Nw/TUBo6HZvdkI/AAAAAAAAAOo/QE99oVGxkdo/s200/Funny-Story-Contest-cropped1.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566564487058650690" border="0" /></a> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">About Israel</span><br /><br />(Allegedly by the Israeli humorist, <a href="http://www.ephraimkishon.de/en/Kishon.htm">Efraim Kishon</a>)</span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></span><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:100%;">Israel is a country surrounded on all sides by enemies, but the people's headaches are caused by the neighbors upstairs. </span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:100%;">Israel is the only country in the world where the coffee is already so good that <a href="http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/4/2/170433.shtml">Starbucks</a> went bankrupt trying to break into the local market. </span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:100%;">Israel is the only country in the world whose soldiers eat three sets of salads a day, none of which contain any lettuce (which is not really a food), and where <a href="http://www.gemsinisrael.com/oliverecipes.html">olives ARE a food </a>and even a main course in a meal, rather than something one tosses into a martini.</span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:100%;"> Israel is the only country in the world where one is unlikely to dig a cellar without hitting <a href="http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/reports_list_eng.asp">ancient archaeological artifacts</a>.</span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:100%;">Israel is the only country in the world where the leading writers in the country take buses.</span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:100%;"> Israel is the only country in the world where the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/schwartzalot/366668572/">graffiti is in Hebrew</a>.</span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:100%;">Israel is the only country in the world that has a <a href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/news.aspx/137853">National Book Week</a>, during which almost everyone attends a book fair and buys books.</span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:100%;">Israel is a country where the same drivers who cuss you and flip you the bird will immediately pull over and offer you all forms of help if you look like you need it.</span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:100%;"> Israel is the only country in the world with bus drivers and taxi drivers who read <a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/spinoza/">Spinoza</a> and <a href="http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Maimonides.html">Maimonides</a>.</span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:100%;"> Israel is the only country in the world where <a href="http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/News/today/2007/05/0803.htm">reservists</a> are bossed around and commanded by officers, male and female, younger than their own children.</span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:100%;">Israel is the only country in the world where "small talk" consists of loud, angry debate over politics and religion.</span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:100%;">Israel is the only country in the world where inviting someone "out for a drink" means drinking cola, coffee or tea.</span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:100%;"> Israel is the only country in the world where bank robbers kiss the <a href="http://www.chabad.org/generic_cdo/aid/278476/jewish/Mezuzah.htm">mezuzah</a> as they leave with their loot..</span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:100%;">Israel is one of the few countries in the world that <a href="http://gakcity.com/2007/08/06/020-israel-loves-us/">truly likes and admires</a> the United States.</span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:100%;">Israel is the only country in the world that introduces applications of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYXk16Xnp6g"> high-tech gadgets </a>and devices, such as printers in banks that print out your statement on demand, years ahead of the United States and decades ahead of Europe .</span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:100%;"> Israel is the only country in the world where everyone on a flight gets to know one another before the plane lands. In many cases, they also get to know the pilot and all about his health or marital problems.</span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:100%;">Israel is the only country in the world where no one has a foreign accent because everyone has a foreign accent.</span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:100%;"> Israel is the only country in the world where people cuss using <a href="http://www.roadjunky.com/cultureguide/1411/israeli-hebrew-slang-guide">dirty words in Russian or Arabic </a>because Hebrew has never developed them.</span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:100%;">Israel is the only country in the world where patients visiting physicians end up giving the doctor advice.</span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:100%;"> Israel is the only country in the world where everyone strikes up conversations while waiting in lines.</span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:100%;">Israel is the only country in the world where people call an attaché case a "<a href="http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Uri_Avnery">James Bond</a>" and the "@" sign is called a "<a href="http://www.forward.com/articles/11487/">strudel</a>".</span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:100%;"> Israel is the only country in the world where there is the most mysterious and mystical calm ambience in the streets on <a href="http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3955440,00.html">Yom Kippur</a>, which cannot be explained unless you have experienced it.</span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:100%;"> Israel is the only country in the world where people <a href="http://www.anglobooks.com/home/">read English</a>, write <a href="http://www.omniglot.com/writing/hebrew.htm">Hebrew</a>, and <a href="http://www.azarajokes.com/pe-Yiddish+parrot-2200-220000-159.htm">joke in Yiddish</a>.</span></span></li></ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16346541.post-44046286268852527512010-01-09T07:26:00.000-08:002010-01-09T07:36:48.145-08:00<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_weu6ygoh0Nw/S0iiYKi6RPI/AAAAAAAAAKU/V-hcwQgnBD8/s1600-h/jobs.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 167px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 96px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424764287199102194" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_weu6ygoh0Nw/S0iiYKi6RPI/AAAAAAAAAKU/V-hcwQgnBD8/s320/jobs.jpg" /></a><br /><div><strong>Working life in Israeli High-tech </strong><br /><br />Working in Israel is different – especially from working in Europe. The working week consists of 45 hours – depending on the industry you work in, it translates to a 5-day working week of 9 hours. Most companies provide food – the fridge is stocked with fresh vegetables, cheese, and humus. There are also cookies and bread. Company kitchens boast a water cooler, microwave and toaster. If you are lucky, your company also provides a card for purchasing lunch from various restaurants. (You still have to pay one-third and income tax over the two-thirds that the company pays).<br /><br />In Israel, especially in high-tech, employees are highly skilled and highly motivated. Almost all of them (myself included) have two Master degrees. Oliem need to realize that having an MBA is almost mandatory to get to senior management levels.<br /><br />Especially in high-tech, the culture is heavily influenced by the Israeli army. Since everyone in Israel joins the army at the age of 18 and leaves the army 3 years later (2 years for women), the ethos of army life translates into business life. The army experience shapes the future employee work ethic and attitudes. Outside of Israel, employees are given a task and see it as a <strong>task</strong>; however in Israel, it's a <strong>mission</strong>. Every task is taken with the utmost seriousness, and “white nights” are no exception - employees in the Israeli office will not go home until the task is done.<br /><br />High-tech in Israel is product/invention driven. Especially marketing is the stepchild – not really considered to be a serious asset for the company. Many CEOs and VPs know that they might come across as rude, pushy and aggressive. The language is to blame for it – there is no “I would if I could, but I cannot, so I wouldn’t”-nuances in the Hebrew. There is only a present, past and future tense and an imperative. Due to the culture and the political situation, Israelis are high gear. This often confuses business partners abroad, who like to mull over questions and decisions.<br /><br />Applying for a job in Israel is an interesting event. LinkedIn is a favorite tool for HR managers to scout for talent. Since it’s a small country, networking is important – most jobs are not even posted, but filled throught personal recommendations. Recruiting companies (there are a lot of them) are highly active and will send your resume on, sometimes without even interviewing you. Once you are invited for an interview, you will be asked about your salary expectations. This is the tricky part – apart from the salary itself, you have to state if you want a car (valued at around NIS 3,000), kerens, lunch, vacation days, and any other extras that you want to claim. The best way is to quote a salary margin.<br /><br />Especially in high-tech, there is a high turnover rate. Due to companies or collapsing or being taken over, the average working life in a high-tech company is 2 years. If you want job security, your only option is to work for the government where you will have job security but a very low salary. In high-tech, companies and managers give their employees lots of opportunities to explore new ventures, improve skills, and to come up with new initiatives. From personal experience, working in Israel is fulfilling, exciting and dynamic. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16346541.post-20283286172076529672009-05-25T00:23:00.000-07:002009-05-25T00:29:50.402-07:00<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_weu6ygoh0Nw/ShpIDu7tidI/AAAAAAAAAHk/1W9hXZ29ztA/s1600-h/bee_layoff_at_the_hive_outsourcing.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339659537176431058" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 306px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_weu6ygoh0Nw/ShpIDu7tidI/AAAAAAAAAHk/1W9hXZ29ztA/s320/bee_layoff_at_the_hive_outsourcing.gif" border="0" /></a><strong>Corporate hijinx</strong><br /><div><strong></strong></div><br /><div><em>(This article was translated from a Hebrew comedy sketch written by comedian </em><a onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/external/cafe.themarker.com/view.php');" href="http://cafe.themarker.com/view.php?t=939393" rel="nofollow"><em>Barak Kesar</em></a><em> about working at the above major high tech company.)</em></div><br /><div>Look at what we’ve come to…<br />Look at the cleaning lady, hanging around with an “I will always have a job because there will always be dust” face. Just wait until the soap bubble you’ve been living in bursts; let’s see how you deal when the prices of bleach go up.<br />Now we’re down to 4 work days… </div><div><br />On Sunday morning my little boy picked up the phone and called the kindergarten teacher to tell her he’s not coming.<br />Teacher: “Why?”<br />Son: “Couldn’t find an arrangement for Dad. At least I managed to send Mom off to the mall.” </div><div><br />At first it’s confusing, you don’t know if it’s Saturday or Sunday. The only way of checking is the oven. If there’s a pot of <a onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/external/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jachnun');" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jachnun" rel="nofollow">jachnun</a> in there, it’s Saturday.<br />And if we’re canceling days, why Sunday? Why not Thursday, save us the expenses of the Shabbat dinner while we’re at it. </div><div><br /><strong>Things are rough everywhere, not just in high tech.</strong> </div><div><br />The beggar at the intersection told me that due to the crisis he’s been forced to increase his work week to 8 work days.<br />If we were factory workers, we’d at least see some action, lock the gates, burn some tires. In high tech, what’s there to do? Burn the DiskOnKey? Block the entrance? Most of us work from home anyway. </div><div><br />Ever since the <a onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/external/switch5.castup.net/Customers/Leumi/flv_480x360/player.asp');" href="http://switch5.castup.net/Customers/Leumi/flv_480x360/player.asp?as=0&videourl=http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?ClipMediaID=3469353&ak=null" rel="nofollow">“It’ll be OK” commercial for Bank Leumi</a> has been on the air, I’ve been panicking, hysterically! There’s nothing more terrifying than an Israeli telling you “don’t worry, it’ll be ok”.<br />There are lots of people out there looking for jobs with Bachelor’s degrees, Master’s degrees, 10 years of experience, but between us, there’s only one thing anyone needs to work for my company: an Indian citizenship. </div><div><br />Heartbreaking to see everything going over to India. I hope the financial tsunami doesn’t get there. Personally I prefer to hope that a real tsunami gets them, the one with the waves, the jellyfish, the Thai people. </div><div> </div><div>It’s like in Thailand you see all the good farmers run away to Israel, or the Chinese who don’t have any more construction workers left because they’re all here.<br />And not only do they take our jobs, they also make sure to mess with our future generation’s brains as they go to Goa after the army, only to come back in a dolphin-like state. </div><div><br />Sometimes I feel like going there and opening an <a onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/external/www.elgaucho.co.il/index_en.html');" href="http://www.elgaucho.co.il/index_en.html" rel="nofollow">El Gaucho restaurant</a>, on purpose, with a picture of a cow spinning on a shawarma skewer. </div><div><br /><strong>My</strong> <strong>company has creative methods to increase efficiency</strong>. </div><div><br />In order to get you to arrive earlier to work, they lower the number of yogurt cups in the kitchenettes. If only they knew how much valuable time I waste by chasing the last yogurt cup instead of working… </div><div><br />If you get to work at 9:00, you’re done for. There’s no chance you’ll find yogurt. At 8:30 you stand a shot, but that includes frantically running through all the kitchenettes on all floors.<br />And it’s not just the yogurt, it’s the bread rolls too. A few years ago they’d give us sandwich rolls, then they cut down on roll size, then they just brought in empty rolls. Tomorrow they’ll give us flour, water and a recipe. </div><div><br />And at lunch? There’s a million conditions: if you took a cold meal ticket, you’re entitled to a salad but not to dessert or a hot side dish, and God forbid you should also take a soup.<br />In general, cold meal eaters have an identification mark – the special tray. You have a special tray – then… No Soup For YOU! Wait – what if it’s a cold soup? Does that count as a cold meal?!<br />Since the food reforms I’ve been continuously paranoid. I keep imagining the caterer yelling at me through a microphone: “Company inhabitants, you are in the dining room, please act accordingly.” </div><div><br />Yesterday I was caught red-handed… with a cold tray… and a lukewarm chicken. Fortunately, I had stuffed the rice in my pocket. Is it me, or do they have to put in less effort for food in Survivor? </div><div><br />Now they’ve put a limit on mileage too. They’ve installed a green box in the car, sort of like a black box on a plane. (By the way, if the black box is made of material that is crash-proof, why not make the entire plane out of the same material?) </div><div><br />There are new stickers on the back windshield. Instead of “How’s my driving? Dial…”, it’s now “Am I driving? Dial…” </div><div><br /><strong>Today my company’s name is synonymous with “feel sorry for me”. </strong></div><strong><div><br /></strong></div>Every time an article comes out about another round of dismissals at the company, there’s an obligatory scene with the neighbors.<br />The neighbor comes over, feeling out the vibe: “Hey man, is everything ok? I’m not used to seeing you at 8 o’clock in the morning. What happened? Didn’t feel like going to work today, or they didn’t feel like having you come in?” Or- “I’m sending you something to your work email account, are you still checking it?” <div><br />A second neighbor: “Oh man, I saw the company sticker on your car, I didn’t know you worked there… If you need anything, I know someone at <a onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/external/jobmaster.co.il/');" href="http://jobmaster.co.il/" rel="nofollow">JobMaster</a>, I can get you a good price for the subscription fee and you’ll pay the first installment only after getting fired.” </div><div><br />I’m waiting at a red light, in the car next to me is some guy from a competitor – now there is some sort of covert discussion with those standing next to you at the traffic light – he gives me the look of an Indonesian watching the tsunami hit Thailand, a look of “I survived, good luck to you.” The guys from that company have already taken over all the staircases in all the buildings, without leaving us any places to clean. </div><div><br />I come in to work, the hallways are empty, no one dares to walk around. If someone says Shalom to me, I start to think: “Wait a minute- was that his final farewell? What can I take from his office?” </div><div><br />Or maybe it will be he who’ll say sometime later: “I can’t believe it, I only said Shalom to him this morning.”<br />And in general, whenever more than two people are looking at you as you’re walking through the corridor, they probably know something. And every conversation starts with “Have you heard who”? </div><div><br />“Have you heard who got fired? Shimshon, the guy walking around here earlier with the yogurt.”<br />“You don’t say, wait… he had yogurt?! Which room is he in?”<br />The ways of notifying people have grown sophisticated too. </div><div><br />One guy was asked whether he’d opened the “Mamon” (business) paper on Saturday. He answered: “No. Why”? They told him: “You should, they’ve got some good classifieds in there…”<br />There was one VP who was really nervous before “the talk”.<br />“We’ve called you in to let you know that we’ve arranged an office for you.”<br />“An office in the corner building?”<br />“Close, the unemployment office.” </div><div><br />I heard one guy who was told: “Listen, if they call you from “Big Brother” or “Survivor” and ask you to participate in their next season, tell them you’re available.”<br />Women, however- are covered. </div><div><br />Once, when there were wars, you’d know that after 9 months there’d be an increase in the number of births. Now, it’s the same thing. Every round of dismissals triggers a baby boom.<br />There’ll be a song about it in a few years: “We are the children of the high tech crisis 2009”.<br />Pregnancy. Your anti-dismissal pill. 100% proven success rate. </div><div><br />In a few years the kid will ask you:<br />“Mommy, did I come into the world by mistake?”<br />And you’ll answer, “No honey, Mommy was on the chopping block at work”<br />“And my seven brothers and sisters?”<br />“What can I say honey, they had my number, I had to dodge the boot quite a bit.” </div><div><br />Today, getting pregnant is like getting immunity.<br />Even a single woman I know pulled out a positive pregnancy test stick and shoved it in my face. I told her: “Saral’e? You’re religious!”<br />She told me: “I did a Shabbat at the kolel, everything included, the Rabbi said that all means are kosher.” </div><div><br />There are also the fakers. One woman comes in for the talk with a huge belly.<br />“What’s that”? They asked her.<br />“Pregnancy!” she answered.<br />“From whom? (bedding maker) The “Fried Brothers”?<br />“No, why?” she asked.<br />“Because the corridor is covered in goose feathers, you have a hole in your pillow.” </div><div><br />A friend of mine told me that his wife won’t let him sleep! “I have to get pregnant, I have to get pregnant”. Eventually, he ended up getting fired for coming to work exhausted.<br />I said to him: “you should have told me, we could have done shifts. What does it matter, pregnancy is pregnancy.”</div><div> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16346541.post-54749744787689928302009-03-29T06:42:00.000-07:002009-11-09T03:10:00.834-08:00<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_weu6ygoh0Nw/Sc98BsrfdBI/AAAAAAAAAHU/2CC_blZhTik/s1600-h/berlin-99.gif"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 208px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318606053563134994" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_weu6ygoh0Nw/Sc98BsrfdBI/AAAAAAAAAHU/2CC_blZhTik/s320/berlin-99.gif" /></a><strong>Jews on the Moon (a fable) </strong>by <a href="http://www.playsbyjanetstiger.com/">Janet S. Tiger</a><br /><div></div><br /><div>One of the great traits of us Israelis (and Jews in general) is our talent to survive. The Greeks, the Romans, the Incas, the Aztecs - they came and went. I got from my friend Martin the following fable, and didn't know who wrote it. The author Janet S. Tiger contacted me, so I can properly credit her. Janet, chapeau! And now the fun starts.....</div><br /><div>The Jews settled the moon in 2053, just about five years after the end of the Islamic Wars of the 40's, where the Middle East, and Israel, of course, had been obliterated by nuclear weapons.</div><br /><div>The two million Jews remaining throughout the rest of the world - less than 100,000 total in all the Islamic countries - banded together and purchased the dark side of the moon, which no other companies or people wished to colonize. Great transports were arranged via the 62,000 mile space elevator and the Space Shuttle and every Jew on Earth - including anyone who claimed any Jewish heritage whatsoever - left to go to a place where no one could blame them for anything.</div><div></div><div>The Earth rejoiced - happily rid of all Jews. There were huge parties throughout all of Sweden and the rest of Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, and North America. (Now known as the Northern Alliance of Islamic States after the United States was taken over peacefully in the elections of 2040 by a predominantly Muslim Congress and President, who immediately passed amendments making Islam the main religion of the United States and the world.) After the last Jew entered the elevator, (a David Goldstein, 62, formerly of New York), the Earth was officially declared Judenrein, by Hans Ibn Hitler, a great, great-grandson of Hitler who had been raised in Brazil and hidden by Nazis until this precious moment.It was not an easy move for the Jews but, in some ways, it was no different than all their moves of previous eras. </div><div></div><div>Some former Israelis, (still alive because they were out of Israel when the bombs dropped), claimed that the moon was easier to deal with because there were no Extremist Muslims. Of course, this precipitated a huge argument with some Jews, who felt not having the Radical Muslims nearby was not enough challenge. Other Jews argued that taming a wilderness with no atmosphere, plant or animal life and freezing temperatures was enough challenge. And yet other Jews argued that arguing was counterproductive. It came as no surprise to anyone that for the two million Jews, there were eventually one million synagogues. (With the other million Jews not joining.)</div><div></div><div>It was also no surprise that within just three years, the Jews had created a controlled environment that allowed for fantastic plant and animal growth and production. The transports, which had been called the Arks, had also carried two of each animal and plant (remember, Noah), and through the ingenuity of the Jews and cloning, there were now many new species which sped up production of food (cows with six udders, chickens with four legs and so forth.)The population had rapidly increased and, due to the amazing collection of scientific and medical minds, most diseases and even aging had been reduced to nil. </div><div><br />There was even a ministry of communication with Earth consisting of the remains of Hollywood producers and movie makers, who sent back to Earth portraits of life on the moon. Of course, it had been decided when the Jews first got to the moon - based on six-thousand-year history of people being jealous of Jewish accomplishment - that all news coverage of the moon's population would be 'movie-ized' to show only horrible things. The film industry, led by Jordan Spielberg, went to great lengths to fabricate news clips to show Jews barely surviving in the harsh lunar habitat. Artists and engineers labored to cover over the vast environmental successes with illusionary domes showing massive areas of wasteland - just in case anyone from Earth ever sent a spaceship with cameras to see what was going on.</div><div></div><div>But no-one ever did, and the years passed rapidly. One decade, then another. Bar Mitzvahs, weddings, brises, all celebrated under the artificial world that the Jews had created - not only had it not been that bad, but by the end of the century, some Jewish authors were calling the moon colony - 'Eden 2'. Of course other Jews disagreed. In fact, much time was spent on disagreeing. There were even contests for arguing but, in general, there was peace. Anyone who threatened the peace was forced to officiate at a contest with people arguing about why that person was wrong. The contests would go on for days, (sometimes weeks) until the troublemaker begged for forgiveness. (Many penalties on the moon were similar to this, and were extremely effective.) </div><div><br />Back on Earth, life disintegrated without the Jews. There was a return to Middle Ages thought - only the current religion du jour was valid - all others were kept legislated into poverty until a war erupted and the positions changed for a few years.Another amazing anomaly appeared when there were no longer any Jews on Earth - anti-Semitism actually increased to monumental proportions! Famous orators explained this simply by saying; "<em>I don't have to have a gun to be afraid of having my brains blown out</em>." Additionally, without the presence of the Jew, the world developed incredible evil that had no release. (Previous evil had always focused on the Jews). </div><div></div><div>One Rabbi on the moon actually said G-d spoke to him and said that he, G-d was about to destroy the Earth because everyone on the Earth was evil. The Rabbi begged him to reconsider, and bargained that if there were 1,000 good people left on Earth, G-d should spare the planet. G-d then told the Rabbi, "<em>Hey, I was through this before with Abraham and Noah and I already know the answer because I'm G-d</em>." </div><div></div><div>People laughed at the Rabbi, but then, one day, while all the lunar citizens were going about their business, an enormous series of explosions was seen on the Earth. Everyone on the moon stared at the distant fireballs that seemed to engulf the blue planet that was once their home. Although there had been great anger at being forced to leave the Earth, the true spirit of Judaism was always present on the moon, and no one had wished ill on to their former home. As in the tradition of the Seder (when the wine is spilled because the Egyptians perished and we do not rejoice fully when even an enemy has died) when the Jews saw what was happening, they began to weep and pray, and watch what was to be the final news broadcast from Earth.</div><div></div><div>The horror of the apocalypse was videotaped by cameras until all electricity was ionized by the new electron bombs. Entire countries were wiped away in the blink of an ion exploding. And then came the final transmission from the nation that had started the entire mess - it was a desperate headline screamed by a hundred dying newscasters. Their rant continued until it was just blackness.</div><div></div><div>What were they saying? As the Jews watched, some gasped, others cried, and a few even laughed. For the last words of the disappearing civilization were a condemnation. </div><div>"The Jews have caused all our problems - they left us here to face the mess they made." </div><div>"If the Jews hadn't taken all the best scientists and engineers, we could have defeated our enemies."</div><div>"Our enemies are the Jews! Kill all the Jews."</div><div></div><div>It took a little while, but the electronics experts pieced together what had happened on Earth during its last days Anti-Semitism, which had grown stronger and stronger since the Jews had left, had reached its pinnacle, and all the countries of the world had decided to launch a massive attack on the moon. </div><div></div><div>The attack had been coordinated by the United Nations and, although all the missiles had been launched properly, there was some sort of glitch in the targeting system, resulting in all the weapons colliding in the upper atmosphere and showering the Earth with a deadly rain of nuclear fire, electronic destruction and a generally bad day. The mistake triggered the military response of all the nations - (who all had nuclear weapons by then -plus a few other horrid toys) and the result was truly an Armageddon. The Jews on the moon went into a period of deep mourning. The Orthodox rent their clothing and there were mass counselling sessions.<br />And then, about one week after the BIG DAY, as it was now called, a presence was detected heading towards the moon. Had one of the missiles escaped? Were the Jews doomed after all? </div><div></div><div>The leaders checked with the defence experts - no, this was not a missile, it was an old-style spacecraft, like the ones used in the early seventies. As it approached, the laser defence was trained on the craft. Debates raged as to whether the craft should be destroyed or allowed to get close enough to communicate with.A message from the ship came just in time. It said, "<em>We are the last representatives from Earth - two from each country and we come in peace</em>." </div><div></div><div>Some Jews rejoiced that there were survivors, others demanded isolation or death of the approaching group. The Rabbi who had had the vision of earth's destruction told the leaders that G-d wanted them to have a chance, so they were allowed to circle the moon. When told they could have a section of land to themselves to farm and repopulate, the Earthlings were upset. They told the Jews that they should be allowed to live with the Jews and have all the same privileges - because, after all, in Judaism, the stranger is given the same rights and privileges as the citizen.</div><div></div><div>Upon hearing this, the leaders went to the Rabbi with the visions, and he offered to guide the visitors to their new home. The leaders allowed him to give the instructions for landing. Of course, not trusting the Rabbi, the commander of the ship didn't listen to his advice and instead crashed into a lunar crater.</div><div></div><div>And so we have the final days of the history of the planet Earth, which have been generously shared with us by the Jewish colony of the 453rd Solar System of the M Galaxy. Although the Earth is currently uninhabitable, the head engineer of the Jewish colony on Mars tells us that Venus will be fully colonized by the year 2120, and with continuous replanting, Earth will once again be ready for Jews returning from other planets in the year 2136.</div><div></div><div>An interesting side note - inside the wreckage of the rocket with the survivors from Earth was a specially marked package that had survived which included the following words: </div><div>"<em>Once there was a great planet named the Earth. And there were many peoples on this planet, and they all existed peacefully with each other, except for the Jews Wherever there were Jews, there was trouble. Jews brought dirt and death and hatred and strife. They were finally banished from our planet, only to take with them many great inventors and scientists and doctors, leaving Earth with nothing. We have decided to destroy the remnants of the Jews, and since the first attempt failed, we are the last chance for Earth. Whoever shall find this will know the truth - It was all the Jews' fault</em>." </div><div>This panel has been saved and is on display at the Earth Memorial Museum at Rivka Crater, NW, for all travellers who wish to see the remains of a civilization that did not understand the words - <em>"he who blesses the Jews, is himself blessed, he who curses the Jews, is himself cur</em>se<em>d</em>"' Shalom. </div><div> </div><div></div><div>Credits: "<a href="http://playsbyjanetstiger.com/Jews_on_Moon.html">May We Please Have the Moon</a>"? by Janet S. Tiger, copyright 11/15/2003. All rights reserved.</div><div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16346541.post-32106816163010907342009-02-09T01:16:00.001-08:002009-02-09T02:11:35.946-08:00<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_weu6ygoh0Nw/SY_3akbA9nI/AAAAAAAAAHE/0kUzeJ3HCh8/s1600-h/images.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300727322264008306" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 148px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 131px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_weu6ygoh0Nw/SY_3akbA9nI/AAAAAAAAAHE/0kUzeJ3HCh8/s320/images.jpg" border="0" /></a>Sic Transit Gloria Socialista<br /><br />My friends, it’s official – I am a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Likud"><span style="color:#ff9900;">Likudnik</span></a>. Oy, my grandparents (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Democratic_Workers"><span style="color:#ff9900;">socialists of the Old School</span></a>) and my great-grandfather (who campaigned for a Labour Safety Law) are for sure spinning in their graves. But you see that’s what this country does to you. It’s very nice to discuss the Situation in the Middle East from your comfortable Italian designer soft leather armchair, enjoying a nice glass of <a href="http://www.merlotwine.net/"><span style="color:#ff9900;">Merlot wine</span> </a>while nibbling on some <a href="http://www.cheese-france.com/cheese/roquefort.htm"><span style="color:#ff9900;">Roquefort cheese</span></a>, but it’s a different story when you are under attack. And don’t get me wrong – under attack we are here in the Holy Land. Not only by the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_qhDaTf2Aw"><span style="color:#ff9900;">Grad missiles</span> </a>(or the Grad 2.0 that will be hitting <a href="http://www.raanana.muni.il/English"><span style="color:#ff9900;">my little town</span> </a>within the next two years – mark my words) from Gaza, but also from the international media, that justify any anti-Jewish/anti-Israel opinion or statement – no matter how warped. So after voting moderate left-wing for two decades or so, I am now officially a hawk. Damn, it really feels good!<br /><br />Voting in Israel is an Event – celebrated with an <a href="http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/History/Modern+History/Historic+Events/Elections_in_Israel_February_2009.htm"><span style="color:#ff9900;">official national holiday</span></a>. Yep, you don’t get time off for moving apartments, but you do get time off for voting, which will only take up to 30 minutes or so of your time. Needless to say, it’s a brutal waste of money in my opinion. When I made <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliyah"><span style="color:#ff9900;">alyah</span></a> 12 years ago and got the invitation to vote, I was convinced that I would get a secret code or something like which would enable me to vote via my cell phone. Or at least via Internet! But no, high-tech Israel (where even pumping gas with your company car is fully automated – courtesy of the Israeli <a href="http://www.delek.co.il/site/english/general_review.asp"><span style="color:#ff9900;">Dalkan</span></a> system), voting will take you back to the time of the <a href="http://www.aish.com/literacy/jewishhistory/Crash_Course_in_Jewish_History_Part_64_-_The_British_Mandate.asp"><span style="color:#ff9900;">British Mandate</span></a>. You see, this is how it goes.<br /><br />You go to your local voting station, which is a school or community center in your neighborhood, No need to check the street number – just go where there are heaps of people loudly discussion politics. You can recognize the different supporters by their T-shirts/caps/promotional garb on their illegally parked cars. Don’t make eye contact – just head for the entrance door. Once you are inside, you have to figure out where to go. The invitation should have a number, unless you didn’t receive it, in which case you call the “Moked” (the hotline) and ask. Don’t try to go by something as simple as the first letter of your family name – it wouldn’t fly. OK, now you are inside and you walk up to a table with 3 people – think <a href="http://www.americanidol.com/about/"><span style="color:#ff9900;">American Idol jury</span></a> without attractive people like <a href="http://www.paulaabdul.com/"><span style="color:#ff9900;">Paula Abdul</span></a>. The triumvirate (m/f) has huge ledgers in front of them that any ship captain from the time of <a href="http://www.mcn.org/2/oseeler/drake.htm"><span style="color:#ff9900;">Sir Francis Drake</span> </a>would have been proud of. One takes your <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teudat_Zehut"><span style="color:#ff9900;">identity card</span><span style="color:#ffffff;"> </span></a>and the other two try to find you in the ledger. The previous time I voted, they could not find me under the D, although both my given and family name starts with that letter. After 20 minutes, I was located under “Dayan” - although I have no connection to that illustrious family at all. Once identified, you are sent to the voting booth itself, which is a carton box around an old rickety-rack table. I was afraid to sneeze and bring it all tumbling down. On the table are little pieces of paper (see photo) with up to three Hebrew letters on it. I felt like an idiot – I was used in Europe to vote using an interactive computer touch screen (I still vote for the national and European Parliament – trying to keep the radicals out). You vote by putting the Hebrew letter(s) piece of paper that represents your favorite party in an envelope that you then place in the secured voting box (that looks like a recycling bin – how fitting!). Only then do you get your identity card back and are you allowed to leave. My fitness trainer is one of the polling station people in her neighborhood, so I am looking forwards to her stories. Counting votes is done by hand, under the beady eyes of the different party representatives. I don’t envy her – it will be mayhem all around. (But it does pay well!) It’s good that she used to be an Olympic weightlifter – tempers flare and fists fly.<br /><br />The elections tomorrow will quite likely be a <a href="http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3617760,00.html"><span style="color:#ff9900;">Likud victory</span><span style="color:#ffffff;"> </span></a>with Netanyahu as the new PM. I would be happy about that – Bibi is an economic genius and the Likud has some good people on list, not in the least <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1033625.html"><span style="color:#ff9900;">BennyBegin</span></a> (son of the late <a href="http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1978/begin-bio.html"><span style="color:#ff9900;">Menachem</span></a> and one of the few truly honest and truthful politicians). Our country and the Western world need a strong Israeli government – for all our sakes and our democracies.<br /><br />So there it is – after several generations of peace-loving socialists, I am the first polictial hawk in my family. Please don’t tell my sister – she is whipping up a gourmet meal in her safe Euro 25,000 <a href="http://www.keukens.be/Keukens/Keuken.aspx?id=436"><span style="color:#ff9900;">designer kitchen</span><span style="color:#ffffff;"> </span></a>in Europe…..and still voting <a href="http://www.pvda.nl/renderer.do/menuId/102085/clearState/true/sf/45523/returnPage/45523/itemId/220099737/realItemId/220099737/pageId/200006510/instanceId/102095/"><span style="color:#ff9900;">Labour</span></a>!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16346541.post-59776065598721177912008-07-29T02:53:00.000-07:002008-12-09T14:54:33.100-08:00<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_weu6ygoh0Nw/SI7q-C5VGqI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/WD2jGUp_-5g/s1600-h/s551973492_215696_3486.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228374569073842850" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 141px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 120px" height="137" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_weu6ygoh0Nw/SI7q-C5VGqI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/WD2jGUp_-5g/s200/s551973492_215696_3486.jpg" width="183" border="0" /></a>Living the high life in Tel Aviv<br /><br />Last weekend, I was having coffee with a friend who is active in one of the olim societies here in Israel. He told me that he met two new immigrants (mother and daughter) who announced that they want to live in a spacious seafront apartment in Tel Aviv North. Both of us burst into <a href="http://dictionary.infoplease.com/homeric+laughter"><span style="color:#ff9900;">Homeric laughter</span></a>. Don’t get me wrong – we were not making fun of the ladies, just of their native dream…..<br /><br />Tel Aviv is not only one of the most expensive cities in Israel (and in EMEA), but also ranks 14th on the <a href="http://www.mercer.com/costofliving"><span style="color:#ff9900;">Mercer’s Cost of Living 2008</span></a> list. For comparison, New York ranked 22nd…….The survey compares more than 200 goods and services in 143 cities around the globe. Well, you get the picture, don’t you?<br /><br />The neighborhood that the ladies prefer can be compared to me wanting to live in the Upper East Side of Manhattan – unless you have a few millions to burn, not quite feasible. Cost of housing is high all over Israel, with only places like <a href="http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/news/article/200807240724obamasderot.html"><span style="color:#ff9900;">Sderot</span></a> as an exception (for obvious reasons).<br /><br />The country is small to start with, and most jobs are concentrated in the Tel Aviv – HaSharon area. Yes, you can find a job in the Haifa area or Jerusalem, but your salary will be substantially lower. The majority of your salary will be gobbled up by your rent or mortgage, with car and petrol expenses being the second major cost factor. This doesn’t bother the rich and mega-rich. They buy up real estate like it’s a monopoly game.<br /><br /><br />British billionaire Ephraim Shahmoon bought no fewer than nine apartments in the <a href="http://www.sweet-home.co.il/default.asp?PageID=1044"><span style="color:#ff9900;">TreeTop Towers</span></a> in Tel Aviv, followed by two more flats in <a href="http://www.sweet-home.co.il/default.asp?PageID=1043"><span style="color:#ff9900;">Yoo Towers</span></a> forking out a total of NIS 60 million (The average apartment goes for less than NIS 1 million) .<br /><br />Billionaire heiress <a href="http://www.forbes.com/global/2004/0705/026.html"><span style="color:#ff9900;">Shari Arison</span></a>, who among other things owns the controlling interests in Israel's biggest bank, Hapoalim, and in the development company Property & Building. She lives in an apartment in <a href="http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1213794297929"><span style="color:#ff9900;">Bavli</span></a><span style="color:#ff9900;">,</span> Tel Aviv and owns a <a href="http://www.luxuo.com/2008/04/tel-avivs-34-million-apartment.html"><span style="color:#ff9900;">penthouse</span></a> in <a href="http://www.g-telaviv.co.il/about-gindi.html"><span style="color:#ff9900;">Gindi Holdings'</span></a> "G" project in Tel Aviv.<br />Local entertainer <a href="http://www.metacafe.com/watch/825718/"><span style="color:#ff9900;">Eli Yatzpan</span></a> owns an apartment in Hamashtela, in North Tel Aviv, another one in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_Tzameret"><span style="color:#ff9900;">Manhattan Project in Park Tzameret</span></a>, Tel Aviv, and a third one in nearby Pinkas Street.<br />Builder Alfred Akirov owns duplex apartments in several of his own projects, including in the <a href="http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=streetoperatower-telavivyaffo-israel"><span style="color:#ff9900;">Opera Tower</span></a> on the Tel Aviv shoreline and in the TreeTop Towers.<br />Diamond baron <a href="http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/10/07billionaires_Benny-Steinmetz_N65G.html"><span style="color:#ff9900;">Benny Stein</span><span style="color:#ff9900;">metz</span></a> owns a double penthouse in Yoo.<br /><br />If you think that this is unfair, just read on!<br />These real estate collectors, Israeli and non-Israeli, don’t even live permanently in Israel, and don’t bother to rent out their properties. They prefer to just let them sit there empty, managed by asset management companies. It’s their safety net against the rising tide of anti-Semitism and a nice pied-à-terre for family occasions and the High Holidays.<br /><br />If you want to live the high life in Tel Aviv, make sure to have a high income – Euros preferred……..Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16346541.post-48058029773982363272008-07-16T04:20:00.000-07:002008-12-09T14:54:33.373-08:00<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_weu6ygoh0Nw/SH3a1QWoTMI/AAAAAAAAAEA/k9F2CB425m0/s1600-h/mtkot.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5223571751277448386" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_weu6ygoh0Nw/SH3a1QWoTMI/AAAAAAAAAEA/k9F2CB425m0/s200/mtkot.jpg" border="0" /></a>Fun in the sun – Israeli style<br /><br />Israel is hot – as a country and during the summer.<br />Funny enough, <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sabra">Sabras</a> always seem to be surprised when the heat strikes.<br />It’s a phenomenon I also witnessed during winter, when it rains. And during <a href="http://www.chabad.org/holidays/passover/default_cdo/jewish/Passover.htm">Pesach</a> when they cannot buy <a href="http://www.nhs-cba.org/hametz.htm">hametz</a>. And when….. OK, let’s stop here; it will be too boring to go into details. But you get my drift.<br />Before the summer starts, there are heat waves (called <a href="http://christineandbrian.blogspot.com/2006/02/hamsim.html">hamsim</a> or <a href="http://dovimyers.blogspot.com/2007/05/dont-laugh-its-not-funny-sharaf.html">sharaf</a>) that I see as a warming-up exercise for the sizzling summer. In the years I have been here, one always strikes during Pesach, which throws all of us in a slight panic due to the food poisoning risk at the <a href="http://www.holidays.net/passover/seder.html">seder</a>.<br /><br />But I diverge. Let’s go back to our current summer.<br />Going to the beach here is a health hazard – in more than one way.<br />For starters, Israel has one of the highest levels of <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/994107.html">Melanoma skin cancer</a> in the world – only <a href="http://www.skincancer.gov.au/">Australia</a> and <a href="http://www.emigratenz.org/NewZealandSunshine.html">New Zealand</a> have more patients. This doesn’t stop my fellow Israelis from happily exposing their scantily dressed, chubby bodies (m/f) to the baking sun.<br /><br />Forget about reading a novel or dozing off – the ice cream (or <a href="http://he.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D7%90%D7%A8%D7%98%D7%99%D7%A7">Artik</a> as it is locally known) seller will happily shout “ARTIK” while plopping through the sand on his <a href="http://www.leathersandals.com/">Naots</a> (aka <a href="http://www.marktplaats.nl/index.php?sref=http%3A//www.google.com/search%3Fhl%3Den%26q%3D%2522jesus+nikes%2522&url=http%3A//kleding-schoenen-heren.marktplaats.nl/schoenen/178561359-jesus-nikes-maat-43-izgst.html%3Fxref%3D1">Jezus Nikes</a>) or <a href="http://www.crocs.com/">Crocs</a>. The chances that your sun-lotioned body and/or food items and/or novel or news paper will thus get sand on it are 100%, not in the least since the A-man will pass you at least every 15 minutes.<br /><br />Once you get up and decide to stroll along the flood line (or to wash off the sand that is sticking to your body), your life is in real danger. Sabras invented their own version of a recreational ball sport, called <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbqN5sqDKKM">matkot</a>. It’s played with big sized racquets, making the same annoying plock, plock sound as ping-pong bats do. The ball whizzes past your head (if you are lucky) or hits one of your body parts (more likely). When this happens, don’t expect an apology – you will get the “you are a <a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/campos0421.html">freyer</a> (m) or freyerit (f)” look – so you proceed at your own peril.<br /><br />The brave ones that survived the <a href="http://www.isporty.com/sport/Matkot">matkot</a> onslaught (driving with <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qopwiGItevI">Danica Patrick</a> is safer, trust me!), and are now dipping into the waters of the Mediterranean. But be careful, there are <a href="http://www.frommers.com/destinations/israel/0227020110.html">strong riptides, whirlpools, and undertows</a> – hence the many <a href="http://www.lifeguard.co.il/irgoon.htm">lifeguards</a> you see. They may not look like <a href="http://www.baywatch.com/">Baywatch</a> babes, but they do know their business.<br /><br />So now you are relaxing in the warm water, the sun shining down on you. Hey, what’s that stinging feeling?! Yep, you have been touched by a <a href="http://original.britannica.com/eb/article-9051775/medusa#100537.hook">medusa</a> (not to be confused with the <a href="http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/bogan/medusamyth.htm">Gorgon Medusa</a>) - a nasty jellyfish. These medusot (plural of medusa) make our lives a living hell for several months.<br /><br />All that excitement must make you hungry, so you need some nourishment.<br />There is no lack of (comfort) food in this part of the world – no matter what you are looking for, you will find it. Depending where you are, don’t be surprised to find beach restaurants that serve <a href="http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Treife">treife</a> food such as shrimps in our Jewish State. And there are lots of soft drinks, beers and wines to wash it down with.<br />Israeli restaurants are noisy and smoking is prohibited. But don’t be surprised if you see someone happily puffing away on his/her cancer stick. You have to handle this the Israeli way – if you are also a smoker, light one up yourself; if not, create a stir. You have to threaten the owner that you will report him and he will have to pay a <a href="http://www.jewishaz.com/jewishnews/030926/oleh.shtml">knas</a> (fine). Trust me; this is far more effective than starting a conversation with the smoker, especially if it’s a 30-year old woman looking like <a href="http://www.virginmedia.com/images/iggypop-gal-fashionrocks.jpg">Donatella Versace or Iggy Pop</a>.<br /><br />Leaving a tip is a tricky business – service is in general mediocre compared to Europe and the US. The reason is simple: waiters and waitresses in Israel are often students and not professionally trained graduates from <a href="http://www.ihtti.com/">IHTTI</a>.<br />In case you are in doubt if tipping is required or not – just check your bill and you will see one line (at the bottom) aggressively highlighted by a yellow text marker. No matter how poor your Hebrew is – the message is clear: 10%-15% is expected. Humor doesn’t work – I once told a rude waiter that my tip was “give better service”. I came perilously close to receiving a head wound, so be warned my sweetie (or <a href="http://cinemascopian.com/2008/06/20/the-you-dont-mess-with-the-zohan-glossary/">motek</a>, in the local lingo).<br /><br />Talking about lingo - one of the fun things of being exposed to any gathering of more than 4 Israelis - you will hear multiple languages. On the beach, in restaurants, in the street (and last but not least in the office!) – your fellow Israelis are happily yapping away in Hebrew, Russian, French (especially in <a href="http://www.netanyatourism.org.il/Tourism/">Netanya</a> and <a href="http://www.israelnewsagency.com/raananaisrael140068.html">Ra’anana</a>), Spanish, English (by the “<a href="http://www.aaci.org.il/">Anglos</a>”) and a plethora of other languages. The <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lingua+franca">lingua franca </a>is Hebrew (or English if you deal with monolingual Americans) that is routinely slaughtered by <a href="http://jewalaskaaliyah.blogspot.com/">olim chadashim and vatikim </a>(new and seasoned immigrants) alike -myself included!.<br />It says a lot about the flexibility of the Sabras that they still are able to figure out what the Hackensack we are trying to say – no easy feat!<br /><br />So if you want fun in the sun – go ahead, but don’t tell me I didn’t warn you!<br />And don’t forget to drink lots of water and put on heaps of sun block (o dear, do I sound like a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_mother_stereotype">Polish mother</a>?!)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16346541.post-1166607097067328162006-12-20T00:10:00.000-08:002006-12-20T01:32:40.056-08:00<strong><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">Who was Harry Bingham and why is he getting a stamp?</span></strong><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">Hiram (or Harry) Bingham, IV was an amazing human <a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1544/1548/1600/679597/stamp.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" height="138" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1544/1548/320/920552/stamp.jpg" width="190" border="0" /></a>being.</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">He came from an illustrious family. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">His <a href="http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/abcde/bingham_hiram.html"><span style="color:#33cc00;">father</span></a> (whom the fictional character <a href="http://www.indianajones.com/"><span style="color:#33cc00;">Indiana Jones</span></a> was based) was the archeologist who unearthed the Inca City of <a href="http://www.sacredsites.com/americas/peru/machu_picchu.html"><span style="color:#33cc00;">Machu Picchu</span></a>, Peru, in 1911. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">Harry entered the US diplomatic service and, in 1939, was posted to Marseilles, France, as American Vice-Consul.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">The USA was then neutral. President Roosevelt's government ordered its representatives in Marseilles not to grant visas to any Jews, since the administation didn't want to annoy <a href="http://home.hccnet.nl/hans.vermeulen/fermont/eng/petain.htm"><span style="color:#33cc00;">Marshal Petain's</span> </a>puppet <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vichy_France"><span style="color:#33cc00;">Vichy regime</span></a>. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">Bingham found this policy immoral and, risking his career, did all in his power to undermine it.<br />In defiance of his bosses in Washington, he granted over 2,500 USA visas to Jewish and other refugees, including the artists <a href="http://www.wymaninstitute.org/education/Rescue%20of%20Marc%20Chagall.pdf"><span style="color:#33cc00;">Marc Chagall</span><span style="color:#ffffff;"> </span></a>and <a href="http://www.sots.ct.gov/registermanual/Dedication%202001.htm"><span style="color:#33cc00;">Max Ernst</span></a> and the family of the writer <a href="http://www.usc.edu/libraries/archives/arc/libraries/feuchtwanger/aboutfeuchtwanger.html"><span style="color:#33cc00;">Thomas Mann</span></a>. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">He also sheltered Jews in his Marseilles home, and obtained forged identity papers to help Jews in their dangerous journeys across Europe. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">He worked with the French underground to smuggle Jews out of France into <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Franco"><span style="color:#33cc00;">Franco</span></a>'s Spain or across the Mediterranean and even contributed to their expenses out of his own pocket. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">In 1941, Washington lost patience with him. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">He was sent to Argentina, where later he continued to annoy his superiors by reporting on the movements of Nazi war criminals.<br />Eventually, he was forced out of the American diplomatic service completely. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">Bingham died almost penniless in 1988.</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">Little was known of his extraordinary activities until his son found some letters in his belongings after his death.</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">In 2001, Harry Bingham was portraited in the movie "<a href="http://www.hollywood.com/movies/fulldetail/id/1613985"><span style="color:#33cc00;">Varian's War</span></a>".</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">After fifty years, Bingham finally got the recognition he deserves.</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">A few months ago, Secretary of State Colin Powell gave a posthumous award for "constructive dissent" to Bingham, finally and officially recognizing him as a hero. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">A <a href="http://pages.cthome.net/WWIIHERO/"><span style="color:#33cc00;">stamp</span></a> honoring this amazing man can be purchased at any US postoffice.</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">Bingham is now been honored by many groups and organizations including the <a href="http://pages.cthome.net/WWIIHERO/un.html"><span style="color:#33cc00;">United Nations</span></a> and the <a href="http://pages.cthome.net/WWIIHERO/groton.html"><span style="color:#33cc00;">State of Israel</span></a>.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16346541.post-1161513432482761712006-10-22T02:49:00.000-07:002006-10-22T03:38:22.963-07:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1544/1548/1600/Kotel.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" height="174" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1544/1548/320/Kotel.jpg" width="218" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">Let me guess, you always thought that the Western Wall is Jewish, correct?<br />And that <a href="http://english.thekotel.org/"><span style="color:#009900;">our Kotel</span> </a>is a remaining wall of the Second Temple?<br /><br />Surprise: according to <a href="http://www.pmw.org.il/tv%20part6.html"><span style="color:#009900;">Dr. Hassan Khader</span></a>, founder of the popular <a href="http://www.factbites.com/topics/Al-Quds"><span style="color:#009900;">Al Quds Encyclopedia</span></a>, “<em>Jews have no historical connection to the Western Wall, which is actually the "Al-Buraq Wall</em>." </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;color:#333333;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">In case you wonder what or who “<a href="http://hadith.al-islam.com/bayan/Display.asp?Lang=eng&ID=95"><span style="color:#009900;">Al-Buraq</span></a>” was – it’s the name of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad"><span style="color:#009900;">Muhammad</span></a>’s horse (the one of prophet fame).</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">According to Khader’s Grimm’s fairytale, the Al-Buraq Wall was similar to a space station location - the landing pad of Al-Buraq<span style="color:#333333;">.</span> </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">After landing safely, M. tied his horse to the wall. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">I wonder if that was done to prevent the stallion from flying off again?</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">That’s the trouble with winged mammals - just check with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_Harry_Potter_beasts"><span style="color:#009900;">Harry Potter</span></a> if you don't believe me.<br /><br />With a blatant disregard for historical timelines, Dr. K. goes on claiming that the Israelis arrived 1,400 years later, conquered Jerusalem and made the wall into their special place of worship and pray.<br />He happily went on stating that the first Jewish connection to this site started in the 16th century. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">Needless to say, this academic Peter Pan believes that <a href="http://www.religioustolerance.org/islam.htm"><span style="color:#009900;">Islam</span></a> has “ancient roots” to the location. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">Well, anything dating from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages"><span style="color:#009900;">Middle Ages</span></a> is not considered “<a href="http://www.answers.com/topic/ancient"><span style="color:#009900;">ancient</span></a>” in the Middle East.<br />The fact that the <a href="http://www.snunit.k12.il/njeru/ec1.htm"><span style="color:#009900;">Second Temple</span></a> was destroyed by the Romans in 70 and Mohammed was born in 570 doesn’t seem to bother him at all.<br /><br />Unfortunately, Khader is not the only creative history writer. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">According to <a href="http://www.jewishblogging.com/blog.php?bid=25073"><span style="color:#009900;">Kamal Hatib</span></a>, vice-chairman of the Islamic Movement, the <a href="http://www.atlastours.net/holyland/al_aqsa_mosque.html"><span style="color:#009900;">Al-Aqsa Mosque</span></a> was built by <a href="http://www.alislam.org/books/study-of-islam/angels.html"><span style="color:#009900;">angels</span></a> before <a href="http://www.snunit.k12.il/njeru/eb32s.htm"><span style="color:#009900;">King Solomon</span></a> built the <a href="http://www.templemount.org/solomon.html"><span style="color:#009900;">First Temple</span></a>. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">According to Hatib, the temple was therefore built outside of Jerusalem, due to lack of space.<br />The discrepancy of 1,400 years is not addressed. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">Let’s faces it, it’s not easy getting the worksheet of angels to contradict these history hooligans.<br /><br />There are Islamic scholars who disagree. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">A former senior leader of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waqf"><span style="color:#009900;">Waqf</span></a> said that he believes that the first and second Jewish temples existed and stood at the current location of the Al Aqsa Mosque.</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">He based this on stories passed down by Al Aqsa custodians for centuries from generation to generation indicating the mosque was built at the site of the former Jewish temples. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">According to him, most of the first guards of Al Aqsa were Jews. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">Needless to say, once he made his beliefs known, he was promptly sacked. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;color:#333333;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">In my humble opinion, Mr. Mahmoud Abbas should use his state-run TV station to broadcast outlines of peace proposals. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">If he is more interested in TV fiction, creating an Palestinian <a href="http://www.sesameworkshop.org/sesamestreet/"><span style="color:#009900;">Sesame Street</span></a> program would be a better option…and Al-Buraq can replace <a href="http://www.sesameworkshop.org/sesamestreet/?scrollerId=bigbird"><span style="color:#009900;">Big Bird</span></a>!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16346541.post-1156667890100691202006-08-27T01:27:00.000-07:002006-08-28T23:08:53.990-07:00</em><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1544/1548/1600/gene_simmons.1.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1544/1548/200/gene_simmons.0.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></em><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;"></em>KISS of hope.<br /><br /></em>Once an Israeli, always an Israeli – opinionated and compassionate.<br /><br /></em>According to <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,210599,00.html"><span style="color:#009900;">Fox</span></a>, Gene Simmons of KISS, born <a href="http://immigration.about.com/library/weekly/aa090899.htm"><span style="color:#009900;">Haim Witz</span> </a>in the heavily hit town of <a href="http://www.haifa.muni.il/Cultures/en-US"><span style="color:#009900;">Haifa</span></a>, sent a video message to wounded soldier and KISS-fan Ron Weinreich.<br />Ron is one of<span style="color:#009900;"> </span><a href="http://www.rotten.com/library/history/terrorist-organizations/hezbollah/"><span style="color:#009900;">Hezbollah</span></a>’s many victims - paralyzed from the chest down.<br />Due to his injuries, the wedding of Ron’s brother was relocated to his hospital room in order for him to attend.<br />At the wedding, Ron received the following message from his rock hero:<br /><br />"</em><em>Hi Ron, this is Gene Simmons. I'm talking to you from my home. I can't tell you how proud I am of you, and how much the world and Israel owes you a debt of gratitude. From the bottom of my heart, you are a real hero, you are everybody's hero, you are my hero and I wish I could be there with you</em>." </em></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;"></em><br /></em>Suddenly switching to confident Hebrew, Simmons added:<em> </em></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;"></em>"<em>My name is Chaim, I was born in Haifa</em>." </em></span><br /></em></span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;"></em><br /></em>He concluded by saying in English:</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;"></em>"<em>I wish you my best, a happy life and I hope the wedding comes off and everybody should honor you because you are a real</em> </em></span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;"><em>hero."</em></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;"><em></em></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">Kol HaKavod, Haim!</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;"><em></em></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;"><em><br /></em></span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;"><em></em></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16346541.post-1154436006293802632006-08-01T04:31:00.000-07:002006-08-28T23:02:04.133-07:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1544/1548/1600/sadgib.0.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1544/1548/320/sadgib.0.jpg" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-family:georgia;color:#333333;"><span style="font-size:130%;">The Anti-Semitic Passion of Gibson<br /><br />Last Friday, </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000154/"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color:#009900;">Mel Gibson</span> </span></a><span style="font-size:130%;">was arrested in the early hours for speeding along the Pacific Coast Highway in </span><a href="http://www.ci.malibu.ca.us/"><span style="font-size:130%;color:#009900;">Malibu</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;">, the famous beach town North of Los Angeles.<br />Well, happens to best of us, you might think (although most of us don’t drive around in a </span><a href="http://www.lexus.com/models/hybrid/index.html"><span style="font-size:130%;color:#009900;">Lexus</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;">).</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">Although Gibson was under the influence, the arresting officer told the actor that he was supposed to cuff him but would not, as long as Gibson cooperated. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">Fair enough, I would think. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">But what does our thespian do? </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">He drunkenly informed the deputy: “<em>I'm not going to get in your car</em>," and promptly bolted. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">Our law enforcement officer quickly subdued Gibson, cuffed him and put him inside the patrol car.<br />Up till now, nothing special. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">But instead of keeping his mouth shut, Australia’s import started acting out.</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">"<em>You mother f****r. I'm going to f*** you</em>," he informed the policeman.<br />After these crude words, Gibson then launched into a barrage of anti-Semitic statements: "<em>F*****g Jews... The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world</em>." </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">Gibson then asked the deputy, "<em>Are you a Jew</em>?" </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">(The deputy wisely refrained from answering).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">When this Gibson Monologue escalated, the officer called ahead for a sergeant to meet them as soon as they would arrive at the station. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">Upon arrival, a sergeant began videotaping Gibson, who noticed the camera and said: "<em>What the f*** do you think you're doing</em>?"<br />Gibson then noticed a female sergeant and yelled: </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">"<em>What do you think you're looking at, sugar tits</em>?" </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">I personnally applaud the police force for their restraint.<br />(BTW, if you are interested, you can download the report from the entertainment website </span><a href="http://www.tmz.com"><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#009900;">www.tmz.com</span></a><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">).</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;color:#333333;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;color:#333333;">The next day, after spending the night in a detox cell and posting $5,000 bail, Mel G. apologized for driving while drunk and for his "belligerent behavior" towards the deputy sheriffs who arrested him.</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;color:#333333;">Mmmm, doesn’t sound like a sincere apology to me.</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;color:#333333;">I also miss the reference to his anti-Semitic remarks.<br />Not that I am surprised, mind you.<br />For one, Gibson is a staunch Catholic (nothing wrong there), but he shares many beliefs of the <a href="http://www.latinmass-ctm.org/"><span style="color:#009900;">Traditionalist Catho</span><span style="color:#009900;">lic </span></a>movement, not known for their tolerance. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;color:#333333;">This sect rejects some or all reforms started by the <a href="http://mb-soft.com/believe/txs/secondvc.htm"><span style="color:#009900;">Second Vatican Council</span> </a>in the 1960s.</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;color:#333333;">I find it quite funny that he became so successful in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonism"><span style="color:#009900;">Hedonist</span></a> Hollywood. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;color:#333333;">But it would explain the private chapel Mel built.</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;color:#333333;">The <a href="http://www.theacorn.com/news/2002/0117/Community/017.html"><span style="color:#009900;">Holy Family Catholic Church</span> </a>is run out of Gibson's <a href="http://www.iconmovies.com/home.html"><span style="color:#009900;">AP Reilly Foundation</span></a>, a <span style="font-family:georgia;color:#333333;">charity he and his wife established for the sole purpose of creating the church.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;color:#333333;"><span style="font-family:georgia;color:#333333;">The Holy Family Catholic Church is run out of Gibson's Icon Production company offices, with an Icon employee responsible for keeping the church's books and Gibson and his wife Robyn as directors. All their donations are - of course - tax free/deductable......p</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;color:#333333;">ennywise, but definitely not pound-foolish!</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;color:#333333;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;color:#333333;">And then their is our Mel’s father, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hutton_Gibson"><span style="color:#009900;">Hutton Gibson</span></a>, who has repeated claimed that the Holocaust was exaggerated. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;color:#333333;">According to Gibson Père, Jews are out to create "<em>one world religion and one world government</em>" and outlined a conspiracy theory involving Jewish bankers, the US Federal Reserve and the Vatican, among others.</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;color:#333333;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oy_vey"><span style="color:#009900;">Oy vey</span></a>!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">To come back to the current peccadilloes of M.G. - the media (including the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/30/us/30gibson.html"><span style="color:#009900;">New York Times</span></a> and <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,206520,00.html"><span style="color:#009900;">Fox</span></a>) jumped on the story, not in the least due to the current wars raging in the Middle East.</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">Thanks to the worldwide web, the story spread like wildfire. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">As the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/01/business/media/01gibson.html?_r=1&ref=business"><span style="color:#009900;">New York Times </span></a>correctly pointed out, in a little over 24 hours, Mr. Gibson’s arrest and subsequent behavior in Malibu had already prompted talk of a claimed cover-up, an exposé, worldwide news coverage, an apology and then a full-blown push for alcohol rehabilitation, even as his representatives and executives at the <a href="http://www.iconmovies.com/home.html"><span style="color:#009900;">Hope Hartman</span></a>, a spokeswoman for Disney’s <a href="http://abc.go.com/"><span style="color:#009900;">ABC</span></a> television network, said the company was dropping its plans to produce a Holocaust-themed miniseries in collaboration with Mr. Gibson.<br />The reason given: “<em>it’s been nearly two years and we have yet to see the first draft of a script, we have decided to no longer pursue this project with Icon.</em>” </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">Gibson’s production company <a href="http://www.iconmovies.com/home.html"><span style="color:#009900;">Icon</span></a> started developing this four-hour miniseries for ABC, in what was widely seen as an effort to patch up his relations with parts of the Jewish community after his “<a href="http://www.thepassionofthechrist.com/splash.htm"><span style="color:#009900;">Passion of Christ</span></a>” movie.<br /><br />Needless to say, this is a huge relief - I think all of us want to forfeit this "treat". </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">To quote <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Hier"><span style="color:#009900;">Rabbi Marvin Hier</span></a>, head of the <a href="http://www.wiesenthal.com"><span style="color:#009900;">Simon Wiesenthal Center</span></a>: </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">“<em>I don’t think he should be doing a film on the Holocaust. </em></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;"><em>It would be like asking someone associated with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan"><span style="color:#009900;">K.K.K.</span></a> to do a movie on the African-American experience.”</em></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;"><em></em><br />There is a famous Latin expression: “<strong><a href="http://www.bartleby.com/59/4/invinoverita.html"><span style="color:#009900;">in vino veritas</span></a></strong>” – therefore, one remark our Mel (who promptly checked into rehab) made, hits home: “<em>My life is f****d.”</em><br /><em></em><br />On a final note, if you look at his photo, you see an uncanny resemblance to another notorious anti-Semite…<br /></span><br /><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16346541.post-1153981091254208322006-07-26T22:35:00.000-07:002006-07-26T23:20:53.436-07:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1544/1548/1600/chock.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1544/1548/200/chock.jpg" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">Be <a href="http://www.websense-media.co.il/has_200706/default.asp?gid=friend"><span style="color:#009900;">Sweet</span></a> with <a href="http://www.elite.co.il/"><span style="color:#009900;">Elite</span></a> to the <a href="http://www1.idf.il/DOVER/site/homepage.asp?clr=1&sl=EN&id=-8888&force=1"><span style="color:#009900;">IDF</span></a></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">The news today is far from sweet – no disarmament (let alone defeat) of <a href="http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/hizballah.htm"><span style="color:#009900;">Hezbollah</span></a> in sight. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">As usual, the <a href="http://www.dawn.com/2006/07/27/top14.htm"><span style="color:#009900;">Forces Outside</span> </a>are ganging up again against us, Israel, once again.<br />Well, we are used to it – we have been blamed for everything under the sun, including the<a href="http://globalfire.tv/nj/03en/jews/sec_diana.htm"><span style="color:#009900;"> death of Princess Diana</span></a>. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;"><br />I agree, the UN accident was unfortunate, but weren’t they supposed to keep the peace? And not move from their location?<br />And <a href="http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&amp;click_id=123&art_id=vn20060727062240960C566386"><span style="color:#009900;">Mr. Anan</span></a>, before you trash us again in global media court, could you please wait for the investigation to end?<br />BTW, aren’t <a href="http://www.postchronicle.com/commentary/article_21230009.shtml"><span style="color:#009900;">you and your son</span> </a>under investigation for fraud?<br />Or are you hiding behind “innocent until proven guilty?”<br />You have a flexible yardstick, don’t you Kofi Dear?<br /><br />Going back to the sweet issue at hand, Israeli chocolate maker <a href="http://www.elite.co.il/"><span style="color:#009900;">Elite</span></a> has launched a great campaign.<br />Together with the <a href="http://www.hasadvantage.com/index.asp?gid=hugs"><span style="color:#009900;">Heritage Affinity Services</span> </a>credit card, they created a special webpage where you can click to send a personal message of support and a chocolate bar to an Israeli soldier for free.<br />It will take 24-hours for your message to appear on the website – <a href="http://www.cybercrimes.net/Terrorism/terrorism.html"><span style="color:#009900;">Cyberterrorism</span></a> of our Arab cousins and other <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemite"><span style="color:#009900;">anti-Semite</span> <span style="color:#009900;">ignorani</span></a> is rampant.</span><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">Please be a mensch and <a href="http://www.websense-media.co.il/has_200706/default.asp?gid=friend"><span style="color:#009900;">send a chocolate bar and your personal message</span> </a>– it’s only a mouse click away!</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.websense-media.co.il/has_200706/default.asp?gid=friend"><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#009900;"><strong>http://www.websense-media.co.il/has_200706/default.asp?gid=friend</strong></span></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16346541.post-1153737274120034132006-07-24T03:18:00.000-07:002006-07-24T03:34:34.136-07:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1544/1548/1600/scale.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1544/1548/320/scale.jpg" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#006600;"><a href="http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3278932,00.html"><span style="color:#006600;">How Isrealis try to claim war damages compensation from Lebanon</span> </a></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">The current conflict (as the news channels phrase it - from where I am sitting, it's more like a three-front war) raging in the Middle East, has taken a legal dimension.</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;color:#333333;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;"><a href="http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/iltoc.html"><span style="color:#006600;">Israel</span></a> blames <a href="http://lexicorient.com/e.o/lebanon.htm"><span style="color:#006600;">Lebanon</span></a> for not complying with the UN resolutions and dismantling Hezbollah, the initiator of all the present violence.<br />And what is an effective way to make a government pay?<br />Yep, a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawsuit"><span style="color:#006600;">lawsuit</span></a>! </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">Israeli attorneys Yehudah Talmon, <a href="http://www.danklaw.co.il/Attorney.asp?cc=010401&id=34"><span style="color:#006600;">Yoram Danziger</span></a>, and Nitzah Libai are presenting a symbolic lawsuit to against Lebanese government in a US civil court. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">They are suing for compensation to be paid to Israeli businesses and citizens for war damages. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">More specifically, the claim states that the Lebanese government is responsible for damages caused to residents of Israel since it didn't prevent <a href="http://www.cfr.org/publication/9155/"><span style="color:#006600;">Hezbollah</span></a> from acting from its territory to harm Israeli citizens, thus violating the <a href="http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2005/gal3276.doc.htm"><span style="color:#006600;">International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorism.</span></a></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">The legal team of lawyers and accountants include the former Chief Administrator of the Courts and judge, Dan Arbel, Attorneys Yoram Danziger, Nitzah Libay and the office of <a href="http://www.bdo.co.il/"><span style="color:#006600;">Ziv Haft Public Accountants</span></a>. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">The team has been swamped with petitions from tens of citizens, most of them business owners, who want to participate in the lawsuit.<br />There is no fear that they will forfeit other legal options. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">Although by law, a civilian who is suing the state for compensation claims is not allowed to sue other bodies, the current claim is a complementary one, intended to recover money to people that the Israeli government will not recover.<br />The demand for compensation will be for loss of clientele, damage to sales, and damage to manufacturing capability – the things the government does not compensate for. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">What are the chances of winning the lawsuit? </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">Better then it might look at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prima_facie"><span style="color:#006600;">prima facie</span></a>, since there is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precedent"><span style="color:#006600;">precedent</span></a>.</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">A few years ago, a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/18/arts/design/18pers.html?ex=1310875200&amp;en=a748cc596141fa0c&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss"><span style="color:#006600;">similar claim</span></a> was submitted in the United States against the Iranian government for damaging property belonging to American citizens. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">The prosecutors won.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">Thus, Lebanon, as a sovereign state, was violating international law by permitting Hezbollah to hurt Israelis from its land.<br />The lawyers are confident that once they win, the Lebanese government will recognize the claim and pay the money. <a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1544/1548/1600/pen.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 109px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 126px" height="145" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1544/1548/320/pen.jpg" width="109" border="0" /></a><br />They base this on the fact that the Lebanese government conducts business with the US and maintains property in the United States. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">Therefore, it is possible to collect money from Lebanon without its consent.</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">For sure, this is a lawsuit to watch – who knows, <a href="http://www.trivia-library.com/b/origins-of-sayings-the-pen-is-mightier-than-the-sword.htm"><span style="color:#006600;">the pen might be mightier than the sword</span></a>……</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16346541.post-1152434815487704682006-07-09T01:28:00.000-07:002006-07-09T01:56:38.046-07:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1544/1548/1600/aromanyc.jpg"><span style="color:#33cc00;"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1544/1548/200/aromanyc.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;"><a href="http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150885928778&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull/"><span style="color:#33cc00;">Coming to America </span></a>– the Israeli coffee chain Aroma<br /><br />Israel is a coffee loving nation.</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;"><br />There are several chains of cozy and trendy coffee shops (of the caffeine kind, not the leafy ones), where you can sit, chat and enjoy a wide variety of coffees, salads, sandwiches and cakes. </span><br /><p><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">For impatient types like me, there is the <em>coffee-to-go</em> aka Israel’s answer to <a href="http://www.starbucks.com"><span style="color:#33cc00;">Starbucks</span></a>.</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">Starbucks tried to enter the Israeli market, but <a href="http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/4/2/170433.shtml"><span style="color:#33cc00;">left</span></a> at the same time the US invaded Iraq.<br /></span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">(No, I am not making a political point here – I blame Bush for many things but not for Starbucks pulling out of the Israeli market).</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;color:#333333;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;color:#333333;">One of the successful chains in Israel is “<a href="http://www.aroma.co.il"><strong><span style="color:#33cc00;">Aroma</span></strong></a>”, which I patronize frequently.<br />The chain opened its first small espresso bar-style café based in Jerusalem in 1994.<br />It was the brainchild of two young brothers, Yariv and Sahar Shefa, who wanted to offer us coffee lovers inexpensive but top-quality coffee-to-go.</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;color:#333333;"><br />Nowadays, the chain has a national coverage of 72 branches and is going global.<br />The ambitious Shefa brothers want to add 40 branches in the USA (California and Florida for starters) and Canada (starting with Toronto).<br /><br />They just opened their first foreign branch in NYC near Houston Street in Manhattan’s posh SoHo district.<br />The NY flagship branch will have the distinct Aroma branding of red-black-white color scheme and spaceship-like design.<br />The menu will be an adapted one – both in taste and in names.<br />To be PC, the famous Iraqi sandwich will be offered as the “<em>Grilled Vegetable Mediterranean Sandwich</em>”, and burekas will be sold as “<em>treat burka</em>”. <a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1544/1548/1600/Aroma.jpg"></a><br /><br />Will Aroma make it in the Big Apple? <a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1544/1548/1600/aroma.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" height="162" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1544/1548/200/aroma.jpg" width="119" border="0" /></a><br />Quite likely.<br />The prices are reasonable: USD 3 for a cup of coffee, USD 5-11 per sandwich, USD 4 for a Burekas, and USD 9 for a salad bowl.<br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;color:#333333;">Aroma prepares the food in its own kitchen, in contrast to Starbucks.<br />They are first targeting Israelis living in New York and New Yorkers familiar with Aroma Israel.<br />Aroma USA is positioning itself as a US brand, so don’t expect menus, newspapers and TV channels in Hebrew.<br />The ordering system will be different from the Israeli one as well – your name will not be announced over the speaker when your order is ready, and the Israeli “<em>What would you like to order?</em>” will be replaced with “<em>Welcome to Aroma</em>”.<br /><br />If you are in Manhattan and want a taste of Aroma’s traditional sandwiches or just an Aroma coffee that is warm (not piping hot) served with a complimentary chocolate, visit Aroma's SoHo branch.<br />It's not kosher, but its made-to-order low fat salads, soups and muesli, can be enjoyed 24/7.<br /></span><br /></p></span><span style="font-size:130%;color:#333333;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16346541.post-1151927061213816032006-07-03T04:33:00.000-07:002006-07-03T04:47:28.646-07:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1544/1548/1600/icq.0.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1544/1548/320/icq.0.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span style="color:#333333;">A great Israeli success story is</span> </span><a href="http://www.icq.com/info/icqstory.html"><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#006600;"><strong>ICQ</strong></span></a><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">.<br /><span style="color:#333333;">The name is a</span> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oronym"><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#006600;">oronym</span></a><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"> <span style="color:#333333;">(wordplay) on the phrase “I seek you”.<br /><br />In case you are interested, ICQ is an instant messaging computer program that allows allows the sending of text messages with offline support, URLs, multi-user character-by-character chats, resumable file transfers, SMSes, greeting cards and more.<br />Other features included a searchable user directory and POP3 email support.<br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">In 1996, four young Israelis Arik Vardi, Yair Goldfinger, Sefi Vigiser and Amnon Amir started a company called</span> <a href="http://www.mirabilis.com/"><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#006600;">Mirabilis</span></a><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"> <span style="color:#333333;">with ICQ as their flagship product.</span><br /></span><a title="Yossi Vardi" href="http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/bios/vardi.html"><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#006600;">Yossi Vardi</span></a><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">, <span style="color:#333333;">the father of founder Arik Vardi funded Mirabilis when no others would touch it.<br />He travelled frequently promoting Mirabilis and was known for publicly stating the </span><span style="color:#333333;">company's revenue goal was zero.<br />This was intentionally - the company’s CEO often stated that the company did not have a plan for revenue, since large revenues would come later in the form of advertising revenues, upgraded services and back-end selling.<br /></span><br /><span style="color:#333333;">Their marketing concept was unique:</span> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_marketing"><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#006600;">viral marketing</span></a><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">.<br /><span style="color:#333333;">Mirabilis depended on the users to spread the word about the product.<br />This way, friends would encourage their friends to join so they could communicate to each other. This established a powerful network effect as prospective users strongly preferred the system where their friends were likely to be.<br /><br /></span><span style="color:#333333;">Mirabilis made sure that it was very easy to spread the word.<br />For example, they used standard e-mail to invite friends to join, but also software instructed to scan address books for sending all recipients invitation letters.<br />In contrast to competitor</span> </span><a href="http://www.mci.com/"><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#006600;">MCI</span></a><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">,<span style="color:#333333;"> Mirabilis stayed away from telemarketing and never contacted a potential user during dinnertime.<br />As a result, they were the first mover into the market and gained a large market share rapidly and at a low cost.<br />This lead to the ultimate dot.com dream – they were bought up by </span></span><a href="http://www.corp.aol.com/"><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#006600;">AOL</span></a><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"> <span style="color:#333333;">for $200 million.<br />AOL keeps the viral marketing philosophy going.<br /></span><br /><span style="color:#333333;">To quote </span></span><a href="http://www.corp.aol.com/whoweare/whoswho/leonsis.shtml"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color:#006600;">Ted Leonsis</span> </span></span></a><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span style="color:#333333;">of AOL in </span><em><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032542/site/newsweek/"><span style="color:#006600;">Newsweek</span></a></em>:<br /><span style="color:#333333;">“<em>The less you do, the more it grows</em>”.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16346541.post-1151496286964378712006-06-28T04:52:00.000-07:002006-06-28T05:04:46.976-07:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1544/1548/1600/hacker.gif"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1544/1548/320/hacker.gif" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">The Hack Attack<br /><br /><a href="http://www.cs.georgetown.edu/~denning/infosec/pollitt.html"><span style="color:#006600;">Cyberterrorism</span></a> is not new –therefore none of us should be surprised that more than 750 Israeli websites were recently hacked within a few hours.<br />The victims were: Soldier’s Treasury Bank, <a href="http://www.rambam.org.il"><span style="color:#006600;">Rambam Hospital</span></a>, and Globus Group ticket center.<br />When surfers tried to access these websites, they got the message:<br /><em>You’re killing Palestinians, we’re killing servers<br /></em><br />The hackers are members of the Moroccan “Team Evil” group, responsible for most of the website damage in Israel in the past year.<br /><br />In April 2006, Team Evil succeeded in hacking into several sites of medium-sized but recognized Israeli companies, including those of the “Shilav” children’s store, “The <a href="http://www.bsi.co.il/en/index.asp"><span style="color:#006600;">Blue Square</span></a>” supermarket and <a href="http://www.mcdonalds.com/countries/israel.html"><span style="color:#006600;">McDonald’s</span></a>.<br /><br />The top evillenius happily informed the world that they are</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">“a<em> group of Moroccan hackers that hack into sites as part of the resistance in the war with Israel. We attack Israeli sites every day. This is our duty…hacking is not a crime</em>.”<br />Well, obviously this guy didn’t go to law school - hacking is as legal as suicide bombing……<br /><br />They also don’t seem to understand that hacking a website is not exactly an effective way of putting pressure on a government or army.<br />That doesn’t stop another group member from remarking: </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">“<em>we want Israel to stop fighting. Stop killing children and we’ll stop hacking</em>.”<br />According to their spokesman, the group’s members are all Moroccan youths, under the age of 20, which explains a lot.<br /><br />The irony is, that they almost for sure use Israeli programs and tools for their cyberattacks.<br />My suggestion to them: put all that brainpower and energy to good use and start a Moroccan Silicon Valley….<br /><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16346541.post-1150793844150106642006-06-20T01:56:00.000-07:002006-06-20T02:02:20.776-07:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1544/1548/1600/parrotCART2.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1544/1548/320/parrotCART2.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#333333;">The Case of the Cursing Parrot<br /><br />We all read stories or watched pirate movies with cursing parrots perched on the shoulder of a mean, one-legged sailor.<br />Well, such a bird is currently making headlines.<br />The Bird (name unknown) has the habit of screaming phrases such as “maniac”, “homo” and “son of a bitch” at regular intervals.<br />The bird belonged to an orthodox Jew, who bought it as a pet for his kids. Needless to say, he was not too happy by the verbal outbursts of the creature.<br />I am still puzzled that he didn’t find that characteristic out before he purchased the bird, but who am I? Anyway, the pater familias went to the rabbi to find out how to handle the feathery culprit.<br />The rabbi informed him that the parrot should be slaughtered since he “sins and causes others to sin.”<br />Personally, I thought that you only sinned if you purposely commit an act that is sinful, but obviously, I am wrong (being a woman and not orthodox probably accounts for that).<br />The family father is a patient of a holistic doctor who decided to come to the bird’s rescue. No good deed goes unpunished, so the good doctor had to fork over $ 3,000 to save it from death row. The doctor was now stuck with a bird that has quite a mouth on it.<br />So how did our medical professional handle the situation? Yep, you guessed it – he consulted a rabbi!<br />The second rabbi recommended that the poor parrot either be put to death or have his tongue severed, which brings back images of mediaeval witch trials, doesn’t it?.<br /><br />The story hid the headlines and all kinds of organizations and individuals came to the bird’s defense; some of them even protested in front of the doctor’s house.<br />The “Let Animals Live Foundation” took it a step further and applied to the court to prevent the pending execution (or tongue mutilation). In its petition, the Foundation stated that there is a reasonable basis to assume the parrot will be subjected to suffering and cruelty. Therefore, the court must interfere with a restraining order. The ruling judge agreed and issued an injunction protecting the parrot from being harmed in any way. For now, our feathered friend is safe.<br />The order will apply until a further decision is made. In the next few days, a deliberation will be held and the court will seal the parrot’s fate. Our good doctor is planning to attend the court session accompanied by the parrot in question.<br />Let’s hope the bird will not engage in foul language in court – that’s the prerogative of lawyers!</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0