I am disappointed and disgusted by the fact that this beautiful island is filled with assholes.
Speaking of assholes.. Bobby Fischer! Don't we all know it. The former chess master is also a highly anti semitic jew, who rejoiced in the news of 9/11:
His rages from the fringe culminated in a notorious interview on Philippine radio on Sept. 11, 2001, in which he exulted in the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. He praised the horrific events as ''wonderful news," declaring that America got what it deserved for supporting Israel.
And why am I having a cow?
Because he might soon be my neighbor! Somebody in this filthy little island decided there wasn't enough anti-semitism here, and he has been granted asylum, right here. I mean like, here in Iceland.
And sure it's a small community and real windy, but he'll be surrounded by fellow Bush & Israelhaters, along with several of the greatest minds in the world of chess (Icelanders kick butt at chess), so he'll probably even like it!
There is never any limit. Things just keep going further and further. Today I was at a bookstore and I started going through the tourist section. Back in the old days there would always be several books about Israel. I now noticed that Israel was missing from every section except one, and there was no book about Israel there anymore. Instead there was a book called "Israel - And the Palestinian territories". It is as if "Israel", the land, by itself, isn't recognised anymore.
I just had to post this. This is a conversation Lisa from On the Face observed the other day while waiting for her sandwhich on Sheinkin Street. It's made me laugh so hard. Would this happen anywhere else than in Israel?
Conversation
Customer: I came to return this jar of jam my wife bought on Friday.
Counter girl: Why? Was it spoiled?
Customer: No, it's just not tasty. It's beet jam. Whoever heard of beet jam?
Counter girl: That's why you're returning it? Because you didn't like the way it tastes?
Customer: Well, yes. I mean, it's expensive! So I want to exchange it for one of the normal jams - like strawberry, or something.
WARNING: This post includes bragging. So if that's something you can't handle, don't read it. Well, or don't read my blog, period, since I'll say what's on my mind whether it's good or bad.
I got the first results back, from one of the 2 biggest essays I wrote this semester. I had been devasted about how lousy I had done. I knew I was able to do much better. This was an essay in a course called "The ethnography of Oceania". I have no interest in Oceania, but the course is mandatory. I attended every other lecture this semester, and I wrote the essay rather quickly, basing it on a personal theory. I was certain that I would get a bad grade. The essay was far too short, and I had taken quite a risk basing the entire thing on a theory I had, with only 2 resources to back it up(very risky in anthropology). As far as I knew the teacher would not care much for my theory. BA students aren't even supposed to have an opinion. I became extremely worried. Lately I have been somewhat obsessed with my grades. I must get good grades, must get into the right university for my MA, must get my average up, must strive for perfection, etc.
But this time I was disappointed with myself and scared. As I walked the long, narrow path leading to the university I began to panic. I spoke to G-d and asked Him to make the grade at least an acceptable one. I thought to myself that things have a purpose, and that my purpose in life, is not to fail.
I picked up my essay, and to my surprise I received the highest grade, what we call "the first grade with distinction". A grade rarely given in social science, at least here.
I felt happy and relieved, obviously. As I broke through the storm on my way back, I somehow felt far more optimistic about the future.
Man the Japanese are nuts. Check out what they've now invented. It's a pillow in the shape of a woman's lap!
I'd get bored. Wouldn't you?
It's worth noting that a skirt that can be pulled as far up as one desires (...) goes with it!
They say it's very convenient for single men, or for married men whose wives are tired of letting them rest their heads in their laps when they come home from work tired. The latter is how the designer got his inspiration for it.
Oh boy.. I think I'm addicted to Amazon. They just make it so easy for you! "Hello Maria, check out our recommendations for you, you just have to click here"...
I always see more and more and more books I feel like I simply can't live without. Take a look what what I just ordered:
Myths and Facts - A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Mitchell G. Bard
Who in here has had shit like "Israel is nothing but stolen land!" thrown in your faces? I don't know about you, but my hand is up. And why so? Because people are ignorant.
Dave on Israellycool received a comment that sounded only too familiar to me, and I think he answered it quite well:
COMMENT:
I don't love terror and I don't hate anyone. I just have enough inteligence to know nonsense when I see it (the world is flat, the holocaust never happened, there is no palestine). Whether there has ever been an actual nation called palestine is totally irrelevant. There has been a region of the world, commonly called Palestine whose population over-whelmingly by Arabs who call themselves Palestinians for hundreds of years -- and thats ALL that counts. And I'm intelligent enough to who the good guys and bad guys are in this conflict.
Dave's answer:
For someone who likes to speak of his intelligence (notice the spelling, Ken) and professes an aversion to nonsense, your comments indicate a high proportion of one and not the other.
So here's a quick history lesson for you, Ken.
The fact that there has never been an actual nation called palestine is very relevant. In fact, in all of recorded history, only one nation has ever had a sovereign state in "Palestine" west of the Jordan, with Jerusalem as its capital. And guess which nation that is?
What's more, Ken, is that the Arabs whom you refer to as "Palestinians," actually rejected the notion of a unique Palestinian Arab identity! Instead, they saw themselves as part of "Greater Syria." In addition, most of these Arabs actually came here because of greater economic opportunities and better living conditions resulting from Jewish immigration (a trend which still exists today).
In fact, if you knew your history, you would realize that the word "Palestinian" was used to describe the region's Jewish residents before the establishment of the State of Israel. But, alas, you come in ignorance.
By the way, you might want to know that three quarters of historic Palestine is sovereign Arab territory. It's called Jordan. Meanwhile, you try and deny the Jews the right to live on the remaining sliver of land.
So, Ken, a word of advice. Don't sprout your ridiculous propoganda on this site. I have taken the time to study something called the facts. You, on the other hand, have to resort to myths and lies to justify the killing of innocents. Shame on you.
I've been very efficient today, since I've nearly completed my research assignment. In between I've been amusing myself with this music I got from Israel. I thought I had ordered an "Israel in the Eurovision songcontest" cd, but it turned out to actually be a DVD. (Yes that's right, I'm one of those nerds). I was watching the DVD, and as I watched the songs from 1978 and 1979 (the year I was born) I had such a shock. The songs are great. I love a-ba-ni-bi! So where's the shock? Well, take a look!
Izhar Cohen & co performing the winning song
"A ba ni bi" in 1978
This looks like it was a million years ago. (And it looks far worse on video, trust me).
All right well I removed the "ma fish falastin". I mean after all, I'm a nice girl! Well, sort of. And besides, I see today my website has had visitors from Egypt. I also appear to have a regular reader from Oman. Well all the islamic countries. What if one of them is a crazy hacker? The spork says arabs are no good with computers though, but I think she was just making excuses for her own lack of computer skill (not that she isn't smart enough already).
But oh, I'm so excited. I just received a package with this music from Israel I ordered. And about bloody time too, I ordered it 1,5 months ago. I had already written the website 3 or 4 e-mails asking about my order, and I was getting angry. I am the kind of person who is very happy when I get good service. I will then shop at the same place again, recommend it to everyone, and be a very nice & thankful customer. But if I see even the slightest risk of not getting what I paid for, I get very, very angry and will go quite far to get what I paid for.
Wow it's amazing how I never get tired of Mashina. I've been listening to this stuff since I was a kid, and I still love listening to the same songs over and over and over again. I also got some great new stuff, as well as some great old things I always regretted not buying in Israel, such as David Broza. I also know I'll come back from Israel in January with another pile of cd's. But Mashina remains the favorite. And how could it not be :-)
Oh this website is so much fun! I'm sooo addicted: Judaism 101
While browsing it I found some material about PETA's complaints against kosher slaughterhouses. Just like Israellycool's Dave was talking about the other day. Oh by the way Dave, when I open your page a little Israeli flag appears in front of your website's url in my browser. How cool is that? (I just replaced IE with Advanced Browser). Oh check out his latest post. I'm still laughing!
Okay so anyway. Besides my aversion to animal rights activists, I have also done a fair share of reading when it comes to Jewish laws and animal slaughter. I have no idea how often I have found myself in a situation where somebody has started telling me that "well I don't dislike jews, I just don't like their painful methods of slaughtering animals".
So, I took some info from the delightful website I earlier mentioned, and decided to post it here:
PETA Complaint Against
Kosher Slaughterhouse
The animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has filed a complaint with the USDA against the AgriProcessors (one of the largest kosher slaughterhouses in the world), and the Orthodox Union (one of the world's oldest and most respected kosher certification organizations). To gain support for its complaint, PETA has posted graphic, grisly videos of the slaughter of cattle in the AgriProcessors slaughterhouse on its pro-vegetarian sister website, GoVeg. The video was filmed by members of PETA working undercover in the AgriProcessors slaughterhouses.
Animal Rights in Jewish Law
I have devoted an entire page on this site to Judaism's view of animal rights, so I will only touch on the most important points here.
Judaism has a considerable amount of respect for animal rights. Unlike PETA, however, Judaism teaches that humans may use animals to satisfy human needs, such as food and clothing. Jewish law requires us to do so in a way that minimizes the animal's suffering.
The kosher method of slaughter, known as shechitah, is designed primarily to remove blood from the animal, because blood is not kosher. However, it has always been understood to be the most humane form of killing: a swift stroke through the neck with a very sharp knife, simultaneously severing the carotid arteries and causing an immediate loss of blood pressure to the brain that rapidly causes insensitivity, insensibility, unconsciousness and then death. It is not a pretty death: an enormous amount of blood spurts out of the animal like water from a firehose when the stroke is made. And yet, that very blood loss that makes the process so messy is precisely what makes it relatively painless, cutting off blood to the brain.
At least 11 Israel Defense Forces soldiers were wounded Sunday evening when a blast ripped through an explosives-laden tunnel beneath an IDF military post close to the Rafah checkpoint on the Gaza-Egypt border, IDF officials said.
Less than hour later, a second blast rocked the area.
Immediately after the initial explosion, Palestinian militants fired mortar shells and shots at the IDF troops in the area. At least one militant was killed in the ensuing gunbattle.
Six of the wounded soldiers were taken to Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva, Israel Radio reported. The condition of the wounded was unclear.
Sunday's attack was the largest Palestinian attack in the month since Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat died.
Following the attack, the IDF amassed a large number of troops in the vicinity of Rafah. Military sources said a "measured response" is expected from the IDF, and that the decision on the scope of the response would take into consideration the planned withdrawal from Gaza and the upcoming elections for Palestinian Authority chairman.
