Air Police Confiscate $410,000 on U.S.-Israel Route
(IsraelNN.com) A joint operation by Israeli and American officials has netted $410,000 in cash, checks and gold that 14 air travelers were carrying. It was the first operation of its kind, aimed at stopping the practice of bringing large sums of undocumented money.
American and Israeli custom officials supervised the operation, which took place during the past week.
What is "undocumented money?" If I save my money in cash and buy gold coins over time, then decide to travel with it, it can be confiscated from me...just like that??? Am I being presumed to be guilty of some crime until proven innocent???
Jews take heed. Your civil rights, your person and your property are no longer protected under the Constitution of the United States. (In Israel, we never had such "protections.")
29 May 2008
28 May 2008
Talk About Scary Scenarios!
Saw this on 'Drudge':
"Intelligence and law enforcement sources tell ABC News they are expecting al Qaeda supporters will post a new video on the Internet in the next 24 hours, calling for what one source said is "jihadists to use biological, chemical and nuclear weapons to attack the West."
Followed by this at Arutz Sheva:
[Edited at the request of commenter Yaak]
Suffice it to say that like Yaakov in the house of Lavan, Jews in chu"l should realize that the protection of the Shechinah has left the lands of exile and they should have the same sense that Yaakov showed when he left Lavan's house without any further delay.
If that is abolutely impossible for you, then at last stay away from crowds of people. Jews particularly should not congregate in large numbers, especially in places which have already been attacked or been threatened with attacks designed to incur mass casualties.
Jews who are absolutely stuck in the lands of exile should move en masse out of the larger cities to more rural areas of their host countries.
"Intelligence and law enforcement sources tell ABC News they are expecting al Qaeda supporters will post a new video on the Internet in the next 24 hours, calling for what one source said is "jihadists to use biological, chemical and nuclear weapons to attack the West."
Followed by this at Arutz Sheva:
[Edited at the request of commenter Yaak]
Suffice it to say that like Yaakov in the house of Lavan, Jews in chu"l should realize that the protection of the Shechinah has left the lands of exile and they should have the same sense that Yaakov showed when he left Lavan's house without any further delay.
If that is abolutely impossible for you, then at last stay away from crowds of people. Jews particularly should not congregate in large numbers, especially in places which have already been attacked or been threatened with attacks designed to incur mass casualties.
Jews who are absolutely stuck in the lands of exile should move en masse out of the larger cities to more rural areas of their host countries.
Olmert's Options
Surely, you are not unaware of the storm surrounding Ehud Olmert over money he received from NY businessman Moshe Talansky. In response to increasing calls for Olmert's resignation from across the political spectrum, the most recent report on Arutz Sheva says:
"...Olmert can choose any one of several options: resignation, vacation, temporary suspension, or the like."
There is another, much scarier scenario. Olmert could launch another ill-timed, ill-considered, ill-fated war in order to remain in office. Who would expect a PM to step down in the midst of a massive national crisis?
Perhaps this would be the best thing for klal Yisrael in the end as it would effectively destroy what is left of the "Zionist regime."
"...Olmert can choose any one of several options: resignation, vacation, temporary suspension, or the like."
There is another, much scarier scenario. Olmert could launch another ill-timed, ill-considered, ill-fated war in order to remain in office. Who would expect a PM to step down in the midst of a massive national crisis?
Perhaps this would be the best thing for klal Yisrael in the end as it would effectively destroy what is left of the "Zionist regime."
23 May 2008
LATE UPDATE
BARUCH HASHEM!!
(IsraelNN.com) Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the Rabbi of Tzfat, said Friday that his father, Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, is conscious after surviving a heart attack and a stroke "by a complete miracle." Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu is answering urgent questions by nodding his head, making signs with his hands and writing. The ailing Rabbi even tapped on the monitors next to his bed while his family members sang songs about Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai in honor of Lag BaOmer.
Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu: Father Conscious, Communicating
(IsraelNN.com) Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the Rabbi of Tzfat, said Friday that his father, Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, is conscious after surviving a heart attack and a stroke "by a complete miracle." Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu is answering urgent questions by nodding his head, making signs with his hands and writing. The ailing Rabbi even tapped on the monitors next to his bed while his family members sang songs about Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai in honor of Lag BaOmer.
"I told my mother and teacher, the Rabbanit, that her husband was saved twice and reborn," Eliyahu told a reporter for Nfc at Meron.
SHABBAT SHALOM
BS"D
YESHIVAT HARA'AYON HAYEHUDI
Jerusalem, Israel
HaRav Yehuda Kreuser SHLIT"A, Rosh Yeshiva
PARSHAT BECHUKOTAI
19 Iyar 5768/23-24 May 2008
COUNTING THE BLESSINGS IN THE LAND
“If you go in My statutes and observe My commandments and perform them, then I will provide you rains in their time and the Land will give its produce, and the tree of the field will give its fruit.”
The question is: Is this the reward for doing G-d’s commandments, or is this just the consequence of following the path of the Torah; i.e., Mother Nature kicking in and the way the order of the world is supposed to work when the Jewish people go in the way of the Torah?
It's interesting that we do not find, anywhere in the Torah, references to the next world, as opposed to other religions, where much is written about the bliss of the next world for the faithful (e.g., 70 virgins), a point which, by the way, cannot be proven, as no one has returned to tell us about it. The Torah, on the other hand, only hints of the time to come by telling us that so-and-so died and he was gathered to his people. Meaning - taken up to the next world.
In the Torah, it’s all about this world, doing Hashem’s commandments. Sure, there is also the other side which concerns us, our portion in the next world, but the emphasis has always been and must be on this world. As our Rabbis teach us, “Today to do the commandments, and tomorrow to receive the reward”.
This earthly blessing, then, is ours only when we go in the path of the Torah. We find with the blessing which Isaac gave to Esau: “Behold, of the fatness of the earth shall be your dwelling, and of the dew of the heavens from above. By your sword you shall live, but your brother you shall serve. Yet it shall be, that when you are aggrieved, you may cast off his yoke from your neck”. For Jacob, the blessings of this world are on condition that we follow the right path; when we don’t, the brotherly yoke of Esau is thrown off. But for Esau and his descendants, their blessings are non-conditional.
Where, then, does this heavenly blessing take place when the Jewish people do G-d’s will? Only in the Land of Israel, of course! It is for this reason that the Torah describes to us the detailed account of the blessings of rains, bountiful crops, and peace, all which take place in the Land of Israel. For the Jew, no matter how good he is, when he lives in the exile the blessings cannot come. For the very nature of exile can be nothing but a curse for the Jewish people. For that reason, it is listed along with the curses in our parsha.
The “Chatam Sofer” adds that it is only in the Land of Israel that every act that we do becomes a mitzvah As he writes: “Just like one who is learning Torah would not say 'I’m learning so I won't have to put on Tefillin', so, too, with working the Land of Israel one should not say 'I’m learning now', but rather close your book and go out to work the Land, for working the Land in Israel is itself a mitzvah”.
For this reason, the Torah tells us that the earthly blessings that come down in this world are funneled though the Land of Israel. Our parsha talks only about the material blessings flowing to the Land when we follow Hashem’s commandments. But when we reject the Torah’s path, and talk turns to giving away parts of the country from north to south to the center - what blessings can come out of this? Rather, only curses! For no matter how hard they try to bring peace, a curse, like the exile, can never be a blessing.
The road map is before us: Let us wisely choose the right path.
With love of Israel,
Levi Chazen
THE EXILE IS ENDING. DON'T FIGHT IT. GO WITH THE FLOW OF ENERGY THAT IS MOVING US FORWARD TOWARD THE COMPLETE REDEMPTION.
Raid on U.S. Plant Causing Shortage of Kosher Meat
(IsraelNN.com) Consumers are beginning to hoard kosher meat as supplies dwindle following last week's immigration raid on the Iowa packinghouse run by Agriprocessors, one of the largest kosher meat producers in the US. "I don't think the Jewish community can survive at this point without [Agriprocessors owner] Rubashkin," a suburban Washington D.C. market owner told the Washington Post.
YESHIVAT HARA'AYON HAYEHUDI
Jerusalem, Israel
HaRav Yehuda Kreuser SHLIT"A, Rosh Yeshiva
PARSHAT BECHUKOTAI
19 Iyar 5768/23-24 May 2008
COUNTING THE BLESSINGS IN THE LAND
“If you go in My statutes and observe My commandments and perform them, then I will provide you rains in their time and the Land will give its produce, and the tree of the field will give its fruit.”
The question is: Is this the reward for doing G-d’s commandments, or is this just the consequence of following the path of the Torah; i.e., Mother Nature kicking in and the way the order of the world is supposed to work when the Jewish people go in the way of the Torah?
It's interesting that we do not find, anywhere in the Torah, references to the next world, as opposed to other religions, where much is written about the bliss of the next world for the faithful (e.g., 70 virgins), a point which, by the way, cannot be proven, as no one has returned to tell us about it. The Torah, on the other hand, only hints of the time to come by telling us that so-and-so died and he was gathered to his people. Meaning - taken up to the next world.
In the Torah, it’s all about this world, doing Hashem’s commandments. Sure, there is also the other side which concerns us, our portion in the next world, but the emphasis has always been and must be on this world. As our Rabbis teach us, “Today to do the commandments, and tomorrow to receive the reward”.
This earthly blessing, then, is ours only when we go in the path of the Torah. We find with the blessing which Isaac gave to Esau: “Behold, of the fatness of the earth shall be your dwelling, and of the dew of the heavens from above. By your sword you shall live, but your brother you shall serve. Yet it shall be, that when you are aggrieved, you may cast off his yoke from your neck”. For Jacob, the blessings of this world are on condition that we follow the right path; when we don’t, the brotherly yoke of Esau is thrown off. But for Esau and his descendants, their blessings are non-conditional.
Where, then, does this heavenly blessing take place when the Jewish people do G-d’s will? Only in the Land of Israel, of course! It is for this reason that the Torah describes to us the detailed account of the blessings of rains, bountiful crops, and peace, all which take place in the Land of Israel. For the Jew, no matter how good he is, when he lives in the exile the blessings cannot come. For the very nature of exile can be nothing but a curse for the Jewish people. For that reason, it is listed along with the curses in our parsha.
The “Chatam Sofer” adds that it is only in the Land of Israel that every act that we do becomes a mitzvah As he writes: “Just like one who is learning Torah would not say 'I’m learning so I won't have to put on Tefillin', so, too, with working the Land of Israel one should not say 'I’m learning now', but rather close your book and go out to work the Land, for working the Land in Israel is itself a mitzvah”.
For this reason, the Torah tells us that the earthly blessings that come down in this world are funneled though the Land of Israel. Our parsha talks only about the material blessings flowing to the Land when we follow Hashem’s commandments. But when we reject the Torah’s path, and talk turns to giving away parts of the country from north to south to the center - what blessings can come out of this? Rather, only curses! For no matter how hard they try to bring peace, a curse, like the exile, can never be a blessing.
The road map is before us: Let us wisely choose the right path.
With love of Israel,
Levi Chazen
THE EXILE IS ENDING. DON'T FIGHT IT. GO WITH THE FLOW OF ENERGY THAT IS MOVING US FORWARD TOWARD THE COMPLETE REDEMPTION.
Raid on U.S. Plant Causing Shortage of Kosher Meat
(IsraelNN.com) Consumers are beginning to hoard kosher meat as supplies dwindle following last week's immigration raid on the Iowa packinghouse run by Agriprocessors, one of the largest kosher meat producers in the US. "I don't think the Jewish community can survive at this point without [Agriprocessors owner] Rubashkin," a suburban Washington D.C. market owner told the Washington Post.
22 May 2008
It's LaG BaOmer
Like a blazing fire out of the dark of night, let the redemption shine on Your children, Hashem.
Continue to Pray for Rav Eliyahu
Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu Undergoing Surgery
(IsraelNN.com) Rabbi Mordechai Elyahu, the Rishon LeTzion, is undergoing head surgery in Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital.
21 May 2008
UPDATE on Rav Eliyahu
Baruch Hashem!!
Rabbi Eliyahu’s Condition Improves
(IsraelNN.com) Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the son of Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, said Tuesday night that his father’s condition had improved, and that doctors said he was out of danger. Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu thanked the public on his family’s behalf for praying for his father’s speedy recovery. He asked people to avoid sending SMS messages with untrue information regarding his father’s medical condition.
Hundreds participated in a prayer rally on Rabbi Eliyahu’s behalf on Tuesday afternoon after the rabbi’s situation worsened in the morning and he required resuscitation and ventilation. His personal assistant, Rabbi Shmuel Zafrani, requested Wednesday that the public continue to pray for Mordechai Tzemach ben [son of] Mazal Tov.
Rabbi Eliyahu’s Condition Improves
(IsraelNN.com) Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the son of Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, said Tuesday night that his father’s condition had improved, and that doctors said he was out of danger. Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu thanked the public on his family’s behalf for praying for his father’s speedy recovery. He asked people to avoid sending SMS messages with untrue information regarding his father’s medical condition.
Hundreds participated in a prayer rally on Rabbi Eliyahu’s behalf on Tuesday afternoon after the rabbi’s situation worsened in the morning and he required resuscitation and ventilation. His personal assistant, Rabbi Shmuel Zafrani, requested Wednesday that the public continue to pray for Mordechai Tzemach ben [son of] Mazal Tov.
20 May 2008
URGENT!!!!!!!!!
Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu---Mordechai Tzemach ben Mazal Tov---is in critical condition and in desperate need of our prayers.
His assistant suggests the following:
"...pray for a complete and speedy recovery for the rabbi, Rav Mordechai Tzemach ben [son of] Mazal Tov. Among other spiritual measures, Rabbi Zaafarani suggested reading the Book of Psalms individually or as a group, as well as reading the sections of Psalms 115 that correspond to the letters of Rabbi Eliyahu's name."
"A special prayer vigil for his recovery has been called for 5:00 p.m. at the Western Wall."
His assistant suggests the following:
"...pray for a complete and speedy recovery for the rabbi, Rav Mordechai Tzemach ben [son of] Mazal Tov. Among other spiritual measures, Rabbi Zaafarani suggested reading the Book of Psalms individually or as a group, as well as reading the sections of Psalms 115 that correspond to the letters of Rabbi Eliyahu's name."
"A special prayer vigil for his recovery has been called for 5:00 p.m. at the Western Wall."
Just the Beginning of the New Reality
US Vice President Cheney recently went to his Saudi master to request an increase in oil production and left thinking he had received something, but nothing changed. US President George W Bush made the same trip with the same request a few days ago. I think they are finally beginning to understand. They CAN'T increase production because the oil is past its "peak." And this is another sign that the nations are finished. It's finally Yisrael's turn to climb the ladder.Opec says oil could hit $200
US begins to break foreign oil ‘addiction’
They've Bought Their Way In
They say they only want to 'bless' Israel and the Jewish people. They say there are no strings attached. They've 'donated' millions of dollars.
One of the most important lessons we learn in life is this: "Nobody gives something for nothing."
'Anti-Missionary Bill Undermines Freedom of Expression'
A legal opinion prepared by the Justice Ministry opposes legislation that would strengthen efforts to combat missionary activities in Israel
It's not enough that they have thoroughly assimilated the Jews living in chu"l. They are determined to assimilate the proud Jews of Eretz Yisrael and make us a little American clone-state!!
Despite what the assimilationists want you to believe, this is very serious business, folks!
The Torah says in Devarim, chapter 13:
One of the most important lessons we learn in life is this: "Nobody gives something for nothing."
'Anti-Missionary Bill Undermines Freedom of Expression'
A legal opinion prepared by the Justice Ministry opposes legislation that would strengthen efforts to combat missionary activities in Israel
It's not enough that they have thoroughly assimilated the Jews living in chu"l. They are determined to assimilate the proud Jews of Eretz Yisrael and make us a little American clone-state!!
Despite what the assimilationists want you to believe, this is very serious business, folks!
The Torah says in Devarim, chapter 13:
The followers of the false god have a new campaign called "Behold Your God." These are also the words the Erev Rav said to us when they created the Golden Calf. We reject ALL false gods!!7. If your brother, the son of your mother, tempts you in secret or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your embrace, or your friend, who is as your own soul saying, "Let us go and worship other gods, which neither you, nor your forefathers have known."
8. Of the gods of the peoples around you, [whether] near to you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth;
9. You shall not desire him, and you shall not hearken to him; neither shall you pity him, have mercy upon him, nor shield him.
10. But you shall surely kill him, your hand shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
11. And you shall stone him with stones so that he dies, because he sought to lead you astray from the Lord, your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
12. And all Israel shall listen and fear, and they shall no longer do any evil such as this in your midst.
13. If you hear in one of your cities which the Lord, your God, is giving you to dwell therein, saying,
14. "Unfaithful men have gone forth from among you and have led the inhabitants of their city astray, saying, 'Let us go and worship other gods, which you have not known.' "
15. Then you shall inquire, investigate, and ask thoroughly, and, behold, it is true, the matter is certain, that such abomination has been committed in your midst:
16. You shall surely strike down the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroy it with all that is in it and its livestock, with the edge of the sword.
17. And you shall collect all its spoil into the midst of its open square, and burn with fire the city and all its spoil, completely, for the Lord, your God; and it shall be a heap of destruction forever, never to be rebuilt.
18. And nothing that is doomed to destruction shall cling to your hand, so that the Lord may return from His fierce wrath, and grant you compassion, and be compassionate with you, and multiply you, as He swore to your forefathers.
19. For you shall hearken to the voice of the Lord your God, to keep all His commandments which I command you this day, to do that which is proper in the eyes of the Lord, your God.
SH'MA YISRAEL! HASHEM ELOKEYNU! HASHEM ECHAD!!
18 May 2008
WOWOWOW!
Just as Nava's sources have predicted...
US Source: Bush May Return
(IsraelNN.com) A US government source said Sunday that President George W. Bush may return one more time to the region before his term ends in January 2009.
The news, reported on IDF Army Radio, was unofficially released by an unnamed American government official.
Ynet reports:
Rice: Israel, Palestine discuss peace in private
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are privately discussing a peace agreement and the talks should intensify in the next several months, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Sunday. "I do know how seriously they are discussing all of the key issues," Rice told reporters aboard Air Force One.
"I think you're going to see them intensifying those discussions over the next several months."
Bush will no doubt return to announce and inaugurate the new "State of Palestine." G-d help us!
US Source: Bush May Return
(IsraelNN.com) A US government source said Sunday that President George W. Bush may return one more time to the region before his term ends in January 2009.
The news, reported on IDF Army Radio, was unofficially released by an unnamed American government official.
Ynet reports:
Rice: Israel, Palestine discuss peace in private
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are privately discussing a peace agreement and the talks should intensify in the next several months, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Sunday. "I do know how seriously they are discussing all of the key issues," Rice told reporters aboard Air Force One.
"I think you're going to see them intensifying those discussions over the next several months."
Bush will no doubt return to announce and inaugurate the new "State of Palestine." G-d help us!
17 May 2008
Faith Defines Meaning
Ashreinu! Too often we forget how fortunate we are to have the Truth of Torah to guide us. Our faith infuses meaning into every aspect of our lives and we are not left to wonder "why?"
Chinese turn to rumour, superstition to explain disasters
HONG KONG (AFP) — ...China's massive earthquake has given way to rumour and superstition. ...Chinese are looking for a cosmic explanation for their misery. ...Fantastic theories for the disaster -- as well as January snowstorms, March riots in Tibet and this month's disastrous cyclone in Myanmar -- have become cyberspace currency....
In the absence of religion, deemed by the Communists as a vestige of China's imperial past, people look to the heavens for omens and invest numbers with meaning,....
"One of the things the government is trying hard to avoid is normal people believing that the heavenly powers are displeased with what is going on here on earth,"....
...the Year of the Rat on the Chinese lunar calendar, was destined to be one of tumult and disaster.
Chinese turn to rumour, superstition to explain disasters
HONG KONG (AFP) — ...China's massive earthquake has given way to rumour and superstition. ...Chinese are looking for a cosmic explanation for their misery. ...Fantastic theories for the disaster -- as well as January snowstorms, March riots in Tibet and this month's disastrous cyclone in Myanmar -- have become cyberspace currency....
In the absence of religion, deemed by the Communists as a vestige of China's imperial past, people look to the heavens for omens and invest numbers with meaning,....
Even as the government has sought to capitalise on the predilection for portents by scheduling the opening ceremony of the Olympics for August 8, at 8:08pm, some Internet users have given added significance to the fact that the date for each of this year's disastrous events adds up to eight.
May 12, the day of the quake, adds up to eight (5, for May, + 1 + 2) -- is 88 days before the opening ceremony.
"This is how people deal with disasters like this, by finding meaning and hidden significance in numbers and cycles," said Gerome Barme, professor of Chinese history at Australian National University.
...the Year of the Rat on the Chinese lunar calendar, was destined to be one of tumult and disaster.
"This is a year of earth and water, it means the earth is unstable and water is very powerful," he said.
The snowstorms -- which crippled huge swathes of the country from January 25, which also totals eight -- were the first natural disaster of 2008 and involved water, he said. "The earth was unstable, and then the quake comes."
16 May 2008
a "catastrophe from heaven"
Is anybody out there listening???
Sydney Morning Herald
Flurry of inaction in place where heaven fell
John Garnaut
May 16, 2008
FROM a distance, Beichuan looks like a town of Lego bricks that some child has kicked over in rage. The remaining buildings stand at strange angles and all sense of proportion is distorted by the huge mountains that wedge it in on every side.
But after walking and stumbling down a few hundred metres of landslide, where the road used to be, the reality in close-up is unspeakable.
There are no roads or clear spaces any more, only mangled mess. At first I carefully watch my footfall, because there is no clear or stable ground.
I soon learn to watch for bodies. Some are well dressed and beautiful. Most faces are still recognisable, but they may not remain that way long enough for relatives to claim them.
Others are twisted in cars and crushed like insects under rocks. Headless, disembowelled, grotesquely broken.
At a village on the way a peasant had said this had not been a natural disaster but a "catastrophe from heaven".
I understand that now. Heaven itself has collapsed.
Villagers had mostly been lucky because they were out working the fields on Monday afternoon when the earthquake struck. But city dwellers were at school, at work and in their homes.
In Beichuan, formerly a tightly packed town of well over 20,000 people, anyone agile enough to escape from their collapsing buildings would then have watched whole mountains rumbling down towards them.
Where I am, at least, the tumbling rivers of dirt had stopped at the edge of town. But boulders as big as houses had powered over the main skirting road, crushing cars flat and smashing into the outside row of what might have been shops and apartment blocks.
A volunteer rescuer is shouting into a gap between two car-sized boulders. "You have to Live! Live for your children."
Another volunteer stands at the doorway of a gutted apartment block, which looks dangerously unstable. He gestures behind and says at least 10 people are alive in there. He says the rescuers had told him they were too difficult to reach.
Further on is a lady squatting on top of a concrete pile that used to be a school. Her anguished voice is hoarse from shouting a name: "An Deming, An Deming!"
Relatives pick hopelessly at the mayhem around her and peer through gaps in the concrete for signs of life.
Until now I have been comforted by the public's huge goodwill and the Government's prompt response. But the relief effort seemed to have choked at the place it matters most.
Where are those 130,000 soldiers now? Why are they still squashed into trucks on the clear road above, while volunteers and relatives are mostly barred from doing the work themselves?
#There is a flurry next to me. Someone has heard a voice from the upper stories of a small block of flats. They cry out and a woman answers with a strong voice and a Sichuan accent I can't understand.
I come across a group of soldiers. They say they will come to help the woman but right now they are too busy working out what to do with the school.
By now I have walked and climbed perhaps 200 metres into this living graveyard and it goes on for perhaps three kilometres more. It would take hours to go that far. I have seen enough and turn around.
The volunteer who had been shouting at the two boulders has gone. Underneath those boulders is a protruding leg. From the other side, where the man was shouting, I can make out the body attached to the leg. The torso is hanging upside down, arms dangling into a dark chasm.
I tell the man that if he's brave enough to live the rescue teams will surely come for him. "Thank you," he says. "I feel like I am dead already."
A female arm is also sticking out from this rock, wearing a pretty red bracelet. I wonder if it is his wife and if he knows she's dead.
Perhaps it was cruel of the volunteer to urge him to live for his child, who is no doubt buried here somewhere.
But cruelty has no meaning here.
It is getting dark. It would take a crane to lift those rocks. I scramble back towards the edge of town.
Every 10 minutes or so a team of orange-suited rescuers carries out a stretcher. They are invariably exhausted and pause at the foot of the goat track that has been carved over the landslide that used to be the road. A handkerchief protects the face of a survivor from the sun. A fresh tear trickles out to show she is alive.
I hear from someone's two-way radio that five children have just been rescued. One of them arrives on a stretcher and is lifted into the arms of an orange uniformed man to be cradled up the mountain.
One of his colleagues, Luan Dongmo, says they are carrying more than 10 survivors every hour.
Finally, on the road above there are some more serious signs of action. Lines of soldiers are jogging in the right direction. Huge diggers are carving out an emergency camp and others are moving towards the crushed city.
A black government car is held up on the road by a survivor who is holding a sit-down protest, demanding an immediate lift to the more stable ground at Mianyang. The car happens to be carrying a suited man who his colleagues say is leading the rescue effort.
The rescue leader says he understands my concerns that the rescue is not happening fast enough. The problem, he says, is that there are simply so many soldiers and volunteers here to help that it is impossible for any of them to move. He says "the key" is to create some space for a rescue camp - work that has evidently just begun.
On the way in my taxi had been stopped at a roadblock 15 kilometres away. I had slipped through with a handful of journalists on special instructions from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
I had walked and then ridden in on the back of a motorcycle past hundreds of troop carriers, buses, cranes, supply trucks and cars that were double parked and blocking all but one lane of the road.
It was clear that the extraordinary resources thrown at this disaster had reached a bottleneck. What they needed were managers who had been trained to deal with disasters on a scale that China had not experienced in 30 years.
Yesterday morning an aftershock jolted me out of bed. I heard the usual scramble of voices and footsteps heading to safety outside. I knew I should have put on my shoes to join them. But it was hard to think of anything other than what that shock must have felt like to a man hanging upside down in Beichuan.
Sydney Morning Herald
Flurry of inaction in place where heaven fell
John Garnaut
May 16, 2008
FROM a distance, Beichuan looks like a town of Lego bricks that some child has kicked over in rage. The remaining buildings stand at strange angles and all sense of proportion is distorted by the huge mountains that wedge it in on every side.
But after walking and stumbling down a few hundred metres of landslide, where the road used to be, the reality in close-up is unspeakable.
There are no roads or clear spaces any more, only mangled mess. At first I carefully watch my footfall, because there is no clear or stable ground.
I soon learn to watch for bodies. Some are well dressed and beautiful. Most faces are still recognisable, but they may not remain that way long enough for relatives to claim them.
Others are twisted in cars and crushed like insects under rocks. Headless, disembowelled, grotesquely broken.
At a village on the way a peasant had said this had not been a natural disaster but a "catastrophe from heaven".
I understand that now. Heaven itself has collapsed.
Villagers had mostly been lucky because they were out working the fields on Monday afternoon when the earthquake struck. But city dwellers were at school, at work and in their homes.
In Beichuan, formerly a tightly packed town of well over 20,000 people, anyone agile enough to escape from their collapsing buildings would then have watched whole mountains rumbling down towards them.
Where I am, at least, the tumbling rivers of dirt had stopped at the edge of town. But boulders as big as houses had powered over the main skirting road, crushing cars flat and smashing into the outside row of what might have been shops and apartment blocks.
A volunteer rescuer is shouting into a gap between two car-sized boulders. "You have to Live! Live for your children."
Another volunteer stands at the doorway of a gutted apartment block, which looks dangerously unstable. He gestures behind and says at least 10 people are alive in there. He says the rescuers had told him they were too difficult to reach.
Further on is a lady squatting on top of a concrete pile that used to be a school. Her anguished voice is hoarse from shouting a name: "An Deming, An Deming!"
Relatives pick hopelessly at the mayhem around her and peer through gaps in the concrete for signs of life.
Until now I have been comforted by the public's huge goodwill and the Government's prompt response. But the relief effort seemed to have choked at the place it matters most.
Where are those 130,000 soldiers now? Why are they still squashed into trucks on the clear road above, while volunteers and relatives are mostly barred from doing the work themselves?
#There is a flurry next to me. Someone has heard a voice from the upper stories of a small block of flats. They cry out and a woman answers with a strong voice and a Sichuan accent I can't understand.
I come across a group of soldiers. They say they will come to help the woman but right now they are too busy working out what to do with the school.
By now I have walked and climbed perhaps 200 metres into this living graveyard and it goes on for perhaps three kilometres more. It would take hours to go that far. I have seen enough and turn around.
The volunteer who had been shouting at the two boulders has gone. Underneath those boulders is a protruding leg. From the other side, where the man was shouting, I can make out the body attached to the leg. The torso is hanging upside down, arms dangling into a dark chasm.
I tell the man that if he's brave enough to live the rescue teams will surely come for him. "Thank you," he says. "I feel like I am dead already."
A female arm is also sticking out from this rock, wearing a pretty red bracelet. I wonder if it is his wife and if he knows she's dead.
Perhaps it was cruel of the volunteer to urge him to live for his child, who is no doubt buried here somewhere.
But cruelty has no meaning here.
It is getting dark. It would take a crane to lift those rocks. I scramble back towards the edge of town.
Every 10 minutes or so a team of orange-suited rescuers carries out a stretcher. They are invariably exhausted and pause at the foot of the goat track that has been carved over the landslide that used to be the road. A handkerchief protects the face of a survivor from the sun. A fresh tear trickles out to show she is alive.
I hear from someone's two-way radio that five children have just been rescued. One of them arrives on a stretcher and is lifted into the arms of an orange uniformed man to be cradled up the mountain.
One of his colleagues, Luan Dongmo, says they are carrying more than 10 survivors every hour.
Finally, on the road above there are some more serious signs of action. Lines of soldiers are jogging in the right direction. Huge diggers are carving out an emergency camp and others are moving towards the crushed city.
A black government car is held up on the road by a survivor who is holding a sit-down protest, demanding an immediate lift to the more stable ground at Mianyang. The car happens to be carrying a suited man who his colleagues say is leading the rescue effort.
The rescue leader says he understands my concerns that the rescue is not happening fast enough. The problem, he says, is that there are simply so many soldiers and volunteers here to help that it is impossible for any of them to move. He says "the key" is to create some space for a rescue camp - work that has evidently just begun.
On the way in my taxi had been stopped at a roadblock 15 kilometres away. I had slipped through with a handful of journalists on special instructions from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
I had walked and then ridden in on the back of a motorcycle past hundreds of troop carriers, buses, cranes, supply trucks and cars that were double parked and blocking all but one lane of the road.
It was clear that the extraordinary resources thrown at this disaster had reached a bottleneck. What they needed were managers who had been trained to deal with disasters on a scale that China had not experienced in 30 years.
Yesterday morning an aftershock jolted me out of bed. I heard the usual scramble of voices and footsteps heading to safety outside. I knew I should have put on my shoes to join them. But it was hard to think of anything other than what that shock must have felt like to a man hanging upside down in Beichuan.
14 May 2008
"Adding Insult to Injury" - 2
UPDATE!
Devastated Myanmar warned of new cyclone
BREAKING NEWS: Chinese troops rush to plug 'extremely dangerous' cracks in dam near quake-hit city
Devastated Myanmar warned of new cyclone
BREAKING NEWS: Chinese troops rush to plug 'extremely dangerous' cracks in dam near quake-hit city
13 May 2008
"Adding Insult to Injury"
HASHEM is pouring judgment upon the world and it seems to have been ratcheted up a notch.
CHINA: 7.9 magnitude earthquake Monday, 12 May 2008
CHINA: 7.9 magnitude earthquake Monday, 12 May 2008
INJURY
"The official Xinhua News Agency said the death toll exceeded 12,000 in Sichuan province alone, and 18,645 were still buried in debris in the city of Mianyang, near the epicenter of Monday's massive, 7.9-magnitude quake.
The Sichuan Daily newspaper reported on its Web site that more than 26,000 people were injured in Mianyang."
INSULT
"Rain was impeding efforts and a group of paratroopers called off a rescue mission to the epicenter due to heavy storms, Xinhua reported."
MYANMAR: Cyclone Nargis Saturday, 3 May 2008
INJURY
Up tp 60,000 dead and missing from Cyclone that raked Myanmar coastline
INSULT
"A boat carrying Red Cross aid supplies to survivors of Myanmar's cyclone sank Sunday in the disaster zone after hitting a submerged tree trunk, ...."
CHILE: Eruption of Chaitén Volcano since Friday, 2 May 2008
INJURY
Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes near the volcano
INSULT
"President on Saturday warned that towns surrounding Chaitén Volcano... might become permanently unlivable."
US: EF4 Tornado Saturday, 10 May 2008
INJURYNearly half of the 21 people killed by a tornado that smashed parts of Oklahoma and Missouri over the weekend died in cars,...
INSULT
"Southwest Misourians should brace for another round of potentially severe weather this afternoon and evening. Weather conditions will be similar to those on Saturday that produced a single massive tornado that was on the ground for 74 miles - 29 miles in Oklahoma and 45 miles in Southwest Missouri. It killed at least 22 people - 15 in Missouri and six in Oklahoma and one in Georgia."
US: Mid-Atlantic Storm Monday, 12 May 2008
INJURY
"Tens of thousands of electricity customers in several states lost power as up to 5 inches of rain fell Sunday and Monday and wind gusts in some places reached hurricane strength. ...Monday morning's high tide sent waves crashing through low-lying areas, forcing the evacuation of more than 200 residents from coastal communities in central Delaware."
INSULT
"[It] fanned the flames of a deadly New Jersey fire and wrecked a brand-new research vessel off the Delaware coast, killing a crew member."
Bush in the World of Sheker
INN reports: "The US President called PM Olmert an honest man, the PA leader a peace partner, and a PA state a necessity for Israel's existence."
In Bush's world this is true because he lives in an upside down world where Lies are Truth and Truth is Lies. Mashiach is going to come and turn the world right side up again!
Bush To Arrive Wednesday Morning
(IsraelNN.com) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Shimon Peres will welcome American President George W. Bush at Ben Gurion airport at 11 a.m. Wednesday. Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik (Kadima) also will attend the welcoming ceremonies. He will fly by helicopter to Jerusalem, and will meet with President Peres at his Jerusalem residence in the afternoon. Later in the afternoon, he will visit Prime Minister Olmert.
In Bush's world this is true because he lives in an upside down world where Lies are Truth and Truth is Lies. Mashiach is going to come and turn the world right side up again!
Bush To Arrive Wednesday Morning
(IsraelNN.com) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Shimon Peres will welcome American President George W. Bush at Ben Gurion airport at 11 a.m. Wednesday. Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik (Kadima) also will attend the welcoming ceremonies. He will fly by helicopter to Jerusalem, and will meet with President Peres at his Jerusalem residence in the afternoon. Later in the afternoon, he will visit Prime Minister Olmert.
12 May 2008
Lousy Courts, Lousy Police, Lousy Government
If those in authority will not look after the safety and interests of the citizenry, the citizenry will simply have to rise up en masse and look after themselves!! The residents of Pisgat Ze'ev need to go into the streets and rally behind these Giborim Yisrael.
Jewish Teens Wanted to ‘Put an End’ to Arab Harassment
(IsraelNN.com) A group of 11 Jewish teens accused of badly beating two Arab teens had planned for days to “put an end to the Arabs wandering around Pisgat Ze’ev and the mall,” prosecutors said Monday. The group had assembled after cell phone text message circulated calling to “Put an end to the Arabs who wander around... whistling at girls, cursing at and threatening little kids.”
Anyone who wanted to “finally show them not to wander around in our area” was called to meet at a local hamburger stand at 10 p.m. The group met at the planned time and moved to the local mall, where the Jews attacked two Arab teens, who required medical care as a result. The Jewish teens were indicted on Monday for causing serious bodily harm with racist motives and planning to commit a crime.
Jewish Teens Wanted to ‘Put an End’ to Arab Harassment
(IsraelNN.com) A group of 11 Jewish teens accused of badly beating two Arab teens had planned for days to “put an end to the Arabs wandering around Pisgat Ze’ev and the mall,” prosecutors said Monday. The group had assembled after cell phone text message circulated calling to “Put an end to the Arabs who wander around... whistling at girls, cursing at and threatening little kids.”
Anyone who wanted to “finally show them not to wander around in our area” was called to meet at a local hamburger stand at 10 p.m. The group met at the planned time and moved to the local mall, where the Jews attacked two Arab teens, who required medical care as a result. The Jewish teens were indicted on Monday for causing serious bodily harm with racist motives and planning to commit a crime.
09 May 2008
Stirring the Pot
"... if you're looking for the launch pad of the next global crisis, keep your eyes on Jerusalem."
"I think ... it's a coup," Jumblatt told CNN in a phone interview. "The Lebanese army is in total paralysis."
SHABBAT SHALOM!
Target: Iran?
"I think ... it's a coup," Jumblatt told CNN in a phone interview. "The Lebanese army is in total paralysis."
Hezbollah overruns west Beirut as Lebanon on brink
SHABBAT SHALOM!