http://frontpagemag.com/2012/ari-lieberman/chuck-hagel-and-the-jewish-lobby/print/ I recently examined the records of two career politicians all but certain to be nominated for top spots within the Obama administration – John Kerry for Secretary of State and Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense. While John Kerry’s record on Israel is mixed at best, Obama’s man for Secretary of Defense is downright […]
Today was the first day I cried since Friday – I tend to avoid TV news at the best of times, so I have missed much of the hooplah and media frenzy to get the latest “scoop.” Also, because I live on the other side of town, I have missed many (but not all) of the traffic snarls. But today, Jen missed the bus and I had to bring her to the high school. Just seeing a “lot full” sign at the end of the driveway – presumably to keep nosy reporters out – and policemen volunteering their services from as far away from Norwalk made me lose it for just a moment.
Our quiet little town was not only rocked by an event past our wildest imaginations, but then invaded by media who, when all the dust has settled, will move on to the next tragic event to exploit. I will be glad when they are gone – I actually flipped off a news truck today. Tacky, I know, but I couldn’t help it. (I don’t think they saw me anyway).
Please go away. Please stop cold calling my friends who live in Sandy Hook for potential news nuggets. Please stop harassing people like my mother as they leave funerals. Please stop parking on people’s lawns without permission. Please just…stop. For those of us who even have the heart to celebrate Christmas, it will be a lot easier when you are gone. Will you spare a thought for us in six months? Because we’ll still be here. This is our home, and at this point you are just interlopers looking to fill air time and column space. When the public’s “right to know” trumps common decency (like snapping pictures of people in their homes using a telephoto lens, like I saw in the Daily News), you have gone too far.
Sorry. Rant over. Carry on.
http://www.nationalreview.com/blogs/print/335869 Newtown is the latest locale in America to become synonymous with senseless slaughter. The shock and the horror are so intense, it almost guarantees that Congress will act. There will inevitably be an enormous brouhaha around guns and ammunition, leading to nothing likely to prevent the next massacre. Democrats are talking about a renewed […]
http://pjmedia.com/claudiarosett/benghazi-in-brief/ So, the Accountability Review Board has produced its much-awaited report on Benghazi. The unclassified version of the document was featured briefly Tuesday evening on the home page of the State Department’s web site, but has now dropped to somewhere less prominent and harder to locate. Perhaps someone had second thoughts about putting it out […]
http://pjmedia.com/rogerlsimon/2012/12/18/benghazis-back-sort-of/?print=1 Benghazi is back. In a way. The awaited special report [1] by an independent review panel led by retired Ambassador Thomas Pickering and the former Joint Chiefs chairman, Adm. Mike Mullen, has been delivered to Congress and offered few revelations, at least according to the Associated Press [2]. The report appeared to break little […]
http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2012/12/13/visitor-to-israel-needs-to-know/
Food, Manners and Unrequited Love: What Every Visitor to Israel Needs to Know
Prepare to gain a few pounds when you visit Israel. And don’t be surprised that “Palestinian” “refugees” live in houses bigger than yours.
In previous installments of this series, I’ve suggested famous (and not so famous) must-sees on your trip to Israel. You won’t want to miss your chance to float in the Dead Sea, snorkel with exotic fish in Eilat and fire a gun or two at Caliber 3 in Gush Etzion.
Now, onto some helpful hints and observations about everyday cultural cornerstones like food, language and manners.
PLUS: a crash course on words — like “settlement,” “refugee camp” and “checkpoint” — that don’t mean what you think they mean, at least in Israel.
FOOD
The Jews wandered in the desert for 40 years because they couldn’t decide where to eat.
Food is a very big deal in Jewish culture, so it’s not surprising that you can eat well in Israel, and as cheaply or as expensively as you wish or can afford.
Contrary to what you may think, not all restaurants there are kosher.
Many people believe that kosher food, wherever it is served, is healthier and cleaner. I for one do get this sensation when I’m in Israel, that somehow the food is fresher and more carefully handled. When it comes to kosher food, a bug on your lettuce isn’t just a faux pas — it’s a serious violation of the law.
Every hotel offers a breakfast buffet. It’s an Israeli institution, and differs little from a similar spread in North America except for the addition of chilled fish like herring, and the absence of bacon and ham.
In fact, the presence of dairy at these buffets means that no meat — pork or otherwise — will be on the menu. Milk and meat are not combined because — to put it simplistically — milk represents life and meat represents death. (So while there are McDonald’s in Israel, they don’t serve cheeseburgers. Coffeemate was invented so that Jews could enjoy “cream” in their coffee while eating, say, a steak.)
One dish that’s standard fare in Israel, and that we fell in love with, is shakshuka. “Dr. Shakshuka’s” restaurant was closed the day we visited Jaffa, which is too bad because it is world famous:
We went to the charming Nelly’s Kitchen instead, and really enjoyed it.
In the evening, across Israel, a “switch” takes place in restaurants and dining rooms: meat is offered but dairy is not. The types of cutlery at your table setting will be different, too.
Expect your lunch or dinner order to come with bountiful plates of appetizers like humus and salad. THEN your main meal arrives. Keep this in mind when ordering (and eating.)
Since I’m from Toronto, I’m familiar with the cuisine of most cultures, and have long been a falafel fanatic. The falafel is the “hamburger” of Israel, so be sure to try one. If you’re a bland “meat and potatoes” person, this and other Israeli dishes may be an acquired taste.
Starbucks isn’t there yet, but the Israeli equivalent — Aroma — is arguably superior anyhow. You get a little piece of dark chocolate with your cup of coffee, and their sandwiches are exceptional.
In Jerusalem’s Old City, treat yourself to a poppy seed bun or other fresh pastry sold by the Muslim merchants who push their wares along on old wooden carts.
Israelis love their baked goods and hard candies, too — those are for sale everywhere, especially in “shuks” or markets:
LANGUAGE AND MANNERS
In my experience, most Israels “understand” English but their fluency is lopsided:
Either they understand you but struggle to reply, or can speak English well but have a hard time understanding you.
If you hail from a big North American city, you already know the drill: Be patient. Speak slowly and clearly. Don’t expect strangers to understand your cultural references or jokes.
Speaking of which: The Israeli sense of humor tends toward the dry and straightfaced, and will leave some travelers puzzled or even offended.
For instance, when I mentioned to a hotel front desk clerk that I couldn’t understand a recorded message on my room phone because I don’t speak Hebrew, he shot back, “Why not? How dare you?”
He was joking around, but not everybody will respond well to that kind of ribbing.
Israeli’s are also notoriously blunt to the point of rudeness. Customer service isn’t as cloying and obsequious as you may be used to, especially if you live in the Southern or Midwestern United States.
“Civility is not a high priority,” as Barry Rubin delicately phrases it in his bookIsrael: An Introduction:
With no history of an oppressed peasantry or working class that “knew its place,” Israelis are notoriously obstinate, egalitarian, and insistent on their personal rights. The lack of a well-developed system of etiquette derives from the lack of a subservient or class conscious past. (…)
Israeli society’s pioneer ethos, familiar aspect, and contempt for snobbishness or class distinction is reflected in its high levels of informality. With the exception of the Haredim, most Israelis wear casual clothing. The ubiquitous Western suit and tie stay in the closet, even for weddings and funerals. (…) Punctuality is not a high priority. It is not unusual for events and even television programming to start later than scheduled.
Typical “Palestinian” “hovel” on the “West Bank.” (Credit: BlazingCatFur)
SETTLEMENTS, REFUGEE CAMPS AND CHECK POINTS
Jewish “settlers” live on “disputed” territory in varying levels of comfort. We drove through Ariel, which looks no different than a typical Western suburb; it even has its own university.
Since there are virtually no houses in Tel Aviv, just apartments, some Israelis live in “settlements” like Ariel and commute elsewhere to work. The cost of living in a “settlement” like Ariel is (according to our guide) about 75% less.
To get in and out of Ariel, we drove through one of those dreaded “checkpoints.” This consisted of an armed guy in a booth, waving us through. Wooo, scary!
THAT PHRASE IS DERIVED FROM A RACE, WHEN A CONTENDER RUSHES BEFORE THE STARTING GUN IS FIRED.
The popular meaning is:
To Begin Something Before Preparations For it Are Complete.
And that is exactly what so many pundits and legislators are prepared to do.
Caution is advised…..
http://www.thecommentator.com/article/2279/an_honest_liberal_writes_about_gun_control/page/2 When someone on the left reaches the same conclusion on gun control as a libertarian, you have to sit up and take notice I wrote earlier this month about an honest liberal who acknowledged the problems created by government dependency. Well, it happened again. First, some background.Like every other decent person, I was horrified […]
http://www.thecommentator.com/article/2277/exclusive_palestinian_leadership_helps_break_sanctions_on_sudan
Two brothers leading lavish lifestyles in London have attempted to secure lucrative oil contracts from Sudan’s sanctioned regime with help from the Palestinian Authority
Issam and Devincci Hourani’s involvement with Palestinian Authority corruption surfaced at a hearing before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs this summer, which heard that they were working with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ son Yasser Abbas on business deals all over the world, including in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Montenegro, and Sudan.
The Congressional Committee heard that US intelligence officials had established that Yasser Abbas worked with Devincci Hourani to pursue an oil business in Sudan called Caratube International Oil Company (CIOC), and that the two individuals received help from the Palestinian Authority Ambassador to Sudan to win three oil blocks on behalf of CIOC.
CIOC, owned by Devincci Hourani, a US national, was prohibited by US federal law from engaging with the Sudanese oil industry due to US sanctions that have been placed on the Sudanese regime for its flagrant human rights violations related to the genocide in Darfur. It would appear neither Hourani nor his Palestinian enablers were deterred by Sudan’s atrocious human rights record however.
Hourani has never denied having been involved in discussions with the Sudanese regime about the purchase of oil blocks with the assistance of the Palestinian Authority. Furthermore, he has never confirmed the status of his negotiations about the proposed transaction.
Congress was told that the Houranis both received Palestinian diplomatic passports, which according to the US intelligence officials entitle them to travel with immunity. Diplomatic passports are reserved for diplomats and other important officials, such as ministers and heads of security services. Those who do not satisfy these positions can only acquire such a passport directly from the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, raising questions about his role in enabling the illicit deal by granting diplomatic passports to two individuals who are not even Palestinian citizens.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/12/why_are_some_people_prone_to_obey.html
Despite mounting evidence indicating that the Affordable Care Act, aka ObamaCare, will, in fact, harm seniors; that the “stimulus” has been “nothing more than a political slush fund”; and that the myriad of regulations by Obama has stymied the economy, many Americans still persist in defending these actions. The denial of high unemployment, burgeoning tax rates to begin in a few weeks, and the general decline of the United States is breathtaking.
Moreover, from “the outset, the Obama administration’s handling of the most sensitive secrets of the war on terror has been worrisome.” On the one hand, our enemies learn about our intelligence. On the other hand, a cloud of secrecy and obfuscation lingers over the serious Fast and Furious agenda and the Benghazi events. Astonishingly, Congressman Jason Chaffetz has been “thwarted” by the State Department in contacting the survivors of the Benghazi attack. Thus, Congress has been denied access to these people, and the American public continues to be kept in the dark notwithstanding the alleged transparency claimed by the Obama administration.
Economists politely wonder why Mr. Obama doesn’t come around and see the light and admit that his plans are not assisting America. Others like Bill Whittle state that Obama’s incompetence is not the reason for our fiscal insanity; rather, the people running this country are (actively) trying to destroy the country, and they are succeeding. Thus, it is with malice aforethought that Obama and his cronies are bringing America to its knees.
Through outright bribes, there are those who have accepted Obama’s actions. For example, Mary Landrieu and Louisiana received $100 million, California received $300 million, and Big Labor had goodies tucked away in the health bill so that all these people and entities would support it.
