Respect

Bracha calls me ‘the blog darling’ and gives my workshop tomorrow some free publicity. I’m blushing..

PALESTINE NATIONAL YOUTH FOOTBALL TEAM REFUSED VISAS TO UK

From http://www.palestinefootball.myzen.co.uk:

The British Government has refused to issue visas for travel to England for the Palestine National Youth Football Team. The team was due to arrive today (21st August) for a three week tour of the UK. Visas were refused both to Palestinians living in Palestine, and refuges domiciled elsewhere. The official reason given for refusing the visitors visas is that the Palestinians are too poor to be trusted to return home.

You can also pledge: http://www.pledgebank.com/palestinefootbal

pet shop boys crowdsourcing for NO2ID

NO2ID tell us that:

Next Tuesday, 21st August (between 2pm – 8pm) the Pet Shop Boys need approx 200 people to be in a new video for ‘Integral’, their anti-ID cards song. The venue is Whitefield Memorial Church, 79a Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4TD.
They’ll be asking people to hold up printed frames of a video clip to their faces as well as needing some people moving in the background. Time commitment per person, 2 hours max.
I’m afraid we can’t pay anyone, but there will be refreshments
If anyone is interested and available could they please email Jacqui on jacqui@thesweetshop.tv

(digg story & cheers Bracha)

green? black? check your facts!

This one’s been making the rounds:

From: someone you trust
Conversation: Google goes green….or is that black…?!
‘…If Google had a black screen, taking in account the huge number of page views, according to calculations, 750 mega watts/hour per year would be saved.’
In response Google created a black version of its search engine, called Blackle <http://www.blackle.com/> , with the exact same functions as the white version, but obviously with lower energy consumption:
Help spread the word… use http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/08/is-black-new-green.html <http://www.blackle.com/> 

Wow! cool. and its coming from google, so why think twice right? well not quite.

Google’s official  blog says:

1. Blackle is a nice initiative, but is in no way affiliated with google. (actually, blackle say so quite clearly themselves)
2. On flat screens, black consumes more energy than white.
3. A lab test of blackle vs. google gives a clear energy saving advantage to google.

So please, before you forward any noble cause emails, check your facts. Often it takes no more time than it takes you to select the victims from your address book. The ‘no harm done’ argument is always a bit pathetic, and in some cases its plain wrong.

Gaza stories: Fat boy

We were stationed in Beit Hanoun. Every day I would take some 10 soldiers or so for a foot patrol along the main streets. Fully clad, sweating like hogs, and scared like shit. You see, macho as we were – it was their turf. You keep a distance between men. Stick to the walls and look at the roofs. All the time. Last man looks back. One before last looks at the last, to see he’s not snatched. You do not stop. If you do stop, everyone knows the defence positions. When you see a stone flying over a roof you shout ‘stone!’ and everyone looks to see where the next one’s coming from. Every stone shower is a dilemma: if you run after them, most chances are you’ll just waste your breath. If you don’t, you’re inviting some more. One time a couple of guys just burst out running into the allies trying to catch the kids. 30 seconds and they were gone. I was scared as hell. Luckily, they found their way back.

Then we go past an alley, a dead end, and the kids are waiting for us. the shower scatters around us, and we all charge in. There’s a wall at the end of the alley, and a garden behind it. They jump over the wall and they’re gone. But one kid is too fat, he tries to jump over and can’t. Poor bastard.

So we take him with us. I can’t say he didn’t get a slap on the face or two. Nothing serious, but its hard to stop the guys from venting off. Pity, he looks like such a good boy. Probably got into it by mistake. Really not the type.

We walk him with us back to base.  Standard protocol is to keep him confined and call an interrogator from headquarters. Most times he’d just scare him a bit and send him home. Otherwise, if he gets logged in the system it could be 10 months jail.

We leave him by the sentry and go to wash the dust out of hour hair, maybe take our socks off and lie down in the tent until we can gather enough strength to play some backgammon. I hear some jubelious shouting, peep under the tent flap and see the cooks running towards the camp gate. I put on my shoes and rush out to meet them there, not a minute too soon. The assholes are having a party poking the kid.

If ever, in all my years of service, I nearly hit someone, it was those cooks. When my soldiers give someone on the street one across the face, I discretely take them aside, cool them off a bit. When they gave this kid an elbow, I told them to stop – but I knew where it was coming from. These cooks, they never set foot on the street. Never seen their friend’s face ripped by a metal pipe. Never smelt their friends fear sweat mixed with dust and gun oil. For them, it was entertainment. And for that, I could have skinned them.

Chocolate Toothpaste is Better than Fluoride, Researchers Say

For a healthy smile brush between meals, floss regularly and eat plenty of chocolate? According to Tulane University doctoral candidate Arman Sadeghpour an extract of cocoa powder that occurs naturally in chocolates, teas, and other products might be an effective natural alternative to fluoride in toothpaste.

read more | digg story

truth, statistics and damn good visualization

Hans Rosling takes on common myths about east-west, north-south, and tears them to shreds. And he does it using brilliant visualizations of undeniable facts. Statistics as you’ve never seen it before.
The only divide is in our prejudice. Not between Africa and Europe or North America and Asia, but between countries which tend to their citizen’s health and welfare, and those that don’t.

If you stick with it to the end, you’ll even learn why the OLPC is so important (hint here).

And some of the tools he uses are available online: http://tools.google.com/gapminder/

(digg)

see me, hear me

I’m giving a workshop for members of the network of organizations dealing with Jewish-Arab coexistence in Israel on “Social empowerment by technological tools”. The purpose of the exercise is to de-hype web2.0 to identify simple, powerful and free tools to help organizations with real-world problems. If you want to attend, call Maysaa. If you want to help, call me. Its Aug 27 in Haifa.

 

לחברי רשת השותפות שלום רב, لأعضاء شبكة الشراكة تحية طيبة وبعد،

רשת השותפות מזמינה אתכם לסדנה “העצמה חברתית באמצעות כלים שיתופיים באינטרנט ” – בהנחיית ישי מור.

הסדנה כוללת הקדמה תיאורטית והתנסות אישית, ובמהלכה ירכשו המשתתפים כלים טכנולוגיים לשימוש ברשימות תפוצה, שיתוף קבצים ועוד. (מצ”ב הזמנה).

מועד אחרון להרשמה, יום רביעי, 15 באוגוסט 2007, מספר המקומות מוגבל.

شبكة الشراكة تدعوكم للمشاركة في ورشة “التمكين الاجتماعي بواسطة أدوات المشاركة عبر الانترنت “, يتولى التوجيه يشاي مور.

تشمل الورشة مقدمة نظرية وتجربة شخصية يكتسب المشاركون خلالها أدوات تكنولوجية لاستخدام القوائم البريدية وتبادل الملفات وغيرها. (الدعوة مرفقة)

الموعد الأخير للتسجيل: يوم الأربعاء 15 آب 2007، الأماكن محدودة .

Give them a call

Bassam Aramin is one of the founders of the Palestinian-Israeli movement Combatants for Peace. On the 16th of January 2007 his 10 year old daughter, Abir, was shot dead by an Israeli border policeman. Recently, prosecutors told the girl’s family that the investigation would be closed due to “lack of sufficient evidence”.

If you find that a bit odd, here’s a list of Israeli embassies and consulates. Find the nearest one and ask them for an explanation.

Happy birthday to me

OneVoice’s One Million Voices™ event is 4 days after my birthday. So give me a present and be there..

The Event
On October 18, 2007 OneVoice will hold the largest simultaneous mobilization of Israelis & Palestinians in the history of the region. Via live, internationally-broadcast public summits in Israel, Palestine, and in communities worldwide, One Million Voices to End the Conflict will give ordinary citizens platform to voice their commitment to end the conflict.

The Goal
We aim: to deliver 1,000,000 signed mandates to the political leadership calling for immediate commencement of negotiations; to inspire millions of moderate citizens to recognize their power and responsibility in the conflict resolution process; to create a tipping point to propel Palestinian & Israeli leaders to fulfill the will of their peoples.

The Process
Mobilization & activism can no longer remain characteristics monopolized by extremists – we need your help to make this people’s summit make history. Sign on to our mandate to show your support. Pledge to be there with us, in the region or in your own area. Spread the word to your friends and family. Lend us your time, your resources, your voice.