Mr. Sparks? Meet Mr. Dry Twigs: Ehud Olmert Vs. Rabbi Meir Kahane - the debate (Video)

Pardon me while I hastily don fireproof gloves and mask, and quicky step back and offer up some fascinating viewing from the "wayback machine":

A televised debate between (then "merely" a Likud Knesset member) Ehud Olmert and the late Rabbi Meir Kahane on the loyalty of Israel's Arab population to the State, and Israel's future as a Jewish state:

Face it: I'll never be a celebrity...

Here's a fun, Israeli Internet invention:

MyHeritage enables users to send in a photograph of themselves, family or friends, and seconds later receive up to 10 pictures of their celebrity look-alikes.

The celebrities include anything from Hollywood A-list actors like Angelina Jolie or Brad Pitt, to athletes, politicians, scientists and even long-forgotten historical figures.

MyHeritage went on air in January, and already has 2.38 million subscribers, a figure that its founder and CEO, Gilad Japhet estimates will be around 2.5 million as this article reaches the press. Around 100,000 photos are uploaded to the site every day, and MyHeritage has become the 19th most talked about company on Internet blogs, beating Internet giants like ICQ, which only appears in the 82nd slot.

Here's another cute time-waster: View a clever VH1 clip of the app with funny comments by comedians.

Actually, this app was probably originally designed to ID terrorists waiting in line at the ATM, to take out money to buy Semtex, but really, I feel it was also meant just for me, with my face just made for radio...

Pro baseball coming to Israel

The boys of summer, courtesy of Israel21c:

On a Massachussetts baseball diamond, 60 American ballplayers of various skills, ages and religious persuasions have gathered in pursuit of a common goal: To play professionally in the Israel Baseball League in June 2007. Along with bringing pro ball to Israel, league organizers Larry Baras and Dan Duquette are pushing for an Israeli entry in the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

...Baseball's quest to globalize has helped the sport make inroads in several new frontiers. When Jim Lefebvre is preaching the gospel in China, Lee Smith is teaching curveball grips to young pitchers in South Africa and Stubby Clapp and the Canadians are beating the tar out of the United States in the World Baseball Classic, the baseball landscape clearly is changing.

So why not Israel, a nation with a fondness for pizza, bowling, malls, reality TV, McDonald's, Home Depot and Blockbuster Video? Statistics show that Israel has the highest percentage of home computers per capita in the world, the highest ratio of university degrees and the second highest per capita output of new books each year. Shouldn't a society this enlightened embrace the most cerebral sport of all?

Good stuff. Read more here. Background, stats, facs & and pics of Israeli baseball here, and here.