Category: English

Could Iran follow North Korea?

North Korea agrees to nuclear disarmament. They agreed to shut down their main reactor within 60 days. It looks like the first step in peaceful resolution to the nuclear crisis with the dark regime that performed a nuclear test in October. The other nuclear crisis, Iran, is slowly escalating. Could N. Korea’s path be followed by Iran?

North Korea agrees to nuclear disarmament. They agreed to shut down their main reactor within 60 days. It looks like the first step in peaceful resolution to the nuclear crisis with the dark regime that performed a nuclear test in October. The other nuclear crisis, Iran, is slowly escalating. Could N. Korea’s path be followed by Iran?
Continue reading “Could Iran follow North Korea?”

Earthquake in Israel

Today it happened again. The building shook for a second. As you can see, my lambs made it through these earthquakes:

Today it happened again. The building shook for a second. I work on the 6th floor of a 30+ story building. I’m not sure that it truly was an earthquake, but it sure felt like one for my colleagues and myself. This followed two minor earthquakes that were reported a few days ago.

Lambs that survived the earthquake

As you can see, my lambs made it through these earthquakes. The tower mounted on my computer screen withstood the danger:

Every kid here knows that Israel is located on the Syrian-African Rift or the Great Rift Valley. Experts have warned in the past that a major earthquake would be devastating, and that 107,000 buildings should be strengthened (Hebrew link) . The authorities have more important issues to deal with. I guess.

5 Favorite Political Protest Songs

My mind is occupied lately with too much politics. Here are my favorite political protest songs:

  1. Bob Dylan – The Times They Are A-Changin’
  2. U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday
  3. The Smiths – The Queen is Dead
  4. R.E.M. – Ignoreland
  5. Neil Young – The Restless Consumer

Some songs are more thoughtful, while others are full with rage and frustration.

Did I miss any other good ones?

Spreche ich Deutsch?

Last week I’ve received a letter from Goethe institute in Tel Aviv. A new semester is about to begin, and they sent a notification about the courses that they’re offering. I’m thinking if to enroll or not.

Knowing foreign languages is wonderful thing. It enriches the mind and the world of associations. It enables speaking with different people in their own language and extending the small talk in English to further topics.

I have studied German in the past. I took two elective courses in the university and then neglected it for two years. Later on I attended 3 courses in Goethe Institute, the official place to learn the German language. With these courses I’ve reached a certain level of certification (finished A level). But yet again, I haven’t been in class for a year and half or so.

Since then, I have tried to arrange meetings with my classmates to practice the language. It’s best to speak with people that are the same level. I had only one success, in which after half an hour, we switched to Hebrew. I must say that I wasn’t pushing really hard to make it.

In my trip to Peru, I met some German tourists, but I didn’t feel confident enough to chat in German. They speak excellent English, so why bother. And as I learned more Spanish, it was harder to use German. I think that these languages occupied the same place in my brain…

The last time that I did use the language was during the war in the summer. Through the Blacklabor activity (Hebrew), I wrote a very very naive (and foolish) letter to Chancellor Angela Merkel, calling her and the rest of the world to help out in stopping the fighting. It appears after the English text here.

So, I have 2 weeks until the semester begins, enough time to think it over…

Studieren oder nicht studieren? Dass ist die Frage.