Fascinating Brittish News Doc

Honest Reporting has put up a British News Documentary by David Aaronovitch. This piece is a breath of fresh air in many ways. Aaronovitch, claims to show liberal and progressive thinkers who a) don't blame Israel for all the worlds problems and b) take the threats of extremism and terror seriously. It's refreshing that there are liberal thinkers out there who are taking an honest look at the problems facing the world today. I was raised in a fairly liberal environment, and though I consider myself permanently planted in the center, it's important to me to have some common ground with individuals on the left of the political spectrum.

Will The Real Video iPod Please Stand Up

engadget is reporting that Apple is preparing to release the often discussed and most anticipated true Video iPod. Not only that but it will also have wireless connectivity. As always my take on Apple rumors is 'who the hell knows.' But like engadget I'm betting that Apple still has something up their sleeve and we'll hear from Jobs and Co before the year is out.

Hat Tip Mac Rumors

My Car Just Keeps On Chuggin

Well its been about two-weeks since I first noticed smoke rising from the hood of my car. Somehow my car just keeps on going despite its problems. When i had Steve our mechanic look at the car he said I would have to add fluids every two weeks or so, because there was some sort of leak in the car. The very next day the oil gauge in my car dropped down to zero and when I checked the oil level of my car it was basically at zero. Of course my car is so old and messed up that it's not even worth it to fix the problem anymore. So my plan was basically to keep adding oil until the car crapped out. Somehow this has worked so far and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will last just a few more weeks until we move. If anyone wants a 96 Jeep Cherokee with 120,000 miles, no radio, suspension problems, transmission problems, a temperamental radiator and some kind of mystery oil leak leave a comment and we can talk. (But the leather seats are still lovely)

Whither the Golan?

There has been a lot of discussion lately on the Israeli news sites about the future of the Golan Heights. Ever since the conclusion of the Hezbollah war, this piece of territory seems to keep popping up in the agenda in way that it hasn't for some time. A few weeks after the war the possibility of returning the territory to Syria was raised by a minister from the ruling Kadima party. After that it seemed like everyone was throwing in their two cents on the subject. So being one to always follow a crowd its my turn to weigh in.

I remember when I visited Israel on Birthright in 2004 they shlepped us up north to visit the Galilee and the Golan. At Kibbutz Misgav Am the fowl mouthed security coordinator explained that the Golan would be the next item on the agenda. This always seemed non-sensical to me because I assumed it wouldn't come up on the agenda until the Palestinian issue was resolved, which of course could take until the next millennia.

However, lo and behold Ha'aretz publishes an article calling for Israel to withdraw to the International border. This article amazed not because of the position it argued, which in itself is not at all radical or original. But rather that the author believed that the Israeli public would accept a withdrawal from the Golan in the near future.

From my experience with Israeli society there is one issue that seems to unify Israelis of all political spectrums, and that is there determination never to give up the Golan. The attachment to the land is to strong and the distrust of the Syrians is to great for most Israelis to even begin to think about leaving. Furthermore, there is so little incentive for Israel to withdraw that its amazing this could even scratch the surface of the political radar. There's a good reason there is an Israeli saying "Another Lefty With the Golan." Or as my honorary Israeli mother would say "Over My Dead Body"

What I really think Israel needs to do, is to give Syria alternatives to regaining the Golan. Whether the alternative is economic or political I believe it exists. Jews and Israeli's only need to be creative enough to discover it.

CAMERA: Lebanon Casualty Figures Flawed

CAMERA, which is a great media watchdog organization, has a fascinating analyses of how the media reported the casualties from the recent Israel - Hezbollah war. Throughout the conflict the claims of casualties on both sides were radically different. Hezbollah has reported it lost approximately 80 fighters, while Israel is simultaneously claiming it killed 600 fighters.

This issue is too important to be given a cursory examination, which is what most of the media has done. CAMERA's breakdown points out some of the most blatant inconsistencies in the media's coverage of the issue, and sheds some light on what the real picture may look like.

Right now there are way too many people who think that Israel simply bombed Lebanon into the stone-age and yet couldn't manage to weaken Hezbollah in any way. This false perception is dangerous not because of the damage it does to Israel's reputation, but rather because it allows a false picture of a critically important world conflict to masquerade as the truth.

Excerpts from CAMERA's report:

Regardless, the accumulated evidence from various sources exposes as a deception Hezbollah’s claims to have lost 68 or 74 fighters .

Israel’s claim to have killed 500-600 Hezbollah fighters, meanwhile, is buttressed by the government’s partial list of names of Hezbollah fighters who died through Aug. 6, and is corroborated in some media reports.

These different assessments suggest that Hezbollah losses may have been comparable in number to the civilian losses in Lebanon. Allegations by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International–organizations often criticized for their disproportionate and deceptive focus on Israel–that Israel used indiscriminate force and even targeted civilians should be viewed warily in light of this evidence. And when casualty figures and breakdowns cited by news organizations are based on figures supplied by Hezbollah, Lebanese officials, or Israeli officials, those claims should be meticulously investigated for inconsistencies, and should not be reported as accepted fact.

Prime Rib and Yom Kippur

After watching one of my "Good Eats" DVD's I couldn't let go of the idea of cooking a Prime Rib. Well not actually a Prime Rib but a Standing Rib Roast which is essentially the same thing only with out the Prime label. I had the idea stuck in my head and couldn't let it go. At first I thought about preparing it for Shabbat dinner but I couldn't get out of work with enough time to prepare it.

So in the end we decided that the Rib Roast would make for an excellent Erev Yom Kippur meal. It appealed to the idea of starting the fast with one last hurrah - a fabulous piece of meat. I woke up early on Sunday to get over to Ventura Kosher Meat ( which I think is the best Kosher Butcher in LA by far) to ensure I got what I wanted. I picked up a nice roast and headed home confident that all was well. I knew I was missing one critical tool but I figured it would be easy to pick. Alton Brown had used an electronic probe thermometer to cook his roast on the DVD, and I figured it would be easy to find one at any major store. Being the net geek that I am I looked online first to see where I could pick one up, but couldn't find a store that carried one. This was a mistake, cause if I had simply called the store I was planning to go to in the first place they could have told me they had exactly what I was looking for.

The unfortunate result was several minutes of me yelling at my mothers oven because the probe thermometer it came with didn't work the way I wanted it to. The poor dog was literally shaking in fear because of my temper tantrum. Eventually the probe spontaneously started working and I was able to cook the roast essentially the way I wanted to. I had to cook at a higher temperature because I was up against a deadline, but I was still happy with the results. This time was a good learning experience and I 'm confident that next time will run smoothly with the exact results I want. Of course, a Standing Rib Roast isn't exactly cheap so I'd better think of a good reason to cook it again.

The odd thing was I ended up thinking about the roast during various parts of Yom Kippur services, but not out of hunger. I was sitting in Shul thinking about the ways I could perfect the cooking process of the roast. I really need to learn how to channel all this food thinking in a more effective way.

What the hell is Technorati?

So I don't even know what Technorati is but I keep seeing it on other people's blogs and they all have that little icon on the bottom of there posts, and I like pretty little things so I figure I'll give it a shot.

Technorati Profile

Ah yes, my darling husband is crazy about cooking. If you don't like cooking and recipes you'll have to skip over some future blogs I'm sure. However if you do, you are in for a real treat - heavenly food! Anyway, for those of you who have read the previous blogs, I just have to put my two cents in. It is not just Jonah who wants to go to graduate school, but he IS the one who specifically picked Israel. All I'll say about that is that many people live happy, fulfilled lives in Israel, and people immigrate to Israel every year......so sit with that for a moment next time you immediately jump to the "it's a dangerous, dark, and depressing place" mentality.

Okay, moving on......... so although we have not gone on our honeymoon, made our move to Israel, and settled in our first home together, married life is beautiful! I feel like I'm in a perpetual state of happiness, and I keep looking down at my finger at my ring to confirm that I am in fact a wife now. Daily life isn't that different, other than the fact that I don't have my two jobs since we are leaving soon and I am a teacher, but yet knowing that you are about to go on adventures and do it with the person you love is wonderful. Well, Jonah is back from work so blog soon.

Belated - Shana Tova!

What is the proper way to say Happy New Year really? It seems there are so many variations. Well here are some options so pick one and run with it.

Happy New Year

Shana Tova

Shana Tova u'Metukah

Have a happy and sweet New Year

Have a happy and healthy New Year

Have a happy, healthy and sweet New Year

Happy Rosh Hashana

Happy Apples and Honey Day (actually forget I said that)

Jonah's Beef Shishlik

Equipment: First and foremost the key to good Shishlik or Shis Kabob is long flat skewers. Get yourself some skewers that look like swords. I found some for a few bucks at the kosher market in Santa Monica, or you can just buy their premade marinated kabobs and technically you'll get the skewers for free.

Meat: I've been using London Broil lately. It's affordable and seems aptly suited to this type of cooking. Marinating is a necessity but in this case that's a good thing. I also just usually ask the butcher to cut up the meat in pieces for the kabobs, at a nice kosher butcher this isn't a problem.

Marinade: Start with about 40% Soy Sauce and 60% percent water as a base. I'm not going to post exact amounts cause it depends on how much meat your cooking. Then add a few tablespoons each of lemon juice, honey, and olive oil. It might be a good idea to user a lighter oil like canola even though I've been using olive oil. Then toss in some pressed fresh garlic. Marinate for at least one hour but overnight would be good.

Rub: I make a spice mixture of paprika, turmeric, cumin, cayenne and fresh ground pepper in the following proportions
3, 1, 1, .5, 2,

Preparation: Feel free to load up the skewers with a lot of meat. Press the meat tightly together, this will actually help ensure the meat doesn't overcook. Sprinkle the rub all over and take your kabobs and rub them against each-other to evenly distribute the spices. Throw them on the grill and cook. Flipping them is a million times easier compared to regular thin metal or wooden skewers. Keep in mind that the individual pieces are going to press against each-other and almost fuse together. Think of the Kabob as a long narrow roast. It's gonna take some cookin to get these suckers done all the way through. So stick around for frequent flippin so nothing burns. Take of the grill when done and rest for five minutes. Push all the meat of the skewer by holding the meat with a fork and pulling out the skewer, this is best done on a bed of couscous leaving the meat in a row ready to serve.

You're Moving Where???

"So why are you moving to Israel?"

That's the question Tafat and I keep hearing from just about everyone we know. The answer is simple of course - " because I want to go to grad school there."

But it's inherently a more a complicated question than it seems, and my answer is blatantly more simple than anyone wants. What people people mean when they ask the question is " why would ANYONE want to move to Israel?" You can see it in their eyes "it's dangerous there, it's controversial, it's a bad place." They say everything without saying anything at all.

What are we supposed to say. Should we tell them that the country is so much more than they think. Should I say "I'm a Jew and it's important for me to be there." Or should I talk about the beautiful cities and landscapes, or the vibrant lifestyle. Shouldn't it be enough to say that Tafat is Israeli and we both want to understand better the place that she grew up.

I could say all those things, and they would be true, but not quite right. The answer is actually rather unremarkable. The truth is, the place just seems a bit more interesting than here. And for us, that's enough.

I found two interesting articles about the 2nd Lebanon War in the Washington Post. Read them here and here. William M. Arkin, the author, provides something rare for an analysis of the Middle-east — dispassionate and objective observations. Anyone with a vested interest in the conflict will find something to disagree with, but for people with minimal knowledge or those with an open mind Arkin provides several keen observations.

What struck me about the bombing, in both countries, was that you could see the destruction and completely misread what it meant. In Beirut, the destruction in reality is efficient and impressive. The destruction in Israel, on the other hand, is random and scattered. When Hezbollah rockets were fired on Israel, landing meant success.

So here is the truth: Israel did not do anything close to what it was capable of doing. Hezbollah did all it could.

Apple has invaded the livingroom!

And I say "prepare to suck a fat one Bill Gates!!!! Bwahahah!" No but really. I think this new iTV box is the beginning of a completely new way of enjoying media and entertainment. This is like a centralized version of Tivo and on demand cable all wrapped-up into one new package. Oh I feel shiny and new, like a brand new dime. Additionally Apple introduced updated iPods as well as a brand new Shuffle enclosure. iTunes also got an upgrade which I'm downloading right now. No new Video iPod but there is still plenty of time before the holidays so don't count-it-out yet. Anyway I'll let you know what I think of the new iTunes soon.

Hezbollah is full of s@#$.

Ha'aretz is reporting the Hezbollah leadership's new claim of their weapons stockpile following the war with Israel. Surprisingly, rather than revealing a substantial decrease in their purported cache of weapons, or even a modest decrease in-line with the number of weapons fired at Israel, Hezbollah is now claiming up to 80,000 rockets.

Hezbollah could have tens of thousands of rockets still left in its arsenal, the group's deputy leader Naim Qassam said in an interview published Sunday in a London-based Arabic-language newspaper.

Qassam said that the reconstruction of Hezbollah's military wing was not a top priority as the group still had a plentiful supply of weapons.

"We had the option to confront Israel for many months," he said. "The 8,000 missiles that we fired at Israel could be a quarter or even just 10 percent of the rockets we have."

So let's see 8,000 is ten percent of 80,000. That's odd considering before and during the war the estimate of nearly every analyst was that Hezbollah had between 10,000 and 15,000 rockets. So this new number would represent a sudden 5 fold increase in their arsenal.

Let's also remember that Hezbollah claimed it only lost approximately 80 members during the fighting, while the IDF claimed it killed nearly 600 fighters.

Next thing we know Hezbollah will be claiming that it came away from the fighting with nothing more than a few bumps and bruises, a disappearing scratch on its chin, and a case of irritable bowel syndrome.

More Wedding Photo's

Brink sent us some wedding photo's and pics from his trip to Cali.

First Photo's from the Wedding

Austin burned a disc with some photos from the wedding. If you have more send them in.

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The patient is doing well!

Tafat had her surgery today. All went well and Tafat is already feeling much better. Were all being pretty lazy today, lounging around her mothers house. Were both looking forward to Tafat feeling better and getting back to normal activity which should come in the next few days. While this whole thing has been inconvenient, and has weighed us down like a heavy stone, it finally feels like were starting to move past it. I was bugging Tafat to leave a post last night but she didn't quite feel up to it. Hopefully she feel like it soon. I really want this blog to represent both us and I'm eagerly anticipating reading what she has to write. I know that she has a lot to say and has more practice keeping a journal because of her writing class. Hopefully things well be up and running here soon!

Oh by the way were married!

More to come soon!!!!!

Your guess is as good as mine!

Apple is holding a special media event on September 12th. The rumor sites are predicting everything from new iMacs to a movie download service, new iPods even the often mentioned iPod phone or iPhone. Of course there is always the possibility that Steve Jobs has something completely unexpected up his sleeve. That would be incredibly entertaining. I don't have any idea what's coming nor do I care. All I know is that I'm excited to find out what it is. I would also be very surprised if this was the only special event planned before the holidays shopping season.

My Opinion of Australia Just Went Down

Hat tip to LGF

Editorial: Red Cross rocket snares Downer

Interesting that in this article the editorial board at the Australian doesn't make a serious effort to contradict the claims that Zombie put forward in his report. They only try to smear his credibility by throwing out the label "right-wing". I personally think every source should be equally scrutinized whether from the left or the right. But I have to admit that Zombie's report feels like a homerun.