Mortal Kombat In The Church of the Holy Sepulchre

I missed this news from Sunday. In a rematch of last xmas's "broom and stone" tournament at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic sect members went after each other again, this time, using their feet and fists! Police who intervened were more lucky; they were pummeled with palm fronds. There were no fatalities.

This violence stems from disputes over what is called the "status quo," an agreement originally established in 1767 to divvy up the Church of the Holy Sepulchre into pieces which were then passed out to various Catholic Christian sects.

From Wikipedia, which is so on top of things that this dustup is already included in their article:

The primary custodians are the Eastern Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, and Roman Catholic Churches, with the Greek Orthodox Church having the lion's share. In the 19th century, the Coptic Orthodox, the Ethiopian Orthodox and the Syriac Orthodox acquired lesser responsibilities, which include shrines and other structures within and around the building. Times and places of worship for each community are strictly regulated in common areas.

It looks as though the Protestant sects have been completely ignored! Perhaps they should start agitating as well. There are enough divisions among Protestants that everyone could get a square foot or so to keep clean and place donation boxes on.

I roll my eyes once again at religious ridiculousness.

Plagues and Pox

An e-mail I sent to my mom and MIL yesterday to describe the day's excitement:

Monday, April 21, 2008

This morning, after the kids and I took Nigel to the bus stop, we came home and were planning on going for a nice hike down to the ever-shrinking lake. I set everyone up for breakfast (they didn't want to eat before we took Daddy). As they were eating, I noticed that The Starving Child's spots, which we had noticed night before last, were redder and more extensive on his face. I looked under his shirt and they were all over his back as well. Last night, he had been complaining of a headache, but he said he felt fine today. He has no more fever, hasn't since Saturday morning.

The Lottery Winner began to complain of a headache. He had spots and a fever last week, but they've all gone away. I gave him some Ibuprofen.

The Princess began to complain of a headache. She had complained last night as well, and even hurt so badly that Nigel gave her some Acetominophen at 4am because it was making her cry. I looked at her and her face is also covered in spots, as well as her back and her arms and legs. She had had a slight fever a couple of days ago, but nothing now. I gave her some Ibuprofen. She said it hurt so bad she wanted to lie down, so I told her to get her jammies back on and I'd make her a bed on the couch and she could watch Princess movies.

I explained to the boys that we would not be able to go for our hike today, but maybe tomorrow and started looking "chicken pox" up online. The boys started taking turns on the computer. The symptoms of chicken pox seem similar to the "headache, fever, spots" cycle we've seen, but the spots themselves are not nearly as large or gross looking as the photos showed. Still, it seemed likely they might just have it, since their school has been a breeding ground for it since mid-March (non-vaccinating parents - HATE 'EM). Plus, everything points out that some 30% of kids who've been vaccinated still get a very mild case if they're exposed. Our kids seem to win the odds lottery in just about everything, so I figured we'd just wait it out and see what happened.

Later, I found two ticks on Speck. Hooray. So I started looking up Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Don't worry, it's definitely not that.

Then, The Princess started saying, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!", so I ran over to see what she was sorry about. She had thrown up all over her clothes and the comforter I had laid out for her and her pillowcase. We changed her clothes, I gathered up the bedding, found that the pillow was okay, since the barf was only on a corner, replaced the pillow case, put the comforter from her bed on the couch, got her blanket and settled her back down with the barf bucket nearby.

I went upstairs and used the shower thingie to rinse all the barf off and started the wash. A large load takes about 4 hours (no, I'm not exaggerating!).

About an hour later, I fixed lunch for the boys, and as they were eating, The Lottery Winner complained of a headache again, so I gave him some Acetominophen. I asked if his stomach was okay and he said it was. The Princess didn't want to eat anything, but the boys ate well.

About an hour after that, The Princess said, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" again. I ran over and she said, "I missed the barf bucket!" I had forgotten that she is famous for not being able to barf into the bucket, no matter how close it is to her mouth. Barf was all over her comforter, her blanket, the coffee table, the floor, and this time, all over the pillow itself. I got her cleaned up, cleaned the table and the floor before Speck could get into it, then gathered up the bedding and went upstairs to get a bath sheet-sized towel, a bedsheet, and a towel to wad up for her to lie on. I got her set up again and went up to rinse the barf out of the bedding and put it by the washer to start it when the last load ended (about 2 more hours).

About an hour later, I heard gagging noises from over by the litter box. TANG was barfing. I started laughing, sort of hysterically. Now, I'd been e-mailing Nigel with updates this whole time, and he had just written me back to say that he was considering staying at work for the night. (Ha ha, what a funny guy!) At this point, I wrote him back and let him know that he would be responsible for my suicide and would have to explain it to my family if he stayed. At any rate, I cleaned up the Tang-barf and as I put the paper towels in the trash, I heard The Princess say, "Oops."

I ran over to see what she had barfed on this time. Well, she said, "I forgot I was on the couch and I wet my pants." Yes, her panties were drenched along with the towel and sheet. Again, I began to giggle uncontrollably, in a hysterical manner. Nobody was here to slap me and snap me out of it. I went upstairs and got a new pair of panties, some wet wipes, a new tank top, a new towel, and a new sheet for her. Got her changed and set up again and took the new batch of laundry upstairs.

I wrote to Nigel to say that he should probably call the men in the white coats to come get me now. He hasn't yet responded; he's probably halfway to Lebanon by now. I think he will be safer and get more rest there than he would here tonight.

I'm beginning to wonder if we're experiencing the plagues of Egypt in honor of Passover. We've had boils and insects, and our water tastes funny since they've shut off the water system to keep us from accidentally eating breadcrumbs fishermen may have left in the lake; it's not blood, but it still tastes bad. I'm waiting for it to rain frogs and fire and have asked Tim to bring home some lamb-blood and a paintbrush, just in case.

The Princess is now asleep, looking like a little angel. The boys are getting along perfectly, playing together. I think I am the only one who has a sort of wild look in my eyes. But I think we'll survive. I'll keep you posted!

***************************

Update e-mail:

In addition to that little tidbit, Nigel has shared with me some interesting news he discovered at the drug store tonight. He volunteered to go to the drug store to get some more Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen for the kids, since we're running through it like it's water lately. He asked the pharmacist or whoever it was behind the counter where to find it and she informed him very sternly that Ibuprofen is NOT KOSHER. He said, "Fine. I'll take two."

Gotta love it!

Rejoicing in Separation of Church and State

As I experience Pessach here in Israel, it has given me even more appreciation for the wall of separation between church and state in the US. US citizens should imagine these things being done for or given to a specific religious group of people, but not your own group, in your neighborhood/city/state/nation:

Taxpayer funded buses which segregate men from women, women being forced to ride in the back, sometimes even hidden by curtains from outside. These buses do not run on this particular religious group's deity-mandated special day, which is different from your own deity-mandated special day, regardless of whether or not you have another way to get to work.

Taxpayer funded welfare for full-time religious scholars, though not for scholars of your religion, including financial support for their deity-mandated large families, housing, food, tuition, etc. Imagine that as these families grow, they take more and more of your tax dollars for support, leaving little to maintain other needs.

Exemption from military duty to members of this specific religious group, where all other citizens are required by law to perform this service until age 40.

Laws preferring the particular deity-demands of this particular religious group, which restrict the minutia of daily life, even down to what foods you are allowed to buy and eat during particular times of the year/week.

Taxpayer funded maintenance of streets in areas where a particular religious group blockades said streets during deity-mandated times and dates, not allowing normal traffic through these areas and causing congestion in other areas. Said blockades are guarded by taxpayer funded military and law enforcement personnel.

Now, some of the Christians or other religious groups in the US may think this doesn't sound too bad. Note, however, that I specifically wrote above that the religion getting all the perks is NOT YOUR OWN. In addition, non-compliance with the laws can lead, not only to legal sanctions such as fines and what-not, but also to actually being beaten, stoned, or otherwise attacked physically.

Granted, the religion-based laws here in Israel are pretty moderate compared to, say, Saudi Arabia, and generally just make me laugh or roll my eyes. I usually don't need to go through blockaded neighborhoods to get where I want to go, with the exception of not being able to pick up my daughter after a sleepover one Saturday morning. I stocked up on bread and pitot before Pessach began. I have my Brita filter to take away the nasty smell and taste of the local well-water since the city water system has been shut off for Pessach.* I don't ride the buses. I have no desire to enter the neighborhoods/areas where I would be required to wear long skirts, long sleeves, and headcoverings.

Still, US citizens, consider if a religion NOT YOUR OWN made the laws in the US. Consider that they might start out kind of silly and just a pain in the ass. Then they might get a bit more stringent, maybe with less merciful punishments. Then, finally, they might get just plain draconian, with penalties of death for those who do not obey. And all funded and supported by YOUR tax dollars. Not such a pretty picture, huh?

I would ask all US citizens to CELEBRATE the separation of church from state. I would remind those who would sneak theocracy into our government that their particular brand of god may not be that of the majority forever. I would encourage everyone to read and learn about nations, now and in the past, which have used religion as a legal system and ask themselves if they would like to live in those nations during those times.

* True story: The mayor of Jerusalem has shut off the public water system because fishermen on the Sea of Galilee may have used leavened bread as fish bait. This fish bait may have gotten into the water, which is drinking water for the entire country. The God of the Jewish people has forbidden them to eat leavened bread during Passover. So we all get to drink and wash in local smelly, foul-tasting (at least mine is, probably most people have better wells) well water to protect us from having fish-bait breadcrumbs pass our lips.

Another fun fact, illustrating the caprice of religious laws: For many years, rabbis have railed against smoking among the religious. Their argument in the past has been that we are obligated to take care of our bodies because they were created by their God. This year, miraculously, one rabbi has finally, coincidentally JUST LAST WEEK, correctly interpreted some religious text and determined that tobacco products have LEAVEN in them and are therefore forbidden during Pessach. This despite rabbinical certification of the local manufacturers of tobacco products, who are crazy-pissed. It reeks of the same idiocy as when the LDS church's infallible leaders suddenly receive information from their God saying that the previous infallible leaders, who had received contradictory information from God, were wrong and that black people CAN join the Mormons!

Musings About Living in Israel

This evening begins the Jewish festival of Pessach. We call this Passover in the US. It commemorates the 10 plagues unleashed on Egypt by the god of the Hebrews at the request of Moses (played most famously by Charlton Heston, who might have been better served by playing Jesus as he has recently had his rifle pried from his cold, dead hands), and the subsequent release of the Hebrews from Egyptian bondage.

Pessach is a time for cleaning, which, technically, should be done before Shabbat begins every Friday night, but, I have discovered, is most definitely NOT. I've wondered whether or not their god commanded them to clean up before Shabbat and definitely before Pessach because without some godly threats, they would never clean up at all. As it is, and I use my neighbor as my example, but the anecdote is confirmed to be common among Israelis by many of our Israeli friends, cleaning up seems to mean gathering up all the rotted food and trash from inside the house and putting it outside the house for local stray dogs and cats to scatter all over everyone's sidewalks and courtyards. For a group obsessed with ritual cleanliness (some, not all, of course), observant Israelis seem decidedly uncaring about basic sanitation and prevention of disease.

I suppose that as a people, the Israelis have a difficult time thinking about how irresponsible and generally disgusting their trash scattering, lack of support for recycling, and general unawareness of how sad it is to walk into an otherwise pristine park or forest area, only to see empty food cans, rotted leftover sandwiches, and plastic bottles strewn all over, appears to outsiders, even fellow Jews who've made aliya. Jews who've grown up here have always had enough possibilities of destruction hanging over their heads that living for today with no thought at all for tomorrow seems to be the norm.

One of Nigel's co-workers has opined that she is embarrassed that the Israeli people just will not think about how much could be done to make Israel a more beautiful place by actually taking care of things and keeping things clean and looking nice. When Nigel informed another of his coworkers that I am having to go out every morning with rubber gloves on to clean up the rotting vegetables and dirty diapers that have been dragged all over our steps and in our back area where we walk our dog, she said, "Welcome to Israel."

One of the most important aspects of Pessach is that leavened products, such as bread, beer, and, I found out today in the newspaper, cigars and cigarettes may not be consumed or even kept in the houses of observant Jews. There are burning ceremonies all over, in which crumbs and leftover bread products are burned in a ritualistic way. Also, to make fun for the children, before the beginning of Pessach, house lights are turned off and candles are taken around each corner and crack of the house to find any leavened bread crumbs left within. The children have feathers with which they sweep up anything that looks suspicious.

This sounds cute and fun, and probably is. However, a recent story in the local news points to another episode of deadly carelessness tied specifically to this religious festival. I can't link to it because it's not free, but several kindergarten children were burned, a couple of them quite badly, during a lesson about burning hametz. Why anyone would think it an appropriate lesson for kindergarteners, I don't know. It's not as though they would have no adults to do the burning for them, and it's not as though just a description of the burning without the, apparently literal, hands-on demonstration would have been quite suitable.

There is much controversy within Israel, especially between the observant and the secular Jews, as to whether or not it should be permitted to buy bread and other hametz (leavened) products during Pessach week. Recently, the courts ruled that the law prohibiting public display of hametz did not preclude its sale as long as it was not out in the open where observant Jews could see it. A huge uproar came from the harid and orthodox communities claiming that it would be the end of Judaism. Today, an article in the Jerusalem Post stated that orthodox rabbis, who have been trying unsuccessfully for years to convince their observant flocks to stop smoking, have declared cigars and cigarettes hametz. Interesting that it hasn't been declared so before now.

All this being said, I still love it here. It is very pretty from our balcony, I'm learning my way around quite well, and we have enough secular friends that we don't generally have to directly deal with threats from the more extreme members of Israeli society.

That's all for today! More ranting at another time. I will discuss the newspaper's article about the possibility of "hametz violence" during Pessach.

The Pope Sux

Well, I've already stopped laughing.
From the BBC:

Pope Benedict XVI has criticised US bishops for their handling of child sex scandals, saying their response to the crisis had sometimes been very poor.

He laid part of the blame for the crisis, of which he feels "deeply ashamed", on a breakdown in US values.

Bold is mine.

WTF? Then he went on to say this:

What does it mean to speak of child protection when pornography and violence can be viewed in so many homes through media widely available today?

It is rare that I shake with anger, but this just takes the cake. The problem of pedophile priests is caused by the availability of porn and violence? It has nothing at all to do with:
1) pedophile priests themselves;
2) a church which, instead of defrocking them,sent them to other parishes unaware of their previous misdeeds;
3) a church which, instead of turning them over to law enforcement, protected them by hiding their illegal acts;
4) a man who specifically told bishops of his church to keep the accusations inside the church and not to cooperate with law enforcement.

I agree with Ed Brayton who says:

[F]uck you, you lying piece of shit...Fuck you, Benedict. It's your barbaric values that caused thousands of children to be molested, not ours.

And for your viewing pleasure, I present this:

Brit psychics may have to prove their claims!

Saw THIS in the news this morning and have been laughing ever since!

It seems the British are going to shift the burden of proof from prosecutors to psychics, "healers," and mediums, so that instead of having to prove they can't do what they claim, prosecutors can watch as these charlatans try to prove they can tell the future/speak to the dead/heal.

Long overdue, I say, and I wish the US would follow suit. Since Randi's Million Dollar Challenge will be defunct as of 2010, and nobody has even gotten past the preliminaries, perhaps these frightened and saddened woo-masters should get crackin' and apply. If they win, a million dollars will surely take care of any future loss of income.

1) "Psychics" and "mediums" like Sylvia Browne and John Edward prey on grieving loved ones who want so badly to see or speak to the deceased. This is despicable. For more information about Sylvia Browne, specifically, go to Robert Lancaster's excellent site, Stop Sylvia Brown.
2) "Healers" at best, do no harm. At worst, they cause increased illness and death by encouraging the sick to see them instead of seeing a doctor. For a very good personal tale of illness and evaluation of "alternative medicine" woo, see Greta Christina's excellent blog entry.

Go U.K.! I hope this one gets through. It is unfortunate, however, that Brits still seem to embrace other such woo as homeopathy (endorsed by both Queen and Prince), but that's a whole other post.

Finally in Israel

We've been in Israel for about 3 weeks now. There's been quite an adjustment period, and I've decided to give myself another few weeks to get used to things here.

Our house is beautiful, just outside of Jerusalem right off Road 1 in Ramat Motza. It is a three level with balconies overlooking the valley between Mevasseret Zion and Motza Illit, but high enough that the highway traffic noise doesn't bother.

So far, I've managed to find several grocery stores, a bookstore, some pharmacies, the market in Jerusalem (great fruits, veggies), a deli that sells pork products from a hidden cabinet under the register, coffee shops, and lots of other amenities. The language barrier is a challenge, but most people at least have a smattering of English, so I've not had too much trouble. Haven't been keeping up with the Hebrew lessons, because our internet has been a real challenge. Until today, the transfer speed has varied between .1 (yes - .1) and 10 kbps, and tended to just go offline right in the middle of my bill paying etc. It seems up to speed today for the first time, and hasn't just dropped the connection for almost 4 hours. Nigel predicts that it will be fine until just after Shabbat starts.

The kids have been enjoying their new school, though The Starving Child has had some virus and hasn't been to school for the past three days (yesterday they were all home because of parent/teacher conferences). He seems over it now, but they have swimming on Thursdays and I didn't want him overdoing it. The homework is much more intense than in the US, with tons of writing. I don't know if it's just the US school systems or if my kids are just slow, but where they were just learning about what a complete sentence is in Oregon, they are now expected to already know all about it and to write several of them in their homework each day. It is difficult for me, because all three need constant supervision while completing their work, but I am only one person. It has tended to take 2 to 3 hours daily to get all their work completed.

Nigel's work has been interesting as well. We have to drop him at his shuttle stop by 6:50am, then we generally drive on into Jerusalem and I let the kids play at one of two parks we drive by on the way to school until it is time for drop off. Nigel tries to get on the 17:00 shuttle for home, which puts him here at a bit after 18:00. One of his co-workers, IF he makes the shuttle, brings him home, or if not, we have to go pick him up. This puts supper between 18:00 and 19:00, leaving only a half hour for baths and bed for the kids. Plus, I have to have supper made and keeping warm while we pick him up or while he is on his way. This is hard for him, since he's always been a fan of hot, fresh suppers. The kids are not used to having to wait so late for supper, either, so they are always starving and begging for snacks between the time we get home from school and suppertime.

I've noticed that since we are now in a place where food is much more expensive than in the States, the kids are eating us out of house and home. Back in Oregon, they were never hungry and didn't want to eat anything - but food was cheap there, so I guess it figures.

I have been saving some money in that the tap water here is really quite tasty and I haven't had to buy any bottled water like we had to in OR because of the nasty tasting/smelling well water we had there.

We had to wait forever for a dryer to be delivered. The one that was already here had been put together wrong and would not run. Our landlady promised us a new one every day for two weeks, and it did finally arrive. I have to say that it ROCKS. Many of the other ex-pats have complained that their dryers take forever and don't get the clothes dry, but ours certainly does. It actually takes less time for the clothes to dry than it takes them to wash in our miniature washing machine, which takes 2 hours to complete a load. Prior to receiving the new dryer, we were having to dry everything by putting it outside (we had to purchase a clothes line and pins) or, since it has rained off and on since we got here, hang them all over the house to dry. Not a pretty sight, and took forever. Now it is quick and efficient.

There are some plumbing problems. When we drain the bathtub after the kids' baths, it drains into the extra bedroom's bathroom. Plus, our landlady has told us not to put toilet paper in the toilets! This is unacceptable and we have to let her know to get a plumber out here asap the next time we see her. We are up so high, I would think that gravity alone would make sure the pipes are all clear and running downhill. If they clog that easily, they should be fixed. I do not want to live where I have to smell used toilet paper every time I use the bathroom, plus it is very difficult for the kids to remember not to flush the paper. They've been flushing it for 4 years and their brains have all they can hold with all the complete sentences they are having to write!

This is a beautiful country. We have hiked around our area and will be trying to do more touristy stuff as time goes by. Most of the people are very friendly.

More details to come....