Ah. After two weeks of difficult questioning, I felt it was time to relax. Despite the war in Iraq, I can still enjoy the California coastline guilt free. Israel is a beautiful country, and it was time to enjoy it. So after my last entry on the road to Be'er Sheva, I took two days to have fun ( Read more... )

Yakov posed this question to me on a bus in Jerusalem when I explained my trip the West Bank. I hadn't mentioned any support for Palestinians. I hadn't mentioned a political perspective. I mentioned I had travelled, but that was enough. If I was considering any support for Palestinians, or any question of Israel's need to "protect itself" at all ( Read more... )

I am writing this from a bus on the way to Be’er Sheva, the largest city in the Negev desert, which is saying much. Looking out my window, I am struck by the competing emotions. On one hand, I love this country. Something just feels “right”. There are hills of irrigated desert and it is reminiscent of the things I love about Southern ( Read more... )

The juxtaposition is almost too much. I'm writing from an internet cafe in the old city in Jerusalem. I'm surrounded by shops selling nick-knacks candy and falafel. People wander the dirty streets selling everything from vegetables to Yamulchas with "Israeli Defense League" embroidered. Inside the internet cafe, I have a technician helping me ( Read more... )

Last night (as in, my first night here) Zohar and I hit the town. The apartment isn't quite so luxurious from the outside but it's quite nice inside.,
( Read more... )

Take a sampling of New York City (East Village), sprinkle in Santa Monica coastline, add a pinch of modern achitecture and a hint of Arab architecture, and you get Tel Aviv. Oh, yeah, and everyone speaks Hebrew. Yet, half the businesses, all the street signs, and most adds area also in English. It's bizarre ( Read more... )

Take a sampling of New York City (East Village), sprinkle in Santa Monica coastline, add a pinch of modern achitecture and a hint of Arab architecture, and you get Tel Aviv. Oh, yeah, and everyone speaks Hebrew. Yet, half the businesses, all the street signs, and most adds area also in English. It's bizarre ( Read more... )

Wow, its been a long time since I posted. It's been a long time since I really thought about much beyond work. For those who don't know, I am also writing nowadays for an enviro blog called www.itsgettinghotinhere.org So I have a crazy idea for the LJ. Since I have my climate blog there, why not set a basic rule. No work here... except when it ( Read more... )

I just learned that a good friend from Wisconsin, Matt kruziki, has been missing for 2 months. He is presumed dead. We were in sporadic contact for the last year, and no one called me. Going on, worry about this and that. And then, tonight, I ran into an old co-worker who told me the news ( Read more... )

Spineless poll following cowering cowards of cowardice. Fucking democrats. Fucking greens for being so unpolitical. Fuck republicans for being souless. Fuck politics ( Read more... )