I DO WONDER AT TIMES

And the Yanks think *they* are having judicial issues? Our, every ready, willing, and able(?) Supreme Court ruled on an old bone of contention between the Religious and Secular factions today and have the Religious up in arms and looking for ways to get around it. The Who is a Jew question gets taken out and dusted off for a few more rounds in the ring of public contention every now and then. Today the Justices added their .02 shekels(at a sn exchange rate of 4.32 shekels to the dollar) worth to the issue. They ruled that anyone who underwent a Conservative or Reform conversion is eligible to move here under the Law of Return. The Law of return basically says that any person who was born of Jewish parents, or underwent an Orthodox conversion, or had at least one Jewish grandparent can move here and be granted citizenship under the law of return. The Religious lot have problems with that formula, but as it's pretty much the same one Hitler and his crowd used to decided if someone was Jewish, they don't make too much noise about it. They *do* make very difficult for any one who comes here under the 1 grand parent part of the rule. Not over civilian issues, but over religious ones, like marriage, and burial and how they are listed in the 'nationality' clause. Judaism is passed on through the mother for the simple reason that the mother is always known.
Ok, so, now anyone who was converted can come here under the law of return, and walk straight into the Black Suit crowd's insanity. They care not a bit that it is strictly forbidden to remind a convert that he was once not Jewish.
The way I look at it is; if someone wants to be Jewish enough to go through a conversion of any type, and be known as Jew for the rest of his life, then in my eyes he's as Jewish, if not more so than one who was born to it and never really did anything to be so considered. A convert went through the whole thing for what were for him good enough reasons that were accepted by a Rabbinical Court of which ever movement he chose. Who are the Black Suits to say he is any less Jewish than I am? I do realize that it is a sensitive issue, but really, there are limits.
Terri Shiavo died today. I am sad that things ended up the way they did and that she was allowed to be killed in such an inhumane way. Whether her husband was right or wrong, there is no doubt in my mind that courts should have erred on the side of life. This could lead to some very scary things in the future. And don't any one dare use the words mercy killing in my presence. It was so not merciful.
I am slowly reading my way through The Secret Of The Code and finding things I have to think about on every page. What a book! It will take a long time to assimilate it all and be able to express my new insights. I want to take it nice and slow so as to not miss anything. It brings so many different aspects together in a way I've never run into before. Pagan, to Biblical, which leads right into modern day theology. I'm thinking all the way through and turning new ideas this way and that way when not reading.

THIS COULD GET UGLY

It is so true that the more things change the more they stay same, so it looks like the French got at least one thing right. The so called Palestinians had a so called democratic election [as if an Israeli would know a democratic election from any other kind, (but more of that another time)] Abu Mazzen is just Arafart *B* and can't/won't do any thing about cleaning up the terror infrastructure. This is a recurring theme here, but true none the less. It seems that our lads gave his lads some intel about a group in Tulkarem that was planning an attack and the name of the perpetrator of the last one in Tel Aviv was on the list. The intel was passed on to Abu Mazzen who did absolutely nothing about it. Ooops. Our talking heads figure that he's scared to take on the big bad groups, who are threatening him. His best bet for survival is to get rid of them. But, don't hold your breath.
The Yanks are even saying (if quietly) that he's not doing enough to keep his end of what he is expected to do to insure forward movement on any peace plan. Has anyone told the Yanks about his promise to the terror groups presently headquartered in Damascus? That alone should be enough to get him a high placement on the Bad Guys List. And lest we not forget, Assad has said he'll take his troops out of Lebanon. Does that include the Hezbolla? Of course not. They have to stay there to keep things off balance and accuse us of interfering. Nasralla loves to talk about how keeping Lebanon in turmoil is in our interest when it blatantly is not.

I'm not going to redo my whole Christianity is a huge mistake theory here, but there have been a few revisions to it since I started reading the companion book to The Da Vinci Code, The Secrets Of The Code by Dan Burstein. There's nothing there to change my mind that Christianity is pretty much a hoax perpetrated on it's faithful by strong man tactics by those who became powerful enough in the movement to hide certain relevant facts concerning Jesus and Mary Magdalene. I am still convinced that Jesus did not preach anything against Judaism, but rather, was trying to get things back on track and his disciples had to make drastic alterations to get membership up. It also makes perfect sense to me that he WAS married to Mary M. What has changed is that I now think that the early church did everything in it's power to reduce the role/power of women in religious life. There seem to be indications that women were central to what Jesus was teaching, and that the now common perception of G-d as masculine is just plain wrong. To me it makes much more sense that the Devine is a union of opposites-male AND female. Come on people, even men realize that things pretty much come to a grinding halt without BOTH genders, in vitro not with standing The old time pagan religions worshipped the goddess as well as the G-d. Someone way back then, in the earliest days of Christianity decided that one way to move folks from the Pagan ways would be to deny the feminine, and exclude women from central roles in the emerging Church. Was it a conspiracy as Dan Brown seems to think? My mental jury is still out on that one, but might come in with a verdict by the time I finish the book. In keeping with my belief that 'there are no coincidences or accidents' it is just possible that odd twists and turns of emerging Christianity are part and parcel of THE PLAN. The basic tenets of Christianity are, after all, grounded in our Torah. Things start to fall apart when the Jews of that time refused to take on the new twists to their beliefs, and have been refusing to ever since. For most of the time since then we have pretty much sat by quietly practicing our religion, and refusing to be converted. It's only recently that we've gotten a bit rambunctious on the world political/religious stage. The one thing we all pretty much agree on is the Jesus WAS Jewish. The rest is open for discussion.

PLAYING CATCH UP WITH MYSELF

I haven't been keeping up here for reasons that can be found in Gimp House, but that should be over now, and with any luck, I'll be able to post here more or less regularly. There were three topics I wanted to write about yesterday, but got sidetracked before I got to them. With my luck at least two of them could result in a visit from the Security Service types!
Back on the night Rabin was killed, crocodile Dundee was on TV and I had to leave for my ride to work. I figured I'd get there in time to see the end. By the time I got there, the news that Rabin had been shot was on and for obvious reasons, no more movie. I never did get to see the end, until last night. I caught up with the movie about half way through, and watched avidly to get to part that was on when I left. As can only happen to me, I found that I left home a whole two minutes before the movie ended, so, in effect, missed nothing. After almost 5 years, that was a bit odd. I'd had seeing how that movie ended parked on the back burner of my mind foe so long that it was a bit of a surprise to find out that I hadn't missed anything at all.
I am very thankful that I live here now and not in the States. They have lost it there. A country that gives credence to PETA and takes animal rights more seriously than those of woman is not the place for me. Terry Shiavo is being starved to death because her husband wants it that way. I am very sorry, but as long as there is no conclusive up to date medical information on her state and she is breathing on her own, HE is the one who should be starved. As long as one medico says there's a chance at some rehab for her, she should be fed, and treated. The damages award her husband got should be taken from him and transferred to her parents. The whole thing is too insane to contemplate. She may have said that she did not want to be kept alive machines, but she IS breathing on her own and a feeding tube IS NOT a machine. Come on, people. Give her a chance.
There was one more subject I wanted to have a bit of a rant on, but I can't recall what it was at the moment.

FLUMMOXED

I absolutely do not understand the Eurosport sites' results of the World's ladies championship. In one place, they have Kwan as Bronze medalist, but all the articles say Kostner won bronze and Kwan was left off the podium. The medal *was* given to Kostner (I saw it myself) but the points have Kwan winning it by a fraction. Ah, well. It doesn't really matter. It was a great competition and Slutzkaya was wonderful.

Things are as insane as ever here. The Likud is driving themselves and everyone else crazy with their pre budget vote antics. The MKs don't seem to grasp that if they topple Sharon, very few of them will keep their seats after the election. It scares me to think that Peres and his lot might take over. One of the Likud lot actually came out against the disengagement and blasted Sharon for the way he is demonizing the settlers who were sent there by the government, and now are being thrown to dogs by the very people who sent them there. Is it any wonder that they are so bitter? Instead of the support and recognition the deserve, they are scorned,cursed, and made to feel like criminals for demanding that Sharon keep his word to them and the whole country. This goes on even as Abu Mazzen tells the terrorist leaders in Damascus that after the Jews leave, they can set up headquarters in Gaza. Doesn't much sound like he's going to disarm or disband them.
Folks up here are starting to get jumpy when there's a loud noise they can't immediately identify. Shades of the good old days when there more katyushas than birds in the sky. The Syrians as well as Abu Mazzen are getting a lot experience playing Arafarts game-tell them what they want to hear, the do what they want to do, and so on and on and on.
And now Kofi Anan is playing it too. He wants to reform the UN and the things he's proposed look like a good way to up the obfuscation factor there. A more corrupt, ineffective international band of semi legal thieves is all they are and they are planning their long term re entrenchment as I type.
I've pretty much come to the conclusion that the Europeans major trouble is that they miss the power they once held on the world stage, and that in spite of the fact that they went through WWll against German's, they missed the point. They didn't learn that the worst thing to do is to give into unreasonable demands. They will be against whatever the US wants simply because it's the US and they resent having lost their power and having been helped back to their feet by the US after the war. I guess we'll have to go through it yet again, and of course, they, the EU will learn nothing from it another time. It's true, the more things change, the more hey stay the same. Quell domage. And damn the French anyway.

IT HAD TO HAPPEN

It seems the folks at Worlds made a minor booboo and Kwan won bronze, bumping Kostner down to 4th place. They awarded the medal to Kostner in the ceremony. It seems a bit stupid to do that before the results are properly calculated. There's only a small difference in their scores; less than one point. I was hoping Kwan would get bronze, but, in truth, Kostner deserved it by a small margin. How in the world did a mistake of that magnitude happen? The scoring system is supposedly computerized and the results should have come up in the proper order.

I completely misunderstood that promo for the Israel 1 news. They did an interview with Daniel Ellsberg of Pentagon Papers infamy, and it was a revelation. The man should still be in prison for what he did back then. He is dangerous. On one level I can understand being against ALL war, but that only works if EVERYONE ELSE IS TOO. Wouldn't it be lovely if there was no more war or need for armies? If only; but as long as there are bullies out there like Saddamn, Assad,Bin Laden, and Nassralla, we don't have that luxury, nor will we for a long time to come. Ellsberg claims that Bush et al lied to the American people and the whole world about the need to go into Iraq, and that he thinks the Yanks will never leave. His contention is that it took 10 years to get out Viet Nam and thy didn't have oil, so, how much longer will it take to leave Iraq, which does? Of course the Iraqis would be better off under Saddamn than in the position of struggling to become a democracy. Dictators are ALWAYS better, as long as they only do bad things to their own people. Sorry, not buying it. Lots of Iraqis were killed during the takeover, but how many were murdered and tortured by Saddamn and his sons? Get over it, people. The bad guys gotta go. The ever so wonderful Europeans are against the US, and some (spain) have run away in the face of terror. Does anyone there really think that has made them safer in the long run? Of course not. Rule # 1; NEVER GIVE IN TO TERRORIST DEMANDS. Did no one over there learn that the best way to get the playground bully to leave you alone is to stand up to him? Come on, people, how many times do they have to tell you that they want to dominate the world and turn everyone into good little obedient muslims before they figure out they mean it. Are the Europeans really so petty as to believe that in light of their loss of influence worldwide, the US is evil incarnate because their influence is greater? If so, they, the Euros are just a bunch of whiney, snot nosed losers who not only lost, but refuse to acknowlege it. Many countries in the EU are already faced with muslim pressure from with in. If they don't wake up PDQ, it will be too late, if it isn't already

TEARS OF JOY

I'm not quite sure why I'm posting about Worlds here, but maybe it's because even in figure skating, there's no getting away from political intrigue. The ladies Free was better than I could have hoped for. Kwan didn't make it to the podium by one place only, but Slutskaya wiped the ice with the others. She was brilliant and I still get choked up when I think of it. To come back from she went through over the last few years and win Worlds so resoundingly was a joy to watch. And even more wonderful for her, in her home town. Well done, Irina. I'm thrilled for you. Sasha Cohen(USA) silver and Carolina Kostner (Italy) bronze were just right too. I'm a bit sad for Kwan, but, she just didn't skate that well and to be in 4th place isn't the end of the world. I like her a lot and her skating is lovely to watch. All that's left now is the gala tomorrow, then back to normal(?)!

It was most interesting to note the Russians were all wearing new Russia jackets. AND the soldiers were no where to be seen. Does the new incarnation of the KGB read my blog, or was it noticed by others?

Our Chief of Staff, Boogie Ayalon had a go at Sharon and Mophaz on the subject of the dastardly duo not extending Ayalon's tour for an extra year, as has been customary. There has been a lot of speculation on the subject, and I'm afraid I agree with those who say it was because a YES man is wanted for the withdrawal and Ayalon had to go because he tells it like it is and not they way S&M want it to be. This does not bode well for the army or the country.

There was an promo on just before the news flash at 1700 for the news tonight. From what I caught, an American *expert* of some kind was analyzing the Sunday Times assertion that we have American permission to implement plans for wiping out Iran's nuke program. The bit they showed had the *expert* saying that we should go to the press before the bombs start falling, rather than while they are falling. I have a better idea. Let's just e mail the plans to the Iranians in the hope that the plans will be enough to scare them out of continuing? My post on the subject is one of the lost posts, and I have no intention of trying to recreate it, other than to add that I wondered then, and wonder now why the Brits printed it? The French and/or Russians I could understand their motive, they have direct financial interests in the Iranian nuke program. BUT THE BRITS? Too bad their G notices only apply to their own government secrets. They might want to expand it to include their allies.

OUT OF Control INSANITY

I don't know how it happened but the posts at this blog got themselves deleted and Blogger Help isn't really. Neither is their support. I've tried everything they suggest but the missing posts are just that;missing. My first reaction to it was to take a quick look for them, then to accuse Teadrinker of deleting them in retaliation for deleting *her* blog. I've asked Blogger Support to investigate, but who knows how long that will take? I guess it is not out of the realm of the possible, that *I* deleted them, but I really don't think so. I KNOW I deleted the posts that I saved from her blog. I saved them one by one, then deleted them, so I don't know how mine could have gotten mixed in, but anything is possible here.
Tonight was the Free Dance and the last of the Dance. Russia, gold, US silver, Ukraine, bronze and we are in 6th place.I'm a bit flabberfasted as Galit and Srgei skated really well and should have been bronze at least. Politics as usual. And just before the presentation ceremony there were the soldiers again. I missed the explanation of why they were there, if there was one.
All the joy of watching was offset by the insanity with Teadrinker. She can't open e mails sent from Yahoo in OE. I've run into just about every snafu imaginable, but never that one. At the risk of being accused of insulting her Effie, I can but wonder. Thunderbird is missing inbox, sent, trash, and junk files down the left side and OE won't let her read Yahoo. There's a problem sending from 013 to bezeq that might or might not be solved. I wanted to watch the dance and wasn't about to get dragged into a hopeless argument on IM. Child Genius was here and said he never saw anything like me watching that competition! Poor kid, I ignored him the whole time he was here, but it was WORLDS and DANCE at that. No one gets between me and Ice Dance. No one. In order not to be too rude, I watched it on the 15" Sony from the wheelchair and now regret it. There's a reason the big TV is in my room, and it's time to go and put my aches into a more comfortable position, right after I go walkies with Peg.

ODDS AND SODS FROM WORLDS

I was very not pleased to get a survey phone call from a party I belonged to for two whole months before I quit. It was much fun to ask the poor the gal who called if she really thought I had any intention of taking a survey while Worlds was on? She's probably still trying to figure that out! Two parts(pairs ans mens) are over and the medals awarded. The pairs were wonderful last night with no great surprises. I *did* have to rub my eyes when I saw a group of Russian soldiers in spiffy uniforms marching along a corridor. I'm still wondering what that was about, as my first thought was that some terrorists were on the loose there. They were only seen that once and the presentation ceremony went on as planned.
Another oddity I noticed is that many of the Russian competitors and their coaches et al still wear their old USSR jackets. Is their economy so bad that their federation can't afford new ones, or do they hope the old jackets will be needed again soon? Confusion reigns in this brain damaged gimp's mind.
Some of the scoring was a bit insane. It *is* a newish system but it seems the judges have found a way to rank the skaters as they wish. Of course they can get away with it now, as there is no way to know who voted how. I hope they change that before the Olympics and next years competitions. I'm not accusing them of collusion or anything, just noting that some of their score were a bit insane, even though I'm thrilled with the final results.
There were some noisy booms outside towards the end of the competition, but maybe it was just fireworks from a wedding or something even though they were disturbingly familiar. You just never know up here and I haven't seen the news for several days and have no idea what's going on outside the rink in Moscow. It will be enlightening to see where they place Galit and Sergei after the Free Dance, and what they do with Michelle Kwan.