Monopoly's new 'Here and Now' version to feature Jerusalem
Some readers may remember the controversy created when an email was sent around garnering support to vote for the city of Jerusalem in monopoly's new upcoming version earlier this year.
Apparently most the boo ha was over the fact that Jerusalem was noted as being the capital of Israel, which to those that spend their time either recovering from 'work accidents' or waiting for UN relief cheques to come seemed to be objectionable.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to the new edition, featuring Jerusalem its bound to have such classics as 'get out of jail' free cards to any one that can kidnap an Israeli citizen, 2nd prize in a stupidity contest for storing your explosives under your bed, or the classic 'take a walk on the UN broadwalk and resupply with even more weapons', the chance cards will only be able to be used by terrorists with blood on their hands.
Or to quote a comment on
Yeshiva World News;
"6. After you buy the property and build on it, you have to give it to the player on your left. Comment by bek721 — August 21, 2008 @ 2:15 pm
You can read more about at the official Monopoly site here:
monopoly.com
Mr Bagel
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50 kilograms lighterA shadow of my former self
A few posts ago I mentioned how Mr Bagel had lost 50 kilograms, which is about 110 pounds to those that use this rather archaic measuring system.
I was asked to post a picture of Mr Bagel before and after showing the 50 kilograms (110 lb).
Well for the sake of my readers I'm not going to show a before photo, because it's likely that anywhere in the world right now some one could be having their morning cereal. I refuse to be responsible for destroying so many computer monitors at once.
Here is the after shot showing the fact that I could step into one leg of my previous tight fitting shorts. It wasn't until a press photographer gave me this idea earlier on the day that I was actually even able to comprehend I would be able to do it.
Carrying a lot of weight around for an extended period means you get used to having a 'large physical presence', even now I sometimes wince as I try to squeeze past narrow openings, only later realising that I had plenty of room to spare.
Mr Bagel
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The proposed state of Israel
by Zionist representatives at
the 1919 Paris peace Conference
In response to an article by Elder of Ziyon titled 'Desecration'
...A very similar pattern can be seen in the tendency of Israeli's to compromise with regards the boundaries of Israel. Why is there no protest over the historical reduction of Eretz Israel,The British Mandate,The Balfour Declaration or the proposed boundaries at the 1919 Paris peace conference - all were significantly larger than the resultant boundaries of 1948.
Why is it acceptable for the Palestinians to arbitrarily want to return to the borders of 1967? Why not the borders as first envisioned in 1917, or why not borders based on pre Roman conquest?
Why even cede any territory to the so called 'Palestinians'? Why aren't they absorbed by their ever so caring Arabic neighbours? (Who
refuse to pay the Palestinian Authority the pledges they have made.)
Let Egypt have that basket case called Gaza, let the 'west bank' Palestinians move to Jordan.
Why is it valid to ignore the historical Jewish territorial area but valid to accept 'historical' Palestinian claims?
Why is the State of Palestine solely made up of area under Israeli control?
(Gaza was formerly under Israel's control)
Why isn't Trans Jordan, Egypt, Syria or Lebanon obliged to relinquish territory to this mythical state called Palestine.
Why are there no border disputes between the Palestinians and the other Arab States?
Why isn't Jordan seen as Palestine? Or at least parts of modern day Jordan?
Why not take arbitrary amounts of land from each neighbor including the other Arabic states?
Is it because Palestine is simply a vehicle to deny Jewish ownership?
The State of Palestine is a political construct whose major purpose is a Islamic/Arab nationalistic drive to exclude 'all others' (re: Jews) from the Middle East.
If Israel was one square meter of land in the Middle East, Arabs would still insist on territorial concessions.
Mr Bagel
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Gilad Shalit’s (Schalit) book, When the Shark and the Fish First Met, now appears on YouTube to mark two years since he was kidnapped.
The Consulate General of Israel filmed five fifth-grade students from New York reading the story that Shalit wrote when he, too, was eleven years old. “Gilad was a boy our age when he wrote this story; if only we could write something so significant at this age. Today, no one knows where he is and he probably misses his parents,” said one of the students. “If the shark and fish can make peace, why can’t people?”
Click
here to download (PDF) information about Shalit and the book.
Thanks to
Isrealli: The new blog of Israel
Mr Bagel: 2 years on, Gilad still awaits his release, the Palestinians speak of 'gestures of Peace' , what could be more of a gesture?
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The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism
He has written a very interesting article
Misunderstanding Islamic Antisemitism, which serves somewhat as a prelude to the upcoming release of his new book. Its posted on
American Thinker.
He poses to the reader to identify the period in which this vile antisemitc passage which appears below was written, its a challenge not without some consequence.
Our people [the Muslims] observing thus the occupations of the Jews and the Christians concluded that the religion of the Jews must compare unfavorably as do their professions, and that their unbelief must be the foulest of all, since they are the filthiest of all nations. Why the Christians, ugly as they are, are physically less repulsive than the Jews may be explained by the fact that the Jews, by not intermarrying, have intensified the offensiveness of their features. Exotic elements have not mingled with them; neither have males of alien races had intercourse with their women, nor have their men cohabited with females of a foreign stock. The Jewish race therefore has been denied high mental qualities, sound physique, and superior lactation. The same results obtain when horses, camels, donkeys, and pigeons are inbred.
After reading this passage, do try to date the period in which this rather vile writing appeared, you may be in for a surprise.
Make sure you read his full article
Here.
References
AmericanThinker:
Misunderstanding Islamic AntisemitismAndrew G. Boston:
The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism
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What can I say? Ive been gone a looong time?
Am I still loved?
I don't know I can understand why some may have cast my memory to the wind.
The fact is my life has gone through some of the most radical changes I've ever experienced.
I no longer live in a remote farm house far from any town, I've moved to a rather large city.
But the really big changes are that I entered into a popular weight loss competition and well after 3 months of dieting and intense working out I've lost a staggering amount of weight.
How much? Lets say 50 kilograms. So who won the competition then? Well, I was fortunate enough to be the winner, and I walked away with a prestige car for free.
But the real reward was the look on my wife and childrens faces, seeing them realising that now, finally I can step up and be active and play with my children.
My friends who knew me before my weight lose still find it hard to believe just how much I have changed, both physically, emotionally and spiritually.
OK so now that you lost 50 kilos, have a brand new car what else is new?
Ive been inundated with job offers, after a quite overwhelming degree of publicity, Ive taken a position which Ive always wanted. In a nutshell, Ive now got the Job I've always dreamed of having!
So, I'm sorry for neglecting my blogging friends and readers, I hope you can find it in your hearts to understand my need to neglect my blogging and be rather uncommunicative.
Theres so much that has changed in my life in the last three months that it staggers me.
Absence hopefully does make the heart grow fonder.
Mr Bagel: A little less cream cheese a whole lot more tastier.
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From the Gulf Times:
TEHRAN: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday declared that Iran was the world’s “number one” power, as he launched a bitter new assault on domestic critics he accused of siding with the enemy.
“Everybody has understood that Iran is the number one power in the world,” Ahmadinejad said in a speech to families who lost loved ones in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.
"Today the name of Iran means a firm punch in the teeth of the powerful and it puts them in their place," added Ahmadinejad, who on Sunday will become the first president of the Islamic republic to visit neighbouring Iraq.
Ahmadinejad’s comments come amid renewed Western efforts on the UN Security Council to agree a third package of sanctions against Tehran over its refusal to suspend sensitive nuclear activities.
They also came a day after former top nuclear negotiator Hassan Rowhani launched an unprecedented attack on Ahmadinejad’s foreign policy, accusing him of using “coarse slogans and grandstanding. You can see how some people here... try to materialise the plans of the enemies and by showing that Iran is small and the enemy is big,” seethed Ahmadinejad.
Ahmadinejad once again insisted that Iran was winning the standoff over its atomic programme, which the West fears could be used to make nuclear weapons but Iran says is peaceful.
"The Iranian nation is on the verge of the final nuclear victory and no power can stop this nation. The enemies of the nation and bullying powers do not dare to admit that this nation has won in the nuclear field."
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who this week congratulated Ahmadinejad for his role in Iran’s nuclear case, said that Islamic countries do not need US approval to achieve great works.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki meanwhile sent a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon criticising what he described as "baseless accusations" by UN Security Council members about the Iranian nuclear drive, the official Irna news agency reported.
Rowhani’s speech on Wednesday was extraordinary for its explicit criticism of the president’s policies and for its attack on his inflammatory anti-Israel rhetoric, which has once again provoked Western condemnation.
While Ahmadinejad did not mention Rowhani by name, his address is likely to be seen as a clear message to his opponents that such criticism of his rhetoric is not welcome.
Ahmadinejad also told the families of the “martyrs” of the war that their loss was not in vain as the message of the Islamic revolution of 1979 was spreading all over the world.
"Today the message of your revolution is being heard in South America, east Asia, in the heart of Europe and even in the US itself," he said.
Ahmadinejad said he talked with people everywhere he travelled in the world and “it is like I am in district 17 in Tehran”, referring to the low-income area in the south of the Iranian capital where he was giving his speech. – AFP
Mr Bagel: Arr doesn't that make you feel all warm inside. Or is that from the nuclear fallout?
Iran world's number one power, now all we need is talk of another thousand year Reich.
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72 virgins or 72 Qassam rockets?
"A Palestinian man reacts after learning that his brother was killed by Israeli forces in the northern Gaza Strip March 1, 2008."
Reading the news of the developing conflict between Israel and Hamas, one, without a good basis of knowledge, would start to conclude that 'those crazy Jews are killing everyone'.
'Half of our headlines are fabricated'
Indeed the catch cry of the recent Lebanon war was the totally unverifiable claim more than half the deaths were civilians'. Which was really quite amazing.
For most it might have seemed the majority of Hezbolah guerrillas didn't seem to wear a recognizable uniform. They tended to dress like civilians. This seemed to develop further and further as Israels incursions into the south of Lebanon became more intensive.
One did wonder how Journalist and sub editors sitting half way across the world safely behind their desks managed to decree that more than half of deaths were civilians.
Reuters published an article today which stated:
Israel kills 31 Palestinians in Gaza raidIt does not matter than many of these are disputed deaths, One case involving a Gazan family who by most accounts, fate was sealed by a Palestinian Qassam which fell well short of its intended Israeli civilian targets.
In fact considering the ploy of Palestinian terrorist to hide and fire rockets amongst the civilian population, the number of terrorist which have been dealt their just desserts without corresponding civilian deaths has been quite noteworthy.
'Faux Journalism'With many of these deaths murky to say the least, and with the propensity of Gazan Hamas hospital officials to have appallingly bad mathematical skills, this still does not stop Reuters and other agencies from running Faux death 'score boards'.
It might very well pander to their readership who desperately wants to cast the Palestinians in a role of victim hood and the Israeli's as cruel aggressors, but journalism it is not.
Reading the Reuters article
Israel kills 31 Palestinians in Gaza raid I notice the main displayed photo titled "A Palestinian man reacts after learning that his brother was killed by Israeli forces in the northern Gaza Strip March 1, 2008." was taken none other than by Mohammed Salem.
A name I was sure I had previously discovered was nothing more than a rabid anti Israeli photographer.
Of course into google the name is placed and quickly his name pops up in several articles by Snapped Shot. A blog specialising in critique of photojournalism.
I click on the said link only to find AP's lawyers have started their nasty intimidation already.
Brian from Snapped Shot received a scary letter from The Associated Press 3 days ago because of his "frequent and systematic use of their copyrighted property"... Err I think that might be covered under 'review' exemptions of copyright law??
Now one might wonder as Brian does just how successful a Photojournalist review blog might fair not actually showing the photos being reviewed.
A minor detail for AP, accuracy is nothing, profit is everything.
Oh the article concerning Mohammed Salem? None other than a 'disturbing report' that he had been shot by the IDF .
Seems the IDF has no doubt whose side he is really on. Unfortunately Reuters has taken Snapped Shot of the web through legal threats. You can read about the 'alleged incident' in a google cached copy here:Becoming Part of the Story http://www.snappedshot.com/archives/1212-Becoming-a-Part-of-the-Story.html
Brian is needing some legal advice on his rights and responsibilities with regards this matter. If you can help him gratis then its a very worthy cause.
Make sure you cross link this example of the Associated Press trying to censor criticism!
Mr Bagel
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Can you believe this news agency?
Whilst every other news agency and Newspaper from the Western world has described Imad Mughnieh as a terrorist, this pathetic former reflection of itself stoops to describe him as :
"Jafari's comments came in a condolence message to Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah after the murder last week in Damascus of top commander Imad Mughnieh, who has been blamed for a string of anti militant attacks on US and Jewish intrests."
Whats an anti militant? Is that the same as the mass murderer of innocent civilians, disabled shipping passengers, airline passengers, peace keepers?
Read the article, and see just how far
AFP has crawled under to appease its middle eastern targetted audience.
AFP: Iran predicts Hezbollah will destroy Israel
AFP: When all that matters is making money.
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I must confess I've have really not made many posts lately.
I'm involved in a personal project which is taking a great deal of my time. The project is going to last 12 weeks, I have just started into the third week of my project.
You might ask what project are you involved in? Well I'm a competitor in a regionally produced weight lost competition. It has a similar name to the Biggest Loser but for privacy reasons I will not go into its exact name.
The prize at the end of the competition is a new Honda.
How is Mr Bagel going so far?
Mr Bagel had the biggest weight loss last week, and had a similar result this week. Whether it was the weeks top result is unknown at this stage but, be assured Mr Bagel is losing buckets of weight.
In fact in the last 2 weeks I have lost a considerable amount over 10 kilos. For privacy reasons I will not say exactly how much.
I will try to blog a little more often, but those that know me I hope will understand the current scarcity of posts.
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If the video fails to play click:
HereThousands Celebrate In Streets Of Gaza Upon News Of Dimona Suicide attack on Israeli civilians.
Remember these are the people the world wants Israel to sign a peace agreement with.
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Two suicide bombers carry out attack against Israeli civilians
Palestinian suicide terrorists carried out an attack against Israeli civilians shopping at a mall in the southern Israeli town of Dimona. In the attack, one Israeli civilian was killed and 38 wounded.
This morning, two Palestinian suicide terrorists carried out an attack against Israeli civilians shopping at a mall in the southern Israeli town of Dimona. One Israeli was killed, 38 were wounded - one critically, and two moderately.
Both terrorists were killed in the attack - the first detonated himself in the initial explosion, and the second was killed by an alert police officer as he was about to detonate his suicide bomb against the rescuers who were rushing to help the wounded.
The bombers deliberately chose to detonate themselves in a semi-enclosed crowed shopping area in order to kill and maim as many civilians as possible. The foreign media has reported that a Hamas statement from Gaza praised the attack, calling it an "heroic act".
In response to the attack, the Israel Foreign Ministry spokesman stated:
"In their terror attack today, the Palestinian terrorist organizations have shown once again, who they are and what they stand for.
Just like the Kassam rocket fire on Sderot and the sniper fire on Israeli fields bordering Gaza, today's attack deliberately targeted innocent civilians.
Worse yet, the terrorists' plan was to detonate a second suicide bomb against the rescue workers and ambulances rushing to assist the victims at the scene of the initial bombing. Imagine the carnage that would have been created if not for the heroic act of an off-duty policeman who identified and neutralized the second terrorist before he detonated himself.
Plain and simple: The terrorists' goal is to kill as many Israeli civilians as they can, wherever and whenever they can - in their homes, schools and shopping centers.
Israel will continue to fight this murderous terrorism, and will act in keeping with its right, and its duty, to protect the lives of its citizens."
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Warning Graphic Content.
A Palestinian murder bomber blew himself up Monday in this desert town called Dimona, killing an Israeli woman and wounding 11 people in the first suicide attack inside Israel in a year.
The video shows Israeli Police killing a second attacker after a doctor found a suicide vest while treating him for wounds suffered in the blast.
It would not be the first time that 'human rights groups' have attacked Israel security forces for neutralising a bomber for fear of a explosion. It seems if it's not caught clearly on video then, those sympathetic to Palestinian terrorist can't wait to cry foul. It will be interesting to see how many 'activist' cry foul this time with such clear evidence.
It is a signature method of some terrorist groups including Al Quaida to deploy a second suicide bomber that detonates their bomb whilst emergency personnel are trying to help the wounded. The violence of this attack, and its intended second explosion reveals the true ruthlessness of Hamas.
Remember, this is not an accident, there is no miscalculation, the targets are innocent civilians, and Hamas is responsible.
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With the endless procession of peace talks where Israel seems to be blackmailed by violence into conceding land for peace, one has to wonder why the same path is followed when similar concessions with the Palestinians have only produced more violence.
If the Palestinians are genuinely wanting a homeland and concessions to be made, the real question to be posed is why is Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon not being asked to make these same concessions as well? Doesn't this speak of the real intent of the 'peace process'?
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Flood 1991
Are we about to get flooded
after we have only just moved here?
I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of drought and flooding rains,
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel sea,
Her beauty and her terror -
The wide brown land for me.
Part of an Australian poem called
My Country
written by Dorothea Mackellar early last century
______________________________
The major river that runs past the city we live in now, has a long and well documented history of flooding with flood records dating back to 1859. The highest recorded flood occurred in January 1918 and reached 10.11 metres on the gauge. The most recent major flood occurred in January 1991. The flood was the third highest on record and rose to a height of 9.30 metres on the gauge.
The thing that has us nervous is from our research the expected peak of the flood of 8.5 metres will not place us in any bad situation, especially since the house is on high stilts, but if it raises just another .5 to .8 metre the whole of the downstairs under house storage area will be flooded. As we have only just finished moving, theres still a lot of possesions which are stored under the first floor of the house.
The hard thing is if we were to get just half a cm of flood thru, a lot of our possessions would be destroyed. Do we trust the weather man who earlier said the flood peak early next week would be about 9 meters, has now revised it to 8.5metres. At 8.5 metres we are safe by I estimate 30 -5 0 cms.
To move all the stuff stored underneath will take a lot of work.
Last night we saw pictures of the flood of 19-88 and our house and the block of houses around us sat like a desert island, high and dry.
Tonight I made the mistake of looking at the 1991 flood, it wasn't a pretty sight we could see our house was flooded. The photo above shows the 19-91 flood including our house flooded, which for privacy reasons I haven't indicated.
What would you do? Trust the projected flood heights knowing if they are basically right we will be safe? Or move it all upstairs which requires a herculean effort.
Any one own a dinghy?
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Wave after wave, the endless march of the sea
A eerie feeling, seeing what is virtually an unchanged view
of an unspoilt beach from one's youth.
My memories seem so very vivid thirty years later.
Where the sky meets the sea
Many years ago my family used to holiday in a beautiful seaside town which was rather undeveloped. These holidays hold some of the best memories I have, the time was innocent, the world was at peace and this little town was so very beautiful.
Whilst holidaying at this town 30 years ago we learnt of an amazing remote beach which was untouched, unspoilt and had the most amazing sand dunes.
It was a place of wonder and beauty.
Well yesterday I took my family to that very same beach.
It was still 'remote' and unknown, certainly not the haunt of the average tourist.
The memories came flooding back, some happy and some sad.
My parents have passed away, the dear friends we used to stay with have long passed away.
I went back to the exact house we used to holiday in, now its new owner proudly renovates it, renovating it slowly peeling away the memories and details of its previous life as a carefree house of the early seventies.
The beach was still just as beautiful, and my kids yelled with glee as each wave crashed into shore and chased there little feet trying to greedily gobble them up in the virgin sands.
All three of the girls said they had a wonderful time.. and theres the paradox will they stand on this beach 30 years from now trying to recreate moments of happiness from long ago?
Mr Bagel
Photos:
Taken on a Samsung Mobile Phone
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Yes its true, despite a spectacular absence of blogging for over two months, Mr Bagel has returned.
Mr Bagel has been 'moving' from a remote country location to a more civilised part of Australia.
Moving has required Mr Bagel to do five seperate trips of over 2,000kms each, despite selling what we thought was almost all of our worldly possesions, we still had to do five trips to move our 'personal belongings'. Which raises one very valid point, how personal can 5 trailers worth of belongings be? Do you think Mr Bagel might just be a horder? mmm?
Anyway after selling all our furniture we have been rushing around buying beds and fridges and lounges and just about everything else required to life a civilised life. Now that Mr Bagel has moved to civilisation he has decided to stop talking to the soccer ball with a wig. (Tom Hanks.)
We've only been in town a week but, living where there are shops, and services is such a refreshing break from living hours away from the most basic shopping. Its taking some adjustment, I generally spoke to about 3 peaople a month where I lived, now I see hundreds a day.
Mr Bagel: Thank you to all the well wishers and the emails I received
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Move your mouse over to display Bagel menu.
Haveil Havalim
Some readers may remember the controversy created when an email was sent around garnering support to vote for the city of Jerusalem in monopoly's new upcoming version earlier this year.
Always Fresh: Bagelblogger
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