Israel: This Little Piggie Went to Heal...

"Jews and pigs? What, like, together? Isn't that, umm, un-kosher?"

Well, not really. Turns out that a "team from the Weizmann Institute of Science have demonstrated for the first time how tissues transplanted from pig embryos might, in the future, be able to induce the human body to produce blood-clotting proteins for hemophilia patients and other critical substances."

Read the rest here. More on Jewish views of this issue are here, here and here.

Sure beats going Islamic over anything porcine...

Cox & Forkum have more on the "Perils of Piglet" here.

Israeli and Palestinian reactions to Saddam execution

From Haaretz:

In the wake of the execution of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh on Saturday expressed his concerns about Iraq's path in the post-Saddam era.

Sneh told Israel Radio that Israel was concerned about the strengthening of Iranian influence in the Shiite sections of southern Iraq and also in the central government. Iraq had also become a regional "power station" for terror that could spread chaos throughout the Middle East, he said.

"We have to be worried about what is going to happen now," he said.

From Ynet News:

PA residents reminisced over the Gulf War, when dozens of Scud missiles were launched at Israel . The missiles, which landed in the center of the country in 1991, were accompanied by celebrations and chants: "Saddam, strike Tel Aviv."

The Iraqi president remained popular among the Palestinians also during the recent intifada, when he promised to transfer USD 25,000 to families of Palestinians killed in terror attacks and clashes with Israel.

From The Jerusalem Post:

He further endeared himself to the Palestinians during the recent uprising with Israel by giving US$25,000 to the family of each suicide bomber and US$10,000 for each Palestinian killed in fighting. The stipends amounted to an estimated US$35 million.

Day By Day: Saddam

Click on image for full-sized original

You mean, that - that's it?...

The morning after...

...the night before.

Well, even though it took me almost an hour's-and-a-half on a jam-packed bus ride from downtown Jerusalem to make a 20-minute journey home to Gilo yesterday afternoon, it was nice to crunch around the neighborhood to get a few shots for posterity...

More at the JPost of the storm's ravages countrywide.

Only in Jerusalem: snow, a shofar & 'suspicious objects' (Exclusive video, pics)

Downtown Jerusalem's Ben-Yehuda pedestrian mall is usually a pretty dreary place on a freezing, wet winter afternoon. That is, until the snow starts...

First thing this gift-shopkeeper did was to pull out a ram's horn shofar and wail to the skies over the surprising snowfall.

(All photos and video: Dave Bender)

Dozens of pedestrians looked like they all suddenly got contagious nearsightedness, as they held out cellphone cameras, angling for that blurry, shaky shot...

Bus transport security personnel were also out, very alert - and very drenched - in the sleety snowfall. So alert, in fact, that a backpack forgotten alongside a bus-stop bench had the police bomb squad was there within moments.

Working quickly in the blowing snow and rain, the officer got into his gear, and inspected the bag (faces of all security personnel blurred intentionally).

Traffic snarls throughout the city were added to by the security scare, as buses crammed with passengers lined up along the street.

A bus security guard, meanwhile, kept the crowds at a safe distance. After a fast check, passersby got the all-clear.

(The Peanuts "Snow Dance" did the trick, apparently)

Keshertalk has more pics of the white stuff.

Here at home in Jerusalem's southern Gilo neighborhood, atop a hill overlooking the city, it's snowing like crazy. I will add more pics in a post further up, as the night, and snow, deepens. Until then, go here to see just how high up Gilo is (and me too, actually), in relation to the rest of Jerusalem.

The U.N., cow farts and how to tell them apart

James Lileks. My hero:

In another display of pitch-perfect priorities, the U.N. has released its findings on cow flatulence. There's quite a lot of it.

The 400-page study, $27 million of which probably went to Saddam Hussein for old times' sake, discovered that the planet's livestock, including 1.5 billion cattle, produce 18 percent of greenhouse gases. Apparently the beasts of the field do nothing but wander around all day asking their brethren to "pull my hoof."

Every time a cow feels a small sense of relief, a polar bear goes through the ice.

Read the rest. Just make sure you set down the hot coffee, or cover the keyboard and computer screen first.

The Peanuts snow dance for a white Jerusalem

Just something sweet - and perfectly timed to the music, you'll note - to either warm up a freezing Jerusalem day (no - no snow... yet), or bring on the white stuff.

Thanks for joining us. And now we return to our regularly-scheduled Peanuts mideast mayhem...

JerusalemOnline news update: Dec. 27th (Video - Channel 2 TV)

• Qassam lands near Ashkelon strategic facility
• Dollar-shekel exchange rate rises in response to rate cut
• Winter storm hits Israel; Snow on Mt. Hermon
• Special: click to watch Life in Sderot between Qassams
  
  

  
  

  Click here or on image for latest Israel
  Channel 2 TV news update

Ahhh, kwitcher' crabbin' awready and get happy...

...as Magnum Photos gives us the joy in black and white...

(Click on photo for the pop-up player -
and turn on you speakers)

IaLG on Yahoo 'You Witness News': The Lebanon War

Yahoo News is featuring the second Lebanon War, The Iraq War and the US-Mexico immigration debate in a three-part audio slideshow on their "You Witness" News year-end review.

A Yahoo editor separately interviewed a Lebanese college student, Rami Cheleb and myself about photographs we shot during the fighting and posted to our respective Flickr sites.

I spoke of scenes of wanton destruction and loss of life across the north and along the border during the conflict, of Israelis, civilian and soldiers, and locations affected by the some 4,000 Hizbullah Katyusha rocket barrages. Horrific details about one lethal rocket strike are here.

Considering the time constraints, I felt our half-hour interview was professionally conducted and fair, and was boiled down to about 33-seconds and six photos for my segment. As for the final product, well, you listen in and watch and let me know.

For comparison, here are a few segments from our discussion, wrapped into a longer podcast. Leave a comment below with your impressions: Fair/unfair, slanted/balanced and to which side?

The full photo series is here, video coverage is here, and the audio is here, and in the Odeo podcast gadget up there near the top left-hand side of this page.