A Tale of Two Systems

It was neither the best of times nor the worst of times.

I am not at all unbiased when it comes to the relationship between Israelis and the terrorists who want to murder all Jews, most Arabs and any Muslims who disagree with their fanaticism. Some might even argue that that sentence shows a complete lack of impartiality. It is true. I do not want my family, my country and my entire culture to be wiped off the face of the Earth. Strange as that may sound.

Some might even say that my portrayal of this is too extreme. But is it? One side wants to be left alone. One side wants to kill every last man, woman and child on the other side whether they are Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Druze, Baha’i, other. You know you must have taken a wrong turn somewhere when you want to blow up the Baha’i.

I may be biased but those do not sound like equally balanced goals. If my side wins then everybody gets their own state and people can live their lives in peace and Coca Cola. If the other side wins then most of the people I know are dead. So I am obviously biased toward the peace and lack of genocide option.

But let’s see if we can look at this objectively. Three Jewish teenagers were kidnapped and murdered. Then an Arab teenager was murdered. Four children are dead but is there any difference in how people responded to those murders.

The Jewish teenagers were kidnapped because they were Jewish. They were likely kidnapped so that they could be traded for convicted mass murderers or money. The people who kidnap teenagers for ransom consider kidnapping a legitimate course of action in their crusade for domination over both the land and its people.

The Arab teenager was probably murdered because he was Arab. He was either murdered in retaliation over the Jewish teenagers or he was murdered by Arab terrorists. Time will tell. People who murder each other in retaliation know that it is wrong. People who murder their own kind in order to incite hatred of another group think that such a thing is a legitimate course of action.

Israeli leaders held Palestinian leaders, especially Mahmoud Abbas, responsible when the Jewish teenagers were kidnapped. Abbas said that it was none of his business since Hamas kidnapped the children and he does not control Hamas. That used to be a convenient excuse for complete inaction, especially since Hamas and Fatah spent more time killing each other than they did killing Israelis. But now they are supposedly united. If Abbas is their anointed dictator as he claims then he is responsible for their actions. If he is not responsible for their actions then he is clearly not their united leader. I am perfectly willing to accept either option but no one should accept both.

Palestinian leaders held Israeli leaders responsible for the Arab teenager. Abbas specifically singled out Netanyahu, saying that the leader of a people is responsible for the crimes of those people, even though he has always absolved himself completely of any and all responsibility of crimes committed by his people. Say what you will about Mahmoud Abbas but the man has chutzpah.

Israeli officials acted immediately when the Jewish teenagers were kidnapped and the area was thoroughly searched. This prompted an outcry from leaders of the searched neighbourhoods who felt that their people should be left out of it. There was no offer from Palestinian officials to help bring the murderers to justice.

Palestinian leaders demanded that Israel immediately find the murderer of the Arab teenager and bring him to justice, even though that would require searching neighbourhoods and upsetting some of those people.

Israeli citizens sat back and waited to see what would happen when the Jewish teenagers were kidnapped. There were prayers and condolences but the officials in charge were allowed to do their jobs and find the children. There were more prayers and more condolences when the bodies were found. People called for the murderers to be brought to justice but there were no chants of genocide or ethnic cleansing.

Palestinians rioted and attacked soldiers and each other in the streets when the Arab teenager was found. There were chants of “death to Israel” and “death to Jews” and somebody somewhere is probably making a few explosives.

Some Palestinians danced in the streets when the Jewish teenagers were found dead and people publicly rejoiced at the murder of three children. Some Palestinian leaders praised the kidnappings and the murderers were immediately praised as heroes.

No Israelis rejoiced at the murder of the Arab teenager. Israeli leaders, as well as the families of the murdered Jewish teenagers, publicly condemned the killing. As did the United Nations, United States, several other countries. The murderer is seen as a criminal in Israel.

The memorial services for the Jewish teenagers included crying, public support for each other and families, lots of prayers and hugging.

The memorial services for the Arab teenager included flag burnings, rocks thrown, chants of death to Israel and the United States.

When a Palestinian child is killed, people say that children should always be left out of it. There is international outrage and all the American news outlets interrupt their endless coverage of Syrians and Iraqis killing each other. Everybody says that these children are innocent bystanders who should not pay for the actions of their fathers and grandfathers. I agree with that completely. Unlike the United Nations, the International Community and CNN, I also agree with that even when it is Jewish children who are paying.

One side of this conflict teaches their children that there are disputes and disagreements. The other side teaches their children that Jews are evil monsters and must be murdered indiscriminately at all costs, as should any Arab “collaborators”. Which is more damaging to both sets of children? A checkpoint is inconvenient but it will never kill your child. A bomb strapped to his chest almost definitely will.

I was just wondering.

Fair and Balanced

Just for fun I did a Google news search of “Israel”. These are the top results, not including blog posts and videos. I also excluded three Haaretz articles, which could have easily been for or against Israel, because Haaretz only has teaser articles and wants you to pay for a subscription to read the rest. I think that is stupid.

After Failed Peace Talks, Pushing to Label Israel as Occupier of Palestine
New York Times

This is about the Palestinian Authority plan to join the International Criminal Court in the Hague. Most of the article tows the Palestinian line that if they were part of the court then Israel would be punished for crimes against humanity for building settlements. The article only hints at what might happen to the leaders of Palestine if they were members of a court that investigates genocide, ethnic cleansing, torture and any number of crimes the Palestinian Authority practice on a regular basis.

If you read this article and knew nothing about Palestine’s crimes then you might assume that PA leaders never do anything bad.

Israel, Kerry is one of your best friends
CNN

This article tells us that “no U.S. leader has done more to help Israel gain acceptance in the international community and ensure its long-term peace and security” than Secretary of State John Kerry. I am not sure how that is at all true. But like most articles it repeats the mantra that Judea and Samaria are occupied territory without acknowledging why it was taken from Jordan, why they had it in the first place and who had it before they invaded.

Assi Dayan, a Celebrated Actor and Filmmaker in Israel, Dies at 68
New York Times

This is about the death of the actor and is neither for nor against Israel.

Candidates with impressive backgrounds to face off in Israel presidential race
New York Daily News

This is about the upcoming presidential election and Shimon Peres’ retirement. This could be seen as favouring Israel but it is mostly neutral.

Pink Floyd to Rolling Stones: Boycott Israel
The Washington Post

This is mostly about Roger Waters being Roger Waters. He has a lot of emotional opinions that have little to do with reason. And his indignation always seems to come at the most fashionable times. I do not remember him speaking out against the Chinese government before Tiananmen Square or about Wall Street during all that occupy business.

Since he has been very pro-Arab for a long time you would think he would support Israel since it is the only country in the vicinity that gives Arabs basic human rights. But he jumped on that whole boycott Israel bandwagon, probably without realising just how much he would really have to boycott.

Despite the title, David Gilmour is not involved. Though I suppose that means little to Roger Waters.

Israel's drone dealers
Al Jazeera

Nobody expects Al Jazeera to be unbiased but this article blames Israel for American drone attacks in Pakistan. The reasoning is that since Israel created the UAV technology it is responsible for how everybody uses it. Does that make Arab states responsible when anybody straps on a suicide vest? The article does not say.

Israeli PM Netanyahu: No peace talks if Abbas is backed by Hamas
CNN

This begins as an article about Netanyahu rejecting the terrorists in charge of Hamas but it quickly goes into a revisionist history of Gaza. According to the article Fatah and Hamas had a coalition before a falling out led them to go their separate ways. There is no mention of the bloodbath in Gaza when Hamas took control.

If you read this article and knew nothing about Hamas’ crimes then you might assume that Hamas leaders never do anything bad.

An interesting point about CNN is that every article about Arab states that have nothing to do with Israel are about Arabs killing Arabs. If Arabs kill Arabs in the name of killing Jews then it is Israel’s fault. But when Arabs kill Arabs in the name of whichever sect they favour then it is an unfortunate frailty of man. According to CNN.

Abbas, Hamas chief to hold first talks since unity deal
AFP

This article goes further than most, telling readers that “Hamas forcibly took over the Gaza Strip in 2007, ousting forces loyal to the president”. But there is no mention that more than a few people were tortured or murdered, including many of those who were “ousted”.

Israeli settlers launch enclave in Palestinian business hub
Reuters

This is about how evil Jews are for living in Jerusalem. It reminds us that Israel captured Jerusalem “in a 1967 war” and “most of the world views Israeli enclaves there as illegal settlements”. There is no mention of why it was taken from Jordan, why Jordan had it in the first place and who had it before Jordan invaded.

Israel approved record 14,000 settlements during peace talks with Palestine – report
Reuters

Another article about “illegal” houses on “occupied” land without any mention of who occupied the land before Israel took it back and how absolutely nobody did anything to make it a country while it was “free”.

Israeli troops destroy mosque in Palestinian village
AP

This is my favourite article of the lot. It is about how the evil Jews tore down a few houses and a mosque. That sure sounds evil. After all, no Muslims would ever damage a synagogue.

It tries to sound like an entire village was demolished, “leaving up to 30 people homeless” but fails to mention that three houses were torn down. That is not so great for those three families but hardly an act of genocide.

But a fairly important point that the article completely ignores is that these houses were built on an active live fire military test range. Imagine what would happen if the houses were not torn down and the people living in them were injured or killed the next time weapons were tested on the range. Would the International Community say that those people should not have built houses there? Would anybody point out that building your house on a military test range is probably not a great idea? For some reason I doubt it.

Why it is hypocritical to boycott Israel
The Telegraph

This is an unusual article in that it favours Israel and actually makes some pretty good points. The writer went on a bit much about British crimes but he is British and writing to a British audience.

He asks why he should have to explain a trip to Israel when he never has to explain trips to China, Saudi Arabia or the United States. I know the answer to that, and the writer probably does as well, but it is still a good question.

Of these 12 articles, 1 favours Israel and 2 are neutral. The other 9 are very much against Israel and leave out pertinent information that might otherwise cause the reader to question the author’s position. The one pro-Israel article mentions negatives against Israel in an effort to appear fair and balanced. None of the anti-Israel articles do the same in reverse.

I have never questioned why people who live in Arab dictatorships blindly follow what they are told. They have little choice. I used to always question why people in democracies with free information blindly follow what they are told. But the more people only see one narrative the more they accept it as absolute.

What Media Bias?

“The prisoner issue is an emotional one for Palestinians after decades of conflict with Israel. Palestinians generally view them as heroes, regardless of the reason for their imprisonment. Israelis mostly view them as terrorists.” The Guardian.

This “regardless of the reason for their imprisonment” is the closest I have seen from the international media admitting that these “heroes” are murderers who targeted schools and hospitals.

“The Palestinians have now abandoned an undertaking to refrain from applying for membership of various international organisations; a step which displeases Israel and the Americans.” BBC.

The BBC often go to great pains to avoid saying that any Palestinian dictator ever did anything wrong. “Abandoned an undertaking to refrain from applying” rather than simply saying they did what they agreed not to do. “A step which displeases Israel and the Americans”. It is not a massive violation of an agreement with Israel and the United States; the only countries on this planet that are keeping Palestine alive. It is merely displeasing.

“There is an identical twin of this plane. It has been sitting in a hangar in Tel Aviv, Israel, for the past couple of months. There was a shell-game played with this aircraft. It was in the south of France, and then they moved it down to Israel. Speculation is that there was some sort of false-flag plan afoot, perhaps another planes-into-buildings deception like 9/11.” Press TV.

This is about how Israel made that Malaysia Airlines flight go missing. It is easy to dismiss stories like this as the rantings of crazy people. But the more the crazies rant the more people listen. The narrative used to be that all terrorists were bad. Now some are bad and some are good. Depending on whom they murder. Someday “terrorist” will be a positive designation.

“Palestinians want an independent state in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem - lands captured by Israel in a 1967 war.” Reuters.

This is my favourite. I see this all the time. Israel took this land away from poor innocent Jordan. The international media always ignore a few key points. What prompted Israel to “capture” this land from Jordan in 1967? Why was it under Jordan’s control? Was it considered an ancient Palestinian homeland whilst under Jordan’s control? What country was it part of before Jordan captured it? Anybody who cannot answer these basic questions, which are not at all subjective, is not in the least bit qualified to discuss this issue.

I live in a world where terrorists from repressive dictatorships are given equal standing from the international media as the democratically elected representatives from a progressive liberal democracy. This same international media would never label al Qaeda and the United States as equals. Or Tamil Tigers and Sri Lanka, PLA and India, Taliban and Afghanistan, FARC and Colombia, Shining Path and Peru, DHKP and Turkey. All of those countries are the good guys whilst the terrorists who blow people up are the bad guys. Most people will agree that strapping on a bomb and blowing people up makes you the bad guy. Unless you blow up Jews. Then you are an oppressed minority, despite being part of the overwhelming majority ethnic group in the region.

As we all know, minority groups are the good guys and majority groups are the bad guys. Yet all of the terrorist examples above are minority groups in their countries and they are the bad guys compared to that country’s majority. Israel, the bad guy, is the minority surrounded by a rather hostile majority of good guys. Maybe, just maybe, being in the minority or majority does not automatically make one right or wrong.

American liberals support homosexual rights, women’s rights, minority rights, abortion rights, gun control, high taxes, science, education, oppose capital punishment, religious law, and rabidly defend liberal political candidates who say and do crazy things whilst rabidly attacking conservative candidates who say and do crazy things. The same is true in other “western” countries. Although the terms “liberal” and “conservative” do not necessarily apply.

Arab dictatorships and terrorists generally want to kill or at least arrest homosexuals, kill or subjugate women, kill or at least subjugate minority groups, kill anybody who has an abortion or any doctor who performs one. They love guns, have little to no taxes, frown upon science and education, especially if girls want to get involved, absolutely love capital punishment and religious laws, and rabidly oppose any open dissent in countries where free speech is blasphemy. Liberals would not be very happy living in the average Arab state.

Israeli homosexuals, women, minorities have all the same rights as everybody else. Abortion is legal, guns are very hard to get, taxes are very high. Israel is one of the world’s leaders in medical research and technology, and environmental science. Education is open to anybody and everybody. There is no capital punishment or religious laws. The state does not demand that anybody keep kosher and does not give a rat’s ass if you honour Shabbat or not. I would argue that there is more freedom of speech in Israel than in the United States. Liberals flourish in Israel.

Yet American liberals, and often their equivalents in other “western” countries, support Arab terrorists and oppose Israel.

Aaron Sorkin has compared American conservatives with the Taliban. That is fairly extreme. But American conservatives actually agree with Arab dictatorship positions more than they agree with Israeli positions, albeit in a far more moderate form. Michele Bachmann says some crazy shit but the fact that she is allowed to speak in public shows that American conservatives are not the Taliban. And I would doubt that she has ever advocated throwing acid on a girl’s face. Yet American conservatives support Israel over these terrorists.

How does this make any sense? Has the international media mantra of Israel bad, terrorists good actually conditioned Americans to hate Jews in order to love Arabs? This would be odd when you consider that most Americans completely ignore the international media when it comes to any criticism of American actions. Also, and this might only be a minor point, the typical Arab terrorist would gladly sacrifice his own life to kill as many Americans as possible. The typical Israeli would not sacrifice so much as a bagel to kill an American. Israeli citizens and Arab terrorists might be equals in the eyes of the international media but there is a pretty big difference when it comes to our definitions of right and wrong.

I was very much on Palestine’s side before I came to Israel. Then I lived here and saw what it was really like as opposed to what the international media told me it was like. The more I saw people rationalising the murder of Jews and open support for terrorists the more I started to support Israel. Pretty soon terrorists will be like pirates. Everybody will love them and their madcap adventures. But pirates were murderers, rapists, kidnappers, thieves. In pirate movies the British Navy are the bad guys and the pirates are brave heroes who sing and dance.

Now I am not only protecting my family from people who would willingly kill their own families to kill people they hate. Now I am protecting my children from people who would willingly kill their own children to kill people they hate. I am not even a mother yet but I cannot imagine any circumstance where I would want to kill my own child just because I hate somebody’s religion or culture. I cannot imagine that it would ever be possible for me to hate any race or religion that much. I realise that racism is all the rage right now but how can hating others ever take precedence over protecting your own children?

Not only do these people hate Jews so much that they think all of this is reasonable, and they are willing to rationalise any horrors that terrorists commit against Jews, but they even take their hate a step further and complain that “the Jews” control the international media. If The Jews control the international media then I can only wonder what our devious master plan must be.

Lost In Translation

After several years of various civil wars, revolutions, coups in Arab states somebody decided that Israel needed another fabricated controversy attached to it. The initial attempt to blame the “Arab Spring” on Israel failed miserably as soon as it all started. Something had to be done.

I am disappointed to see that this month’s wedge issue is about a beverage company.

American actress Scarlett Johansson did an advertisement for an Israeli beverage company. Clearly she was looking for trouble.

In the interest of full disclosure I will point out that I am not much of a Scarlett Johansson fan and I think that SodaStream sucks. I thought she was better before she became an action star. Something happens to them after they do action movies. Remember when Liam Neeson was a real actor?

The whole SodaStream concept is queer to me, though I do appreciate the environmental aspects of their organisation. If you want a carbonated beverage then you should buy a Pepsi. Making your own is like making your own helicopter. It might seem a good idea at the time but it won’t fly.

After Johansson started filming adverts, her friends at Oxfam complained. They did not have the balls to drop her but they were more than willing to complain about her despite all the work she did for them. Apparently they hold firmly to their convictions up to the point of not trying to upset celebrities too much. So Johansson dropped them.

Up to this point I do not particularly care. What any celebrity advertises is none of my concern. What got my attention were the calls to boycott SodaStream and close down its factory.

The narrative is pretty simple. SodaStream is an Israeli company. Therefore it is evil. It has a factory in Ma’ale Adumim. Therefore it is evil. Ma’ale Adumim was part of the British Mandate land handed over to Israel. Therefore it is the new historic ancient Palestinian homeland. If that does not make any sense, ask people who want to return to the 1967 borders why they refuse to even consider the 1948 borders. I know the answer to that one but sometimes it is amusing to see how they rationalise Jordan’s invasion and occupation of land whilst decrying Israel’s control of land it owned before Jordan invaded the first time.

What all the liberal peace activists who love human rights and favour brutal Arab dictatorships over a liberal democracy with human rights fail to realise, or more likely fail to care about, is that closing the Ma’ale Adumim factory would put about 1000 Arabs out of work. SodaStream may be an Israeli, ie evil, company but it pays those Arab employees Israeli wages and gives them Israeli benefits. No Arab company in Judea and Samaria pays anything close or provides evil socialist health cover.

Israeli companies are also forbidden by law and common decency to murder homosexuals and treat women as property. Closing the factory would be bad news for any homosexuals or women working there who do not want to be murdered property. Can anybody tell me why none of the liberal peace activists who love human rights ever comment on how the Palestinian Authority treats homosexuals and women? I have never heard any plausible explanation for this. Or even an implausible explanation. They simply ignore how much their heroes ignore peace and human rights.

Closing the factory would also cause unnecessary unemployment in a time and place that would not benefit from even more unemployment. And even if a few of those thousand people could find other jobs they would likely make far less money and work in Arab working conditions. If you think that all Arabs are oil millionaires driving their racing cars up sand dunes then you should join the liberal peace activists who love human rights and are equally as clueless.

And closing that factory would virtually guarantee a UN resolution condemning Israel for closing a factory and putting 1000 Arabs out of work. There would be a separate resolution against Israel after any former factory employees are murdered by their Arab dictators for being women or homosexuals. Or any former employees for being “traitors”. The Palestinian Authority loves to execute “traitors”. I would think that liberal peace activists who love human rights would be against that. But I would be wrong.

Why do human rights advocates hate the Arabs of Judea and Samaria so much? I cannot say. Perhaps for the same reasons that other Arabs seem to hate them so. I can understand hating the Arabs of Israel. After all, they live with a bunch of Jews. But is their hatred of Israel truly strong enough to condemn all Levant Arabs? Time will tell.

Anybody who wants to boycott Israel either knows that damaging Israel’s economy is very dangerous for Yosh Arabs or is too caught up in their academic indignation to see how much Israel provides to Judea and Samaria. Or they simply have no idea what is going on here.

And if you want to boycott Israel then I sincerely hope that you also want to boycott China, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Qatar, Myanmar, Russia, Syria, Bangladesh, Uganda, Sudan, Egypt and a few dozen other countries. Or is there some way in which Israel is different from those countries?

Speaking of Christmas Shopping

Since I know that everybody will want to buy my new book for Christmas I should probably point out why I did not list every Amazon site. The book is available at Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Amazon North Korea, of course, but I would actually prefer it if everybody could buy it from a single version of Amazon. Or from another site. It seems that Amazon has found a clever way to avoid paying people what is rightfully owed.

If you sell a book on Amazon and live outside of the United States, as many of us do, Amazon will only pay you after you reach US$100 in sales. After all of their fees and taxes, of course. $100 does not seem insurmountable but there is a catch. Amazon divides each national website. If you sell enough to make $99 at each of their 12 sites they do not pay you $1188. They pay you absolutely nothing. If you make $100 at one site and $99 at the other 11 they do not pay $1189. They only pay the $100.

I seem to be more populat at Amazon US and Amazon UK. I make money from those sites but nothing from the others. I have sold a lot of copies from Amazon Germany but not $100 worth, so I might not see that money for years, if ever. I have currently sold one copy from Amazon Mexico. I will never see those 98 cents. Most sales are from Amazon US, so it makes the most sense to only advertise that site.

So if you are one of the five people who are thinking about buying this thing from Amazon, all I ask is that you use amazon.com.

As long as I am spamming my own blog I might as well remind everybody about the first book. It is still available. What better way to say Happy Christmas to loved ones than to give them a book by somebody who does not celebrate Christmas.

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Where Shadows Fester

Chevrolet Volt

Toyota Prius

We looked at a few conventional cars but then decided to go electric. Tel Aviv is one of the greenest cities in the world and Israel is supposed to be at the top of the environmental food chain. At least that is what they keep telling us. There are charging stations all over the place, tax reductions for those who go electric and even free parking spaces for electric vehicles in some places. Free parking is a wondrous thing.

I see the Toyota Prius driving around town every day. But I was not at all impressed with their hybrid technology. It is like the worst of both worlds. You get the high fuel costs of internal combustion combined with the slow speed and short range of an electric vehicle. I also did not care for the way it felt when the car switched between the two.

The Chevrolet Volt is essentially the same except that it is far more expensive. Probably because it is built in the United States. The Prius is built in Japan and China.



Renault Fluence

Then we looked at the Renault Fluence. It is fully electric, reasonably priced and has an amusing history. Renault originally partnered with Better Place to develop the car and put automated battery stations all over Israel. Their goal was to have as many electric cars as internal combustion on the road by 2016. Instead, they went bankrupt.

That pretty much killed sales but it does not bother me at all. The Better Place system was too authoritarian. They owned the batteries, without which the car does you very little good. They had a complicated leasing system and series of payment plans based on how much you drove, where you drove, what time of day you drove. It was like the early days of mobile phones when companies charged everybody for every little thing.

Now that Better Place is all but dead, Renault has taken over the batteries. It simply comes with the car as it should. Where and how I drive has nothing to do with the company that sold me the car.

You were only allowed to charge your battery at home or at Better Place stations under the Better Place plan. Now you can charge it anywhere. My building put in charging stations two or three years ago which I can now use. Rather than paying Better Place fees to charge my batteries I can charge them at home for free since the stations at my building are solar powered. I went from pay far more for petrol than any American ever has to paying absolutely nothing to fuel my car. Assuming I only charge it at home.

Even if I charge it at a charging station I have to pay for, the prices are a tiny fraction of what it costs to fill a conventional tank.

The only aspect of the Better Place system I would like to see are the automated battery switching stations. The Renault Fluence battery can be quickly removed and replaced and Better Place built a few automated stations where you could replace a dying battery for a new one in about a minute. The stations still exist but nobody really knows what will happen to them now that their company is no more. I can still charge my batteries and/or replace them but not automatically within a minute. Charging from almost empty to full takes about eight hours and replacing them myself takes a good ten minutes. In our instant society, ten minutes is an eternity.

Weapons of Mass Distraction

What do people have against chemical weapons anyway? They are bad. They kill. They can cause a great deal of pain and suffering. How is this different from all the good weapons we have and use with impunity?

As an enlightened and civilised species we have banded together and told ourselves and each other that we shall no longer use chemical agents to kill each other. There was even a UN resolution against it. We all know how sacrosanct those resolutions are. Since we are not Godless animals, we should only kill each other with weapons of limited destruction and things that explode.

I do not favour chemical weapons. I think they are as bad as everybody who does not use them says. My concern is how much we legitimise more conventional weapons whenever we try to preach against those weapons of war we despise.

Sarin is horrible and does nothing good to the human body. The same can be said for bullets. They generally only kill one person at a time, unless you get in a very lucky shot, but they kill all the same. Death by bullet can be quick, but it can just as easily cause a very slow and painful death. A tiny bullet can take away parts of your body that you may have wanted to use later.

Bullets are also very unpredictable. A single shot can kill you, simply cause an irritating scratch, or do anything in between. Where you are hit often matters less than how you are hit. John Kennedy died quickly from a bullet to the head. James Brady is still alive 32 years later.

Bullets are perfectly acceptable because they are small and generally only kill one person at a time. Something like sarin can kill hundreds at a time. But how much sarin is there in the world compared to the number of bullets? I have never held any sarin in my hands, but I have handled more than a few bullets. I have some bullets in my house. My future husband has even more. Neither of us keep any sarin in the wardrobe. Not everybody has bullets in their home, but I can safely guarantee that there are more bullets in your community than there are chemical weapons.

We as a species also feel safe with much larger projectiles that can kill far more people at any given time. Rockets, missiles, grenades, bombs and all manner of explosive devices are considered perfectly acceptable ways to kill each other. Is being blown up better than being poisoned? I’ve yet to do either but I would prefer another option. There are many types of missiles that can kill far more people than any sarin attack. Is being set on fire from an explosion better than being gassed?

Some will say that guided missile systems are better precisely because they are guided. Chemicals tend to go wherever they want to go. A missile can be targeted to hit a very specific location. This is all nice in theory, but we have seen time and again how often these surgical strikes kill innocent civilians. It happens so often that somebody even came up with a cute little euphemism for all the children accidentally blown up; collateral damage. Which sounds more benign and abstract, “more dead children than anticipated” or “collateral damage”?

Then there are nuclear weapons. In what universe is a nuclear warhead less destructive than any chemical agent? How can the US, Russia, China, UK, India, Pakistan, France, North Korea, Iran very soon, Saudi Arabia soon, Israel maybe or maybe not, ever complain about anybody using chemical weapons when they are all or soon will be capable of launching the most destructive attack the world has ever seen. Even a French nuclear warhead of today is one thousand times more destructive than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. What happened to Hiroshima and Nagasaki is small by today’s nuclear standards yet each of those cities suffered more casualties than the world’s largest chemical attack. More people died in each city than in all of the chemical attacks of World War I combined.

The next nuclear warhead to hit a city will probably kill millions of people. In such an attack, nobody is collateral damage.

How To Have a Riot

The two billion of us who grew up in current or former Commonwealth countries are told to see England as a bastion of all we are supposed to hope to be. Even Americans, who got out long before anybody thought to include Imperial subjects in the same sentence as British subjects, have an umbilical fascination with England. Even more so in some respects. I have never met an African, Indian, Australian who follows the goings on of the British royal family with as much vicarious interest as do some Americans. Africans have Mandela. Indians have Gandhi. Australians have the Bee Gees. I guess Americans need something to fill the void that TV simply cannot offer.

Shaking the Tree

Most countries give preference to educating boys over girls. Sons are far more likely to inherit money, property, titles, power than daughters. Men are the head of the household while women are in charge of cleaning it. Women are far more likely to be victims of domestic violence than men. Too many countries still allow ritual genital mutilation of girls where the clitoris and/or labia are cut out. I know of no country in the world where it is acceptable for boys to have their penises cut off.

Most sexual assaults are by men against women. Men can be raped but it is either very rare or rarely reported. Probably both. Most women who are raped will not report it either. We have a very strange sense of shame on this planet. I think the attacker should be the one who gets all the shame, regardless of his gender or the gender of whomever he attacked.

If you live in a country where something like International Women’s Day is obsolete, as I do, then you are lucky. Most of the women on this planet do not.

Walk Like an Egyptian

There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it; always.

Mahatma Gandhi

Profiles in Courage

American airports can have very long lines at the check in counter. If you want to kill Americans gathered in large groups then this would be a good target. The queues in Israel are spread out and staggered. It seems like nobody has to wait in a long line. And when you check in you are asked simple questions. They also do this at American airports. The difference is that the Israeli agents are actually paying attention to what you say and how you say it.

All luggage in Israel is scanned at the check in counter in a screening area that can withstand a large blast. There are also metal boxes that can house bombs if necessary and a decompression chamber. If something suspicious is found it is dealt with immediately. If something suspicious is found at an American check in counter they will evacuate the entire airport and wait for the bomb squad.

A Few Current Events

I’m not an extremist. I do not believe that unions should always have their way and I do not believe that managers should always have their way. I think every case should be viewed on its own merit. In this case I think the unions should be thankful to have jobs and happy that the government is even offering anything at all. The fact that top government officials live in luxury is irrelevant. That is an issue for the courts and the voters to correct. I can sympathise with people who work hard for little money but I’m having a hard time sympathising with people who risk the education of children and the health and safety of the public for 1.6%. The average RSA high school teacher makes R10 000 per month. An extra R160 does not seem like enough to put people at risk. That is three extra Starbucks coffees each month.

But My TV Said So

If your TV is anything like mine it told you that crime rates in China are rising and it is almost impossible to really know what the figures are. But your TV probably never mentioned that Chinese schools are amongst the safest in the world. School shootings are unheard of. There are no gangs. Not in the schools at least. Chinese gangs are more interesting in controlling gambling than recruiting children. Teen pregnancy is not simply well hidden. It is really not an issue. Most teenagers stay away from sex to avoid family shame. That still means something to the Chinese. It is also very hard to find any privacy when you live with several generations in the same house.

Let’s Go For a Drive

 


 




The food pictures that I did not take are free use stock pictures. The still from Georges Méliès’ Trip to the Moon is out of copyright. The helicopter is copyright Universal Studios. I don’t know where the breastfeeding picture came from. It might have come with my OS.

Mia’s Peace Plan

Set a deadline for the formal creation of a sovereign Palestine and remove all Israeli military and security forces. At that point Palestine either has to step up to the plate or get off the field. If they refuse to have their own country yet again then make the territory part of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon or some kind of UN no man’s land. Once Palestine’s leaders reject further proposals for a sovereign Palestine then they can no longer claim homeland privileges and must accept the rights and responsibilities of citizenship in whatever country Palestine is placed. If it is divided amongst several countries then its people will be given the opportunity to relocate to another area that is part of whichever country they choose.

Alternately, an election can be held at an announced date and whoever is elected will then become the leaders of what will then be called Palestine. Any country that wishes to recognise it may do so. Israel should be the first. Those Palestinians who do not want to live in a sovereign Palestine will have the option to immigrate to any other country they wish, provided that other country accepts them. Any Arab country other than Jordan probably will not but everybody is welcome to try.

Should the leaders of Palestine finally accept a sovereign country then it is their responsibility to govern and control the people and territory without reliance on Israel for their survival or blaming Isreal for all their problems. Any acts of war committed by the people of Palestine or its leaders against any other sovereign country will be subject to the same consequences every other country in the world faces.

Passport to Hong Kong

A Brief Comparative Analysis of World Health Care Systems From My Purely Subjective and Limited Perspective

Tel Aviv

Cape Town

Shanghai

Zürich

Los Angeles

My introduction to America’s controversial health cover system came at university. Health insurance was compulsory for students. I had to pay the usual school and housing fees plus health insurance, a special fee for foreigners and taxes on top of all that. Everything was taxed. I think they even taxed my student visa. California’s tax system is second only in labyrinthe complexity to China’s. I spent more than US $14 000 on insurance in California, more than everywhere else combined. And I never really used it.


Anchorage

Blame It On Rio

If you live on this planet you have probably heard that Rio de Janeiro will be hosting the Olympics in 2016. If you live on another planet I hope that I am not your only source of information about us. I cannot handle that responsibility. But maybe reading me would give you better insight into humans than watching TV. Especially Pop Idol. That one would instigate the invasion for sure.

I can’t tell you how cross I would be if I was an intergalactic slave working at the human organ mining colony because of crap TV. But if you are learning about us from the internet then you should probably know that we are not all that angry or watch that much porn.

Dogs: Chewing everything and howling at the moon.
Cats: String and looking at you with contempt.
Humans: Porn and angry rants.

There’s No Place Like Home

Another factor is stability. My current job is not going anywhere. In some ways my position is more valuable than it has been in years. We have updated some training procedures since Gaza and we are doing more damage control than ever before. And even if they eliminated my department altogether they would still keep me on. There is absolutely no stability in a small tourist company. Now is not the best time to face unemployment.

Auto Erratic Asphyxiation

American car makers are criticised for making large trucks that nobody wants to buy. If that is true then why have so many people bought them? Have you ever seen an American parkade? They are an SUV wasteland. Somebody is buying them. They were not fuel efficient when they were fashionable so there is little point complaining that they are not fuel efficient now.

By American