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Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (50 unread)

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July 30, 2010
5:49
I’ve got an apartment! (if..)
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

On Sunday I will sign the lease for a new apartment. Provided that is if I can find another person to be a guarantor for me. I need two and I don’t have any idea who to ask. Native Israelis use relatives but for olim this is a much bigger issue if they don’t have family already here. My understanding is that asking work colleagues to serve as a guarantor is a no no. That doesn’t leave me with very many options. The way I had to get around not having guarantors before was to pay the whole year’s rent up front in cash on the day I signed the lease — and that has meant, in both of the two apartments I’ve rented that the landlords don’t pay to fix anything at all and I’ve had to foot the bill for fixing a hot water heater in this apartment twice, work on the electric outlets, replaced entirely the dead hot water heater in the previous apartment, bought a new refrigerator in the previous apartment when the one in it was discovered not to work and had to pay to have the old one removed and so forth. Still, not seeing any other options, I offered to do that with this landlord and he was like you are certainly free to do that but I still want two guarantors in case you didn’t pay the arnona or the electric or what have you.

Help! Any advice? Are there people who offer to be guarantors for a fee or something here? Anyone want to be a guarantor for me? Obviously I pay my bills.

The apartment is great. It is huge. It is in Bnei Brak on the border of Ramat Gan. It has an amazing kitchen, though I will need to buy a fridge. It has a little laundry room just big enough for the washer and dryer and standing there in front of it to put the stuff in –awesome to have the washer and dryer in the same room! It has a baby’s room that is not only big enough for a crib but also for a changing table, rocking chair, and small dresser. The second bedroom is big enough to fit the humongous Danish canopy bed –aptly named “the heavenly bed” in German (I bought it when I lived in Germany and have carried it country to country ever since — I love that bed!). There is a little enclosed balcony room off of the bedroom where I can put the litterboxes (not utterly ideal but manageable). It has an air-conditioning unit and ceiling fan in the living room which is big enough for me to put the bookcases as well as the sofa and coffee table and make a small home office in one end of it.

But I need a guarantor. Ack.
July 29, 2010
10:57
Israel 8th happiest country–this proves we’re nuts
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

We’re small. We’re poverty-stricken. We live in abodes the size of a breadbox. We have no natural resources and we live in a desert. Oh and people regularly lob missiles at us and start a war every couple of years. Yet we are among the happiest folks on earth — or at least out of the 155 countries that were surveyed. For some bizarre reason we tie with Canada, Switzerland, and Australia. We beat out the U.S. which has a ranking of 14 and the U.K. with its ranking of 17. Not surprisingly, we far outstrip all of the other countries in the Middle East — our nearest competitor is Jordan with a ranking of 52. The Palestinians, coming in at 88, beat out both Egypt and Syria which tie for 115th.
7:22
Abbas trying to avoid getting a Palestinian State yet again
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

If anyone still clings on to the idea that Palestinian leaders actually want a Palestinian State, get over it. Yet again, Abbas is doing everything he can to keep from returning to the negotiating table. Abbas has squandered the unprecedented 10-month building freeze that Israel agreed to on the condition that direct talks begin. Abbas refused to begin direct talks.

Now, despite the EU telling Abbas that they will back him on almost all his demands, and despite the U.S. saying to begin direct talks, Abbas is trying to garner support in the Arab world so that he need not enter direct talks. And of course he is throwing up ever more ridiculous pre-conditions that no country in their right mind would agree to, to insure that he can keep avoiding direct talks.

Why is he doing this? Because he, like Arafat before him, knows that should he actually garner a Palestinian State it will a) be internal political suicide and probably mean his assassination from someone within, b) it would mean the end of the gravy train –all those billions of dollars that the U.S.and the E.U. pour into their economy (and don’t mind that millions of it get skimmed off to personal bank accounts in Switzerland by the high mucky mucks in the PA) and c) that their entire society would pretty immediately fall to pieces with internal warfare.
2:20
How do you lose track of 8.7 billion dollars?!
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

This doesn’t seem to be getting any play in the news but came to my attention thanks to Jihad Watch and I found it pretty shocking: A U.S. audit has found that the Pentagon cannot account for over 95 percent of $9.1 billion in Iraq reconstruction money, spotlighting Iraqi complaints that there is little to show for the massive funds pumped into their cash-strapped, war-ravaged nation.

The $8.7 billion in question was Iraqi money managed by the Pentagon, not part of the $53 billion that Congress has allocated for rebuilding. It’s cash that Iraq, which relies on volatile oil revenues to fuel its spending, can ill afford to lose.
July 28, 2010
5:35
Is the U.S. bankrolling and building the next intifada?
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

From Pajamas Media, “[Since 2007, the U.S. State Department] has invested $392 million in rehabilitating and training [Palestinian Authority] security forces … more than $160 million to fund certain units of the security forces, $89 million for vehicles and nonlethal equipment, $99 million for the renovation or construction of PA security forces’ installations and $22 million in programs to increase the forces’ capacity. The State Department has requested an additional $150 million for 2011″

The U.S. Army Lieutenant General Keith Dayton who is in charge of training these forces said last year that “With big expectations, come big risks. There is perhaps a two-year shelf life on being told that you’re creating a state, when you’re not.” Given that the Palestinians have refused to engage in direct negotiations for more than a year now and only agreed to enter indirect negotiations (which have clearly failed) a few months ago, clearly the shelf-life is going to soon read ‘expired.’

Click over to Pajamas to read about the potentially grim situation that has got Israeli security feeling the unease.
1:55
Na na na na na nach
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

On the apartment front, I’m still looking and, on a side note, I’d like to know why Ramat Gan has got the highest (to buy) prices for apartments in the country because if people think Tel Aviv is an ugly looking city, just take a gander there and be impressed with Tel Aviv’s beauty…

I had the interesting experience yesterday of being taken as a Frum-girl by the Na Nachs Breslovers in the Mobile Moshiach Now van (as I call it). The van with its foot-tapping, blaring at high volume religious techno music and the guys in it who frequently jump out at traffic lights and dance enthusiastically on its roof and all around it with their payos and tzit tzit flying, is definitely an “only in Israel” experience. The music is actually great and I love it whenever the van appears in my area. So yesterday as I was waiting to grab a cab after seeing one (really big but with a really big arnona cost) apartment to zip to another, the van appeared. I was in semi-frum attire (frum skirt to the ankles but a short sleeve top) and couldn’t help doing a bit of foot-tapping as it passed and I jumped into a cab. 10 minutes later, just after I’d exited the cab in my new location, here came the van again. This time, they stopped traffic as they pulled up and excitedly waved me over and piled a big sticker into my hands (which I actually am going to put on something because I like the sentiment expressed: “It is a big mitzvah to always be joyful”), some little stickers, and a little Na Nach Nachma Nachman card.

Then, on the way home, as I sat at the bus stop, I was mistaken for a Russian cleaning girl when a (secular) guy sitting next to me on the bench turned to me and said that he and his wife need a new maid and wanted a Russian girl with good values and would I be interested or know someone who was…

Here’s a video of some of the Na Nachs for your amusement –they have a variety of songs they play but this one happens to be the song I was tapping my feet away to last night:
July 26, 2010
11:51
Oliver Stone is a nutcase
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

Oliver Stone has come out with some virulently anti-semitic comments, claiming that Jews control the media, downplayed the Holocaust, defended Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and complained about Jewish influence in the United States… oh and has just made a “documentary” placing Hitler and Stalin “in context” as you know they were really just sweet guys with all kinds of good points who were just misunderstood. This isn’t the first time Stone has come out with Hitler-defense statements. Back in January he said, “”Hitler is an easy scapegoat throughout history and it’s been used cheaply. He’s the product of a series of actions. It’s cause and effect.”
July 25, 2010
17:24
cross fingers, hopefully an apartment
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

I saw two really good apartments tonight both in good areas. One, certainly the best for catless people, was just at the corner Sheinkin at the border of Givatayim and Ramat Gan, and right across from the only cafe (real cafe) that I’ve come across in all my trekking around that area. It was completely renovated with a great kitchen (though no fridge) and had tons and tons of built in storage units in every room. Unfortunately, it was re-done in that “wood” wall paneling and I looked at it and knew instantly that my cats would be like, “WOW, Ema moved us into a great big huge scratching post! How cool is this!” The other place was not at all re-done and is again stoveless (and no where to put a stove) but does have a fridge and is in a great location, right next to the theatre and library on a very quiet, tree-lined street. It is a couple hundred sheks cheaper a month than the other place and the arnona (renters tax) is 150 sheks cheaper every 2 months. Currently 3 students are using it as what I think of as a “squat” –you know, every room but the bath turned into a bedroom, and they’ve been “creative” with the painting of the walls –the kind of creative that you go, soooo right this place is going to be repainted, yes? Unfortunately, both I and a set of girls said we wanted it right at the same time, so the landlord (his current renters were showing it) will call either me or the set of girls tomorrow, depending on who he decides he wants in there. I’m hoping the fact that I’m a professor will lead him my direction. Cross fingers.
6:00
Vegetarians are happier than carnivores
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

If you didn’t have a reason to kick the meat habit before, here’s a good one: those on meatless diets tend to be happier in life than those who are meat consumers. A study done by the University of Arizona looked at the happiness and well-being of participants with one of the factors tested being their diet. They found that the vegetarians included in their study reported experiencing significantly less negative emotions and were significantly happier and less anxious and stressed as compared to those who consume meat. They are currently examining whether the chemical reactions that occur in the body as a result of various food consumptions are responsible for the differences found in mood and so forth between the two groups. It is an interesting initial study.
5:41
4 rockets, 2 mortars fired at Israel from Gaza on Saturday
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

Gazans fired a total of 4 rockets and 2 mortars in an unprovoked attack on Israeli civilian centers on Saturday. One rocket landed just outside Kibbutz Nahal Oz and it appears to have been manufactured using professional means, most likely outside of the borders of the Gaza Strip. In other words, this was an armament that was smuggled in and not created within the Gaza strip itself.
July 24, 2010
1:30
Why the GOP will probably lose in 2012
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

The base may be fired up but all of their current potential candidates for president are…lackluster, to put it politely, or “popular” but not “popular for President” goods (talking Sarah Palin, here of course).

Romney and Huckabee are already tired dogs in the race –they’ve both run before for the #1 spot on the Republican bid for party head (both getting beaten out by McCain in the last election) and not only didn’t enthuse the base but certainly didn’t enthuse the independent voters looking on and would not have garnered any significant votage from them had they been running in the place of McCain.

Gingrich is even less viable than Palin –for one thing, he’s a nutburger, and for another the dude had that affair skeleton that fell out of his own closet shortly after he went on the rabid “pin Clinton to the wall because of his moral-less Monica affair” rampage back in the 90s. Remember, it was old Newt who was leading that charge and in the middle of the Clinton impreachment attempt, Gingrich’s affair with Calista Bisek (whom he has married after divorcing his wife) came to light. On January 21, 1997, the House voted 395 to 28 to reprimand Gingrich for ethics violations dating back to September 1994 –the House ordered Gingrich to pay a $300,000 penalty, the first time in the House’s 208-year history it had disciplined a Speaker for ethical wrongdoing. If anyone thinks that these issues won’t be brought out front and center during a Presidential elections and that they won’t kill the GOP bid dead in its tracks, then they are on some express train to la la land.

They’ve actually got somebody who could be a real challenge to Obama and they are completely sidelining him. I’m talking about Paul Ryan. Ryan is very charismatic, he’s handsome (if anyone thinks looks don’t play a huge role, they better think again), he’s experienced (serving his 6th term in Congress), and he actually has an economic plan and proposed policy that makes a hell of a lot of sense.

Ryan, the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee, proposed his Roadmap for America’s Future nearly two years ago hoping to spark a debate on how to bring down the burgeoning government debt.

“I wanted to go out there, not necessarily saying I have all the answers. I wanted to put a plan out there, saying here’s how I would do it; please come up with your plan so that we can get the debate going,” Ryan said Thursday in a speech at the Brookings Institution, a think tank in Washington. “Unfortunately when I jumped in the pool and asked others to jump in the pool, we haven’t had many folks swimming around.”

Dude, they not only aren’t swimming around but they are studiously ignoring the only potential GOP candidate that I can see on the horizon who might take down Obama. If you want people to get enthusiastic and get out and vote beyond your base, you can’t put an old nag in the race –and Romney and Huckabee are nags. Palin and Gringrich are poison in a presidential bid, Gingrich because of the aforementined issues and Palin because yeah, people like Palin, she’s a popular figure and speaker, but even her strongest supporters say they wouldn’t like her for President.
July 22, 2010
6:09
The prostitute and the kittens
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

You’ve heard the old “prostitute with a heart of gold” cliche — well I’ve now met a real prostitute with a heart of gold (and who is clearly good at her job because she’s living in the most expensive area of town in a very big apartment). In the middle of my trying to get the huge pile of things done on my list, I got a call from a fellow rescuer about 3 tiny little kittens, only 3 days old, who had been abandoned in a box in a nearby park. I couldn’t take them, of course, but started on my network of people. I got in touch with the girl who initially found them and we reached R. who was willing to take them and care for them for 1,000 sheks (we are talking hospitalization for 6 weeks plus spay and neuter so a seriously major donation of time –his with his having to get up every 4 hours to feed for 3 weeks). We then started calling around and with my 200 shek donation and her 200 sheks we rounded up, mostly from her extended family members, 800 within a couple of hours. We went to collect the kittens. BUT…

the box was there but the kittens were gone! We looked and looked. We found a neighbor who told us that a woman who lived in one of the buildings by the park had come and taken the kittens but she didn’t know if she took them to kill them, as all the neighbours were upset by their crying, or what. We tried to find this woman. When we gave her description, another neighbour threatened to call the police on us and kept calling us whores. Kinneret and I were like, whoa nelly, what the…?! We found another neighbour who took our phone number and said she’d give it to the woman and maybe she’d call us…

10 minutes later we were meeting the woman. She is indeed a prostitute and one with a heart of gold. She herself does rescue and she’s got the kittens in her apartment and is now doing the feeding and caring for them, with them set up on a towel-wrapped hot water bottle and so forth. She feeds more than 100 strays on the street and has 6 injured little ones she’s nursing back to health in her apartment in addition to the kittens…and she gave us a 600 shek donation toward spaying and neutering. “They are so helpless, with no one to love or care for them,” she said with a sad smile, “Not even a little animal deserves that in life.”

No, no they don’t and I suspect that her life has been one that not even a little animal deserves.
3:40
light blogging, extremely busy
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

Between apartment hunting (calling in the day, going to see in the evening when they are available for viewing), I’ve got a huge crush of work with trying to get all the grading done and work on the papers with deadlines fast approaching, as well as meeting with students on their seminar projects (3 students on Tuesday, 2 yesterday), dealing with student appeals, tons of paperwork, getting the syllabi ready for next year (deadline was last week but my fingers were uncooperative to fix them) and with graduate students, as well as my own research projects that are underway. I haven’t even had time to pack a box this week or do the laundry. Good in a way that I am busy though as it takes my mind off of missing Arie a bit.The house is so much quieter and sedate without him. I miss his funny little face and his antics.

Will try to update the old blog in a bit. Lots of political stuff that is interesting.
July 20, 2010
4:12
Obama re-elect numbers: sinking and shrinking
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

The non-partisan Politico has an excellent discussion about the latest poll pitting Obama against a generic republican candidate. Currently, Obama would lose to “Mr. Any Republican” by a stiff 5 points, with 37% saying they would re-elect Obama and 42% saying they’d vote for Mr. Any.

The news for Obama may be a bit worse than this, however, as only 27% of older voters (those above 55) would vote for him again, while he maintains strong support (45%) among young voters (18-34). Problematically, older voters are the ones who tend to get out and vote while those in his strongest support bracket tend to not actually make it to the polls on voting day.

Obama may take some solace in the fact that Bill Clinton’s ratings were similar back in 1994 and he went on to win re-election with ease. However, it is not a 100% parallel situation. Back in 1994, Clinton actually had high ratings for the job he was doing but very low “personal” ratings –that is, people had a lot of questions about his moral character and worry that he was a ’slick Willy,’ but thought he was doing a good job. In 1994 it was those “personal” ratings that voters cited as the reason for not intending to vote for him. The situation is a 180 with Obama — he’s got good “personal” ratings among voters, they like him as a person, but they don’t think he’s doing a good job at leading the country. So with Obama currently it is a “we like you, dude, but we don’t want you at the helm.” It remains to be seen if that personal liking will be enough to get people to actually cast their vote for him…or if he will maintain that relatively high level of personal liking for another two years.

Go check out Politico for more on what the poll found.
July 19, 2010
4:04
thank you
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

Thank you everyone for the outpouring of sympathy and the kind a comforting words. I am so thankful that I was home when it happened as I cannot imagine the unbearable suffering he would have gone through here all alone for hours. As excruciating as the pain was for him, at least he had strong painkillers that reduced it and had his Ema talking to him and stroking him and giving what little comfort I could. I can’t imagine what my reaction would have been had come home and found him…

I’m going to put some pictures up later, celebrating the life of this little scamp. Arie even charmed and amused the plumbers and hot water heater fixing guys who came to the apartment. In some ways it is almost like he knew or his body knew that he had to get everything in quickly and he really lived life. The other cats his age and even younger became so much more sedentary when they hit adulthood but Arie stayed kitten-active. He was forever jumping up into the highest spots that none of the other cats can manage to reach –or even try to reach. He ran and romped with the kittens –was even more active than the kittens. He was always first on the scene and forever curious. He was the kitty peace-maker, getting along with everyone and taking any new kitten — first Batya, then Muffin, and my current set of now almost-grown 3 (Flora, Flossy and Little Mouse) under his wing and playing Abba and Ema to them. I don’t know what Gingi will do without his constant companion and Gingi is not taking this well.

Blogging will be a little light today.
July 18, 2010
8:26
oh god my Arie has died
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

I’m in shock. I still can’t believe it. He was playing this morning. He was fine. He was fine. He was just his normal silly little self. He’s never been sick, never once in the 4 years I’ve had him and I raised him from the age of 3 weeks. His last hour of life he suffered so terribly. He had a blood clot.

I was sitting on the sofa about to send an email for work when Arie and 3 or so of the other cats shot out of the bedroom. It sounded like someone in there had done a “startle” sending them all running or that there had been a near tiff between two of them. Arie ran behind the sofa and started to make these yowls like a cat will do when being aggressive toward another cat and Batya picked it up. I got up and was like, “silly boy” –he looked fine, except then he suddenly started to pant. I picked him up and put him on the back of the sofa, petted him and kind of checked him out but everything appeared fine. Then he jumped away from me off the sofa and ran into the small litterbox room, yowling as he went. I ran in there after him just in time to see him sort of fall over on his side. I immediately ran for a cat carrier, my purse, keys, grabbed him up and ran for a cab.

He was crying terribly the whole way and desperately moving around in the carrier trying to get into a comfortable position, a non-painful position. He was panting and panting. I was like Jesus Christ what the hell has happened, has he fallen from the top of the bed’s canopy and done himself in internal injury or did he bite on an electric cord and get eloctructed? What on earth has happened? I explained the only two things I could think of as a cause over the phone. Ronen met me at the door and immediately wanted to see him walk. When we set him on his feet he was dragging his front arm. We took him in and took blood, put him on an IV and Ronen came him a high quality pain killer but he was still in terrible pain and he lost control of his bowls. I cleaned him up while we waited for the test and then Ronen was like, you need to take him to Beit Dagan, he’s got a blood clot, I’m sure of it. So I ran down to the nearest bank to get money for the cab there and back as fast as I could and Ronen called and spoke to a doctor there. The whole way, he was crying and crying just terribly. As soon as i got there, we didn’t even do any paperwork, just immediately went into the critical care room and the doctor started examining him. She also thought it was a blood clot and said that he was just at the age when this often manifests itself and that the clot was most likely lodged in his spine close to his hips. She explained that if we could get him through this attack, medication would allow him to have 5 or perhaps 6 more years but probably not more. If we could get him through the attack. They were trying to get a pulse in his back legs. She listened to his heart and detected a murmur which is a tell tale sign. They gave him additional painkiller, got ready to take one more blood test that would show if they needed to give him a blood thinner and sent me to the front to do the paperwork for his admission. I had only just started it when she came running out and said come, come quick, he’s gone into full cardiac arrest and we are doing resuscitation. I ran in and watched as a team of 4 worked frantically on him, trying to get his heart going again on its own, for a full 10 minutes before they had to call it.

They will do an autopsy tomorrow but I won’t know the results for nearly 2 months. It is important though because it is genetic and Gingi may have the same heart problem. I will take him in later this week to the Beit Dagan for an ultrasound of his heart. It is an expensive test, 600 shekels plus the visit fee, but because of the autopsy Arie will be cremated there rather than being buried and the costs for his brother’s test comes identically, bizarrely, to the exact amount his burial would have cost.

Oh god, I can’t believe my sweet, sweet, so smart it was almost not believable, so lovable little boy is gone. I just can’t believe it.
July 17, 2010
17:31
future vet tails — ah dreams
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

I’ve been talking lots with my vet friends and of course dreaming away myself about what I’d like to do in the future. One of the things I know already is that if I get into vet school I want to specialize, as well as doing general practice, and I already know the area very specifically that I want to specialize in. It will, I think, come as no surprise: cat cognition and neurology.

Cat cognition is an area in which there is a real need. In the last 10 years, research into the cognition of dogs has thrived. From this quite interesting (I thought) article in Psychology Today, I discovered that “research into “cat cognition” has lagged behind. One of the preeminent journals of the field, aptly entitled Animal Cognition, has published 36 articles on dog cognition since 1998. In that time, only 3 articles have been published on Felis catus. This is one fewer than have been published on cuttlefish, and one more than the octopus has garnered.” There is a real need and it very nicely combines my psych background in cognition (social) and interest, though not expertise, in the ‘harder’ cognitive psych (e.g., learning, memory, attention, problem-solving). I do mini experiments in learning and memory and so forth on my own cats all the time and I’ve really gotten interested in the neuro aspects since I’ve had Smokey 1-Eye (and some of the things I’ve been applying from reading about exercises for people with strokes, I’ve modified and have been using with her and have seen major improvement in her balance, focus and so forth as a result).

The other thing is the animal sanctuary. I’ve been talking lots about this idea and how it could be set up and function and so forth. I think the way it will need to be done is to have a combo home/sanctuary/small surgery and hospitalization facilities combination –in other words all this within the house and plot of land said house sits on –in a ruralish locale and have a clinic in the city. Clearly, a clinic in a city is a necessity because I will need clients and a lot of them in order to fund the house/food (for man and beastlets)/sanctuary. My city clinic could be quite small, along the lines of Dedi’s tiny one room all inclusive, because I could have the kind of hospitalization set-up Ronen has –an even better one–at my home and just transport any animal in need from the city clinic there.

I gave my first vaccination shots today to one of the crow kittens and the little calico. Unfortunately I pushed the needle in too slowly for the little callie and she cried (slow hurts, fast is eh better) and I felt really bad. I made up for it by playing with her for half an hour and cuddling on her. I got to check out some interesting slides too and was able to look at a chart on the wall and pick out that the urine sample under the microscope showed the “emergency” case that got brought in was a kitty with struvite crystals in the kidney. Ronen had already diagnosed and treated and sent him and his very large family (owners, their 3 grown children, teenaged kid, and one infant grandchild all came in worried about the family cat) on their way.

My Shachori got her vaccinations too and was chipped, de-wormed, and de-flea’d so that makes all 3, Shachori, Tovi and Smokey 1-Eye, ready for going back to the U.S. with Ema. I am really going to miss all of them very, very much
12:54
Nigeria: Muslims burn church, axe 8 Christians to death, burn xtian homes
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

Ho hum says the MSM as they mostly ignore yet another deadly attack in Nigeria: Muslims attacked a Christian village in central Nigeria on Saturday, axing eight people to death and burning seven houses and a church in fresh religious violence. This from 9 News in Austrialia: An AFP correspondent saw the bodies, as well as the burnt houses and church in Mazzah village, near the city of Jos, where deadly religious clashes have occurred a number of times in recent months.

Umoh said Fulani Muslims entered Mazzah between 1.30am and 5.00am local time, shooting sporadically in the air to lure sleeping residents outside their homes.

“Seven people were killed instantly with machetes while three others were seriously injured. One of them died on the way to the hospital.”

In March, Muslim herdsmen from the Fulani and Hausa ethnic groups launched attacks on five Christian Berom villages near the city, killing more than 500 people, state officials say.
12:42
Muslims riot in France over death of criminal who shot police officer
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

Last night fires lit up the city of Grenoble, France as Muslim rioters took to the streets. They burned at least 50 cars, set fire to shops, attacked and stoned passengers in a tram, and shot at police officers. The reason for their fury? Well two muslim men took part in an armed robbery of a casino, stealing approximately 50,000 euros but, as they fled the scene in a car police gave chase and the armed men opened fire on the police officers, wounding one. At that point, officers returned fire, killing one criminal. The other criminal escaped into the Muslim enclave and has evaded capture. Anger over the death of a Muslim at the hands of police, brought the rioters into the streets. The dead guy already had three convictions for armed robbery.

Shortly before midnight, a group of around 30 youths armed with baseball bats and iron bars attacked a tram in Boudouda’s working class district of La Villeneuve and forced the passengers to get out.

Police intervened to protect the passengers, and the youths began torching vehicles and attacking police who responded with tear gas. As the night wore on, more rioters joined in and at around 2:30 in the morning, a rioter fired at police officers who were trying to contain the violence and they returned fire, although no one was injured in this shooting give and take.
July 16, 2010
15:39
Lieberman grows more appealing: hermetically sealed, I like that idea
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

I like Lieberman’s idea of having zero to do with Gaza and hermetically sealing off our border. Because, you see, we live in an extremely bizarre world that persists in parroting Hamas and Palestinian claims that Gaza is “occupied” by Israel despite the fact that, as they admit, we have dismantled all settlements there, and pulled every single citizen and soldier off of every square centimeter of land.

Here, let’s refer to the 2 definitions of “occupation” that might potentially apply:

1. possession, settlement, or use of land or property. Clearly not the case as we do not possess any land in Gaza, nor are there any settlements in Gaza, nor is Israel making use in any form or fashion of any land in the Gaza Strip.

2. The seizure and control of an area by military forces, esp. foreign territory. Also, no clearly not, as, far from seizing Gaza, we have renounced all claims to every square centimeter of Gaza, nor do we have any military forces in Gaza exercising any form of control whatsoever.

Now many people will say that you can’t trust the Europeans not to turn a blind eye to weapons and so forth being brought in if they were in charge of checking all ships bound for Gaza from the ports of Cyprus and Greece. I agree with that: I wouldn’t trust them as far as I could throw them. But here’s the deal.

1. As long as we are responsible for saying yes or no to so much as a box of saltines entering Gaza, people will continue to claim we are occupying and oppressing. And they are able to then give legitimacy to Hamas.

2. Fatah and Hamas are not even on speaking terms nor does Hamas recognize the PLO as having the authority to negotiate with us and so any negotiations are only for show…and we will continue to be blamed for…everything.

3. The people in the West Bank, rhetoric aside, want to be connected to Gaza in any form or fashion like they’d want someone to insert a hole in their heads — a big hole with say a hand drill and no anesthesia. Doing this would be a major gift to Abbas and the West Bank. Given a bit of time, it may well allow Abbas to make the argument that Gaza is basically its own independent entity and the West Bank Palestinians want their own independent deal.

4. Doing so paves the way for Egypt being forced eventually to reabsorb Gaza and potentially for Jordan to take back the West Bank via negotiations with us.

The three players who are going to be the most up in arms about this are Hamas (they are squawking and panicking now about it), Egypt, and Jordan. But you know, the more Hamas squawks the more you know it is a good course of action.

Yeah, I’m liking Lieberman more by the day.
9:17
Republicans should heed Krauthammer’s warnings
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

Charles Krauthammer has an excellent article entitled “Obama’s Next Act” in which he warns Republicans that just as Reagan lost the House and Senate at the midterm if his first term, he used them as a foil to sail to a second term. Clinton did exactly the same and if the Republicans manage to take the House and Senate there should be no celebration or complacency but rather an increased watchfulness and wariness and damn good strategy (I continue to argue that Repubs. taking the House and Senate is the worst possible thing to happen if you want Obama out in 2012).

Here’s the first bit of Krauthammer’s argument as to why you should not count Obama out: “In the political marketplace, there’s now a run on Obama shares. The left is disappointed with the president. Independents are abandoning him in droves. And the right is already dancing on his political grave, salivating about November when, his own press secretary admitted Sunday, Democrats might lose the House.

I have a warning for Republicans: Don’t underestimate Barack Obama.

Consider what he has already achieved. Obamacare alone makes his presidency historic. It has irrevocably changed one-sixth of the economy, put the country inexorably on the road to national health care and, as acknowledged by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus but few others, begun one of the most massive wealth redistributions in U.S. history.

Second, there is major financial reform, which passed Congress on Thursday. Economists argue whether it will prevent meltdowns and bailouts as promised. But there is no argument that it will give the government unprecedented power in the financial marketplace. Its 2,300 pages will create at least 243 new regulations that will affect not only, as many assume, the big banks but just about everyone, including, as noted in one summary (the Wall Street Journal), “storefront check cashiers, city governments, small manufacturers, home buyers and credit bureaus.”

Third is the near $1 trillion stimulus, the largest spending bill in U.S. history. And that’s not even counting nationalizing the student loan program, regulating carbon emissions by Environmental Protection Agency fiat, and still-fitful attempts to pass cap-and-trade through Congress.

But Obama’s most far-reaching accomplishment is his structural alteration of the U.S. budget. The stimulus, the vast expansion of domestic spending, the creation of ruinous deficits as far as the eye can see are not easily reversed.

These are not mere temporary countercyclical measures. They are structural deficits because, as everyone from Obama on down admits, the real money is in entitlements, most specifically Medicare and Medicaid. But Obamacare freezes these out as a source of debt reduction. Obamacare’s $500 billion in Medicare cuts and $600 billion in tax increases are siphoned away for a new entitlement — and no longer available for deficit reduction.

The result? There just isn’t enough to cut elsewhere to prevent national insolvency. That will require massive tax increases — most likely a European-style value-added tax. Just as President Ronald Reagan cut taxes to starve the federal government and prevent massive growth in spending, Obama’s wild spending — and quarantining health-care costs from providing possible relief — will necessitate huge tax increases. ”

Read the rest to see his argument about what will happen should the Republicans successfully take back the Houses.
6:20
Economics: A “lost decade” on the horizon?
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

So much to blog about and wow Fridays are usually pretty ’slow’ as far as that goes. I’m going to try to get a post up on the Northern Mariana Islands as my curiosity got piqued about what and where they were when I read they’d signed on to backing the Arizona immigration law and what I found was a real eye-opener in many and myriad ways (some of which is relevant to the situation right here in ‘occupiers’ east), I’ve a bunch to say on some proposed Israeli policies, lots to say on U.S. politics and positions, and, of course, lots to say on terrorism and terrorists.

First up, though is this and it is so not good: There’s an article up on CNN Money that suggests that hitting a “double-dip recession” might be too optimistic of an outcome for the economic near future and that a far more likely future for our global economy, and the U.S. economy in particular, is a “lost decade.”

“The probability of a lost decade is significantly greater than a double dip,” said Sung Won Sohn, economics professor at Cal State University Channel Islands.

“We don’t have too many engines of growth functioning right now — housing, consumer spending, exports are all sputtering. I have a hard time seeing where we can get 3% economic growth back.”

A lost decade, or something like it, could feel like a never-ending recession to many Americans, as the economy does not grow fast enough to recoup lost jobs, and investments like homes and stocks continue to lose value.

The most famous lost decade occurred in Japan in the 1990s. Japan has never completely recovered from their lost decade. The article shows how the U.S. situation and Japan’s situation back when their ‘lost decade’ began are pretty darn similar and just how grim of an outlook that would be if it occurs.
5:20
Ema thank you!!
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

I just opened the present my Ema sent and that has been sitting unopened since Friday afternoon last in my apartment. I wanted to wait until I felt better so I could really enjoy the surprise of what was inside. This morning I was like, wow, now is the time. I need a good surprise. Wow Ema!!! I cannot tell you how much that 200 sheks is appreciated this morning! And wow, two beautiful light cardigans and a matching tank top to go under them! I am going to be wearing them all summer long, especially on ulpan days where they keep the room like a freezer! They are fantastic, thank you!!
4:57
Keys found!
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

I just woke up and found a bunch of missed calls on my now-charged phone. Natalie has my keys! They had fallen down into one of the metal transfer cages and got loaded into her van. She tried to call me last night when she got home and discovered them but of course my battery on my cellphone had died. She was like, “ohmyg-d, she’s going to be sleeping on the street!” When I heard 350 sheks to get my door open, I did consider it.

In the meantime, after I blogged last night, I managed to turn the inner lock piece and get one of the spare keys to fit in and function. My tool was a paring knife. I then fell into bed at 4 a.m..

But here’s a question. Why do we bother to have locks on our doors if everyone and their dog seems to know that you can open locked doors like butter with a section of a plastic water bottle? The night manager at the store knew but couldn’t leave her post and so sent the foreign worker who didn’t know with me and when he couldn’t do it she was like, “we can ask the construction men to go down, they definitely will know how to open it,” –and then we both looked out at the guys working the graveyard shift on reconstructing the street, looked at each other and said, “NO” (sorry, not to be racist but Arab construction workers are notorious for burgling the apartments in the buildings they are working in and around and if you are a longtime reader of my blog you know of my own burgled-by-the-Arab-construction-guys tale where I lost nearly $10,000 worth of computer equipment and cameras).

Well it is a major relief that she’s got my keys because it was also my office keys and mailbox key and my disc on key and so forth. I’m going to give her a set of spares as well because clearly more than one person should have them (my spare-keeper was out of the country).

Starting next Friday night I’m going to be volunteering with SOS’s critical care unit, going in around midnight every Friday evening, and taking care of the little spays and neuters that come in but that are also sick but can recover and so are held an extra couple of days before putting them back to the street–basically doing the same thing for them that I do with Ronen on Saturdays, which is cleaning the cages and giving them their meds.

Natalie, by the way, made me feel much better about my large number of cats. Her apartment is smaller than mine but she’s got 2 dogs and 40 (FORTY) cats that are pretty much hers now because she was unable to find homes for the kittens that came in (and they are now big cats), the ones that she took in to care for temporarily but that are blind/missing limbs/tails/diabetic you-name-it and that “temporarily” became permanent…and she and her boyfriend (a vet student here) have to keep separate apartments because he’s got 23 cats and 4 dogs that have in essence become his…..
July 15, 2010
20:08
locked in is better than being locked out…ok, only slightly
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

I just got back inside my apartment. I just paid a guy 350 shekels to come and open my door…with a piece of plastic from a 2-liter soda bottle. But at least I got back inside. I went immediately to the kitchen where I expected to see my keys sitting where I was convinced I must have left them when I ran back into the apartment earlier this evening to grab a can of sardines (we ran out of the super enticing wet catfood when catching cats). Only they weren’t there. This means that I have lost my keys. Now I did spend more than an hour going all the places where we caught cats and where I did the feeding searching for the keys before going to the grocery store down the street to get help getting back in my apartment (my phone conveniently lost its charge just before the advent of this crisis).

The lady at the store was fantastic. She knew to open the door with the plastic bottle piece, but unfortunately the asylum seekee from Eritrea she sent down with me clearly did not know how to do it though he tried and tried. Unfortunately either I have lost all of my spare keys and the spare keys I thought were my spare keys (4 sets of them) are spare keys for the old apartment instead (begging the question, where the hell are my spare keys) OR they are my spare keys and the Eritrean guy made the lock non-functional trying to open it with a pair of scissors — my really hated neighbour (the only guy in the building that I can’t stand and who is always threatening to kill the neighbourhood cats) who arrived home in the middle of this drama at least pointed me to the sticker with the number for the 350 shek “locksmiths” before shutting his door in my face but when I came back from that conversation I was like ACK what are you doing with those scissors?! At any rate, the ’spare’ keys don’t go in the lock.

So i can’t leave my house until I either find a set of working spare keys or call a locksmith to come for another large sum of money and provide me with a new key.

We caught 9 females and 3 males for spaying and neutering and sadly one very sick but extremely loving kitty with FIP who has to be put to sleep.

It is 3 a.m. and I’m exhausted. More tomorrow about the apartment search (no to one and maybe to the other simply because it is huge (though not in great shape) but it is REALLY far and the landlord would have to come down at least 300 sheks a month on the rent given its far-flung location etc).
9:44
so close and yet so far, the perfect apartment slipped away
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

I have two apartments to see this evening, one of which looks a lot more promising than the other, and another scheduled for first thing in the morning. The one I saw just a bit ago though, man I am crying in my soup. It was the Better Homes and Gardens picture perfect apartment. No lie, not only completely redone but gorgeously redone. Tongue on the floor redone. I have never seen an apartment in this country yet that looked anywhere close to this nice and it also left the vast majority of U.S. apartments in the dirt. It was big, 3 rooms (and 2 balconies not counted in the size, with one enclosed to make a laundry room) at 90 square meters. The kitchen was not big (also not tiny) but has just been completely redone with crisp white tiles on the walls, new sand-coloured tiles on the floor, all new really nice cabinets, counters, sink, built in stove. It is a couple hundred sheks cheaper than apartments I’ve been looking at that are half that size. The arnona (monthly tax) was less. I misread the date of entry –it was available 10 days after I have to vacate my current place and not at the end of July as I thought. The couple that were looking at it at the same time as me (we were the first people to see it) were so not stupid and snapped it up immediately as I was trying to get my landlord on the phone to see if I could extend my “stay” here by like 15 days. Seriously crying in my soup.

Wish me luck with the ones for tonight.
7:09
British shopping mall opens Muslim-only toilets
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

This is hysterical. Fury has erupted after a shopping centre became the first in Britain to introduce Muslim-only toilets. The Middle Eastern-style squat holes, just a hole in the ground, are common in Asia, though certainly not in Israel. The Muslims in the Rochdale community aren’t too thrilled about them either. Rochdale councillor Daalat Ali said: “I’m a Muslim myself and I’ve never wanted anything different to anyone else. I don’t know why they’ve come up with this idea.”

Scott Hewitt, 36, added: “No-one can understand the point of these, they’re just a joke. A lot of the Muslims I know would be too embarrassed to use them. It’s like something from a Third World country.”
6:25
9 States back Arizona’s immigration suit vs. Obama
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

Ok so we have this news, “States have the authority to enforce immigration laws and protect their borders, Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox said Wednesday in a legal brief on behalf of nine states supporting Arizona’s immigration law.

Cox, one of five Republicans running for Michigan governor, said Michigan is the lead state backing Arizona in federal court and is joined by Alabama, Florida, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas and Virginia, as well as the Northern Mariana Islands.”

Ehhh the Northern Mariana Islands…what and where the hell are they? Call me clueless (yeah, go ahead, because clearly I am) but I’ve never heard of these puppies. Are they like Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands…not exactly America but kinda sorta officially unofficial States?

I know the Big O administration is slapping this lawsuit in place in order to try to bolster their slipping (going, going, going…) support among Hispanic-American voters, (who, by the way, have traditionally largely voted Republican) but it seems like they are doing a good job of alienating their regular run-of-the-mill supporters. Only 26% of self-identified democratic voters back the Obama position on immigration. And a surprisingly large number of Hispanic voters do not back it.

“Arizona, Michigan and every other state have the authority to enforce immigration laws, and it is appalling to see President Obama use taxpayer dollars to stop a state’s efforts to protect its own borders,” Cox said in a statement. Yeah, that seems to be pretty much where most States are at…expect to see more jumping on this bandwagon.
July 14, 2010
5:27
Vet tails: the Kamikaze Kitty with vampire teeth
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

So here is the story of how I ended up kitty-bitten. We needed to change the IV from one arm of a very sweet and docile cat named Nehma to the other arm. You need to switch them once a week in order to keep the veins from becoming infected (in people too). Last week we’d inserted the IV with absolutely no complaints or upset in the least from Nehma.

Now, generally you would give a cat at least a mild sedative for this procedure (if not knock them out entirely). The vet decided against that for two reasons, the first being how docile she is but the more important consideration was the potential danger of the sedation. Anytime you sedate a cat (or a person) there is the possibility the patient will go into a coma and die (this actually happened just last week to a 5 year old girl who was sedated for a routine dental procedure). In Nehma’s case, in particular, the danger was heightened because of her condition. Nehma has been unable/unwilling to eat on her own and so is being fed through a feeding tube inserted in her neck, though in the last few days of last week she had begun to nibble a bit on her own, a very good sign. She has severe diarrhea and even with every test known to mankind done on her, we have no idea what is causing it. When she was sedated at the Beit Dagan (our major specialist animal hospital in the country) for an exploratory surgery to see what could be wrong with her gastrointestinal system, she very nearly died. Thankfully she has shown significant improvement on the antibiotics she is getting but, given her previous reaction to sedation, we decided to try the procedure without it.

A clue that she might not behave as docilely as previously was when I took her from the cage and put her on the fold down from the wall table next to it. She purred and nuzzled against me…but when Ronen came into the room, she turned her back on him and wanted to go back into the cage. “Ah yes, I’m always the bad guy, aren’t I? I’m just trying to help, Nehma,” he cooed at her and petted on her, while she pushed her face into my stomach. Still, she was very quiet and sweet while we stretched out her arm and the vet started up the electric razor and shaved her arm. This is usually the point at which a cat will freak out if they are going to freak out but she didn’t bat an eye.

We got the cord around her upper arm and she kind of mildly snapped at it. We still weren’t concerned. I could not hold her in the scruff position as tightly as I normally would because she has the feeding tube sticking out of her neck. When the vet tapped her vein to plump it up, she growled. The vet inserted the needle into the vein and…she went utterly ballistic. Who knew that this little cat had such strength?! She slashed Ronen with her claws, arched and twisted her back, with her back legs sending the pills, the instruments, and everything else that sits on the shelf against the wall crashing to the floor. Her blood was shooting everywhere from the uncapped IV needle, making for a slipperly and slick situation and our hands were quickly covered in it. Hissing, spitting, and, despite both Ronen and I trying to scruff her, twisting out of our hands as we tried to avoid the slashing claws and biting jaws– she was on the loose.

Now the room is small with not much room for two people to maneuver in, especially once the table has been opened. You literally have to squeeze past one another to move from one side of the room to the other. Two walls of the room are lined with large cages stacked one atop the other 3 high (3rd row being above my head and I need to use the step stool to reach them), all holding animals, and a row of smaller empty “transfer” wire cages on the very top (I’d need a tall ladder to reach them). Now Nehma wanted to get into her cage (or anywhere else but where we were) but when the table is put into the upright position, the door to her cage is blocked shut. So she threw herself at the cages, hissing and spitting, tubes hanging out of her and flopping in all directions, and climbed like she was going for the Olympic Gold medal. Spiderman has nothing on this cat.

Predictably, kitty in tier number 3 had a major freak out when Nehma climbed past at lightening speed and began throwing itself around in the cage, hissing and spitting, but the biggest problem was when she hit the top tier of empty smaller cages at the very, very top. TIMBER! Right, the smaller cage started to tip over off the top as she clung to it. Ronen managed to slap the table into down position (sending further things flying) and reach way up and grab her. I was trying to reach between him and the cages to keep kitty in tier 3’s cage from toppling down along with the cage above. When he pulled her away, the top cage came with her as she had it in a death grip with her front claws and teeth. Her back claws were raking his stomach and arms and the cage was now hanging down from her claws and banging into kitty #2’s cage in tier 2. “Get the cage, get the cage!” It was when I managed to extract the cage from her death grip that she bit. She sunk her teeth into the fleshy part where the thumb meets the hand and held on to me this time with a death grip. “AH Jaysus!” Free of the cage which had fallen to the floor with a hellacious noise just after she sunk her teeth into me, she was now twisting around like a wild dirvish, claws striking out everywhere and only her head steady with its grip on my hand. When I attempted to loosen her death grip on my thumb, she re-bit, then re-bit again and then let go but like lightening latched onto the other hand that I’d been using to try to pry her jaws open with.

Ronen is yelling “let go of her! let go of her!” and I was like “Let go of her!!! She’s the one that won’t let go of me!” I still do not know how he managed to get her cage door open but as soon as the three of us maneuvered around to where she saw the open door in close reach she let go of me and used Ronen’s stomach as a spring board to shoot inside. We slammed the door shut and Ronen grabbed a syringe, filled it with sedative and then reached in and sedated her, not fully, just mildly. We both ran and quickly washed our hands (we were covered in our blood and in hers) and then ran back in, pulled her out, set up the table, disinfected it, disinfected her, and finished connecting her to the IV drip. She was able to snap and growl but only feebly this time. We checked the feeding tube, disinfected the area around it, put some antibiotic ointment on it, and put her back in her cage. The room was an unholy disaster zone. We went and scrubbed thoroughly and then rubbed antiseptic on the wounds for a full five minutes (the stuff you use to disinfect a patient for surgery). Then we had to go back in and clean up the room and clean and treat the rest of the cats we hadn’t gotten to in that room and a few that were held in one of the surgery rooms. After cleaning each cage we went back and repeated the wash and 5-minute antiseptic routine. Nu, not much help was that antiseptic.

The good news is that Nehma’s lack of docility clearly shows she is feeling much better than a week ago…
July 13, 2010
15:23
cat bite: the quick (but painful) way to weight loss
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

Just like a week ago I was on the verge of tossing most of my summer shorts because I’ve again had the winter weight gain and those puppies were uncomfortably tight. Nyeh, just toss them! I thought to myself and only being distracted upon leaving the apartment that day left them sitting in a bag by the door. Nu, they are fitting much better.

The antibiotics I’m on have the side effect of sending everything through your system in a nano second. They also make you nauseated 20 out of 24 hours of the day. During the 4, pretty evenly divided into 2 each, hours that you are not nauseated, you are like a starving wilder-beast. However, beware, because if you eat…It is, however, the most effective and fastest weight loss plan I’ve been on since I used to do the “only raw cabbage and celery” or the “all you can eat air-popped popcorn (unsalted and un-buttered) and 4 cups of 10 cal soup broth a day” diet nu, off and on on a pretty regular basis for years in my gymnastics days.

My huge accomplishment of the day was managing to open the twist-off top of my water bottle without having to go ask a neighbour or random passer-by on the street for help. It took awhile and I ohh’d and grunted and cursed and ow’d but off it came at last. Yes, serious improvement happening. I think in a couple of days my fingers will be back to almost normal functioning. The swelling has gone down majorly except around the joints of the affected fingers which still refuse to bend without pain and don’t bend far at that. I’ve discovered I’m quite talented at signing my name in hebrew using a pen between my 2nd and 3rd (not counting the thumb) fingers. Typing is still very slow using only the last 3 fingers of each hand but much faster than when it was only 1 pinky.

I treated myself and the rest of the city to getting my hair washed at a salon and, as a sympathetic response to seeing the prominent gnaw marks on my hands, he tossed in a pony trim for free (which I desperately needed at any rate since my pony was down in my eyes) since my moving fingers are not quite up to the hair washing standard as of yet. Tomorrow…?
14:32
France becomes 2nd EU country to ban the burqa
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

From Ynet: “France’s lower house of parliament has approved a ban on burqa-like Islamic veils, a move that is popular among French voters despite serious concerns from Muslim groups and human rights advocates.

There were 336 votes for the bill and just one against at the National Assembly. Most members of the main opposition group, the Socialist Party, refused to participate in the vote.

Following Tuesday’s vote, the ban on face-covering veils will go in September to the Senate, where it also is likely to pass. Its biggest hurdle will likely come after that, when France’s constitutional watchdog scrutinizes it.

If it is approved by the senate, the law will go into effect next year, in order to give citizens time to learn the new stipulations. Violators will be fined 150 euro or forced to undergo studies on the principles of citizenship in France, the bill states.”

Who will be next? Well, both Spain and Italy are in the process of passing legislation to ban the burqa and anything else that covers the face in public. In late June, a bill to ban face veils and the burqa passed the Senate in Spain. In fact, technically France will be the 3rd EU country to ban it because, while the Spanish government is supposed to follow the Senate’s motion, given that Socialist senators opposed the ban, the governing Socialist party is likely to seek ways to circumvent the vote. It certainly hasn’t gone into effect yet.

The Swiss are also lining up to institute a ban. One canton has already done so, on the border of Germany, and polls show that more than 58% of citizens want a ban established.

A couple of months ago in Norway, the Progress Party proposed a ban on the burqa and hijab but it hasn’t been voted on yet. The Netherlands is considering a ban. Denmark is in the process of drawing up legislation and already requires that no veil or scarf be worn in certain professions (e.g., judges). Don’t expect Britain to consider it anytime soon, however — they may sooner require that all female citizens adopt the veil than ban it.
10:14
Islamist children’s paramilitary unit in..Pennsylvania
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

Front Page mag has the scoop on this disturbing story. The United Muslim Movement (UMM) in Philedelphia, PA started a “scout” program back in 2005 for children as young as 7. The UMM is allied with the Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA), a Muslim Brotherhood-related group headed by Siraj Wahhaj, an “unindicted co-conspirator” of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

So what do they have their little “boy scouts” doing? Well, largely violence-based children’s activities it appears. Specifically, they have them involved in activities that include hand-to-hand combat, firearms training and survival tactics. Even more disturbing is who is training these little tykes. One is Carlin Saafir, the Legal Officer and 1st Lieutenant of the scouts. Saafir is also the President of UMM, a member of the UMM Masjid’s Board of Directors (General Council), and the Joint Community Outreach Chair of the Philadelphia office of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), an entity affiliated with the terrorist organization Hamas. Well, and some ex-felons. Pop over to Front Page Mag to read the rest...it is even more disturbing (far more disturbing) than what I’ve highlighted here.
9:57
Seattle cartoonist on terrorists’ execution list
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

As David Horsey notes, “There is no sane or humane creed that would justify putting Seattle cartoonist Holly Norris on an execution list, but there is little that is sane or humane about radical Islam.

Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki has issued a fatwa targeting Norris for death, declaring the cartoonist’s “proper abode is hellfire” because she drew a cartoon last spring that inspired Everybody Draw Mohammed Day. In a just world, Awlaki’s proper abode would be a prison cell or a padded room…”

This despite the fact that Norris publicly disavowed her own cartoon shortly after others picked it up and it went viral. If you recall her cartoon had innocuous pictures like a cute little tea-cup, a little boy, and so forth proclaiming, “I’m Mohammed”
9:13
what did I tell you? D.C. police say ability to fight terrorists being undermined
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

A little more than a week ago I mentioned some of the insidious side-effects of the Arizona suit, one of them being hamstringing the ability of police to identify and arrest terrorists. Well…District police say their ability to investigate terrorists would be undermined by legislation designed to prevent police from implementing a federal program that aims to take criminal illegal immigrants off the streets.

Police Chief Cathy Lanier wants to put in place some form of Secure Communities, a federal program through which local police send Immigration and Customs Enforcement the names of every arrestee to be checked against immigration databases.

But every member of the D.C. Council has backed a bill that would prohibit District police from sharing arrest information with ICE. The council introduced the legislation in May. Their maneuvering has become the latest in an ongoing battle of wills between the city’s legislators and the Fenty administration.

On Monday Assistant Chief of Police Peter Newsham described the bill as “premature” during a public hearing.

“This preempts the police ability to implement the program in a way that’s unique to D.C.,” Newsham said. The District sits on law enforcement task forces, such as the Joint Terrorism Task Force, with ICE agents. “This would make it impossible to determine if a suspect is a legitimate terrorist threat.”

A Fenty spokeswoman said the mayor “defers to the chief for law enforcement initiatives.”
Every county in Virginia recently joined the program, as did Prince George’s County. Federal authorities have set 2013 as a target for having every jurisdiction in the country online with Secure Communities. The District signed an agreement with the Justice Department in November to join Secure Communities. Newsham said officials want to limit the program so that misdemeanors and domestic violence cases would not be included in the arrest information sent to ICE. Council members and representatives of more than a dozen immigration organizations voiced concern that Secure Communities would spread fear and make some crime victims less likely to provide information to police. “Our goal is to use biometric information sharing to prevent criminal aliens from being released back into the community,” an ICE spokeswoman said. “We will continue to work with D.C. to address any concerns they might have about the program.”

Read more at the Washington Examiner: [www.washingtonexaminer.com]

This bill is in place to try to support the lawsuit the Obama administration has filed against the Arizona Law that tells their officers to do exactly what this Federal program was supposed to train them to do. This is part of the Federal program I referred to, for which a lot of (tax-payer) money has already been spent to be implemented (see my previous post), and which the Arizona suit would make illegal if this current bill does not.
9:01
Russia arrests 8 Muslim suicide-bombers -to-be
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

Various news reports tell us that a group of suspected suicide bombers were detained in Russia’s Dagestan Republic for allegedly plotting terrorist attacks. Six women and two men were detained in the Dagestani capital of Makhachkala during an operation, according to the RIA Novosti news agency.

The six women, aged between 15 and 29, were allegedly trained for terrorist attacks. Four of them were the widows of former militant leaders, and the other two had previously been convicted of illegally storing weapons.

One of the two male detainees was believed to have delivered to Moscow the female suicide bombers who committed the Moscow metro terror attacks in March. He was earlier allegedly in charge of providing accommodation and support for the female terrorists.

A number of weapons and suicide belts were found during the operation: law enforcement officers found two charged Makarov pistols, two belts which can be used for committing a terrorist attack by suicide explosion, a large number of items for changing appearances, religious literature about jihad, and notebooks with the plate numbers of law enforcement officials.

Officers also seized the farewell letters to the detainees’ families from the female would-be suicide bombers, expressing their wish to end their life and advising their sisters to follow suit.
8:15
Lebanese MP Sami Gemayel: Hizbollah will turn into the Lebanese Gestapo
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

Check out the clip from Memri TV!

Following are excerpts from an interview with Lebanese MP Sami Gemayel, which aired on LBC TV on July 3, 2010.

Sami Gemayel: [Hizbullah MP] Muhammad Ra’d said that Hizbullah wants to… He said: “We will hunt them down.”

Interviewer: Yes, he said: “We will hunt down the collaborator wherever they may be.”

Sami Gemayel: They want to hunt down anyone who, in their view, is a collaborator. I don’t know if the Lebanese understand the meaning of this. It means that Hizbullah will turn into a new Gestapo, a Lebanese Gestapo. The Gestapo was the German police in the days of Hitler, which would round up people from their homes.

The Lebanese Army, the police force, and the state itself will be pushed aside, and regardless of law and constitution, Hizbullah will have the freedom to arrest people in their homes.
7:42
Who ya gonna believe?
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

After the story exploded across the Internet and got considerable play on Fox News of the head of NASA publicly stating, not once but many times, that upon appointing him Obama personally charged him with the foremost duty of engaging in outreach to Muslim countries, and the 2nd and 3rd priorities also having zippo to do with, well, space, two weeks later the White House has finally responded by…throwing the head of NASA under the bus. Right, they claim that why no, where on earth did this guy ever get that idea? Certainly NASA is not supposed to engage in Muslim outreach and they have no idea where the head of NASA got this idea but certainly not from the White House.

Well, that is a good question. How on earth might the head of NASA, you know, placed in charge of a space agency, get the idea that the most important things that the space agency should be doing are all things that have nothing to do with space and the biggest of them is reaching out to Muslims if, you know, it didn’t come from The Big Chief? If this guy was a Bush-supporting hold-over, one might assume he was trying to damage Obama. But, the fact of the matter is, he was an Obama supporter and appointed by the Big Chief himself. If this was his own idea, what the hell was Obama doing appointing such a whacked-out dude as the head of a SPACE agency?! So nu, who do you believe?

On a personal level, I’ve had a minor set-back in the old recovery. Last night in utter desperation I engaged in two activities that were forbotten: washing my dishes and cleaning the litter boxes. I challenge anyone however to live with a pile of dirty dishes that have been sitting around in 100 degree heat for several days. The bigger challenge was the litter box issue because not only did the boxes stink but I discovered that Muffin had done the big dirty on the kitchen floor early in the evening and then when I climbed into bed Mischa climbed up as well and promptly peed on my feet. It took me 3 hours in the middle of the night to scoop those puppies and was a very painful process. Even with gloves on (ow), my hands have re-swelled up considerably today. What’cha gonna do however?
July 12, 2010
10:12
IHH Gaza flotilla funders/activists banned in Germany for terrorist activities
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said in a statement that the International Humanitarian Relief Organization was banned Monday because it has used donations to support projects in Gaza that are related to Hamas – while presenting their activities to donors as humanitarian help.

“Under the guise of humanitarian aid, the IHH has long backed, with significant financial assistance, so-called social welfare organizations based in the Gaza Strip that can be linked to Hamas,” he said.

“Donations to so-called social welfare groups belonging to Hamas, such as the millions given by IHH, actually support the terror organization Hamas as a whole.”

Hamas, which runs Gaza, doesn’t recognize Israel. De Maiziere said organizations that directly or indirectly work against Israel’s right to exist lose their right to be active in Germany.

Those “peaceful” flotilla protesters who used their own knives, iron bars, and baseball bats to attack the Israeli soldiers arriving to steer the Mavi Marmara to port and transfer the good to Gaza, were largely IHH members.
7:32
Abbas calls on Arab States to join and wage war on Israel, Obama commends Abbas for commitment to peace
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

Last week Abbas stated that he would favor a pan-Arab military offensive against the Jewish state. The official Palestinian Authority daily newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadida on Tuesday wrote that when Abbas met recently with media figures at the home of the Palestinian ambassador to Jordan, he recounted that during an Arab League Summit in Libya in March he told his fellow leaders that he still preferred war against Israel, but could not do it alone.

“We are unable to confront Israel militarily, and this point was discussed at the Arab League Summit,” said Abbas. “There I turned to the Arab States and I said: ‘If you want war, and if all of you will fight Israel, we are in favor. But the Palestinians will not fight alone because they don’t have the ability to do it.’”

This week (thanks Jihad Watch):
The White House

Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
July 09, 2010
Readout of the President’s Call with President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority

The President spoke with Palestinian Authority President Abbas today. The President expressed strong support for President Abbas’s leadership on behalf of the Palestinian people and his commitment to peace.

Click jihad watch link and read the rest.
7:16
Obama admin pushing sharia in Kenya
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

Jihad Watch has at least 6 new articles that I encourage to go read. I am shamelessly stealing the 7th here in its entirity but you will need to go to the original for links. Not best form for me to do so but my fingers are in less best form and i think this is very important for readers to see.

Start of direct copy:
Obama campaigned in Kenya in August 2006 for the presidential candidate Raila Odinga, who is now Prime Minister of Kenya. Odinga has troubling ties to Islamic hardliners: he reportedly made a fortune in the oil industry by making a deal with the Al-Bakri Group of Saudi Arabia. Abdulkader al-Bakri, the CEO of the Al Bakri Group, has been identified as a sponsor of Al-Qaeda. Odinga also cultivated ties with Muammar Gaddafi.

And now this: the U.S. government is promoting a pro-Sharia Constitution in Kenya. This should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed Obama’s consistent pro-Islamic supremacist, pro-Sharia policies; get the full story of Obama’s dealings with Odinga and his Islamic supremacist ties in general in The Post-American Presidency.

Is there any problem with the President of the United States pushing and financing in another country the establishment of a system that would deny basic freedoms? Does anyone care?

“Trouble in Kenya,” by Kathryn Lopez, July 9 (thanks to Neil):

[...] Biden was in Kenya leading what sounded a lot like a rally for that nation’s new constitution, one that’s going to be voted on in August. It’s a fatally flawed document, inimical to the values of many Kenyans. The government lost a constitutional vote once before, and it’s called out the big guns for this propaganda campaign, including claimed promises of an Obama visit if the populace knuckles under.

Many foreign observers have enthusiastically joined the government and the Kenyan mainstream media in insisting that a “yes” vote is essential. But it’s far from an open-and-shut case. [...]

U.S. financial and rhetorical support for the Kenyan constitution has some members of Congress calling for an investigation. In a letter to Department of State officials and others, Reps. Chris Smith of New Jersey, Darrell Issa of California and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida raised questions about U.S. lobbying in Kenya — specifically, the possibility that the Obama administration may have violated federal law in doing so.

Administration officials have denied any impropriety. But, as the letter points out, our ambassador to Kenya has been quoted as saying that the U.S. has given Kenya $2 million for “civic education” on the constitution, and that we’re committed to more.

“The U.S. shouldn’t be interfering with this process, and we have serious questions about why the Obama administration is promoting a constitution which allows abortion on demand and waters down protections for religious freedom,” Rebecca Marchinda of the New York-based World Youth Alliance, which has an office in Nairobi, says. [...]

…the proposed constitution would also create a legal system within a legal system — codifying the strengthening of sharia by making it apply to every Muslim Kenyan. As Eric Rassbach of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty points out: “People are subjected to these tribunals merely by virtue of what religious community they were born into, and they have no way of opting out.”

Ray Walser of the Heritage Foundation gives the Obama administration the benefit of the doubt: “I would suspect the administration is pushing the constitution package as a whole with the promise to reduce presidential power and to place constitutional safeguards against corruption.” That would take Vice President Biden at his word. But the Achilles heel of this administration is that it is not, in the subtle words of Walser, “adverse to measures that permit space for sharia-like legal customs — for Muslim outreach/public-diplomacy purposes”…

Nina Shea, director of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom, has a more direct and alarming warning: “The U.S. is drifting unconsciously, haltingly, inconsistently toward a foreign policy that actively promotes the state coercion of Islamic strictures. It adopted such a policy in its financial and legal drafting support of the constitutions of Iraq and Afghanistan. … It did so at the U.N. Human Rights Council in October 2009, when the U.S. joined with Egypt, representing the Organization of the Islamic Conference, to introduce a resolution calling for states to enforce their hate-speech laws. It explained its initiative, which shocked many NGOs, as seeking to ‘reach out to Muslim countries.’” [...]
4:04
Israeli hospitals rock
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

I’ve written before about how going to the ER in the States is simply a horrific experience — I once had to wait 14 hours before anyone looked at me despite having collapsed in a grocery store (as a result of severe dehydration from having salmonella poisoning). The Israeli hospital experience is SO different. On Saturday, about 2 hours after my last blog post, my hands had begun to swell so badly (and hurt like no one’s business in all the joints so that I could barely move my fingers) that I was like, right off to Icholov hospital I go. Almost everyone I know with a car is shomer shabbat. I reached a secular friend with car and discovered she was on a tiyul in a forest about 2 hours away. She was completely willing to come back immediately but that immediately wasn’t going to be immediate enough. Thankfully I had enough cash on me for a cab ride there and back if needed but just barely.

I arrived at the reception, they sent me immediately to the waiting area and in 5 minutes a doctor was seeing me, examining the injuries — 4 deep and one light puncture wound around the base of my left thumb and one deep, two light puncture wounds on my right hand first finger. Bizarrely, the finger with the least injuries was the one that is the most painful and swollen, with the swelling taking over the entire hand and pain shooting into the wrist and arm. He ordered a bunch of blood tests immediately.

My one complaint was the male nurse who took the blood and inserted the IV. Having blood drawn (needles directed at me for any reason) is one of my phobias. At my local Maccabi center, the nurses there are so skilled that they usually have inserted the needle and taken blood before I’ve even realized they’ve started. Utterly painless. This guy was really, really not skilled. If the cat experienced anything like what I did with the IV needle insertion, I do not blame it in the least for biting and scratching the shit out of us.

It took a couple of hours for the test results to come back. It is good to know I am not specifically allergic to cat saliva. Then I was put on an IV with antibiotics. After that I needed to wait two hours, during which time I was free to wander around the hospital and the connecting mall with the IV needle still in my arm and then came back for another IV bag. The doctor then wrote me a prescription but wanted me to see a dermatologist (I was a what?) to make sure I didn’t need something stronger medication-wise.

After waiting half an hour, the dermatologist came and examined me. She did give me some additional medications and gave me the option of staying overnight and having another IV or taking a very strong oral dose then and going home (I would not be able to get the prescriptions filled until the morning since I was sans car to get to an open pharmacy and it was late enough that I didn’t want to call and disturb anyone to come take me to one). I opted to go home because I knew my cats were hungry. On check-out, I paid 110 shekels for everything that was done at the hospital and I don’t need to get a tofes 17. The medications, unfortunately came to nearly 300 sheks at the pharmacy. Ouch.

The hospital was like the place to be on a Saturday night, it seems. Right as I arrived I ran into a student of mine who was there with her boyfriend who had stepped on a 2-inch long rusty nail. Heh, if she didn’t do well on the test yesterday she can’t use the hospital as an excuse since he stepped on it as they were coming back from the beach. While I was waiting for the test results another student came by, this time with a friend who had accidentally consumed something containing nuts and had a bad reaction. Just as I was leaving my little vet friend arrived, (guys! I tell you, thinking they can ‘man it out’ or whatever).

The side effects of the meds are very unpleasant but I am experiencing slow but steady improvement. This morning I woke to discover that I can move my pinky and the finger next to it without pain on my right hand and I’ve gotten the last 3 fingers back in action on the left hand. Not having the thumbs or first fingers remotely in action still makes life quite difficult. The swelling has reduced a bit and I can now see that I do have knuckles, well sort of. Yesterday the right hand was one big smooth balloon.

I’ll post later the story of the kamikaze cat.
July 10, 2010
8:17
painful howls from the vet clinic (our howls)
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

Today was eventful at the vet clinic. One of those all too common events one would not like to experience. It has been 3 hours and I’m still bleeding.

And it started off seeming like it was going to be such a quick and easy morning because all but 1 cat there was of the extremely friendly, sweet, and docile variety. We got the ballistic cat out of the way first and then moved on to those of sugar and spice.

We dealt with the diabetic kitty, the two little black ‘crow kittens,’ the little calico baby that died on the table and was brought back to life and has now successfully completed the 2 needed surgeries, a new tiny black and white baby girl that Ronen saved from just outside his office aged 4-5 weeks, the abandoned persian with gastro problems, and a couple more from the street. Then there were the sweet cats with owners. We handled Schnitzel who has a blood parasite and is now almost ready for release, and then we got to Nehma a lovely little 3-year old who has been very sick indeed. She’s on an IV and being fed through a tube but is on the road to recovery, to her owner’s great relief.

Nehma is one of the most docile cats I’ve ever come across. Until today, that is. And I will have to continue this later as it is hurtimg way too much to type. It was funny tho if u were maybe watching it as a video and not involved yorself. actually quite funny.
2:25
They’re everywhere: Norwegian Jihadis
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

So the news broke a couple of days ago when I was too under the weather to blog it, that 3 Norwegian terrorists, tied to Al Qaeda had been arrested. One of them was Norwegian-born, the other two were immigrants. They were planning to hit targets in the U.S. and in the U.K.

The arrests came just a day after counter-terror officials in Britain swooped on three other men – including Abid Naseer, who had been living in Manchester. Naseer had been previously arrested by police (along with several others) but because police bungled things –they were forced to swoop in before they had all their evidence in a row when a Sr. Met officer was photographed holding top secret documents and the published photo was close up enough that you could read the documents which stated they planned on a raid on these guys and so the raid had to be done immediately and thus too soon. Naseer has now been re-arrested and firmly tied to the NYC subway bombing attempt.

Those U.K. three are among a total of five people wanted by US police over a suspected July 7-style attack targeting the New York subway. A second man living in Manchester, internet cafe worker Tariq Ur Rehman, is also wanted by the United States authorities. He fled to Pakistan, however, after the bungled U.K. raid.

Now we have the Norwegian 3.
1:48
Will Obama sue Rhode Island next?
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

Andy McCarthy over at the National Review brings this bit of news to light, “Well whaddya know? It turns out that Rhode Island has long been carrying out the procedures at issue in the Arizona immigration statute: As a matter of routine, RI state police check immigration status at traffic stops whenever there is reasonable suspicion to do so, and they report all illegals to the feds for deportation. Besides the usual profiling blather, critics have trotted out the now familiar saw that such procedures hamstring police because they make immigrants afraid to cooperate. But it turns out that it’s the Rhode Island police who insist on enforcing the law. As Cornell law prof William Jacobson details at Legal Insurrection, Colonel Brendan P. Doherty, the state police commander, “refuses to hide from the issue,” explaining, ”I would feel that I’m derelict in my duties to look the other way.”

If, as President Obama and Attorney General Holder claim, there is a federal preemption issue, why hasn’t the administration sued Rhode Island already? After all, Rhode Island is actually enforcing these procedures, while the Arizona law hasn’t even gone into effect yet.”

They probably haven’t sued them previously because that case has already been fought and lost in the Supreme Court: the Supreme Court in Muehler v. Mena has already held that police do not need any reason (not probable cause, not reasonable suspicion) to ask a person about his immigration status

McCarthy points out, “just this past February, in Estrada v. Rhode Island, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upheld the Rhode Island procedures, reasoning that, in Muehler v. Mena, the Supreme Court “held that a police officer does not need independent reasonable suspicion to question an individual about her immigration status…

So, we have a Justice Department that drops a case it already won against New Black Panthers who are on tape intimidating voters in blatant violation of federal law, but that sues a sovereign state for enacting a statute in support of immigration enforcement practices that have already been upheld by two of the nation’s highest courts.”

Dude talk about a waste of tax-payer dollars.
July 09, 2010
5:40
getting very stressed over the apartment situation
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

Being sick yesterday and today has kept me from doing any apartment hunting. On Sunday I also can’t because of needing to be at the IDC virtually all day with exams for my students. On Wednesday I saw an apartment in Ramat Gan that I nearly took despite it being much smaller than my current apartment and with a layout that was going to drive me crazy (simply not a good set-up with the cats). It was completely renovated, however, with all new electric, hot water heater and so forth. The kitchen was the selling point as it had massive amounts of counter space and cupboards. It also had a beautiful new double-doored fridge and a new stove in it. Ahhhh, said I, wow what a great fridge. Yes, it is nice, isn’t it! But the fridge and stove belong to the current renters….ARGH. That was in immediate ok nooooo thanks. I had another one on my list to see in the area but as I was making my way over there they called and said they’d rented it.

At the moment I’m feeling slightly better than yesterday but that isn’t saying much. Running a fever, achy, completely stuffed up. But I’m drinking lots of fluids and staying next to the fan. My apartment is an unwholly disaster as it is now day 3 with no cleaning and because of the heat all the cats are shedding like no one’s business. If you run your hand down a cat, your whole hand is filled with hair that has come off. And this despite my brushing them twice a day.
5:12
Latma TV agrees with me. Funny clip
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

See my comments regarding Obama’s oooooooooo I love you Israel attempt and then see this comedy skit just posted from Latma: Plausible Deniability

Enjoy.
2:23
Jihadist in Canada: “A genocide should be perpetrated against the Jewish populations of North America and Europe….Their permanent extermination is the only solution”
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

What I would to without Jihad Watch to keep me informed, I don’t know. And this is something that everyone needs to be informed about.

As Robert notes, “More evidence of the harmonic convergence of Nazism and Islamic supremacism. Yet the enablers of that Islamic supremacism among Muslims and Leftists still defame anti-jihadists as Nazis, ignoring how they are abetting a movement that is actually calling for revival of Nazi principles, not fighting against those principles as are anti-jihadists.”

From the National Post: Over the past three years, Salman Hossain has openly called for terrorist attacks in Canada, cheered the killing of Canadian troops in Afghanistan and urged fellow Muslims to “exterminate” Canada’s Jewish population.

When police started showing up at his suburban home in Mississauga, Ont., in 2007, he was not chastened. He wrote that he “honestly got a kick out of pissing off the RCMP…. HAHAHA…. You can’t charge me for possessing a thought.”

Canadian authorities have apparently heard enough of Mr. Hossain’s thoughts. Ontario Provincial Police have scheduled a news conference for Thursday afternoon to announce the results of a lengthy investigation into the young extremist.

He is expected to face charges of promoting hatred and, quite possibly, advocating a genocide. If so, it would mark the first time an advocating genocide charge has been prosecuted in Canada. The charges relate to hundreds of racist comments Mr. Hossain has posted on the Internet….

The announcement comes nine months after Ontario Attorney-General Chris Bentley told the Jewish community the Crown had decided not to proceed with charges against Mr. Hossain because he was in a rehabilitation program to correct his behaviour.

Far from being rehabilitated, however, Mr. Hossain has only become more outspoken since then. He now openly urges Muslims to organize an invasion of Canada to overthrow the “Jewish run Canadian government” and begin the “mass extermination” of Canada’s Jews.

While Mr. Hossain will face criminal charges, arresting him will be more complicated. He left the country before the OPP investigation was completed and is now in South Asia, where he continues to advocate racist violence on his U.S.-based website.

“Yes, I am a fanatic,” he wrote in one of his recent posts from abroad. “I am ready to kill millions.” Last week, he wrote, “We must never cease in our efforts to eliminate the Jewish people from the face of the earth. Their permanent liquidation and destruction is the only solution.”...

Mr. Hossain did not respond to an email asking whether he would return voluntarily to Canada to face charges, but his “official spokesman” told a Post reporter on May 21: “You need to stop your harassment of Mr. Hossin, because he’s not the only one calling for your execution you rat faced scumbag…. Every last Jew on planet earth needs [sic] executed IMMEDIATELY …”

Born in Bangladesh, Mr. Hossain immigrated to Canada with his father and mother, who once told a reporter her son was “stupid, an idiot and immature.” Online, he has described himself as “a regular Muslim supporting the jihad overseas” and a friend of the Toronto 18 terrorists who have pleaded guilty to plotting attacks in southern Ontario….

Shortly after Mr. Bentley’s announcement, Mr. Hossain resurfaced on Filthy Jewish Terrorists, a conspiracy theory website, with headlines such as “The Jews and the West must be nuked” and “The destruction of the West is the only way to exterminate the Jews.”

On the website, Mr. Hossain uses terminology reminiscent of the far right and neo-Nazis, writing that “a genocide should be perpetrated against the Jewish populations of North America and Europe.” Another post on the site reads, “we need to start carrying out genocide against the Jewish people … Their permanent extermination is the only solution.”

York University suspended Mr. Hossain after the National Post reported he was under investigation. “I do not believe in ‘Canadian’ values whatever they mean,” he responded on his website. “I forfeit my Canadian citizenship and will not literally participate in their fabricated judicial system.”…
2:13
Sorry Big O, we don’t buy it
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

So Obama is going all out to try to convince Israelis (make that his fleeing Jewish voters back home) that he really is Israel’s bestest friend and just loves us. He even gave an interview to our channel 2 tv station. We’d heard the rumours that he was going to do his best to make this meeting with Bibi seem the picture of nicey nice in order to try to repair his image among Jewish voters as a result of the stunning amount of damage he’s done to our relationship with the U.S. not only in the shockingly bad and insulting way he treated Bibi on his previous visit but also through his deeds.

We are not stupid Obama. You can’t put together a nice little photo-op and say some pretty words and expect that we are going to forget how the U.S. has behaved and voted in the U.N. on anti-Israel resolutions, how the U.S behaved regarding the Goldstone report, regarding the Gaza Flotilla terrorists, regarding building in our capital, regarding…oh so many things that have been “firsts” for the U.S. toward us and all under your administration. No, we are not going to buy your line.

We are not stupid.
1:30
New Black Panther Chief “explains” the ‘kill white babies’ comment
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

These are the guys that the Department of Justice dropped the voter intimidation charges against. In the interview with Mediaite the chief of the New Black Panthers, Malik Zulu Shabazz, the guy interviewing him notes, “Elsewhere in my interview with New Black Panther Party Chairman Malik Zulu Shabazz, he disclosed that King Samir had been reinstated to the Party after a long suspension. I asked him to explain the kill white babies remarks, and his response was jaw-dropping.” Jaw-dropping indeed. Check it out:

Hot Air has got a whole lot more on these guys, including a clip up in which Shabazz let’s his antisemitism show (not that he ever tries to hide it), “Beck has had me on before, I’ve been on Sean Hannity about 20 times, he’s under orders not to have me on, Bill O’Reilly’s under orders not to have me on. This is all a conspiracy. Iwould say a Zionist conspiracy, but you would say “He’s too conspiratorial.”

But it’s some kind of conspiracy going on, to keep the truth out, and to keep us off the airwaves, to keep talking about us, but not talk to us. ” Pop over to Hot Air to watch the clip and read Ed’s commentary.
July 08, 2010
9:17
summer cold
» ‎ Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel (israel)

Sorry for the light blogging guys. Yesterday was a day from hell (leaving early in the morning and not getting home til after 10) but also in many ways a good day. However, I started the day feeling a bit achy, by noon my throat was hurting, and by 6 I knew I was definitely getting sick. Today I’ve not done much other than lay under a fan. It is the yearly summer cold and it has hit with a vengeance. Hopefully I’ll feel a bit better in a while and be up for updating. There is so much I want to blog about and also to respond to comments.

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