Every New Year's Eve I like many people around the world make a resolution or resolutions to change something in their lives.
For me last January 1st, I vowed to quit smoking. I did try in January and failed badly. Then I forgot about my resolution. Until September. Then I tried again. But this time I had help. I went Cold Turkey but had on-line support from QuitNet. I have been free of nicotine for 102 Days!!! I didn't think I could do it!.
If you are thinking of quiting in 2010 give QuitNet a try. They have a very good success rate. Quitting smoking can be done!!!!!!! I know that for a fact. Do it for yourself, your children, your grandchildren, your spouse, for your cat, for your dog, because Barack Obama hasn't been able to. JUST DO IT!
This year I have a new resolution. This year I plan to lose 2 dress sizes. Or about 50 lbs (22.67 kg). If I can quit smoking, I can lose a few pounds. What is your resolution?
Dec. 31st, for the first time in almost twenty years, there's going to be a Blue Moon on New Year's Eve. Get the full story and party tips from Science@NASA.
On Dec. 31st, the Blue Moon will dip into Earth's shadow for a partial lunar eclipse. The event is visible from Europe, Africa and Asia: map. At maximum eclipse, around 19:24 Universal Time, approximately 8% of the Moon will be darkly shadowed.
Blue Moons are rare (once every ~2.5 years). Blue Moons on New Year's Eve are rarer still (once every ~19 years). How rare is a lunar eclipse of a Blue Moon on New Year's Eve?
A search of NASA's Five Millennium Catalogue of Lunar Eclipses provides an approximate answer. In the next 1000 years, Blue Moons on New Year's Eve will be eclipsed only 11 times (once every ~91 years). So this is a rare event, indeed.
PLUS!!!
SUNSPOT SURGE: 2009 is ending with a flurry of sunspots. The month of December has had more "spotted days" than any previous month of the year by a significant margin, and all of the month's sunspot groups have been members of new Solar Cycle 24. Could this herald an end to the deepest solar minimum in nearly a century? That remains to be seen. Sunspot counts and trends are shown on today's edition of http://spaceweather.com.
What a great way to end the year. Blue Moons, Lunar Eclipses, Sun Spots, Russians to blow up Asteroid bound for the Earth.
A great year for Astronomy. May 2010 be just as exciting!
A man tried to board a commercial airliner in Mogadishu last month carrying powdered chemicals, liquid and a syringe that could have caused an explosion in a case bearing chilling similarities to the terrorist plot to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner, officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The Somali man - whose name has not yet been released - was arrested by African Union peacekeeping troops before the Nov. 13 Daallo Airlines flight took off. It had been scheduled to travel from Mogadishu to the northern Somali city of Hargeisa, then to Djibouti and Dubai. A Somali police spokesman, Abdulahi Hassan Barise, said the suspect is in Somali custody.
"We don't know whether he's linked with al-Qaida or other foreign organizations, but his actions were the acts of a terrorist. We caught him red-handed," said Barise.
A Nairobi-based diplomat said the incident in Somalia is similar to the attempted attack on the Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day in that the Somali man had a syringe, a bag of powdered chemicals and liquid - tools similar to those used in the Detroit attack. The diplomat spoke on condition he not be identified because he isn't authorized to release the information.
Barigye Bahoku, the spokesman for the African Union military force in Mogadishu, said the chemicals from the Somali suspect could have caused an explosion that would have caused air decompression inside the plane. However, Bahoku said he doesn't believe an explosion would have brought the plane down.
A second international official familiar with the incident, also speaking on condition of anonymity because he isn't authorized to discuss the case, confirmed that the substances carried by the Somali passenger could have been used as an explosive device.
In the Detroit case, alleged attacker Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab hid explosive PETN in a condom or condom-like bag just below his torso when he traveled from Amsterdam to Detroit. Like the captured Somali, Abdulmutallab also had a syringe filled with liquid. The substances seized from the Somali passenger are being tested.
The November incident garnered little attention before the Dec. 25 attack aboard a flight on final approach to Detroit. US officials have now learned of the Somali case and are hastening to investigate any possible links between it and the Detroit attack, though no officials would speak on the record about the probe.
US investigators said Abdulmutallab told them he received training and instructions from al-Qaida operatives in Yemen - which lies across the Gulf of Aden fromSomalia. Similarly, large swaths of Somalia are controlled by an insurgent group, al-Shabab, which has ties to al-Qaida.
Western officials say many of the hundreds of foreign jihadi fighters in Somalia come in small boats across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen. The officials also say that examination of equipment used in some Somali suicide attacks leads them to believe it was originally assembled in Yemen.
Law enforcement officials believe the suspect in the Detroit incident tried to ignite a two-part concoction of the high explosive PETN and possibly a glycol-based liquid explosive, setting off popping, smoke and some fire but no deadly detonation. Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian national, is charged with trying to destroy an aircraft.
A Somali security official involved in the capture of the suspect in Mogadishu said he had a 1-kilogram (2.2-pound) package of chemical powder and a container of liquid chemicals. The security official said the suspect was the last passenger to try to board.
Once security officials detected the powder chemicals and syringe, the suspect tried to bribe the security team that detained him, the Somali security official said. The security official said the suspect had a white shampoo bottle with a black acid-like substance in it. He also had a clear plastic bag with a light green chalky substance and a syringe containing a green liquid. The security official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.
The powdered material had the strong scent of ammonia, Bahoku said, and samples have been sent to London for testing.
The Somali security officials said the Daallo Airlines flight was scheduled to go from Mogadishu to Hargeisa, to Djibouti and then to Dubai.
A spokeswoman for Daallo Airlines said that company officials weren't aware of the incident and would have to seek more information before commenting. Daallo Airlines is based in Dubai and has offices in Djibouti and France.
Perhaps Janet Napolitano, Director of Homeland Security, former Governor of Arizona who said: "The system worked." immediately after not only it didn't, but was totally ineffective in stopping terrorist attacks, should learn from the Somalis how to stop a terrorist from boarding a plane.
The Somalis weren't looking for US veterans, those opposed to abortions and illegal immigrants, or those who wish to exercise their 2nd Amendment rights. They were looking for Muslim men between the ages of 18 to 50. And for a good reason: 90% of all hijackers since 1965 have been Muslim men between 18-50.
This is called profiling. And it works! If 90% of hijackers were little old ladies from Pasadena, then those women should be profiled! But the minute you do this, CAIR, the ACLU, and the rest of the Moonbat leftist elites scream: "RACISM!!"
I would rather be a live racist in their eyes than killed by Political Correctness!
It has been almost one year since Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in as the 44th President. And almost a full year of his foreign policy trying to reestablish good relations with the Muslim world kissing and apologizing to Muslims for the fact the US still hasn't adopted Shar'ia Law and establish Islam as its state religion.
Even after that, Muslims still don't love the US, and never will.
Who failed the system in the Christmas Day attack? Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was already known as "The Nigerian" and already suspected of meeting with "terrorist elements" in Yemen at the time of his failed bombing attempt of NW Flight 253. By August 2009, the CIA knew about "The Nigerian." The CIA did not know "The Nigerian's" name was Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. And they did not put the two together when the father went to the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria and met with a CIA agent in November 2009. Who was responsible for connecting the dots? From documents found online, it appears the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) is responsible for gathering and disseminating information to the No-Fly List and the simply failed.
Michael Leiter with President Obama
The CIA forwarded the information to the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC). The connection was still not made. What does the NCTC do? Here are two pull-out quotes, more below:
...the Director of NCTC is responsible for providing strategic CT plans and for effectively integrating CT intelligence and operations across agency boundaries, both inside and outside the US.
...and:
The primary source for all information relating to international terrorist identities in the TSDB is the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) ...The NCTC, “serve[s] as the primary organization in the United States Government for analyzing and integrating all intelligence possessed or acquired by the United States Government pertaining to terrorism and counterterrorism,...
As we learned during the 9-11 Commission hearings, Jaime Gorlick's "Wall of Separation," specifically built to keep the intelligence community from sharing information, enabled the 9-11 bombers. How high and at what depth is today's Wall of Separation? The Wall still stands. Here is a statement from the Vice-Chairman of the 9/11 Commission, Lee Hamilton, about the Christmas Day bombing:
"We must get better at collecting these bits of information, putting them together at a central point, analyzing them and then acting," said Lee Hamilton, the vice-chair of the 9/11 Commission.
"We're sharing information better than we did prior to 9/11, but this incident surely illustrates we've got a long ways to go," Hamilton said
CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano said after the meeting with the father in November, they worked with the U.S. Embassy to get Abdulmutallab's name into the "government's terrorist database:"
We also forwarded key biographical information about him to the National Counterterrorism Center. This agency, like others in our government, is reviewing all data to which it had access - not just what we ourselves may have collected - to determine if more could have been done to stop Abdulmutallab."
Yet, Abdulmutallab's name didn't make it to the No-Fly List. Clearly, someone was not paying attention. Michael E. Leiter's National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) did...what?...nothing? Leiter is the Director of NCTC and the following are a few comments from his testimony to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in September 2009:
Despite our counterterrorism (CT) progress, al-Qa‘ida and its affiliates and allies remain resilient and adaptive enemies intent on attacking US and Western interests—with al-Qa‘ida’s core in Pakistan representing the most dangerous component of the larger al-Qa‘ida network. We assess that this core is actively engaged in operational plotting and continues recruiting, training, and transporting operatives, to include individuals from Western Europe and North America. ...
The NCTC evolved from legislation creating "a civilian-led unified joint command" for counterterrorism. Is it nothing more than another entity which decided to do nothing?
For the first time, an organization outside the Executive Office of the President was given the responsibility for government-wide coordination of planning and integration of department and agency actions involving “all elements of national power,” including “diplomatic, financial, military, intelligence, Homeland security, and law enforcement activities within and among agencies.”
Pursuant to this authority, the Director of NCTC is responsible for providing strategic CT plans and for effectively integrating CT intelligence and operations across agency boundaries, both inside and outside the US.
Our CIA and FBI works under a President, a State Department and a Homeland Security Secretary that believes there is no war on terror, believes there are no foreign enemy combatants and believes there is no terrorism. Who places a name on the "No-Fly" list, or the "selectee" list, which alerts airline officials of the need for further, and deeper, examination of the person? Is it the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA), the CIA, the State Department, Homeland Security, or all of the above? Since "the government" administers the list, is the civilian NCTC involved at all? Apparently so, and apparently the NCTC is directly responsible for the list. The following is from a declassified Homeland Security document dated July 2009, page 9:
The primary source for all information relating to international terrorist identities in the TSDB is the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) ...The NCTC, “serve[s] as the primary organization in the United States Government for analyzing and integrating all intelligence possessed or acquired by the United States Government pertaining to terrorism and counterterrorism, excepting intelligence pertaining exclusively to domestic terrorists and domestic counterterrorism.”...
This information is provided to the NCTC through nominations of individuals made by federal agencies, often with the explicit intent for the record to then be exported to the TSDB [Terrorism Screening Datebase] for watch-listing.
So how many martini lunches and conferences to exotic locations were expensed by the NCTC?
President Obama referred to the attack on NW Flight 253 as an "alleged" attack. He wasn't specifically talking about the would-be-bomber - he was talking about the attack itself. It is possible to misidentify the bomber and refer to him as allegedly "Abdulmutallab," but, please, not the attack itself. He characterized the "alleged" attack as the work of an isolated extremist, after al-Qaeda in the Saudia Arabian peninsula had already taken credit for Abdulmutallab's actions - and yet he was already known as "The Nigerian," not "a Nigerian," but specifically "The Nigerian." His Director of National Counterterrorism knew Abdulmutallab's name, and so knew that he was connected to Yemen - yet refererred to him as an "isolated extremist." Knowing all this, at no time did he mention "jihad," "Islam," "Muslims," or radicals."
In Obama' second statement about the attack, the President said there were failures with our intelligence community in piecing the known information together, and then distributing that information. He said it was an unacceptable "systemic failure." Abdulmutallab allegedly paid cash for his ticket and had no luggage; the CIA and the NCTC knew about him. At the simplest level, an airline accepted his cash, and checked no luggage, yet he was not tagged for a full pat down. Still yet, the President has not said the words "jihad," "radical Islam," or "Muslim."
If you are interested in additional information on Michael Leiter and the NCTC, the following are snippets from their "implementation plan:"
[Four Pillars]
1) protect and defend against terrorists;
2) attack their capacity to operate;
3) work diligently to undermine the spread of violent extremism and retard radicalization around the world; and
4) prevent terrorists from utilizing WMD. ...
On the domestic front, NCTC enables, informs and supports federal, state and local government efforts to engage with communities across our country. Central to this effort is NCTC’s leadership of an interagency group to coordinate engagement projects and activities conducted by the FBI, DHS, State, Justice, Treasury and others. In particular, NCTC has worked diligently through this group with its partner agencies to enhance the level of engagement between the US.
According to The NCTC, they are partners with the CIA, the FBI, the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, the Department of State, The Department of the Treasury, the departments of Energy, Health and Human Services, and Agriculture, as well as the U.S. Capitol Police, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency - and "foreign partners."
The Center provides a unique environment to optimize the USG's collective knowledge and formidable capabilities to identify and counter the terrorist threat to the nation.
What happened to the "formidable capabilities" of the NCTC in the Christmas Day attack? Read NCTC TranscriptView Michael Leiter Video P.S. just listening to Catherine Herridge on FOXNews and the NCTC is spinning at warp speed.
Today Planet Iran posted a letter written on the official Islamic Regime letterhead that discusses Khamenei’s possible to escape to Russia.
December 29, 2009
Iran Global website has exposed a document that discloses information on Khamenei and various authorities of the regime’s possible escape to Russia.
The document is on the National Security Agency of the Islamic regime’s letterhead addressed from the office of the High Assembly of the Islamic Republic’s National Security official [name is redacted] to an individual [name redacted] in the revolutionary guards. The letter is dated 6th of Dey (December 27th).
It reads:
Re: Response to a letter number [redacted] written on the 5th of Dey (December 26th).
Salam Aleykom
With respect, we would like to inform you of the inspection, check up and preparation of the aircraft, destination Russia, for the purpose of transporting the Supreme Leader, his esteemed family and various officials of the Revolutionary Guards. Should the commanding forces lose control, direct your attention to the attached permit, number [redacted] of the National Security Agency and the Bureau of Revolutionary Guard’s Intelligence Security in order for the necessary steps to be taken.
Va al-salam
Office of the high assembly of the Islamic Republic’s national security
Commander, Brigadier-General, Revolutionary Guard
Stamped by Secretary General of the High Assembly of the Islamic Republic’s National Security
Stamped by Dr. Saeed Jalili
CC: [redacted]
This can only mean one thing: The Green Revolution is terrifying the Mullahs and the heads of the Revolutionary Guards. Without the Guards the Mullahs have no power, and it it looks like the rank and file Revolutionary Guard members just could be switching sides in an attempt to save themselves.
Without the Mullahs and more importantly the Revolutionary Guard, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is dead meat. He will have no power, no friends, no allies. I wonder will he will run to? Venezuela and get help from Chavez? Maybe, but don't hold your breath.
I know one person who will take full credit for this: Barack Hussein Obama! He will claim that by withholding support to the people of Iran, he brought about regime change. The people of Iran know that President Obama said nothing, did nothing, helped them in no way. In fact he congratulated Ahmadinejad when the election results were announced and violence hit the streets.
The Freeing Of Prisoners Who Were To Be Hanged
Iran Tehran 29 Dec 09 Nightly Protest
Perhaps with a regime change Iran will give up its nuclear program and will stop sponsoring terror groups like Hezbollah and Hamas. Or am I dreaming too much?
There is a wind of change blowing through Iran. Let us hope it is change for the better with the elimination of the Islamic Republic, and the formation of true democracy and freedom to the people of Iran. An ideal they have been longing for these last 30 years.
For the first time ever in history of any country, Israel is recallingALL of its Ambassadors home.
First-ever Heads of Missions Conference at the MFA
24 Dec 2009
Israel’s ambassadors and consuls general serving throughout the world will discuss broad diplomatic and strategic issues at a conference to be held next week in Jerusalem.
(Communicated by MFA Spokesperson’s Bureau)
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, headed by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Liberman, will host a conference next week (27-31 December) for Israeli Heads of Missions. At the conference, Israel’s ambassadors and consuls general serving throughout the world will discuss broad diplomatic and strategic issues.
This is the first time a conference for all of Israel’s Heads of Missions has been held. The idea is to facilitate direct dialogue with the country’s leaders, mutual updates on major diplomatic issues, and a discussion of action plans to deal with the challenges awaiting the State of Israel in the international arena in the coming year, including the Iranian threat.
A major part of the conference will be devoted to examining Israel’s integration and potential contribution to items on the world agenda such as the environment, renewable energy, water and sewage treatment, and new technologies. The participants will discuss how to develop and promote Israel’s foreign relations and its image as a country that contributes to creating a better future for everyone. They will also talk about the rise of new global powers and how to deal with them.
On Monday, 28 December, the Heads of Missions will be guests of President Shimon Peres at the President’s Residence.
Foreign Minister Liberman will open the conference. Other officials invited to attend include Prime Minister Benyamin Natanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Minister of Intelligence and Atomic Energy Dan Meridor, Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer, and senior officials of Israel’s diplomatic and security community.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to make the Heads of Missions Conference an annual event, as it is in other leading foreign ministries in the world.
There are quite a few reasons that this could be happening. Here are a few:
There is a move in the United Nations to throw Israel out of the United Nations, declare Palestine (governed only by Muslims) as the sole nation in the region. This is being supported by the EU under the leadership of Sweden.
Israel will finally attack Iran. This meeting is in preparation for the likely media and diplomatic nightmare that will ensue.
An excuse for the greatest New Year's Eve Party EVER! NO BYOB HERE! Top shelf drinks and food. Free for all Israeli Ambassadors, their wives, their staff and spouses.
For some reason I don't think it is #3. Do you?
In a few days the options of talking to Iran to end their nuclear program is suppose to run out (of course with the idiots cowards in the White House don't expect any real threats). And I think that Netanyahu is just waiting to see if the Iranians take the outstretched hand. The only wild card in this scenario are the protestors in Iran. If they can manage to bring down Ahmadinejad and the Mullahs, and then either take the US offer or stop their nuclear program, it will be a small miracle.
I guess I haven't been paying attention the past few years. I didn't know that Israel has destroyed life for Christians in the town of Bethlehem to the point that Christians have left in a "massive flight."
Bethlehem - Manger Square
WorldNetDaily has this story, and I found it via AmerIsrael. According to WND's Aaron Klein, Reuters, the GuardianUK and others, are in the habit of reporting, each year at this time, the terrible treatment of Christians by Jews in Bethlehem. If you do not have time to read the portions below, or time to go directly to WND to read the entire piece, read the three paragraphs in bold text below, and you will get the idea.
TEL AVIV – Like clockwork, every year at this time reporters file misleading and, in some cases, outright false reports about the state of Christmas in Bethlehem [blaming Israel for the demise of the Christian population].
They claim Israeli policies have wreaked havoc on the city's economy and that Israel is responsible for the massive flight of Christians from Bethlehem. Yet the news media completely ignore Muslim intimidation and get their facts wrong on documented history and the true state of affairs in this ancient town.
A widely circulated Reuters article, for example, laments "Christmas cheer hasn't spread to all of Bethlehem's residents," squarely blaming "an Israeli wall" for the town's misfortunes. Britains' Press and Journal also paints a dismal picture of Bethlehem, claiming the city is "divided by a huge wall" and that the "26ft-high security wall completes the isolation of Bethlehem and prevents it from ever expanding." The piece also wrongly states that about 2 percent of Bethlehem's population is Christian.
"I don't just mean the structure itself – 30 feet high, bristling with watchtowers and formed of grey concrete slabs – but where it is built, deep into the town itself, far into the West Bank, severing Bethlehem from Jerusalem and ensuring the relentless expansion eastwards of Jewish-only settlements built on land seized from Palestinian farmers," the Guardian piece claims. Regarding the "wall" that "surrounds" Bethlehem: Israel built a fence in 2002 in the area where northern Bethlehem interfaces with Jerusalem. A tiny segment of the barrier, facing a major Israeli roadway, is a concrete wall that Israel says is meant to prevent gunmen from shooting at Israeli motorists....
Amazingly, Ivereigh's piece in the Guardian falsely claimed: "Bethlehem is shuttered and depressed not because of Koran-wielding thugs but because the wall has smashed its economy. The town has become a ghetto, severed from lands to the north and west by the wall, and to the south and east by settler-only roads and a forest of checkpoints, leaving it barely able to trade."
Simple demographic facts disprove this contention entirely. Israel built the barrier seven years ago. But Bethlehem's Christian population started to drastically decline in 1995, the very year Arafat's Palestinian Authority took over the holy Christian city in line with the U.S.-backed Oslo Accords.
Bethlehem was more than 80 percent Christian when Israel was founded in 1948. But after Arafat took control, the city's Christian population plummeted to its current 23 percent. And that statistic is considered generous since it includes the satellite towns of Beit Sahour and Beit Jala. Some estimates place Bethlehem's actual Christian population as low as 12 percent, with hundreds of Christians emigrating each year.
As soon as he took over Bethlehem, Arafat unilaterally fired the city's Christian politicians and replaced them with Muslim cronies. He appointed a Muslim governor, Muhammed Rashad A-Jabar, and deposed of Bethlehem's city council, which had nine Christians and two Muslims, reducing the number of Christians councilors to a 50-50 split.
Arafat then converted a Greek Orthodox monastery next to the Church of Nativity, the believed birthplace of Jesus, into his official Bethlehem residence.
Suddenly, after the Palestinians gained the territory, reports of Christian intimidation by Muslims began to surface.
Christian leaders and residents told this reporter they face an atmosphere of regular hostility. They said Palestinian armed groups stir tension by holding militant demonstrations and marches in the streets. They spokes of instances in which Christian shopkeepers' stores were ransacked and Christian homes attacked.
They said in the past, Palestinian gunmen fired at Israelis from Christian hilltop communities, drawing Israeli anti-terror raids to their towns.
In 2002, dozens of terrorists holed up inside the Church of the Nativity for 39 days while fleeing a massive Israeli anti-terror operation. Israel surrounded the church area but refused to storm the structure....
Some Christian leaders said one of the most significant problems facing Christians in Bethlehem is the rampant confiscation of land by Muslim gangs.
One religious novelty store owner recently told WND that Muslim gangs regularly deface Christian property.
"We are harassed, but you wouldn't know the truth. No one says anything publicly about the Muslims. This is why Christians are running away."
The City of the birth of Christ, the birth of King David, and the tomb of Rachel is under Palestinian governance, and has a Muslim majority population.
In 2007 the city had approximately 25,000 residents with Christians making up 20% of the citizenry. With life made difficult for Christians, and the fact that Christians propagate at a much slower rate than Muslims, the Christian presence in Bethlehem is dwindling.
Read about Christmas observances by Christians in Bethlehem here and about the Church of the Nativity and the birthplace of Christ here.
Every nation has them. The crazy stories of the year. And Israel is no exception. So without further ado, here are some of the wacky stories from Israel for 2009. Each one guaranteed to make you laugh.
The prize for weirdest move taken by Israeli politicians in 2009 probably goes to Netanya's city elders, who in August decided to dress up the city center with a fresh coat of bright purple paint on the main thoroughfare. By October the pricy paint job had faded in the Middle Eastern sun, reverting to black asphalt.
A close runner-up in the category goes to the Hadera municipality, where a $ 5 million facelift for the city's congested central traffic circle added not just entry and exit lanes, but planned to have traffic lights playing Hebrew songs.
I see that pork is just as popular in Israel as it is in Washington DC. Even considering that it isn't even kosher.
The award for the strangest Supreme Court case goes to an Israeli named Shlomo Avni, who petitioned the high court for the right to be eaten by wild animals after his death, saying he was only repaying a debt to nature as a lifetime consumer in the food chain.
In their 772-word decision, three Supreme Court judges wished the 80-year-old plaintiff a long life and unanimously rejected Avni's petition. The justices quoted Jeremiah 9: 21 and the prophet's warning of dreadful times when " carcasses of men fall as dung upon the open field."
Avni said he'd take his case to the international court at The Hague.
I would love to see the judges reactions when they discover that this case is not about so-called Israeli abuses upon Palestinians, but rather an old man wanting to be eaten by lions after he dies. I could see a judge glance towards heaven and cry: "Lord, why me?"
The best item related to Israel's water crisis goes to the residents of a north Tel Aviv apartment building who found themselves paying huge water bills that were 10 to 100 times those of similar dwellings. After investigation, it was discovered that an underground connection from the apartment house was watering an adjacent municipal park.
I have to wonder if the municipality gave the residence a rebate of their money or did they play Democrat on them claiming it isn't an extra tax, just a fee adjustment.
While 2009 demonstrated no shortage of silly twobit crooks and goofy cops - including one nearsighted specimen who ticketed a driver because her Saint Bernard wasn't wearing a seatbelt.
Notice to owners of Saint Bernards: Buckle that dog up or face a fine. Notice to Saint Bernards: Woof, growl, growl, woof!
The hospital staff was puzzled when a huge oil painting by a well-known Israeli artist vanished from the walls of a well-trafficked corridor.
Before they could canvas the hospital for the missing canvas, another large painting by another wellknown Israeli artist disappeared, and then another canvas 24 hours later.
Security cameras revealed that the same middle-aged woman had nonchalantly been taking down the canvases and coolly walking out the front door, no questions asked. She hung the works in her nearby apartment.
And this will instill confidence in the patients who come for treatment there? If they are ignoring the woman carrying the large painting out the door, what else are they ignoring?
One candidate in the Softhearted Sabra category stands out among many. A court re-possessor who knocked on the door of a poor family in the western Galilee took one look around at the impoverished household and made a snap decision: Rather than taking whatever he could find of value, he scribbled " Nothing to repossess" on his form, opened his wallet and handed the head of the household $ 25.
I would like to believe that many people around the world would do this. Don't you?
The Loose Cannon award is a toss-up among a group of overzealous religious residents in Ashkelon. Several months after the end of the Gaza war in January, they decided to let everyone in their neighborhood know of Shabbat's arrival by sounding private sirens from their balconies minutes before sundown on Fridays - causing widespread panic by residents who mistook it for an air-raid siren.
I think I would have personally killed each one of the assholes.
One story that really takes the cake involved the trend of turning birthdays into full-scale productions. A Netanya resident decided this would be a lucrative sideline and offered his business premises as a venue for kids' parties. The problem: the venue in question was a pistol range. Fliers promised target shooting with live ammunition - up to 51 .22 caliber bullets per child - at $ 20 a shot.
I don't know. Given the right age group, classes in gun safety, and the right neighborhood, this would work in the US.
The prize for nutty motorists is given to the fellow pulled over for zigzagging down the highway to Petach Tikvah at 5:30 am. Not only was the driver three times above the amount of alcohol permitted while operating a motor vehicle, he also was engaged in an activity with his passenger that is usually reserved for the back seat. The driver argued - to no avail - that he was zigzagging only because his lady friend had blocked his field of vision.
Wouldn't they also ticket the woman for not wearing her seatbelt.
In the category of Israeli ingenuity, one Israeli created a DNA test for steer that could track a stolen animal even if it already had been reduced to hamburger.
Cattle Rustlers Beware!!
The most incredible dilemma of 2009 came during the Gaza war last January: How do you feed two frightened and famished lions solely with battle rations? As an army unit hunkered down near an abandoned Palestinian zoo amid the fighting, its brigade commander frantically sought to move the lions out of the war zone or find a way to feed them.
The Israel Defense Forces has some weird posts - including two stand-up comedians and a full-time magician - but who thought the army would need a lion keeper? One idea was to mobilize personnel from the Ramat Gan Safari into the IDF, then embed them with the infantry unit on special assignment.
Nobody knows exactly how the IDF did it, but by the time the army pulled out of Gaza the lions were in their cages and doing fine.
I do believe that feeding lions battle rations is in violation of the Geneva Conventions of War. But feeding lions Hamas warriors dolts, while not very nutritional, is permissible under said Conventions.
All in all it has been an interesting year for wacky news. I wonder what stories will emerge in 2010?
Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tinny reindeer.
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!
"Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.
His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"
NORAD started tracking Santa in 1955, when by accident (or was it?) the special phone number set up to call Santa by a local Sears turned out to be that of CONAD. Instead of reaching Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chief's operations "hotline." The Director of Operations at the time, Colonel Harry Shoup, had his staff check the radar for indications of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. Children who called were given updates on his location, and a tradition was born.
Each year the men and women of NORAD, their families, and volunteers man the Santa Tracking Desks through out the day of Dec. 24th until Santa safely returns home to the North Pole. And for those mean, grinch Moonbats, no federal or military funds are used to track Santa. So you idiot, Santa-hating liberals need not worry about your tax dollars being spent on a "religious" event. There are plenty of Santa-loving corporations who love to sponsor,and do this yearly event. I can give you some guesses on who will be getting lumps of coal in their stockings.
Some Really Cool Facts About Santa's Sleigh:
Designer & Builder: K. Kringle & Elves, Inc.
Probable First Flight: Dec. 24, 343 A.D.
Home Base: North Pole
Length: 75 cc (candy canes) / 150 lp (lollipops)
Width: 40 cc / 80 lp
Height: 55 cc / 110 lp Note: Length, width and height are without reindeer
Weight at takeoff: 75,000 gd (gumdrops)
Passenger weight at takeoff: Santa Claus 260 pounds
Weight of gifts at takeoff: 60,000 tons
Weight at landing: 80,000 gd (ice & snow accumulation)
Passenger weight at landing: 1,260 pounds
Propulsion: Nine (9) rp (reindeer power)
Armament: Antlers (purely defensive)
Fuel: Hay, oats and carrots (for reindeer)
Emissions: Classified (Suspected to be Organic in nature.)Climbing speed: One “T” (Twinkle of an eye)
Max speed: Faster than starlight
NORAD has been keeping the United States and Canada safe since May 12, 1958.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is a bi-national United States and Canadian organization charged with the missions of aerospace warning and aerospace control for North America. Aerospace warning includes the monitoring of man-made objects in space, and the detection, validation, and warning of attack against North America whether by aircraft, missiles, or space vehicles, through mutual support arrangements with other commands. Aerospace control includes ensuring air sovereignty and air defense of the airspace of Canada and the United States. The May 2006 NORAD Agreement renewal added a maritime warning mission, which entails a shared awareness and understanding of the activities conducted in U.S. and Canadian maritime approaches, maritime areas and inland waterways.
To accomplish these critically important missions, NORAD continually adjusts its structure to meet the demands of a changing world. The commander is appointed by, and is responsible to, both the U.S. president and the Canadian prime minister. The commander maintains his headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. The NORAD-U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) Command Center serves as a central collection and coordination facility for a worldwide system of sensors designed to provide the commander and the leadership of Canada and the U.S. with an accurate picture of any aerospace threat. Three subordinate regional headquarters, located at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, Canadian Forces Base, Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, receive direction from the commander and control air operations within their respective areas of responsibility.
The NORAD Tracks Santa Operations Center is fully operational beginning at 4:00 a.m. MST on December 24. You can call 1 877 HI-NORAD (1 877 446-6723) to talk directly to a NORAD staff member who will be able to tell you Santa’s exact location!
Yes! On December 24, you can send an email to noradtrackssanta@gmail.com. A NORAD staff member will give you Santa’s last known location in a return email.
Yes Santa Claus is coming and the men and women of NORAD, various members of the world's Air Forces and millions of children will be tracking him through out the night.
This debate centered around the fact that of the 500 universities listed as the best, not one of them was from the Arab world. Not one Arab University even came close.
Following are excerpts from a television debate on the state of Arab universities, with Jordanian university professor Adib Al-Zu'bi and Arab Students' Union head Ahmad Al-Shater. The debate aired on Al-Jazeera TV on November 24, 2009.
Moderator Faysal Al-Qassem: "How come not a single Arab university has managed to be classified among the leading 500 universities in the world? Because our Arab universities are a reflection of the Arab reality of wretchedness, tyranny, and backwardness.
"How can a nation make progress if some of its leaders are semi-illiterate, who make grammatical errors? How can a nation possibly make progress, when the money it spends on its mules, its camels, its yachts, its pleasures, its entourages, and its hunting dogs exceeds the money it allocates to science and scientists, as a critic has said?
"Once, an Arab teacher wanted to get married, and he asked for the hand of a young woman in marriage. Her father asked him what he did for a living, and he said he was a teacher. The girl's father responded: 'Hah! I rejected three taxi drivers, so how can I possibly accept a teacher?'"
Adib Al-Zu'bi: "In all these studies, the Arab universities are at the tail end of the list – both in the internal and external studies. The main reason is the lack of willpower among the decision makers to elevate Arab education to the international level. Our universities have become an extension of our elementary schools, in their teachings methods of memorization and learning by rote, and of killing and burying Arab creativity.
"The Arab allocation per capita for research is four dollars per annum, whereas the general world average is about $1,000 per annum. Israel allocates approximately $972 per capita, while we allocate four dollars.
"My question is simple: Where is all the Arab money? Where does all the money go? It goes, as you know, to line the pockets of the top officials and to stockpile weapons in rusty storehouses, which have nothing to do with war or with defending the Arab homeland."
Ahmad Al-Shater: "All the fuss that my colleague was talking about was because of a classification conducted by some company in Spain, or some British newspaper, or some university in Shanghai. None of these companies have anything to do with education and its quality. They have never visited Arab universities, and they know nothing about them.
"Allow me... They are publicity offices that disseminate propaganda, and are out to make a profit. These companies go to the university website, and compare how many students, doctors, and researchers it has, and it is imperative for you to have won a Nobel Prize for them to place you at the top of the list.
"In my opinion, one of these days or months, some company, called Ishtir or Ikhbikh, will come and say that the Arabs are a species of dinosaur and must be wiped off the face of the earth, and they will start to annihilate us, because there are a billion people whom the Americans and Zionists want to destroy. These evaluations have nothing to do with academic quality.
"The budgets of all the Arab countries and their universities in 2004 were not equal to the budget of the American Harvard University."
Al-Shater: "Universities in the West Are Laboratories for Weapons... Who Created the Swine Flu, the Bird Flu, the Donkey Flu, and the Financial Crisis?"
Faysal Al-Qassem: "Why not?"
Ahmad Al-Shater: "Because the universities in the West are laboratories for weapons, experimented on me and you, in Iraq and in Palestine."
Adib Al-Zu'bi: "They cure cancer..."
Ahmad Al-Shater: "They cure cancer for money, not for free. You studied there for two months, and you want to tell me who they are?! Who created the swine flu, the bird flu, the donkey flu, and the financial crisis? And now, they don't want to give people the vaccination. These universities are against humanity.
"Why did they kill all those scientists? Because they were Arabs and Muslims. Why did they slaughter 4,000 Iraqi scientists? They were not slaughtered by the Americans or the Zionists, but by the death militias. After that you dare say there are no Iraqis in Arab universities?!" [...]
Moderator: "The Arab Countries Spend Billions On Weapons that are Scrap Metal – And On the Children of Top Officials"
Faysal Al-Qassem: "How do you explain the fact that the Arab countries spend billions on weapons that are scrap metal and on the children of the top officials? Half the Arab budgets, half the money that enters the Arab countries – nobody knows where it goes. They tell you about half of the money, and you don't know what happened to the rest."
Ahmad Al-Shater: "Let me respond. There is a rich Arab in Britain, who had a horse worth $5 million. After a disagreement with the stable owner, it turned out that the horse wasn't a horse. Turns out it was a mule – the offspring of a horse and a donkey.
"There are wealthy Arabs with amazing hotels all over the place, wealthy Arabs with yachts, and so on. Let them bring all those billions, which they spend in the West. One has a cat in London, living in its own wing [of a mansion]. To hell with them all."
Al-Zu'bi: "We Imported All the Prostitutes [After the Fall of the Soviet Union]... The Scientists Were Imported by Israel and the U.S"
Adib Al-Zu'bi: "Soccer is more important to us than any research. The example I gave you, about the fall of the Soviet Union, when we imported all the prostitutes... There is a culture of complete humiliation in the Arab world... "
Faysal Al-Qassem: "What are you trying to say? What did we import?"
Adib Al-Zu'bi: "We imported whores, sir."
Faysal Al-Qassem: "From the Soviet Union?"
Adib Al-Zu'bi: "Yes."
Faysal Al-Qassem: "And the scientists?"
Adib Al-Zu'bi: "The scientists were imported by Israel and the U.S. They competed over them, and dragged them by the hand."
Faysal Al-Qassem: "What exactly did we drag?"
Al-Zu'bi: "In the Arab World, There Is a Culture of Humiliation for Science and Scientists; Countries That Invest in Scientific Research Are the Ones That Rise"
Adib Al-Zu'bi: "In the Arab world, there is a culture of humiliation for science and scientists. Countries that invest in scientific research are the ones that rise to the rank of the most advanced countries. I don't want to talk about the U.S. or Israel. They can go to hell. I'd like to talk about Malaysia, about Korea, and about other Islamic countries that are not part of the Arab world. Where there is corruption, there is no scientific progress, no knowledge, no scholars, no research, and no progressive culture."
Ahmad Al-Shater: "This is a great campaign against Arabism and against Islam – this campaign on our universities and scientific research, because of this classification by Ikhbish, or whatever they are called, from the end of the world.
"Let me finish. This Spanish office, QS, should go to Seville and to Granada, and see the archaeological remains of Arab science, in astronomy, medicine, biology, and physics, instead of evaluating Arab universities."
Adib Al-Zu'bi: "There is a well-known example from an Arab country, which goes like this... A teacher asked: Who can give me the name of a creature that flies? One student said: A cow. The teacher said: You idiot, cows don't fly. Whose son are you? The boy said: I'm the son of so-and-so, who's a colonel in the army. So the teacher said: Cows fly, but they don't rise up from the ground. That is the situation."
Ahmad Al-Shater: "These are Zionist stories."
Adib Al-Zu'bi: "Zionist, right. Whatever..."
Faysal Al-Qassem: "There's nothing left but to thank our two guests – Dr. Adib Al-Zu'bi and Mr. Ahmad Ambarak Al-Shater. We will meet again next Tuesday evening. Until then, this is Faysal Al-Qassem... "
Adib Al-Zu'bi: "Why did you curse?"
Ahmad Al-Shater: "God forbid... "
Faysal Al-Qassem: "... greeting you from Doha. Goodbye. Shake hands."
[Adib Al-Zu'bi and Ahmad Al-Shater get up to shake hands and embrace, arguing all the while]
If you noticed in the transcript, the first comment made on this criticism of the Arab world is:
This is a great campaign against Arabism and against Islam
Followed by:
These are Zionist stories.
Code words to the masses that there is nothing wrong, it is a Jewish plot to destroy Arab self-worth. We lead the world in everything.
Funny how they didn't mention Faten Abdel-Rahman Khorshid's miracle cure for everything. Using the one thing Saudi Arabia has plenty of: Camel Urine.
That is the height of Arab scientific achievement. Using concepts that they have no clue about, producing "scientific papers" with results that no one can replicate, and then blaming the failure of the world noticing their results (more like laughing their asses off) on Islamophobia, anti-Arab sentiment, and the Jews.
The Academic Ratings of World Univerisities (ARWU) can be found here. These are the top 20:
Harvard (US)
Standford (US)
University of California,Berkley (US)
University of Cambridge (GB)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)(US)
California Institute of Technology (US)
Columbia University (US)
Princeton University (US)
University of Chicago (US)
University of Oxford (GB)
Yale University (US)
Cornell University (US)
University of California,Los Angles (US)
University of California,San Diego (US)
University of Pennsylvania (US)
University of Washington (US)
University of Wisconsin-Madison (US)
University of California, San Francisco (US)
The John Hopkins University (US)
The University of Tokyo (JAPAN)
In contrast to their Arab neighbors, Israeli Universities were thrilled that they were ranked:
#64 Hebrew University of Jerusalem
101-150 for Technion (Haifa) and Tel-Aviv University
151-200 for Weizmann Institute of Technology (Tel-Aviv)
303-401 for Bar-Ilan and Ben-Gurion University of the Negav
402-502 for University of Haifa
My advice to the Arab world is to stop whining and blaming others for your ignorance and lack of ambition. Change your teaching methods, your attitude towards science, and spend your money on wise research not jackasses.
I know they won't do any of those things. And they will fail wonderfully when they try. All the while living on their dreams of past glory and supposed accomplishments.
With only two days until Christmas, I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and to remind you to keep our men and women that are not able to be with their friends and families this time of year in your thoughts a prayers. They do so much without ever asking for anything in return.
These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived
This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.
Of our dear friend Roger W. Gardner, founder of Radarsite.
Roger Gardner was diagnosed with Leukemia September of 2008. The doctors gave him 2 weeks to live, but G-d had other plans for him. Roger survived 2 weeks, 2 months, 1 year. All the time fighting for his life, and this nation he loved so well.
I find it hard to write this. Roger was a friend and mentor. His death is a loss to the fight for justice, freedom and decency. We will all miss him very much.
My thoughts and prayers go out to his family. May G-d bring comfort to his family.
After weeks of negotiations.
After weeks of protests.
After weeks of bickering within the Democratic Party.
After shutting out the Republicans from having any voice.
Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada) is decending upon the Senate, like Moses, bearing the long awaited changes to the Senate version of the Healthcare bill.
Emerging from marathon talks with Majority Leader Harry Reid and White House officials late Friday night, Nelson said "real progress" had been made toward his call for greater restrictions on abortion within the legislation.
Majority Leader Harry Reid decided to unveil a final package of changes in the long-debated legislation on Saturday "and is confident that it will prevail," his spokesman, Jim Manley, said in a late-night statement.
Reid made no comment to reporters, but Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., another participant in the talks, sounded pleased. "I've been in Harry Reid's office for 13 hours and I'm glad to get out of there," he said. "But I'm particularly glad with what has happened in that office."
With Nelson's vote, President Barack Obama's Senate allies would have the 60 needed to overcome a filibuster by Republicans.
That gave Nelson enormous leverage as he pressed for concessions that included stronger restrictions on abortions to be covered by insurance policies offered in a newly overhauled health care system. Officials said he was also seeking to ease the impact of a proposed insurance industry tax on nonprofit companies, as well as win more federal funds to cover Nebraska's cost of treating patients in Medicaid, the state-federal health care program for the poor. These officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks, said the administration and Democratic leaders had offered concessions on those points.
The Nebraska Democrat has already rejected one proposed offer on abortions as insufficient, and the presence in the talks of Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., indicated additional changes were on the table.
The legislation would expand coverage to 30 million people now uninsured and try to curb rising health care costs. Insurance companies would be prohibited from denying coverage to people with health problems, or charging them more. All Americans would be required to have health insurance, or eventually face fines. The nearly $1 trillion, 10-year cost would be paid for mainly with Medicare cuts and new taxes on insurance companies and other parts of the health care industry.
The week saw an intraparty brawl among Democrats, with liberals seething over the compromises Reid has already made to keep the bill moving.
Gone is a government insurance plan modeled on Medicare. So is the fallback, the option of allowing aging baby boomers to buy into Medicare. The major benefits of the bill won't start for three or four years, and then they'll be delivered through private insurance companies.
Oh happy day! A compromise that leaves out 35 million Americans, will cost over $1.5 Trillion (That is Trillion with a T), will start to tax everyone immediately, won't provide any coverage for 3 to 4 years, and is unConstitutional.
Other than all those reason, it is a wonderful plan.
Just wait until the House gets it. Without the public option or increase of Medicare, it won't stand a chance with Pelosi.
But it will get the votes by Christmas. Just do you think that the Members of Congress will get the votes next November?
Several centuries ago the Pope decreed that all the Jews had to convert to Catholicism or leave Italy.There was a huge outcry from the Jewish community so the Pope offered a deal.
He would hold a religious debate with the leader of the Jewish community. If the Jews won, they could stay in Italy. If the Pope won, they'd have to convert or leave.
The Jewish people met and picked an aged and wise rabbi to represent them in the debate. However, as the rabbi spoke no Italian and the Pope spoke no Yiddish, both sides agreed that it would be a "silent" debate.
On the chosen day the Pope and rabbi sat opposite each other. The Pope raised his hand and showed three fingers.
The rabbi looked back and raised one finger and shook it at the Pope.
Next the Pope waved his finger around his head.
The rabbi pointed to the ground where he sat.
The Pope brought out a communion wafer and a chalice of wine.
The rabbi pulled out an apple.
With that, the Pope stood up and declared himself beaten and said that the rabbi was too clever. The Jews could stay in Italy.
Later the cardinals met with the Pope and asked him what had happened.
The Pope said, "First I held up three fingers to represent the Trinity. He responded by holding up a single finger, shaking it to remind me there is still only one God common to both our beliefs.”
"Then, I waved my finger around my head to show him that God is all around us. He responded by pointing to the ground to show that God is also right here with us.”
"I pulled out the wine and wafer to show that God absolves us of all our sins. He pulled out an apple to remind me of the original sin.”
"He beat me at every move and I could not continue."
Meanwhile, the Jewish community gathered to ask the rabbi how he'd won.
"I haven't a clue," the rabbi said. "First, he told me that we had three days to get out of Italy so I shook my finger saying no.”
"Then he tells me that the whole country would be cleared of Jews and I told him that we were staying right here."
"And then what?" asked a woman.
"Who knows?" said the rabbi. "He took out his lunch so I took out mine."
A New Age Noah
A new flood is foretold by the world's weather specialists and they say that nothing can be done about it. In three days, the waters will wipe out the world.
The Dalai Lama appears on television and pleads with everybody to turn to Buddhism. That way, they will at least reach enlightenment.
The Pope goes on television and says that the world must accept Christianity in order to attain salvation.
The Chief Rabbi of Israel takes a slightly different approach: "We all have three days to learn how to live under water."
