Argentina were thrashed 4-0 today by a dominant German team. Before the match began I had expected the encounter to be a close affair with the strong possibility of a penalty shoot-out to break the deadlock. However, the omens didn’t look good for the South American side when Germany’s Thomas Müller opened the scoring within three minutes of the start. Maradona’s team never really got going and their annihilation surely mended a few broken English hearts still licking wounds from Germany’s 4-1 drubbing of England last week.
Doyle: I think most pundits expected Argentina to cruise past Germany seeing as the Germans have had a suspect defence in recent matches. Argentina’s superior attackers should have given the opposing goalkeeper a lot more of a test.
Hibbert: Typical German efficiency and organisation which constantly see them hitting above their weight. On paper, you would not have expected Germany to reach the Semi-Finals but as with previous competitions, you just can’t rule out the Germans, ever.
You have to admit though that they do have some star players like Miroslav Klose, Bastian Schweinsteiger and the little heard of Thomas Müller.
Doyle: All great players but compared to the skills of Lionel Messi, Carlos Tévez and Gonzalo Higuaín, they are not in the same league. Argentina should have won.
Langton: You forgot to mention the young star Mesut Oezil. Brilliant player who has been the revelation of the whole tournament rather like Michael Owen back in the 1998 World Cup. A wonderful story of Germany’s modern and multicultural society. Kevin-Prince Boateng is another of these success stories.
Hibbert: Think you’ll find that it’s Jérôme Boateng, Kevin-Prince’s younger brother. Kevin-Prince Boateng actually plays for the Ghanaian national team. Apparently he decided at the last moment back in 2007, that he didn’t want to play for Germany and would instead play for Ghana. The two nations actually played one another in the group stages of this World Cup, with the two brothers facing one another on opposing sides. First time in World Cup history that this phenomenon has ever happened.
Langton: Sign of the times and a welcome one at that. Nations evolve and change and this should be seen as a good thing. Mesut Oezil of Turkish descent will soon become one of the greatest German players ever.
Pilcher: Yeah, just a shame he doesn’t care for the German anthem and recites the Koran instead.
Langton: Perhaps he can’t sing and your Islamaphobia is doing nothing for this discussion.
Doyle: Going back to the match. I was expecting Argentina to make a comeback in the second half but that never materialised. Germany in fact repeated the feat they carried off against England, where they made use of counter attacks, pace and highly functional team play. Three times in one World Cup tournament where they have scored four goals in one match. They have got to be favourites now, right?
I should think so but I still fancy Spain to finally reach the summit.
Langton: Can’t see it. This is Germany’s year. No doubt about it.
Admin: A chain of stores in Spain has unfortunately decided to remove the Israeli-invented games Rummikub from their shelves. This comes in the wake of the Gaza Terror Flotilla incident where IDF commandos stormed a Gaza-bound ship filled with Turkish terrorists. Rummikub has become a popular game worldwide although I must admit I’d not heard of it until a Dutch friend introduced me to the rules the other day.
Hibbert: It’s not a game for everyone. The game is also known as Rummy-O or Rummycube and was invented by Ephraim Hertzano, a Romanian-born Israeli. Kodkod is the company that sells it and the most intriguing part in all this is that Spain was in fact the host nation of last year’s Rummikub World Championship.
Admin: A manager of the Abacus chain told a Spanish newspaper:
“We carried the game until now because it is very interesting from a pedagogical perspective … but as a cooperative, we see what is going on, and we must be sensitive to the social situations.”
Doyle: The stores say they removed the Rummikub games in order to replace them with a cheaper Chinese version of the game known as ‘Rummy’. Naturally, they deny that pro-Palestinian groups were part of the equation when deciding to change from an Israeli supplier to a Chinese one.
Hibbert: One should note that the Israeli version will still be sold by Abacus in the company’s catalogue and also be sold directly to schools which regularly use the product as part of lessons. What one should read into this, I don’t know.
Admin: In economical terms I can just about understand it but if this is indeed a move, as suggested by the Abacus manager’s words, then the moral and ethical abyss which Spain faces is gargantuan. China is one of the worst human rights violators on the planet.
Hibbert: You can say that again. Political freedoms in China are severely restricted and the treatment of religious minorities, including Christians, Muslims and Buddhists, is nothing short of diabolical. More people are executed in China each year than the rest of the world combined. Death is the punishment even for some white-collar crimes such as embezzlement and tax fraud. Then there’s the treatment of rural workers, ethnic minorities and forced abortions and sterilizations.
Dijkstra: Like swapping products made in Britain for products made in Iran?
Doyle: Forced marriages in Britain are becoming an ever increasing problem. As one might expect, the victims overwhelmingly come from Asian families, notably Pakistanis, Indians and Bangladeshi. Current estimates put the number of forced marriage incidents involving British nationals at 10,000 per year.
Admin: Indeed. The interesting fact in all this is the rise in the number of men seeking help at specialist units set up for just such problems. Approximately 65% more calls were made to the FMU (Forced Marriage Unit) this year than the previous. The young men are often forced into marriage because their family suspect or know that they are homosexual.
Doyle: That means the family’s honour is at stake which is an extremely important aspect of many South Asian societies. So much so, that many would prefer their children to be killed than reveal a secret that we in the West would barely bat an eyelid to.
Dijkstra: I guess this is a big issue and rallying point amongst British lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people?
Every once in a while, an opinion piece in a broadsheet newspaper causes my jaw to drop and my eyes to take on the appearance of saucers. Richard Spencer’stelegraph blog entry did that just now. His criticism about Douglas Murray’s previous blog entry regarding Diane Abbott, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown and their obtuse stupidity, was adorned with the subtle card of racism. The fact that the two women in question happen to be from ethnic minorities causes Spencer to stumble over vague yet sinister ground regarding Murray’s motives.
It may be, of course, a coincidence that the candidates, Diane Abbott MP and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, a newspaper columnist, are both from ethnic minorities.
The rather taciturn ‘may be’, a useful get out of jail card, in this case highlights the seemingly convinced mind, behind the wording, regarding the guilt of the accused. A little later into the paragraph, linked to above, another nail in the coffin is nailed with the semi-cliché ‘a coincidence too far’.
The final paragraph of Spencer’s article is the one that caused most surprise however where he refers to Ms Abbott’s recent scolding on the BBC’s This Week.
And finally, by the way, what if it were true – what if West Indian mums do love their children more than the average, as measured by race? Neither Murray or Neil consider that possibility, which is a much more interesting question.
I wonder if he would have even dared put down in writing a contemplation, however weakly, of whether white mothers love their children more than black mothers? I highly doubt it. Remember Rod Liddle anyone?
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown is of course the women who accuses all non-white right-wingers as “Uncle Toms” and says ‘indigenous Britons’ deep down, want to tear ethnic minorities to pieces. You can read more of her diatribes here. Ugandan-born Alibhai-Brown, by the way, was given welcome sanctuary in Britain just before the expulsion of Ugandan Asians by Idi Amin.
Diane Abbott is the woman who claimed “blonde, blue-eyed Finnish girls” might be unsuitable to work in London hospitals because “may never have met a black person before”. Then of course there’s her more recent “West Indian mums will go to the wall for their children” in which she included herself in that category. This from a woman who was born in Paddington, London.
Thousands of hippies, druids and Liberal Democrats gathered at the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge this morning to welcome the sunrise on the Summer Solstice. The scene of 35,000 visitors last year, this year the iconic monument situated in the English county of Wiltshire saw just 20,000 people make the early morning visit. As the sun rose a few minutes before 5 o’clock, the crowds cheered with the sunrise clear to see, thankfully without the cloud cover that has often plagued previous solstices.
Event organisers including King Gordon Pendragon (formerly known as “that bastard in No.10″) and Butterfly Hazel admitted puzzlement as to why the numbers were much lower than the record-breaking 2009 gathering. Some have suggested the cooler than normal weather conditions as being a factor but sources close to King Gordon Pendragon admit the new influx of Liberal Democrats attending the event has soured the atmosphere for many previous attendees.
A former Stonehenge devotee, now in his late 70s, stated in a local Wiltshire newspaper the reason for his absence this year: “I ain’t a quiddle but it’s become all a nunny-fudge with them there Liberal Democrats comin’ with their zammy lot n’ spoilin’ what used to be a deedy n’ docy event”.
The entire Liberal Democrat party descended on Stonehenge this morning in order to, as their spokesman put it, “reconnect with Nature”. Chris Huhne was the only absentee, having already done his bit for Mother Nature with PR woman Carina Trimingham. Some reports also suggest that little Sarah Teather could have been offered as a sacrifice although English Heritage, the custodian of the Stonehenge site, are currently unaware of any such incidents.
A number of arrests were made overnight in relation to minor disorder and alcohol related offences and one person taken to hospital with a stray vuvuzela horn stuck up a bodily orifice. Organisers deemed the event a success albeit with a lower turn out. David Laws is expected to make a full recovery.
An unknown South African bird was given the man-of-the-match award after the dire goalless draw between England and Algeria in the group stages of the football World Cup. In what has been deemed as England’s worst performance since the Aztecs kicked their ullis, the criticism from press and fans alike has been monumental. Their spluttering performance at the Green Point Stadium in Cape Town showed a squad lacking in belief and energy.
The omens for England looked bad when just ten minutes after the kick-off, a South African bird landed on the Algerian goal netting and began to admire the action. As Rooney and Heskey tried to find ways past the mundane Algerian defence, the bird did not appear to look unduly worried about the possibility of having to vacate its new home. The most humiliating moment came at half-time, when realising the sides would swap ends, the bird upped and flew across to the opposite goal netting.
Both teams were dire and after the match, it was deemed that the man-of-the-match be the anonymous bird that had provided so much entertainment to South African and Algerian fans in the stadium. Unfortunately, the bird was not able to pick up its reward after going missing. FIFA are apparently launching an enquiry against the England Football Association regarding the missing bird, with Rooney seen spitting feathers after walking off the pitch in disgust.
In keeping with multicultural sensitivities, closed-circuit television cameras in the English city of Birmingham will be required to wear the Islamic burka. This comes after Muslim communities in the city complained that the surveillance cameras were both intrusive and alluring. Originally put up for counter-terrorism purposes, the CCTV fixtures have become a major concern to Muslims who insist they are being stigmatised because of their religion.
When interviewed about the cameras last year, local Muslim Councillor Salma Yaboob shrieked: “Residents have lost faith with the Zionist authorities for their sneaky handling of the matter! The Ummah will not be reassured until they have been told the locations of the hidden cameras too”.
A local Imam had a further problem with the surveillance cameras. Choosing to remain anonymous, the Islamic leader said through an interpreter: “These cameras … they should be covered up. Or moved. Our young are taken advantage of. My son and his son and his son after him, they are all menaced by these uncovered cameras! They provoke … they are provocative … they move their heads around when people walk by. They titillate … yes … they flirt and titillate with my son and his son and his son after him … they must be covered!”
Local council leaders and police have profusely apologised for the naked cameras found in Muslim areas of Birmingham. They have also written to local mosques explaining their ’stupidity’ and asking that the discount they enjoyed on their jizya tax be scrapped in penance. The surveillance camera burkas are expected to be applied within the coming days.
Some critics of the plans have stated that the burka will reduce the level of visibility that camera operators will have. With just a narrow slit across the camera lens, it has been suggested that up to 95% of the resulting image will be black. However, civil rights groups have scolded such criticisms.
Connie Fergus who is head of the ‘Liberty for Tyranny’ think-tank remarked on her twitter account: “How dare these Islamaphobic bigots impede on these people’s culture!” … “Have they not heard of the phrase, when in Brum, do as the Brummies do?”.
A Home Office spokeswoman under pressure from other Muslim communities across Britain said: ‘Work is already underway on CCTV regulation and the government will be bringing forward proposals to place burkas on all cameras where our hard working minorities might find offence. Naturally, Islam is a religion of peace and we condemn all hatred and intolerance against this peaceful and progressive section of our society”.
Concerns are spreading through media and political circles over the state of US President Barack Obama’s mental health. A number of factors are leading some psychiatric experts to offer possible reasons behind the strange behaviour shown by the American head of state in recent weeks. Barack Obama became president on January 20, 2009 and according to opinion polls has already become one of the most unpopular presidents in the history of the United States.
The most startling piece of evidence that has been leaked by the American Psycho Association, an organization believed to be closely monitoring the president, is the many months Mr Obama has been spending in his private swimming pool beneath the White House. Sources suggest the president has been trying to perfect the technique of walking on water but has so far found little success. Doctors are concerned that the disappointment of this failure is sending Mr Obama further into a state of psychosis.
Another situation that has experts worried is the president’s apparent lack of concern over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill which occurred recently in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010. As environmentalists, scientists, concerned citizens and BP try to find ways to stem the flow, Barack Obama has instead been playing rounds of golf and attending concerts by ageing rockers. When he did manage to visit the coast most affected by the oil spill, he spent most of the time waving to the crowds and asking whether the tar balls washing up on the beaches could be used in the creation of new basketballs.
One mental health expert suggested in a local Florida newspaper that the president might be suffering from Narcissistic Personality Disorder or NPD. The expert stated there were five main symptoms of NPD and that Mr Obama showed symptoms of each one.
“The president is obviously suffering from the 5 symptoms of Narcissistic Personality Disorder and these include being 1) a charlatan, 2) an exhibitionist, 3) imbued with avoidance features, 4) elitist and 5) paranoid.” wrote the expert.
He continued: “We can see all five symptoms manifesting themselves in Obama, such as the deception over his Islamic religion, his penchant for flexing his muscles to pretty ladies, his disdain of Massachusetts cops and his avoidance of the British Prime Minister which also leads into paranoia. Political contacts have suggested that Mr Obama is seeking a new defence strategy to be employed in case the British try to invade the United States after what he sees as an opening salvo from BP. This is utter lunacy of course, especially after seeing England’s leaking flotilla in the soccer match last week”.
President Barack Obama is sure to be aware of the growing concern over his mental health. It’s uncertain whether his private doctors will be able to relieve some of the symptoms long enough for America’s first black president to see out the the rest of his presidential term. Some insiders are believed to be asking Hollywood actor Jamie Foxx to act as an impersonation of Mr Obama should his mental state hit rock bottom.
Police in South Africa where the 2010 football World Cup is currently being staged are on the look out for a mysterious biker with a giant vuvuzela. Many television broadcasters have received complaints about a loud droning background noise during coverage of football matches which was becoming unbearable to listen to. The BBC alone had received 545 complaints by Day Five of the tournament whilst fans, pundits and players worldwide had sounded their disapproval of what they described as a ’swarm of bees’.
World Cup organisers and local police have placed wanted posters of what they believe is the origin of the constant buzzing sound. A nameless biker has been riding from city to city across South Africa and circling the stadiums whilst the important group stages matches are playing out. Despite critics noting that the buzz is created by thousands of vuvuzelas, the local authorities are instead blaming the noise on a single individual. The suspect was captured on camera a couple of days ago whilst speeding away from the Polokwane Stadium in Limpopo province.
The suspect is described as white, portly and riding a dirty black motorcycle. His nationality is unknown. Whilst the ‘vuvuzela bandit’ as the media have labelled him continues to remain a mystery, some in South Africa are offering possible identities to who the obnoxious noise maker might be. A journalist for the little known Zuma Times has speculated that the biker is a Mr James Corden, a B-list celebrity in England who after a spat with Star Trek actor Sir Patrick Stewart, lost his mind and went berserk across the Rainbow Nation.
Some experts in Britain believe however that the mystery biker is in fact a ploy to reflect attention away from the thousands of cheap plastic vuvuzelas being sold in South African cities. Television footage also shows fans from all nations blowing on the horns inside the stadiums which leaves little doubt in many people’s minds that they are the real culprit. The search continues.
Complaints are growing in media and supporter’s circles regarding the loud horns being played by fans at the South African World Cup football matches. Known as ‘vuvuzelas’, the blowing horns have been regular features during football matches in South Africa, where the rather obnoxious noise produced is designed to intimidate or “kill off” the opponents. There is even talk of the metre long horns being banned soon for the rest of the tournament.
Thousands of football fans worldwide have complained about the drone of the vuvuzelas, which have been described as like a swarm of bees or a pregnant water buffalo in labour. Some angry football fans have claimed the endless noise is worse than their wives’ nagging and want to hear the offensive sound silenced as well as the vuvuzelas.
One complaint read “What an absolutely disgraceful, ear-wrenching noise,” whilst another said “Gordon Brown’s Scottish drawl wasn’t half as bad as this racket”.
A website called Ban Vuvusela has even been set up where football fans and desperate housewives can vote on whether they want to see the horns banned from future matches. At the time of writing, the ‘Votes to Ban’ enormously outnumber those of the ‘Votes to Keep’. It’s not hard to assume that latter votes come from proud South Africans and the deaf.
However, FIFA president Sepp Blatter has called on the vuvuzelas to continue and accused those with bleeding ears of discrimination against Africans. World Cup organisers have also joined the chorus of those in favour of keeping the horns, claiming the plastic instruments as being a “potent symbol of the tournament” and a good way to drown out the sound of rape alarms beeping across the cities.
It remains to be seen whether the vuvuzelas will be banned from football stadiums, like they are from South African rugby stadiums. With more and more people switching off due to the racket, it’s certain that unless action is taken, there will be a large increase of anusimpedimentia cases referred to local hospitals.
Britain revealed recently a pledge to give £19 million in aid to Gaza. The announcement came a few hours after the flotilla incident in which Israeli commandos stormed a Turkish aid boat transporting baseball bats, knives, out-of-date medicines and suicidal humanitarian aid workers to the tiny Gaza Strip. Andrew Mitchell, the British International Development Secretary, also called on Israel to lift the blockade it has in place to stop weapons entering the region.
Ismail Hernia, a leading Hamas official has declared to the media that the £19 million will be invested in bringing Japanese Sumo wrestling coaches to the Gaza Strip. Puzzled journalists were told that ten of the top Sumo experts from Japan will be invited over as well as the purchasing of thousands of Sumo loincloths which will be converted to bomb belts.
Middle East and Hamas experts are predicting a new intifada in the coming months, probably in parallel with an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear plants. The investment in Sumo coaching is believed to be a new offensive element in the Palestinian’s plans to wipe out the state of Israel. Thousands of Gazan men will be fattened up with the excess food delivered weekly to the Strip and trained in the art of wrestling their opponents to the ground. The martyrs would aim to sit on and suffocate as many of the enemy as possible before blowing themselves up.
The brains behind the latest Hamas initiative is Sheik Yunus al-Wacky who came up with the idea when watching Hamas senior members dining at the exclusive Gaza City hotel. Britain has yet to respond to the decision but it’s expected they will offer cautionary advice to both sides to avoid violence, confrontation and anything which could put a heavy burden on the Middle East peace process.
Israel has refused to comment on the possibility of hundreds of half-naked and obese Arabs running over the border. They are however making contingency plans to strengthen bomb shelters and buildings for fear the act of shiko (the traditional sumo leg stomping) could weaken walls and foundations.
I want to share with my readers a music video made by the Israeli defence Forces in honour of a previous Commander in Chief of the IDF. It’s no exaggeration to say I have watched this video a few dozen times over the last couple of years. The reason it means a lot is that, for me, the video shows the spirit of a truly moral, humanitarian and brave military that is so disgustingly demonized as evil, criminal and worthy of the most heinous of ends, across the world, including in Britain, that it is hard to stomach.
The Israeli Defence Force, as Britain’s Col. Richard Kemp stated, is one of the bravest and most ethical militaries on the face of the planet and do all they can to prevent innocent loss of life amongst the Arab populations in all territories that surround them. There is no doubt in my mind about this and it hurts, even though I am neither Israeli or Jewish, when fellow Europeans lambaste the IDF as war criminals and thugs.
My point in showing the video I have come to regard fondly, which shows all of the IDF’s High Command in playful sing-song, highlights in no better way the familiarity of peace seeking and Western minded men and women fighting the same fight we in Britain are battling. They are fathers, grandfathers, sons and daughters, who seek peace with their Arab neighbours and do all they can to avoid suffering of civilians of all races and creeds. So much so, they even refrain from killing the most evil of Islamic terrorists if it means civilian lives are put in danger. Indeed, they even call ahead to the Palestinian homes next to their intended targets calling on the occupants to evacuate and thereby letting the terrorists also know, to make their escape.
I can think of very few armies in the world who would go to these lengths. In fact more people are killed on a terrorist to civilian ratio by the British and American forces in places like Iraq and Afghanistan than by the IDF in the West Bank and Gaza. Yet still, the burden of the world’s blame falls on their shoulders with ferocity and hatred that is not even given to Al Qaeda or the Taliban. I find this unfair and I find this unjust.
People often ask me why I support Israel so strongly and vigorously. At times I often step back myself and notice that my fascination and devotion to Israeli politics and culture could be considered an obsession. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t, I don’t know and I don’t particularly care. There are what I consider extremely valid reasons for supporting the nation of Israel to the hilt and many of those can be found in the detailed essay I wrote a few years ago titled Why I Strongly Support Israel.
I believe Israel is at the very centre of the global battle of values and civilisations. Whilst people often cast off the Israel/Palestine conflict as a regional war that should be left to its own devices, I see this chronic friction as the epicentre of a battle that could well consume our own society and way of life within a century or indeed, within just a few decades. The battle I talk about is the conflict between Islam and Western Civilisation.
Israel embodies the values that Europe and North America possess and must protect but which are not regarded with the worth they merit. If Israel falls, it will be the largest single victory for the retrograde forces of fundamentalist Islam for the last few centuries. I use the word ‘fundamentalist’ purposefully. When Islam is followed rigidly as proscribed in the Koran and Ahadith, the only outcome is violence and the loss of liberty. This has been proven again and again throughout the last 1300 years.
Another reason I support Israel is for the protection of the Jews. If there’s one thing I’ve come to realise over the last few months, is the scale of anti-Semitism that exists in the world today. This time last year, I would still have stuck to the line I held when I wrote the essay linked to above. That line being that anti-Semitism is not widespread in Britain and that only the Muslim immigrants and a minority of bigots on the fringes held this loathsome quality. The events of the recent Gaza flotilla incident has blown this belief out of the water (excuse the pun).
Over the next few weeks and months I will elaborate further on the points above as well as ‘blog for Israel’ as I can best describe it. To say the events of the Gaza Flotilla and the resulting fall-out in the International media and social networks has shocked me to the core, is an understatement. A fellow blogger with similar views to mine regarding Israel best sums up my reaction in his post found here: The Flotilla: Israel’s History in Microcosm.
For the last few years, there has been an on-going tirade and backlash in the Muslim world over the Mohammed cartoons. As everyone in the West has been forced to realise, Muslims go ape-shit if an image of their prophet is in anyway portrayed in a picture, whether in a positive or negative light. Many Non-Muslim Western apologists have gone along for the ride with their typical mock-outrage that any minority could have their human rights abused or ridiculed.
Below is a series of pictures, which are mostly rather gruesome to look at. However, for Islamists and indeed, many moderate Muslims, there is one image that will drive the rage-o-meter off the scale. Can you guess which one it is? (click on the image to enlarge)
Amazing isn’t it?
Yesterday (20th May) was ‘Draw Mohammed Day’. A Facebook page was set up for people to post their drawings of the Islamic Prophet Mohammed. Over 90,000 people became a ‘fan’ of the page and at the last count around 4,000 images had been posted. Admittedly, some of the pictures were gratuitously offensive in that they showed Mohammed with items and in scenes that would make your grandmother blush. However, that’s not the point. Many were neutral and even positive reproductions of classical and mundane portraits of Mohammed or Arab-looking men with beards.
What went wrong? Facebook went wrong. Today the page no longer exists as Facebook has removed it. While one only has to type in ‘Jews’ and ‘Israel’ into the search box to find rabid hate groups, mostly created by Muslims, a simple page of drawings and cartoons which were a symbol of freedom of expression, has been obliterated.
Danish and other European cartoonists live in fear of their lives because of drawings they created portraying Mohammed. Some have had their homes attacked whilst infamous incidents such as the murder of Theo Van Gogh still haunt the streets of Amsterdam. These cartoons and drawings were a symbol of post-Enlightenment values being defended against 7th Century barbarism. The capitulation of Facebook over this, is disappointing to put it mildly but sadly, not surprising.
The question remains, when will we, the West, stand up for our values and liberty? Before or after it is too late?
“The hate for the West swells like a fire fed by the wind. The clash between us and them is not a military one. It is a cultural one, a religious one, and the worst is still to come.” Oriana Fallaci
Today is the third anniversary of Gilad Shalit’s capture by Islamist terrorists (Hamas) from the Gaza Strip. Shalit is a brave Israeli soldier who was just 19 years old when taken hostage. He is now 22 and is wanting to live in freedom and return to his family and friends.
To mark the 3rd year of his imprisonment, I am writing a series of poetry tweets from my profile on the social networking site Twitter. They will appear throughout the day and every now and then will be posted to this blog, each and every one of them. Please feel free to re-tweet all and every mini-poem as much as you like so as to make #Gilad a trending topic on Twitter today.
They are as follows: (to be updated throughout the day)
listen carefully to the silence brave #Gilad for wrapped inside r the voices of Israel crying out your name,waiting,longing, for your return
do not count the passing years brave #Gilad,nor let the foreign soil your heart devour.The hills of Zion sing to you, their son, their lion.
Let the sweet song of Jerusalem fill your sleeping hours with comfort brave #Gilad , let the pride of your nation’s glory bring you peace.
the arms of Israel do not rest cold brave #Gilad but instead ache for the day of your return. Hope’s pendulous ticking will not wane.
Brave #Gilad , let not your heart break in dull despair, for in your solitude & gloom there is the air & love of Jerusalem watching over you
Brave #Gilad , warrior of the just. Feel the hand of Israel pressed against your heart & know her caring voice recites your name.
Thy prison roof confines thee brave #Gilad but let not your soul be troubled. The whole of Israel waits for their courageous son’s return.
Love and light to #Gilad flow, from the four corners of the earth. Let not the name of #Gilad fade nor his bravery be forgotten.
a flower plucked from Israel’s soil, by the hands of terrorist fiends. Shout out, be heard, let #Gilad hear his name!
Remember the bleak & lonely nights before that have encompassed you with dread. For brave #Gilad they never end but roll one into another
Your bravery has matched & even surpassed the greatest names of history young #Gilad. The people of the world must never forget.
when darkness falls this very night,take a moment,with a candle &whisper out to the lost soldier in the wilds of tyranny,”you are not alone”
Each star that graces the night sky is a voice of hope&comfort to the lost Israeli soldier #Gilad. Part the mists,let them shine,let him see
Brave #Gilad , a better dawn will come to you, when freedom will sing more beautifully than any birdsong. Israel’s son, focus on that day.
Time marches on, the tears of #Gilad ’s family continue to fall. But the love & hope for a lost Israeli soldier will never waver nor cease
A beacon shines brightly from the darkness of Gaza. #Gilad , a living light of youth & dignity, caged by those blind to humanity & liberty.
let the dawn of a summer day remind you of Israel’s flower, lost & alone in the wilderness of terror. #Gilad
dry the tears that fall dear child & look to Gaza where sits a brave soldier, #Gilad ,alone, carrying Israel’s honour on his young shoulders
Hamas have neither bravery nor honour. How much they must despise he, who shows their heinousness, by his mere silent presence. #Gilad
Let your prayers for #Gilad fly like birds into the skies above his place of captivity. A brave soldier, a lion, caged but with strong heart
If only for a moment in your day,think of #Gilad, the young but brave Israeli soldier held captive in the Gaza Strip.Alone with the darkness
Remember a time when in the crowds you felt alone. It is nothing compared to the brave soldier #Gilad who in enemy territory dwells alone.
By the border sing his name, #Gilad Shalit, billowing waves of sound across the Gaza Strip until your voices reach his ears.
Under the moonlight’s glistening stare rests the prison cell where #Gilad sleeps.Tonight,remember this brave soldier as stars begin to shine
Forget not the soldier #Gilad who fought for freedom’s gain nor the need to fling the Hamas tyranny from the face of the Earth.
when next you see a ray of sunshine casting its light on a morning dew drop. Think of #Gilad , trapped in captivity, longing for his release
Unclench your souls and let their light wrap around the shoulders of the #Gilad family. Their son, an inspiration to us all across the world
A mother’s soft weeping fills the lonely hours of the night. The grief of not knowing, the agony of ‘what if’. Brave #Gilad a son of Israel
Morning slips into afternoon but still a brave soldier remains captive. #Gilad who fought in defense of freedom,4that which we all hold dear
How swift life is, how short the funnels of togetherness can be. 3 years is too long, set #Gilad free!
International health officials are looking into the possible worldwide growth of hCG addiction. Human Chorionic Gonadotropin, usually referred to by its initials, is a glycoprotein hormone which is produced by women during pregnancy. The World Health Conference which meets thrice yearly in California has expressed its deep concern over the growing rates of addiction amongst men of all ages.
Human chorionic gonadotropin’s usual role is to keep intact the corpus luteum of the ovary and therefore maintain progesterone production. This is vital for pregnancy in humans. However, it’s also been used in conjunction with anabolic androgenic steroids in athletes and has been put on the list of banned substances in various sports. The most recent case was that of Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez who was suspended for 50 games by the US Baseball Authorities.
When sportsmen take certain steroids, the amount of testosterone their testicles produce can dramatically decrease and even shut down completely. This can lead to shrinkage of the testes and become what is scientifically referred to as testicular atrophy. As one can imagine, the reduction in a man’s love sacks can have terrible repercussions on his marriage and self-confidence.
One of the only ways to re-ignite the engines, so to speak, is to take doses of hCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin. This mimics the naturally occurring luteinizing hormone. However, if a man takes too much over a period of time or becomes addicted, then his testicles can increase in size. This can lead to increased emotional turmoil and anger levels, as well as difficulty walking, sitting and relaxing. If not treated, the addiction can result in testicular fulmination.
Suspected cases of addiction to this chemical have been reported worldwide, including in the halls of Hollywood. Jack Nicholson was seen in a high state of tension recently in Los Angeles and fans packed online messages boards worried by his bulging trousers. In London, another case was suspected at a football match between Chelsea and Barcelona where the Ivorian striker Didier Drogba was seen to be livid with match referee Tom Henning Ovrebo.
Doctors are said to be monitoring the situations of both men. The World Health Conference will be producing a detailed document on the situation in the coming weeks but have advised wives, girlfriends and mothers to keep an eye on any unusual behaviour or growths in their menfolk.
Afghanistan’s only known living pig has grown accustomed to being the only swine in the country. His playmates at the Kabul Zoo, including deer and goats, saw poor Khanzir as an oddity but accepted him into their herds. He ran, or rather trotted, as happily as a lonely pig could under the circumstances. However, porky, as the monkey’s called him, has now had to leave his friends behind.
As Swine Flu fever hits the nightclubs of Afghanistan, the head keeper of the national zoo has had to move Khanzir into quarantine. In a nation where pork chops are illegal and pigs as rare as a woman’s bare face, there has been a lot of confusion and fear amongst the general population.
As Aziz Gul Saqib, the zoo’s director put it: “The only reason we moved him was because Afghan people don’t have a lot of knowledge about swine flu, and so when they see a pig they get worried and think they will get ill.”
An elderly gentleman who was visiting the zoo said: “These pigs all have the flu, you can see their noses running when you watch them on Al Geographic Channel. I don’t want my grandsons coming here with this dirty ill creature roaming around. We had a hard enough time getting our womenfolk quarantined. I say kill it, it is Allah’s will!”
Khanzir the lonely pig was given to Kabul Zoo by China in 2002. His zoo keepers are hoping his forced isolation will only be a temporary solution that will last no longer than a few days. The director hopes that they can soon find a female mate for the frisky pig but the H1N1 virus is likely to delay this action.
“It is a dangerous and difficult time to get a new pig for our pig”: said one of the keepers. “Ideally we’d like to get him four.”
Michael Savage the popular American talk-show host has been banned from entering the United Kingdom. The British Home Office has claimed the controversial conservative political commentator as being an individual who “provokes others to serious criminal acts and fostering hatred which might lead to inter-community violence”.
Mr Savage, whose real name is Michael Alan Weiner, has become the 22nd person to be listed as persona non grata in the land of the Magna Carta. The boisterous radio show host has however come out fighting by labelling the British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith a “lunatic”.
“To link me up with skinheads who are killing people in Russia, to put me in league with Hamas murderers who kill people on buses is defamation,” he said.
This latest incident comes soon after the banning of Dutch politician Geert Wilders from entering the United Kingdom in February of this year. Like Wilders, Michael Savage has also been a strong critic of Islam and once described the Koran as “a book of hate”.
It’s thought the British government has come under pressure from numerous minority groups to ban certain individuals from exercising their right to free speech. One of these groups is the Buddhist Sisterhood, known for their violent protests and acts of nudity in public places. When they threw their sandals at Buckingham Palace, it’s thought the final straw had been placed. Now the Prime Minister Gordon Brown invites them to tea every Thursday.
Michael Savage joins a long list of banned foreigners including the ex-Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard Stephen ‘Don’ Black, neo-Nazi Erich Gliebe, Hamas MP Yunis Al-Astal, Jewish extremist Mike Guzovsky and former US President George W. Bush.
“What does that say about the government of England? It says more about them than it says about me.” opined Mr Savage in an interview. The American talk show host is planning to sue the British government but lawyers have warned it would be difficult for Mr Weiner to do this.
The Israeli city of Sderot has been in the news a lot over the last few years due to the constant rocket barrage being directed from the Gaza Strip. Three children and many more adults have been killed since 2004 and hundreds wounded. Life is tough for the residents of the city who daily have to run to bomb shelters to escape the danger from Palestinian terrorists.
So what is the history of the Negev city and who lives there?
Sderot was founded in 1951 and was then just a small town next to the Gevim-Dorot transit camp. Kurdish and Persian refugees made up most of the first batch of settlers who lived in tents and shacks for four years before more permanent buildings were constructed in 1954.
Over the next few years, many more immigrants would arrive, particularly from Morocco and Romania. With the increased population, Sderot was declared as a local council in 1958. During the 1990’s, the town’s size doubled with the arrival of thousands of people from the then Soviet Union. In 1996, Sderot was formally declared as a city.
The city lies just one kilometre from the Gaza Strip border which is the biggest reason why it has borne the brunt of continued Islamic aggression. Since the year 2000, which was the start of the Second Intifada, Sderot has been under constant rocket barrage. Between June 2007 and February 2008, a total of 771 rockets and 857 mortar bombs were hurled at the city and surrounding areas, which is an average of four each and every day.
This unimaginable stress has caused both physical and emotional damage, as well as a population drain. Around 20% of the city’s population, mainly the middle classes, have left. Close to 30% of people suffer from post traumatic stress disorder.
The construction of bomb shelters and the implementation of the “Red Color” alarm system, which warns of incoming missiles, has done much to save lives but it’s still an awful position for any civilian population to be in.
The start of Holocaust Remembrance Day began shortly after 8pm Israeli time today. The annual ceremony remembers the millions of Jews who perished in Nazi Europe from 1933 through to 1945. As the sun set over Jerusalem, hundreds of dignitaries and ambassadors from around the world gathered at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial.
During the ceremony six torches were lit by survivors in recognition of the 6 million Jews who were killed in one of the worst genocides in human history. Two of these survivors were twin sisters who managed to live through the monstrous Auschwitz death camp and experiments by Dr. Joseph Mengele. Speeches were also made as well as low-key musical accompaniments.
However, the memorial was slightly overshadowed by the events in the city of Geneva in Switzerland earlier in the day. The United Nations anti-racism conference saw the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the keynote speaker, being the only head of state to attend. Whilst the conference aims to fight racism in all its forms, it is in fact merely a forum for anti-Semitism and attacks on Israel’s existence.
“The conference opening today in Geneva constitutes an acceptance of racism, rather than the fight against it, and its main speaker is Ahmadinejad, who calls for the annihilation of Israel and denies the Holocaust,” said Israeli President Shimon Peres.
New Prime Minister Binyamin Netnayahu followed by criticising the Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz who had met and shook hands with the Iranian tyrant.
“I turn to you, the Swiss president, and ask you: How can you meet someone who denies the Holocaust and wishes for a new holocaust to occur?”
A number of countries including the United States, Israel, Canada, Australia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and New Zealand had refused to go to Geneva at all. During the speech, many more delegates walked out minutes after Ahmadinejad began a racist tirade against Zionism and the Jewish State’s very being.
Afterwards, the United States deputy ambassador to the UN, Alejandro Wolff, said the speech was “inaccurate”, as well as showing disregard towards the UN, and “does a grave injustice to the Iranian nation and the Iranian people”.
The French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner had said before the conference started that if the meeting was to be a repetition of the intolerance and Jew hatred seen in Durban in 2001, then the French delegates would walk out. They were to do just that.
“The defence of human rights and the fight against all types of racism are too important for the United Nations not to unite against all forms of hate speech, against all perversion of this message. Faced with attitudes like that which the Iranian president has just adopted, no compromise is possible.” said Kouchner after Ahmadinejad’s speech.
At 10am tomorrow morning a siren will sound across Israel and for two minutes everything will come to a silent stand still as a mark of respect for those who died in the Holocaust.
Hibbert: Typical German efficiency and organisation which constantly see them hitting above their weight. On paper, you would not have expected Germany to reach the Semi-Finals but as with previous competitions, you just can’t rule out the Germans, ever. 
They are as follows: (to be updated throughout the day)
Suspected cases of addiction to this chemical have been reported worldwide, including in the halls of Hollywood. Jack Nicholson was seen in a high state of tension recently in Los Angeles and fans packed online messages boards worried by his bulging trousers. In London, another case was suspected at a football match between Chelsea and Barcelona where the Ivorian striker Didier Drogba was seen to be livid with match referee Tom Henning Ovrebo.
As Aziz Gul Saqib, the zoo’s director put it: “The only reason we moved him was because Afghan people don’t have a lot of knowledge about swine flu, and so when they see a pig they get worried and think they will get ill.”
So what is the history of the Negev city and who lives there?
This unimaginable stress has caused both physical and emotional damage, as well as a population drain. Around 20% of the city’s population, mainly the middle classes, have left. Close to 30% of people suffer from post traumatic stress disorder.
