Women soldiers and motherhood

Yahoo

An Army cook and single mom may face criminal charges after she skipped her deployment flight to Afghanistan because, she said, no one was available to care for her infant son while she was overseas.

Spc. Alexis Hutchinson, 21, claims she had no choice but to refuse deployment orders because the only family she had to care for her 10-month-old son — her mother — was overwhelmed by the task, already caring for three other relatives with health problems. [...]

Israeli army - most prolific innovation engine on earth

Newsweek

How does Israel—with fewer people than the state of New Jersey, no natural resources, and hostile nations all around—produce more tech companies listed on the NASDAQ than all of Europe, Japan, South Korea, India, and China combined? How does Israel attract, per person, 30 times as much venture capital as Europe and more than twice the flow to American companies? How does it produce, for its size, the most cutting-edge technology startups in the world?

There are many components to the answer, but one of the most central and surprising is the Israeli military's role in breaking down hierarchies and—serendipitously—becoming a boot camp for new tech entrepreneurs.

While students in other countries are preoccupied with deciding which college to attend, Israeli high-school seniors are readying themselves for military service—three years for men, two for women—and jockeying to be chosen by elite units in the Israeli military, known as the Israel Defense Forces, or IDF.

Government abuse of children:Forgotten Australians

CNN  ..............Time Magazine


Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd formally apologized on Monday to thousands of adults who, as impoverished British children, were brought to Australia with the promise of a better life but found abuse and forced labor.

"My hope today is to reach out to you all on behalf of this nation -- Australia -- and to speak what so often has been unspoken, and to offer this profound apology," Rudd told an audience of former child migrants gathered in the national capital of Canberra and scattered throughout the country. "To apologize for the pain that has been caused. To apologize for the failure to offer proper care. To apologize for those who have gone before us and ignored your cries for help."

The so-called Forgotten Australians -- children who came from British families struggling with severe poverty or from institutions in England -- were brought to Australia in a program that ended 40 years ago. But the program scarred generations of children who were placed in state institutions and orphanages. They later told of being kept in brutal conditions, being physically abused and being forced to work on farms [...]

EJF backer Tom Kaplan - saving the big cats

Telegraph

Who could have predicted that a mild-mannered Oxford-educated historian, with a PhD in the politics of colonial Malaya, would make an absolute killing from mineral extraction, with assets valued at billions of dollars?

Who then could have predicted that, while still in his mid-forties, the billionaire minerals magnate would channel his energies and business acumen into saving big cats from extinction? [...]

Blog : 1 million Jewish refugees from Arab countries

An interesting blog - Point of no return - which deals with the Middle East's forgotten Jewish refugees

Jerusalem & the Jews:Countering the Arab Big Lie

Aish HaTorah

What is the Palestinian Big Lie? Palestinian Authority Mufti Ikrama Sabri was quoted in the Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam (November 22, 1997) as saying that the Western Wall is part of the Al-Aksa Mosque and the Jews have no connection with it. The same newspaper (July 18, 1997) reported that Hamad Yusef, head of the Institution for the Rejuvenation of the Palestinian Heritage, referred to the "false historical claim of the Jews in the holy city, a claim which they were unable to prove in all of the (archaeological) excavations conducted by foreign groups for the past hundred years."[...]

US wants to seize Iranian linked mosques

Time

Amid ever-higher tension with Iran, the Obama administration made a bold legal swipe at Tehran this week that could send shock waves through the Muslim world. In what appears to be an unprecedented move, the Department of Justice filed notice in federal court in New York on Thursday that the government intends to seize the assets of a foundation with alleged links to the Iranian government, including several mosques around the country.

The department's action against the Alavi Foundation in U.S. District Court in Manhattan expands a forfeiture proceeding which began last December against the Assa Corp., a part-owner of a 36-story high-rise on Fifth Avenue. But in what may be a first, the government also seeks to seize additional properties in New York, Maryland, Texas, Virginia and California, some of which house mosques, Islamic centers and schools. (See pictures of America's Islamic community.) [...]

RaP: Goodbye Turkey; Hello Hodu!

RaP wrote:

As a follow-up to the posts on this blog about the decline in relations between Israel's traditional ally Turkey, there have been increasing reports highlighting the fact that Israel has struck up a huge new relationship with India, known as "Hodu" in Hebrew. Interestingly, "tarnegol HODU" is also the colloquial name in modern Hebrew for "turkey" the big tasty kosher bird. The new strategic alliance between Israel and India is even begrudgingly noted by China (see article below) a traditional rival of India (that also does lots of business with Israel!)

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-11/12/content_12436763.htm

Indian-Israeli relationship of convenience

www.chinaview.cn

JERUSALEM, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- India and Israel have reportedly finalized the details of a 1.1-billion-U.S. dollar deal for the supply to New Delhi of the Israeli-made Barak-8 tactical air-defense system. The contract was set up earlier this year, but was sealed this week with the visit to Israel of India's army head, Deepak Kapoor. The agreement is the latest in a series in recent years that makes Israel India's largest military supplier. India is now also Israel's largest customer. The sale of weapons systems to New Delhi is only part of the story. The countries share intelligence in the war on terror and have blooming ties in the agricultural sector.

Malcolm Gladwell- an amateur expert

NYTIMES Prof. Steven Pinker

Have you ever wondered why there are so many kinds of mustard but only one kind of ketchup? Or what Cézanne did before painting his first significant works in his 50s? Have you hungered for the story behind the Veg-O-Matic, star of the frenetic late-night TV ads? Or wanted to know where Led Zeppelin got the riff in "Whole Lotta Love"?

Neither had I, until I began this collection by the indefatigably curious journalist Malcolm Gladwell. The familiar jacket design, with its tiny graphic on a spare background, reminds us that Gladwell has become a brand. He is the author of the mega-best sellers "The Tipping Point," "Blink" and "Out­liers"; a popular speaker on the Dilbert circuit; and a prolific contributor to The New Yorker, where the 19 articles in "What the Dog Saw" were originally published. This volume includes prequels to those books and other examples of Gladwell's stock in trade: counterintuitive findings from little-known experts.[...]

Challenging political correctness in Army

CSMonitor

President Obama says he will hold accountable those who ignored Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's alleged fanaticism as US investigators try to unravel the prologue to last Thursday's 4-minute rampage that left 14 dead (including an unborn child) and 29 wounded at Fort Hood, Texas.

"If there was a failure to take appropriate action before the shootings, there must be accountability," Obama said in his Saturday morning radio address. "[We] must quickly and thoroughly evaluate and address any flaws in the system, so that we can prevent a similar breach from happening again."

The review is likely to come up not just against individuals who failed to heed numerous red flags thrown up by Maj. Hasan, but a system that some say has gone too far in coddling certain populations to the harm of the military as a whole. Some critics trace the source of political correctness that may have played a role in the Fort Hood massacre straight up to the Pentagon. But will the President? [...]

Obama's malpractise

Newsweek

There is an air of absurdity to what is mistakenly called "health-care reform." Everyone knows that the United States faces massive governmental budget deficits as far as calculators can project, driven heavily by an aging population and uncontrolled health costs. Recovering slowly from a devastating recession, it's widely agreed that, though deficits should not be cut abruptly (lest the economy resume its slump), a prudent society would embark on long-term policies to control health costs, reduce government spending, and curb massive future deficits. The president and his top economic advisers all say this. (Click here to follow Robert J. Samuelson ).

So, what do they do? Just the opposite. Their sweeping overhaul of the health-care system—which Congress is halfway toward enacting—would almost certainly make matters worse. It would create new, open-ended medical entitlements that would probably expand deficits and do little to suppress surging health costs. The disconnect between what Obama says and what he's doing is so glaring that most people could not abide it. The president and his allies have no trouble. But reconciling blatantly contradictory objectives requires them to engage in willful self-deception, public dishonesty, or both.[...]

Abarbanel - Tikun Sofrim

אברבנאל בראשית כג

ויוסף אברהם ויקח אשה וגו' עד סוף הסדר. ראיתי לחקור על הפרשה הזאת דברים זרים שראיתי בה. הא' הוא שכבר יראה בתחלת הדעת דבר זר מאד בהיות אברהם ישיש ושבע ימים לקח אשה והוליד ממנה ששה בנים האם נאמר מפני שראה יצחק מצחק את רבקה אשתו כשלקחה עבר עליו רוח קנאה ולקח גם הוא אשה כבנו והוליד ממנה ויצחק לא הוליד מעשרים שנה אחר שלקחה הנה זה באמת יהיה לאברהם קדוש ה' פועל מגונה ובלתי מסכים אל שלמותו ובדין נאמר עליו ויוסף אברהם כי היה זה תוספת ומותר וחז"ל אמרו שחזר לקחת את הגר ושהיא עצמה קטורה מפני שהיתה מקוטרה במעשיה וכמו שכתב רש"י ואחשוב שהביאם לזה להמעיט בזרות הפועל הזה שלא לקח אשה מחדש אבל חזר לקחת את הגר שכבר הוליד ממנה את ישמעאל. אבל מה נעשה והנה הכתוב אומר בפי' ולבני הפלגשים אשר לאברהם נתן אברהם מתנות וזה מורה שפלגשים רבות היו הגר וקטור' עם היות שחז"ל אמרו פלגשם כתיב שהית' פלגש אחת אין ספק שעזרא הסופר הבין אמתת הדבר בנקודה.12 אבל אחשוב אני בדבר הזה שהש"י העיר את רוח אברהם לעשות כן לסבות
12 בכתה"י נוסף: 'י', כלומר: יוד. כשן לפי המסורה כתיב 'פילגשים'.

מנחת שי (בראשית כה:ו): ולבני הפילגשים - ב"ר פרשה ס"א פילגשם כתיב אותה שישבה על הבאר ואמרה לחי העולמים ראה בעלבוני עיין מזרחי וגור אריה ויפה תואר שם סימן ד' ועל פי זה המדרש פי' רש"י חסר יו"ד שלא היתה אלא פילגש אחת והיא הגר היא קטורה והקשה עליו החזקוני שהרי הוא מלא בספרים מדוייקים והן הגר וקטורה ולשון המכלל יופי דרש רז"ל ידוע. ואנחנו מצאנוהו מלא ביו"ד בכל הספרים המדוייקים עכ"ל. ומכותלו לשונו ניכר שלשון קמחי הוא וכ"כ החזקוני והרמ"ה כתב בכולהו נוסחי דיקי דאתו לידן בתרין יודין כתיב ומסיר עליה לית כותיה מלא בתורה. מיהו בדרשא דייק מינה דהגר היינו קטורה מדכתיב הפילגשם חסר יו"ד קדים למ"ם ואגב ארחין שמעת מינה דחסר יו"ד כתיב עכ"ל. ובהעתק הללי מלא דמלא וכן הסכימו המאירי ובעל ס' שמן ששון ומסורה מכרזת ואומרת ב' מלאים דמלאים וסימן ולבני הפילגשים אשר לאברהם שומר הפילגשים דאסתר. ועיין בש"ת הרמב"ן סימן רל"ב ובתשובת הרשב"א הביאה הב"י בטור י"ד סוף סימן רע"ה ומ"ש בס"ד בפ' בא על פי ואל שתי המזוזת ובפרשת נשא על כלות משה:
נתן אברהם מתנת - מתנת כתיב חסר וא"ו ודרשו רבותנו בפרק חלק שמסר להם שם טומאה:

Chabad Conference of Emissaries

NYTIMES

Emissaries of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement are a hardy lot — part envoys, part pioneers — who agree to settle anywhere in the world where their leaders decide that Jewish communities need bolstering, whether in Anchorage or Bangkok or northern Kyrgyzstan.

Often the only Lubavitchers for miles around, they are used to being gawked at and asked to explain themselves, usually in a nice way, though not always. "How long did it take to grow that beard, dude?" is a pretty common query in the United States, they say.

But for three or four days a year, during the annual International Conference of Emissaries held at Chabad headquarters in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, the world of the emissary becomes a kaleidoscope of the familiar.[...]

Rubashkin found guilty on 86 charges

DesMoinesRegister

Sioux Falls, S.D. A jury has convicted Sholom Rubashkin of 86 federal charges for his part in a massive fraud scheme at his former meat plant, Agriprocessors Inc., in Postville. Jurors declared Rubashkin guilty of bank fraud, making false statements to a bank, wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering and aiding of abetting. The jury found him not guilty of five counts of violating a law requiring payment of livestock providers within 24 hours. Rubashkin's attorney, Guy Cook, said they will appeal the decision. Rubashkin, 50, was immediately taken into custody. [...]