The USA's Dumbest

The USA's absolute dumbest of all...thinking they are actually contributing to some "humanitarian" venture involving Gaza...

YNET: American activists set sail from Greece on Friday aboard a boat set to take part in a pro-Palestinian flotilla to Gaza, defying calls from Israel to cancel it and a ban by Athens.

The vessel was stopped by the Greek Coast Guard some 25 minutes after its unauthorized departure. It was not immediately clear whether the boat will be taken back to port.

The vessel, dubbed "The Audacity of Hope", left Perama port for the open seas, a Reuters witness said. Greek authorities said earlier on Friday that ships destined to Gaza were prohibited from leaving Greek ports.

(photo credit: Rotter.net)


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Palestinian "Day of Rage" Coming Soon

In typical Palestinian style, the PA has called for a violent "Day of Rage" to express their disappointment with the USA's veto in the UN last week, where the world tried to censure Israel for allowing Jews to build in their homeland.

Palestinian leaders called for a "day of rage" Saturday in the streets of West Bank cities after the US vetoed a UN condemnation of Israeli settlements Friday.

Yasser Abed Rabbo, secretary general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said the Palestinians would take their resolution to the UN General Assembly.

"Our decision today is to go to the General Assembly of the United Nations to adopt a resolution condemning settlements and asserting their illegality before returning to the Security Council to present a proposed condemnation of settlements," he told AFP.

"The American veto will not prevent us from appealing to international institutions and will not stop our desire for freedom and independence," he said. (YNET)

Commenter Dave wrote it well:

The Palestinians have killed, maimed and brutalized thousands of Israelis including children and they have the gall to want a "Day of Rage"?

The Libyans, Algerians, Bahrainis and who knows how many more have killed and wounded hundreds if not thousands and all the UN can think about is bashing Israel!

What the hell is Israel doing in the UN? It should be called the AIBO - Arab Israel Bashing Organization!

This is typical Palestinian behaviour -- any time they are upset, they rage.
You can be sure that this is exactly how they will act if they ever, G-d forbid, get their own State.

Diplomacy?

Dialogue?

Rage.


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Israel WikiWatch

A Joint Jameel/JoeSettler headline post being updated over the next 12-24 hours.

This post will be updated as new Israel related Wikileaks updates (and related events) appear.

Wikileaks has announced they will begin posting documents today consisting of communications from the US to its embassies regarding its allies. For the past week, the US has been trying to do damage control. The US claims that the release of this information will "place at risk on-going cooperation between countries".

Latest leaks and rumors on top.

11:59 PM One thing is clear. Arab states do not link dealing with Iran to the Arab-Israeli conflict. They all want Iran dealt with on its own.

Jordan is the only exception, but they are directly involved in the Arab-Israeli conflict and have other concerns they are trying to push forward.

11:36 PM Nothing overly exciting in the Wikileaks - yet.

Worst is that US seems out of touch with what the rest of the world wants and needs for safety and stability, and is afraid to act. Israel's positions were already known, so nothing new there. Livni's private statements contradict her public statements.

We haven't found the Muqata listed yet in Wikileaks. We're disappointed.

Biggest story is regarding Gaza war, that Palestinian Authority (Fatah) and Egypt refused to take control of Gaza if Hamas was ousted by Israel during Operation Cast Lead.


10:55 PM Israel's prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu is "elegant and charming" but never keeps his promises.

JS: Why even bother with that leak?


10:49 PM Tzippi Livni exposed as liar. In 2007 Livni said there is no way to reach a permanent settlement with Abu Mazen. Unlike what publicly tells Israel.

10:40 PM US spy activities against Israel and Palestinians: US attempts to acquire data and intelligence on Israeli communications infrastructure.

US tries to assess likelihood of PA officials turning weapons against Israel and US. Actual relationship between Hamas and Fatah. Internal PA support for terrorism.

Biometric info on everyone.

10:26 PM Israel asked Egypt and Fatah (Palestinian Authority) if they would take control of Gaza if Israel removed Hamas during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. Both said no.

10:21PM Mossad assessment that Iran was playing US/world for time until weapons developed.

Israel believes Iran used Red Cresent to sneak spies into other countries in 2006.

10:16 PM Iran has missiles that can reach central Europe.

10:13 PM Wikileaks: Israel intelligence suspects Egypt preparing for future war with Israel.

10:07 PM Had to go out for a security issue in the Yishuv. Back now.

Wikileaks reveal that Israel and Arab states pressed the US numerous times to deal with Iran's nuclear program in years past. Ehud Barak said that US must deal with North Korea and Iranian nuclear programs. Lack of US response to North Korea would send message to Iran.
Mossad pushed for covert measures and regime change.
Israel said in 2005 that Iran would have nuclear weapons by 2010.

8:10 PM Israel's Channel 10 TV reports: The Wikileaks show that PM Netanyahu was worried the Iranian nuclear reactors would go on-line within months of 2009, yet the Obama administration scoffed at the idea.

7:52 PM As the WikiLeaks server is under a massive denial of service attack, Der Speigel is rolling out copies of tomorrow's magazine, based on a pre-leak. The cover of tomorrow's magazine is here, with some of the world leaders who will be embarrassed by the leaked cables...


7:45 PM JERUSALEM: Several of the documents set to be published by WikiLeaks this weekend are believed to show the US has been helping Turkey's Kurdish separatist movement the PKK, or Kurdistan Workers Party.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist group in Turkey, the US, the European Union and Australia.

The claim is reported in the London Arabic-language newspaper Al-Hayat. (source)

7:21 PM ROME, Nov 28 (Reuters) - The expected release of classified U.S. documents by Wikileaks will be the "9/11 of world diplomacy", Italy's foreign minister said on Sunday, urging Italian prosecutors to investigate the whistle-blowing website.

Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, on a trip to Qatar, said he did not know the content of the files to be released but warned they would"blow up the relationship of trust between states", according to Italian news agencies.

"It will be the September 11th of world diplomacy," he said.

7:18 PM UK govt. issues D-notices (don't publish) to media on wikileaks.

7:17 PM El Pais, Le Monde, Speigel, Guardian & NYTimes will publish many US embassy cables tonight, even if WikiLeaks goes down.

7:00 PM Israeli Left claiming IDF general ordered killing of wanted terrorists instead of their capture, based on stolen internal IDF documents.

6:33 PM Wikileaks announces they are under massive Denial of Service attack.

6:29 PM Receiving reports that some people can visit and some can't. Probably overloaded.

6:20 PM Wikileaks site crashed, overloaded or has been taken down.

5:50 PM Ynet reports:

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed expected release of classified State Department documents on WikiLeaks, saying that the United States "didn't specifically indicate what will be exposed. I don't think Israel is the center of attention."

Netanyahu added that "is it customary for there to be an information gap between what is said publicly to what is said privately. When it comes to Israel, the gap isn't too big. As far as other countries are concerned, the gaps are very very big. We shall wait and see."

5:22 PM Britain Braces: "An 'embarrassing' assessment of David Cameron by the the U.S. administration is set to be made public on the WikiLeaks whistleblowers website.

The harsh analysis of the Prime Minister is among thousands of leaked State Department files set to be revealed imminently on the site.

And Gordon Brown's rocky relationship with President Barack Obama is almost certain to mentioned as is Britain's troop withdrawal from Iraq." (Daily Mail)

5:15 PM Germany's Der-Spiegel reports that the WikiLeaks contain information that the USA has an agent operating inside Germany's government, from the liberal FDP party. (source)

5:06 PM Israel on "high alert" -- "Another Israeli official added that the American Embassy in Tel Aviv had been calling Israelis named in the documents in order to warn them in advance. The list includes officials in the Foreign Ministry, as well as aides to prime ministers, this official said." (JPost)

4:49 PM Speculations abound that the WikiLeaks will reveal that Israeli officials have been providing classified information to the USA in exchange for money (rotter.net)

4:42 PM The JPost reports the USA's spin control:

The Obama administration on Sunday told whistle-blower WikiLeaks that its expected imminent release of classified State Department cables will put "countless" lives at risk, threaten global counter-terrorism operations and jeopardize US relations with its allies. [Jameel: by telling us what the State Department really thinks of Israel? We've been writing it on the muqata blog for years...]

In a highly unusual step reflecting the administration's grave concerns about the ramifications of the move, the State Department released a letter from its top lawyer to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and his attorney telling them that publication of the documents would be illegal and demanding that they stop it.

The letter from State Department legal adviser Harold Koh was released as US diplomats around the world are scrambling to warn foreign governments about what might be in the secret documents that are believed to contain highly sensitive assessments about world leaders, their policies and America's attempts to lobby them. [Jameel: The USA wants Tzippi Livni as Prime Minister? What a shock.]

In the letter, Koh said the publication of some 250,000 secret diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks, which is expected on Sunday, will "place at risk the lives of countless innocent individuals," ''place at risk on-going military operations," and "place at risk on-going cooperation between countries."

"They were provided in violation of US law and without regard for the grave consequences of this action," he said. Koh said WikiLeaks should not publish the documents, return them to the US government and destroy any copies it may have in its possession or in computer databases.

4:24 PM Washington specifically warns Israel of "potentially embarrassing" leaks (Breitbart) Rotter.net reports that the US has pulled CIA spy operatives out of Israel so that Israel can't retaliate and imprison "Pollards" for spying on Israel for the USA.

4:15 PM Rumors that Wikileaks contain detailed personality profiles of Israeli leaders, details of meetings with Mossad chiefs, and intel from army intel unit "Aman."

2:37 PM Already theories abound surround the latest Wikileaks.

The US has spent the last weekend taking down file-sharing and bit-torrent sites and seizing domain names. A theory behind that is to slow down the proliferation of the Wikileaks documents. A little over the top for my taste.


Others say that local leftwing Israelis are going to be named as sources for much information.

And one particularly interesting theory is that it will reveal what the US knows about secret Israeli operations, and officially link them to Israel (Syria nuclear plant strike, Abu Dhabim Stuxnet, etc.)

Personally, we're expecting at least one remark about the Muqata being an obstacle to peace (and a voice of reason).

As the Wikileaks released we'll let you know of anything important we (or others) find.


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Rant of the Day (There's Someone on the Wing!!)

There was a time when I used to post all sorts of stories like the upcoming one. I wonder how many readers remember my infamous Manila posts, my rant about a certain restaurant in London, the origin of the Muqata Wafflemaker or Elvis the Drug Dealer...

Regardless, I don't rant everyday but its time to let off some steam.

Last time I flew to India for business, I brought all my food with me. Not that there's so much Kosher food to eat in India to begin with, but I brought everything: cereal, boxed milk, tuna-fish, pitot, a bunch of manachama (manot chamot) [just add hot water for an instant meal], and bottled water.

I sparingly ate every meal knowing that there was no margin of error, and I didn't want to get stranded without any Kosher food.

After a few days, it was time to fly home to Israel, via London and I was thrilled that I'd have a "normal" kosher meal on the plane, even if it was "airline food".

During check-in, I double checked to ensure that my kosher meal was in fact reserved, and I'd be receiving it on my flight. All was in order.

Luckily for me, this leg of the trip was in business class and I sat in the upper deck of the plane (you'll soon see why this factoid is important for the story)

About 30 minutes into the flight, the stewardess (air-hostess? what's the proper politically correct term?) came by and reassured me that my kosher meal would be ready shortly. My stomach growled in anticipation -- I guess there's something about flights that makes one hungrier than usual, and having spent the week rationing my food, I was famished.

Meal service began.

Meals were given out one at a time, as I hungrily looked on in anticipation...one more minute...and I'd have "normal" food for the first time in a week.

And then, the stewardess smiled and presented my meal to me.

A linen napkin covered tray with steaming hot food, smiled at me.

"Excuse me," I said, "I ordered a Kosher meal."

"This is a Kosher meal," stated the stewardess, as she smiled and pointed to a piece of paper written in Hebrew, Yiddish and English which was neatly lying on the tray.

Shaking my head in hungry disbelief I asked, "didn't you see that the entire tray was wrapped in plastic, with big red letters on it, "ONLY TO BE OPENED BY THE PASSENGER", and that the hot dish of the meal had the same warning on it?"

The stewardess smiled back, "This is India. They didn't want you to feel bad that your meal looked different than everyone else's, so food services opened up your meal, and we heated it up with everyone's food, so you wouldn't feel different than everyone else ."

It took a minute for all this to sink in.

"Do you know that I'm not able to eat this now?" I asked?

The stewardess sighed.

I asked her if she could look out the window of the airplane for a second, and if she could read what it said in big letters on the wing.


"DO NOT WALK OUTSIDE THIS AREA," she read from the wing.

"Exactly!", I said, "Maybe...just maybe someone in the India ground crew thought the wing would 'feel bad,' and walked all over the wing. After all, you can walk on other parts of the airplane, but not that specific part of the wing, and we wouldn't want the wing to feel differently, would we? Even though there's a clear warning on it, how do we know that no one walked all over it?"

The stewardess nodded her head seriously and said, "You're absolutely right. Would you like anything else to eat?"

She managed to find me some fruit and a coke.

Ten minutes later I was surprised when a member of the cockpit crew, perhaps the Captain or Co-pilot walked over to me.

He bent down to talk to me and in a very serious voice said, "We radioed back to Bangalore airport. Apparently, the person you saw walking on the plane's wing was a fuel technician, and he is specially trained where he is allowed to walk on the wing, and where not to walk."

I stared at him in disbelief.

"I didn't say I saw someone walking on the wing," I blurted out, "I was trying to make a point by the comparison of my meal to the wing, and how instructions should be listened to..."

The cockpit officer gave me a puzzled look, and said, "I thought you would be happy to know that the person you saw on the wing knew where he was allowed to walk."

"Thank you," I said, "I'm very relieved now," and he turned around going back into the cockpit.

No one seemed to "get it."

And why am I reminded of this now?

I'm going back to India soon, and needed to apply for a visa. The procedure required that I provide my current and expired Israeli passports, as well as my US passport to the Indian Embassy in Tel Aviv.

Now, my US passport was very recently issued and is therefore a "USA Electronic Passport". You can tell from the weird symbol underneath the "United State of America"that this is a genuine electronic passport.

The exciting features of an electronic passport include some of the following (but isn't limited to)...

* Securely stored biographical information and digital image that are identical to the information that is visually displayed in the passport;

* Contactless chip/RFID technology that allows the information stored in an Electronic Passport to be read by special chip readers at a close distance; and

* Digital signature technology that is used to verify the authenticity of the data stored on the chip. This technology is commonly used in credit cards and other secure documents using integrated circuits or chips.

Sounds great, right?

Located on the inside back cover (where the electronics are located) is a message in clear, bold, block letters:

THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS SENSITIVE ELECTRONICS:
FOR BEST PERFORMANCE, DO NOT BEND, OR PERFORATE,
OR EXPOSE TO EXTREME TEMPERATURES

Imagine my surprise when I received my Israeli passport with the new visa to India in it and all my other passports...AND THEY WERE ALL STAPLED TOGETHER BY THEIR BACK COVERS.

The "do not perforate" rule doesn't apply to India...(after all, you wouldn't want your passport to "feel bad" that other passports can be perforated, and not new US electronic passports...so who cares what it says...who cares if it ruins the electronics?)

Will this affect the validity of my US passport, now that it has 7 pairs of staple marks in the back cover, probably ruining all the high tech invested in it?

Probably not yet, but I doubt the friendly people in TSA will care or even believe me when I say, "it's not my fault, the Indian embassy in Tel-Aviv did it," as they drag me off to one of those newfangled full body naked scanners.

PS: My travel agent informed me today that the airline I'm flying on from India to London leg of my trip, no longer offers Kosher meals when leaving India. I guess following directions proved to be impossible...

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Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד

USA and Turkey: The Odd Couple

USA and Turkey: The Odd Couple.

See if you can keep up with these zigzags.

1. Obama vs Erdogan: The Financial Times reported the following today:

President Barack Obama has personally warned Turkey’s prime minister that unless Ankara shifts its position on Israel and Iran it stands little chance of obtaining the US weapons it wants to buy.

Mr Obama’s warning to Recep Tayyip Erdogan is particularly significant as Ankara wants to buy American drone aircraft – such as the missile-bearing Reaper – to attack the Kurdish separatist PKK after the US military pulls out of Iraq at the end of 2011.

The PKK has traditionally maintained bases in the remote mountains in the north of Iraq, near the Turkish border.

One senior administration official said: “The president has said to Erdogan that some of the actions that Turkey has taken have caused questions to be raised on the Hill about whether we can have confidence in Turkey as an ally. That means that some of the requests Turkey has made of us, for example in providing some of the weaponry that it would like to fight the PKK, will be harder for us to move through Congress.”

Washington was deeply frustrated when Turkey voted against United Nations sanctions on Iran in June.

Kudos to US President Obama for this bold move.

2. Israel continues selling weapons to Turkey, despite Turkey's ongoing antagonism towards Israel, banning Israeli warplanes from using Turkish airspace, etc. Why does the US have the guts to do what Israel does not?

The JPost reported a few weeks ago, that Israel is still selling military equipment to Turkey, and is sending 4 unmanned surveillance drones to Turkey.

So the USA is a better friend of Israel than Israel is to itself?

3. Question: Where are 90% of the engines for the USA's F-35 advanced tactical fighter jet, manufactured and assembled?

Answer: Turkey.

UPI Reports:

Turkish Foreign Trade Minister Zafer Caglayan said that Turkey's defense contractor KaleKalip will start manufacturing F135 engines for F-35 Joint Strike Fighters along with Sikorsky helicopters under license from the United States' United Technologies Corporation, the Star Gazetesi reported Wednesday.

Caglayan told reporters about his meeting last week with UTC executives aboard a plane en route to Turkey from the United States, noting that UTC's discussions with KaleKalip began last week, adding, "They will sign a deal next week."

KaleKalip initially will produce 90 percent of F135 engines' components for the F-35 aircraft and eventually will manufacture the entire engine.

4. Question: Who announced they are now buying a squadron of 20 F-35s for the cost of 2.7 billion dollars?

Answer: Israel.

The F-35 warplanes are expected to be delivered between 2015 to 2017, an Israeli defense official said.

Israeli leaders have spoken of arch-foe Iran potentially developing a nuclear weapon by mid-decade, suggesting that the F-35s would not be used for any preventive action, but rather to bolster the country's deterrence.

A ministry statement said Barak "approved in principle the recommendations of the Israel Defense Forces and the Defense Ministry to move ahead" with the purchase.

The stealth fighter, made by Lockheed Martin Corp, "will afford Israel continued air superiority and maintain the technological edge in our region," the statement quoted Barak as saying. (reuters)

Will the US find itself in a strange position that while supporting their strategic ally, Israel, they will be preventing weapons from going to Turkey...and perhaps even face delivery and engine manufacturing issues for their F-35?



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Our Special Relationship: Politcal Cartoon Roundup

This came from the Jewish Journal. Not very creative. Nor clever. I've seen better in elementary school newspapers.


This came from the Moderate Voice. Yawn. Reminds me of the same anti-Israel cartoons when Menachem Begin was Prime Minister and we were in the middle of the "Peace for Galilee War"



This doozey comes from Korea -- the bastion of peace in Northeast Asia. The Israeli flag on top of Netanyahu's hat is extremely sophisticated.

Finally. A much more entertaining and realistic view of the situation, which demonstrates our new family relationship.

Yisrael Hayom wonders why Obama is so offended by a mistake -- which Israeli apologized for over and over again. If this mistake really infuriated Obama, he must consider Glenn Beck worse than Osama Bin Laden.



Rotter Net produced this one...yet had they used English instead of transliterated Hebrew, it might have been more effective. Putting Nasrallah and Ahmedinijad on this simply makes the poster a poor political statement and weakens the entire poster. Disappointing, considering all the work that went into it.




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Obama’s Wishful Thinking

“I think that the United States and the West generally, we have to educate ourselves more effectively on Islam.

And one of the points I want to make is, is that if you actually took the number of Muslims Americans, we'd be one of the largest Muslim countries in the world. “

- Barack Hussein Obama


Exactly what alternative reality does the President of the United States live in?

Perhaps it’s time he learns how to Google on his Blackberry.

A quick look on Wiki provides a very different picture that the one the President is fantasizing about.

In terms of population size, the US doesn’t even make the Top-50 when it comes to either the total number of Moslems, nor when it comes to number of Moslems as a percentage of the population.

Note: The most commonly accepted figure from census data and multiple research studies on Muslims in America is approximately 1.8 million (out of 300 million Americans). CAIR and other militant Islamic groups make the unsupported claim of 8 million, but they have no data to back that up other than their own wild claims.

One chart in the Wiki mentioned above places the US at an impossible 38, but that is only by claiming 4.5 million Muslims in America - which directly contradicts the chart on top (and all the research) that places the number between 1.8-3 million!

Now, even if Obama is basing his statements on unfounded statements by militant Islamic groups with their clear agendas, as opposed to research from multiple, independent and unbiased research studies – that would still place the US only somewhere around the low 30s on the list.

Either way, quite far from being “one of the largest Muslim Countries in the World”.

Could this just be wishful thinking on the President’s part?

On another related issue, the President said, "And I think there have been times where we are not as honest as we should be about the fact...".

Now it could be that Obama has a problem with his honesty (ya think?), or perhaps he has simply aligned himself with the Muslim sector, and honesty be damned.

Or maybe it is time Obama educates himself more effectively on Islam - before creating policies that are bad for America (and of course, bad for Israel).

Or perhaps he actually meant to say, "The most powerful country in the world is led by a Muslim - Barack Hussein Obama" - that I could believe.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד

Best comments heard this trip so far.

Jameel! I haven't seen you since 1883!

What? You play hockey? Every Motzei Shabbat? That doesn't make sense...

What? YOU'RE THE MUQATA BLOGGER?! No Way!

You're here with 3 kids, and you're saying it's easy?

After standing-up Ezzie 3 times, I'm shocked you're actually seeing him in person.
*Ezzie hijacks and says: Seriously! But 'twas fun... :) I can't believe you drove over at like 1:00 in the morning, though. *That* is a bit nuts.

Jameel at passport control to Muqata kid:

Jameel: When's your birthday? I need to write it down on the form.
Muqata Kid: (gives Hebrew date)
Jameel: I know that, what's the English date of your birthday.
Muqata Kid: Shrugs. No idea.

Going to be a hectic day...driving South...

(And kudos to Cro Magnum Pyschotoddler who parodies Shifra on her own blog better than herself. Maybe next year he'll make a submission for the Podcast...)







Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

Purim's Over. An Explanation of my Delinquency.

Purim’s over.

The costumes have been put back in the attic, the noisemakers have disappeared and my megilla has been safely stored away from harm’s reach. I’ve had 3 different containers for my megilla scroll;

A container from a Glenmorangie 10 year old bottle of Scotch.

An IDF 72 mm mortar round container. (Closest Pic I could find)

A leather “Etzion Art” megilla holder.

(They are pathetic...even if they make great stuff since their web site is down and I can't even get a picture from them)

The last one is where my megilla is kept now.

As people know who have been reading my blog, it’s that time for year again.

With Purim over, there’s only one possible solution…and that means…it’s time for Jameel to be less than helpful with Pesach cleaning.

Obviously, its not intentional. It just somehow works out year after year, right after Purim, I have to fly away on business to some corner of the globe. **

Places include; Manila, Las Vegas, Los Angelas, London…and this year’s lucky location is…New York. Many, many thanks to the Mrs @ The Muqata for her positive spin to this trip, (despite a rather unexpected start), for buying gifts for different relatives we’ll be seeing, for buying last minute food when we found out we might not have kosher meals (and we ended up eating it all during this flight), and in general – for remembering the details that I overlook.

To put a twist on it, I’m not actually flying for business this year, but rather for a family simcha, and I’m flying with 3 of the Muqata kids as well.

That’s why my blogging has been a bit light lately.

Actually, it’s a combination of over-working myself with the podcast, an abundance of work, less sleep than usual, and this trip I’m on now.

So, while the Muqata kids refuse to sleep on the plane, and they zap through 18 channels of airline video, I thought to let you know why things have quieted down a bit.

And while we’re at it, a few observations on the JBlogosphere.

There seems to be an unusual alignment of the planets now or perhaps a hiccup in the time/space continuum – because there’s a sense of contentment among different bloggers that I haven’t seen in a while.

(Updated and fixed...must have been jetlag ;-)

The XGH blogger is now content at being Frum, and while he still has questions…he seems to have reached a new level of serenity. We’re very happy for him!

The Holy Hyrax blogger wrote a great, optimistic piece about creativity and I think it's one of his best submissions to the JBlogosphere. (Then again, while he refuses to do a banner for Chardal, he did the amazing poster for the Purim Podcast!)

The Renegade Rebbitzen, while sort of on hiatus from blogging because she claims she's "busy", is still keeping us amused on a more regular basis (and we even got mentioned here and here!)

Even this post itself is having a good effect on the Muqata kids…and now 2 out of 3 are asleep.

So, I’ll end this now; if you spot me around the Eastern Time Zone of the USA, you’ll be able to identify us by the yellow smiley faces.

Regards,

Jameel

Wherever I am…even on a plane, my blog is facing Eretz Yisrael.

** Having just seen Shifra's post about the NEXT podcast, I will say that if I waste one second of potential "Pesach cleaning time" on a podcast, I would feel forever guilty.

On the other hand, Im getting much better at it -- and with a bunch of volunteers, it may only take up a fraction of time. Hmmm....maybe a post Pesach podcast? :-)

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael