It is unpleasant but inevitable that the US is scaling back involvement in the Middle East peace plan as there has been little to show for the efforts so far.
(OK these apply outside London as well...)
A fascinating selection of real-life superheroes such as Angle Grinder Man and Captain Gatso. See also here.
The NHS. One of the best health services in the world (and I have experienced a few).
I am happy to pay my taxes to fund universally available heath care free at the point of delivery. One example: when my dad was visiting from the US his heart went into double-time one Saturday night. Off we went to the A& E at the local hospital (aptly named The Royal Free) where he was seen promptly (thanks to a highly efficient triage system that moves the time-wasters to the back of the queue) and the ticker was back in its proper rhythm in no time. He was amazed not just by the excellent care but how everyone was focused on clinical delivery and he didn’t need to produce his credit card/insurance certificate or similar.
The commemoration for Itzhak Rabin (zichrono l'bracha) will take place on Saturday November 1st at 20:00 in Tel-Aviv (Rabin square).
I've been here before. Sales of our company's products having been zero for the last six months, we have been asked to take a 30% pay cut with a promise of repayment when times get better. Sigh.
We also have a marketing plan for the first time. Yes, I know, but better late than never. Our sister company has failed to make an impact.
Update:
At a company meeting it was made clear that we all have to agree with the pay cuts or there will be layoffs. One person voted no so that's it. Now I get to see if I still have a job.
I still have a job. Many in Israel do not. I still feel guilty though.
After the lowest turnout ever, except in the Arab Israeli sector, Liked and Labor have drawn after a fashion. In my town, the incumbent Danny Zak was defeated with only 18 percent of
the vote, and the runoff will be between Likud candidate Eli Dokovski and independent Gabi
Ben-Galim.
The little Eggheads got to vote for the first time.
Whilst creating my super duper Java app for report generation, I also have to learn Java as it's a new language to me. I came across this snippet in the help file for a class called ColorSpace.
note: For developers creating an ICC profile for this conversion
space, the following is applicable. Use a simple Von Kries
white point adaptation folded into the 3X3 matrix parameters
and fold the flare and surround effects into the three
one-dimensional lookup tables (assuming one uses the minimal
model for monitors).
Wonderful stuff. I wish I knew what it meant.
Election fever apathy hits Israel yet again as 3.7 million Israelis trudge to the polls. This is the last time I can vote for Meretz except there is no Meretz candidate where I live so it's Shinui for me The local Labour candidate has an unsavoury reputation as a developer.
Meretz, which also suffered a stinging defeat in
the national elections, is, like Shas, hoping
merely to retain its local strength. The party,
which is conducting its last campaign as an
independent party prior to an expected merger
with Yossi Beilin's Shahar movement, has
invested NIS 7.5 million in this effort.
My fellow workers claim this should be the Shkia movement.
It seems we have a firefight around Shebaa farms again. I wonder if Sharon will hit Syria again.
I see that an Israeli ISP called 012.net.il have managed to get themselves into the spamhaus SBL. Hosting a viagra spammer, tush mush.
I don't know what to worry about most now. Problems in Iraq. or problems in Israel. Perhaps here?
According to the Jerusalem post, the IDF sends 600 soldiers to guard one Gaza settlement and then takes the rifle away from soldiers due to budget cuts? I hope this gets investigated and solved. Every IDF soldier in Gaza must have a weapon and carry it at all times.
The keyboard failed at home yesterday and the spare wasn't much better. Time for a new keyboard.
Another demo yesterday , this time in Jerusalem for Shalom Achshav. There were around 6,000 of us and 'She Who Really Needs A Zimmer Frame' went along and hobbled around. There'll be another next Saturday in Tel Aviv to mark 8 years since Rabin was murdered.
We did manage to get to friends to come with us though. As Miranda has pointed out in a comment, the left neglect local politics these days, to the point where we're actually supporting the local Shinui candidate.
A sad farewell to Concorde. The beautiful bird may fly again however as Richard Branson of Virgin has not yet given up the fight.
A joyous good riddance to "Gorgeous George" Galloway. Well done to the Labour party for expelling this **** at long last. We cannot go back to the dark old days of the likes of Drek Hatton and fiends.
International alert (addresses for protest included)
Tel-Aviv, October 23
While we can do little to stop the ongoing cycle of violence Israeli
peace activists are rather mobilizing to take part in the olive harvest.
But there is something everybody can do, something which is not
dependent on physical condition or geographical distance. We got an
alarming phonecall from Akaba village. Two and a half years ago we
asked you to help preserve its only health clinic - for which a
demolition order had been issued. Then, your protests helped; the
clinic is still there.
But the village is again threatened. This time, the peasant families
received for 12 out of the 18 houses AND the Mosqe AND the
Kindergarten demolition orders.
No problems of terrorism in Akaba; the hamlet doesn't pose any
security threat whatsoever. Its only sin: that it is located in "C-area",
that is: the area which Sharon wants to annex, and preferably empty.
Please, make your critical questions heard - by phone, fax and/or
email
The first to be addressed:
Commander, Civil Administration
Fax 972 2 9977326 (or!!! phone him: 972-(0)2-9977341)
Further fax and email addresses (for sending copies):
There's hope yet. This is the first time the Un General Assembly has condemned a terrorist attack. See here Ha'aretz - Article for the full text.
flummery [FLUHM-muh-ree]
sweet soft pudding made of stewed fruit (usually berries) thickened with CORNSTARCH. Old-time English flummeries were made by cooking oatmeal until smooth and gelatinous; sweetener and milk were sometimes added. In the 18th century, the dish became a gelatin-thickened, cream- or milk-based dessert, flavored generously with sherry.
Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar and the death of Horatio Nelson. I'm glad we won.
London congestion charge - yes please!
Driving fast cars fast is one my abiding passions (although I do not go so far as my downstairs neighbour who just bought a new Carrera 4S turbo worth around 40% of his small 1bd/50 sq m flat). It's exhilarating to live in a country where one is (still) able to drive safely and positively out of town (nay even north of Watford) whether on motorways or little B- roads. It helps to know where the speed cameras are...
I especially enjoy driving in London. I know London intimately: which routes to take and when, taxi-driver-level shortcuts, humps to avoid and the best places to park. I get a buzz out of the interaction of an open-top car and get a "nice car!" shout at least once a week. The combo of driving and walking in London works for me professionally and personally.
For the past eight months driving in the central London congestion charge zone has been an even greater and quicker pleasure. Generally roads flow more smoothly and parking is even easier. Since 17 February drivers entering the zone must pay £5 per day. Many time-wasters (tourists? out-of-towners? people driving through rather than to London?) seem to have simply disappeared and not just for the first weeks as predicted.
The congestion charge scheme was set up with the dual purpose of reducing road congestion and raising revenue to fund other transport projects. So far it has been successful beyond the planners' dreams in reducing road traffic. Great news for drivers.
Methinks there are several theories for this, other than financial, including:
bother factor: For most people who used to drive and park in town £5 is a small additional amount to pay considering parking alone can be nearly £5 per hour in some core areas.
on principle factor: People are reacting perhaps as they did when parking meters were first introduced and parking outside the zone.
straw and camel factor: People who used to drive in, say, to shop now go to out of town stores. This is backed up by John Lewis latest trading results showing lower sales in central London but higher sales in their other stores.
e-payment methods factor: Paying the charge is a breeze: I have a fasttrack card so can pay in seconds by text or internet or use one of the online terminals in car parks in a pinch. For the non-electronified however it may be all too daunting.
degree of separation factor: You now need to be just that bit more organised to drive into central London. Instead of just driving and parking and paying the attendant or machine (and being organised enough to get back to your car before your time runs out if you are parking on-street) you also need to pay remotely.
It's not so great news for us as taxpayers as the corresponding expected revenue (in charges and fines for not paying same) has been much less than expected. See here for the most pessimistic/party political view.
Sadly the numbers of white van man on the roads have not been reduced...
One of the more interesting Knesset woman members. She has a PhD in biochemistry and writes articles on sperm motility . She's also gorgeous but in the wrong party.
Three soldiers killed last night in the West Bank. One was 19 years old from our community. I won't supply a link as I suspect it will be everywhere. In the meantime, the Knesset are concentrating on finding a way to stop Yossi Beilin from every trying to make things better ever again.
The holidays are over, 25,000 Israelis went across the border to Sinai. We should all be back at work today, well I am, but the unions are restless again. Looks like a general strike coming.
This is worth keeping. It's the Interim report on the British Mandate by Herbert Samuel, High Commissioner and Commander in chief. Now I know why we have two Chief Rabbis and advertising hoardings outsid of towns are banned.
Visited an organic shop yesterday for a change in Harduf. What a nice place. Potatoes still with the earth on them just as the Lord intended,veg in boxes and a gentle waft of manure to go with it. The man in the shop was very helpful and pointed out various goodies such as the 2 kilo jars of honey, each one labelled with the flowers the bees used. Avocado honey comes out very dark for some reason. They hav sourdough bread that weighs 2 kilos per loaf. You could build a house with them
I was going to provide another recipe from '700 years of English cooking' but they are all very difficult to do. Perhaps I'll do a flummery this week. I cooked lamb chops last night for the family and guests. It came out very well and we were wondering why lamb only seems to appear on a kebab stick in Israel. Mint sauce as well, yummy.
Tal G has an interesting update on this.
Amos Oz was one of the Israeli team. Here's an account of the Jordan meeting.
I tell Yasir Abd-Rabbo and several of his associates: some day we will have to erect a joint memorial to horrible folly, yours and ours. After all, you could have been a free people 55 years ago, five or six wars ago, tens of thousands of dead ago - our dead and your dead - had you signed a document similar to this one in 1948. And we Israelis could have long ago lived in peace and security had we offered the Palestinian people in 1967 what this document offers them now. Had we not been inebriated with victory after the conquests of the Six Day War.
I wonder.
What is it with the Palestinians? What possible good can it do to start attacking Americans in Israel or Palestinian areas? Why are those Palestinians who are prepared to work towards a solution unable to control or neutralise what seems an alarming escalation of activities of the fanatical fundamentalist elements (reflecting in turn the rise of Muslim violent fundamentalism world-wide). These people appear totally opposed to peace and indeed seem to be working toward a world free of Jews, Americans or other infidel.
This new Geneva initiative outlined by Adrian has some promise, but will the rejectionists suddenly come to their senses “oh yeah let’s just put down our weapons, shut up already and stop hating?"
So what is to be done? I do want to hear more constructive suggestions based on the principal of “we are where we are” and moving forward from there. I do not want to hear the same old tired Jew-hating or Anti-Americanism overtly or hiding under an anti-Zionist or conspiracy-theory cloak. I do not want to hear about compulsory support for the state of Israel regardless of policy. I do not want to hear self-pity, victimhood, who is oppressing whom and why and how mass murder is justified. Is that too much to ask?
Just read a fascinating book by Bernard Lewis “What went wrong? The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East”. One of his arguments is Christian societies want through a fanatic, extremist (even what we may call ‘terrorist’ today) period. This was followed by modernisation and elightenment, partly achieved by the separation of church from governance (not the same as separation of church and state), the creation of civil societies and development of democracy and freedom including women, other religious groups and cultures. Islam and Islamic states are going through a similar "medieval" phase now. Muslims should stop blaming others for their plight and look inward. They need to face the difficult challenges of modernising their own their states, cultures and societies and develop civil governments rather than theocracies or dictatorships. The optimistic view is that Islam will indeed evolve a more mature, modern outlook. The pessimistic view is that Islam drags the world back down into a vicious spiral of hate, violence, and atrocities.
I guess I have some right to spout off having spent a couple of periods in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s in Israel. I seriously considered making aliah but in 1981 I decided to live in London rather than Tel Aviv. I thought at the time that surely in 25 years there would be peace in the middle east…Well there’s still 3 years to go…
The sound and fury over the 'Geneva Peace Plan' continues. Beilin has been called every name under the sun, compared to Chamberlin, called a traitor and I see that someone has filed suit against him in the Tel aviv courts.
Is is claimed that this peace plan will:
...l bring about the creation
of a sovereign Palestinian state alongside
Israel, put an end to the occupation, terminate
conflict and bloodshed, and end all mutual
claims.
The reaction from the Palestinians is mixed. Arafart is playing wait and see. Fatah is unhappy and I doubt that Hamas and the other terrorists will be pleased. The Tanzim, however, appear to be trying to gather support. The US is distant, with State
Department spokesman Richard Boucher calling it a 'private initiative in which the U.S. was not involved.'
The US has vetoed a Security council resolution calling for a halt to the security barrier after an acrimonious debate. Israel is also somewhat annoyed with Switzerland for helping out. You may read a local view here.
Back here, some more reservists are being called up, there were the normal various shootings, attempted bombings. The operations in Rafah continue and some 18 Palestinians from the West Bank are going to be deported to Gaza.
Dror Atkes, the head of Peace Now's settlement watch will testify before a
U.S. Senate sub-committee on the Middle East about settlement activity. He's suggesting diverting some of the loan guarantees to helping settlers move back to Israel proper.
The strike which stopped over Succoth appears to be back on. Wonderful.
I hope you were paying attention to all that. There will be a test later on 'Israel in the news'. Oh for a quiet life. Why can't Israel be as boring as Belgium?
The Marker tells me that the Finance Ministry is hoping to get Microsoft to help save some money. Are we going Linux I wonder? When will MySQL get stored procedures?
Still, $180 per seat isn't that bad. Getting enough trained Linux people might be hard though. Lindows in Hebrew?
Update. The Register, also known as Vulture Central has more on this.
The decision will almost certainly focus Microsoft's attentions on supporting Urdu, Hebrew and Arabic on non-Windows platforms. ®
We have a new peace plan out. Called the 'Geneva Accords' , it was drafted by Yossi Beilin and Abed Rabbo with others. Here's the bit on the Palestinian refugees.
The Palestinians will concede the right of
return. Some refugees will remain in the countries
where they now live, others will be absorbed by
the PA, some will be absorbed by other countries
and some will receive financial compensation. A
limited number will be allowed to settle in
Israel, but this will not be defined as
realization of the right of return.
Sounds about right to me. Ariel becoming part of the Palestinian State will not be popular though.
Tal G has another take on this. He's probably more representative of mainstream Israeli opinion than I am.
A Google news search currently shows 51 hits for Geneva Israel Beilin. Expect this number to rise and rise.
It would appear that the car bomb that went off in our road was the local loanshark making his normal efforts to enforce loan repayment.
Now that 'Her Indoors' is fast asleep, I would like to point out that the various reports on Israel's submarine launch capability has become ever sillier than normal.
This is a fairly regular thing so I'm very glad for the excellent Israeli medical care. Casualty at 1 a.m. is not a pretty sight though.
I notice that various news events have an assotrment of coverage including a foreign worker being mildly injured falling three meters in a construction site. Bombs are so passe these days. Only one dead so no news there then.
A car exploded about 400 metres away the other side of a roundabout near us. Possibly a bomb in transit. No word of casualties. I'm glad my kids are safe in the Sinai.
There was a very loud bang just now which shook the windows. Our road is flooding with ambulances and police. I don't know what it was.
We spent most of the weekend babysitting our friend's four children. One of them had been given an ant farm which I was persuaded to try and populate. I can inform my readers that finding ants is hard work and persuading the little buggers to go where they are wanted is even harder.
Still, Israeli ants are big and juicy when you do find them. There was great satisfaction when the thing was done.
I make the USA/UK split around 240 to 93. The USA was a late starter in these stakes but will predominate over the coming decades. Perhaps education spending has something to do with it. Watch China though.
I'm still here in Israel, nobody got killed today, I can put up with the acrid smoke from burning tyres lit by the port workers. I even got paid and the major surgery I have performed on our key application seems to be working.
Life could be worse.
This nice site tells us that of the approximately 4.12 million blogs , 66% have not been updated in two months representing 2.72 million blogs abandoned.
Males are more likely to give up. Interesting data here.
Sorry for the silence after Adrian’s sterling (or as a good pro-European I suppose I should say euro…) introduction. I’ve got a lot on my plate at the moment. OK we all do but even more so just now. So you might say even more to blog about and I may well do so. Or not.
I was born in the US (California) but have been elsewhere for most of my adult life. I’ve lived in London for over 20 years now and still love it as much if not more as the first time I set foot here in 1978 as a backpacking student.
One of the many reasons why I like it here is that the strict gun control laws – especially handguns - mean that guns are not easily or generally available and the resulting low incidence of gun-crime and killings.
I have always maintained that this is just as well as Britain is not so much a non-violent society (as many Yanks like to think) but an unarmed society. The latter sadly appears to be changing rapidly.
Seems most UK gun crime is still ‘organised hits’ and ‘black on black’ drug or gang-related shootings the logic being if you are not on someone’s hit list or involved in hip hop / gangsta urban black music and culture you are safe.
However it seems that, like the music, the ‘gun culture’ has spread more widely and that guns are getting into the UK illegally through similar channels as the drugs so readily available on the street. It is said it is now as easy to order your handgun as it is your crack cocaine and heroin. A handgun has become fashionable in some urban circles.
I’m optimistic that the situation will never deteriorate to the levels in the US, where in spite of so many random and mass killings (never mind the hits) nothing much is ever done to control the possession and use of guns on the basis that the US constitution protects this right:
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
Pro-gun groups such as the NRA have successfully lobbied that the constitution allows individual people unrestricted rights to own and use guns as they see fit. For nearly 100 years constitutional lawyers have said that the right refers to the collective right eg armed forces.
Well, perhaps I don't clean my fridge as often as I should but keeping botulinum there for ten years is a bit extreme.
So it's back to work with aching legs after my normal Atonment of walking a lot. I enjoy a complete day of absolute quiet and thoroughly recommend it to all the nations of the world.
That last bombing was hard to take. The cumulative effect is beginning to tell on me. How the families can cope is beyond my ken.
VeriSign Freezes Search Service. They haven't yet but perhaps tomorrow. It's not the web site that people objected too, it's redirecting any .net or .com unsused url to it that had people bothered.
I will share with you a short passage from ‘The Israelis – Founders and Sons’ by Amos Alon. This fascinating book first published in 1971 mentions attempts by Ben Gurion in 1936 to come to an accord with prominent Arabs. The two Arabs mentioned were Mussa Alami , a moderate nationalist and George Antonious , a historian and leading theoretician on Arab nationalism.
Ben Gurion, who had taken great pains to learn Turkish and English, and even later studied Greek and Sanskrit spoke no Arabic. The Arabs spoke no Hebrew so the conversation was in English. Ben Gurion told Alami that the Jews would come and settle in Palestine whether there was agreement or not but that he would prefer agreement. He proposed a Jewish autonomy within a larger federation of independent Arab states. In return, Ben Gurion promised large-scale economic assistance to the Arabs of Palestine. Mussa Alami bluntly dismissed such aid as unacceptable.. ‘ I prefer the country to remain desolate for another one hundred years until we Arabs are capable of developing it ourselves. Ben Gurion later wrote that he had felt in his own heart that ‘if I were an Arab I would say the same.
Early Arab rejectionism. It’s 67 years later and I doubt that the majority of Arabs think any differently. There are other passages in the book which I will share with you from time to time. Note: Must get hold of some Arab literature from the period.
There is a sort of conclusion to all this. In spite of valid Jewish claims to be able to live in Hebron and Yad Mordechai the current cost is too high. Even with the security wall built in the North of Israel, the IDF still gets to visit Jenin and the surrounding area.
I see. A security fence with a hole in it. Brilliant plan.
A glance at the map convinces me that the fence will cause as many problems as it solves.
There is a strike in Israel today due to angry government workers not happy at the layoffs to come. I work near Haifa port and the number of ships in the bay is around 40. Most of them want to load rather than unload.
