USA: So You Still Think "It's The Economy, Stupid"?

This is what is happening right under your nose. And the economy, important as it is, ain't the most crushing concern you should have. Get involved!

(Video: Copyright Control)

Friday's Song Pic #4

Regina Ilyinichna Spektor (Russian: Реги́нa Ильи́нична Спе́ктор, IPA: [rʲɪˈɡʲinə ˈspʲɛktər], English: /rɨˈdʒiːnə ˈspɛktər/; born February 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist, now from New York. In New York, Spektor studied classical piano with Sonia Vargas, a professor at the Manhattan School of Music, until she was 17.

Regina Spektor: "Samson"

Spektor was born in Moscow, Soviet Union in 1980 to a musical Russian Jewish family. Her father, Ilya Spektor, is a photographer and amateur violinist. Her mother, Bella Spektor, was a music professor in a Soviet college of music and now teaches at a public elementary school in New York. She learned how to play piano by practicing on a Petrof upright that was given to her mother by her grandfather.[2] She was also exposed to the music of rock and roll bands such as The Beatles, Queen, and The Moody Blues by her father, who obtained such recordings in Eastern Europe and traded cassettes with friends in the Soviet Union.
Spektor first became interested in more formal songwriting during a visit to Israel with the Nesiya Institute in her teenage years when she attracted attention from the other children on the trip for the songs she made up while hiking and realized she had an aptitude for songwriting. 
(Wikipedea) (Video/Music: Copyright Control)

Destiny And The Desert...

Personal reflections of a volunteer from Kibbutz Revivim, Israel.

Sophia Wu from China shares her impressions and observations of her voluntary time period in Kibbutz Revivim. Her detailed, yet sensitive writing style is a great source into a volunteer’s world, exploring through her eyes the joy of discovering new ways of living.

Sophie Wu

Sometime, I feel it is fate that brought me to Revivim: The first time I heard about kibbutz volunteering was from one of my friends in New York. And I thought it would be an interesting experience. So I applied.

In the beginning, I was writing the stories in a diary to myself as I know unique experiences like this will never be repeated again in my life. But gradually, my friends on Facebook, and Weibo readers, kept writing comments telling me how much they love my stories and how much they got inspired by them. Very recently, a short paragraph I wrote about the silent two minutes for the Holocaust Memorial Day on Chinese “Weibo” was forwarded by Israeli Consulate in China's “Weibo” page. Many people in China read it and wrote their comments, some as follows: “Such a respectable strong nation!”, “Quality of citizen”, “These are the chosen people”, “ The whole nation united as one person.”, “I want to cry”, “solute, Israel”, “Respectable country, respectable people”, “That was why Israel was not defeatable.”, “Israel, I am on your side!”. The Israeli Consulate in China's Weibo was interested in forwarding more of my stories to their page, so that more Chinese will get to know the real Israel and learn more about the alternative way of life - “kibbutz”.

Thank you all for giving me this opportunity to work and live in this amazing place called Revivim. I have lived in and traveled to 20 different countries in my life: China, US, Canada, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Bali, UK, Scotland, France, Italy, Spain, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland. I thought Israel was just going to be the 21st country I visited. It turned out to be the best experience ever in my life.

I was absolutely fascinated by the kibbutz and its concept of “give all you can and take what you need”. I really like what British Author Victoria Pybus wrote in her book "Kibbutz Volunteer": “...it is a commitment to an ideal, and experiment in a way of life....It was through the rejection of the old order that the romantically inspired youth movements of central Europe were born....The young pioneers desired to create a way of life through a return to nature and simple values such as loyalty, brotherhood and truth."
To me, kibbutz is the last Utopia in reality on this planet. In my opinion, a true Utopia should be a place where race, religion, nationality doesn't define a person, a place where Jewish, Christian, Muslim are working and living together in harmony. And kibbutz is such a place. Take Revivim for example, they have people from Europe, America, Africa, Asia living under the same roof. They have a Bedouin chef, Asian residents and volunteers, and Christian members. If this is not Utopia, where else in the world could it ever be? The fact that Revivim is in the middle of the desert makes it more unique and charming because you cannot take anything for granted. Even a small flower or a tree is something unusual and not easily grown. As one of the Revivim member described to me, when his father was asked by Kibbutz Movement to help build a kibbutz many years ago, his father said he only wanted to do that in the desert because in the north it would be too easy!

Volunteers from all over the world

Since day one after I arrived in Israel, I have been writing stories of my life here in both English and Chinese. The English update is for Facebook. And the Chinese one is for a Chinese equivalent of Twitter called “Weibo” (like a mini blog). The stories included the unique communal way of life at the kibbutz (number for each member, dining room, laundry, colbolit, car system...), my life (sandstorm, full moon in the desert, sunsets, flowers in the desert, power outage, Gaza rockets shooting, film festival at Revivim, dancing with seniors... ), my volunteer work (olive factory, kitchen, house cleaning, dish washing), Revivim (history, cow farm, member system, motivation system, kibbutz kids, kindergarten, zoo, library, magic trees garden, sports facilities, moadon, pool bar, moo bar, race, farmer's market...), kibbutzniks and their stories, Ulpan students and other volunteers, Jewish holidays and tradition at Revivim (Shabbat, Purim, Pesach, first cut of wheat, the Holocaust Memorial Day...), Israeli history, Yad Vashem, Sudanese refugees, and Bedouins.

The people at Revivim have the talents of creating everything out of nothing. There are always some cultural events/activities/ceremonies going on to bring people together as one community. And of course as you can imagine, I have been participating at every single event if possible. Revivim members/residents/ulpan students are really special people: simple, real, sincere, down to earth, warm-hearted and know so much about nature. They totally made my experience here: coffee, cake, special Artemisia and Achillea tea, BBQ, homemade chicken soup, first time making matzah ball and pita, opera and film watching, art studio, volunteer trip to the Dead Sea and Masada, flowers at Tze'elim and Nahal Habesor, Sunset at the Large Crater, Yeroham Lake, Golda Meir Park full moon watching in the desert, gentle dancing, tennis lesson, pool billiards lesson, horseback riding lesson, olive trees field tour and growing technique lesson, Karaoke at nearby Kibbutz, trance party, Neve midbar Spa, volunteer work at Meir Panim......People here answer my questions about Jewish tradition and Hebrew songs. They share their life stories with me. They explain to me what's going on at the holiday ceremony. Between all of these new experience and my volunteer work, I am happily busy running around every day!

This country, the people and Revivim, taught me a lot of important lessons for life: courage and positive energy, forgiveness and tolerance, true happiness that simple life can bring, selflessly serve others. No matter what lies ahead in the future, I know where I should turn to when I need advice, courage and inspirations. Revivim will remain my spiritual home for the rest of my life. (C) Sophie Wu

The Kibbutz link is below:
http://eng.negev-net.org.il/htmls/article.aspx?C2004=12760&BSP=12606

Who Cares...Move On Dino!

"You sold your soul to the devil!" fumed Labor party veteran Benjamin Ben-Eliezer (photo below) at newly installed Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz as the Knesset approved a new coalition government by a vote of 71-23. Ben-Eliezer was not alone in his sentiments, and the dramatic Knesset session was marked by bitter rhetoric from a shrunken but notably more energized opposition. Nonetheless, the new government sailed into power relatively easily, with only minor legal issues surrounding possible secret agreements between Mofaz's Kadima party and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

And further more...

With Israel under the dark cloud of threatened extinction, it's just so typical of the political pygmies of the Left and the also rans of the religious lot, the latter who have held the Israel to ransom for far too long. They are yesterday's people who are more interested in the usual Knesset knockabout and point scoring than contributing anything to Israel's security. Grow up, and move on for fuck sake! (Photo: Copyright Control)

Israel/China Joint Venture...

HelioFocus Demonstrates Solar-Thermal System.

 In the heat of the Negev sun on Tuesday, Ness Ziona-based firm HelioFocus opened the demonstration phase of its HelioBooster system, a solar-thermal process that aims to back up existing power plants.The system is jointly funded by Chinese and Israeli entrepreneurs.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony took place on Tuesday at the Rotem Industrial Park, some 160 km south of Jerusalem, in the presence of Energy and Water Minister Uzi Landau, Chinese Ambassador Gao Yanping and a delegation from China that included Yun Xishun, the governor of western Inner Mongolian province Alashan. The investors in HelioFocus, which was established in 2007, are the Israel Corporation’s IC Green Energy and the Sanhua Holding Group’s Zhejiang Sanhua Company.

On Monday, HelioFocus signed an agreement with Sanhua to begin construction in 2013 on a 10-megawatt solar facility in Inner Mongolia, for the Chinese energy company TaiQing. The facility, which will eventually expand to 60 megawatts, will back up a 600-megawatt coalfired power plant.
“I believe that with the collaboration with the Chinese market, which has accelerated in the past years, the company will produce facilities for the Chinese electricity market and for many other locations worldwide,” Landau said at Tuesday’s ceremony. (C) Nocamels.com (Photo: Copyright Control)

Related Stories:
Israeli Company Creates Solar-Panel Windows To Power Buildings
Israeli Company To Open Solar Power Plant In Spain

Lost Your Appetite, Poor Dear?

ABBAS: DEATH OF HUNGER STRIKING PRISONERS 

WILL LAUNCH 'DISASTER'

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is warning of a "disaster" if any of the Arab prisoners dies while carrying out a hunger strike in an Israeli prison. Hundreds of Palestinian Authority Arab prisoners began a hunger strike more than a week ago in solidarity with six inmates who have been starving themselves for more than 45 days. Two prisoners – both active members of the Islamic Jihad terror organization -- have been fasting for 71 days. One received medical care in a hospital and was returned to prison. The Supreme Court this week rejected an appeal by both to be set free. A commander in the Islamic Jihad terror group warned Sunday that the death of any hunger striker in prison will touch off a third intifada. (C) Chana Ya'ar.

Palestinian childrens' TV...it's not Sesame Street.

So...here's how the non-Infidel mind works: First of all, they are terrorists, banged up to stop more of their Islamic carnage. (Personally, I'd have had the fuckers shot, right after a few days of a jolly difficult question and answer quiz...but I digress). Then...they starve themselves and put the blame for their actions elsewhere! But I thought: don't you all want to be martyred? Well now you've got your big opportunity! Just think: Virgins await and the local Fatah/Hamas will be banging their heads on the mosque floor, overcome by your selfless devotion to the fanatical Islamofascist cause. They'll be wailing your name and doing the usual infantile Arab stuff. 
So...not another slice of salami...and you're almost there, Abdul!    

Greeks Up The Creek!

Greek Leftists Vow To Reject Bailout Terms!

Deluded Lefties after voting Greece back to
1 goat = 100 yogurts.

The head of Greece's left-wing Syriza party says his cabinet will reject all austerity measures imposed under an EU and IMF loan deal if he manages to form a new government. The public verdict has clearly nullified the loan agreement and (pledges) sent to Europe and the IMF," Mr Tsipras said in a televised address. The country's youngest political leader at 37, Mr Tsipras and his Syriza bloc won second place in the election. (abc.net)
The Greeks: Having maxed out for a decade or more, now score a ballot box boo-boo. Deluding themselves that there is some easy way out of their self inflicted, financially over-filled diaper, they have gone for the Leftie tooth fairies (oh...and a few revamped  Nazis). Getting the Left involved with anything more complex than poster painting and marching about shouting simpleton slogans is fine. 

Tispars: It just so happens, I own 75 tyre eaters
at the back of my mom's little Spartan hovel.

Fine that is, if you want the country to be run by a smug youngster who wants the barter system of serfdom to be re-applied asap.  If the Left has it's way, Greece will soon be like living in Fidel's Cuba without the cool old American cars. (Photos: Copyright Control)