The Gaza Blockade and Israel's Latest Dilemma

This from our friend in Jerusalem, Myer Karp:

Shalom,

By now I am sure that you have read about and seen reports of the conflict that occurred early Monday morning off the coast of Gaza. The news and world opinion are, as to be expected, very anti-Israel in their take on what transpired. I wanted to give you just a few of my thoughts and some of the facts as I know them. I also encourage you to read the official Israeli response to the emergency session of the UN Security Council today. It can be found on most major newspaper web sites.

1. This blockade has existed for some years now and was instituted when it was internationally determined that military equipment was being brought into Gaza by sea. This was during the time of the daily rockets attacks from Gaza into Israel.

2. Even after the blockade was begun, aid ships have routinely followed protocol, docked at Israeli ports such as Ashdod and had their cargo carried by land into Gaza with no problems.

3. For weeks the Israeli authorities have told the organizers of these ships that they would not be allowed to break the blockade.

4. The Israeli government told all of the countries that had citizens on board ship that it would not allow the ships through.

5. The captains of all six ships were notified that they would not be allowed to break the blockade...none responded.

6. Of the six ships boarded, only one chose to ambush the boarding IDF personnel and did so with guns, knives, metal pipes and even fire bombs.

7. The ship on which the conflict took place had 600 passengers. Aid ships are usually loaded to the brim with supplies. The thought that 600 people would be on board is not in line with the mission of an aid ship.

8. The attempt to break the blockade was timed the day before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas were to meet with President Obama to discuss having direct talks regarding a two state solution, a solution that the organizers of this flotilla of ships strongly opposes. The meeting will now not take place.

9. There is no food crisis in Gaza as supplies cross the border almost every day.

So what does all of this suggest? This was a planned act on the part of the organizers to create a confrontation which would divert the focus of peace talks and put Israel, again, on the stage of world condemnation. Turkey has said that the next attempt to break the blockade would be accompanied by Turkish war ships and jet fighters. Greece has withdrawn from planned joint military exercises with Israel. And once again the country which is being singled out for annihilation, Israel, has to defend itself from protecting itself.

One more note, the position that the US takes on this event, both from official statements and leaked by-lines, will go a long way in determining just how far it has gone from its traditional defense of the only democratic country in the Middle East. Much will be brought to light all over the world in the next week.

These are quick and first thoughts on these events. As I write, it is the night before Tina and I head back to Israel. We will return to a Jerusalem that will be very tense and an Arab population that is currently being stirred up. Please keep us, our family, all of Jerusalem and the country of Israel in your prayers.

Blessings,

Myer Dennis and Tina Karp

The Gardens

Recently I visited a popular public garden near Iowa State University. As you walk in the main gate, you are greeted by several large statutes.



Several bottle trees were inside the main building.



The are quite fun. Short pieces of rebar are welded to a long rebar piece and the bottles are placed upside down on the rebar (which is used to reinforce concrete).



Here's Iowa's official flower - the wild rose.



I liked this bronze sun dial.



This whale is made out of willow. He is pretty big and even has a large tail.



These colorful small turbines are promoting wind energy.



My goodness! What do we have here??!?



This was very peaceful. I liked this.



An old gate makes a nice decoration in a flower garden.



Lots of water features are found throughout the gardens. The sound of water is very soothing.



There are thousands of daisies in one part of the gardens.



This is a creative use of a livestock water tank!



Here's a little girl catching fireflies. Don't you love the jar? In Iowa, a favorite past time is going out at dusk and catching fireflies. You put them in a glass jar and you have a lantern.



The gardens have lots and lots of flowers. But I enjoyed some of the non-flower features a lot, too.

Take care and thanks for stopping by.

Lunes Sexy: Eva Green

Antes que nada una gran disculpa a todos aquellos que visitan el blog, ya que lo tuve muy olvidado este semestre y no es que yo estuviese muy ocupado sino que mas bien me daba un buen de flojera escribir además de que no he tenido inspiración desde Febrero. Sin embargo prometo que en estas vagaciones tratare de postear mas seguido (palabra de explorador). Ahora desde Diciembre no había habido un post sexy, así que lo que les debía:

Eva Green.

Eva Green, (nacida el 5 de julio de 1980 en París), es una actriz y compositora francesa.

Es gemela de Joy Green. Sus padres son la actriz francesa Marlène Jobert y Walter Green, un dentista sueco.

Estudió en una escuela de habla inglesa donde era conocida por ser una chica reservada, pero eso no impidió que desarrollase un interés por la Egiptología cuando visitó el Museo del Louvre a la edad de siete años.

Aspiró a ser actriz a los catorce años cuando vio a Isabelle Adjani en L'Histoire d'Adèle H.. Al principio su madre no aceptó la idea de que se convirtiera en actriz pero al final la apoyo en sus ambiciones.

Debutó en la película The Dreamers (Soñadores) de Bernardo Bertolucci en 2003, con Michael Pitt y Louis Garrel. Además compuso la música para esta película.

Bertolucci la definió como «tan bella que es indecente» y su interpretación trajo la aclamación de la crítica. Su segunda película fue Arsène Lupin, dirigida por Jean-Paul Salomé y coprotagonizada por Romain Duris y Kristin Scott Thomas.

En 2005 tuvo su primer personaje importante como Sibila de Jerusalén en la película El reino de los cielos, su tercera actuación como protagonista junto a Orlando Bloom y Liam Neeson dirigida por Ridley Scott. Además fue seleccionada como Vesper Lynd, el gran amor de James Bond, en la exitosa película Casino Royale. Curiosamente repitió con Daniel Craig (actual James Bond) en La Brújula Dorada donde interpretó a la bruja Serafina Pekkala. Parece que ella esperaba que la película fuese más fiel al libro, ya que algunas referencias al catolicismo fueron suprimidas.

Actualmente es la imagen del perfume Midnight Poison, de Dior. El anuncio publicitario fue dirigido por Wong Kar-Wai.

Filmografía

* Cracks (2009)
* Franklyn (2008)
* La Brújula Dorada (2007)
* Casino Royale (2006)
* Kingdom Of Heaven (2005)
* Arsène Lupin (2004)
* The Dreamers (2003)


Eva Green en el comercial del perfume Midnight Poison de Dior.



Eva Green en una escena de Casino Royal.




Una pagina (no oficial de esta bella mujer) aquí.

Yo no conocía a esta bella actriz hasta que vi Casino Royal (muy buena película por cierto) y desde ese momento hasta ahorita en estos momentos estoy enamorado de ella, en especial sus bellos ojos verdes. Es francesa y que mas se puede pedir.

Ocupo el lugar numero 20 en la Hot List de Maxim, aquí.

Next Time:
María Kanellis

UNCLE LIM’S CHICKEN RICE @ SEKAMA

Hubby and I went out to pick up our Kek Lapis ordered thru a friend and we met up just nearby the famous Wisma Hopoh. After that we tried to look for a good spot to have our lunch and ended up at Sekama. Oh, did I tell you that I was trying to skip rice and replace rice with noodles and other goodies? Well, I took that day as my escape day and we chose to eat Chicken Rice! Yayyy! So here we are at Uncle Lim’s Chicken Rice.

It is actually one of the stalls that operated by Uncle Lim’s Café. Serves basic meat for Chicken Rice dish like Char Sio Bak, Steamed Chicken, BBQ Chicken and they serve Chicken Curry Rice too!

We ordered everything, all type of meat plus a bowl of Chicken Curry and it comes with a complimentary Chicken Soup. That hot afternoon, I washed down everything with a can of Coke.

I definitely would like to recommend this shop because the premise is clean and the price is reasonable too.

With Love,

A DAY BEFORE GAWAI DAYAK

We visited Dad's grave on 31st May, as promised. We did not celebrate as Dad had just passed on 7 months ago and we thought it was better to let go any celebrations in the first year. We really miss him at this moment because he is the one who will be in charge of every single process like painting the house, interior deco and cooking.

He loved spicy food like Beef Curry, Ayam Masak Merah, Lamb Curry etc.

He would quarrel with us if we're doing our chores very slowly because everyone was so playful.

This year, his voice are no longer screaming and yelling at us, only memories remain and cherished forever.

Happy Gawai Dad, hope you're happy up there with Uncle Reynold @ El-Rey, don't drink too much, take care of yourself. We miss you so, so, so much. We love you Dad. We truly do. Oh yes, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY in advance Dad!

p/s: Oh yes Dad, Mom said to do cement works at your grave on your 1st anniversary. Hope you're gonna love our combined ideas. I promise.

With Love,

Memorial Day

Tomorrow is Memorial Day in the United States. It is a time to think about and pay respects to all the men and women who have served their country in uniform.



Thank you to all of them and to all the proud and brave Canadians who have fought and served side by side with the Americans and Allied forces. Young men and women of both countries are still placing their lives in danger so those of us at home can live in freedom.



I still remember January, 1980, when the Canadians rescued six American diplomats by smuggling them out of Iran at great risk to the Canadians' lives. The six diplomats had managed to avoid being caught and held hostage in November, 1979. There have been many, many times when the Canadians and Americans have worked together over the years.



God bless you all and God bless the USA and Canada.

PG PORN

Squeal Happy Whores:

Muy buen video musical describiendo lo que pasa en un pelicula porno



Las caras del tipo son geniales.

PIGEONS SIGHTINGS

OK people, this is the place where we always buy our burger supplies.  It is located next to Dormani Hotel.  One Saturday morning, I followed hubby to buy our stocks.  I just waited inside the car since the drizzles were pouring.  My focus shoot on a few stale buns thrown outside of the shop.

Then, came a couple of pigeons, came over and ate the buns!!  Ohh, how cute they are, I took out my hp and took these pictures.

She's fat so like me.  Lol.


With Love,

Garden Pests; Organically Controlling Insects

This video gives some great advice on how to identify real pests in the garden. Did you know that 80% of garden insects are beneficial? Watch this before heading for the insecticide!

5 Reasons You May Not Be Seeing Spiritual Growth

I hear (and I myself feel), from time to time, "bogged down", stuck, drained or spiritually dry. I ran across this article, below, that I found helpful in putting things into a more godly and proper perspective:

1. Feelings can be misleading.

Just because we don’t feel holy doesn’t mean the Spirit isn’t making us holy. Feelings aren’t an adequate barometer of spiritual growth, but the gospel always leads us into growth. Bank your growth on faith in gospel truth, not in subjective feelings.

2. We have trouble seeing incremental growth.

If you checked the growth of an orange on a tree each day until it was ripe, you would not perceive its change; however, if you checked it only at its inception and conclusion, the growth would be obvious. You can grow without seeing it. More often than not, the Spirit grows us in increments, not leaps and bounds.

3. Spiritual growth is relative but real.

Depending on the person and season, spiritual growth may be fast or slow. Some of us have sinned so much that we have deeply ingrained patterns of believing lies instead of the truth, and so it takes longer to make progress in the faith. On top of this, we may have emotional, physical, or psychological conditions that make it more difficult to grow. However, these conditions are appointed for our growth. Many Christians have shown us how to grow in the midst of these difficulties (Joni Eareckson Tada, William Cowper). Spiritual growth is relative but real. True faith brings about true change. For some people, running a 5-minute mile is growth; for others, facing the finish line is progress. Remember that it is not growth overnight but gradations over a lifetime.

4. Our church family doesn’t encourage one another enough.

As the church, it is important that we point out and celebrate growth in one another’s lives. We are so individualistic, proud, and insecure that we rarely celebrate growth in another person’s life. Make a habit of pointing out growth you see in others, and celebrate God’s grace. Be a good church family.

5. God is using trial and temptation to grow us.

Just because growth is hard doesn’t mean that it isn’t happening. Trial and temptation is often a sign of God’s work in our circumstances to draw us away from the fleeting promises of sin into the sweeter promises of grace. Allow trial and temptation to push you closer to God, not away from him. Difficult things often indicate God’s presence, not his absence. He disciplines those whom he loves.

Project Mulch

I was looking at a large flower bed by my house and was dismayed to see the sad state of affairs it had fallen into.



Bailey agreed to supervise if I would do the actual work of cleaning up this awful mess.



The first thing to do was to rip off all the old mulch and the underlying weed guard fabric.



Then I dug out all the existing perennials except the peony bush. The flowers I dug out went to a holding area in my garden until I decide where to put them.



Once all the old vegetation and fabric was cleared away, I used my roto tiller to smooth out the ground before laying the weed guard fabric on.



The weed guard fabric is rolled out and cut. Pins that look like large staples are used to keep the fabric in place.



I started putting the red cedar mulch down before the fabric was all laid since you can get to it easier and I wanted to have the mulch keep the fabric down.



It takes a lot of mulch to cover an area this size. My truck holds about 2 cubic yards - which is quite a bit.



When it is done it looks much better than it did!



Sometimes just a little work can make a big difference.



Thanks for stopping by.

Happy (kinda) Anniversary!

Three years ago today was my first date with my sweetheart. It was oh sooo exciting, starting off with ice skating with my best friend (everyone else bailed out last minute), then off to a family birthday party (yeah, on the first "date"), then back to his parents house to watch the Jazz game (oh what fun...), and then a whole late night of talking on the couch (where he kissed me first! I know, kissed me on the first date, what kinda girl did he think I was!). I saw him every single day after that first date, until after we got married. It was perfect.

In the last three years, we've lived in three places, bought a house, gone to Scipio at least 6 times, built and sewed almost everything we own, gotten a puppy, the list goes on and on. And now we're having a baby :)

Thank you lover for making these three years so awesome! Couldn't be happy without you!

Gunmen in Pakistan Attack 2 Mosques

Gunmen stormed two Pakistani mosques belonging to a minority sect in Lahore on Friday, taking worshippers hostage and sparking gun battles with police that left 17 people dead, officials said.

Gunfire and blasts rang out as the attackers, at least one of whom wore a suicide vest, stormed a mosque in the upscale neighborhood of Model Town and another in the busy area of Garhi Shahu as people gathered for weekly prayers.

They are both mosques of the Ahmadis, also known as Qadiani, and have tens of thousands of members. Rights groups say the sect has long been persecuted in Pakistan and has remained an occasional target of sectarian attacks.

Dunya TV showed one of the attackers atop the minaret of one of the mosques, firing an assault rifle and throwing hand grenades.

The mosques were several miles (kilometers) apart from each other, police officer Haider Ashraf said.

Officers outside one of the mosques in the Garhi Shahu district of Lahore were engaged in a fierce gunfight with the attackers, an Associated Press reporter at the scene said.

Pakistan has seen scores of attacks by groups of Islamist militants against Western, government and security force targets over the past three years. Lahore, the second largest city in the country and a vital a military and political center, has been the scene of several.

Many Islamist militants believe it is permissible or honorable to kill non-Muslims, or even those Muslims who do not share their extreme views.

The Ahmadis call themselves Muslims but believe their founder declared himself a prophet centuries after Muhammad, who other Muslims believe was the final prophet. They have long been subject to informal and state-sanctioned discrimination in Pakistan.

The government has declared them a non-Muslim minority and they are prohibited from calling themselves Muslims or engaging in Muslim practices such as reciting Islamic prayers.

Cottonwood Cotton by Carol King

I saw the first whisps a couple of days ago. Soon we will be sweeping up big piles of the stuff. As it warms up, it will be sticking to our sweaty bodies; we will be spitting it out and wondering when will it all end. What you say? Well, cottonwood cotton of course!! Planttalk Colorado provided this information about cottonwood cotton.

"Cottonwood trees are dioecious, meaning they have male and female flowers on separate trees. Cotton shed by female trees in June is often so abundant that it turns nearby lawns white. Heavy snows in winter promote plentiful new growth. This in turn fuels abundant flowering of both male ("cotton less") and female (cotton-bearing) cottonwoods in the spring. Flowers on female trees, after being pollinated by wind-borne pollen from male trees in April, develop small green capsules that split open in June to shed small seeds carried by wind-borne "cotton".



It takes cottonwood seedlings several years of growth to become sexually mature and flower. This explains the observation for a female tree that "it never had cotton for years after the seedling came up. Now it has cotton every year".

Some municipalities have ordinances against female cottonwood trees, as the wind-blown cotton is deemed a nuisance. A few municipalities enact ordinances against male ("cotton less") cottonwoods, because the April pollen causes problems for allergy sufferers. Although cotton can be a nuisance, it has no allergenic properties. People with allergy symptoms during June cotton distribution are probably suffering from other wind-borne pollen - from grasses, weeds or other trees.

A few cases of nursery-sold "cotton less" cottonwoods later developing cotton are usually due to mislabeling or to a misunderstanding. Some hybrid cottonwoods sold in the nursery trade are listed as "sterile female hybrids". These are not "cottonless" because they are not male. "Sterile" in this case refers to the fact that they bear inviable seed, incapable of germinating but still produce much cotton to distribute that inviable seed.

Ethephon, sold as FlorelT, is labeled to prevent cotton development in female trees and needs to be applied during flower development."

So there you have it, dear gardener. It's all about making more cottonwoods!

Flowers

It's spring and time for flowers. One of the queens of the season is the purple iris.



Mixed in with some flocks, it makes for a colorful, delightful scene.



Flocks are airy and move easily in the breeze. Irises are elegant and regal.



I was surprised to see these flowers this spring. I planted them last year and assumed they were annuals.



These flowers look pretty delicate - but they are actually pretty hardy.



And, of course, what would spring be without peonies?



Peony bushes seem to be a favorite and you see these in nearly every yard.



Turn off that computer, get outside and smell the flowers! That's where I'm going right now.



Thanks for stopping by.