When the Prophet & Profit Motive Meet

Oh, the sweet bitter irony - otherwise known in the language of the Prophets as vacuous, stunning "hutzpa" - of it all...

From the WaPo:

"[Shari] Arison -- billionaire ($2.7 by Forbes's most recent estimate), perhaps the richest woman in the Middle East, a major force in Israeli philanthropy -- claims that she can see the future.

"This is much bigger than a parlor trick. In her new book published this summer in Israel, the 51-year-old Miami native says she felt the Indonesian tsunami sweeping over the land two months before it happened and sensed Hurricane Katrina pummeling New Orleans. In an interview, Arison says she also "saw the writing on the wall" before the global economic crash. Reading about Arison's extrasensory perception makes you ache for a heads-up, maybe a blog entry or a tweet or a phone call to Brownie or Greenspan or somebody who might have helped."

I hear there's medication for this.

Hey - btw: I'm looking for multimedia development ideas for my website: http://www.davebrianbender.com. And no, asking Arison for a loan doesn't count. Go take a look, and drop me a line. Thanks, D

(Audio Slideshow) UK Guardian: 'This land belongs to the Jewish people'

View
Shdema is located at the green A. (Click on the larger view for a detailed map)

The UK's Guardian newspaper has an audio slideshow (so far unembeddable) up purporting to give an on-site view of Israelis trying to (re) settle and rebuild Shdema, an abandoned Israeli army base near the Israeli neighborhood of Har Homa, and the Palestinian town of Beit Sahur - both just SE of Jerusalem and NE of Bethlehem.

For what it's worth, my take is that the slide show - despite it's faults - is far drier and more straight-up newsy, than the written article by the same author - Rory McCarthy. While both focus on Israeli Women in Green founder Nadia Matar , the written article comes across as a much more of a screedy and opinionated piece of work than the slideshow.

The Women in Green website post on Shdema:

"The convention of the terrorist Fatah organization in Betlehem last week has brought with it a wave of vandalism against Shdema, located on the outskirts of Betlehem

"For the past two weeks, international anarchists and Arabs have vandalized Shdema, have besmirched the Israeli flags and have painted anti-Israeli slogans on the walls.

"When we go up to Shdema, the IDF accompanies us, mainly to make sure we don’t do any serious building in Shdema. On the other hand, the illegal Arab construction at the bottom of Shdema continues to blossom, despite the destruction orders against it."

'Batterup!' Feature Length Film on Baseball in Israel

Entertaining: sweet, no mideast politics - just all about the boys (and girls) of summer in the US and Israel... worth watching. Batterup!

Source: http://www.hulu.com

Video description: A diverse group of players and executives attempt to create the first professional baseball league in the Middle East.

Full disclosure: my son played extensively in Israel Little League (where he usually swatted them out of the park - but hey - it's just his abba talkin'...)

After the film, check out my news site. Comments welcome.

Audio: 'ACLU, GA. Rabbi Take on State Kosher Laws'

The American Civil Liberties Union is filing suit over a state law they say infringes on a Marietta rabbi's First Amendment rights. Dave Bender reports... (For WABE 90.1 FM, Airdate: 070709)

The audio report is here: http://www.davebrianbender.com/

Video Profile: Women in The Israeli Army ('Current TV')

Current TV (yes that Current TV of North Korean-reporter "fame") take a close-up look at two female soldiers serving in the Israel Defense Forces: one, a combat ground forces medic, and the second a UAV operator in the Air Force:

Nat'l, Georgia ACLU, Local Rabbi Take On Kosher Laws

Rabbi Shalom Lewis, of (Conservative) Congregation Etz Chaim in Cobb County, says he can't fulfill his rabbinical food supervision duties because his take on kosher laws differs from that of Orthodox Judaism.

"I don't want to have to choose between abiding by state law and practicing my religion according to my beliefs," Lewis says, according to an ACLU statement:

"The State of Georgia’s Kosher Food Labeling Act (KFLA) mandates that any food labeled kosher in that state must be certified to be in accordance with 'orthodox Hebrew religious rules and requirements.'"

From The Atlanta Journal Constitution:

"The Kosher Food Labeling Act, enacted in 1980, mandates that any food sold as kosher must meet “orthodox Hebrew religious rules and requirements.”

"Lewis, a conservative Jew, said he cannot fulfill his rabbinical duties because his theological interpretation of the state’s kosher laws differs from that of Orthodox Judaism. He said he violates state law when he approves some foods as kosher that are not kosher under Orthodox definitions."

Invisible 'Force Field' Shields Israeli Tanks

From The Jerusalem Post:

"The IDF Ground Forces Command has declared the Trophy anti-tank missile defense system operational, following a series of tests last week that surpassed expectations for the system's capabilities, it was revealed on Thursday.

"The Trophy system, developed by Rafael, creates a hemispheric protected zone around armored vehicles such as the Merkava tank, which operated prominently in Lebanon. The system is designed to detect and track a threat and counter it with a launched projectile that intercepts the anti-tank missile."

Legendary Dylan sideman emigrates to Israel

From Dave Brinn at The Jerusalem Post:

People may know the songs and albums he's played on more than his name, but a bona fide musical icon from the 1960s will be arriving on an August 4th Nefesh B'Nefesh flight of new immigrants to Israel.

Harvey Brooks calls his Jewish upbringing in Queens 'pretty ordinary,' and he credits his parents with instilling 'the basics' in him.

"Harvey Brooks, who will be making aliya with his wife Bonnie from Tuscon, Arizona, has played bass guitar on some of the most groundbreaking records of the post-Beatles era - including Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited (1965), Miles Davis's Bitches Brew (1969), The Doors' The Soft Parade (1969) and 1968's Super Session featuring Michael Bloomfield, Al Kooper and Stephen Stills. And that's only a fraction of the some 100 albums he's appeared on or produced over the past 40 years on his way to cementing his status as one of the most respected figures on the American music scene."

MadLib Replies to My Readers on Israel

From Barry Rubin, but applicable to so many situations, especially many of my readers:

Dear Reader: Thank you for your note explaining why

___ Israel is to blame for not having destroyed Hizballah
___ Israel is to blame for not having destroyed Hamas
___ Israel should win total victory
___ Israel should invade the Gaza Strip and take it over
___ Israel is going to collapse because of the demographic gap
___ Israel is doing hasbara all wrong and you have the solution
___ Israel should make its main priority answering all the idiots who attack us rather than going about our business
___ Israel should make huge concessions to the Palestinians just in case they might like to make peace after getting them
___ Israel should make huge concessions to the Syrians just in case they might like to make peace after getting them
___ Israel should let Hamas stage terrorist attacks and not respond to show we are nice people, those of us who are still alive
___ All of the above

I very much appreciate your taking the time to write. Your interest in Israel is very much welcomed by people here. Given the clarity of your ideas, if you are Jewish, permit me to suggest you:

___ Make aliya and join the army
___ Make aliya and pay taxes
___ Make aliya and have a lot of children
___ Make aliya and find out it isn’t so simple to entertain you and gratify your wishes
___ All of the above

If the above does not apply to you, you aren't Jewish or you are not interested in all those alternatives, perhaps you might consider the need to:

___ Get another hobby
___ Focus on dictatorships in Iran and Arab states to see how they treat people
___ Think what it is like to live under an Islamist regime
___ Do some actual reading and research on the Middle East before mouthing off
___ All of the above

In future, please feel free to write to someone else. Otherwise I will be happy to send you my rates for corresponding with you. We accept checks, cash, and credit cards.
Sincerely yours, Barry Rubin

(For Barry Rubin's blog on Middle East issues, see http://www.rubinreports.blogspot.com where you can also subscribe. or the work of the GLORIA Center including MERIA Journal and subscriptions, http://www.gloria-center.org)

Otherwise, drop me a line at my website, http://www.davebrianbender.com