The Lesser of Evils

The good thing about a multi-party system, as opposed to a two-party system, is that you have a wide range of choices. The bad thing is that sometimes all those choices are bad. That's the situation in Israel during these elections. We have dozens of parties, none of which have platforms I can full heartedly endorse or a list of Knesset candidates worthy of parliament. We have three candidates for Prime Minister, none of them have the capabilities needed for the job.

So once again, I have to choose the lesser of evils. But in Israel, that isn't that simple. Which lesser evil - the best prime minister or best party? You vote for a party list, not for prime minister, though the number of seats each party gets determines who will be the prime minister.

If I make my decision according to who I support for the premiership I have to vote for either the three lists with PM candidates, or for a party who declares it will support a certain candidate. In that case, I'd vote for Kadima, since Ehud Olmert is the lesser of evils for the premiership. Sure, he was a horrible mayor of Jerusalem. He'll be a bad PM, too. But he'll be better than Benjamin Netanyahu who already proved to be a colossal failure, and Amir Peretz who is too much of a socialist and inept.

But I won't vote for Kadima. They aren't really a party. Its new Knesset candidates are mostly unknown, and those who are known have very different views from each other on every topic other than the mutual wish to be in power. I won't vote for Likud either - because they're too right wing. I won't vote for Meretz either. That party's stupid campaign is to flaunt their left-wing extremism, meaning they see themselves as in a contest with the communist and Arab parties, not with the more mainstream Labor. Most parties are either too far left or too far right or have inept members. The Labor party so far seems like the lesser of evils list-wise. They have some good people in there like Avishay Braverman, Ami Ayalon and Ofir Pines, though they have a very bad leader and a few extreme Knesset candidates such as Shelly Yechimovich.

So I guess I'll be voting Labor. I haven't made a final decision yet. One thing is certain, whichever party I vote for, I'll feel sick to my stomach when I cast my ballot.

Tags: Israel, Israeli Politics, Likud, Kadima, Labor Party, Politics

Use Bullets Next Time

While the unilateral disengagement last summer was foolish, the evacuation of unauthorized settlements is essential. It isn't an issue between us and the Palestinians, but rather totally internal. The importance of the rule of law demands that settlements built without permission be destroyed.

On Wednesday in Amona, an illegal settlement even in the eyes of Israeli law, the whole battle was over the destruction of nine unoccupied buildings. The rebel settlers attacked the policemen sent to enforce the law with bricks and stones. This was a Jewish Intifadah in which all red lines were crossed. The police reacted violently and aggressively. Good for them. They need to teach the rebels a lesson - in Israel (and Israeli controlled areas of the West Bank) the three branches of government are the boss, not God and not the rabbis who claim to speak for him. The laws of the state govern here, not the Halachah, the laws of the religion.

Now politicians are looking for political gains from this. There's a call for a special commission to investigate police brutality towards the settlers. Though the right wing embraced this idea, they weren't the ones who came up with it. It was Yuli Tamir of the Labor Party, formerly of Peace Now. Is she just a bleeding heart or looking for votes by claiming Olmert didn't handle this as well as Sharon handled the disengagement? A little bit of both, I guess, but more of the latter than the former.

Police aggressiveness and violence is not the problem. The rebels should be happy policemen didn't use rubber bullets (or worse, regular ones) on the settlers who attacked them with deadly weapons like bricks.

Here are some hard questions that need to be answered, and not by a special commission which would be completely unnecessary:

1. Why didn't the police block the area days before the evacuation? Destroying those nine measly houses would have been a lot easier without all those "visiting rebels".
2. Most of the rebels were children. Where were their parents? Where were their teachers? Those who are supposed to be responsible adults need to tell these kids that they can't go, they can't miss school, and most importantly, can't brutally attack law enforcers. Maybe these parents and teachers who did not do all they could to keep the children from going to Amona should be arrested for a form of child abuse?
3. Everybody is asking why the settler leadership hasn't done enough to prevent violence. Some of the leaders, including members of the Knesset, were in Amona and even wounded, reportedly after they refused to listen to the police. My question is this - why are these parliamentarians allowed to be active in a rebellion without being indicted like Israeli Arab parliamentarians who visit enemy states?

Tags: Israel, Israeli Politics, Politics, Disengagement

The Stripes on Israel's Flag

I'm not going to analyze the Hamas victory in the Palestinian elections or guess what the future holds. I'd rather talk about the flag of the State of Israel. According to Hamas leader Mahmoud a-Zahar, the two blue stripes above and below the Star of David represent two rivers: the Nile in Egypt and the Euphrates in Iraq. He says this represents Israel's ambition to control all the land in between those rivers. Taking the stripes off the flag is a prerequisite to negotiations.

Funny. I always thought the blue stripes represent the Tallit, the Jewish prayer shawl, which traditionally has blue, purple or black stripes on each side. It's a religious symbol, just like the Star of David, not a sign of Israeli imperial ambitions. If you really think of it, the Star of David is the militaristic part of the flag. It was said to have been the symbol on David's shield when he made his first kill - when he killed the Philistine Goliath. Why don't the Hamas claim it's a symbol of the desire to kill Palestinians? It's a ridiculous claim, but so is the Nile and Euphrates interpretation.

Tags: Israel, Palestine, Hamas

The Social Dangers of Not Vaccinating Kids

Judith Warner, a guest columnist/blogger for the New York Times' website, has an entry about childhood vaccinations. Since it's part of TimesSelect and you have to pay for it, I'll quote two paragraphs:

"Over and over again, the link between mercury — in the form of thimerosal, a preservative once routinely used in vaccines — and autism has been disproved. Or, better put, (who knows what the future will bring?) it has not been confirmed. (The Times had an excellent history of the autism/vaccine controversy last year.)

Meanwhile, formerly all-but-eradicated deadly childhood diseases are making a comeback, as Sanghavi acknowledges: In Britain, where vaccination is optional and immunization rates in recent years for the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine have fallen to as low as 62 percent in parts of London, measles is on the rise. Ditto in Japan, where parental choice on the matter of vaccinations has resulted in a yearly rate now of more than 100,000 cases of measles, leading to an estimated 50 to 100 deaths."

Tags: autism, mercury, thimerosal, health

Israelis Ignore Pat Robertson

Pat Robertson said Ariel Sharon's stroke is divine retribution for the disengagement from Gaza. Well, Pat, Israelis don't give a shit about you. Israeli websites have reported the comment, but it has so far been ignored on mainstream television and in the newspapers. It should be noted though, that when Robertson called for the assassination of Hugo Chavez, it was widely reported here.

These evangelical "friends" of Israel are actually its foes. They support Armageddon, the End Times prophesies. They do not care about what is best for Israel. If I remember correctly, Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has certain ties with them. He should sever these ties now.

Tags: Ariel Sharon, Israel, Israeli Politics, Pat Robertson

Die, Sharon, For Your Own Sake

It is now clear that Ariel Sharon has suffered massive brain damage. If he survives, he will be severely crippled, quite possibly mentally no less than physically. If this is the case, he would be better off dead. Being in a vegetative state, or something close to it, would be horrible for him.

If there's a chance for him to live a fairly good life, albeit somewhat crippled, I'd wish him that. But the chances are dim.


Ariel Sharon, Israel, Israeli Politics

The Prime Minister's Brain

Unlike Ariel Sharon's previous stroke on December 18th, this time it's serious. The prime minister is in grave condition. He probably has extensive brain damage, and even if he survives, his days as prime minister are over. I must say I'm not much concerned about the man himself - I wish him health, but I'm not as worried as if it were a family member, a friend, or someone I admired.

I'm worried about the country. I don't think too highly of Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, though he'd be better than Benjamin Netanyahu. I fear that in the next elections Netanyahu might now win. Ironically, Kadima, nicknamed "Sharon's one-man party", may get my vote now that Sharon isn't in it. If Justice Minister Tzipi Livni will be the party's candidate for PM, I'll definitely vote for them.

I've read comparisons of last night to the night of the Rabin assassination. I don't see the similarities at all. For one thing, a natural ailment is incomparable to murder; and I think Rabin was a much greater man than Sharon (and definitely not corrupt, while Sharon is).

Ariel Sharon, Israel, Israeli Politics

Netanyahu as Head of Likud

Benjamin Netanyahu, who was the worst prime minister Israel has had since Golda Meir, has won the chairmanship of Likud. He'll be the party's prime ministerial candidate, but his chances are slim - polls indicate Likud will win only around 13 seats (compared to 30+ for Kadima and 20+ for Labor). Sharon, despite his minor stroke and old age, will definitely head the next government.

Bibi's victory is not such a bad thing. He now vows he'll clean up the party and get rid of shady, criminal elements. He's no saint himself, but I believe he isn't corrupt, and definitely less corrupt than Ariel Sharon, Zahi Hanegbi and Amir Peretz. If he'll succeed, the 13 or so people who enter the next Knesset from Likud will be of higher quality. I'd rather have more right wing Knesset members than corrupt and stupid ones.

I'm almost certain the next Knesset will be better than the current one, which has an alarmingly high percentage of idiots and corrupt members.

Bibi isn't the right man to lead the country. Hopefully, though, he is the right man to clean up Likud, and thus, to some extent, the Knesset.

Tags: Israel, Israeli Politics, Likud

Backwards Kadima

Ariel Sharon's new party, Kadima (Hebrew for "forward"), is turning out to be nothing but the Likud, with minor changes. It's just as corrupt (Sharon and his son Omri, and new recruit Zahi Hanegbi, among others), has the same political, economic and social agenda, and the most opportunistic former members of the Likud. A few opportunists from other parties, as well as very few good people (like Zipi Livni) were also added to the mix to make it look better.

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz joined Kadima too, at the height of his bid for chairmanship of Likud (the party's candidate for Prime Minister). Not only was he lagging behind front-runner Bibi Netanyahu, a new poll even showed he was behind the right-wing radical Moshe Feiglin. So he decided he'd better join Sharon, even though he viciously attacked Sharon for leaving Likud . Ironically, some analysts say that the Feiglin data was false, and though he lagged behind Netanyahu in the first round by a huge margin, he had a good chance of defeating Netanyahu in a one-on-one second round. So Mofaz wasn't only opportunistic - he was also stupid.

Polls are showing Kadima will win around 40 of 120 seats in the Knesset. That seems horrible to me. Kadima is the party of corruption and stalemate with the Palestinians. Can't others see that? Why are Israelis so enchanted by Sharon? Hopefully, by March 28 voters will see this new party for what it is. I'm sure Sharon will win re-election and have the largest party in the Knesset, but I hope the margin isn't as huge as it is now. There needs to be a strong counterbalance both within the next coalition and in the opposition.

Tags: Israel, Israeli Politics

Avishay Braverman for Minister of Anything!

Avishay Braverman, president of Ben-Gurion University and former World Bank economist, has announced he is joining the Labor Party and running for a seat in the Knesset. This is a person I truly admire, and one of the few people I'd be happy to see as prime minister. He has done wonders for his university and is a true centrist. Now that he has entered politics, he'll be a treasury minister or some other top minister if Labor wins the elections, or if it decides to join a coalition with Ariel Sharon's new party, Kadima.

I truly dislike the ultra-socialist leader of the Labor Party, Amir Peretz, and didn't think of voting Labor this time around. But then again, I truly dislike Sharon, Likud, Meretz, Shinui and all other parties, who are either too dovish, socialist, hawkish, corrupt or just failures. As a person who believes the right to vote should be exercised (and a white "abstention" ballot is just as bad as not voting), I was facing the huge dilemma of deciding who is the lesser of several evils. But now I am more inclined towards Labor. If I do decide to vote for them, I won't be voting for Peretz as PM, but rather for Braverman as Minister of Anything.

Tags: Israel, Israeli Politics

Disappointed? Just Alito

President Bush's latest worrying Supreme Court nomination is a good excuse for another one of my US-Israel comparisons: the Judicial Appointments Edition. As you know, in the States, the president nominates a candidate, the senate judiciary committee grills him or her in hearings and then the whole Senate decides whether to confirm the nominee's appointment or not. It's all very political.

In Israel, on the other hand, the prime minister's role in the judicial nomination process is very limited. The same is true for the president, who officially appoints and swears in the judges, but isn't the one who picks them. He appoints those that the Judicial Nominations Committee picks. I'm not sure whether he can legally refuse to appoint someone the committee chose, but that has never happened.

So, who are the members of the committee? All three branches of government are represented, as well as one public organization, the Israeli Bar Association. There are five legal professionals (three justices and two representatives of the Bar), and four politicians (two government ministers and two Knesset members). The fact that the politicians are a minority makes for a fairly non-political appointment process (though everything is political to some degree). The only problem is that public debate over nominations is very limited. Though the proceedings are not secret, the committee does not scrutinize the candidates like the Senate Judiciary Committee does, and it doesn't hold public hearing on their nominations.

I think the best way to pick judges would be to fuse together the American and Israeli methods. A non-partisan committee should pick the nominees, but they should be thoroughly scrutinized in televised hearings. This should be done either by the committee itself or by some other body. In my opinion, in Israel's case it would be a good idea if the committee itself held those hearings for candidates they shortlist, inviting members of the Knesset, former judges and other public figures, to pose questions to the candidates, though only the nine committee members would make the final decision.

If a system such as this were in place in the United States, maybe the country would have avoided embarrassments such as Miers and extremists such as Alito seems to be.

PS: Excuse the pun in the title. I just had to say it.

Tags: Supreme Court, Israel, Politics, Samuel Alito

Autistics or People With Autism?

I came across a list of "Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew" by Ellen Notbohm, via Reflections of a mom living an Autistic child. The first item claims the following:

"I am a child with autism. I am not "autistic." My autism is one aspect of my total character. It does not define me as a person. Are you a person with thoughts, feelings and many talents, or are you just fat (overweight), myopic (wear glasses) or klutzy (uncoordinated, not good at sports)?"

I've read others who claim the exact opposite. They say that saying they "have autism" or are "people with autism" is derogatory, since it sounds like a disease. Like "people with cancer" or who "have cerebral palsy". In their opinion, if you are referred to as autistic, it means that it is just part of who you are.

So, who's right? First of all, definitely not Ellen Notbohm. She claims to speak for every child with autism, but most of the autistics on-line have written they consider themselves autistics and not people with autism for the reasons I wrote above. So if you go by self-determination, most autistics (at least the adult ones who participate in the blogosphere) have decided against the "with autism" label. Saying they are autistic doesn't mean they are only autistics. Try comparing it with other minorities - if you're Jewish or African-American, that isn't all you are.

That doesn't mean the "anti-with autism, pro-autistics" are right. I don't think that saying someone has autism is derogatory. If a person has X or is a person with Y - the X and Y won't necessarily be diseases or anything negative.

In other words, I think that both options are acceptable. Autistics are people with autism and vice versa. Neither one is a negative term.


Tag: autism

New Title

"Emmanuel Schiff and the Masters of the University" was a title created when I got to the conclusion that the original title, "Emmanuel Schiff: Fake Name, Real Person", was redundant. The new name was supposed to be a play on one of my favorite childhood TV shows, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. I'm not sure how many people made the connection, so now I'm simplifying things. I'll just be E-man, instead of my full name (which is an alias anyway).

Americans Reject Evolution

I love America and Americans, but sometimes they scare me. I find it very disconcerting that according to a CBS poll only 15% of Americans believe in Darwinian evolution. 30% believe in intelligent design (a creationist version of evolution). But most troubling - a majority of respondents believe in classic creationism.

Again, I turn to a comparison with Israel. There's no uproar about evolution being taught in schools. The creationist version is presented in bible classes, where it belongs. Israel is perceived by many as a religious country, but it's much less religious than the United States. I once saw statistical data that showed that more than 40% of Israelis called themselves secular, while another 30% said they were "not so religious, but traditional", which is quite ambiguous. But I assume a lot of them mean they aren't religious but still celebrate Jewish holidays, like me (though I am secular). I have a feeling an evolution poll would show that a vast majority of Israelis believe in evolution. I googled for such a poll but couldn't find one. It would be interesting to see if I'm right.

Tags: evolution, Israel, religion

Abortion in Israel

A discussion on another post of mine made me think about the difference between the centrality of abortion in American politics and its total marginality in Israeli politics. It's interesting that here in Israel there isn't much of a debate about abortion. It's legal (though you have to go through a medical board, but if you say the right things you'll usually be allowed to get the abortion). Nobody seems to be fighting to illegalize abortions or to liberalize them by getting rid of the medical panel. Sometimes there are reports about religious women giving pregnant women pictures of fetuses at abortion clinics. But that's about it. Most people are content with the present situation.

You'd think that the fact that all of Israel's coalitions (except for one or two very brief periods) included religious parties would have made abortion a hot-button issue like in the States. But I guess that when you're worried about being blown to bits you concentrate on protecting the living rather than worrying about the unborn. Maybe the issue seems less divisive because of the fact that it's regulated by a law legislated by the elected Knesset rather than by a ruling of the unelected Supreme Court justices? Dunno.

Tags: abortion, Israel, Israeli Politics

Random Question

A while back I said I'd change my profile's random question once in a while. Well, it turned out to be a very long while - 15 months. Now I've changed my profile question (and answer), and here is what I had till now.

You're wearing a sweater that stretches down to your feet. What color belt do you put on?
White - to match the looney jacket they'll take me in for dressing like that during the summer.

And a reminder from July 2004, my first random question:

You've got to make contact with the alien leader. How will you tell when the conversation is finished?
When limbs start flying.

Miers for White House Counsel

Harriet Miers is doing a heck of a job as White House Counsel. I don't know whether she's actually doing a good job or if it's a Brownie kind of a heck of a job. Whichever it is, Miers should remain in her current position. I hope the Senate rejects her nomination for the Supreme Court. She's both unqualified and a member of the BCCRWN (Bush Close Circle of Right Wing Nuts).

I find it amusing that some Republicans are worried she may not be conservative enough. I'm sure she's way too conservative, but I hope the Senate conservatives will keep up the worrying and vote against her. On the other hand, the best thing would be if even Republicans voted against her just because she's unqualified, not because of how she'll decide abortion cases. The US Supreme Court is too political. The whole debate over nominations should be focused more on the nominees' professional qualifications than on how they'd decide certain issues (some of which should be decided by Congress, not by the courts).

Tags: Supreme Court, Harriet Miers, Politics

Sky News: Harold Pinter Dead, um, No, He's the Nobel Winner

I was wondering who won the Nobel Prize in literature, and both CNN and BBC were discussing the horrible earthquake in Pakistan. So I reluctantly turned to Sky News. Good thing though. A very confused anchorwoman had this amusing monologue to say (more or less):

"British playwright Harold Pinter is joining us now. [pause]
[in a grim tone]: Harold Pinter has just died. [another pause]
Harold Pinter has won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Sorry about that. More about Pinter later."

Oh, the beauty of live, unedited television!

Tags: Nobel Prize, Sky News, journalism, Live television, news

I, Radical (?!?)

People have a tendency to think that if someone disagrees with them on a hot-button issue, he'll probably disagree with them on most issues and is a radical of the opposing side. That's especially true when the person doing the assumptions is a radical himself, of the side opposite his opponent. At least that's been my experience.

A recent discussion I had here reminded me of this. It seems that since I am not impressed by the IAEA or because I support Israeli nukes, readers thought I'm a radical right-wing Bush-loving Sharon-worshipping kill-all-Arabs fanatic. That's so far from what my real views are that it's almost comical.

When discussing Israeli politics, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Bush, Iraq etc with right wingers they tend to brand me as a naive leftist bleeding-heart Palestinian/Muslim-loving extremist. Again, that too is so far from my real views that it's almost comical.

I'm very much a centrist. Maybe you could call me a hawkish dove or a dovish hawk. When people think I'm a right/left-wing fanatic, almost always they are fanatics of the opposite side. The question is whether I tend to take a more extreme stance than I believe in when I argue with fanatics, or maybe I just counter the radical views so I don't get a chance to say anything centrist. Also, the problem could be with the radicals and not with me. I don't know which option it is.

Remember this: just because I don't think the United States, Israel, and the West in general are the source of all evil - it doesn't mean I'm a radical right winger. Also, just because I support the creation of a Palestinian state and think Bush is the worst US president since who-knows-when - it doesn't mean I'm a radical left winger.

Tags: politics, Israel, Middle East, extremism

Economics Nobel Awarded to Israeli

Prof. Robert J. Aumann (or Israel Aumann, his Hebrew name) of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem has won the 2005 Nobel award for economics, together with Thomas Schelling of the University of Maryland. The committee said they won "for having enhanced our understanding of conflict and cooperation through game-theory analysis".

This is an Israeli's second Nobel Prize for economics, coming three years after Daniel Kahneman won the award. Just last year two Israelis, Aaron Ciechanover and Avram Hershko, won the Chemistry Nobel. Back then, the winning chemists spoke about the lack of funding for sciences in Israel, and the fact that the government wants to further diminish that funding. I hope Aumann's win this year will help Israeli universities and research institutions fight budget cuts, as well as inspire more private contributions.

Congratulations Prof. Aumann!

In your face, academic boycott proponents!

Tags: Nobel Prize, Israel, economics, research

Nobel Peace Prize 2005

U.N. Nuclear Agency and Its Chief Win Nobel Prize for Peace

I was under the impression that prizes, especially the most prestigious ones, are supposed to reward success and remarkable achievements. I was wrong. As it turns out, inaction and repeated failures may not prevent a person and/or organization from winning.


Tags: Nobel Prize, Nobel Peace Prize

Crying and Cursing

The phrase that would characterize the last few days best is "dereliction of duty". All the levels of government seem to have collapsed under the pressures of the hurricane's aftermath. From what I've heard, President Bush, Gov. Blanco of Louisiana and Mayor Nagin of New Orleans have all done little of what is in their power to minimize the human toll of Katrina before, while and after it hit. The heads of FEMA, Alabama and Mississippi haven't done that great either. The leaders seem to be doing more crying on TV (Gov. Blanco and Sen. Landrieu) and cursing on radio (Mayor Nagin) than actually doing something useful. I would have applauded the mayor for what he said, curses included, if he hadn't been incompetent himself.

The greatest tragedy of all is that this was avoidable. Nobody could stop Katrina, but lives and buildings could have been saved. New Orleans would have been spared of most of the current flooding if the levees had been repaired in time. Most importantly, thousands of lives could have been saved if the government had organized transportation and accommodations for those too poor to flee on their own.

Though the Asian tsunami had a greater death toll, the tragedy in the US's Gulf Coast has affected me more deeply than any other natural disaster before it. I donated $30 to the UJC/Haaretz Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund. It's the little I can do from here in Israel.



Tags: katrina, Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane, New Orleans

The Question of Anonymity

Until recently "Emmanuel Schiff" was nothing but my blogging persona. I'd only write in this blog and comment here and there on other blogs. But recently I've started participating in discussions on a number of sites as Emmanuel. It's still a fake name. I'm still anonymous.

But for the first time in my two years of blogging, I actually wondered whether or not to write something because it might be embarrassing if people who know me as Emmanuel on all kinds of serious websites suddenly read about my testicles. I started asking myself if the fact that I'm only known by an alias still make me, as Emmanuel Schiff (as opposed to my real name), anonymous?

But then I came to the conclusion that the heck with it. These people don't really know me, they don't know who I really am or what my real name is. Why should I care? There's no reason to change my blogging habits just because I've started using Emmanuel Schiff for non-blogging purposes. It won't hurt my credibility, neither on my blog nor anywhere else.

So the embarrassing stuff is staying, as you can see in my previous post.


tag: blogging

Oh Nuts!

A week ago my one year old niece and I were dancing and jumping around, and she was moving her feet as if dancing in the air. She somehow kicked me in the balls, but I didn't think much of it. She's a baby, how much harm can she do? It hurt but I was sure it would go away quickly. But by the next day, not only did the pain not diminish, but one of my testicles was swollen and was higher up than the other one.

It took something like five days till the pain disappeared. Now it isn't swollen and it doesn't hurt, but it is still a bit uncomfortable. The formerly swollen testicle is still higher than the other one and seems to be sticking out more than the other one. I was afraid that maybe some permanent damage might have occurred, and that my balls will be uneven for the rest of my life, or even that it's a symptom of something even worse. So I went online and discovered that it's normal. I guess you could say the testicle is just being defensive. When testicles are hurt or the man attached to them is worried or stressed they rise closer to the body. It might take it a while to go back down, but it will eventually. Relaxing my muscles in the groin area can be helpful, like taking warm baths and just relaxing there for a long time, which I haven't done in years. I'll give it another week or so and if it doesn't seem to be on the way back down, I'll go to my doctor.

Tags: Male Health, Health

Some More Thoughts About Autism

I talked to my sister about vaccines again. She said she vaccinated her daughter when she was 4 months old and saw a regression. My niece wasn't in as bad a condition as my nephew was when he was a baby, but my sister says she definitely noticed less eye contact. That's when she decided not to give her more vaccines of the suspicious kind. She claims that even now, her daughter has less eye contact than before she was vaccinated, though she has recuperated and she's totally normal now. My niece also had iron deficiency for a while, but that would have made her less energetic, and would not impair her communication skills, according to my sister.

So I must say I have no idea whether my sister is right or not. My niece is so cute. She's very happy to see me - she starts laughing and reaches out for me to take her. That never happened with my nephew. I don't want to convince my sister to do something that might screw my niece up.

And a slight backtrack on a previous post: I don't entirely agree with the Autistic Pride movement. I do seek a cure, but not for my nephew. He's autistic and that's who he is. Besides, he's doing so well now that there's no point in "curing" him. More than anything I seek a prevention for those very small children who can have a better life as non-autistics. Right, autistic life is not a horror (except for the most extreme cases) but it is so damn hard.

Tag: autism

The Nest

The other day our gardener removed two big bushes from our backyard. My nephew noticed the change, but wasn't bothered by it. Frankly, I wasn't surprised. Changes like that stopped bothering him long ago.

We found a nest that had probably fallen off the bushes. He wanted to throw it in the air and tear it up. I saw no harm in that, since it looked abandoned anyway, and if it had been in the bushes, the birds wouldn't have a place to go back to anyway. As he ripped up the nest I said, "you know, a nest is the birds' home. They'll be sad when they'll come back and see that the bush and nest are no longer there."

"I like it when they feel that way", was my nephew's answer. That sadistic statement startled me. Does he really mean that? Does he enjoy others' suffering? I certainly hope not.

Also, he has a habit of pushing his face into his sister's forehead, not too gently. She gets pissed off when he does this and starts slapping him on the head but he seems to think she's trying to pet him. I told him not to do that three times already, but he keeps doing it anyway. My sister should be the one who tells him not to do that. She'll be more effective, and doesn't she want to protect her daughter's goddamn brain from head-butting?!?

On a more optimistic note - when my nephew heard my mother was leaving the country for a week he seemed sad. That's a good thing. He also waited patiently for her to end a phone conversation until he asked her to play with him. He's a very cute and smart kid, but he's also very exhausting.

Tag: autism

Say YES to Vaccines, Say NO to Pollution

I read a newspaper article about a study conducted last year in the US that showed 10% of babies born in the United States had high mercury levels at the time of their birth. The article also showed embryos these days are practically swimming in pollutants their mothers get from the air and food.

That makes me ever more skeptical of the "mercury causes autism" scare, at least the version that claims vaccines are the only cause of the disorder. The amount of metals in vaccines is nothing compared to what babies already have in their blood anyway. The "Anti-Vaccinators" will do the next generations much more good if they rerouted all their efforts towards environmental causes. I mean the saner kind - unlike eco-terrorists or crazy tree-huggers, but rather the kind that treats the environment as a human health issue. People are what's important. As I see it, nature is more or less ours to exploit, as long as we don't damage ourselves and our health in the process. I assume most hardline environmentalists would disagree.

Tags: autism, Environment

Autistic Pride: I Stand Corrected

I apologize to the Autistic Pride movement for misrepresenting their position on curing autism and intervention. As it turns out, they support intervention, but don't seek a cure. They don't think autistics will or should be cured, but they should get all the help they need to have as independent and as good a life as possible.

As it turns out, I agree with the goals of the Autistic Pride movement. I simply misunderstood them. I don't believe my nephew will ever be totally cured. So I guess "reports about my nephew's way out of autism" (the last part of my blog's description) is a bit misleading. I never meant he would cease to be autistic. It's more of a metaphor describing his way from his own isolated world (which was never completely isolated, since we all jumped around him when he was a baby, not knowing that we were forcing him out of his shell) into regular society.

Tag: autism

Supreme Court Justice JR Ewing?

When I first saw John G. Roberts, my reaction was "I wonder if he's related to Larry Hagman". A brief search on Technorati showed me I'm not crazy - a lot of people think the two look very similar.

On a more serious note, Roberts seems like an acceptable choice so far. After all, nobody can expect Bush to nominate a liberal. The J(G)R Ewing look-alike makes a centrist enough impression. Still, senators should grill him to make sure he isn't a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Tags: Supreme Court, Politics, John Roberts

Rebels Declare War of Attrition

Most of the anti-disengagement protesters have left Kfar Mimon. However, Benzi Lieberman, head of the Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza) Council has declared that instead of a mass march into Gaza, they will try to infiltrate into Gaza one-by-one or in small groups. He also asked some of the protesters to stay at Kfar Mimon to keep police forces there. He wants to wear them down.

Infiltrating an area illegally and wearing down security forces. Does that sound familiar? It's a war of attrition. The Yesha Council is now using Palestinian tactics. This is a rebellion. These are rebel leaders: Benzi Lieberman and other leaders (including rabbis) calling for the infiltration of Gaza and the attrition of those who usually bust their butts protecting them. They see themselves as above the law. They should be behind bars for incitement of violence and of an uprising.


Tag: disengagement

My Nephew's Cinematic Experience

My mother took my nephew to see Madagascar yesterday. This is the kind of little experiences that show us how much he has improved. He was like a normal kid. He didn't mind the crowd on the ticket line, and sat through almost all the film. About five minutes before the end, he wanted to leave because something in the movie pissed him off, something that may anger intelligent (emotionally and smart) kids. You wouldn't normally expect an autistic to be bothered by it.

Spoiler warning for those of you who still intend to watch the movie:
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The lion gets hungry and bites his friend the zebra in the ass. This shocked my nephew. "He bit his friend?!?" He saw this as a grievous breach of trust. So he asked my mother to leave, and they did. But he sat there more than an hour before that. When he was younger, he could barely sit for five minutes. Besides, he gets along well with children. Sometimes he gets mad at the other kids for things most children don't get upset about, but that is getting rarer as time goes by.

He's such a genius. He saw a book, where a character inside it is reading the same book. He said, "and inside this book, there's book, and in that one another book, and in that one another..." What kid would think about that? He also decided he doesn't believe in evolution. "I don't think our great-great-great grandparents were apes. My great-great-great-great grandchildren might think I was an ape, and I'm not." What other 5-year old thinks about himself as being a father in the future, let alone a grandfather or great-great one. The examples of his immense intelligence are endless.

I really don't understand the "Autistic Pride" advocates who seek no cure for autism. My nephew, through the hard work of his family (including me) and professionals, is now more or less cured from the worst symptoms of autism. Would the "Priders" rather we didn't do all that hard work and that he'd still be unable to communicate and fear company? Maybe I misunderstand them and they don't see the ABA treatment my nephew received as a cure, and it seems acceptable to them. I don't know.

Tag: autism

The Search for the Autistic Gene

According to an article in Discover Magazine, researchers have loacted the "neighborhood" of the gene that causes autism. It's on a section of Chromosome 17 called 17q21, and they hope to find the gene itself within the next four years. The same article also cites the results of a study that found that autistic children's immune systems are somewhat weaker than usual.

As important as these findings are, they certainly won't end the debate over the causes of autism. Some claim it's comletely genetic. Some say it's completely the work of toxins such as Thimerosal, a form of mercury added to certain vaccines. Those who think it's genetic, usually think the toxin theory is a load of crap, like Kevin of Left Brain/Right Brain, for example.

A few months ago, when my niece had to be given the usual shots babies get, my sister decided not to vaccinate her. I was angery at her. I thought she was doing something totally irrational, looking for blame where there was none. "Your son is autistic because he was born that way, not because of the shots", I told her. I decided to do my own research on the internet to prove her wrong. All that I found just confused me. There's a lot of research out there, most of it says there is no connection between thimerosal and autism, some of it says the opposite. Who should I believe?

After a while, I came to the conclusion that this isn't all black and white. I think the risk of autism is genetic. If you don't have the "autism gene", you won't be autistic. But if you do have it, you won't necessarily be autistic. Contact with toxins may trigger the gene, and may effect where you'll be on the autistic spectrum. There may be additional factors.

Maybe my sister was right. It is possible these vaccines aren't dangerous for all babies, but ones related to autistic people are at risk. It's a question worth investigating.

Nephew Update: He's doing great. He's in a regular kindergarten and the kids love him. He has very few autistic features left. He's a genius, too. More on him some other time.

Note: Amazingly, I haven't mentioned my nephew (nor autism) for almost a year, and the last time I said anything about my niece was when she was born. I've barely blogged, and when I did, it was usually about politics. Now I'm back to regular blogging and also to more personal topics: like autism and my nephew.

Tag: autism

New Logo

What do you think of my new personal icon? Somewhat unprofessional, I admit, but I like it anyway. The pen and the sword (the Thundercats sword, no less!) may generate any number of interpretations. I'll let you come to your own conclusions...

I just signed up with Technorati, so I thought creating my own personalized icon would be a bit more professional blogging (a phrase which might be a paradox). I have a feeling Technorati is what got me my first comment in quite a long time - since I added a tag (which is like a post's category) that probably led one of my fellow bloggers to my previous post. I also added a search feature, powered by Technorati (see my sidebar), in case you want to look for something particular in my blog.

I'm tagging this post as blogging. It qualifies, doesn't it? Categorizing every post may be a bit tricky, but I think it will get me more readers.

By Any Means Necessary

Today's Haaretz editorial (see also the original Hebrew version) is going to anger a lot of people. It says that today's anti-disengagement march might turn into a violent riot. If protesters try to break through into the Gaza Strip to settle and stay there to fight disengagement next month, "there may be no choice but to use crowd-dispersal equipment, just as the police and army do on other occasions. The danger to the state reflected in the march on Gush Katif is no smaller, and in practice is even greater, than the danger posed by other demonstrations that the security forces have been forced to handle." In other words, they're saying "shoot them, if necessary".

I applaud Haaretz. Though I see the disengagement plan as a victory to the Palestinian extremists, its cancellation would be a victory to Israel's extremists. At this point, success by our own radicals would not replace that of our enemies, but rather it would be a victory of the No Compromise Wing of both sides. That's why we need to crush the Settler Uprising just like we did with the uprising by Palestinian citizens of Israel in October 2000. Besides, if the army has no problem shooting rubber-coated bullets at Palestinians and Israeli Leftist Jews who violently protest against the security fence in the West Bank, they shouldn't have any problem doing the same with violent settlers.

I know I sound a bit like a fascist today, or like a settler-hater. But I'm not. I just see the extremists among the settlers as a danger to Israeli democracy.

Tag: disengagement

Fake Bulwer Lytton Winners

Any day now the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest results should be announced. This "worst opening line to a fictional novel" contest can be really hilarious sometimes. Even though there was nothing new on the contest's website, I decided to google "Bulwer Lytton 2005". I was surprised to discover a list of winners that appeared on several blogs. They seemed familiar and since they also didn't show up on the official site of neither the competition nor the SJSU English Dept. which runs it, I became suspicious. A short inquiry led to the revelation that it's some hoax that has come up every year and presented as the new winners. Since almost every blog said something like "I got this from..." I assume the bloggers are innocent chain-mail victims.

Anyway, though they aren't the real winners, they are no less amusing than the ones in the real thing. So here they are:

* As a scientist, Throckmorton knew that if he were ever to break wind in the echo chamber, he would never hear the end of it.

* Just beyond the Narrows, the river widens.

* With a curvaceous figure that Venus would have envied, a tanned, unblemished oval face framed with lustrous thick brown hair, deep azure-blue eyes fringed with long black lashes, perfect teeth that vied for competition, and a small straight nose, Marilee had a beauty that defied description.

* Andre, a simple peasant, had only one thing on his mind as he crept along the East wall: "Andre creep... Andre creep... Andre creep."

* Stanislaus Smedley, a man always on the cutting edge of narcissism, was about to give his body and soul to a back alley sex-change surgeon to become the woman he loved.

* Although Sarah had an abnormal fear of mice, it did not keep her from eking out a living at a local pet store.

* Stanley looked quite bored and somewhat detached, but then penguins often do.

* Like an over-ripe beefsteak tomato rimmed with cottage cheese, the corpulent remains of Santa Claus lay dead on the hotel floor.

* Mike Hardware was the kind of private eye who didn't know the meaning of the word 'fear'; a man who could laugh in the face of danger and spit in the eye of death -- in short, a moron with suicidal tendencies.

And the [fake] gran prize winner:
* The sun oozed over the horizon, shoved aside darkness, crept along the greensward, and, with sickly fingers, pushed through the castle window, revealing the pillaged princess, hand at throat, crown asunder, gaping in frenzied horror at the sated, sodden amphibian lying beside her, disbelieving the magnitude of the frog's deception, screaming madly, "You lied!"

Broken Dick (Nishbar Ha'Zine)

There's a saying in Hebrew slang - "my dick broke". This phrase, used by both men and women, expresses the feeling of being fed up, sick of something or angry. That's a good description of me right now, just without the angry part.

My final semester is over. I've done pretty badly (in the low 80's) on my tests, and I'll have two more tests to improve my grade in the courses whose first tests I screwed up. I have a lot of papers to write - some about 10-15 pages long (due by August), two 30 pages long (due by the end of September). Today I checked my MA registration status and it said I'm in the mid-range of grades needed to be accepted. That isn't good. I need just one last push these next few weeks to raise my average above 90.

But, alas, my dick has broken. I'm sick of studying. I need a vacation! I have to pull myself together, stop watching TV (even though I feel like watching Ewan McGregor's "Long Way Round"), stop using the internet (after all, rekindling my interest in blogging now, of all times, is just a bad idea) and study my ass off!

A Belated Happy Anniversary to My Blog

I'm about a month too late, but Happy Anniversary, Emmanuel Schiff and the Masters of the University (or as it was known in its early days, Emmanuel Schiff: Fake Name, Real Person)! I don't have any intention of checking out the monthly statistics and saying when I wrote the most and when the least like I did last year (which I did out of curiosity back then, since I doubt I have any significant audience). All I can say is that I've been lazy with the blog this year. For the first year and a half I always had at least one post per month - and in 2005, so far, there are two postless months - January and June. Maybe I have something against months with J's, N's and U's in them.

I changed the layout of the blog. The new template is much nicer than the bland old one. Whoever chose the previous one is a... Oh, actually that was me, too.

By the way, here's a curious tidbit: The word "blog" isn't recognized by Blogger's Spelling Checker. Ironic, isn't it?

London 2005, London 2012

I was going to write something about London winning the privilege to host the 2012 Olympics, and then came today's terrorist attacks in London's subway system and in one double-decker bus. All I can do now is repeat what I wrote in March 2004:

"The terrorist attack in Madrid last Thursday was a horror that I believe will occur again around Europe and any place the radical Islamists see as full of infidels. I miss the days when international organizations bent on destruction were just the figment of scriptwriters' imagination."

My little defiance against the terrorists is simple. I'll do what I originally planned - write about the Olympics.

I was rooting for New York, as a former New Yorker. But my second choice would have been London, or anything but Paris. It's something psychological and totally irrational. For one thing, from all the reports, Paris is readier than London on the ground, though the London presentation in Singapore was reportedly better. As an Israeli, I feel animosity towards the French that should probably be equally directed at the Brits. After all, it was a British university professors' organization that briefly boycotted Israel institutions. When it comes to the people, Britons are as anti-Israel as, if not more than, the French.

It all comes down to this - the governments. Blair is a likeable fellow. Jacques (as I pronounce it - Jackass) Chirac isn't. So we like the UK more because of their leaders. But Chirac isn't popular in France, and neither is he popular in Israel, while Blair isn't as popular as he used to be in the UK, but he's popular in Israel. Wouldn't that make us Israelis closer to the French?! Well, okay, not really. Frenchmen and Britons are united in their dislike for both the leaders.

So, anyway, London 2012. Tel Aviv 2016? No way! Maybe 2048.

The French Are Good For Something, After All

I'm glad voters in France rejected the European constitution, though not necessarily for the same reasons as the voters themselves. For one thing, the EU constitution is not an inspiring framework like the American and other historical constitutions. It's more of a "bureaucrat's Handbook", and two-hand book at that - it's huge! 450 pages long. I actually have it at home (a European politics professor distributed it to us), and I've sifted through it, in no thorough way (that would take ages, and I still wouldn't have understood most of the legal mumbo jumbo). I also think the EU should deepen its economic ties, but not its political ties. European countries are too old and too diverse to become a United States of Europe.

Benedict XVI

Damn! Why didn't I place a bet on that Irish site! German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was my first guess. I was wrong about the name he'd pick for himself, though Benedict was one of the three "saving face" options. In all, I got a 51 by the silly point system I devised in my previous post.

Ratzinger is a nice guy, I hear. Great. George Bush is a nicer guy than Kerry and I still picked Kerry. Clinton is a very nice guy - and still conservatives didn't want him as president. So Benedict XVI is a nice person. Nice to know. If only he weren't the ultraconservative outgoing head of the Inquisition (under the nicer, softer title "Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith")...

Papal Punditry

Pope John Paul II was a good man, though flawed (sorry, infallibility-believing Catholics). He way too conservative on many issues, such as condoms to prevent AIDS in Africa, but he was also progressive on many other things, such as relations with Jews.

One interesting thing to see in today's newspaper was seeing news headlines from around the world and seeing how John Paul was called in different places. This isn't because of the pope himself, but because of the fact that the church is international, but it's still worth mentioning. Ioannes Paulus (Latin), Johannes Paul (German), Jean-Paul (French) and the list goes on. In Hebrew, by the way he was called Yochanan Paulus.

Now for the punditry section. Everyone is trying to guess who the next pope is going to be. I have no idea who'll be elected, but I'll just guess. I'll list my top five guesses (plus 3 more) - Number one will grant me 50 points if elected. Number five - 10 points. Then I'll make wild guesses about the name he'll pick - again top five+3. In two weeks I'll see if the Holy Spirit guided me in my baseless guesses - I may get anywhere between all 100 points or nil.

And the nominees are:

1. German Cardinal Ratzinger (%50)
2. Nigerian Cardinal Arinze (40)
3. Italian Cardinal Dionigi Tattamanzi (30)
4. Brazillian Cardinal Hummes (20)
5. Belgian Cardinal Danneels (10)
Three runners-up that will give me one point if elected (at least to save face): Frenchman Lustiger, Hundurian Maradiaga or Italian Battista Re.

Names (if I'm wrong about the numbering, only the name itself counts):

1. Gregory XVII (%50)
2. Innocent XIV (40)
3. Leo XIV (30)
4. John Paul III (20)
5. Gelasius III (10) - in case an African is elected, he may name himself after the last African pope.
Runners-up (one point each): Clement XV, Benedict XVI or Adrian VII.

Lose-Lose Situation

The disengagement plan has now reached a catch 22 situation. If it goes through unilaterally, without getting anything from the Palestinians, Palestinian extremists will see it as their victory. If it doesn't go through, Israeli extremists will see that as their own victory. Now the big question is which is worse.

The sane voices who are against disengagement for practical reasons are not being heard. The fanatics who, mostly for religious reasons more than nationalistic reasons, oppose ever giving any land to the Palestinians have completely hijacked the whole anti-unilateral pullout discourse. People like me, who believe that we should give up lands for the future State of Palestine but only through negotiation, are silent. We don't want to align ourselves with the "Complete Land of Israel" folks in any way. We're cowards.

It was great!

What is "it"? Can't say. Very few people have "it" on their resume, so if you know "it", you can somehow find out who I really am. Maybe I'm overly cautious. Whatever...

We had a "talk non-stop" guest the last few days. Chewed our ears off. Thank the Lord Almighty that he's gone. Yes, it was that bad that I'm thanking someone I don't believe in!

Big News!

Last Tuesday I got a surprise offer. I have good news and bad news. The good news - I'm one of a select few. The bad news - because of this, I can't tell you what the big news is. It would be too easy to identify me if I said exactly what this is. All I'm willing to say is that this just might be the beginning of a future career.

Product Placement Shorts

Amazon.com has launched a new project called Amazon Theater. These are short films with such stars as Minnie Driver, Blair Underwood and Chris Noth. Of the four I've seen so far, three are horrible and pointless. Only one, "Tooth Fairy" is kind of cute, but like a good commercial, not like a good short film. But then again - all of these are just commercials. They are all about product placement, and Amazon isn't shy about that fact. The same page that shows the films also has a list of products shown in the short, and the credits list the products alongside the actors.

Amazon has every right to have these commercials on their site, but don't give me that "new venue for young artists" crap.

The Long Goodbye

It's taking Arafat forever to die. I have come to the conclusion that this situation is not bad at all. It's so absurd that it's immensely entertaining. Arafat is just about dead, but the Palestinians won't say so, despite the fact that they're already preparing for his burial. The Palestinian leadership is bickering with Suah Arafat. The French made a gesture of friendship by accepting the Ugliest Leader Ever as their patient, and got stuck knee deep in Palestinian politics and power struggles.

I know it isn't nice to gloat. But I am. So sue me.

Return of the Flash

While Barak Obama was busy winning a Senate seat in IL, another Barak from another place with the postal code IL was busy making a comeback. Ehud Barak, who disappeared like a flash of lightening (which, by the way, is what Barak means in Hebrew) when he lost to Ariel Sharon in 2001, is now going to run for chairman of the Labor Party and its candidate for Prime Minister in the next elections (which are scheduled for two years from now, but will probably be held earlier).

I voted for Barak in 2001. Had he stayed in the Knesset opposition after his failure, I would have probably supported him again. But he left and, much like Benjamin Netanyahu had done when Barak defeated him, spent most of his time abroad as a lecturer and consultant. He made some serious mistakes as PM, but when he temporarily abandoned politics he gave up a chance to rectify his mistakes.

It seems the contenders for the chairmanship of Labor will be:

• Shimon Peres - the 81 year old eternal chairman. Time for him to go.
• Ehud Barak
• Amir Peretz - the closest thing to a Bolshevik the Labor Party has seen lately. He's the head of Israel's strongest workers' union, with a far-left social and economic stance. He'd be a horrible PM, and I believe most Israelis know this. Labor would crash even harder with him at the helm.
• Benjamin Ben-Eliezer - the former Minister of Defense. He's a moderate, but I don't think he'd be a good chief executive.
• Matan Vilnai - my favorite. Though I don't like retired generals going into politics, I think this retired Maj. Gen. will be the best chance for Labor to get stronger and possibly win the prime ministry. He's a centrist. That's what Israel needs.

Hillary VS Giuliani 2008

Okay. Kerry lost. It isn't the end of the world. No reason to leave the States (wait, I live in Israel anyway. But if I were living in the States, I wouldn't leave it because of the election results). I'm not too thrilled about what I think Bush will do now, but I'm not worried. The country will be okay. Let's face it. Kerry wouldn't have been such a great president anyway. I'm sure he'd be better than Bush, but he wouldn't be nearly as good as Clinton was.

Now I hope 2008 will see Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee and Rudy Giuliani as the Republican nominee. Then I'd have some serious thinking to do. That would be a great race. Unlike 2004, where it was "not good" vs "pretty bad", a race between the Mayor and Senator from New York would be a race between two very worthy candidates. If either one of them would run against some one else, I'd pick them (HRC or Rudy). But with the two of them head to head I'd have to think long and hard. Who knows. With such a matchup, maybe even NY would become a swing state.

But then again, too many people loathe Hillary Clinton, so maybe she wouldn't be such a good candidate. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson might be a good choice. Edwards wouldn't be, since he is inexperienced. Oh hell, it's much too early for such punditry.

America's Day to Make a Choice

It's Election Day. I already sent in my absentee ballot a few weeks ago. I voted for John Kerry. Hopefully, so will a majority of Americans, especially in the swing states.

In my last post, I wished to wake up the next morning and hear of Arafat's death. That didn't happen (the Palestinians even claim he's recovering, though I take that with a grain of salt). Now I have a new wish for tomorrow morning, or at least tomorrow afternoon because of the time difference between Israel and the States. I hope to discover tomorrow that John Kerry won both the popular vote AND the electoral vote. My Arafat wish did not come true - maybe my Kerry wish will.

My Wish for Tomorrow Morning

Yasser Arafat's health condition is reportedly very bad. Some reports have even said Arafat is unconscious, though the Palestinians deny this. This horrible man, who I once mistakenly believed had changed his stripes, has been one of the worst leaders the world has ever seen. The damage he has inflicted upon Israel, the world and his own people, is huge.

Arafat is an obstacle to any progress, as long as he is alive. If Israel would kill him, he would remain an obstacle even after death, perhaps even a greater one than he is now. But if he dies naturally, though it may bring a degree of instability in the short term, it will be a very positive turning point in the long run.

So, now I am about to go to sleep. Hopefully, when I wake up tomorrow morning I'll find out that during the night Arafat died, preferably in excruciating pain as a huge gallstone on its way out of the urinal tract brought on a massive heart attack. Just because I want him to die naturally doesn't mean I want him to die in peace...

Disengagement a Very Bad Plan

Last Monday Ariel Sharon lost a symbolic vote in the Knesset when his political statement, a sort of State of the Union Address delivered at the beginning of each session of Parliament (twice a year), was rejected. The main focus of his statement was the disengagement plan.

I'm glad he lost. This was an operatively unimportant vote, but very symbolic. The Labor Party voted against him. The Haaretz editorial from October 13 criticized them for this, saying that if they want to ever be considered for leadership again, they should support Sharon's plan. I totally disagree. To be taken seriously they can't be Sharon's yesmen. They have to be a serious opposition party. Labor says it supports disengagement but did not support Sharon's statement, which also included his social and economic plans, which it opposes. I don't think the party should support the disengagement plan at all. After thinking it over for months, I have come to the conclusion that it is a disastrous plan. Pulling out without an agreement just makes things worse, and it will convince the Palestinians that violence works, just like the withdrawal from Lebanon in May 2000 may have encouraged the Intifada that started a few months later.

The far-right settlers oppose the disengagement plan because they want Israel to keep control over Gaza and the West Bank. I oppose the disengagement plan for the exact opposite reason - because I want to leave the territories, but in a safe and secure manner. If we leave unilaterally, Hamas will take over. Nobody will be able to stop their terrorist activities and we'll end up having to send our military there. On the other hand, if we have a treaty with someone on the other side, there will be someone with responsibility to fight terror. They may not want to do that, but at least the world, and most of all the USA, will pressure them into doing so. This won't be peace, but it will be a cease fire.

My Take on the Veep Debate

I watched the vice presidential debate last night, despite the fact that it was 3 in the morning here (good thing we moved back our clocks already while the US is still in daylight savings time, so at least it saved me an hour). All the commentary that I've read and heard kept saying that it was a tie, and that each side will think its own candidate won. I disagree. It was very close, but I think Cheney was better than Edwards.

In the presidential debate, Kerry was on the offensive more than he had to defend himself. Here, I felt Edwards was being attacked more than Cheney, and that the vice president's line of attack on Edwards' inexperience was more effective and more prominent than the senator's line on Cheney's extremism. Both men were right, because each of them targeted their opponent's Achilles Heal: Edwards is indeed inexperienced and probably wouldn't make a good chief executive (which is why, even though I'm voting for Kerry and Edwards, I hope the second JFK will complete his term without dying or resigning); Cheney is indeed extremely right wing.

I almost felt sorry for Cheney when they talked about gay marriage. It was an awkward moment when Edwards praised the Cheney family about how they treat their lesbian daughter. Also, Cheney probably agreed with every word Edwards said about the gay marriage issue, but couldn't say so, so as to not contradict the president. That's why he just thanked Edwards for his personal remarks and forfeited about a minute and a half of the time he had to respond - I don't believe we'll see anyone give up so much time in a debate any time soon.

Regarding Cheney's comment about the terrorist attacks in Israel being reduced because of Saddam not being in power: I think that's a load of crap. Sure, Israel, like the US and the rest of the world, is a lot better off without Saddam. He did indeed send millions to the families of suicide bombers, and it's good that it stopped. But still millions are pouring in to the bank accounts of terrorist groups and terrorist families - from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Lebanon and Syria. The US has started getting tougher on Syria, but it is too soft on the others. The reduction in attacks is the result of the fence and Israeli forces stopping attacks before they occur, not because of the current situation in Iraq.

Two Israelis Win the Nobel!

I'm very happy. Today three people got the Nobel prize in chemistry - all of my own (dual) nationality. Two Israelis and one American. Since many Americans have won Nobel prizes and only five Israelis had won before today, I am more excited about the two Israeli scientists who won.

And the Nobel goes to...

A few days ago, the 2004 Ig Nobel prizes were announced. These are the awards given to researchers who have made discoveries nobody really needs. Today, the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine was announced, and it seemed to me to be a direct continuation of the Ig Nobels. It was given to two American researchers who have extensively investigated the sense of smell and have discovered how we identify different smells. Don't misunderstand me. I think this is important research, but it doesn't seem Nobel-worthy to me. This prize is usually given to people who are researching diseases or ways to ease the pain of the ill. With all due respect to the sense of smell - knowing how it works isn't going to save anybody's life.

The next Nobel prizes will be announced in the next few days. Maybe Amos Oz will finally win in literature (though I doubt it). I hope neither the head of the IAEA, Muhammad al-Baradai, nor the Pope (who yesterday beatified Karl I, the Austro-Hungarian emperor who authorized the use of gas in World War I) will win the peace prize. Neither do I want any Israelis or Palestinians to win. I don't think either side has anybody worthy of the prize right now.

Terror in my City

Last Tuesday, two buses were blown up by homicide-suicide terrorist bombers in my city. 16 people died, ages ranging from 3 to 70. It's absolutely horrible. Though I didn't know any of those killed, it is still very shocking. We never had this kind of terror attack here. The last attack took place about two years ago - but even then it was of much smaller magnitude.

Chechen terrorists took 150 hostages at a school yesterday is Russia. Right now they are still being held. The terrorists probably hope Russian forces will storm in, so they can kill them along with the hostages and themselves. I don't understand how anyone can sympathize with people carrying out these kinds of outrages.

Voting Absentee

About two weeks ago I sent an application for a federal absentee ballot. I haven't gotten anything from the board of elections yet. I hope it wasn't lost in the mail. I hope I'll get my state primary ballot on time - though in my district there's this congressman that has been in office for about 20 years and got around 75% of the vote in the last two elections (good thing the internet exists to check this out). Since no democrat is running against Chuck Schumer there won't be a senate primary. So my vote in the primaries will not be anywhere near being the tie-breaker. But then again, neither will it be in the general election, including the presidential election - my vote for Kerry will just be added to the vast majority of New Yorkers voting for him. But hey, if Kerry has just one more vote than Bush in the legally unimportant national popular vote, I'll know I'm that one vote, symbolically. Anyway, I'll seriously start checking out information about congressional candidates once I get a ballot, to make an informed decision.

This will be the first time I vote in US elections. I've never asked for an absentee ballot before. I wonder how they make sure it's really me voting. Maybe once I get the letter from the board of elections I'll know a little more.

Israeli Gold!

Mistral surfer Gal Fridman made history today with 3 Israeli firsts:

1) First Israeli gold medal in the Olympics (but don't forget - we already have a lot of paralympic gold medals), which means it was the first time the Israeli anthem, HaTikvah ("The Hope") was heard at the Olympics. I think it is the most "Olympian" and optimistic anthem ever heard at the Games. You may not agree with Israeli policy. You may think of Israel as a fascist state (it isn't, but some mistakenly see it that way). But the Israeli anthem is the most hopeful of all anthems I know of. The anthems of all other countries talk about war, about defending the homeland, the greatness of the country and its people. HaTikvah, like it's name, is about hope for a better, independent future. It doesn't say anything about that future being achieved by bloodshed (it turned out that it did involve bloodshed, but that wasn't the vision of HaTikvah).

2) First Israeli to win two Olympic medals. He was a bronze medalist in Atlanta eight years ago.

3) First Olympic games where Israel wins medals in two different fields. We won one medal in Atlanta (mistral surfing) and one in Sydney (Kayaking) - both bronze. The first Games in which we won medals, Madrid 1992, we won two of them, one silver and one bronze, but they were both in the same field - judo. This year Arik Zeevi, who I had been hoping would win a medal, won a bronze in judo.

I am Uncle Emmanuel!

My new niece was born this week! She's so cute and adorable. If we ever feared my sister might have another autistic child, now we are completely confident my niece is absolutely fine. The difference is amazing. When my nephew was born he'd never look at us, and whenever we touched him he'd stiffen up. We now understand what that was, but at the time we didn't really notice. My niece, on the other hand, is very soft and cuddly.

She's a beautiful baby. I'm objective, I really am. When my nephew was born I thought he was ugly (and he was - big ears and a long nose, good thing that as he grew, the proportions of his face changed, and now he's very good looking. The only big thing on his face now is his big beautiful eyes).

Yesterday I went to visit my sister, mainly to see the baby. But my nephew was there when I came in. I didn't want to insult him so I stayed with him most of the time, and saw the baby for about only a minute. I feel sorry for him. He's flapping his hands a lot lately. He's nervous because of the new situation. I hope he'll get used to it soon.

Athens Olympics

The opening ceremony is underway, 202 national teams are walking through the Olympic stadium in Greece. I hope everything will go well. I'm cheering for two teams - Israel and the United States. Since the US is already the medal champion, I'll be watching Israeli athletes more closely. We so far have only 4 medals - one silver and three bronze medals. Hopefully, we'll get our first gold medal(s) in these Olympics, hosted by our (almost) next door neighbor. I heard wrestling is where we have most chances of getting a gold medal, as well as the pole vault. Personally, I'm hoping Arik Zeevi will win in Judo - he's been number one is so many championships, and though now he isn't at his best, I still hope he'll be able to win.

Also in Judo, Israel has won its first victory - a technical one. When Iranian champion Arash Miresmaeili and Israeli Udi Vaks were randomly drawn to compete against each other in the first round of competition. The Iranian refused to compete with an Israeli, thus redrawing from the Olympics, despite the fact he had a good chance of earning a gold medal. It's a great thing for Israel.

Driving Lessons

I just started driving lessons. It's about time. I'm already 5 years older than the minimum age for driving in Israel. The teacher is a nice guy and I enjoy driving. Until I started I didn't feel like getting a license but now that I've started I'm enthusiastic about it.

I had my 22nd birthday recently. I invited a few friends from the university and it was nice. I had too many beers left over, and since I don't like beer (nothing against alcohol, just don't like the taste) and neither does anyone else in my family, my father used some for Tandori Chicken or whatever it's called. Came out great.

Profile Question

Ever since May when I started my blog's profile, I have had the same silly question there. So now I have decided to change it to another randomly chosen question, but to prevent it from going into oblivion I'll write the old question and my answer here. From time to time I'll ask for a new random question and post the outgoing question here.

You've got to make contact with the alien leader. How will you tell when the conversation is finished?

When limbs start flying.

Shrek 2 and the Hebrew Bob Barker Treatment

Rachel is in Israel now (or at least, is supposed to be but is somewhere else for a few days, which I'm not supposed to know about. Long story). She spent the weekend with us and among other things, we also went to watch Shrek 2 with her. Shrek 2 is great (or like the show that made Jennifer Saunders (the Fairy Godmother) famous - absolutely fabulous). I enjoyed it just as much as I enjoyed the first one.

A few days ago controversy erupted here in Israel over the Hebrew dubbing of the movie. The line where donkey says about Puss-in-Boots "let's neuter him, give him the Bob Barker treatment" was translated into "Lets give him the David D'Or treatment". D'Or, an Israeli singer with a feminine singing voice, took offense and demanded that the dubbing be changed. After he threatened to sue, the Israeli distributors of the film agreed to re-dub it. Now it just says something like "Let's neuter the cat". Too bad D'Or had to wreck the joke. The odd thing is that he has been known to joke about his own voice several times, including in a cell-phone commercial. Maybe he only plays along with it when he gets paid (and frankly, I can understand him if that's the case). I watched the English version and didn't understand the Barker joke until I checked the internet and saw he's an advocate of pet population control via neutering.

Edwards for Vice President!

I think John Kerry made a good choice when he picked John Edwards as his running mate. He's a great campaigner and a livelier running mate than Cheney is for Bush (Cheney hates being on the campaign trail). I'd say the two Senators named John complete each other - for example, Kerry has experience but is a poor speaker, while Edwards is inexperienced but is a Clintonesque orator.

I must admit I was kind of hoping Bob Graham would be picked, but Edwards is good too.

More Good Grades

I got two new grades today in courses worth 4 credit points - a 98 and an 87. I'm very happy!

I'm a Gmailer!

As a longtime blogger and google user, I have been given the privilege to test (or in other words, be one of the first to use) G-Mail! So now I've got a new account just for my pseudonym Emmanuel Schiff and this blog, so if you want to comment about my blog and don't want to use the public comments here, or you want to make sure to get a reply, just e-mail me at es1982@gmail.com - no spam please! That reminds me, I hope they have good filters...

Time for Finals

Finals are underway now. I already took three tests and wrote one paper, and I have 2 more tests and 3 papers left. I got the results of my first test already - a 95!

Nothing new on other fronts.

The Best and Worst Week

It's the weekend now, and as I look back at the last few days, I've come to the conclusion that it somehow managed to combine the most positive and most negative things that have happened to me recently. Socially, it was the best week I've had in quite a while. I went out with friends three times and had a great time with them.

But with my family, it has been the worst week since we discovered my nephew is autistic. Now we know that his pedophile teacher definitely molested him. When my middle sister (my nephew's aunt) told my eldest sister (his mother) that she just remembered that a while ago he told her that he had gone to the teacher's apartment to watch television. My eldest sister knew about this - she was told by the teachers that they do that once in a while when she first saw the kindergarten, but then she saw nothing wrong with it, since she assumed a large group of kids go. But now, it sounded alarming.

She asked my nephew whether he went with the teacher to his apartment. He said yes, and when she asked which other people were with them he said the two of them were alone. When she asked what they did there, he looked sad and didn't want to answer. When she asked again he said the teacher told him not to say.

I feel so sad and angry. I hope the police nail the guy. This man cannot be allowed to work with children. He should be in jail - but if that fails, he should at least not be a kindergarten teacher.

What added to the sadness of the week came today, when I found out my uncle is dying of cancer. He has a slowly progressing form of leukemia which has no cure. Half of those with this disease can live on for about 12 more years, half live less. Hopefully, a cure will be found in time.

It was the best of weeks, it was the worst of weeks. Unfortunately, this time the negative has a stronger effect on me, so it was a bad week for me, despite the three social outings.

Rocky Horror Picture Show

I am a RHPS Virgin no more! I just came back from the weirdest movie I have ever seen. Actually, I've seen quite a few odd films and this one isn't necessarily the King of Strange, but it definitely is the weirdest screening I've ever been to. They had a cast from the Israeli RHPS fan club who played the characters on stage while the film was showing, and we, the audience, through rice, confetti and water during the film. I still don't totally understand what the hell went on there - I couldn't hear all that took place in the film because of the audience's shouting, and neither could I understand all the shouting, which might have completed the picture for me.

It was odd. It was fun. It was quite an experience. It was definitely a one-time thing.

Pedophile in Kindergarten

This week we discovered that my nephew's male kindergarten teacher is probably a pedophile. In this kindergarten, the two teachers are a husband and wife. They have this thing where a kid that misbehaves is taken by the husband to a sort of "isolation" in the library room for a few minutes while the wife stays with the other children (that's weird in and of itself - it's an odd punishment). One 4 year old girl complained to her parents that he showed her his penis while they were in the library. The parents decided to remove their daughter from the kindergarten. The teachers called a meeting with the parents, and most parents decided to support them and keep their kids there.

Lately, my nephew has been rejecting my father and me, preferring to be with mostly women. Also, other signs have made my sister worry that he might have been molested. He doesn't seem upset - he looks very happy, but maybe something small happened that bothered him a bit but wasn't very traumatic. So my sister wisely decided to stop taking him to that kindergarten before anything more serious happens.

If the guy did anything to my nephew, and I suspect he probably did, I feel like waiting for him in a dark alley with a baseball bat. It's too bad nobody has gone to the police - a pedophile should not work with children. His wife pisses me off as well, since she seems to be turning a blind eye to this.

It's good my nephew is out of there. I hope he hasn't been too traumatized. The last two days he hasn't been rejecting me, so that's a good sign.

Skydiving and Dead Presidents

Today was Reagan's funeral. Former President George H. W. Bush, Reagan's VP, is supposed to sky dive right afterwards (either today or tomorrow, I'm not sure). At first I thought it was inappropriate for him to celebrate his 80th birthday in such a manner so close to his predecessor's funeral. I didn't watch the ceremony (I guess I subconsciously decide to watch famous funerals only if those who died did so tragically, like Yitzhak Rabin or Princess Diana), but I heard that Bush seemed very emotional, even choking up a bit during his eulogy. I've come to the conclusion that I was wrong. Bush is truly sad about Reagan's death, but life goes on. And tomorrow he will become an octogenarian, and he has every right to celebrate in any way he chooses.

The State of Israel is run by clowns

Prime Minister Sharon fired the National Union ministers, Avigdor Lieberman (no relation to Senator Joe) and Benny Elon. Elon tried to avoid getting his pink slip, since it comes into effect 48 hours after he receives it, so he'd be able to vote against the disengagement plan in today's government meeting. He didn't succeed.

Members of Knesset Elon and Lieberman (it's great not to write Minister before their names) are far right wingers. Other than the fact that their policies don't match with the rest of the government's policies, the facts that Lieberman actively lobbies the idea of transferring Arab Israelis and that Elon was a bad tourism minister are themselves good causes for their dismissal. The government is much better without them.

But the farce didn't end there. All kinds of arm twisting went on till the very last second, when Benjamin Netanyahu (Treasury), Limor Livnat (Education) and Silvan Shalom (Foreign Affairs) stopped the government meeting in the middle. In the end an agreement was achieved. I'm not sure what I think of this compromise disengagement plan. I'm not crazy about it (but neither am I crazy about Sharon's original plan).

So what'll happen now? Political predictions aren't a good idea, especially in Israel, since everything could change. But here's my guess: The National Religious Party (Mafdal) will leave the government, Peres will try to get labor into the coalition, but most other Laborites will rightly bar him from doing so. They don't want to go to elections yet, though, so they'll be fighting oppositionists on most issues but will support the disengagement plan. Some Likud members might try to replace Sharon with Bibi, but Bibi himself doesn't want to be PM yet. I think he'll want to be elected PM with the next Knesset, which he hopes will be more comfortable for him.

So I think there will be a narrow government now, with a minority in the Knesset with just the Likud and Shinui's 55 MKs. There's going to be a long deadlock until either Bibi or Labor decide it's a good time for new elections (for themselves, of course, not for the country).

All this speculation, of course, goes down the drain if Sharon is indicted.

Sixty years since D-Day. Lots of world leaders and old war veterans are gathered in Normandy, France today. It's a historical date worth mentioning, though I don't really have anything special to say about it. I could wax philosophical about how the world has changed, but I'm sure that corny stuff was covered in all the speeches. Besides, just like they say that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything, the same goes about when you don't have anything smart or meaningful to say.

Former President Ronald Reagan has passed away. I was just a kid when he was in office but I remember I liked the guy. He had the charisma to make a kid like me like him. He was just one of the two politicians I was familiar with at the time (the other one was NYC Mayor Ed Koch), during the years I spent in the States. Of course, at that young age I had no idea what his policies were and, well, when it's still the decade you were born in, you don't care about those things. In retrospect, I think he was a good leader on some issues (such as bringing an end to the Cold War) and bad on others (like the Iran-Contra scandal). All in all, he did more good than bad.

Just sad to think he died not knowing he was ever president.

Happy birthday to my blog!

One year ago, I started this blog to rant about my love-life (or lack thereof). That was back when I was hung up on Naomi, who I bearly speak to now, mostly just "hi how are you" when we pass by each other. Now I'm hung up on someone else who has a boyfriend and looking for someone available to get hung up on instead.

So, some statistics about the first 12 months of my blog (not including June 2004):

This is my 85th post. I posted an average of a bit under 7 posts per month. The month where I was most active was June 2003 (12 posts), followed by January 2004 (11 posts). I posted only twice each month during September, November and December 2003.

Anyway, today isn't just this blog's first anniversary. These are historical times, but I'll post a seperate post for each reason it's a historical day. That way, every person can comment about only what he wishes to comment (hey, a guy can dream that he has any readers), and besides, it's a way to raise the number of posts I have, I admit... :)

Student Day 2004!

At the risk of some of my anonymity slipping away when some people might figure out which university I study in, I'll tell you about the big two-day student festival we had the last two days at a Mediterranean beach. 30 hours of shows. Some people camped there overnight, but I went back home and returned the next day. I was there less than most other people - arriving around sunset and leaving around two AM each night, since those hours were the main attraction, with Israeli artists performing. I had a great time, and each night I was with a different set of friends. On the way to and from the beach we passed by the army camp where I had my basic training - seems as disgusting from the outside as from the inside, but much less depressing (boot camp is certainly the worst time I had in the army).

Here's an incident that demonstrates how my nephew thinks, a story that can tell us something about the autistic mindset. My sister didn't feel well the other day while they were at our house, and she ran to the bathroom to throw up, but she didn't make it and puked just outside the bathroom. Sorry for the disgusting part - I don't mean to make readers feel sick, it's just important for the story. My nephew seemed like he doesn't understand how this can happen. First of all, he has never seen his mother throw up, and secondly, he knows that when people feel sick they should go to the bathroom. He was confused and didn't understand how she couldn't control herself. Also, he asked her "do you still don't want me to feel uncomfortable?" as if to check if her attitude hasn't changed, if she's still the same person despite the fact that she is now in a different situation from what he's used to. Last week, he asked a similar question when he first came to their apartment after a new air-conditioner was installed, and asked whether it was still the same home.

On the other hand, after my sister puked he said that he wants to hug her and seemed concerned. Empathy from an autistic kid. That's really remarkable.

My mother is such a worrier that it's rediculous. Today my sister was in reserve duty, and she didn't answer her cellphone. So my mother dragged my father to where my sister was to see if everything is okay. They saw she's just in a meeting, so they left.

Oy, ima polania (Polish mother in Hebrew, which is pretty much the equivilant Israeli stereotype of Jewish and Italian mothers in America).

It seems like Ariel Sharon might decide to move up the election (which is supposed to take place in November 2006 or 2007) if his disengagement plan isn't approved by the government. I have mixed feelings about this - for one thing, I think his plan isn't good enough. But I'd be happy to get rid of him when election time comes. The problem is that there's nobody who'll be much better. Whoever it is, I don't want him to be an ex-general (like Shaul Mofaz or Ehud Barak), a hawk (like Bibi Netanyahu) or an extreme peacenik (like Yossi Beilin). I want a moderate leftist (in peace and security issues) and a moderate center-rightist (in economic issues). Maybe Avrum Burg (the former Knesset Speaker) would be best of all the current politicians, though he has his share of flaws as well.

I have the same problem with the US election. I think Bush is doing a terrible job, and I think he should be voted out. I'm not that crazy about Kerry either, though, despite the fact that he was, and still is, my favorite among the Democratic primary candidates. I'd be happy to vote for McCain (for president, not VP).

Here's a silly SAT question I just thought up. Wisconsin : US States, as is Shavuot : Jewish holidays. Why? WI is the dairy state, and Shavuot (or Shavous as Americans call it) is when we eat a lot of dairy products. I have no idea how milk and cheese have anything to do with getting the Torah from Mount Sinai or with the end of the 7 weeks of the Omer (which starts the first day of Passover), but hey, I'm enjoying all the blintzes (rolled up pancakes with a cheese filling) and cheese cake.

I'm also feeling a bit under the weather, but why put a damper on things...

Something is wrong with Blogger's post counter. It says I have 77 posts and 7 recent posts. I've written 2 or 3 posts since then and it still has the same number. The profile also quotes up to the last post before the counter froze. I should check the help forums to see if they know about this problem.

Dana has a new boyfriend. I'm very disappointed. Maybe if I would have had guts last week or even before that, it wouldn't have been too late. Then again, it could be that she never thought of me as boyfriend material anyway so it would have just been awkward. Who knows.

Anyway, time to look for someone else. Maybe the fact that I'm actively looking for someone but without going out much prevents me from actually finding a girlfriend. The only girl who seems interested in me is not too bright, doesn't look good and smokes. I'm not deperate enough to go out with her, since that won't just be a compromise on some little issues - that's totally giving up on finding someone who has anything I look for in a girl, who is worth anything, someone at least on my level. I'm a great guy, dammit! Maybe a bit geeky, but still a great guy!

My sister wants to write a book about our experiences with her son and autism. She has written some stuff over the last few months and she wants us to write too. I think I'll use all I've written about my nephew here, I'll just translate it into Hebrew. Though I'll have to explain that I've already written about him for quite a while without revealing the fact I have a blog.

The peace rally seems to have been a success. The media is reporting between 120 and 250 thousand participants. It's good to see the left is finally waking up, even if I don't entirely agree with all the people that were there (which isn't suprising - different groups with different views took part in this rally). It was apparently such a success, that there were people that wanted to go but there wasn't enough room for them on the bus.

Now testing the new Comments option.

It's been a horrible week. 11 dead soldiers in Gaza. There's a big peace rally in Tel-Aviv's Rabin Square tomorrow, calling for a withdrawal from Gaza and resuming peace talks. Despite the fact that I'm swamped with papers to prepare, I've considered going (maybe because Dana said she'll be there), but I probably won't go. I've got mixed feelings - I don't think we should stay in Gaza, but I'm not sure if a one-sided retreat is a good idea. Who knows - it worked in Lebanon, so maybe it'll work here too. Anyway, I'm against Sharon's seperation plan, because it's partial and won't be effective enough. We should start talking to someone on the other side. Not Arafat himself, but even people who are his yesmen can be partners - a treachurous counterpart treated cautiously while keeping in mind that he's treachurous is better than what we have now.

Nothing much is new with Dana. We've started working on the paper together. So far I haven't detected any signals from her (positive or negative), so there's nothing much to discuss at this point. I'll just keep on trying, and maybe soon enough I'll have the nerve to be more direct.

This week I saw my nephew's regular kindergarten for the first time. There was a class and he didn't seem to do what others were doing. It was a bit depressing, but I hope he was just distracted by us being there.