Thursday, May 03, 2007
MY COUNTRY, MY CITY...MY GOODNESS
I once had a French teacher, Benedict D'Arlon, (well, his name was really Benjamin Schwartz but he felt that wasn't an appropriate name for a French teacher) who used to say "the world is going to hell in a handbasket". I never quite understood that - I don't even know what a handbasket is - but his meaning was loud and clear. And that's the way I feel today.
As I do each morning - I picked up my newspapers from my mailbox, made my first cup of tea of the day, lit my cigarette (yes, I smoke) - and began to read. You must all know by now of the political problems we are having here. To add to our woes - Hassan Nasrallah opined that our Winograd Commission Report now says conclusively that we lost the 2nd Lebanon War. We really needed to hear that from him. Avigdor Yitzchaki resigned....only to be replaced by Tzachi Hanegbi who is under indictment. Ehud Olmert refuses to resign. Tzippi Livni wants to be Prime Minister. Shimon Peres wants to be....anything - just elect him. Moshe Katzav wants the rape charges against him to be dropped and Azmi Bishara - an Arab Member of Knesset - is being charged with treason for helping the enemy during the 2nd Lebanon War.
Tzippi Livni wants Olmert to resign - she, however, will not resign. Amir Peretz says he doesn't have to resign because the Winograd Report didn't blame him as much as it blamed the others - Olmert and Dan Halutz - he says - "true - I have no Defense experience but I'm learning". Did you ever hear such "mishugass" (craziness)?
In the meantime, Sallai Meridor, Israeli Ambassador to the United States says that the Syrian military is undergoing its largest buildup since 1973 - remember the Yom Kippur War? Vos noch? (Yiddish - what else?) And that was only on the front page!!
Closer to home - closer to my home, that is - the traffic in Jerusalem has become more and more impossible to deal with. Some little smug, self-satisfied functionary (Kobi Bartov if you want to curse him personally) says that he can't forbid people from driving into downtown Jerusalem but he can - and will - make life miserable for us drivers. And he is doing that - with a vengeance. By the way - he also says that he doesn't care what people say about him - "write what you will" he said to the journalist who wrote the article telling us about his plans for the traffic.
To add to our traffic woes - Jerusalem is erecting a Calatrava Bridge at the entrance to the city. Work goes on day and night - both at the entrance to the city and along the highway. When we drove home from a party in the North at 11:00 last night we were stuck in the kind of traffic jam you expect to see only during rush hour. The bridge will help move the traffic along that Mr. Bartov doesn't want here.
And to add the cherry to the icing on the cupcake - the weatherman said yesterday that the rain would finally stop. After two weeks of not having my car washed - yesterday dawned bright and sunny. Shachar - my car wash guy - said all was well - go ahead and wash the car - finally. The car wash was jammed - full of people like me who want to drive in clean, shiny cars. I waited - I had the car washed - I was happy. And then this morning - when it wasn't supposed to rain, mind you - it RAINED - for only two minutes - those big, fat raindrops with a grain of sand in each drop - and my lovely white car is - once again - yellow.
And you want to know why I still live here? Because it's MY country.
Yalla, Bye.
Rena
As I do each morning - I picked up my newspapers from my mailbox, made my first cup of tea of the day, lit my cigarette (yes, I smoke) - and began to read. You must all know by now of the political problems we are having here. To add to our woes - Hassan Nasrallah opined that our Winograd Commission Report now says conclusively that we lost the 2nd Lebanon War. We really needed to hear that from him. Avigdor Yitzchaki resigned....only to be replaced by Tzachi Hanegbi who is under indictment. Ehud Olmert refuses to resign. Tzippi Livni wants to be Prime Minister. Shimon Peres wants to be....anything - just elect him. Moshe Katzav wants the rape charges against him to be dropped and Azmi Bishara - an Arab Member of Knesset - is being charged with treason for helping the enemy during the 2nd Lebanon War.
Tzippi Livni wants Olmert to resign - she, however, will not resign. Amir Peretz says he doesn't have to resign because the Winograd Report didn't blame him as much as it blamed the others - Olmert and Dan Halutz - he says - "true - I have no Defense experience but I'm learning". Did you ever hear such "mishugass" (craziness)?
In the meantime, Sallai Meridor, Israeli Ambassador to the United States says that the Syrian military is undergoing its largest buildup since 1973 - remember the Yom Kippur War? Vos noch? (Yiddish - what else?) And that was only on the front page!!
Closer to home - closer to my home, that is - the traffic in Jerusalem has become more and more impossible to deal with. Some little smug, self-satisfied functionary (Kobi Bartov if you want to curse him personally) says that he can't forbid people from driving into downtown Jerusalem but he can - and will - make life miserable for us drivers. And he is doing that - with a vengeance. By the way - he also says that he doesn't care what people say about him - "write what you will" he said to the journalist who wrote the article telling us about his plans for the traffic.
To add to our traffic woes - Jerusalem is erecting a Calatrava Bridge at the entrance to the city. Work goes on day and night - both at the entrance to the city and along the highway. When we drove home from a party in the North at 11:00 last night we were stuck in the kind of traffic jam you expect to see only during rush hour. The bridge will help move the traffic along that Mr. Bartov doesn't want here.
And to add the cherry to the icing on the cupcake - the weatherman said yesterday that the rain would finally stop. After two weeks of not having my car washed - yesterday dawned bright and sunny. Shachar - my car wash guy - said all was well - go ahead and wash the car - finally. The car wash was jammed - full of people like me who want to drive in clean, shiny cars. I waited - I had the car washed - I was happy. And then this morning - when it wasn't supposed to rain, mind you - it RAINED - for only two minutes - those big, fat raindrops with a grain of sand in each drop - and my lovely white car is - once again - yellow.
And you want to know why I still live here? Because it's MY country.
Yalla, Bye.
Rena
Comments:
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I don't know what a handbasket is either...maybe a basket you hold in your hand (?)...but the world is going down the tubes, that's for sure! And there are some people who believe it is getting better! It won't be getting better... Anyway, have a great day in Your Country. Wish I could visit it someday...sigh
Hi
I was sure I am going to learn a new word in english handbasket
but I guess if you dint know what it is I am not supposed to know too.
Abut the newspapers you can save lots of money and unhappiness if you just cancel the subscription.
same go for the car.
shalom from Tel aviv
Ilanit
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I was sure I am going to learn a new word in english handbasket
but I guess if you dint know what it is I am not supposed to know too.
Abut the newspapers you can save lots of money and unhappiness if you just cancel the subscription.
same go for the car.
shalom from Tel aviv
Ilanit
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