New labour new sleaze - with added self-initiated enquiry

"I have absolutely every confidence in him. He has been, is, and will continue to be, a first class home secretary. …he will continue to do his job with my full support."

Oh dear, these phrases have often meant precisely the opposite, even followed by resignations. Perhaps Blunkett is the exception?

Israel and time

The problem with being punctual in Israel is that there is no one around to appreciate it.

The Partition Plan- UN Resolution 181 - 29 Nov 1947

On this day, the UN voted for a partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab areas. Going to look much the same really.

My head will rest

In the next day or so, we will own our own patch of Israel. All I can say is that the process of getting there was the most inefficient , bureaucratic, wasteful, stupid sequence of events I could only imagine in my most dreadful nightmares. I would prefer to eat my own penis, lightly fried with onions and shollots with a red wine sauce, rather than go through all that again. Why Israelis do not rise up and slaughter their bureaucrats is a mystery.

Now that I have calmed down somewhat, I will tell you a story of a Russian Israeli we meet some years ago in the UK. He said Israel is just like other countries. When you need to do things, you feed paper and fees into one end of a process and eventually, out of the other end, comes the product. It might be a driving license, a permit, permission or something similar. It's like a gear chain where you feed something in and something comes out the other end.

Israel is just like other countries except the gears do not touch each other.

People and Computers

What is it with people and their PCs? I may be able to fix them but doesn't mean I'm ready to turn out at a minutes notice just because of that 'urgent email'. It'll be a call out charge next time. I'm going back to bed.

Give Bush a brain game

Try this for some light weekend amusement.

Benefits system hit by IT chaos

Being forcibly resurrected from the near dead to attend a screening interview (does having a box of tissues count negative?) I noticed that the UK and EDS have managed to screw up yet another IT project. National ID database to protect us from terrorists? Don't make me laugh. It hurts.

G-d save the Queen; muscle marys can fend for themselves

As of today I am now officially a dual British-US citizen!!! Corollary: EU citizen. Having lived abroad for more years than in the US, and permanently in the UK for ages (with the cherished ‘given leave to remain in the UK for an indefinite period’ stamp in my US passport), I decided that it was time to take the big step especially as the US does now allow dual nationality. Oh, and to join the short airport queues into the UK and around the UK/EU, being able to say things like ‘don’t blame me I didn’t vote for Bush’, ‘in spite of the accent I’m British thank you very much’ and ‘there are too many foreigners here.’ California will always be my native land but London is my home. I’ll be attending a citizenship ceremony in the same place as David Soul.

Excuses

I know I know that if you have a blog you’re supposed to blog for f's sake. What with socialising with a succession of visitors starting with my sister and most recently Adrian, the business plan we are working on in my day job reaching a very hectic stage as we are aiming to give presentations to prospective investors by the end of the year, my PhD in Law moving forward the next phase as I’ve just passed the oral and written assessment and now have to develop and submit my formal research proposal, Good Sport just about to start a new job, meetings, events and ‘do’s…Recently that hasn’t left much time to blog about my life or my take on life, the universe and everything. Will try harder.

Blogging

I'm ill. I will blog again soon I hope.

Back where I belong

I'm back in Israel. It's raining, wet and cold. There are swarms of locusts in the South. My company has gone bust and I'm out of work yet again. Think positive.

A customer service announcement

Apologies for the decline in blogging this week. This is due to the overloaded lives of the contributors. Our engineers are investigating and normal service will be resumed as soon as possible. Thank you for your understanding.

Meeting

It's wonderful to see Cathy again after all these years. She hasn't changed. Still a powerhouse of a person, warm and charming.

Intellectually I know she is a good driver as well. She's passed the advanced driving test and is a an amateur rally driver of some note. Yes, all my neurons know this. However, my stomach sometimes disconnects and the gut churning, sweat packed , clenched teeth lift she gave me to central London will stay in my memory for a long time.

Time is a strange thing

Amazing to see Adrian again. He looks pretty much the same except for a bit less hair on top (and more in the ponytail). We’ve had fun nattering away over meals and in the car, catching up on what we all have been doing for the past few decades and how overwhelmingly amazing it is that we were able to pick up pretty much where we left off. Just sad that She Who did not come with him as I would have loved to see her again also. I first met her in 1980 when we worked together in a Jewish bookshop in London and soon afterwards met Adrian.

In the UK

I'm here and spent a nice day in Brompton Hospital with my brother. A great meal with Cathy and partner but I'm tired. Ruuning for the last tube going north is no fun at all. More tomorrow.

Boris sacked.

Tory MP Boris Johnson was sacked from his party's front bench last night over lurid claims about his love life. Ok, making your mistress's daughter pregnant is a step too far. Mistress yes. Whole families no.

Trip

I'm off to London tomorrow to see my brother is hospital. I shall also see Cathy for the first time in years. Wonderful. Blogging will continue of course except with a UK view for a while.

Bush, Blair See Hope for Palestinian State

I watched the scene in Ramallah with amazement. Ararfat is finally buried. I see that Bush/Blair are now going to try again in the graveyard of peace plans that I live in.

Sleepless in Haifa

"She who Must Be Warmed" was asleep as her phone rang. I answer and have a nice chat with Mikee's security company. "There's no electricity in the restaurant, " they announce. I get dressed, collect my torch and drive over there. We're nearer so we get woken up at 1.30 in the morning instead of them. Well, they do have small kids and need their sleep. After ambling around and checking that there was indeed electricity but it was not reaching the alarm I gave up and went home. What's keeping you up then? Still celebrating now the Wicked Witch is dead?

The Munchkinians rejoice

Ding dong yasser’s dead

Which old yasser the terrorist yasser

Ding dong yasser is dead

Wake up and stop the evil

Now is the chance

To help our people

Ding dong yasser is dead

He’s gone where the bombers go

Below below below

Yo ho let’s open up and sing and make peace with Israel

Ding dong the merrie o

Sing it high sing it low

Let them know

Our corrupt regime is dead.

If only the Palestianians could use his death as a damn good opportunity to move on.

Challenge to all modern, moderate Palestinians, Arabs and other muslims, Show the world that you can put your own house in order, root out corruption, marginalise terrorism and move forward to a lasting peace with your neighbours.

It's Rememberance Day

On the 11th hour, of the 11th day of the 11th month we remember the dead of two world wars, and of more recent conflicts. In the past year, tragically, 21 names have joined that roll of honour. Here's one.

Cpl Richard Thomas David Ivell, 29

Royal Engineers.

Died 12 February 2004, Shaibah

Mordechai Vanunu arrested

Mordechai Vanunu arrested again for passing secrets. A good day to pick as the rest of the world's media is busy right now.

So he's dead

Arafat is dead. Israel's biggest enemy who ended up with the famous handshake won't be around now. Whatever the changes in the Palestinian leadership I don't expect this to make any breakthroughs.

EU Still Hopeful of Ending Reactor Dispute

Fancy a fusion reactor near you? The EU, Russia anc China favour building a full scale version in France. The USA, Japan and South Korea want it in Japan. I'm sure they'll find a compromise. How about Africa?

I stole this picture from Second Breakfast.  

Climate change claims flawed, says study

Scientists still argue over climate change. I read an article today in the IHT which pointed out that the glaciers are melting at an increasing rate. Economists in the USA decry the Kyoto protocol as a thinly disguised plot to 'cripple' USA industry and point to the protocols lack off change required from the developing world. Perhaps a few moments thought on the effects of the Greenland ice pack melting and a seven-meter rise in the sea level might concentrate the mind better. Having to pack up and move New York and Florida would be a gigantic undertaking.

I have been unable to find anything on the effects here in Israel. The sea level rise would be less but a two-meter rise would necessitate moving most of Tel Aviv some 10 kilometers East. Not a happy thought at all. As a large percentage of Israel's population lives within 20 kilometers of the coast this would be more than a problem, it would be a disaster.

Syria wants a peace treaty

So why no response from the Israeli Government? I thought that it was part of a long standing policy to seek peace with our neighbours.

Hunting with Firefox

Today is the official launch of Firefox. If you asked me for one good reason to use Firefox it's the absence of spyware on my computer since I started using it. It's also a better browser.

Howard refuses to congratulate Bush

I note that Michael Howard, leader of the Conservative party in the UK has refused to send congratulations to President Bush on his re-election. This is in response to a ban on him meeting the President sue to Howard criticising Bush over Iraq. That would be a change. Imagine next year, the Conservatives win the general election in the UK and the USA and the UK stop talking. What happened to 'reaching out' and all that?

Mr Howard's decision to distance himself from the White House reflects his belief that Mr Bush is so unpopular in Britain that voters will be impressed by a politician who stands up to him. This has created a unprecedented situation in which a Labour prime minister will be feted at the White House while a Tory leader is cold-shouldered

A new Alliance of Democracies?

An intriguing idea from the Brookings Institution: forget the UN, forget NATO. They are no longer relevant and effective. Build from scratch a new global alliance of nations. The entry card: democracy. An Alliance of Democracies.

And not just ‘working towards democracy’, quasi-democracies or newly emerged democracies. Only countries with entrenched, stable democratic systems could join. About 60 countries currently fit the criteria including not just the EU but also eg. Israel, Botswana, Brazil, Costa Rica, India, Mauritius and South Africa.

The authors of this piece argue that the UN and NATO have failed to deal effectively with today’s many global challenges and that meaningful reform is impossible.

The UN’s founding principles, laudable at the end of WW2, are obsolete: sovereign equality regardless of the quality or type of government, and the prevention of aggressive conflict between states. UN peace keepers can only keep the peace when two sides do not want to fight anyway. It is powerless when regimes or their supporters are bent on slaughtering their own populations. The UN is especially unbalanced with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, producing resolution after resolution whilst ignoring or condoning infinitely worse human rights abuses in non-democratic member countries. Sudan on the UN Human Rights Commission!?!

As for NATO, the authors say that an alliance originally founded to keep the Russians out, the Americans in and the Germans down is not well suited for today’s world. Yes it has had some notable recent successes eg Kosovo but generally is less effective and is no longer the main instrument of European or American foreign / defence policy.

The Alliance would not be a mere talking shop, but would have broad powers in both civilian and military arenas to encourage global democracy and fight against common security threats. Creating such a new international institution that encourages co-operation in ways that are both effective and legitimate would help to address the perception of US neo-isolationism and help other democracies achieve more predictability in and influence over America’s behaviour.

Dream on.

Spam Scam Lands 'Em in the Can

Jeremy Jaynes of Raleigh, N.C. is not one of the top 10 spammers around , at least according to Spamhaus. It is nice that he's facing 9 years inside. Readers may like to ponder the list of the top 10 spam countries shown in Samhaus. It's OK, China is catching up fast just like it doea ina number of other spheres.

Blair wins talks with Bush on Middle East peace drive

Some real news here. I see that the USA has seen fit to award the Congressional Medal of Honor for his support on the war on terror. The last recipient was Winston Churchill. Not even Maggie Thatcher got that one. My flabber hasn't been so ghasted for a long time.

Tony will attempt (and fail) to get a new Middle East peace initiative going. I predicted this some time ago although it wasn't hard. Will Mr Powell be around for long enough I wonder?

Oilve Picking

A hard days work picking olives near the security barrier for a Palestinian family that only gets two permits to cross and pick. As they are in their sixties, this means the harvest won't get picked without help and their extended family is not allowed over. So , 150 of us turned up and helped out. The latest worry for them is a new rule that if the land isn't worked for three years it gets confiscated by the state. Annexation by stealth.
One lady we picked with had flown from San Francisco to help out. Thanks to all the Jerusalamites who made the effort to get up at 5 o'clock this morning. If anyone can help near Hebron this week let me know. You're needed.

Iraq PM pledges to 'liberate' Falluja

While the USA gears up to treating Falluja as it did Hue all those years ago, the Eggheads went to our first bris in Israel. The actual cutting was done yesterday, we were told, this is just the celebration. We left for home stuffed to the gills with a variety of tasty foods and drinks. If there was ever an international competition in eating, Israelis would win it hands down.

Silflay Hraka

According to Hrairoo of Silflay Hraka:

It still makes me a bit queasy that 48.4% of our nation consists of losers, freaks, cowards, social panhandlers and people-who-just-don't-get-it. The grown-ups will run this country for four more years, but I don't feel particularly comfortable with the electorate.

You may register your own opinion as I have done.

Anti-gay reggae star banned from entering Britain

This is excellent news especially in light of a hate-crime murder of a gay man in London last weekend . No one has the right to advocate killing of anyone just because they do not like them or disagree with their politics, lifestyle choices etc. Again I ask you to delete gay (and his derogatory terms) and insert eg. black, muslim, Jew (or equivalent derogatory terms). Clearly unacceptable, hate, incitement; not freedom of expression. For the ‘artist’ to say he is being symbolic or it doesn’t actually mean killing in Jamaica is no justification whatsoever.

Ehud Barak is back.

I thought he was busy getting rich. Now he wants to lead the Labour party into oblivion yet again. Not for me thank you.

On the horizon

I shan't live to see an ice free Arctic but my grandchildren will. The USA and other nations are still deadlocked on what's causing it and what to do. Iain Murray of England's Sword thinks it's a European plot to cripple the economy of the USA. Such a conspiracy plot. All those 'Old Europeans' gathered in smoke free rooms conspiring to smash those Yanks by making them more fuel efficient. It's is similar to the neocon hysteria over the Galileo project which some people in the USA see as a direct threat to the USA.

Hungary Joins Others in Pulling Troops From Iraq

It looks like the 'Coalition of the Willing' is shrinking to the 'Coalition of the Few''. Hungary is pulling it's 300 troops out in March and the 2,400 Poles will be joining them. That leaves only Italy and the UK with significant troops in Iraq. New Zealand is withdrawing it's engineers and Thailand is withdrawing it's 450 troops. Unless the violence subsides , looks like left pondians and right pondians will have to make up the difference.

It's all over

Both Bush and Kerry gave very nice speeches stressing the need for unity and healing the wounds etc. What now for the Democrats? I heard the pundits on the BBC stressing the need to move towards the centre which presumably has shifted to the right. Being more like the Republicans does not seem like such a good idea. Vote for me, I'll be a better Bush doesn't sound like a vote winner. Remember Chirac versus Le Pen? Any warm bodied berathing entity would have won that one. That's how history will remember Chirac. He wasn't Le Pen. History will ignore Kerry unless Edwards tries for the Presidency in 2008.

The Revolution Will Be Posted

The mandatory registration in worth it to read some NY Times articles. Blogger posts in the Times! The Revolution Will Be Posted?
I don't have my pyjamas on right now. Perhaps later when I visit Alisa with my bottle of champagne. Veuve Clicquote of course. Even if the Americans don't, I know how to enjoy myself. Memo to self. When running for President, forget all other languages apart from Spanish and a few words of Hebrew.

Not looking good for Kerry

Looks like we have four more years of President Bush. I feel sorry for the Democratic party. Next time, they will need to pay much more attention to policy rather than persons.

Terrorists and houses

Instead of the IDF blowing up the house that suicide bombers used to live in, why not blow up the houses of the people that persuaded him to do it?

First British soldier dies in Iraq

Not a happy event to note at all. Total UK deaths in Iraq are now 70. I have no data on the number of wounded. One thing I am sure of. This will never make the media in the USA.

Election Day

Happy Election day for all Left Pondians. I hope it goes well. Nice to see democracy in action again. My own prediction is for Bush to win the popular vote and the Electoral College vote.

Dubya gets spit on from a great height

Doncha just lurrve Bush’s cheese-eating surrender monkeys?

In what is shurely a last-minute attempt to influence the US presidential election (or a very bad attempt at French humour), frogsheet Le Figaro is claiming that George Bush is descended from 18th c French immigrants into the US and his family name was changed from Boucher. Ergo: Georges Guillaume Boucher.

This now levels the playing field as the Bush campaign team had denounced Kerry for having a French cousin.

Another suicide bomb... Tel Avic

Some deaths. This tears me apart just thinking about the pain and suffering.

How many again?

We built 23 outposts since March 2003 even though we said we wouldn't. Oh no you didn't, said the Americans, it's more.

According to Washington, Israel has totally failed to keep its promises to demarcate the settlements and evacuate the outposts