Short Jewish or Jewish short

Heeb, the NYC Jewish culture mag with attitude (and on my reading list), plans to mark its UK launch with a Jewish short-film festival at the Everyman Hampstead cinema. The best film will win the coveted Palme d’Schnorrer award.

The Reptile backs down.

"Livnat meets Sharon, says realizes there is no chance for referendum, takes back threat to resign from cabinet".

Altogether now.....

Royalty turns Green

Well, I didn't know the Her Majesty was a tree hugger. Pushing global warming topics abroad, converting the Bentley to LPG , a hydroelectric plant on the Thames. All very impressive stuff.

Here in Israel, I had to do an emergency supply run for Mikee, our friend who has started a restaurant. "Take the empty bottles while you're there." she said. So I did and completely failed to persuade the supermarket wher we brought them to take more than fifty. The recycling scheme for glass started here on a deposit basis is not working too well just yet.

EU row candidate stands down

Rocco Buttiglione , the controversial EU candidate for Justice is standing down. I saw an interview with the leader of the Conservative faction in the EU parliament saying ' he has been crucified'. How these politicians exaggerate.

Richard Perle in the news

Normally Allison would be bloggin about this but I couldn't resist it. Richard Perle (scroll way down) is now part of the lawwuit against Conrad Black ex Hollinger International Inc. These neo-cons lead a murky life. I also note that Halliburton is under investigation on the right side of the pond by the Serious Fraud Office. This post is instead of a post I started on Iraq but got much too depressed about to finish. Seeing the news about 8 dead US Marines did it for me.

P.P. Halliburton seems to have a few problems as well. Apart from the FBI sniffing around they didn't manage to profit much from the Iraq conflict.

Rain

It's raining right now. This may not seem much to Cathy who may get somewhat damp today. For Haifa though it's the first serious rains of the winter. We shall be turning to watching the level of the Kinneret again. They've been pumping heavily from there all this summer to reduce the load on the coastal aquifers. Does anyone know a good site for the Kinneret level?

Arafat to Paris

I understand his wife has a nice apartment there which will serve when and if he gets out of hospital. For the record , I would like to point out Arafat has been in more Arab jails than most people during his life. I'll dig out a list soon.

The Rev Huatou of What Ho has a link showing how Arafat got rich, mainly by helping himself to any money not nailed down to the floor.

Imshin of Not a Fish is trying for a blog break but not doing so well.

F-off Buttiglione

I don’t often have anything positive to say about the operation of the European Union in practice (vs the perfectly sound theory of some sort of US of E). However I was delighted to see the new president of the European Commission being forced - by elected MEPs - to back down at the last minute over appointing - as Commissioner for Justice - a Catholic fundamentalist who doesn’t believe in human rights for gays or women. Hopefully we will never see this cretin in any EU role.

Another Rabbi who needs to study more.

I would like to point out Churchill's oration on Neville Chamberlin for those who missed it when I blogged about it some two years ago.

It fell to Neville Chamberlain in one of the supreme crises of the world to be contradicted by events, to be disappointed in his hopes, and to be deceived and cheated by a wicked man. But what were these hopes in which he was disappointed? What were these wishes in which he was frustrated? What was that faith that was abused? They were surely among the most noble and benevolent instincts of the human heart-the love of peace, the toil for peace, the strife for peace, the pursuit of peace, even at great peril, and certainly to the utter disdain of popularity or clamour. Whatever else history may or may not say about these terrible, tremendous years, we can be sure that Neville Chamberlain acted with perfect sincerity according to his lights and strove to the utmost of his capacity and authority, which were powerful, to save the world from the awful, devastating struggle in which we are now engaged. This alone will stand him in good stead as far as what is called the verdict of history is concerned.

You may find the original House of Commons speech here.
To be mistaken is not to be wrong.

The Knesset is well behaved and orderly.

OK, compared to Taiwan that is.

"You've got no shame!" screamed Chu Fong-chih of the opposition Nationalist Party, after throwing a take-out box of chicken and rice at Chen Tsung-yi, a legislator from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party who backed the special budget.

Chicken and rice would be better than humous I suppose. However, enquiring minds would like to know why they feel it necessary to have lunch boxes. Can't they afford a restaurant?

Knesset approves Gaza pull out plan.

67 for - 45 against with seven abstentions and one ill MK.

Minutes after the vote, however, Netanyahu and Livnat announced that they will quit the government, as will ministers Katz and Naveh, if Sharon does not decide to hold a national referendum on the plan within the next 14 days.

Too late, too late! A referendum is supposed to replace a parliamentary vote, not trump it. The ship has been launched. Now we get to see if it floats or sinks. In some ways, this is more of a gamble than Oslo.

Global Empire - Biographies of the Neo-Cons

Interesting reading at some point. I don't have time right now but I found some of the personalities quite interesting.

Tea helps memory

While Israel holds it collective breath waiting for the historical vote in the Knesset on the Gaza/West Bank partial pullout, I would like to point of the benefits of drinking tea. It helps something or other. I forgot what.

Lancashire hot pot

When I heard about this in the car on the way home this evening I laughed so hard I nearly had to pull over. Sounds more like an Ealing comedy film plot from the 1950s than a 21st century news item. But then again many pensioners have very low incomes.

Two pensioners who ran a shoplifting ring from a Conservative club have been
cautioned by police. Rose Fitzsimmons, 70, and Jeanie Duckworth, 66, were caught
with a haul including two stolen boxes of sweets. The women have been barred
from St Annes Conservative Club for bringing it into disrepute.

Why allies send spooks to America

I can perfectly understand why nations spy on 'friendly nations'. It is an accepted part of inter-nation diplomacy. The report itself summarises some 75 nations that indulge but mentions no names that I can find. The IHT report does:

...found that Japan, Israel, France, South Korea, Taiwan and India are the most active allies engaged in espionage against America.

Be careful here. One form of espionage that appears to be fairly popular is sending someone an email asking them a question. Seems a bit open though. I also notice that Arik Sharon has denied that israel 'spies' on the USA. Depends on the terminology doesn't it?

Tracking the Weapons: Huge Cache of Explosives Vanished From Site in Iraq

Three hundred and eighty tons of HMX and RDX missing? Not exactly making the world safe from terrorism is it? Just one half kilo of RDX will bring down one airliner. That's enough for half a million IEDs. I've blogged about this before. IEA inspectors found a SAM missile engine in a scrapyard in Jordan. What else is missing? Where's the yellowcake that the UN was looking after upto the invasion?

Broadside. Battle of Trafalgar

It's 199 years since the battle of Trafalgar when Nelson and a lot of other Brits beat the French and the Spanish near Cadiz. I glad we won.

Shuvi

Here's the organisation behind tomorrow's demo at the Knesset. Another womans group it seems.

What next

The Eggheads will be attending the demo on Monday 25/10/2004 to support the 'Get out of Gaza plan'. For some reason, I have no great enthusiasm this time. It's in Jerusalem starting from the Museum at 1900 and going on to the Knesset.

Saturday wanderings

Mrs Egghead and I drove down to near Jerusalem, picked up her old history teacher and went back to the Kibbutz near Nahariya where it all started. They're now deep in catching up after 25 years away. Me, I get to do it all over again this evening so I'm going for a lie down. The person they're with recently lost her sister and her Mother. Her brother died on the first day of the Yom Kippur war. Far too many memories for one day.

Cabinet grills Blair on troop movement

This is silly. Whatever the rights and wrongs on Iraq right now, where the troops are isn't the issue. As for mission creep, it's well on its way at 90 degrees going somewhere nobody wanted. Yet another discussion today with an Israeli who said it was a great idea. On being challenged why, no particular reason except Saddam was a bad guy and anything else would be an improvement. A point I suppose.

More Jew-hating rubbish

Sadly at last weekend’s European Social Forum beano in London a UJS (Union of Jewish Students) stall was ransacked, littered with islamic literature and other rubbish and items stolen. I should stop being surprised by the level of Jew-hating by people associated with supposedly left-leaning organisations.

Scousers snuff scallies smoking, like

Liverpool is the first UK city to walk the talk and actually ban smoking in public places….by an overwhelming 57-7 majority. One small technicality: the law cannot be formally implemented until Parliament is petitioned. Our Israel-friendly pal Louise Ellman MP is sponsoring the bill. This will definitely light some fires beneath the government’s ‘slowly slowly’ strategy.

Particularly zero-tolerance for this chain-smoking, self-centred pompous twit soft southerner with outdated stereotypes and spectacularly boring magazine.

Rivlin charges pullout supporters with disloyalty to Israel

Why not start an Un-Israeli activities committee in the Knesset?

Another blogger gets fired/suspended for bloggin.

This doesn't seem right. Inappropriate pictures? Where? On those grounds we would only be employed if we promised not to blog. Bah, humbug.

Govt, IDF helped establish outposts

This isn't news. It confirms what everyone has known. Help yourself to the Israeli taxpayers money and build a settlement. Worry about the paperwork later. It worked in the 30s and 40s so why not now?
As for dismantling the outposts/settlements, the government will have to learn to work against itself, no easy task. Perhaps a referendum is the way to go.

Serious bug found in Internet Explorer with XP SP2Less

Less of the 'told you so' stuff please. The article also mentions bugs with Mozilla Firefox,Netscape 7.2, in Avant, and in Konqueror. The Explorer one is more serious.

Gamblers seem happy to be taxed

I’m all in favour of more legal casinos in the UK. This means more revenue for the Treasury from taxes, business rates and levies provided (directly and indirectly) by gamblers willingly parting with their money. Similar to the national lottery it is in effect a consumption tax on thrill and hope but, unlike more conventional taxes, the carrot is the very small chance of the Big Win. But even a Big Win to a gambler can often mean blowing it all in subsequent gambling or spending binges, resulting in more revenue for the Treasury...

Why David Soul became British

I found this story very moving.

There's one thing I've yet to comprehend, however, and that is the use of "sorry". Not long ago, I stopped in at my local newsagent and accidentally trod on this guy's foot. "Oh, sorry," he reacted. "Excuse me, sir," I said, feeling badly, "I just stepped on your foot." "Oh, sorry," he repeated. I don't understand that, but I guess it's just the way it is. One thing I'm not sorry about, though, is becoming a citizen. And, thank you all.

Hamza charged with 16 offences

Cathy will approve of Abu Hamza being charged with 16 offences including soliciting to murder. Left pondians who also want him may be dismayed but I think this is the right step to send a clear message that preaching hate and death gets you jail time.

The Section 58 charge is going to be hard. As far as I know, this hasn't been court tested before and he might get off this one. Still, 16 charges and lets hope the CPP makes an effort this time.

It's all our fault

I see the Egyptians are busy inventing conspiracy theories to explain unpalatable facts. This one made me feel queasy. Israel engineered the Sinai bombings? What puffery. What nonsense.

In appearances on Al-Jazeera and in his own column, Rashwan methodically built a case for Israel's complicity in the bombings. "This is not the first time to see Israelis die by the hands of Israelis," he explained Monday, rattling off a list of terrorist attacks from Argentina to Taba "planned or facilitated" by Israel.

Or as one Western diplomat put it, "When you have a difficulty explaining the reality on the ground, Israel is the first to be blamed."

That's better. Carry on dreaming Egypt.

Chabad only

Mrs Egghead and I have disgreements over the idea behind all this. For myself, the State has no business limiting land sales to anyone as long as they are Israelis. Imagine the fuss if Germany sold state lands with the proviso that only Protestants may apply. The hidden proviso that Jews are not welcome would cause a media storm.

Reaction from the US to the Guardian's Clark County project

The Grauniad is ever brave. Brave to start such a project, getting readers to write to undecided voters in Clark County , Ohio. Even braver to print some of the replies. Not work safe. Viewer discretion advised. Rude words in plenty.

Reverse graffiti

Swastikas sprayed on Jewish tombstones and synagogues is deeply offensive. So are stars of David sprayed on churches. What it the world coming to?

Incorrectly Installed Switches Caused Space Crash Earlier This Year

I''ve been there. At the first trial of a very expensive UK new torpedo, someone reversed the connections of the start up battery and the horrifed directors saw the prototype launch and go straight down to a very muddy sea bed. The subsequent Spanish Inquisition finally concluded that the QA department did it during reassembly after visual inspection.

Moving forward zoom zoom

Captain Gatso and his merrie persons (see post last Mon) have said they plan more actions this weekend against the tax-cameras. Haven’t seen anything yet.

The increasing number of giant 4 x 4s driven poorly through London’s often narrow streets by one adult with one child in the back is pissing off not just other drivers. This seems to be one issue which has united drivers, cyclists and pedestrians alike. When I looked at the Ham & High website poll (usual caveats apply), c 71% voted 4 x 4s in London as a ‘dangerous nuisance’; only 20% voted ‘fashion acc3essory’ and only 9% voted ‘urban necessity’.

Israel follows the USA - the wrong way.

Israel has always been a nation apart. With no other country sharing even a part of its history, culture or religion it goes its own way in the world. If the rest of the world could vote for President, the answer would not be Bush. Only Israel would support him.
Personally I believe Bush will be a better President in his second term than the first.

Mute

I am still here but finding buying a house a little more trying than I thought it would be. Memo to self. Do not pay legal people up front. Leave them hungry.

Nuclear materials from Iraq 'missing'

Just to recap one of the parts of the 'case for war'; Saddam may use Iraqi WMDs to arm terrorist groups. As Condi Rice put it so eloquently:

We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.

So why wasn't there more security for suspected weapons sites when the war was over? Where is the approximately 20 tons of yellowcake uranium that we do know was there? Why isn't the IAEA allowed to go back and look? What was the 2.5 tons of radioactive material removed by the US some months ago? How come UN inspectors picked up SAM9 rocket motors from Jordanian scrapyards?


Some answers please. I won't hold my breath.

New Archer link to coup plot alleged

This is somewhat like one of Lord Archer's books. I find it hard to believe that only a few months out of prison , he decides to fund a coup in Equatorial Guinea. I suppose it would make a great plot for a book. Wasn't Day of the Jackal something like this?

Research that makes you laugh…

Here are my favourites from this year’s Ig Nobel prize winners:

• The effect of country music on suicide.

• An examination of why hula hoops stay up.

• Whether it is safe to eat food which has fallen on the floor.

• Demonstrating that herrings communicate by farting.

• Patenting the comb-over.
  

  
  

I also like the cat research in the Annals of Improbable Research

Gatsos B Gone

On Sunday I had a fabulous fast drive in the MR2 (T-bar roof on as I had a cold) to Ryton Organic Gardens near Coventry. Good Sport decided to be passenger in mine rather than bike up alongside in his
Kawasaki ZL1000 Eliminator. Something not right about the exhaust.

On the way to the M1 I was fascinated to see that all the local stealth-tax machines were out of action on that stretch of the North Circular, eg: all the speed cameras had been newly painted. Each lens was covered in a fetching opaque day-glo orange with ‘MAD’ (Motorists Against Detection) prominently painted in the same colour on the other side.

Those cameras were treated well compared to these ones...

Communities for Jews only

If passed, the law would allow for the establishment of communities comprised of no more than 500 families "that seek to preserve the community character and will be designated for the residency of one specific people only."

Presumably I wouldn't be welcome.

Weisglass declarations give Peres cold feet

Remember Shimon Peres? Sure you do, he's the chairman of the Israeli Labour party, yet again and facing primaries in March. The idea of Labour joining the Government seems dead in the water yet again and he doesn't like the vision that Dov Weisglass spelt out last week. Ehud Barak is pushing his way back in again. Nobody wants fresh elections right now though. Expect a very stormy Knesset seesion when the disengagement plan comes up for a vote. It will have a tough time.

The airport has a railway

At last. I can take the train all the way to the airport and back whenever I want. Wonderful.

Sinai past present future

This latest terrorist outrage is shocking. But it’s more shocking that the Israelis there seemed to ignore the warnings. Even the last time I was in Israel several years ago I was told not to go to Egypt or Egyptian-controlled Sinai.

Some of my fondest memories from 1979-1981 are the times I spent travelling around Sinai at the end of Israeli control. True undeveloped paradise and peace…by bus or hitchhiking with fellow meetnadvim, with friends or on my own... swimming, snorkelling and grass huts at Nueba, Dahab and Ras Mohammed...buying tinned food from the beduin who did the rounds on camel or on foot...the toilet area in a ditch behind the palm trees…the beduin woman who noticed my 2 gold crowns…El Arish...the top of StK’s monastery at dawn...the oases which seemed to appear out of nowhere...climbing a tower at 4am to avoid a wadiflood...meeting people from all parts of the world...meeting the settlers of Yamit who said they’d leave over their dead bodies…

All in great contrast to getting blown up by barbarians whilst gambling at a luxury hotel.

Multiple attacks

Another terrorist attack on Israelis and tourists. Looks like an alQueda special rather than a Hamas job. We nearly went this year as well. Imshin has an excellent post on this.

Michael Fish retires

So farewell then to Michael Fish the last colourful BBC weather forecaster of his generation. He gave his final TV forecast on last night’s BBC News at Ten.

I still have keen memories of the hurricane which followed his fateful broadcast in October 1987. Fish said a woman rang the BBC asking if there was a hurricane on its way. He condescendingly disrespected what turned out to be an invention, and told the nation there’s no hurricane and not to worry. It would just be a bit windy.

A few hours later all hell broke loose. I was awakened in darkness by blowing, banging, cracking such as I’ve never heard before. The three huge chestnut trees at the bottom of the garden were swaying madly, branches flying off through the air. There are lots of mature trees in Ealing where I was living then and quite a few came down that night.

As a California native I’ve been through several earthquakes. You get a shake or two then it’s all over in a few minutes. Not this total sensory entertainment of with several hours of severe wind with objects flying around and falling on things making a lot of noise. Morning came with winds still high, trees down all over the place: on pavements, cars, streets, railings, buildings.

I had recently started my first ‘proper job’ and I thought I couldn’t possibly miss a meeting set for that morning. What an adventure it was to successfully drive from Ealing to Barnes (lots of trees) via Kew (lots of trees) and Mortlake (lots of trees). It was one of those days that Londoners do best and when they actually talk a little to each other. Tube strike? Bomb? Trees obstructing roads? Stuff and nonsense! We’re getting to work or going about our day regardless. Or at least make a sterling effort.

Metaphors and when not to use them.

Perhaps Dov Weisglass meant something else but mentioning formaldehyde and wishing:

"The rest will not be dealt with until the Palestinians turn into Finns,"

is somewhat confusing. What exactly did he mean I wonder. He speaks in tropes.

Iraq kept up WMD pretence 'to deter Iran'

It's one explanation I suppose. He had to have some reason to pretend to have WMDs when he didn't. The conclusion is clear about the threat that Iraq posed. It was diminishing rather than increasing. The sanctions could have been lifted and the UN monitoring teams would have been able to stop any program from getting started.

As far as making a nuclear bomb was concerned, Mr Duelfer said Saddam "was further away in 2003 than he was in 1991. So the nuclear programme was decaying steadily".

One of the worst parts of this sorry mess is the difficulty the world faces when genuine WMD programs are underway. Libya was a surprise to the intelligence services of the West. I note that US Secretary of State Colin Powell says that he is confident that Brazil has no plans to develop nuclear weapons. I doubt that the International Atomic Energy Agency is quite so happy about the Resende plant in Rio. Iran is the greater danger right now but the use of force would certainly mean the USA having to do it alone.

Israel's nukes also have come for some greater international attention recently. Pressure for a general Middle East WMD free area will only grow. When Tony Blair does fly to Washington after the elections, he will have some very firm requests of the President.

Israel is undermining its credibility

Imshin of Not a Fish apologises over the PR fiasco concerning the Qassam rocket that could have been a stretcher. It is unlikely that the Foreign Ministry, having removed the videos from their web sitewill bother or withdraw the call for the dismissal of Peter Hansen from his position as commissioner-general of UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Work Agency). The doctoring of the videos by removing the date from the last sequence showing a Qassam being fired shows the danger of using doctored intelligence to prove a point. Israel may not like UNWRA one little bit. It would like the job of feeding 1,5 million Palestinians even less.

No links between Iraq and al Qaeda

So now that Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says he knows of no "strong, hard evidence" linking Saddam Hussein's Iraq and al Qaeda and Tony Blair has stated that there weren't any WMDs in Iraq the case for the war on Iraq comes down to 'Saddam was a bastard'. The current war games being played out in the USA may indicate who is next but this may be just a way of putting pressure on Iran. None of the above means I wouldn't vote for Tony Blair at the next elections or that I would vote for Kerry if I were a left pondian.


P.P
He says he was 'misunderstood' whatever that means.

Jews for the preservation of firearms ownership

In our post-9-11, post-post-modern, post-post-post-ironic world, bombarded with mega messages on mega levels, I can’t tell (or prefer not to) whether this is a real organisation, a set-up by left-leaning anti-semites in alliance with jew-hating muslims, a clever parody, or what?

Pat Robertson - Holy Twit

We have been blessed with visit by Pat Robertson, Preacher extraordinaire and full time twit. This time, he tells us that the West Bank and Gaza belongs to God. That's a relief then. He is also noted for such illuminating words as:

With all due respect to those dear people, my friend, God Almighty does not hear the prayer of a Jew

You say you're supposed to be nice to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that, and the other thing. Nonsense. I don't have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist. I can love the people who hold false opinions but I don't have to be nice to them"

(T)he feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.

The strategy against the American radical left should be the same as General Douglas MacArthur employed against the Japanese in the Pacific . . . bypass their strongholds, then surround them, isolate them bombard them, then blast the individuals out of their power bunkers with hand-to-hand combat. The battle for Iwo Jima was not pleasant, but our troops won it.

Israel does not need friends like this and I'm glad to say he was avoided by the religious establishment and the government.

Not a trip

It was to have been a lovely day out with friends in Acco. Instead, I get to stay home and fix the suddenly broken sewage pipe. I am wading in things I'd better not mention.

Silverstone-age

Following one of Adrian’s threads: I’m no fan of Bernie (his latest outburst is a bit of black-pot-calling-kettle). But he hit the mark about the non-management so endemic in Brit institutions. And I’m delighted to see him turning up the pressure and actually walking his talk. He did threaten to dump-the-dump Silverstone if they did not modernise. Hopefully this will result in a much improved British GP in a venue with state-of-the-art track and facilities. We can all wish for an actual GP in London following this summer’s exhilirating, highly successful demo, but I’ll settle for a yearly demo. Next objective: revitalising competition during the races by diminishing the Shoey-shoe-in factor…

Too much

I'm swamped with too much news today. There's the Gaza problem well on it's way to getting much worse, a rather poor debate between Bush and Kerry, the appaling news that there may not be a British Grand Prix next year. I shall console myself with the 45th thing I like about Israel. To appear reasonably dressed in public, I only need two items of clothing and a pair of sandals. Go Commando!