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Monday, March 31, 2014

EXTENT OF EBOLA OUTBREAK IN AFRICA "UNPRECENDENTED"

CONAKRY, Guinea -- Health authorities in Guinea are facing an "unprecedented epidemic" of Ebola, an international aid group warned Monday as the death toll from the disease that causes severe bleeding reached 78.

YELLOWSTONE VOLCANO - 4.8 - THE LARGEST EARTHQUAKE IN 29 YEARS

A 4.8 magnitude quake rocked Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming near the border with Montana, the US Geological Survey said. There were several aftershocks with a magnitude over 3.

Sunday, March 30, 2014

FRENCH ELECTIONS - RIOTS AFTER RIGHT WING NATIONAL FRONT MAKES BIG WINS - Citizens' concern over encroachment of Islam, high crime, and the loss of French way of life under liberal governments

Riot police called in as violent clashes break out across France after far-right National Front win dramatic gains in local elections

PHOTOGRAPHY - TWO ANTS HOLD HANDS AS IF DANCING

Let's dance: Photographer captures perfect moment as two ants appear to hold hands and sway
  • Insects glow crimson as they grasp each other's hands on top of rock
  • Perfect image by freelance architect Rhonny Dayusasono shot in in East Java, Indonesia after 150 attempts 
Read more and see pictures
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2592813/Title-goes-here.html

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ISRAELI MOTHER INVENTS IMPORTANT DEVICE TO HELP PHYSICALLY DISABLED CHILDREN TO WALK

Harness of hope: Invention from Israeli mother of wheelchair-bound son helps him and other physically impaired children walk for the first time 

CHRISTIAN ARABS DEMONSTRATE IN FAVOR OF ISRAEL - "ISRAEL IS OUR SAFE HAVEN"

From ISRAPUNDIT
A4I banner logo revisedSome 150 Israeli Arabic-speaking Christians on Sunday demonstrated outside the EU mission in Tel Aviv, demanding that the international community stop nitpicking against Israel and start combatting the severe persecution of Christians everywhere else in the Middle East.

Israel Today “Nations, organizations and international missions are quick to raise an accusing finger against Israel at every opportunity,” said Father Gabriel Nadaf, spiritual father of the Israeli Christian Recruitment Forum, which organized the rally. Those same nations and organizations “don’t life a finger against the ethnic cleansing of Christians in the Middle East,” the priest continued.
 
Father Nadaf went on to explain that from Syria to Egypt to Iraq to the Palestinian Authority, Christians on a daily basis suffer intimidation, harassment, desecration, coercion, torture, rape, physical abuse and murder. “According to the statistics, a Christian is murdered every five minutes [in the Middle East], and the Western world is silent about this,” he lamented.

In messages posted to its Facebook page during the Tel Aviv rally, the Israeli Christian Recruitment Forum insisted that “there is no place but Israel that is safe for Christians in the Middle East!”

While the rally was largely ignored by the mainstream Western media, the Israeli press took great interest, and forum spokesman Shadi Khalloul, a veteran of the IDF, was interviewed by various television and print media outlets. Khalloul has spoken numerous times with Israel Today regarding the Christian awakening within Israel, and the bonds of brotherhood than bind local Christians to the Jewish people and the Jewish state.

Last month, Israel’s Knesset took the first important step toward recognizing local Christians as an independent minority separate from the Arab Muslims. Both Nadaf and Khalloul say this is necessary, since local Christians were here before the Arab Muslim conquest around 600 AD.

A growing number of Israelis, including lawmakers and opinion shapers, are likewise waking up to the strong Christian minority in their midst, a minority that has been long neglected, but which is now beginning to boldly take its place alongside the Jews..
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Monaliza-Banner
Neither Israel, nor those whose acknowledge its right to exist, are to blame for the suffering of Christians in the Middle East.

The reality is that Israeli is the safest place in the Middle East for Arab Christians. A September 30, 2013 column by Steve Apfel in The Commentator notes that “in 1949, Israel had 34,000 citizens of that faith [Christian]. Today the number is 168,000.” Exclaiming over the irony that although Israel is the only country in the Middle East where Christians are protected and thriving, Western Christians are more focused on condemning Israel and championing the cause of Palestine (including those Palestinians that are killing their co-religionists), Apfel writes:



If Muslims are off limits and  sacrosanct; you’re allowed to say what you like about Jews, provided you call them Israelis or, better yet, Zionists. And you can write a made–to-order record of that people, replete with blood libels, ethnic cleansing, Apartheid and all manner of crimes a Jew can inflict upon humanity. Say about Zionists or Israelis whatever you like, only avoid the fatal ‘J– word trap.’

In a gentler vein, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, also wrote in a March 2012 Wall Street Journal opinion editorial, quoted byArutz Sheva, that Israel has become the only safe haven for Christians in the Middle East. This is not an idle boast – Oren based his statement on facts concerning the treatment of Christians and their increasing flight from the ancestral homelands where they were once the majority population.
 
Twenty percent of the  population of the Middle East was Christian a century ago according to Oren. Today only five percent are Christians, with the numbers continuing to go down, he continued. But he was writing in early 2012, before the most recent pogroms against Christians throughout Egypt by the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists, and the intensified victimization of Syrian Christians by the Obama administration-supported jihadists of the Free Syrian Army.

Strikingly, although Arab Christians “are granted full rights and privileges within Israel’s borders, the treatment they receive by the ‘Palestinian’ population is quite different,” Oren said.

He said that “since the Hamas takeover of Gaza in 2007, half the Christian community has fled.” In the Palestinian state, “Christmas decorations and public displays of crucifixes are forbidden,” Oren revealed. What’s more, ”In a December 2010 broadcast, Hamas officials exhorted Muslims to slaughter their Christian neighbors,” the Ambassador reported. 
 
Although you would never hear it from the anti-Israel Left, Christians are persecuted and forced to convert to Islam in the Hamas-controlled Gaza strip. It has nothing to do withanyone’s perspective on Israel.  In July 2012 CBN News reported that Christian men, women, and sometimes whole families, were disappearing for extended periods of time and then there would be an announcement that they had converted to Islam and they would reappear with armed people around them for “protection.”
 
One especially brutal case was the kidnapping and murder of Arab Christian, Rami Ayad, in October 2007. The Guardian reported how the body of Ayad, who worked in Gaza’s only Christian bookstore, was found in the street. He had multiple stab wounds and had been shot in the head. 
 
The reaction of Arab Christians living in Israel to the treatment of Christians elsewhere in the Middle East demonstrates the difference in their situation. The July 2013 Israel Today article reported that in Israel, ”local Arabs see what is happening across the Middle East and realize that Israel is the only place in the region where Christians can feel safe and belong.
controversy-palestinian-christians-3
 
The paper quoted Arab Christian Moran Khaloul who said,”We don’t live in Syria, where Christians are not allowed to speak…or in Iraq, where churches are bombed. We live in a Jewish state, which is democratic and free. As Israeli Christians we see ourselves as part of this state and not as part of those who oppose it.” 
 
The  Israel Today report also told of the growing number of Arab Christians that are serving in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), saying ”For a number of years now, a group of Nazareth Christians who are officers in the Israeli army have been actively recruiting young local Arabs to follow in their footsteps and serve the Jewish state.” Many Arab politicians oppose Arab participation in Israel’s defense forces for fear it will “legitimize the existence of the Jewish state (which pays their paychecks).” But, as one Arab Christian said, “more and more of us are realizing that there is no other country here that is worth fighting for.

Arab Christians are becoming increasingly emboldened. The paper reveals that some “even refer to themselves openly as ‘Israeli Christians.’” And one teenager who plans to join the IDF explained that “Ultimately, from a religious point of view, we are one. Jesus was a Jew, his mother was a Jew, and his 12 disciples were Jews.”
 
But guess what? To point out the difference between Israel’s civilized, respectful treatment of Christians and the savage, supremacist treatment they receive elsewhere in the Middle East that is causing the region to be emptied of Christians is. . . Islamophobia!
 
 
Source - http://www.israpundit.com/archives/63595090

RELATED

Muslims murdering Christians - Churches too busy criticizing Israel to protest
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/03/muslims-murder-150-christians-in-one.html

More on persecution of Christians by Islam
http://www.persecution.org/category/countries/middle-east/islam/

The hypocrisy of Christian churches in face of world wide persecution and murder of Christians -  
More concerned with denigrating Israel and promoting the creation of another terrorist Muslim country. 

U.S. taxpayers unknowingly funding Christian anti-Israel group - while Christians are murdered in Muslim countries
And more on checkpoints in the United States - because of Muslim terror
 
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ISRAEL - SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND CULTURE NEWS - March 30, 2014

Highlights

·        US neurosurgeons used an Israeli robot to treat a Parkinson’s sufferer whilst he slept.
·        Israeli scientists have developed nano-particles to deliver safer, more effective chemotherapy.
·        Official recognition that Israel is the best country in the Middle East for women.
·        An Israeli company prepares and cooks food using a printer.
·        Thanks to an Israeli innovation, those with impaired speech can now be heard clearly.
·        Brazil is using Israeli technology to protect this summer’s Soccer World Cup.
·        The Rolling Stones are to perform in Tel Aviv.
·        A video of the re-appearance of a Negev desert river has gone viral.

Last week’s JPost Israel Good News descriptive summary.  Click here for “Freedom begins here” (fast-loading version, no adverts).  Also on San Diego Jewish World and United with Israel.
·        Click here to see the newsletter on Jewish Business News.
 
DETAILS

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Israeli robot treats sleeping Parkinson’s patient.  The first ever Asleep Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) procedure was performed in Denver, Colorado using the Renaissance Guidance System developed by Israel’s Mazor Robotics.  The 65-year-old patient, previously suffering from Parkinson’s disease, was responding well.
http://mazorrobotics.com/mazor-robotics-announces-worlds-first-renaissance-asleep-deep-brain-stimulation-procedure/

Cooperating to save lives.  The two top Israeli lifesaving organizations Magen David Adom and United Hatzalah will now share data on all emergency calls. UH volunteers can arrive quickly on their ambucycles to treat the sick and injured.  MDA staff in ambulances will then continue treatment and take patients to hospitals.
http://www.jpost.com/Health-and-Science/Two-lifesaving-organizations-reach-accord-to-cooperate-on-saving-lives-345451

Using music to treat illness.  (Thanks to NoCamels.com) Israeli nonprofit “Haverut” (meaning “friendship” in Hebrew) is introducing healing through music. Guitarist Navot Ben Barak and flutist Avshalom Eshel perform twice a week at the Hadassah Medical Center in Israel. Songs are chosen for each individual patient.
http://nocamels.com/2014/03/music-for-medicine-how-musicians-are-easing-the-pain-of-patients/

Hope for Lupus sufferers.  Israeli biotech XTL Biopharmaceuticals is gearing up for a Phase II trial of its hCDR1 compound for the treatment of Lupus (Systemic Lupus Erythematosus – SLE).  HCDR1 is the first new treatment for Lupus in 50 years and was given special orphan status by the United States FDA.
http://www.xtlbio.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/XTLBIO-2014.03.25-New_Consultant_Release.pdf

IDF wins the fight against PTSD.  (Thanks to Nevet – www.broaderview.org) Canadian army experts are looking at how the Israeli Defense Forces have successfully combated Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  The rate of suicides in the IDF is lower that of the national population, thanks to several key support practices.
http://www.cbc.ca/day6/episodes/2014/03/21/episode-174-how-israel-stops-military-suicides-crimea-and-cartography-cosmic-expansion-and-more/   http://archpsyc.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1570377

New way to tackle ovarian cancer.  (Thanks to NoCamels) Professor Dan Peer of Tel Aviv University has devised a cluster of nano-particles that use chemotherapy to directly target tumor cells.  It has achieved a 25-fold improvement in effectiveness with a dramatic reduction in toxic effect on healthy organs.
http://nocamels.com/2014/03/tel-aviv-researchers-find-new-way-to-fight-ovarian-cancer/

How the Technion helps babies to breathe.  More on the 3D scanner developed in the Geometric Image Processing Lab of Israel Technion Professor Ron Kimmel.  (Baby mask reported in 11 Aug 2013 newsletter.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uH8lGJu9etM&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgcVmCglwB0

Israel’s largest ER.  The new 5,000-square-meter fortified emergency room at the Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva can treat 200,000 patients a year. It will relieve overstretched emergency rooms in other parts of the country, especially during the winter season. It cost NIS 90 million (about $26 million) to build.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4504102,00.html


ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL

The best country for women in the Middle East.  The latest World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap survey ranked Israel the best country in the Middle East for women’s rights and freedoms.  Israel also received the “Reducing the Gender Gap” prize in 2013 from the European Parliament for championing women’s rights.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/178504#.Uy3gd86oVez

Women-only lighting of Independence Day torches.  The traditional torch-lighting ceremony for Israel’s Independence Day will be conducted solely by 14 women who represent a unique mosaic of Israeli society.  They include Hindiya Suliman from Bu’eine Nujeidat, who works to empower Israeli Arab women.
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=16245

Chefs support Jerusalem’s elderly.  Leading chefs from European Michelin-starred restaurants have come to Israel to raise funds for Ezrat Avot. Together with Israeli chefs they will cook a gourmet dinner – the proceeds going to the construction of a health and life enrichment center for Jerusalem’s elderly population.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4503484,00.html

Israeli Arabs visit Toronto.  Eight Israelis including Muslims, Druze and Bedouin have been visiting Canadian universities to dispel the myths by Israeli Apartheid Week organizers.  Some students were shocked to learn that Arabs study at Israeli universities and that some even serve in the Israel Defense Forces.
http://www.cjnews.com/campus/israeli-arabs-help-debunk-apartheid-myths

Syrians treated in Israel:  This week’s program on Tel Aviv radio TLV1’s “Out of the Comfort Zone” features some of the staff that are treating injured Syrians at the Western Galilee hospital in Nahariya.
http://tlv1.fm/politics-commentary/out-of-the-comfort-zone/2014/03/21/give-me-your-tired-your-poor-syrian-refugees-in-israel-out-of-the-comfort-zone/

Ukrainians treated in Israel.  This video focuses on schoolteacher Sergiy Trapezun who was shot in Kiev and is now recovering after his operation at Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot, Israel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBj9Qxg4ZWQ

Top 10 global publisher of mobile games.  Tel Aviv-based TabTable offers more than 250 different games and apps for children, including lullabies, digital books and educational experiences.  It has reached 300 million downloads in 4 years and has 25 million monthly active users – including many in Saudi Arabia.
http://israel21c.org/technology/got-kids-tabtales-got-their-apps/


SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Print your meals.  Israeli company White Innovation has developed “Ginny”, a printer that could revolutionize the food market.  Place a capsule of raw ingredients into one side of the machine. Next, olive oil, milk or water is injected. It then marinates for about thirty seconds and produces a tasty, cheap and healthy feast.
http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/03/23/printing-food-israeli-start-up-could-revolutionize-the-way-we-eat-video/

Huge attendance at Israeli nano-conference.  Over 1,200 delegates from 36 countries arrived in Tel Aviv for the Israeli Nanotechnology Conference.  Co-chairman Rafi Koriat said that a nanotechnology revolution would be more life changing than the automobile, microtechnology and optics revolutions combined.
http://www.israpundit.com/archives/63594954#more-63594954
http://www.timesofisrael.com/chief-scientist-israeli-nanotech-set-to-make-commercial-leap/

California and Israel: Partners in cybersecurity.  Tom Glaser’s latest article highlights the work of the California-Israel Chamber of Commerce.  The CICC formed a Cyber Security Committee and developed programs, events, and participation in Israeli conferences to generate business and investment opportunities.
http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/california-and-israel-partners-in-cyber-security/

UK PM praises Israeli science.  British Prime Minister David Cameron sent Israel a recorded greeting in honor of Israeli Science Day, which was launched at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.  ”The work of your scientists is helping humanity in some truly profound ways,” he said.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4503008,00.html

Israelis clean up in the US.  Israeli cleantech companies enjoyed 4 fruitful events in March – at the Landmark Israeli Dealmakers Summit in New York; the New England-Israel Business Council in Boston; the CleanTech Forum in San Francisco and an exclusive investor event in Chicago.
http://israelnewtech.com/2014/03/new-york-boston-events-create-opportunities-israeli-cleantech-companies-u-s/  http://israelnewtech.com/2014/03/israel-newtech-opens-doors-cleantech-companies-san-francisco-chicago-events/

High-tech Israelis aim for the Moon.  (Thanks to Grace) Israeli high-tech start-ups continue to propel themselves farther into the realm of science fiction.  This innovative know-how continues to turn adversity into opportunity.  Israel is now Britain’s largest trading partner in the Middle East — thanks to high-tech.
http://standpointmag.co.uk/node/5411/full

Start speaking freely.  Israel’s VoiceITT has developed speech technology for kids and adults who have difficulty making themselves understood.  If you suffer from a stutter, a stroke or a neuro-degenerative disease, TalkITT will turn your impaired speech into a computerized output of what you really intended to say.
http://israel21c.org/social-action-2/voiceitt-speaks-for-those-who-cant/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-rng3rGYws   http://www.voiceitt.com/

Israel and Canada team up to extract shale oil.  The chief scientists of Israel and Canada have approved a $6.7 million project to develop novel and more efficient ways of extracting shale oils and other gases deep in the earth.
http://www.jspacenews.com/new-israeli-canadian-collaboration-will-explore-unconventional-fuel-extraction/


ECONOMY & BUSINESS

Israel is working.  Israel’s unemployment rate dropped to a record low in February.  For those aged 15 and over, the rate declined to 5.8% from 5.9% in January.  For those between 25-64 the rate dropped dramatically from 5.4% to 4.9%.  Participation in the labor force rose to a record high of 80%.
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=16401

Israeli trade delegation in London.  A 30-strong group of Israeli companies specializing in retail and water technology met heads of British corporations, including Marks and Spencer, Tesco and ASOS to strengthen trade ties with the UK.  The initiative was part of the TeXchange program.
http://www.thejc.com/business/business-features/116727/happy-days%E2%80%99-israeli-trade-delegation-comes-downing-street    http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-uk-courts-israeli-start-ups-1000925214

Israeli news station on US TV channel.  Jewish Life TV will air Israel’s i24news on American cable and satellite networks.  This is the first time that the Jaffa-based i24news will be shown to an American audience via television, and not just online.  i24news will provide 15 hours of weekly magazine content.
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-drahis-israel-news-channel-to-air-in-us–1000925276

Brazil to protect world cup with Israeli drone.  The Brazilian Air Force will operate the new Hermes 900 UAV from Israel’s Elbit Systems to protect 2014 FIFA World Cup soccer games.
http://jewishbusinessnews.com/2014/03/26/elbit-systems-to-supply-uav-for-2014-fifa-world-cup-games/

Intel backs OrCam’s glasses for the blind.  Intel Capital is investing $15-20 million in Israeli artificial vision company OrCam Technologies. OrCam develops a range of visual improvement products for the visually impaired including a system enabling them to read content and interpret the world around them.
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-intel-invests-20m-in-artificial-vision-co-orcam-1000927831

Israeli lottery raised NIS 5.8 billion.  Israel’s National lottery raised more than $1.5 billion in 2013 – a 14% increase on 2012.  Grants were given to build kindergartens, classrooms and municipal buildings. Scholarship funds, the arts and the sciences also benefited.
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-national-lottery-revenue-up-14-1000926998


CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT

30 years of the Israeli opera.  Israel Opera’s ambitious 30th anniversary program features seven operas, two Masada events and 10 dance concerts.  Operas include Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville”, Verdi’s “Nabucco” and a new Israeli opera “The Lady and the Peddler”.
http://www.jpost.com/Arts-and-Culture/Music/Israel-Opera-celebrates-30-years-with-new-season-345903

Tel Aviv’s Bauhaus buildings are on-line.  Design lovers can now use the Internet to preview some of Tel Aviv’s largest collection of Bauhaus architecture in the world.  Artist Avner Gicelter has produced a series of colorful graphics that illustrate why Tel Aviv was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2003.
http://www.greenprophet.com/2014/03/visit-the-worlds-largest-collection-of-bauhaus-architecture-from-your-desk/    http://tlvbuildings.avnergicelter.com/

Blair Underwood visits Israel.  (Thanks to Size Doesn’t Matter) Award winning actor and director Blair Underwood met with Mehereta Baruch, an Ethiopian Jewess who arrived in Israel aged 10 and is now Deputy Mayor of Tel-Aviv.  He also toured a military base, Haifa’s Bahai Gardens and Rambam hospital.
http://americasvoices.us/2014/03/19/blair-underwood-visits-israel/

Here come the Rolling Stones.  It’s true!  World renowned rock band The Rolling Stones confirmed that they will perform in Tel Aviv on June 4, as part of their “14 On Fire” world tour.  Ticket sales for the Park Hayarkon begin Sunday, March 30 at 9 a.m.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/rolling-stones-confirm-june-4-israel-show/

Running for LOTEM.  One of the Jerusalem Marathon participants was partially paralyzed Raz Ruterman who raised funds and awareness for the NGO LOTEM – Making Nature Accessible.  Raz serves as a tour guide for the inclusive trail at Nahal Hashofet in the Megiddo region – one of the first accessible trails in Israel.
http://www.jpost.com/Enviro-Tech/Rooting-for-nature-346089

The first international birding race.  Israel is hosting an inaugural birding sporting event.  Fourteen international teams of birders will participate in the “Champions of the Flyway” in Eilat to celebrate and raise awareness of bird migration.  The winning team spots the most unique species in 24 hours.
http://www.jspacenews.com/israel-will-host-inaugural-champions-flyway-birding-race/

Israeli cyclists go Dutch.  The Prime Ministers of Israel and the Netherlands established the “Going Dutch” conference – an international conference on urban planning and cycling culture.  It also featured an interactive bicycle exhibition entitled Free Wheel, with more than 100 historic bicycles on display.
http://www.greenprophet.com/2014/03/going-dutch-and-100-historic-bikes-in-israel/

Israeli wins women’s Thai boxing championship.  Sarah Avraham (20), of Kiryat Arba in Judea, won the Woman’s World Thai-Boxing (Muay Thai) Championship in Thailand. Sarah was born in Mumbai and converted to Judaism in 2008.  She immigrated to Israel following the attack on the Mumbai Chabad House.
http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/israeli-wins-womans-world-thai-boxing-championship/2014/03/24/


THE JEWISH STATE

Miracles.  Here is an appropriate video to bridge the period between the Jewish festivals of Purim and Passover. It features singers Gad Elbaz, Naftali Kalfa and Ari Lesser.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HqgwB6kOEA

The only pilot ever to thwart a highjacking.  The disappearance of Malaysian flight MH370 has led to the emergence of another story.  In 1970, El Al pilot Uri Bar-Lev used bravery, trained skills (plus something that cannot be defined) to disarm two armed PFLP terrorists who threatened to blow up his plane at 29,000 feet.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/how-to-defeat-airplane-terrorists-from-the-only-pilot-who-ever-foiled-a-skyjacking/

Thousands attend North American Aliya events.  Seven Aliya fairs took place simultaneously in major cities across North America. Some 1,500 showed up to the Nefesh B’Nefesh Aliyah Mega Event in Times Square.  Other fairs took place in Toronto, Montreal, Florida, Baltimore, Chicago and Los Angeles.
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=16039

Like streams in the Negev.  Recent desert rainstorms in Southern Israel have caused a river to return.  This video has had over half a million views in two weeks.  Watch closely after 45 seconds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMm8wWNo7cA

Look who’s cleaning windows?  On the recent Jewish festival of Purim, two window cleaners dressed as the superhero Spiderman cheered up young patients at Israel’s Schneider Children’s Medical Center.
http://nocamels.com/2014/03/spiderman-window-cleaners-surprise-childrens-hospital-on-purim/

New look ZF.  The UK’s Zionist Federation has launched its re-branded image. It has also released a new film that publicizes Israel’s technological achievements, thriving economy and culture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUTg1eCEcjE&feature=youtu.be

 
SOURCES
 
The Jewish State in its true light.

Also see - http://israel21c.org/technology/
 
Article VIA ISRAPUNDIT

RELATED

This month on The Daily Mail - Israeli mother invents device to help physically disabled children to walk
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/03/israeli-mother-invents-important-device.html
 
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SHEEP OCCUPY THE PARIS LOUVRE MUSEUM IN PROTEST

Flock of sheep captured storming the Louvre museum in Paris yesterday
  • Could be seen gathering under pyramid, before invading the gallery itself
  • Farmers were campaigning against reforms to the EU's agricultural policy
  • Officials say no arrests were made and no artwork was damaged
  • Read more and see pictures
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2592284/French-farmers-invade-Louvre-SHEEP-protest-EU-subsidies.html
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    PORK PRODUCTS SUCH AS SALAMI AND SAUSAGES CAN BE CONTAMINATED WITH HEPATITIS E - VICTIMS UNAWARE

    Tens of thousands could be falling ill each year after eating sausages, pork and salami contaminated with the hepatitis E virus, according to Government experts.

    Saturday, March 29, 2014

    WHAT'S BEHIND THIS HYSTERIA ABOUT ALLEGED CAT-TO-HUMAN TRANSMISSION OF TUBERCULOSIS? What about the new 1,000 cases of TB a day through human transmission in Europe alone?

    NEWS REPORTS MAKE NO MENTION OF THE EPIDEMIC OF HUMAN-TO HUMAN TB TRANSMISSION - 1,000 NEW CASES A DAY IN EUROPE ALONE.  And this is the hard to treat tuberculosis, which is resistant to antibiotics.
     
    The more "experts" warn about cat-transmitted tuberculosis, the higher the suspicion over what is really motivating this sudden hysteria. 

    5.1 EARTHQUAKE IN CALIFORNIA FOLLOWED BY 40 AFTERSHOCKS - NO INJURIES - PHOTOS OF DAMAGE

    Los Angeles residents warned that Friday's 5.1 magnitude earthquake could be followed by a much larger event. 

  • Friday's earthquake was the second sizeable tremor in two weeks - following a 4.4 quake on March 17
  • Last night's quake rattled a wide swath of Southern California, breaking water mains in a nearby community and prompting Disneyland to shut down rides
  • There were no reports of injury or substantial structural damage from the quake

  • Read more and see pictures
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2592158/Customers-flee-Disneyland-5-3-earthquake-shakes-downtown-Los-Angeles-followed-TWENTY-aftershocks.html

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    Friday, March 28, 2014

    FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT CARTER TALKS ABOUT VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN BUT ONLY IF IT HAPPENS IN THE WEST - DOES NOT WANT TO OFFEND NON-WESTERN SENSITIVITIES

    Former president Jimmy Carter spoke with CBC Radio The Current this morning about his new book A Call to Action which tackles the subject of discrimination and violence against women.  He declined to denounce non-Western countries during the interview because it's a delicate subject and they might take offence.  He said the West should instead deal with its own problems first.

    Thursday, March 27, 2014

    CHINA - AT LEAST TEN TIGERS BUTCHERED AS VISUAL TREAT FOR RICH BUSINESSMEN AND OFFICIALS

    Police have arrested 15 gang members, who could face the death penalty.  The alleged killings took place in Zhanjiang city in Guangdong province.  At least one tiger was electrocuted.

    BRITISH MILITARY BLOWING UP LIVE PIGS

    The irony of it all.  The British military trains to kill Islamists abroad - while their own government has allowed the entrance of countless jihadists and jihad sympathizers into the country, and provided them with all kinds of benefits at taxpayers' expense.  By 2066 Britain will cease to have a white majority.

    Daily Mail:  Ministry of Defense in animal cruelty row as it emerges live pigs are being blown up in secret experiments into blast injuries
    • 115 pigs killed in 3 years to test if they could be saved after being injured
    • Some put in body armour before being blown up at Wiltshire military base
    • FOI figures show 21 pigs were blown up in 2010, 37 in 2011 and 57 in 2012
    • Peta: Exercises cannot be justified 'medically, ethically or educationally'
    • MoD insists they help develop treatments that have saved lives in war
    • Banned in 80% of Britain's allies in Nato, including 20 EU member states
    • It comes after revelations of Operation Danish Bacon training courses
    Read more
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2590513/MoD-animal-cruelty-row-emerges-live-pigs-blown-up.html

    RELATED

    Sadistic killing of puppies and kittens at British labs - all legal
    http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/03/all-legal-sadistic-animal-cruelty-of.html


    British educational authorities sanction the torture and murder of innocent animals by students
    British universities murdered 1.3 million animals last year, including dogs and cats
    Tests included inflicting stress on animals.  That's torture.  On a separate case a student skinned a cat alive and the principal's reaction was Boys will be boys.
    Read articles:
    http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/02/british-academic-authorities-sanction.html


    British youth torturing and killing wildlife, particularly ducks, geese, swans
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2590611/Sick-teenage-yobs-attack-goose-leaving-just-half-beak-tongue-hanging-out.html

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    ANTI--GUN CALIFORNIA STATE SENATOR LELAND YEE ARRESTED FOR GUN TRAFFICKING

    Famously anti-gun in public, State Sen. Leland Yee has fought loudly for stricter gun laws as a state senator and assemblyman.
     
    After the Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, Conn., Yee said:
     ”Assault weapons are killing little kids, babies.”

    Wednesday, March 26, 2014

    SO CUTE - TWO SNAILS LEAN IN FOR A KISS

    Let's take things slow: Two snails lean in for a kiss while perched precariously on top of cherry stems 
    • Snails captured locking lips while perched atop cherry stems in Ukraine
    • Can be seen slowly stretching towards each other, before finally kissing
    • Amazing moment was captured by photographer, Vyacheslav Mischenko
    • 'The pair seemed really intent on reaching each other, said 48-year-old
    Read more and see pictures here
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2588734/Two-snails-lean-kiss-perched-cherry-stems.html

    RELATED

    Nice and informative blog about snails with links to other snail sites
    http://www.freewebs.com/worldofsnails/

    About Snails
    http://animals.about.com/od/mollusks/ig/World-of-Snails/Dangers.htm

    Smart snail leaves tail to escape predator
    A species of Japanese snails that can shed its tail and later regrow it in order to escape its predator. While such characteristics are well-known to be exhibited by lizards and earthworms, this it the first time such behavior is seen in snails.
    http://japandailypress.com/smart-japanese-snail-leaves-tail-to-survive-0314368/

    Snails Scientific Classification - Wikipedia
    Kingdom:Animalia
    Phylum:Mollusca
    Class:Gastropod

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    HOSPITAL INFECTIONS KILL 75,000 A YEAR IN THE USA - AND BETWEEN 200 AND 400 THOUSAND DIE FROM MEDICAL ERRORS

    WASHINGTON, March 26, 2014 (AFP) - People who are hospitalized in the United States risk acquiring healthcare-associated infections, which kill 75,000 patients per year, US health authorities said Wednesday.  

    MAD SCIENCE - HOW THE U.S. NAVY PLANS TO BEAM DOWN ENERGY FROM SPACE SOLAR PANELS - WHAT COULD GO WRONG?

    The Navy’s Plan to Beam Down Energy
    From Orbiting Solar Panels
     
    By Allen McDuffee - Wired Magazine
     
    For decades, the Pentagon has been the world’s largest oil consumer, and as global petroleum prices continue to rise, the military has been searching for feasible energy alternatives. Now they’re looking in space.
    U.S. Navy Illustration via Wired Mag
     
    The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is building technology that will allow the military to capture solar power in orbit and project it back down to Earth. Not only would space solar potentially save the Pentagon buckets of cash, but it could simplify military deployments. Fuel tankers would no longer have to reach remote or volatile areas, and missions could run longer without having to return to base to refuel.
     

    WASHINGTON MUDSLIDE - FREEZING FOUR YEAR OLD BOY TRAPPED IN THE MUD IS RESCUED

    'He was freezing': The incredible moment a little boy entombed in mud is pulled to safety after Washington landslide swept away his father and siblings
    • Jacob Spillers was stuck knee-deep in the mud in Snohomish County on Saturday when he was found by the rescue team and taken to safety
    • He had been home with his father, brother and 2 sisters and none of them have been found
    • Jacob has been reunited with his mother, who was at work at the time
    Read more and see pictures of Jacob being rescued.
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2590141/Incredible-moment-4-year-old-boy-plucked-mud-destroyed-home-Washington-landslide-siblings-dad-missing.html

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    CRIMEAN MILITARY DOLPHINS DEFECT TO RUSSIA

    Ukraine’s secret unit of spy DOLPHINS that can plant bombs and attack divers with guns have defected to Russia
    • The Ukraine Army has been using dolphins and seals since the 70s
    • After the fall of the USSR, the 'dolphin spies' remained in the Ukraine
    • The dolphins have been trained to hunt for mines and plant bombs
    • They can also attack divers with knives or pistols attached to their heads
    • Now, military dolphins in Crimea will be transferred to the Russian Navy
    BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN Wikipedia
    The use of bottlenose dolphins as naval assets was begun during the Cold War in Sevastopol by the Soviet Union in 1973. With the collapse of the USSR, they were enlisted in the Ukrainian navy.
     
    Now after the Russian repossession of the Crimean peninsula this month, it was revealed today that the combat dolphins are now back under Kremlin control along with all 193 military units in the region. 

    MYSTERIES REMAIN ABOUT DISAPPEARED MALAYSIAN PLANE - UNANSWERED QUESTIONS


    by   for Breitbart

    Five Unsolved Mysteries of Missing
    Malaysia Airlines Flight 370     
     
    Malaysian officials announced this week that they believe "beyond a reasonable doubt" that missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 ended its voyage in a remote area in the southeastern Indian Ocean. Yet as the search narrows to an area thousands of miles from anything, unfollowed leads and unsolved mysteries remain.

    RED-MED FREIGHT RAIL LINE AS ALTERNATIVE TO SUEZ CANAL - RED SEA TO MEDITERRANEAN FREIGHT RAIL LINE ACROSS ISRAEL TO BEGIN CONSTRUCTION NOW

    The growing economic alliance between Israel and China is moving forward with a $2 billion, 300 kilometer freight rail link connecting Eilat, on the Red Sea, with Ashdod Port, on the Mediterranean, Germany’s Deutsche Welle news magazine reported on Monday. 
     
    The project, nicknamed the ‘Red-Med,’ was greenlit by Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet, and construction, which is expected to take five years, will begin within the year.

    Tuesday, March 25, 2014

    SOCHI OLYMPIC VILLAGE ALREADY A GHOST TOWN - COMPLETE WITH POTHOLES

    Just a few weeks ago it was the centre of the sporting world, home to some 6,000 athletes, buzzing with excitement, the shining showpiece of Vladimir Putin's £31billion Winter Olympics extravaganza.  But today the Russian resort of Sochi resembles little more than a ghost town with deserted buildings, empty streets and a few stray dogs basking in the sunshine the only signs of life.  
     
    According to Human Rights Watch, 2,000 families were moved out for the games, some of them were paid but others weren’t. Around 40 new hotels were built and and a further 15 completely re-furbished in the hope Sochi would become an all-year-round tourist destination.
     
    Read more and see pictures -
     
    RELATED
     
    To be fair, this is not just a Russian problem.  It happens in one way or another at all Olympic sites.  Olympic corruption and scandals are international in nature and they start with the Olympics concept and organization itself.  And taxpayers get invariably stuck with the bills. 

    Also the above article by Daily Mail focuses mostly on the negative.  Russia deserves credit for having organized a major event that went rather well and in safety.  Sochi and the Olympics themselves had been threatened by Muslim terrorists who like to blow people up to make a point. 
     
    Time to call for an end to the Olympics
     
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    WASHINGTON MUDSLIDE - BUDDY THE LABRADOR PULLED ALIVE FROM RUBBLE


    Daily Mail - The incredible moment Buddy the Labrador was found ALIVE among the rubble of his family's home after Washington mudslide
    Photo CBS News
    • The Kuntz family were out at a baseball game on Saturday and were shocked to return to find their home completely destroyed
    • They had left their dog Buddy and their cat inside the home - which had traveled around 100 feet down the mountain
    • When they returned the next day to see what they could salvage, they heard whimpering and found Buddy unscathed
    • It came as a moment of joy for the family, who lost an aunt in the slide
    Read more, see pictures and video
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2589076/The-incredible-moment-Buddy-dog-rubble-familys-destroyed-home-Washington-mudslide.html

    REAL LIFE NOAH'S ARC - THE ROCKY RIDGE SANCTUARY WHERE CREATURES LIVE IN HARMONY WITH EACH OTHER

    Inside the incredible animal sanctuary where 60 different animal species all live (and sleep) in harmony

    It could be a scene from the real life Noah's Ark - animals join together two-by-two to form the most unlikely friendships at the Rocky Ridge Refuge.

    The non-profit organisation, based in Midway, Arkansas is home to more than 60 different animals, who are extremely close and share a deep bond as they eat, sleep and live together.  Rocky Ridge's owner, Janice Wolf set up the animal refuge over 20 years ago to care for animals. Each animal was in desperate need before they arrived at the refuge. Some were sick, others homeless and all needed a place to stay.  Ms Wolf carries out many of the medical treatments on the animals herself. 
     
    In 2010, she launched a Facebook page with pictures of her adorable animals and it became so popular that she sells a Rocky Ridge Refuge calendar to raise funds. She also has a website rockyridge.com where she accepts donations on behalf of the animals.
     
    Among her long-term residents are: Cheesecake the capybara, Butterbean the bull terrier, Bazinga the miniature horse.  Crouton the African Sulcata tortoise and Barcode the zebra.

    Lurch
    A former resident, Lurch, the African watusi steer became the Guinness World Record holder for having the largest horn circumference. But his celebrity status didn't go to his head, instead, he remained humble. Sadly, Lurch died in 2010.

    Ms Wolf, who studied social work and counselling before working as a technician for a veterinarian, has dedicated her life to looking after  wildlife and sick pets.  She said: 'In devoting my life to helping animals, I am fortunate to have many wonderful, loving creatures around me.'

    Read more and see pictures of animals of different species cuddling affectionately with each other.
     http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2588818/The-real-life-Noah-Inside-incredible-animal-sanctuary-60-different-animal-species-live-sleep-harmony.html

    Rockyridge Sanctuary's website
    Until one has loved an animal,a part of ones soul remains unawakened. ~Anatole France
    http://rockyridgerefuge.com/

    Photos from Rocky Ridge's website
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