Tikkun Olam

I haven't had time to blog lately (as you've probably noticed) because I am working full-time at a temporary job, which does not afford me the time to research anything or think things out enough to post (usually I am exhausted when I come home). I did find this, however--the Israel Day Parade in New York City, which had I been there, I would have attended.  I'm sure my old alma mater was there, although all I could find was our arch-rival high school.  Guess which...* *a PRIZE to anyone who can name... my high school--and who can find it in the many videos of this parade. Because I couldn't.

Remember Comedy Central? The ones who censored South Park comic images of Muhammad last April (and in 2001 and 2006 --bet you didn't remember about those ) because they didn't want to offend the Muslims (who have this nasty little habit of going out and murdering people for insulting their religion)? Well, apparently--because of course the Jews won't do anything about it, right?--they think it's okay to put up a strange game on their website, called I.S.R.A.E.L. Attack! (hat tip: Daled Amos , and Honest Reporting ).  At first I was confused about this.  I could not believe that such blatant anti-Semitism could go past everyone and be put online, so I thought it might be something other than it is.  But I was wrong. The game refers to a character (the "Jew producer") who lied and didn't destroy some child-cartoon characters.  It then shows "I.S.R.A.E.L." (which stands for I ntelligent S mart R obot A nimation E raser L ady) coming to rect...

I spent Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day) working.  The night before it started (my time), I went over to my computer and opened a browser to view the kotelcam, the camera pointed at the Kotel, recording in real-time. It was 5:30 a.m. in Jerusalem, and there were throngs of people at the Kotel, davening, and just walking about.  What the heck are people doing up at that unearthly hour, let alone sauntering about at the Kotel?!  It was wonderful to behold.  I watched for a while, not being able to...get any closer than I was.  When I woke up the next morning (at the same unearthly hour, I might add),  I ran to the computer.  It was 2:30 p.m. in Israel, and there were still throngs of people there!  I watched, as groups of men formed into circles and began dancing, and as I heard them singing through my speakers (the camera was equipped with a microphone), songs such as "David Melech Yisrael," and others--I felt good, and proud--even though I am so...

Sometime a week and a half ago--finally--after some technical glitches which caused me not to receive any emails about it--I was notified that another temporary project (can't say what) was starting up in May, and would I be interested in participating again.  I said 'yes' and grabbed at the opportunity.  Now, I haven't had the time nor energy to post since I began working last Monday. Yes, work is good, but you know how it is--after a long time of unemployment, you get used to going to bed at all hours and getting up when it's not even morning anymore...sometimes (thank goodness, not too often)! There's no structure to your day: you (uh, that's me) sit at your PC and surf the 'net, reading article after article, watching videos on YouTube, answering emails and thinking about blogging (sometimes actually posting a post).  You get there--to your PC that is--at around 10 a.m., if you're lucky to have awakened before noon--and you sit there in your ...

The latest weekly Jewish blog carnival, Haveil Havalim, is up and running at Ima's blog. She says it's number 266.  At this point, why argue--just read it!

It is raining a coldish, shivery spring rain.  I am sitting here at the computer in my “office”--the room which I still call ‘C----‘s room’--by the window, listening to the rain pouring down the downspout against the brick outer wall of our townhome and onto the ground. In fact, I am consciously calling this room by that name, that is: the room of my youngest child, and I stop myself when I find myself beginning to say ‘my office’ when I refer to it either to friends, or even to my husband. I know I wrote sometime back that I am metamorphosing as a mother; that I am beginning to accept my children as adults, as well as my role as grandmother to my grandkids.  But that is not the whole truth, only just…most of it. There is still a small part of me that does not want to make that final, emotional leap out of the past and into the future by calling the room in which my youngest daughter spent a very small fraction of her life, actually—she was here in this townhome where we ...

In the stuff which used to be of science fiction, Israel technology has once more developed a product which is now in the realm of science fact.  After having developed a device to " see through walls " from around 2004, the Israeli company Camero , with corporate headquarters in Virginia and R&D near Netanya, Israel has developed a mobile version, called the Xaver 400. Approximately the size of a laptop computer, it uses the same UWB (ultra wide band) radio frequencies as its bigger Xaver 800 parent, which can pass through solid objects such as wood or concrete and bounce back, much like ultra-sound imaging of fetuses in their mothers' wombs.  These bounced-back waves are changed into electrical signals which are then interpreted by computer and created into 3-D images visible to someone on the other side of the wall. This technology will greatly aid in saving lives , with its use in law enforcement, the military and search and rescue operations, again demonstra...

Haveil Havalim is up ( was up yesterday*) at A Time of the Signs .  Moi, aussi am in it.  Read the other great posts as well.  It's a great way to get varied and interesting writing aggregated  into one spot. *Better late than never, I always say. Oh, and by the way.  Read or re-read my last post on the Zionist Palestinian Organization, guest posted on The Israel Situation, here .