Starting at the End

The rise of antisemitism has led to me feeling very uncomfortable indeed. With hatred and fingers being turned to Israel the arguments that turn antisemitism into anti-Israel rage could/should/would be silenced now. 

Here is the ending. 

Let's see how much hatred spews at Israel now that their democratically elected ministers have office. 

kthanxbai! 

Jumblerant

Gaza Facts

There are 3 common mistakes I'm tired of seeing. I don't want to get into political arguments right now, just set straight some facts.

1. Gaza is the most densely populated city in the world:

Gaza city is not even in the top 85(a). In fact, there are many cities that are denser than Gaza. For example, London, Cairo and New York.

2. Gaza is occupied by Israel:

Gaza has been 100% cleansed of Jews in 2005. In the same year, Israel also formally declared an end to Israeli military occupation of the Gaza Strip. Presently, There isn't a single Israeli soldier on Gazan soil. Israel doesn't fully control Gaza's borders either, since the strip has a Southern border with the sovereign state of Egypt. The latter fully controls at least one crossing, but chooses to keep it closed for their own political and economic reasons.

3. Gaza is one of the poorest regions in the world:

Gaza Strip's Human Development Index is usually around the 100th in the world (out of 177) (b). Higher than Egypt or Syria, but lower than the Palestinian average.
Life expectancy in Gaza is around 107th in the world, higher in fact than Glasgow (SNP likes to flaunt this). The Palestinians are the largest per capita recipients of foreign aid in the world and the 8th fattest nation in the world. By all global accounts, Palestinians are neither rich, nor poor, but strongly in the middle.

(a) WikiPedia - List of cities proper by population
(b) WikiPedia - Human Development Index

kthanxbai!

Jumblerant

Sirens, Home and the Iron Dome

A few people have asked me to write about my experiences in the last week or so, here in Israel.

Just a few fun facts for you: I'm a father of 2, husband, employee, manager and, obviously, like to think of myself as just another normal guy.

Siren Song

It was with a sense of disbelief that I walked into the air-raid shelter at work last Wednesday morning. This is the kind of thing everyone was expecting:



But this is more like what it was:



So it didn't phase us that much.

And then that evening we had the siren at home.

A different kettle of fish altogether when you have to gather up your kids and put them in the protected room.

The mere fact that every structure built after the Gulf War has to have a reinforced room, by law, tells us all a bit about what kind of area we live in!

Luckily, this time around, we need only stay int he shelters for 10 minutes, and there is no 'all-clear' sounded. People just decide when it works for them.

Iron Dome

What a game changer! Or is it? Similar to the Patriot Missile System int he Gulf War, I think we're going to be hearing a lot about 'near misses' and shrapnel falling all over the place, but for right now, it is keeping us mentally safe too.

Not to give too much away, but there is an Iron Dome unit about 1km from our home, and boy is it reassuring when the rockets blast off! Scary, loud and somewhat worrying just how thin our defensive line is, but altogether I wouldn't say 'no' to it.

Funny side note - I was reading the blog post Game Changer by In From The Cold all about Iron Dome and its benefits, when I heard a couple of loud bangs yesterday. yes, it was the Iron Dome at work again.

Politics

I don't care about the politics. I care about people I don't know throwing explosive rockets at my house.

Here is a politician talking about the situation:

So for now there is talk of a cease-fire. Thats great. It just doesn't take the threat away, it just leaves it standing. An en passe that cannot be resolved.

Having said that, Hamas is getting attacked on TV and elsewhere by it's old friend, Egypt:



So whatever happens in this region in the next 12 months is anyone's guess!



Although I doubt we'll see a one state solution any time soon.

kthanxbai!

Jumblerant

The British, The Americans and Syria

Personally I have checked that our gas masks are ready and our sealed room is provisioned.

I still prefer to laugh though, so here is something allegedly written by one of the funniest men alive, John Cleese:

From JOHN CLEESE 

English: John Cleese in May 2008. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent events in Syria and have therefore raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.
The Scots have raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.

The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France 's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability.

Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."

The Germans have increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbour" and "Lose."

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels ..

John Cleese as a civil servant in the halls of the Ministry. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to "She'll be right, Mate." Two more escalation levels remain: "Crikey! I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!" and "The barbie is cancelled." So far no situation has ever warranted use of the last final escalation level.

Regards,
John Cleese ,
British writer, actor and tall person

And as a final thought - Greece is collapsing, the Iranians are getting aggressive, and Rome is in disarray. Welcome back to 430 BC.

kthanxbai!

Jumblerant

Related articles

• John Cleese: 'Syria and Alert to threats in Europe'
• (Not) John Cleese on Threats to Europe
• The Nobel Peace Prize for 2009
• Alert to Threats in 2013 Europe
• Europe 2013 or Some further useful stereotyping

Pretty Simple Really - Israel vs. Palestine

Sometimes it really isn't that complicated.



kthanxbai!

 http://jumblerant.blogspot.com

Iron Dome - The Video

I've been a tad busy recently what with there being a war in our neighborhood 'n all. That seems to be over for the near future, thankfully, but here is the real secret behind Israel's success. I don't want to sound all 'hippy' and such, but really, without this amazing piece of technology, Israel would have suffered many more fatalities and injuries than it did.

Iron Dome - the video!

Iron Dome Intercepts Rockets from the Gaza Strip (Photo credit: Israel Defense Forces)

kthanxbai!

 http://jumblerant.blogspot.com

Related articles

• Iron Dome's Secret Components (From Toys 'R Us)
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Rockets Hitting Israel

So you might have heard that a few rockets have hit Israel in the last few days and I can assure you that I am pretty gosh-darned miffed about it.

Mainly because I live in Israel.

I'm not a source for information regarding the present conflict, I just spent the weekend with my wife and kids in our house, and I really don't trust the news, but I do like what this chap has to say about peace in the Middle East though.

If you 5 have minutes I strongly recommend watching it. It explains a lot.







kthanxbai!

http://jumblerant.blogspot.com

I'm Proud.. Kinda

I say it in my description above and I'm not ashamed of it - I live in Israel.
Image via Wikipedia
The mere fact that I think you might have a problem with me because of where I live actually speaks volumes itself.

And this Australian article really helps to explain it:

Anti-Semitism the real issue that dare not speak its name

A YEAR or two ago, I took a taxi from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. It was a brilliant sunny day and all around me the hills were green, as we passed a prosperous Arab village, a beautiful kibbutz, a bit of jangled traffic.

The taxi driver was English, an English Jew who had found a better life in Israel - better pay, less anti-Semitism, safer streets, an easy air commute to his daughter in England, but close to other relatives in Israel, and lots and lots of sunshine.

Read more from the article here...

kthanxbai!

Related articles

• April 2010 - Criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitism, rules sheriff - Herald Scotland | News | Crime & Courts (lesliebrodie.wordpress.com)
• Antisemitism: the real issue in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict that dare not speak its name (cifwatch.com)
• Anti-Semitism And Skin Color (pinkbananaworld.com)

Bandwidth Theft

When I put up a picture here on Blogger, Blogger pays for the server for the amount of data stored.

If I were to use a private server then I would pay for any picture / data stored on it.

A picture such as the above would not cut into the maximum bandwidth allowed but over time, and as more people direct other readers to it, the costs add up. So how annoyed should a blogger be when someone hosts their image (bandwidth) on another site without permission? Neptunus Lex shares with us how annoyed he got and what he did about it.

A brief photo essay on the perils of hotlinking other people’s digital imagery rather than hosting your own.

Before:

After: 

Here endeth the lesson.

I'm sure the Saudi Arabian forum that stole the picture from him quickly heard about their mistake!!

kthanxbai!

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