blog entry

Dennis Potter

2008-06-08T13:42:33+01:00

today I've been watching interviews with Dennis Potter, a British playwright who's work was mostly broadcast on British televison in 1960s through to 1990s up until his death in 1994. Chris Case had sent an email to the TechGnosis mail list which put me onto them.

first I watched his last interview with Melvyn Bragg in 1994.

there are multiple parts to this interview
part1 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_tAK0pIuAQ
part2 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1gn7AmjP28
part3 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqucPVCwSe8
part4 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imkN7iGRlow
part5 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUwrW0-w8Ss
part6 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS_y7oBfq_Q
part7 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei1EjjlGNSY
part8 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frl4yR2satw

his last programs were Karaoke and Cold Lazarus - a couple of clips from these shows are here :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBNzbfpZqyg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0x2hX6l8f4
these aren't available on dvd due to licensing issues (one of Potters wishes was for each to be broadcast on BBC and Channel4 as each was written for one of the stations)

here's his views on watching television and the commercialism of television :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAYckQbZWbU

first of squarey's arms

2008-06-07T23:52:07+01:00

080620081165, originally uploaded by AliaK.

one of Squarey's arm - I finally worked out how to knit in the round using 3 double point needles. so Amelie's toy squarey is almost finished! one more arm + 2 legs + a face to go. whew, it's only been knitted in almost 2 years and 6 countries - Australia, New Zealand, UK, Israel, Turkey, India. I almost thought she'd be a teenager before I finished it..

I think this could be used to make fingers for gloves too

08/06/2008

080620081165

---

this is what squarey looks like when he's finished - it's a Jess Hutchison (Jess Hutch) pattern from her book "Unusual Toys For You to Knit and Enjoy"
the below picture is Jess' squarey. the one I'm making has yellow instead of green (and there's a few more imperfections but I'm sure he'll still look cute) I'll post pictures when I've finished him

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jesshutch/51386088

http://www.jesshutch.com/2005/10/booklette.html

http://www.flickr.com/groups/99032870@N00/pool is a Jess Hutch flickr pool which has other examples of her patterns that others have knitted

if only I wasn't allergic to wool - itchy!!

08/06/2008 update : ok I've finished all the pieces - just need to sew him up and add the stuffing and sew his face
I'll move his arms down to the stripes position like in the pattern - not like in the photo below

Kristian Thomas' "Kristian Thomas inanace child"

2008-06-07T16:39:05+01:00

wow, Kristain Thomas' "Kristian Thomas inanace child" song is gorgeous - so lush and haunting. it's on his myspace page & is even downloadable
http://www.users.on.net/~mumfords is his website
http://www.users.on.net/~mumfords/industree/industree-indexv3_1.htm is the IndusTREE website
Kristian used to run events / projects under the PSP name.

Humanity is NOT a virus - by zzz33333 (youtube)

2008-06-07T09:38:33+01:00

zzz33333's video on Humanity is NOT a virus - complete with The Matrix (movie) references :)

and the links he posts in another video @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB0PNQlc5OU

---

READ THIS!

Ishmael and others by Daniel Quinn

READ ISHMAEL

ISHMAEL BY DANIEL QUINN

EVERYONE READ ISHMAEL!

Endgame and others by Derrick Jensen
Against Civilization and others by John Zerzan
The Tao Te Ching by Lao-Tse
White Noise by Don Delillo
Demian by Hermann Hesse
In the Absence of the Sacred by Jerry Mander
WATCH THIS NOW:

http://www.archive.org/details/PhilosopherSeed-DerrickJensenEndgamePartO...

PART 2:
http://www.archive.org/details/PhilosopherSeed-DerrickJensenEndgamePartT...

http://www.endgame.org
(a very important website)

Derrick Jensen's premises from his book Endgame:
http://www.endgamethebook.org/Excerpt...

clip from Monty Python and the Holy Grail:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o76WQzVJ434

The Jeff Luers Story:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZvNapmZVQA

Anti-Depressants Exposed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sstoa406Oa0

The Message in the Waves:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m84-X-3YXZo&feature=PlayList&p=78EAB245E4...

Guy Debord:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_lS5ACEQho

Manufacturing Consent (the chimp with sign language:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHJHGOE8MIs

"Chimps Beat College Students at Memory Test"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QJLwzJ8dvM

Best of Idiocracy (by Mike Judge) 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxRqRZ81Rmg

Review of John Zerzan's "Against Civilization"
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-151394357.html

http://www.ishmael.com (a bit commercial but there is good stuff anyway)

http://www.youtube.com/stimulator
http://www.youtube.com/redpharmacist
http://www.youtube.com/DEATHINKING
http://www.youtube.com/pennilesscripple
http://www.youtube.com/vaahti

many others

oh yeah here is a paper i (zzz33333) wrote about civilization:
http://blather.newdream.net/c/civilization.html
(it starts a little ways down. it is called "the wise will arise")

Homesick - by Eshkol Nevo

2008-06-06T15:35:01+01:00

my quick review of Homesick - by Eshkol Nevo
I bought this book as I was looking for a book in English (as I can't read Hebrew) about every day people living in Israel since I've been visiting Israel. I wanted to get more of a feel for the people and their lives. plus I've been feeling homesick for my own country and home. many of the places and things mentioned in the book were very familiar to me since my stay here and the characters seem like friends now. at first I found it hard to work out who was speaking as all the characters say "I" - they are each telling their own story in first person throughout the book. once I got used to this the characters grew on me. I loved the simple details mentioned in the book about everyday life and I have a mental picture about them living their lives now. I'll be keeping an eye out for more books by the author as I really enjoyed this one and recommend it to anyone who would like to read about life in Israel (ie not the media-portrayed view of Israel)

Def Wish Cast on Big Brother

2008-06-06T12:49:02+01:00

there's been a small debate on Stealth boards about pioneering Australian hip hop band Def Wish Cast appearing on TV on Big Brother. here's my feelings on it.
yeah I think BB is cringeworthy. and DWC is giving *them* cred.
tv is the same - actually worse in some places - around the world - which would you rather watch? I think thinking DWC is cringeworthy for going on tv just shows how low our music-on-tv standards are. we should be pushing for a better class / std of music to be heard by the Aus masses. not bagging the bands for getting out there. is this the music glass-ceiling attitude that Australians seem to have? DWC *are* Aus hiphop - they couldn't change that if they tried - as Lo_D says I don't think their cred is in question at all. why can't we make the quality of Aus commercial music better by supporting the 'underground' bands/artists and giving them airplay in commercial arena. we can't escape the commercial music as it's played everywhere, so why not hear something good on airwaves/tv/shopping centres /wherever. I think it's win-win for everyone and helps lift the standards all-round. I'm ok with sharing underground bands with more people.
/edit maybe it's tall poppy not glass ceiling. I've forgotten my english phrases

IL

2008-06-05T18:43:31+01:00

a friend asked me how I like israel and if I keep up with the politics there. I haven't written much about my stay here apart from some notes & thoughts in my notepads, so this is just a quick reply to remember / trigger some memories. (scattered / stream of consciousness thoughts warning! some things might need fact checking too - I'd have to look up old notes)

and this is a link to 'most of the hebrew that I know list on live-vicariously-through-joni blog I came across whilst searching for the spelling of ta'im (tasty) the other night. this list is more words than I know, but I do know quite a few of them!

yeah sort of. I've read up on a bit and asked people from work and
taxi drivers etc & seen some films/docos here. everybody just wants
peace basically - those I've spoken to in israel and palestine (I've
only been to bethlehem in palestine a couple of times which is safe -
not gaza so haven't spoken to many palestinians). israel is a great
place - I love it here! it's a shame that the surrounding countries
want to destroy it. in most ways israel isn't like how the media
portray it - same with other things in media I guess. that's not to
say israel is perfect either - no country is. and unfortunately there
are deaths and casualties on both sides. but from what I've seen
israel tends to defend whereas hamas & hezbollah attack. lately
there's been more talk about a PA state being formed and some dramas
with the israeli PM, but to be honest I don't see it happening. if
they did return the requested areas most israelis would have to leave
or the attacks would get worse and they'd block off the water supply &
most of the sacred jewish sites would be at risk etc so I don't see
israel ever agreeing to it. I hope there'll be peace one day but I
don't see either side backing down.

the scariest part I've seen is the
reports of what the children are taught in palestine - so they'll grow
up with hatred of the jewish people & learn to worship the
martyrs/terrorists so this will never end as it continues in the next
generation. I think they need to stop that. not all palestinians are
like this of course but with 80% support of the people in recent
elections it seems that most people support the PA ideas. I hope they
can find a way to build and support their own people and state instead
of blaming israel for everything. the media tends to focus on these
complaints. & their leaders don't seem to care about the people, but
there are other countries that suffer from this too - eg india. I'm
pretty pro-israel these days after seeing & living how the people live
here. I guess it's easier to say that coming from Aus/the west.
whereas if I were from an Arabic background I prob wouldn't have had
the opportunity to travel/live/see what I've seen, so it's from a
privileged perspective (but I can't change my own background so it's
harder to imagine their lives).

life in general is same as back home -
people don't let the threat of being attacked stop them from living
their lives which I think is a good attitude. living in jerusalem has
been great - religion is really in your face here so it's been
interesting to see that instead of say living in tel aviv which is
just like any other city. having the country shutdown on
shabbath/saturdays has been good too - I actually like it. it forces
you to see friends/family (ppl who have family here) & is less
commercial as shops are closed. it's like sundays in the 70s when I
was growing up when shops were closed. we had to find other things to
amuse us than spending $. this is nice - I hope to continue this at
home (I still go to a cafe though - need to eat & drink coffee!)

the feel of the country is similar to aus and it feels very familiar to me
for some reason. probably from stories growing up - the places are
mostly recognisable words though they are closer and sometimes
different to how I imagined them. the desert is amazing too - I was
expecting sandy deserts like sahara but it's more rocky. and the
jerusalem stone buildings (limestone) look great - all the buildings
in jerusalem have to be made from jerusalem stone to keep the charm of
the city. I wish I had a jerusalem stone house (though they're mostly
apartments / multiple family houses here not single home dwellings).
it's cooler temperature wise in jerusalem too as it's in the mountains
- and drier than tel aviv which is humid.

I would like to spend more time here but I think it's time to go home
for a while. if things don't work out there then I can try come back.
and there's always holidays - as I haven't seen all of the country yet
so should come back when I don't have to work. it's going to be sad to
leave really. the people are great too. u should try come here one day
- someone (pizza guy / Tito) mentioned the other night that israel is
like an untouched diamond - sounds cheesy but it's true ! I think people
think it's really scary and there's only a warzone here but it's an amazing
place.

Istanbul bellydance

2008-06-04T21:47:29+01:00

bellydance_istanbul_20080523_12, originally uploaded by AliaK.

we went to the Gar Musichall during my last trip to Istanbul. they have bellydancers, Anatolian folk dancing and other traditional dances. this girl moved so fast yet stood still - I don't know how she did it. but my favourites were the men in black with their precise moves - one walked en pointe!!

23/05/2008

bellydance_istanbul_20080523_09, originally uploaded by AliaK.

bellydance_istanbul_20080523_01, originally uploaded by AliaK.

after the dancing a singer sang songs from different nations in their native language. and people from the audience danced on the stage. most danced their country's traditional dance. I wondered what Australia's national dance was. when he sang an Australian song it was Waltzing Matilda. this must be how we're seen overseas. the audience were mostly an older crowd - there were a lot of tour buses outside so I'm guessing most people were in tour groups. they all looked like they were having such a great time. I hope I can look that happy and enjoy dancing at their age! it was great to see them enjoying their dances & dancing. now.. I just need to discover what the Australian dance is..

more photos @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/aliak_com/tags/bellydance

Tito Bravo!

2008-06-02T22:27:25+01:00

today was Jerusalem day - it wasn't a holiday though but the newspapers said there were celebrations in the city and children walked / marched in the streets. I went to Ben Yehuda to the chemist & bank so it was a great excuse to go to Tito Bravo! for pizza night. this time I ate in - well half the pizza - other half is for tomorrow night so it was take-away. chatted to pizza guy a fair bit tonight - I mentioned I was only here for a few more weeks. it's amazing how people talk to you more when they know you're leaving! I said he should open a store in Sydney, I think it'd be a great success! I thought his name was Aaron for some reason (this is what I heard one of the guys say but it was probably another Hebrew word that I couldn't understand). but I think his name is actually Tito!! how did I miss that.. he's very precise when he makes the pizzas (& pasta) - he said he's used to doing cuisine in fancy restaurants (in USA) but had an idea to make pizzas with sourdough so started the restaurants here in Jerusalem. he's so careful - it's almost like he's painting on a canvas - he places each ingredient with such care. he wrote Tito Bravo! with his finger in the flour on the workbench too. i couldn't resist so I asked if I could take a video when he was making another pizza - I think he got embarrassed a bit, but this way I can remember things better. I didn't catch his great smile though on video!!

YouTube banned in Turkey

2008-05-25T09:58:07+01:00

this is the page you receive should you try to access YouTube whilst in Turkey. at first I thought it was a problem with the hotel internet connection in Istanbul, but I could (almost) read / understand some of the text of the message. and I googled it and found many articles about it from 2007. and there's an updated 2008 wikipedia entry saying this is the second ban.

apparently there was an online dispute (war???) between Greece and Turkey - harsh comments were made on both sides. on the Turkish side comments were made about Ataturk their first leader following the Ottoman period, who led the country post-WWI, after leading the battle & Turkish victory at Gallipoli in which too many of ANZAC soldiers were killed. I went to Gallipoli & ANZAC cove yesterday - I wonder if more wars will be fought this way in future - with corporations 'killed' in the virtual space - or at least access to their product - rather than people.

from this Times Online article

Quote:

Greek and Turkish YouTube users have been trading video insults over the past few months, attracting much coverage in the Turkish press. Greek videos reportedly accused the founding president of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, of homosexuality; a Turkish user responded by calling Greece the birthplace of homosexuality.

It is illegal to criticise either Ataturk or Turkishness in Turkey and the prosecutor’s office in Istanbul acted despite YouTube’s agreement to take down the offending videos.

Turkey wishes to join the EU in the next round of enlargement and has been criticised for its failure to safeguard freedom of expression. The country’s most famous author, Orhan Pamuk, faced up to three years in jail after being charged with “insulting Turkishness” after talking to a Swiss newspaper about Turkey’s human rights record. The case was dropped in January after international condemnation.

some of the comments from this article were interesting too - one mentioned that the Dogan owner had initiated the ban to assist his television video. very interesting! Dogan TV did launch their satellite broadcast system around that time. though I imagine this is speculation and an urban myth / rumour only - it's amazing what tv viewers talk about on the online forums. the second rumour he mentions is of a permanent ban - apparently the 2007 ban lasted 3 days, but a new ban was put in place in January 2008. it's May 25th 2008 now - I'm not sure if this is still the same ban as was started in Jan.

Quote:

Its the 23rd of march today, and the ban is still present. Rumor has it, the owner of nearly all media in Turkey, the head of Dogan Holding, initiated the band in order to relieve all other -Dogan-founded- video platforms from the competition. Yet another rumor is that the ban is permanent.

Can, Istanbul, Turkey

I wonder, are people better off / worse off or indifferent to not having youtube videos to watch?? the rest of the world has only had them for a few years anyway. I'll keep an eye out for the Turkish version of youtube.

one of my videos on Olam Qatan music store in Israel gets a lot of bad comments from some Turkish people - some good comments also. but it's related to Turkey vs Israel not Greece. the video isn't related to either of these really - the only link is that the owner is a Turkish Israeli man. but he speaks about music & musicians - not politics or country boundaries or Nationality issues, so people just comment at any opportunity even if unrelated and unwelcomed.

I love TED!

2008-05-16T23:02:09+01:00

I love watching the TED Talks. it's great they publish the videos as it's REALLY expensive to attend the conference. tonight I've watched a few :

Sir Ken Robinson : Creativity and Education
his talk was very entertaining - he's quite funny!, and he raised some good points and examples of how modern education system is designed towards getting people jobs, since it was formed since the introduction of industrialisation. as we don't know what will happen in the future, how can we educate children correctly to prepare for the future. and how creativity has a lesser importance in the education system of today. I liked a couple of comments he raised - listed below. the full transcript is on the TED blog page

"creativity now is as important in education as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status"

...

kids will take a chance. If they don't know, they'll have a go. Am I right? They're not frightened of being wrong.

Now, I don't mean to say that being wrong is the same thing as being creative. What we do know is, if you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original. If you're not prepared to be wrong. And by the time they get to be adults, most kids have lost that capacity. They have become frightened of being wrong.

And we run our companies like this, by the way, we stigmatize mistakes. And we're now running national education systems where mistakes are the worst thing you can make.

And the result is, we are educating people out of their creative capacities.

...

Now our education system is predicated on the idea of academic ability. And there's a reason. The whole system was invented round the world there were no public systems of education really before the 19th century. They all came into being to meet the needs of industrialism.

So the hierarchy is rooted on two ideas: Number one, that the most useful subjects for work are at the top. So you were probably steered benignly away from things at school when you were a kid, things you liked, on the grounds that you would never get a job doing that. Is that right? Don't do music, you're not going to be a musician; don't do art, you're not going to be an artist. Benign advice -- now, profoundly mistaken. The whole world is engulfed in a revolution.

And the second is, academic ability, which has really come to dominate our view of intelligence because the universities designed the system in their image. If you think of it, the whole system of public education around the world is a protracted process of university entrance. And the consequence is that many highly talented, brilliant, creative people think they're not, because the thing they were good at at school wasn't valued, or was actually stigmatized. And I think we can't afford to go on that way.

he's written a book called "Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative" and is writing another now called "Epiphanies" which is about how people discovered their talents.

===============================================================

Paul Stamets : 6 ways mushrooms can save the world

Paul Stamets talked about mushrooms - mycelium and how they are nature's internet and the present day internet is a similar model based on nature's creation. also about different uses for mycelium eg regenerating soil, solving oil accidents, medical uses and renewable energy solutions.

===============================================================

Al Gore : New thinking on the climate crisis

Al Gore gave a new presentation speaking about democracy and how people have to help the climate crisis at home, but also in larger scales by forcing their government and media to raise more awareness to assist with the consciousness change required in helping to save the planet

drupal + ubercart vs ecommerce for an online store

2008-05-14T20:32:57+01:00

I'm going to try out ubercart with drupal. I've tried an older version of drupal's e-commerce package when the site was on 4.6, but there seems to be some good comments about ubercart so it might be worth a try too.
update: oops both are for drupal 5 :( another reason I should have stayed at drupal 5 for a bit longer. apparently within 1-2 months both should be ported to drupal 6. they're waiting for the final CCK & views (so I read)

Consciousness is the Key - by Propaganda

2008-05-13T22:54:59+01:00

here's a video from Propaganda & his friends - he's been in a couple of the online MLA courses I've done. I really like it - the message, the music, the whole thing!!

it's on http://postmoderntimes.com also - which is also a great video / online magazine

here's the blurb from youtube about it :

episode features four underground hip hop artists -- Naada, Propaganda Anonymous, 2HL, and iLL SpoKKinN -- and producer euphAmism in an animated music video packing lyrical and graphical punch in a call for global awakening.

Please go to www.iclips.net/2012 to see the rest of the episodes (more)

other social sites

2008-05-11T23:01:59+01:00

list of other social sites for AliaK / Kath

skype

second life
Alia Kiama

facebook : kath odonnell

myspace name : AliaK
http://www.myspace.com/aliak77

youtube : AliaK77

blip.tv : AliaK

ourmedia : AliaK

flickr photos : aliak_com

twitter : AliaK

tangler : kath

email
AliaK AT bigfoot.com

del.icio.us bookmarks : AliaK

subscribe to main [filter] rss / xml feed

click 'subscribe to XML' in menu above for individual user & topic newsfeeds

subscribe to Kathy's personal blog

jerusalem memorial day siren - 07/05/2008

2008-05-07T18:50:36+01:00

today was Memorial day where the fallen people of Israel are remembered. there was a nation-wide siren last night at 8pm but I was still at work so missed it. today was a public holiday, as is tomorrow for Independence Day - the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel. at 11am this morning there was another siren. I left the apartment with about 1 minute to spare. the guy from upstairs ran down the stairwell just in front of me. he made it out the gate then the siren started. I was still in the front yard and I didn't want to move once it had started but I took a video from behind the green gate. the man from the laundromat was standing near his motorbike. another man stood by the car he was unpacking. a man stood on his balcony across the street - head bowed. another man put his grocery bags down and stood by them on the footpath across the road. the cars stopped. it was silent except for the ringing of the siren which could be heard across the city. this is the first siren I've heard throughout the city. afterwards, the siren wound down and stopped then daily life continued on.

---

Israel National News Memorial Day 5768 (2008) Honors Israel's Fallen

"The Defense Ministry reports the number of fallen in the Jews' war for the Land of Israel since 1860 as 22,437. This number includes soldiers - not civilians - who fell since 1948, as well as all Jews killed between 1860 and 1948 in the struggle for the Land. The total number is 132 higher than last year, including 31 who were murdered or fell in battle since last year's Memorial Day, as well as others who died of their wounds or were recognized as IDF war casualties this year."

"The year 1860 was chosen because it was then that Jews began to move outside Jerusalem's Old City walls and build new neighborhoods there."

...

History of Israel's Fallen
"The 1948-49 War of Independence was Israel's costliest war, with more than 6,000 dead - one percent of the Jewish population at the time - and 15,000 wounded."

"During the ensuing seven years of relative quiet, 101 Israelis were killed in "1,339 cases of armed clashes with Egyptian armed forces, 435 cases of incursion from Egyptian-controlled territory, and 172 cases of sabotage perpetrated by Egyptian military units and fedayeen [terrorists] in Israel. So said Israel's Ambassador to the UN Abba Eban to the UN Security Council on October 30, 1956 - the day after Israel began the Sinai Campaign in response to Egypt's violation of international agreements by blockading the Israeli port of Eilat. A total of 231 Israeli soldiers died in the eight days of fighting."

"The Six-Day War broke out on June 5, 1967. Along with the stunning victories, over 770 Israelis were killed."

"Then began the period of the War of Attrition, which claimed 424 soldiers and more than 100 civilians. A ceasefire was declared on August 8, 1970."

"Egypt and Syria attacked Israel on Yom Kippur of 1973. The IDF ultimately emerged victorious, but a total of 2,688 soldiers were killed."

"In June 1982, in response to continued terrorist attacks and Katyusha shellings from across the Lebanese border, as well as an assassination attempt upon Israel's late Ambassador to Great Britain Shlomo Argov, Israel attacked the terrorists in Lebanon in what was known as Operation Peace for Galilee. Close to 460 soldiers were killed between June and December 1982, and another 760 in daily ambushes against Israeli forces over the next two and a half years."

"Between December 1987, when the first Arab "intifada" broke out, and the signing of the Oslo Accords in late 1993, 90 Israelis were murdered."

"Between the Oslo signing and the beginning of what became known as the Oslo War in September, 2000, 251 Israelis were murdered by terrorists."

"Another 1,320 have been felled by Palestinian Authority terrorists and gunmen since the Oslo War began in September 2000."

Israel National News Memorial Day videos

Jerusalem Post article about the Independence day celebrations so far

Israel News sites

2008-05-07T17:09:49+01:00

some sites with news of Israel

http://jerusalempost.com : Jerusalem Post - this is the online version of the Jerusalem Post newspaper

http://www.jerusalem-times.net - The Jerusalem Times - this is based in East Jerusalem and has Palestinian & Arabic news, though their website is often hacked so there's not much to read there

http://www.sderotmedia.com - Sderot Media - news and info about the city of Sderot which is targeted regularly and constantly by missiles from Gaza. myth busting site - here you can see that Israel actually helps Gaza residents and counter arguments against the propaganda that the media portray about the area.
articles with people living in Sderot

http://www.israelnationalradio.com - English radio documentaries and programs

http://www.israelnationalnews.com - Arutz Sheva - Israeli news site. you can receive daily email summaries of articles

---

articles

What's so special about Independence Day? - describes in simple terms the importance of the Jewish State of Israel

http://www.eufunding.org.uk/Textbooks/default.html - Palestinian text books & site keeping track of where the EU funding is going

Israeli & Jerusalem radio

2008-05-07T16:23:13+01:00

most of the cafes and taxis here in Jerusalem listen to Galatz Radio - this is the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) station. army service is a part of everyone's life here in Israel with teenagers having to serve after they finish high school. they have a Hebrew news services & play popular Israeli and International music.

another station I've listened to online is Israel National Radio as some of the shows are in English. they have interviews and music programs and also Jewish specific programs so it's interesting to listen. I listened to some programs after the Yeshiva was attacked by the terrorist. and today being Memorial Day, there's a special program of songs that every Israeli knows. another program has an interview with local Israeli trance artists ITP - Individual Thought Patterns

of course there's also Voice of Peace Radio which used to broadcast from a ship in the Mediterranean Sea off Tel Aviv. VOP was very popular with the Israeli people and peace protester Abie Nathan was it's main stalwart. this was the first Israeli pirate radio station broadcasting from 1973 to 1993. it's since closed down, though I read they might start it up again one day - not sure if this has happened. they had a reunion in 2006, and a double album tribute cd was released in 2007.

"India produces everything - it doesn't import anything ..."

2008-05-05T22:30:30+01:00

"India produces everything - it doesn't import anything ..." - this is what the Indian guys from work were telling me. I'm not sure if it's an exaggeration or spot on. but when I was there I certainly saw most things were locally made - from Tata & Reliance and other large corporations. I think some of the Westerners laugh at some of the locally made products - some are a little rough around the edges. but I wonder who'll be laughing in the next 10 years when India is the global economic power it's touted to be/come.

I wonder what percentage of things Australia imports? I know Australians love to support Australian-made - the green & gold. I think for Australia to stay in the list of leading countries it needs to keep producing it's own goods.

I've read that the USA doesn't produce anything any more (obviously an exaggeration) - and perhaps this will be it's downfall, especially if they keep printing more money to buy more things and 'pay off' their debts.

I need to do some more reading to find out more about this - maybe it's an urban myth

biofuels - George Monbiot's prediction + rice shortages articles

2008-05-05T21:26:26+01:00

wow it sounds like George Monbiot got it right - unfortunately :(

from 2007 :
http://environment.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,329758811-121568,00.html
If we want to save the planet, we need a five-year freeze on biofuels
- Oil produced from plants sets up competition for food between cars and people. People - and the environment - will lose
George Monbiot
Tuesday March 27, 2007

It used to be a matter of good intentions gone awry. Now it is plain fraud. The governments using biofuel to tackle global warming know that it causes more harm than good. But they plough on regardless. In theory, fuels made from plants can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by cars and trucks. Plants absorb carbon as they grow - it is released again when the fuel is burned. By encouraging oil companies to switch from fossil plants to living ones, governments on both sides of the Atlantic claim to be "decarbonising" our transport networks.

In the budget last week, Gordon Brown announced that he would extend the tax rebate for biofuels until 2010. From next year all suppliers in the UK will have to ensure that 2.5% of the fuel they sell is made from plants - if not, they must pay a penalty of 15p a litre. The obligation rises to 5% in 2010. By 2050, the government hopes that 33% of our fuel will come from crops. Last month George Bush announced that he would quintuple the US target for biofuels: by 2017 they should be supplying 24% of the nation's transport fuel.

So what's wrong with these programmes? Only that they are a formula for environmental and humanitarian disaster. In 2004 I warned, on these pages, that biofuels would set up a competition for food between cars and people. The people would necessarily lose: those who can afford to drive are richer than those who are in danger of starvation. It would also lead to the destruction of rainforests and other important habitats. I received more abuse than I've had for any other column - except for when I attacked the 9/11 conspiracists. I was told my claims were ridiculous, laughable, impossible. Well in one respect I was wrong. I thought these effects wouldn't materialise for many years. They are happening already.

Since the beginning of last year, the price of maize has doubled. The price of wheat has also reached a 10-year high, while global stockpiles of both grains have reached 25-year lows. Already there have been food riots in Mexico and reports that the poor are feeling the strain all over the world. The US department of agriculture warns that "if we have a drought or a very poor harvest, we could see the sort of volatility we saw in the 1970s, and if it does not happen this year, we are also forecasting lower stockpiles next year". According to the UN food and agriculture organisation, the main reason is the demand for ethanol: the alcohol used for motor fuel, which can be made from maize and wheat.

Farmers will respond to better prices by planting more, but it is not clear that they can overtake the booming demand for biofuel. Even if they do, they will catch up only by ploughing virgin habitat.

http://www.monbiot.com

http://www.biofuelwatch.org.uk

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air ::: wind & coincidences on the interweb

2008-05-03T11:52:00+01:00

I'm doing another MLA course - this one with Starhawk called Earth As Teacher - Earth As Healer.

the coincidences abounded this week again - or perhaps I could refer to it as the interconnectedness Starhawk mentioned in week 1's class. she spoke more about the connections between the Gaian world though. apparently these messages are always there but when you start learning or noticing something new, then you are more open to seeing these messages. I noticed Dan, a facebook friend, joined a Sydney Permablitz- Changing the World One Garden at a Time fb group. so I took a look and joined also. this led me to the permablitz website. and friends of the earth website. I noticed one of the forum messages was for an Introduction to Permaculture - Sydney - Jun 08 - it's being held on the last weekend in June. I might even be back in Sydney by then, but I'll have to wait and see before signing up in case there's a delay. I took a look at their flickr photos and saw some of the previous projects they've done. the hidden garden in Newtown looks great.

then I noticed the flickr user was cicadas and the person was Kirsten Bradley - I've never met her but I've seen her name around heaps - at electrofringe and different festivals. she's always working on a great project! I was looking at flickr contacts and somehow I ended up on one which had INSPIRE!, a street / artist from Israel / Tel Aviv - who's messages I see around the streets all the time, bilateral, and a couple of the guys who do the ShiftSpace project (who are Israelis in USA) - I was trying this out earlier this year but after Angus died I didn't feel like doing much for a while. this is lifting now though so the links in the labyrinth are unwinding. it's amazing how interrelated we all are. I had an email from Daniel Liss of pouringdown.tv from videoblogging list (some of my favourites!) who said he knows the ShiftSpace guys too and is using it - I think he went to uni/course or something with one of them? there really is only 1 degree of separation. I'd love to do a festival and have them all in Australia - what an amazing collection of artists they would be!! if only I could afford it ...

anyway, it's week 2 already in the Earth course - time seems to fly. I've been doing the MLA courses pretty much non-stop since the PKD class last year. each has been interesting and I've learnt much - some I hadn't known much about to start with. this week we've had readings and audio talks and forum questions about AIR. we were asked to share our observations about Wind - especially if we've been noticing any differences in our weather patterns.

here's my reply. I might start keeping the course journal online (I won't include the course specifics - just my notes / impressions)

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this morning I walked into the city to the post office - it was a little cool but I didn't put my jumper on so I could feel the sun & the wind more whilst I walked. I noticed some of the trees' leaves flutter only on the edges whilst with others, the whole tree sways in the wind (even if the trees near it just have the light fluttering leaves). so it was interesting to notice the difference. also next week is the 60th year celebrations so many of the cars have flags on them and also people have hung flags and banners from their balconies. so the wind is very noticeable at the moment - it's adding life & movement to the ideas and celebrations of the people. similarly for the protesters banners being held outside the prime ministers house in the city. the wind moves the banners and makes them more noticeable as people seem to notice movement of things around them.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aliak_com/2459378005/ is a quick video of a flag in the wind (on a parked car) - I love watching the flags move - they have bursts of energy, then the wind dies down and they take a rest.

the wind for me also brings relief on a hot day - a light breeze is enough to cool your skin when you're overheated. a couple of weeks ago (I was overseas) there were a few days of 40degree heat - unusual for this time of year. now it's back to being cool in the evenings again.

the city here doesn't have tall highrises casting shadows over the streets so it doesn't seem as cold as some cities I've been in. and the wind doesn't catch between them. I've stayed in highrises in Auckland where the wind howls past the buildings. I used to record some of the sounds it made. it was almost like the sky was making the noise to annoy the building as the wind & sky's space was being taken up by the buildings! it's a strange feeling being up so high and hearing the power of the wind around the building. the sounds are much more pronounced than what you hear from the lower & ground levels. Auckland is known for it's wind at certain times of the year so it can get pretty strong.