Today is still Friday, Janurary 2nd, 2009 and it is now 11:40 AM here in the Philippines.
America is such a cheesy country. One typical Americanism is the "Infommerical." I am sure most in the US have seen Ron Popeil, the Jewish man who brought "Flobee" and "Pocket Fisherman" to the world, right? Flobee was an amazing device, it would automatically cut your hair AND vacuum it at the same time, or so they said.
Pocket Fisherman is a very short fishing rod that telescopes into something like a 6 cm "thingamajig" in case you are like most American men and need to walk around with a fishing rod no matter where you go.
One that every inventor must have kicking themselves in the head over for not having gotten the patent themselves was the "Spray On Cure For Baldnesss." This technological breakthrough was a small spray can that balding men AND WOMEN could use to spray their bald areas and miraculously "artificial hair" would appear. So what if its looked like Sillystring!? Tired of your new hair? Simply dampen a napkin and the hair disappaered! WHAMO! America Go
To-edness! Ingenuity the Yankee Way! Hoo-rah!
My absolute favourite though is the "Griddleman." Griddleman is NOT a Ron Popeil (or as he calls his empire, "Ronco") product. Most have seen "George Foreman Grills," right? I mean, it is totally natural and expected that ex-boxers would eventually develop fat burning portable grills, right? Just the thing that EVERY household needs.
"Griddleman is similar, but is more for pannini type sandwiches. Do not know what a "pannini" is? I will give you a hint, it has to do with "boots."
Here, see for yourself:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJWpgMoGyNQ
Back home in Israel things are very heated now, with more and more Reserves being mobilised for an expected ground invasion in Gaza, which gives me very curious emotions.
In Israel, we used to serve in Infantry (I was an Infantryman/Paratrooper) from age 18 to age 56. Since I began my service at age 16 I would have retired at 54 but after the 2006 War in Lebanon the IDF decided to revamp its system and so now most Infantrymen will be able to retire at age 44. Acrrued Combat Time will be used to lower even that age and in my case, almost 9 years in actual combat, I was able to retire on June 30th, 2007.
I had long promised Mom and Dad (Rizza's parents) that once I fully retired from the army we would permanantly move to Mindanao to be very close to them and begin making a family of our own.
However, with the renewed conflict I find myself feeling very strange indeed. I feel naked is the best way to describe it. I worry about my mates, I worry about both sons (although I also have a daughter in the army women do not serve in combat roles).
Both boys, one Active, the other Reserve, are Golani. "Golani" is an Infantry Brigade and is the topped rank of the 5 Active Infantry Brigades (including the Paratropper Brigade which is counted as Infantry for all intensive purposes).
The boy in Active is in Golani Sayeret which is the best Regular Brigade Special Forces unit in the IDF. It is probably the 4th best unit in the entire Israeli military if one is counting all branches, etc.
Amazingly though my nevousness is not due to their situations but my own. Since I was a little boy I have been training for this and I have never sat out a single armed conflict involving Israel, since I was 16 years old.
In 2006 "Palestinians" held "National" Elections and ended up voting in a clear HAMAS majority. Under PA Law the President then forms a Cabinet and emphasies the winning party in its makeup. For example, Ministry Portfolios are divvied up according to demograhic share and in this way , ideally, the peoples' will is being honoured.
PA President Abbas, AKA Abu Mazen, appointed a HAMAS PM, and awarded the requisite number of Portfolios to other HAMAS members. However, he did not reappoint a new Minister of Security.
Within many goverments, and for all intensive purposes the PA IS a govt., there is significant overlap between Ministries in terms of scope of responsibility. The same held true for the PA at that time.
The PA had a huge Security Apparattus back then due to Arafat's propensity for allowing Fatah members (Fatah being a political party that evolved from a terrorist organisation which was under the PLO umbrella prior to Oslo) to benefit from overt graft.
He had long promised to reform the bureau, which had 27 different armed factions within its structure! However he fell ill and quickly died. in the chaos that followed Abbas rose ro power and retained the status quo.
In the PA the Ministry of the Interior has usually been the ultimate oversight bureau for the Security Apparattus. Muhammed Dahlan, an Arafat crony and an immensely popular man in southern Gaza (Khan Younis Camp) was the leader of the Security Apparattus, and when it became impossible to keep as head of the Apparatttus (due to regular accusations os cronyism), Arafat created a BS title for him, "Ministry of Security Affairs.
In reality he still controlled Interior and in any event certainly continued to tightly control the Security Apparattus. When the HAMAS dominated Cabinet took their seats in March, 2007 HAMAS called foul. They wanted more control over the Security Apparattus since a HAMAS member now was the nominal head of the Ministry of interior, but Abbas and Fatah were not budging.
This is the exact reason why HAMAS staged its Gazan coup in June of 2007. Israel engaged in a policy of "Containment" (political and social ioslation) but it only made HAMAS more resolute and even saw 3 new extremist groups develop in Gaza. Then HAMAS began launching spate after spate of large rocket launches (up to 120 MM), almost daily mortar assaults as well as almost daily sniping from the Gazan side of the border.
Last June, with the help and input of General Suleiman the chief of Egyptian intel HAMAS and Israel were able to conclude a Limited Cease Fire.
There is a very basic premise in Islamic Jurisprudence (Shari'ia) known as "Hudna." Basically, it allows Muslims to call for and enter into a truce with any enemy with the intention of gaining or regaining (as the case may be) strength needed to finally defeat and vanquish your enemy.
In his Arabic speeches HAMAS Gazan PM Hannieyeh openly spoke of "Hudna" and the determination of HAMAS and is allies like PRC and PIJ to fight until the last breath to expel the "Zionist Invaders" and reclaim holy islamic land.
Even with this relisation Israel hoped to build upon that very narrow platform so that a more substantial and lasting peace could be achieved. Even with Gazans attacking Israel DAILY the Israeli Govt. has tried to reason with them over and over and over, begging them publicly to continue the Cease Fire but HAMAS, even today, has made it clear that it will refuse any and all entreaties made by Israelis.
It is difficult to totally defeat an enemy who truly believes that he is going to go to Paradise nd have 72 "houri" (virgins in the idiomatic English rendering but a houri is not human so it is difficult to translate. The best way I think is to consider them to be female angels. when he dies.
So, I have had a strong natural urge to go home and put on my uniform again but it makes both Mom AND Rizza livid since they are very anxious for us to have a child already. Mom and Rizza ALSO know that my ultimate wish is to die in battle, even though I now wish that it would happen far down the road. So, I think I will be sitting this one out and I feel so conflicted over the issue.
Rizza and Nigel are already in Cebu. I still have not gotten around to buying a life vest for her. I also want to get pepper spray AND a taser although it might not be possible to get the Taser on with the XRay machine they now use in the ports.
In the past terrible acts of terrorism have taken place on ferries here. In one case a member of the "Rajah Soliman Movement" organisation blew up a Manila to Mindanao ferry after it had pulled out to deep sea, away from Manila Bay. Roughly 200 people died.
A more pressing worry is the condition of the ferries. This is the tail end of the Monsoon and the seas are always VERY STRONG, especially at night for some reason. these ships are ocean going ferries but most are in decrepid condition. A case in point may be the sinking of a ferry this past spring that had more than 1000 passengers die in the sinking. I believe a total of 8 survived. 3 washed up on the shore of an unihabited Philippie island while the rest were bobbing in the waves holding onto wreckage for more than 24 hours.
Being a nation with 7,107 islands would make most folks think that the majority of people here are decent swimmers. indeed not many are. Rizza cannot swim at all despite my teaching her countless times.
I want to get the life vest for her so she will be safe when travelling without me, or come to think of it even when with me. I want her to have the spray and the taser so as to be able to defend herself in the melee that is sure to transpire as many hundreds of desperate Filipinos see her in a life vest. She is very petite, 4'10" actually, and very feminine. She cannot fight at all even though she has been having me teach her the Jewish Martial Art, "Krav Maga" ("Battle Combat").
Well, once again I will continue in my next entry...
America is such a cheesy country. One typical Americanism is the "Infommerical." I am sure most in the US have seen Ron Popeil, the Jewish man who brought "Flobee" and "Pocket Fisherman" to the world, right? Flobee was an amazing device, it would automatically cut your hair AND vacuum it at the same time, or so they said.
Pocket Fisherman is a very short fishing rod that telescopes into something like a 6 cm "thingamajig" in case you are like most American men and need to walk around with a fishing rod no matter where you go.
One that every inventor must have kicking themselves in the head over for not having gotten the patent themselves was the "Spray On Cure For Baldnesss." This technological breakthrough was a small spray can that balding men AND WOMEN could use to spray their bald areas and miraculously "artificial hair" would appear. So what if its looked like Sillystring!? Tired of your new hair? Simply dampen a napkin and the hair disappaered! WHAMO! America Go
To-edness! Ingenuity the Yankee Way! Hoo-rah!
My absolute favourite though is the "Griddleman." Griddleman is NOT a Ron Popeil (or as he calls his empire, "Ronco") product. Most have seen "George Foreman Grills," right? I mean, it is totally natural and expected that ex-boxers would eventually develop fat burning portable grills, right? Just the thing that EVERY household needs.
"Griddleman is similar, but is more for pannini type sandwiches. Do not know what a "pannini" is? I will give you a hint, it has to do with "boots."
Here, see for yourself:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJWpgMoGyNQ
Back home in Israel things are very heated now, with more and more Reserves being mobilised for an expected ground invasion in Gaza, which gives me very curious emotions.
In Israel, we used to serve in Infantry (I was an Infantryman/Paratrooper) from age 18 to age 56. Since I began my service at age 16 I would have retired at 54 but after the 2006 War in Lebanon the IDF decided to revamp its system and so now most Infantrymen will be able to retire at age 44. Acrrued Combat Time will be used to lower even that age and in my case, almost 9 years in actual combat, I was able to retire on June 30th, 2007.
I had long promised Mom and Dad (Rizza's parents) that once I fully retired from the army we would permanantly move to Mindanao to be very close to them and begin making a family of our own.
However, with the renewed conflict I find myself feeling very strange indeed. I feel naked is the best way to describe it. I worry about my mates, I worry about both sons (although I also have a daughter in the army women do not serve in combat roles).
Both boys, one Active, the other Reserve, are Golani. "Golani" is an Infantry Brigade and is the topped rank of the 5 Active Infantry Brigades (including the Paratropper Brigade which is counted as Infantry for all intensive purposes).
The boy in Active is in Golani Sayeret which is the best Regular Brigade Special Forces unit in the IDF. It is probably the 4th best unit in the entire Israeli military if one is counting all branches, etc.
Amazingly though my nevousness is not due to their situations but my own. Since I was a little boy I have been training for this and I have never sat out a single armed conflict involving Israel, since I was 16 years old.
In 2006 "Palestinians" held "National" Elections and ended up voting in a clear HAMAS majority. Under PA Law the President then forms a Cabinet and emphasies the winning party in its makeup. For example, Ministry Portfolios are divvied up according to demograhic share and in this way , ideally, the peoples' will is being honoured.
PA President Abbas, AKA Abu Mazen, appointed a HAMAS PM, and awarded the requisite number of Portfolios to other HAMAS members. However, he did not reappoint a new Minister of Security.
Within many goverments, and for all intensive purposes the PA IS a govt., there is significant overlap between Ministries in terms of scope of responsibility. The same held true for the PA at that time.
The PA had a huge Security Apparattus back then due to Arafat's propensity for allowing Fatah members (Fatah being a political party that evolved from a terrorist organisation which was under the PLO umbrella prior to Oslo) to benefit from overt graft.
He had long promised to reform the bureau, which had 27 different armed factions within its structure! However he fell ill and quickly died. in the chaos that followed Abbas rose ro power and retained the status quo.
In the PA the Ministry of the Interior has usually been the ultimate oversight bureau for the Security Apparattus. Muhammed Dahlan, an Arafat crony and an immensely popular man in southern Gaza (Khan Younis Camp) was the leader of the Security Apparattus, and when it became impossible to keep as head of the Apparatttus (due to regular accusations os cronyism), Arafat created a BS title for him, "Ministry of Security Affairs.
In reality he still controlled Interior and in any event certainly continued to tightly control the Security Apparattus. When the HAMAS dominated Cabinet took their seats in March, 2007 HAMAS called foul. They wanted more control over the Security Apparattus since a HAMAS member now was the nominal head of the Ministry of interior, but Abbas and Fatah were not budging.
This is the exact reason why HAMAS staged its Gazan coup in June of 2007. Israel engaged in a policy of "Containment" (political and social ioslation) but it only made HAMAS more resolute and even saw 3 new extremist groups develop in Gaza. Then HAMAS began launching spate after spate of large rocket launches (up to 120 MM), almost daily mortar assaults as well as almost daily sniping from the Gazan side of the border.
Last June, with the help and input of General Suleiman the chief of Egyptian intel HAMAS and Israel were able to conclude a Limited Cease Fire.
There is a very basic premise in Islamic Jurisprudence (Shari'ia) known as "Hudna." Basically, it allows Muslims to call for and enter into a truce with any enemy with the intention of gaining or regaining (as the case may be) strength needed to finally defeat and vanquish your enemy.
In his Arabic speeches HAMAS Gazan PM Hannieyeh openly spoke of "Hudna" and the determination of HAMAS and is allies like PRC and PIJ to fight until the last breath to expel the "Zionist Invaders" and reclaim holy islamic land.
Even with this relisation Israel hoped to build upon that very narrow platform so that a more substantial and lasting peace could be achieved. Even with Gazans attacking Israel DAILY the Israeli Govt. has tried to reason with them over and over and over, begging them publicly to continue the Cease Fire but HAMAS, even today, has made it clear that it will refuse any and all entreaties made by Israelis.
It is difficult to totally defeat an enemy who truly believes that he is going to go to Paradise nd have 72 "houri" (virgins in the idiomatic English rendering but a houri is not human so it is difficult to translate. The best way I think is to consider them to be female angels. when he dies.
So, I have had a strong natural urge to go home and put on my uniform again but it makes both Mom AND Rizza livid since they are very anxious for us to have a child already. Mom and Rizza ALSO know that my ultimate wish is to die in battle, even though I now wish that it would happen far down the road. So, I think I will be sitting this one out and I feel so conflicted over the issue.
Rizza and Nigel are already in Cebu. I still have not gotten around to buying a life vest for her. I also want to get pepper spray AND a taser although it might not be possible to get the Taser on with the XRay machine they now use in the ports.
In the past terrible acts of terrorism have taken place on ferries here. In one case a member of the "Rajah Soliman Movement" organisation blew up a Manila to Mindanao ferry after it had pulled out to deep sea, away from Manila Bay. Roughly 200 people died.
A more pressing worry is the condition of the ferries. This is the tail end of the Monsoon and the seas are always VERY STRONG, especially at night for some reason. these ships are ocean going ferries but most are in decrepid condition. A case in point may be the sinking of a ferry this past spring that had more than 1000 passengers die in the sinking. I believe a total of 8 survived. 3 washed up on the shore of an unihabited Philippie island while the rest were bobbing in the waves holding onto wreckage for more than 24 hours.
Being a nation with 7,107 islands would make most folks think that the majority of people here are decent swimmers. indeed not many are. Rizza cannot swim at all despite my teaching her countless times.
I want to get the life vest for her so she will be safe when travelling without me, or come to think of it even when with me. I want her to have the spray and the taser so as to be able to defend herself in the melee that is sure to transpire as many hundreds of desperate Filipinos see her in a life vest. She is very petite, 4'10" actually, and very feminine. She cannot fight at all even though she has been having me teach her the Jewish Martial Art, "Krav Maga" ("Battle Combat").
Well, once again I will continue in my next entry...