Burn Baby Burn Or Wherein We Discuss The Likelihood Of Jihadist Arson in the Mt Carmel Fire.

The Mt. Carmel fire in Northern Israel broke out at approximately 1000AM on Thursday. The fire overtook a bus on which 40 cadets of the Israeli Prison Service were traveling.  

A firefighter spokesman said the blaze had traveled 1500 meters  (3/4 of a mile ) in less than three minutes, adding, "The bus had no chance. They tried to escape but were burned alive. It was a horrific scene."

Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu said the Carmel fire is a "disaster on the scope that we are unfamiliar with."

Firefighting aircraft from Italy, Russia 

Israel is currently experiencing the worst drought in decades that have forced the government of Israel to import water from Turkey.  The current water shortage is so dire that several government ministries are preparing for the collapse of the Israeli agricultural sector. 

Today NASA released satellite imagery of the Carmel fire as seen from orbit.  The smoke plume is clearly visible extending westward almost 40 miles over the Mediterranean.  

This fire started in three or four places simultaneously.

If this is found to be the case, this fire is an ACT OF TERROR against the Jewish people and an ACT OF WAR against the State of Israel.   

Early indications point towards this as being the deadliest and costliest act of terror since the founding of the modern State of Israel.  

If this turns out to be jihadist arson, Israel can and must retaliate against the individuals and organizations that wish to do harm to the Jewish state and the Jewish people.  

Israel is a Western Nation or Wherein We Discuss While Israel is In the Middle East It Is Most Certainly Not a Middle Eastern Country

Yesterday a colleague of mine and I were discussing the Wikileaks release of the United States diplomatic cables.  He asked me how it felt to learn that leaders of certain Arab and Islamic countries have privately urged the United States to bomb Iran.


Travis asked me "Now that it is widely known other middle eastern countries  feel this way, what do you think Israel will do?" 


I responded by stating "You think Israel is a Middle Eastern country?  I think Israel is a Western country, not a Middle Eastern country.  It may be located in the Middle East, but it is definitely a Western country."

The Middle East, from a European perspective, is the region that is proscribes Western Asia and North Africa. 


Here in the United States, the term has recently been expanded in usage to sometimes include Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Caucuses and Central Asian countries like Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.  In the minds of many Americans, the term Middle East is synonymous with the Islamic World and Arabic peoples, even thought the majority of Muslims live outside the Middle East in Northern Africa and Southeast Asia. (Indonesia is the most populous Islamic country.)


This is all a very complex topic and shall be re-visited in a future post. 


Back to the issue at hand: Israel and its status as a Western country. 


Western nations are defined by several key attributes: cultural, economic and political.


Culturally, Western nations are informed by Judeo-Christian influences in their spiritual thinking, customs and either ethic or moral traditions and a Greco-Roman and Renaissance cultural influence, concerning artistic, philosophic, literary, and legal  themes and traditions.  An exception to this rule is Japan, while having a Western style secular culture, blends with it a strong tradition of Shinto and Buddhist tradition.


Israel is the center of the Judeo-Christian world and as such maintains a long connection with the many cultures and religions that originated therein or passed through - Judaism, Roman Empire, British Empire Islam, etc.  Inasmuch while Israel is geographically in the Middle East,  the heart of Israeli culture looks to the West - popular music, Dancing With the Stars, arts and sciences, education and fashion are all aligned with trends that resemble other Western countries like the United States, Britain and other EU nations.

The vast majority of Western nations have market based economies that are allowed, for the most part, to function autonomously.  


Israel falls well within this definition.


Israel is a diversified market economy with a rapidly developing high-tech sector, which is backed by a thriving venture capital industry. Israel possesses a substantial service sector and is a world leader in software development and is a major tourist destination. The major industrial sectors include metal products, electronic and biomedical equipment, processed foods, chemicals, and transport equipment. 


Tel Aviv was just named one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world.  


Until the discovery of the Leviathan Field, Israel was heavily dependent on imported oil and gas.  When developed to full capacity, this discovery could prove to sustain all of Israel's oil and gas needs for decades.


The concentration of high-tech industries in Israel is considered second in importance only to its Silicon Valley.


Israel as a tourist destination, a leader in high-technology and military hardware, green energy research and  commitment to stable investment and market fundamentals stand in stark contrast to the underdevelopment of the majority of bordering countries.  


These facts attest to the Jewish state as falling into the family of Western nations.   

Israeli Election Ballots

Countries of the Western world are generally considered to share certain fundamental political ideologies: the rule of law, respect for individual liberties and property rights.  Additionally countries with strong political and/or military ties to Western Europe and/or the United States, such as Japan and South Korea can be said to be Western in a political sense at least.  As such, this definition of the term "Western" is not necessarily tied to the geographic sense of the word. A geographically Western nation such as Cuba is not considered politically Western due to its general rejection of democratic institutions and personal liberty. 


Given the foregoing, I believe we can safely conclude that while Israel is IN the Middle East, it is NOT a Middle Eastern country, as its core identity is of a Western, market-based, liberal democracy based on recognition of human rights, respect for the rule of law and engagement in international democratic institutions.

Israel and Social Media Or Wherein We Discuss Why Benjamin Netanyahu Should Update His Twitter Account More Than Twice A Month

Now I am fairly new to the social media scene, only having been on Twitter since August of this year and on Facebook earlier this year.

For me, this is ok as I am what is called a "late adopter" of certain technology trends and I am not the Prime Minister of Israel.

The Government of Israel has fully deployed social media - Twitter, Facebook and Youtube - in an effort to communicate and engage with not only Israelis living in the haaretz, but with also the worldwide Jewish Diaspora and other interested parties.  With many pressing issues facing Israel, govenment use of social media is an efficient, rapid and dynamic use of technology to keep abreast of situations and information in a part of the world where information can change in an instant.  

A good example of this engagement is Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Alayon.  He has a dedicated URL which redirects to his Facebook page which is linked with his Twitter feed and the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs Youtube page.

Deputy Minister Ayalon is an active Twitter and Facebook user and every time I have messaged him on either of those sites, he has personally responded rather quickly. 

It is this type of engagement the Israeli public and Jewish Diaspora desire from our leaders.

Another prominent example of this engagement is Tzipi Livni, Leader of The Opposition in the Knesset (Israeli Parliament.) Tzipi has a Facebook page, Twitter feed and a Youtube channel all of which are interconnected and updated several times a day in both Hebrew and English.

In short, she knows her audience, how to connect with them through various platforms and channels and does so frequently.

Most ministries of the Government of Israel maintain all the requisite social media accounts.  

For a list of all Government of Israel offices and units with Twitter feeds, go here.

Amongst the offices and agencies on Twitter are the Tel Aviv Police, most Israeli embassies/consulates and several NGO's associated with the Government.

Take for instance the Israeli Defense Forces.  The Office of The IDF Spokesperson has a blog which is updated regularly, often multiple times per day.   The  Office of The IDF Spokesperson has established presences on Facebook, Youtube and Twitter.

Israel is a nation at war with hostile elements who wish to see the Jewish State and the Jewish people wiped from the face of the earth, destroyed in a nuclear attack and in general put in a bad way.

In the 21st century, when conflict management and information warfare have become commonplace, messaging is key.  We, as Israelis and Jews, need to know that our leaders recognize this fact.

Why then has Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has both a personal and official Twitter feeds, not updated either in what could be termed AGES??

Prior to today, Bibi's official Twitter feed, which is mainatined by Dr. Eitan Eliram, had not been updated since November 18th, 2010 @ 0626 MST:

Bibi's personal Twitter account appears to have been similarly abandoned, not having been updated since November 8, 2010 @ 0800 MST:

For Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to utilize any and all options available to communicate with the the Israeli public, the global Jewish Diaspora and other interested parties is simply ludicrous.  

He is the chief executive of the State of Israel, the most advanced and powerful country in the region which is brimming with bright, hardworking people who support him in his mission of securing the Jewish State and the Jewish people against those who would do us harm.  Any number of people are and would be able and willing to be the point person for this VITAL channel of communication. 

Hell, hire ME to do it!

I know that the majority of the Israeli public and American Jewry love Israel and support Bibi in doing what he must do to battle the jihadists. 

That said, we like to know what is going on with Israel and we have the chance to hear it right from the source and not selectively filtered through a news media outlet.

Bibi, just don't keep us in the dark.  

Conservative and Libertarian Gays vs. Gay, Inc or Wherein All Homosexuals Should Automatically Be Liberals

Several weeks ago I got into a rather heated discussion with a coworker of mine.

He, like me, is gay.

He, unlike me, is quite liberal or as Travis says "progressive."

We were talking about how GOProud, a national organization for conservatives and/or libertarians who HAPPEN to be GLBT (note that does NOT say an organization for GLBTs who happen to be conservative and/or libertarian.)

The subject of our exchange was the historic and unprecedented ad purchase by GOProud that took Congressional Democrats to task for engaging in unprecedented levels of spending, out of control debt and a general failure to get the economy back on track.  

Travis asserted that because I believe that the Democratic Party is no friend of LGBT Americans, I must be self-loathing and a traitor to the "gay rights movement" and whatsuch.  He told me that I am oppressed by my very nature and that I should just be shocked, SHOCKED (!!) that GOProud should be airing this ad against Pelosi and Frank and other Congressional Democrats.

So, I simply asked him, "What have Congressional Democrats done for you, for me and for LGBT Americans?"

Travis replied "Well, Democrats have certainly done more than Republicans."

I  then asked him the three substantive GLBT equality questions:

Me: "Have they repealed DADT?"
Travis: "No, they have not."
Me: "Have they passed ENDA?"
Travis: "No, they have not."
Me: "Have they repealed DOMA?"
Travis: "No, they have not."

I then proceeded to ask Travis how he feels about how Congress has since 2000 (which includes BOTH Democrats and Republicans) spent like a drunk sailor and how his children will feel about having to pay that back?

Once again, I was not given an affirmative/supportive answer to my question.

One would think that if you ally yourself with an organization, give money and time and resources to this organization that you would be able to show how this organization benefits you and your situation.

Yet the vast majority of GLBT Americans I speak with are unable to give any concrete benefits that the Democratic Party has given them in exchange for their investment.

Christopher Barron, Chairman of GOProud, summarizes the situation thusly:

"The reality is that sadly the gay left (Human Rights Campaign) has completely abandoned any effort to change hearts and minds. Instead of talking to people about our lives, our families, our beliefs, and our values, the gay left has taken the easy way out – preferring to attack, criticize, and demonize those who may disagree on with us on issues like marriage. Instead of working to win new friends, the gay left seems hell bent on creating new enemies."

My experience is organizations like the HRC are nothing but party organizers for the Democrats who will pump money from rich, white, liberal gays and continue to "advocate" for me and my kind.  I also hear that I am oppressed and should be miserable as I am a second class citizen incapable of marriage and that I should give more money to enforce the status quo that the HRC and Gay, Inc. have taken upon themselves to decide is acceptable.

First off, I am not oppressed.

I am a white, upper-middle class landowner with a fairly well-paying job that I am good at and enjoy. I have guns. I take trips when I want to and purchase what I need without a thought that I might be spending to much money.  I have minimal debt and good friends.

Oh yes, I'm oppressed

Second off, why should I let HRC "advocate" for me?

It was not the HRC that got DADT declared unconstitutional.

It was the Log Cabin Republicans.

HRC was AGAINST filing a lawsuit to overturn Prop 8 in California, a hateful and bigoted initiative which made marriage equality a thing of the past.

What type of schizophrenic thought process is this?

All this being said, I am not happy with the Republican Party either.  Illegal wars, shredding of the Constitution, advocating torture, Katrina, continued demonization of GLBT Americans, Islamaphobia, etc.

However, as Chris Barron says, groups like GOProud aren't MAKING new enemies.

The reality is the exact opposite.

GOProud is forging ahead with alliances and forming coalitions with the Tea Party movement to advance liberty for LGBT Americans by advancing liberty for ALL Amerericans.

Because in the end, there is no US or THEM, there is only US.

ONE NATION, under G-d, with Liberty and Justice FOR ALL