Human Shape of the Holy Land

Where the wild roses grow

2012-02-03T06:21:00.001-08:00

Zimmer Panorama Haifa

2012-01-02T05:55:00.000-08:00

Apartment in Haifa's Carmel Center between Crown Plaza and Dan Panorama hotels. Spacious living room, 2 bedrooms, kitchen, dining area. Apartment has all the necessary equipment, including high-speed Internet. First Floor. A quiet place. Suitable for recreation for short or long term, for individuals or couples.

Well-maintained guest apartment, clean and quiet. Excellent central location in the hotels strip in Panorama Promenade. 100 square meters including two large bedrooms. The apartment is with a spectacular view of Haifa Bay. It’s in a two story house with a large lobby and front and back gardens. First door in stairway.

Close to the International Religious Baha’i Center.

Close to Haifa Auditorium which host large cultural and social events.

Close to Elisha hospital specialized in cosmetic surgery.

Close to all hotels in the Hotels strip in Yefe-Nof St..

All hotels have swimming pools, spas and gyms which are open to the public.

The apartment is located opposite the Crown Plaza hotel which offers luxurious health spa with heated swimming pool.

Near large supermarket and restaurants, coffe shops and pubs of all kinds.

Street parking or in a nearby underground parking lot.

Easy access to public transportation including Carmelit.

Short distance to many other culture, sports, health & beauty, shopping and entertainment centers.

The uniqueness of the place is its proximity to city center hub and heart of nature alike, thanks to the topography of Haifa’s Mount Carmel. Among the many recreational activities that can be done near the apartment are: Tours of various sites in Mount Carmel, swimming and sports on the longest beaches in Israel, watching movies at the cinemateque which host the International Film Festival, visiting pubs or playing pool in one of the largest halls in the country, and more.

The apartment’s operator is English-speaking, with extensive knowledge of the area, available for help as needed.

Coffee, tea and spices are free and meals can be provided for a fee.

Reservations Phones: [972] 04-8362952 0505-440482

Email: avira111@gmail.com

Prices

Zimmer Panorama is suitable for individuals or couples, for a shorter or long vacation, every day of the year. So prices are flexible and are determined accordingly. You will find affordable prices and unique advantages. You can pay by cash or credit card.

Look for more details at Vacation Apartment in Haifa

Haifa
Haifa is a port city located in a beautiful natural bay between the Mediterranean and Mount Carmel. Haifa charms the visitors who come to it from around the world and offers an array of breathtaking views, inviting beaches and countless attractions. Upon arrival to vacation in Haifa you will notice colors, smells and flavors characteristic of it. Haifa makes every vacation a wonderful experience.

Carmel Center

Carmel Center is a residential place, a vibrant culture and leisure area, a central traffic junction along the mountain crest and ideal place for vacation in Haifa.

The central location ensures good transportation to the city and region.

Carmel Center has many green areas including: Haem Garden with a great zoo and a conch stage for outdoor concerts, and the Promenade Garden along Yefe-Nof st. with spectacular view of Haifa Bay.

Carmel Center has plenty of coffe shops, restaurants and pubs, but its topographic structure enables those who want it to disconnect from the bustle of the city within few minutes of walking to one of the streams channels with paths downhill.

Tinker Bell

2011-09-03T13:30:00.000-07:00

Test of hypersonic aircraft fails

2011-08-11T18:24:00.000-07:00

A test flight of an experimental aircraft capable of speeding through air at 20 times the speed of sound ended prematurely Thursday morning when the arrowhead-shaped plane failed and stopped sending back real-time data to engineers and scientists who were moderating the mission.

After reaching an undisclosed sub-orbital altitude, the aircraft jettisoned from its protective cover atop the rocket, then nose-dived back toward Earth, leveled out and began to glide above the Pacific at 20 times the speed of sound, or Mach 20.

Then the trouble began.

Science do not yet know how to achieve the desired aerodynamic control during the phase of return to atmosphere in high velocity flight.

High-Mach flight in the atmosphere is virtually uncharted territory.

Links:

DARPA issues statement on failed flight of hypersonic aircraft

Test of hypersonic aircraft fails over Pacific Ocean

Haifa's Landscape

2011-08-08T05:38:00.000-07:00

Summary:
Mount Carmel is considered a holy mountain. For millions of Baha'i believers it is the Mountain of God. In the heart of Haifa is the Baha'i World Center complex. The Baha'i gardens in it received UNESCO's recognition as World Heritage Site. The terraced gardens are one of the most popular tourist attractions in Israel. The starting point for most visitors is at Panorama promenade in beautiful Yefe-nof st., which form Haifa's hotels strip. Haifa is a city of stairs built on Mount Carmel slopes.

Mount Carmel in religious sources - The Green Mountain
Mount Carmel is considered a holy mountain since the Canaanite period to the present. Its holiness story passed from one faith to another, each changed and added its own versions. Mount Carmel is mentioned many times in the Bible as a symbol of wealth and beauty of the land of Israel: Nickname to a fertile place, full of vineyards and fruit trees in "and I will bring you to the land of Mount Carmel, to eat its fruit and good" - Jeremiah B, G,. Synonymous with beauty and ornamentation in "Your head on you as Mount Carmel" - Song of Songs 7,6,. Mount Carmel is considered one of the five important mountains in Judaism, to which is directed the prayer with the verse "I lift my eyes unto the hills whence cometh my help". These are Mount Moriah, Mount Sinai, Mount Tabor, Mount Hermon and Mount Carmel. For five million Baha'i believers Mount Carmel is the 'mountain of God', and it takes up a similar position to that of Mecca in Islam and Jerusalem in Judaism. Islam nickname for Mount Carmel is ‘The Green Mountain'.

Influence of religion on the landscape of Mount Carmel - The Baha'i Gardens
Elijah's Cave at the point where Mount Carmel descend to the sea is one the holy places in Land of Israel since the Biblical period. Carmelite monks built a monastery above Elijah's Cave at the top of the mount in the 12th century which still remains. Century ago the Greek-Orthodox church built a convent in Carmel Center with a large walled garden. This convent too was for many years the highest point in the area. The Bahá'ís are prominent and influential minority in Iran which suffer greatly from the Khomeini regime. Mount Carmel is considered a sacred mountain to the Baha'i religion. In the heart of Haifa is the Baha'i World Center complex. There stand the golden dome over the grave of the founder of the faith, and around it the terraces gardens and buildings of the center. These are now a pilgrimage site for the faithful Baha'is and a visiting attraction to other tourists. Some of the Baha'i religion principles are beauty, perfection and design that promote them in their faith. The center was built so that it will preserve the straight lines. Everything is planned to the last detail. The Baha'i religion world center in Haifa and Acre received UNESCO's recognition as a World Heritage Site. The declaration state that the Baha'i sites represent ‘unique universal values' and therefore they deserve to be included in the list of cultural heritage of the world.

Tourism in Haifa - Panorama promenade
The Baha'i Gardens have become one of the most important tourist centers in Israel and receive millions of visitors each year. The starting point for most visitors is at Panorama promenade at top of the Baha'i gardens in beautiful Yefe-nof street. Apart from visiting the gardens the promenade serve for the additional purposes: A. Observation point - The panoramic scenery of Haifa Bay is breath taking and everyone will find it difficult to stand up to its charm. On a clear day you can see the snowy head of Mount Hermon and the white limestone rocks of Rosh Hanikra. Grooms and brides come every day to be photographed against the scenic background in wedding clothes. B. Walking route - During all hours of the day walkers and runners of all ages can be viewed on the promenade. The Promenade and Yefe-nof street upon which it is built are, in the absence of other suitable routes in the area, the main place for this essential physical activity. C. Meeting place - Along the promenade stand few 4 and 5 stars hotels. In the promenade itself there are many benches, used as meeting places for different population groups, from mothers with strollers to dog lovers. Today the completed Panorama Promenade ends in a bridge from Panorama Center to Its direct continuation along Yefe-nof street. The scenery in this street section match that of the promenade. It is actually used as its continuation. This is thanks to the straight and plain topography, the gardens and hotels along the street, and the hill in the upper side which is the highest point in the Carmel parallel to Haifa bay. Most of Panorama promenade travelers begin their route on this stretch of Yefe-nof. Some apartment owners there rent their apartments and rooms to tourists who come to visit Haifa. Two major public gardens stretch along this beautiful street: Rishonim garden along the upper side of the street with a magical walking trail and Allenby Garden where there is a historical observation terrace to the bay. In this section of this street there are two hotels: Crowne Plaza and Ganei-Dan. It is part of Haifa's hotels strips, which also includes the hotels Dan-Carmel, Nof, and Dan-Panorama.

Residents of Haifa - City of stairs
In the Corner of Yefe-nof and Carmel Center start ‘The Road of Thousand Stairs' leading through the neighborhoods of the city from to down town. The trip along the stairs allows to visit the inhabited parts of the city and their diverse population. Haifa is a city of stairs. Built on Mount Carmel slopes, Haifa is layered on it as a complex urban texture which responds to the shape of the mountain. One of the wonderful results of this special structure of Haifa is that in the stairs streets you can find another world, often hidden from the ordinary visitor: Countless staircases connect between buildings and blocks, yards and streets, to create together a world parallel to Haifa's street world. Who that time is in his hand is invited to discover the staircases all over the city. He will find hidden passages between the blocks, passages that will take him into half-covered pieces of nature or a series of courtyards which ends in a narrow entrance to a parallel street, higher or lower than the street where he have been. The staircases that run between the buildings reveal not just yards with vegetation, but also parts of the residents' life. This unique environmental texture is specially prominent in the neighborhoods of ‘Historic Carmel' around Carmel Center, which Yefe-nof street with the concentration of hotels and holiday apartments in Haifa is part of. The unique character of these older neighborhoods in Haifa's Carmel is largely determined by the combination of terraced, simple low buildings on the edge of wadis, with abundant vegetation in the streets and yards.

Fuel - Change your Fueler

2011-07-09T07:51:00.000-07:00

Director Josh Tickell takes us along for his 11 year journey around the world to find solutions to America's addiction to oil. A shrinking economy, a failing auto industry, rampant unemployment, an out-of-control national debt, and an insatiable demand for energy weigh heavily on all of us. Fuel shows us the way out of the mess we're in by explaining how to replace every drop of oil we now use, while creating green jobs and keeping our money here at home. The film never dwells on the negative, but instead shows us the easy solutions already within our reach.

Things to Come

2011-07-09T02:44:00.000-07:00

The story of a hundred year way that starts in 1940 and lasts so long no one remembers why it began. After a plague kills most of the society, small groups survive and finally reconnect to rebuild, until it grows so prosperous a new uprising begins again progress, claiming it is what starts wars in the first place.

It seems H.G Wells the author was a prophetic. He did predict a war would erupt in 1940, just a few months after world war two actually started in 1939.

Middle East speech of Obama and 1967 borders

2011-05-21T21:19:00.000-07:00

Obama addressed his speech of the 'Arab Spring' to Egypt and the entire Arab world, but the many phrases about the commitment of the United tates to Israel's security made it clear that the Holy Land is in the center of his vision about the region.

The reference of the U.S. president to the return of Israel to its 1967 borders was not intended to Israeli ears, nor Palestinian, but rather to the Egyptians.

This key phrase is one of the last attempts of the U.S. government to halt the deterioration in relations between the Egyptian and Israelis, which are the result of regime change in Egypt.

It was intended to say that despite the dramatic changes in the region, the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, by which Israel returned to the 1967 lines, is still one of the cornerstones of U.S. policy in the Middle East.

At the end of government transformation process in Egypt, which will occur throughout the year, it is expected that the regime there will be much more radical Muslim, and use any pretext, particularly about mistreated Palestinians, to cancel the peace treaty with Israel.

The current Egyptian transition government, still holding to the politcal principles of the previous regime, listened closely to Obama's speech, and was quick to announce after the speech that the peace agreement with Israel is one of the pillars of Egypt's foreign relations and that there is no substitute.

The State of Israel must learn United States' will to help Israel, an issue that Obama spoke about widly in the speech, and prepare for the future.

Obama will use simultaneously the '1967 borders' concept with Israel, the Palestinians, and Egypt.

This will be the 'sophisticated key' for him for developing a sophisticated foreign policy with these three political parties, and all other political factors involved in the conflict.

But if the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians get stuck, it is likely that the Egyptians would cancel the peace agreement.

In such a case, the '1967 borders' concept will require Obama to defend the security of Israel, and send American forces to the Suez Canal.

Obama's mistake regarding Israel was that he chose to use the hot key concept of his plan, the '1967 borders', without attaching to it a simple, personal relaxing introduction. This is similar to opening fitness exercises without heating, or beginning the day without practicing some relaxation breathing.

The state of Israel was dropped due to this 'hot potato' to a process on which it has no control, the same as the political process between the years 1967 to 1973.

The absence of a clear map of Greater Israel worked always against the Zionist idea.

All Israeli politicians involved in resolving the conflict on the borders of the land held, as a result, to such abstract concepts and intangible values, that only few Israelis could understand.

Then as now, Israel remained almost entirely in the fog, not ready to face the future and prepare for it.

The map of the Human Figure of the Holy Land is designed to meet this inherent flaw.

Golden Triangle - Initial connection between the Golden Ratio and the Holy Land

2011-04-24T18:28:00.000-07:00

The Human form of the Holy Land is personification which nature has created.

It invites to try and connect it with the precise scientific measurements of the Golden Ratio.

The form is without limbs, and the sizes and distances of its organs are different than in the human body, to one degree or another.

Therefore any attempt to apply the conventional divisions in the human body according to the Golden Ratio is impossible.

One possible way to try and bridge, however, between the natural human appearance and the scientific instrument is to use the Golden Triangle.

This classic expression of the Golden Ratio is known generally as a prism used for observing reality.

Golden Triangle appears in many known works of art.

The Golden Triangle is created via two lines that the ratio between them is the Golden Ratio.

It is an equilateral triangle with interesting features.

This triangle top angle is 36 degrees. The base angles are 72 degrees each.

Five combined Golden Triangles form the Golden Star, which symbolizes good fortune in many cultures.

The inverted triangle shape of Sinai peninsula - torso of human form of the Holy Land, invites the testing of correlation between this region and the Golden Triangle.

The top of the inverted triangle of Sinai Peninsula is facing exactly to the south.

The Continuation of the right side of this triangle is a straight line up to the Arava Valley and the Dead Sea.

The Angle formed between this line and the North-South line which touch the southern top of Sinai Peninsula is a 18-degree angle, the half top angle of the Golden Triangle.

Time Equal Amendment Second

2011-03-30T09:03:00.000-07:00

The formula 'Time Equal Amendment Second' describes a temporary combination between the psychological and objective realities.
It is a magic rose, a point of imagination. Therefore it is easy to relate its qualities to different fields: Scientific, emotional, artistic and more.

The Human mind evolution is created by leaps and sudden changes.

The internal development leaps has many names: Inspirations, enlightenments, insights and more.

A particular significance exists in preparing the soul for enlightenments in our modern society, where the motivated thinking became refined. The modern man places goals for himself by creating a central image of them in his mind, for their fulfillment step by step. A dream palace in the mind's core may produce random, unplanned creative directions of thought.

Any inspiration is created with in a short flash of time. At the same time it refutes all that existed before. Thus, it creates the need to be experienced fully for all its potential.

A. Clock

We all live by the rhythm of time. The ticking clock arranges our life. Time's concept, continuity and experience, receives attention in Philosophy and Literature. It is known nowadays, according to Relativity Theory, that there is no universal form of time. It is dependant on the subject's movement. Its sense is different from one human being to another.

In the modern novel, the difference of Time's experience between characters is, in many cases, emphasized. The literary realism pretends to describe mental states and not an outward world. Writers from the 'Stream of Consciousness' deal in length with the differences between the internal subjective sense of time and external objective time. They create worlds where the instant turns into a long time and vice versa.

Louis Carroll was an author who went to the edge of Logic in describing the subjective nature of Time. In his book 'Alice in the Wonderland' there is a passage which describes 'Time' as a personality.
Alice mocks about a clock with only one pointer as a funny object.
The Mad Hatter, offended, replies: "If you knew Time like me, you would treat him as a celebrity. He and I were once close friends. We served together the Empire in a remote army base."

Time's personality can be developed, according to Sigmund Freud's system, into Super Ego, Ego and Id.
The simple clock can be described in this way:
The slow hours' pointer is the severe Super Ego.
The tempered minutes' pointer is the restrained Ego.
The rapid seconds' pointer as the light headed Id.

B. Amendment

Mind distortions of the external Time's moves create sometimes a new perception of reality. People happen to get into situations of stress or elation where what they know is not enough for solving problems. They stop thinking according to the objective time. They look after the subjective time inside them.
The phrase: "There are moments which seems like infinity", describes it.
So does the biblical verse in Genesis chapter 9, verse 20: "Jacob worked for Rachel Seven Years, which were to him as few days".

This lack of harmony between external time and the soul's necessities can create particular thoughts. These are unclear durations, where experiences become long or short according to their contribution to the mental peace.
Slowly, the external and internal time unite again to a recovery synthesis. But the exit from the crisis can be to new unfamiliar world definitions.

The move of the internal time which searches after its reconnection to reality can be called: Amendment. ['Tikun' in Hebrew].
During the amendment process, pieces of experience move in partial chaos and create mazes, where the soul moves apparently with no way out. The soul reconstructs in this way new possibilities.
When this process is completed, the mazes turn into a new model which suggests a solution.

Amendment is a life experience for almost any modern man. All religions offer ways for amendments through study of morality, abstention or asceticism.
In Judaism, amendment is the central concept of Kabala, mystical interpretation of the Scriptures developed into a structure of spiritual values.

The amendment concept is rooted in the secular way of life through concepts such as 'amending experience', which is an event, sometime traumatic, that suggest change in thoughts and behavior.

Regularly the choice for Amendment practice is because of the desperate need of finding answers to questions of personal identity, in a permissive world where many do not know which way to choose.
Seldom, the choice of the Amendment way is for answering more focused questions.

C. Enlightenment

Sometimes, while staying deep in the amendment mazes, the external time is sensed only in the consciousness' edges. When the solution comes, it is sudden and unexpected. It is named many times: Enlightenment.

One night, sitting on bed before sleep, a question came suddenly into my mind: "What is Time"?

At that moment I paid attention also for other internal happenings: The reveries of time and the amendment process intermingled. Thinking simultaneously about inner and outer reality, an insight flashed in my mind:

The formula exists as a whole perception of reality.

It turned, for a moment, to be my magic rose. I could observe the entire universe, but only for a short time. I felt as in a rocket launched into space. I didn't have the means to preserve it. It was an immediate flash of light in the darkness and was going to fade away very soon. It created the need to be experienced fully for all its potential.

D. Integration between subjective and objective

The formula 'Time Equal Amendment Second' describes an integration between the objective and subjective reality.

In the moment of enlightenment there are two entities in the mind: The initial entity which holds to the conservative past and the new born one which holds to the revolutionary future.

In true reality, there is no division of time to past, present or future. There is only one eternal situation of things and events. You cannot describe the universe just with ordinary Time.
Time is a cube and time periods are sides of that cube. People see usually only one side, which is in front of them. But in the state of enlightenment, it is possible to go around the cube and see it from behind too.

Discoveries through a flash of insight are possible in any area of human activity. Personal problems can also be solved that way. An insight in these fields can be stronger and clearer, since it deals with real characters and not abstract subjects.

From a scientific view point, according to the doctrine of the general relativity, any massive body in movement drags the space with it. Distortion like this is likely also near revolving bodies, which convolute the expanding space in their proximity. The more the body is massive, the more the phenomenon is significant.
Close to Planet Earth, the field of gravitation is strong enough to the point of convulting slightly the space.
This supposed phenomenon will stand to the tryout with a satellite experiment.

E. Interpretations of the word 'second'

The word 'second' has four meanings:

A. in Mathematics, it is the serial position after 1 and before 3.
B. in Mathematics it is also the multiplying of a number by itself.
C. in Time measurement, it is precisely 1/60 of a minute.
D. In common language it is used for describing a short and undefined time.

This multiple meaning can cause misunderstanding. It suggest the existance of a vast field of the unknown.

F. Experiencing Time Equal Amendment Second

The feeling of experiencing 'Time Equal Amendment Seond' is similar to the inner feeling that two people sense when they calibrate their clocks against each other.

Visually, this experience is like a slow motion examination of a phenomenon, for example a water drop.

Unification of the objective and subjective Time is common in works of art more than is commonly thought.

Meir Shalev, in his book 'As in few days', brings many wonderful paragraphs about the impressions of the relationship between the objective and subjective times:
Page 97: "My mother showed me the shade of the eucalyptus tree, That in its size, direction and coolness said 'nine in the morning', the red leaves of the pomegranate that said 'middle March', the tooth that tottered my mouth and said 'six years old', and the little creases in the angles her eyes, that flickered and said 'forty'.
''You see", she said, "like that you are amid the time. If they will provide you a clock you will be only near it".

A wonderful emotional depiction of the deep experience of alliance between the objective and subjective times is of a boy who observes the watchmaker in his work:
"The craftsman, a Hungarian watchmaker from the old generation, started my instructions when I was in the age of four. He promised me the right to sit beside him when he repaired wristwatches and clocks. My first happy lesson was to sit quietly, without disturbing him from his delicate repairs. To my surprise, I succeeded almost without a try, because when the craftsman worked something marvelous took place. Tremendous Love and tranquility filled the space of the workshop, and I sank in the absolute silence that surrounded him. When I concentrated in his work, the exterior silence that I sensed was reflected immediately in the inner hush. All the feelings of misfortune, the pressures and the wretchedness, dissolved."

But most of all, the formula 'Time Equal Amendment Second' is intended for adapting the idea of thinking outside the common order, for growing freedom of perception and thought that until now were not known.

These are possible through quantum uncertainty, where neurological processes and changes in perception may change the reality in the wake of every thought.

Mussolini: The Winged Despot

2011-03-29T02:57:00.000-07:00

Mussolini displayed a keen interest in aviation as early as 1909, when, as a young socialist and journalist, he had heralded the attempts to fly across the English Channel (with Louis Blériot succeeding) as a portent of the future. He viewed flying machines as more than a novelty or the plaything of the wealthy, arguing that the airplane was destined to alter the course of history.

The stalemate of trench warfare in World War I only deepened his respect for flying. As a soldier, he marveled at the freedom and heroism of pilots, in particular Italy’s own Gabriele d’Annunzio, who made a dramatic bombing raid on Austria’s capital, Vienna. After the war, Mussolini took great delight in hobnobbing with military pilots, taking airplane rides, and promoting the advance of Italian aviation.

By 1920, Mussolini was ready to take flying lessons. R.J.B. Bosworth’s Mussolini recounts that he trained at the Arcore airfield, north of Milan, and greatly enjoyed flying, quickly learning rudimentary aerobatics. Soon after completing 18 solo flights, he survived a crash, walking away from the wrecked airplane with only minor scratches on his face and a twisted knee.

The mishap did not slow Mussolini’s rise in Italian politics. His stump speeches—delivered in a strutting, highly animated style—attracted a mass following. His muscular physique, truculent jutting jaw, and dark piercing eyes set him apart from other politicians. In 1922, Mussolini gained political control of Italy when his followers, the Blackshirts, made their highly theatrical March on Rome.

Mussolini quickly moved aviation to the forefront of his authoritarian regime. He advocated the building of a modern air force, the Regia Aeronautica, promoted airshows and record-breaking flights, and called for the design of advanced military aircraft. Winning the Schneider Trophy race in 1926 became an early benchmark for Mussolini’s air-minded regime. His Minister of Air, Italo Balbo, catapulted Italian aviation to worldwide prominence in 1933 when he led a flotilla of 25 Savoia-Marchetti SM-55 flying boats on a transatlantic flight to New York and Chicago.

Mussolini’s stylized reputation as an aviation pioneer meshed well with his larger persona as Il Duce, the dynamic leader of Italian Fascism. He appeared in various guises in official propaganda photographs—a sort of Superman at the helm of state, speaking to the masses, playing the violin, singing arias, winning at chess, and, as a man of the people, working shirtless with the peasants at harvest time. Dubbed the First Sportsman of Italy, Mussolini appeared as an avid swimmer, race car driver, equestrian, fencer, and skier. He inspired his countrymen to believe that Italy was on the cusp of greatness—a modern incarnation of the Roman Empire.

The momentum of Mussolini’s rise eventually led to military adventures: first the conquest of Ethiopia in 1935 and then intervention in the Spanish Civil War in 1937 to 1939 to support the Nationalists under General Francisco Franco. In the Spanish war, Mussolini’s son, Bruno, a pilot, flew 27 combat sorties, and the Italian press lionized him and his fellow airmen as exemplars of Italian aviation under Fascism.
Mussolini cast his lot with Nazi Germany in World War II, committing the Italian military, including the Regia Aeronautica, to a long, ruinous war. Italy now had to contend with the armed forces of Great Britain and the United States, both intent on neutralizing Italian military power in the Mediterranean and seeking unconditional surrender. The stakes could not have been higher: An Allied victory would mean the destruction of Mussolini’s regime.

Mussolini’s pre-war stress on aerial spectaculars had evoked an image of Italy as a modern air power. In reality, Italy pursued records at the expense of establishing an industrial base for aviation, and the Regia Aeronautica entered the war with few operational aircraft and minimal capacity for reinforcement. When fully mobilized, Italian aviation plants could manufacture only 200 aircraft of various types each month. Great Britain out-produced Italy by more than eight to one; the United States by at least 30 to one.

Source: Despots Aloft
By Von Hardesty
Air & Space Magazine, May 01, 2005

Fukushima Dice

2011-03-20T12:21:00.001-07:00

One chance in a million

Personification of Israel through names and stories of places

2011-03-20T11:52:00.000-07:00

Personification or Anthropomorphism is attributing human characteristics to animals and various objects.
This is one of the most characteristic features of the human species. Humanity attributed human qualities to many external objects from the dawn of civilizations.
Basic human actions are handling the body: clean, health care, eating, etc.. This inner reality is a means through which it is possible for anybody to examine the external reality.
Thus, even in these days a very common thinking is about external objects as having human like features.

The Zodiac is a clear example of the tremendous power of anthropomorphic features in human culture.
Sky stars map is the earliest anthropomorphic map. Man at the dawn of history connected the constellations with human experience: figures, animals, and objects.

Pagan religions had many deities which had human traits such as: jealousy, hatred and love.
For example, the gods in Greek mythology, even the important ones such as Zeus and Apollo, were described as wearing human figures.

Monotheistic religious belief see, in general, as incorrect to describe the God of Judaism, Christianity and Islam as human. God has completely abstract properties.
However, it is most difficult for the average person to describe God as having no character.
Bible's creation story describes that God himself created man in his image.

The term 'image of God' is very important in Judaism, but specifies only spiritual qualities.
It does not call to simulate a physical person.
It does not connect to the Zodiac, or any other transcendent anthropomorphic expression.

Classical scholars called each map created as 'image of world' [Imago Mundi]
This name reveal the complex nature of Cartography.
Maps are a way of conveying messages influenced through culture-specific symbols.
Many ancient maps visually represented the essence of knowledge and perception of their creators’ world.

Although the modern scientific mapping use sophisticated measurement methods, it is still under the command of design aesthetic.
Accurate maps represent, against their purpose, a biased interpretation.
Any map, even the most scientifically advanced, is embedded in different content, including political, under the control of those who invited the map.
at the same time, wise use of artistic tools lets spectacular design of the maps - They are seen as works of art.

Land of Israel mapping activity was done for the longest duration in history compared to other places.
Overview of maps of the Holy Land shows that Cartography focused in one direction: an effort to be as accurate as possible in describing the landscape.
Partially successful map was created at the time of the Roman empire by Ptolemy [87-150 AD].

Despite the intensive mapping there is no trace of the possibility the land’s human figure, in any map or writing, since the Bible and up to our days.

Geography educated scholars who contemplated about the Land of Israel did so out of strict religious and scientific approach, ignoring the anthropomorphic approach.
Jewish sages drew only a few drawings of the map of Israel, especially as a simple square.
Rashi drew, in the 11th century, the country as a square with mostly the boundaries of the twelve tribes. He began a tradition which lasted until the Gaon of Vilna at late 18th century.

The ancient inhabitants of Israel did not have satellite images or even proper measurement tools to accurately map the area.
On the other hand, they were much more attentive to sounds of nature, intuitions covered the gap, and they absorbed the country's anthropomorphic image.

Land of Israel studies prove that it was an ancient tradition handed down from generation to generation.
Residents of the land throughout the ages gave names for many places according to the concept of the human form of the Holy Land. Stories of the Land of Israel, among them many Bible stories, express this.
It was a popular way to express love of country, not recognized by the educated.

To Hebrew speaker who lives in Israel today its seems that names of many places, both ancient and modern, are according to the human figure of the Holy Land. Arabic speakers will surely find many more.
Local news and events are perceived often as occurred as a result of their location according to the map.

Here are some examples of ancient names and stories of places in Israel in the spirit of Israel's human figure:

Jerusalem - rear mouth area
Phrase which the city is identified more than any is: ‘Word of God from Jerusalem’.

Jaffa - lips area
‘Yaffo’, the name pronunciation in Hebrew, is very similar to ‘Pah’ [mouth]. Whale swallowed Jonah who sailed from Jaffa.

Jericho - ear area
City of Jericho was conquered by the Israelites through the blowing of trumpets which toppled the walls.

Gaza - chin area
Meaning of ‘Gaza’, 'Aza' in Hebrew, is ‘courage’. It is appropriate to the firm chin. Samson died there a hero's death.

Haifa - nose area
‘Haifa’ is very similar to the Hebrew word ‘Af’ which is ‘nose’.

Jebel Livni - heart area
‘Livni’ is very close to ‘Lev’ - the Hebrew word for ‘heart’.

Litani River - head's top area
‘Litanis’ is prayer in Latin.

Anthropomorphism is Ergonomics both simple and sophisticated.
The Human Factor finds in it full expression.
It sends branches to all areas of life.

Human Form of the Holy Land is genuine and natural personification map.
Golden Ratio is a main way to create dialouge between man and world.
You can find the Golden Ratio in the map.

Pool of used fuel is stored on an upper floor of the reactor building in Fukushima

2011-03-19T00:07:00.000-07:00

A design flaw by the Japanese builders appear to be at the heart of the crisis at Fukushima:

The extraordinary practice of putting the pool where the highly radioactive used fuel is stored on an upper floor of the reactor building, instead of, as is normal, having it at ground level.

This has made it particularly hard for workers to try to fill it with the water needed to isolate the fuel, keep it cool and stop it from melting – and is one reason why helicopters have had to be used.

General Electric "Mark I" Boiling Water Reactors comprise five of the six installed at the stricken complex in Japan, and all those so far hit by the world's first multi-reactor nuclear disaster.

General Electric offers in its instruction manual that the pool "is not above the reactor vessel and not designed to drain to the reactor vessel".

In addition to the danger caused by the building design, there are safety problems in the Mark 1 reactor type:

In 1976, three General Electric engineers resigned because: "the effects of a loss of coolant to the reactor core had not been fully taken into account. The result could tear the containment apart and create an uncontrolled release.

General Electric says that The Mark I meets all regulatory requirements and has performed well for over 40 years.

New reactors have been designed to be much safer, with the European Pressurised Reactor (EPR), planned to be built here over the next few years, especially so.

But official documents show that the EPR will produce several times more of the radioactive iodine and caesium that would be rapidly released in an accident than do present-day reactors.

Source: The Telegraph

Unique Distortions in the Holy Land Map

2011-03-07T05:55:00.000-08:00

The relation between any two following numbers in the Golden Ratio mathematical series is always a permanent number: 1.618…

This relation is not an integer. It is irrational. It continues into infinity with numbers after the point.

This is one of the reasons why a systematic thinking of the Golden Ratio brings the philosopher to thoughts of constant change, chaos, randomaliy, and the origins of the universe.

At the same time that it creates harmonies, the Golden Ratio creates change, restlessness, obsession, and search.

One of the attributes of people who lead life of constant change is their ability to dream and imagine.
In order to live a satisfying life it is necessary to imagine and dream, and arrange the will and thoughts according to this.

The Holy Land Map is not an exact duplicate of the human body.

The comparison between Geography and Anatomy reveal many distortions against the model of an adult human figure.

These distortions are unique and can inspire.

They can teach us a lot about ourselves.

Here are some of the distortions in the Holy Land Map:

Fetus
When following the exact lines of the landscape, the human figure which comes as a result resembles that of a fetus.
This is of course very interesting, but can be repulsive for representation.
So the final drawing is much more stately.

Jordan Valley
Jordan Valley's Sea of Galilee and Dead Sea are the eye and the ear in the map.
Together with Jordan River, these three water bodies can form an independent shape which reminds of an entire human figure, or at least a living creature with head, neck and body.
This personification drew the attention of poets and a special article is dedicated to it.
The eyes' nerves are about quarter of the brain, and the ears' bones are completed in the fetus.

Their being in the map as small organs and as an independent body is very interesting.
It gives the map its balance between right and left.

Face and Torso
The face in the map, the land between the river to the sea, is in an elongated, skinny form.
The Torso, Sinai Peninsula, is much more wide and fatty.
The face of the Holy Land Map appears in its external appearance: You can see the eye, ear, cheek, nose, mouth, etc.
The torso appears in its interior appearance: You can see the internal organ systems of the heart-lungs, liver-stomach, and intestines.
This double dissonance is according to the biblical descriptions of the fertile land–face as a narrow passing-through place, where the observation of the rules is dominant.
Sinai-desert is a vast and empty space where the direct inspiration of the Lord is much more feasible.

Hair
East Jordan Mountains, or the Red Mountains, are the hair because of their relative place and shape, and their appearance from the Jordan Valley.

These mountains create a wall between Land of Israel and Jordan deserts. They mark the path for countless scouting birds in their yearly migrations.
The biblical related story is that of Esau, twin of Jacob, the hairy guy who inherited part of this land.
The hair of the map-character is bountiful. It suggest that God is not a male nor a female but both.

Angel Rays
Hermon and Lebanon mountains have a V shape. Their snowy peaks are more then two kilometers above sea level and form between them the misty Baaka valley.

These ranges continue north to Asia Minor.
The stories about them are related to the tribe of Dan, whose land was in their southern intersection.
The meaning of the name 'Dan' in Hebrew is 'Judge'. The intersection a focal point, a logical optimum.
Abraham had his covenant with God at this point.

Energy Lines
Seven powerful energy lines cross the Land of Israel, in accord with the human body's energy lines.
The primary and strongest line is vertical, along the Jordan Valley.
The other six lines are horizontal, meridians, crossing from east to west along major mountain passes.
These seven lines reminds of the six days of the week and Shabbat, or the Divine lamp with the seven stems.
The distance along the Jordan Valley between each mountain pass is almost exactly 100 kilometers.

This precision can integrate between Healing and Geography.

Skin

The need to add colors and textures on order to enrich the character with details made it necessary to rely on the landscape as the human skin.

The primary lines-skeleton of the human shape of the Holy Land where covered with earth-skin in the Biblical sense of man's creation in the sixth day.

The Holy Land Map is a source of inspiration for the imagination. It encourages living according to dreaming.
It is a physical reality engraved in the soul to raise it from earth to heaven.

Illustration of the Great European War from a Japanese Humorous Atlas

2011-03-03T23:17:00.000-08:00

Illustration of the Great European War, from a Humorous Atlas of the World

This map was created and published in Japan at the time of the First World War - 1914-1918.

The map focuses more on Asia then on Europe.

Russia-bear and China-pig are the most dominant nations-figures on the map.

It is amazing how the artist could give unique anthropomorphic attributes to almost any state in the old world.

List of some correlations:
China - pig
Russia - bear
India - elephant
Tibet - yak
Turkey - tiger
Egypt - woman
England - fish
Portugal - puppy
Germany - wild boar
Persia - cat

Land of Israel appears as a paw of Turkey-tiger.

Source: BibliOdyssey

Satirical Maps of the First World War

2011-03-03T22:44:00.000-08:00

BibliOdyssey Blog post spectacular examples of Anthropomorphic maps of Europe from the First World War - 1914-1918.

All the maps shows the nations as human beings or animals fighting each other.

Holy Land Map: Anatomy - Geography Correlations

2011-03-01T06:30:00.000-08:00

Correlations between the human body and the Geographic regions of Israel

The map of the Human Shape of the Land of Israel was created and refined through a long creation process.

The correlations between the human body and the geography of Israel were developed according to the well known principle that there is a continuous dialogue between mankind, his landscape and Nature.

This is a dynamic sublimation processes which create an image in practice.

A complicated metamorphosis process was needed to change the topographic map into a human shape.

This is naturally an infinite process of the imagination, which act to disintegrate obsolete formal images and reshape them as fresh dynamic ones.

The main tool in creating the map was comparing aerial photographs and maps with anatomy drawings and models.

Art and cultural sources were also used to expand the associations.

The level of correlation in this map is much higher then that in other anthropomorphic maps.

It is a correlation which calls for a scientific research.

Many viewers of the Holy Land Map find it difficult to identify the human figure which is hidden in the landscape.

They believe that they look at an ordinary map of the Land of Israel and do not see the human figure that has a shape parallel to that of the landscape.

The reason is the numerous Geographical details of the picture, which force the eyes to focus on them and loose the hidden view.

The aim of the map is to be clear at a first glance.

The visual features of the connection between the landscape of Israel and the human shape are intersting enough and there is no need to complicate them by Optical Illusions.

The major correlations in the Map of the Human Shape of the Holy Land are:
Head - From Mt. Hermon to Negev Plateau and from Jordan River to Mediterannean Sea
Neck – Negev Plateau
Torso – Sinai Peninsula

List of correlations:

Head - From Mt. Hermon to Negev Plateau and from Jordan River to Mediterannean Sea
Head Top - Litany River
Forhead Top - Tyre
Brain - Galillee Mountains
Eyebrow - Acre
Eye - Lake Kinneret
Nose – Carmel Mountain
Dead Sea – ear
Mouth, back - Jerusalem
Samaria – upper cheek
Judea – lower cheek
Mouth, front - Ayalon, Shorek, and Haela Streams
Lip, rear - Vadi Hevron
Lip, upper - Ayalon Stream
Lip, lower - Bsor Stream
Chin - Gaza
Chin edge - Vadi El-Arish estuary

Neck – Negev Plateau
Thyroid Gland - South Dead Sea
Nape - Arava Basin to Eilat
Trachea - Kadesh Barnea
Esophagus - Ramon Crater and Vadi Faraan
Vertebra - Vadi Zin

Torso – Sinai Peninsula
Ribs - Negev to Sinai parralel north-east to south-west mountains ranges
Heart and lungs system - Vadi El-Arish Basin
Liver and Stomach System - A-Tia Plateau
Horizontal Colon - A-Tia Cliffs
Intenstinal System - High Mountains of Sinai
Pelvis bottom - Sharm-a-Shech
Spinal column - Eilat Bay Mountains
Kidneys - Nueiba
Spinal column curve - Dahab
Sternum - Rus Sudar

There are also spiritual Geography - Anatomy correlations:

Spiritual organs around Israel
Angel Rays - Mount Hermon and Lebanon mountains
Hair - Golan and East Jordan mountains
Fear Chakra - Red Sea
Balancing Aura - Mediterannean Sea

Human Shape of the Holy Land

2011-02-13T08:17:00.001-08:00

Human Shape of the Holy Land

God had created man in his shape.

in his spiritual life man tries to get closer to god's virtues.

At the same time, Man's body proportions are according to the Golden Ratio, the Divine Proportions.

How can the Holy Land combine this?

What is the reason for the longings to the Land of Israel in all Monotheistic cultures, longings that find their expression as a strong physical and emotional experience in religious hymns throughout history.

The connection in this hymns between the geography and the celestial is much stronger then in a simple metaphor.

The answer is amazing:

The Land of Israel has a Shape Similar to that of the Human Body

It is a physical reality with a particular relief, which engraves and raises the spirit.

The correlation between the Land of Israel and the human body is accurate.

The landscape can almost serve for anatomy lessons.

The figure includes:

The land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea as faceת

The Negev Plateau as neck.

Sinai Peninsula as the torso.

It is a commentary of the Bible, Judaism and the borders of Israel.

The map is a message of social Humanism, global progress and personal freedom.

In the process of creating the map, the landscape was examined with photographs and maps, in relation to the human anatomy and other figures.

The level of correlation is much higher then that in other anthropomorphic maps.

It is a correlation which calls for a scientific examination.

The idea of the correlation human body and the geography of Israel was developed according to the principle that there is continuous dialogue between mankind and landscape, as a dynamic sublimation process, and as an image in practice.

Our Living Legacy - The Survivors’ Declaration

2011-02-12T01:15:00.000-08:00

Our Living Legacy

The Age of Holocaust Survivors is drawing to a close. Before long no one will be left to say, "I was there, I saw, I remember what happened." All that will be left will be books of literature and research, pictures and films, and multitudinous testimony. This will be a new era. The dark inheritance of the Shoah that was so indelibly stamped on the survivors' souls and hearts will become a sacred mission imposed upon humanity.

In the spring of 1945 the great thunder of World War Two was silenced. In the eerie stillness that followed, we, the last vestiges of European Jewry emerged from the camps, the forests, and the death marches. We were ragged, bitter and orphaned, without friend or relative, without a home. We were secretly wondering in our hearts if after the Ghettos, transports, and Auschwitz we would still be capable of rekindling a spark of life within us? Could we ever work again? Love again? Would we dare begin a family again?

No, we didn’t turn into wild animals, hungering only for vengeance. This is a testament to the principles we possess as a people imbued with enduring faith in both man and Providence. We chose life. We chose to rebuild our lives, to fight for the establishment of the State of Israel, and we chose to contribute to society in Israel and in a host of other countries.

The majority of the Holocaust survivors came to Israel - the Jewish State. This was, for them, an existential imperative arising from the Holocaust. The foundations of the State of Israel were built not only on the memory of six million of our people who were murdered, but with the historical lessons of the Shoah in mind, namely that a Holocaust will never happen again. Since then, we have chosen to contend with the most resounding and perplexing issues relating to the Shoah: Why and for what purpose was the horror perpetrated? Why did the Germans single out the Jew as a danger to all humanity who must be exterminated? How is it possible that amongst the German nation, a people of such apparent intellect and modern culture who produced great artists, thinkers and teachers of ethics, murderers could arise who fashioned and operated this unprecedented killing machine?

The survivors are a pluralistic lot, with myriad opinions, convictions and doctrines. But we share a deep desire to transmit to the future generations what we lived through, and what we learned during that dark time, before we bid farewell to this life that showed us so much bitterness. It is from here, from Har HaZikaron - the Mount of Remembrance - from Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, that we the survivors choose tell our story. And it is now, that we raise our collective and individual voices.

In Jewish tradition, the command to remember is absolute. But its obligation does not end with the cognitive act of memory - it must be connected to both meaning and action. Today, we for to the next generation. We pass to you as well, the fundamental lesson of Judaism, that memory must be accompanied by action of ethical and moral intent. This must be the foundation and the focus of your energies toward the creation of a better world.

“Thou shalt not murder!” This basic tenet of human morality was trumpeted to all humanity from the heights of Mount Sinai. The memory of the murder of 6 million Jews by the Nazis and their willing helpers obligates us to act on this injunction. Life is a gift of creation, its form and essence a statement of ultimate equality among all those created in God’s image. With this in mind, it would seem obvious and indisputable that this fundamental commandment obligates all of humanity. And yet it is being mockingly violated in every corner of the world. As a part of the legacy of the Shoah we must be relentless in our pursuit of solving human conflict, between states and between people, in ways that prevent unnecessary bloodshed.

For us, who experienced the degradation of cruel racism and prejudice, who were condemned to death merely for being born Jews, we call on humankind to adopt principles of equality among men and nations. Tyrannical despotism, political and religious oppression, economic deprivation designed to destroy human dignity must be seen by the world community as grave sins that will not be tolerated. There is no real alternative to coexistence between people and nations. All must be done to resolve differences not through the spilling of blood but through discussion and mediation, in the Middle East and in the entire world.

Anti-Semitism and all other forms of racism present a danger not only to Jews but also to the community of nations. These days the “new anti-Semitism” is directed simultaneously against Jews, against Israel and against Zionism. By equating these terms the danger for Jews as a whole is exacerbated. This phenomenon is also common in propaganda emanating from the Arab world. The Holocaust showed the world the extent of the destructive power of anti-Semitism and racism. Holocaust denial, as well as minimization and banalization of the Holocaust provide a means of avoiding the evident conclusions and learning the lessons for the future. We, the survivors, call upon the world to wipe out these phenomena and to combat them relentlessly.

The memory of the Shoah is contentious and dark, exposing the ugly and naked face of consummate inhumanity that threatens the very nature and stature of civilization itself. We who staggered through the valley of death, only to see how our families, our communities and our people were destroyed, did not descend into despondency and despair. Rather, we struggled to extract a message of meaning and renewed purpose for our people and for all people, namely: a message of humanity, of human decency and of human dignity.

The Holocaust, which established the standard for absolute evil, is the universal heritage of all civilized people. The lessons of the Holocaust must form the cultural code for education toward humane values, democracy, human rights, tolerance and patience, and opposition to racism and totalitarian ideologies.

From Har HaZikaron in Jerusalem the words of Rabbi Hillel need to ring out loud and clear: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow human being!”

====================

The Survivors' Declaration was first read out by Holocaust survivor journalist and writer- Zvi Gill at the closing ceremony of the international conference held at Yad Vashem on "The Legacy of Holocaust Survivors: The Moral and Ethical Implications for Humanity." The ceremony took place in the Valley of the Communities at Yad Vashem.

Judaism and the Golden Ratio

2011-02-04T01:49:00.000-08:00

Judaism in its initial, biblical form, emphasized the connection between man and nature.

Relationship between God, human society, individuals and Land of Israel in the Torah scrolls are woven into one system of religous order.

The Holy Land is the promised land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

Sabbatical law is one of the most important in the Torah.
It allow exile punishment to the people, to complete the Sabbatical years not been fulfilled properly.

In the Jewish holiday of Sukot people live in huts for seven days, to be close to nature.
This is to celebrate the renewed reading of the Torah from Jenesis.

In Pagan religons priests established a similar religous system, linking man's behavior to that of nature.

But the Golden Ratio, which was used widly for aesthetics, and imposing a combination of natural and religous order, almost does not appear in the entire Torah, which is full of numbers and measures.

This is in contrast to the Pyramids, Parthenon and Pantheon, with their sophisticated Golden Ratios.

These were the temples of the enemies of the Jewish people in ancient times, and enemies of the rising monotheistic belief.

Yet Judaism and early Christianity were percieved as more advanced and capble of handling human life.

How could that be without the science of Golden Ratio?

Surely the religous scholers were aware of its importance, even in times of religous persecution and times of change to urban life style.

Judaism had to adjust to modern life its tradition of man's links with natue, but instead a sparation process started.

The immense interpretations of the Torah’s laws didn’t recall the Golden Ratio or even nature's importance.

In the Diaspora, the concept of ignoring nature, and aesthetics, had become even stronger as a central motif for Jewish scholars.

The only imortant thing were moral values and the detailed religous laws.

Human Beings in their flash and blood, with their full neuances, captured the imagination.

Imagination refute formal images and recreate them as dynamic ones.

People were considered brothers and friends, illuminated by God's light and capable of moral attributes, and this was the only important thing.

They asked for Resurgence as a dynamic sublimation process, in an unceasing dialogue between Mankind, God and Earth.

How could Judaism and early Christianity detach themselves so confidently from the values of nature, science, and aesthetics?

There isn't any inherent contradiction between monotheism and the Golden Ratio.

Morality and science should co-exist as vital bricks for building society.

Truth and beauty are simply two differnet ends for the same people.

Perhaps Land of Israel, the original geographical base of Judaism and Christianity, had special properties which allowed scholars to extend their range of interpretation of human life, to a degree uncommon in the Pagan world.

The Golden Ratio

2011-02-03T02:22:00.000-08:00

Leonardo's Human Golden Ratio

Fibonacci, the greatest Mathematician of the Middle-Ages, was a genius who reached the summits of thought and dream. He described a Mathematical series: the Golden Ratio, known also as the Divine Proportion.

In this series any number is the sum of the two previous numbers. It goes on: 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89,144,233,377,610, 987, 1597, and so on.

The ratio 1.618… is a constant between each two following numbers.
It is always an irrational number without an end.

This series has fantastic qualities, mathematical and accordingly geometrical.

The occupation with the Golden Ratio is so exiting, the formed harmonies so wonderful, that it can create a full world perception.

The Golden Ratio is credited as having great influence on the development of human history and knowledge.

The architects of the pyramids in Egypt proportioned it with a Golden Ratio between the mast and the side lengths.

In the Parthenon in Athens the front is a Golden Rectangle, one of the best manifestations of the Golden Ratio.

The holiest shrine of the Roman Empire, The Pantheon, was also designed according to the Golden Ratio.

Renaissance men like Leonardo de Vinci and Michelangelo used it in their famous works of art.

Composers like Mozart, and modern artists like the architect Le-Corbusier, created their works of art using the Golden Ratio.

The importance of the Golden Ratio in Nature is even bigger.

This ratio appears in countless natural phenomena, which are amazingly different in their outlook appearance.

Few examples are:
The D.N.A shape, the numbers of leafs in plants, the sub divisions of mountains ranges and rivers, the distances between the solar system planets.

The human body organs are proportioned according to the Golden Ratio.

It appears in many of the facial, body and limbs proportions.

This was one of the foundations of Classic Hellenistic sculpture.

Le-Corbusier designed the 'Modular', a drawing of a man with Golden Ratio proportions as a base for his Architectonic plans.

The Holy Land and world culture

2011-02-02T01:46:00.000-08:00

Gustave Dore - New Jerusalem

The people of Israel had re-established their state in Land of Israel after two thousand years of exile and the Holocaust. One of the lessons of the Holocaust is that a strong Israel is a moral obligation of the free world.
But the Promised Land borders are not defined precisely in the Bible. The Bible says that God, the people of Israel, and Land of Israel, are a consolidated entity. This definition has already decided the fate of the Jewish people. But unlike the people's clear concrete rules, the boundaries were vague and undefined.

Research has determined that there are different border settings of Greater Israel. These territorial definitions were created at different times by different people, and caused absolute misunderstanding. There are also those who claim that the country's borders expand and contract as needed.

Lack of clear map has always been an obstacle for the Zionist idea. Jerusalem became abstract term, one that reflects value and is intangible, in the eyes of the Jews themselves in the Diaspora, from the destruction of the first temple and later.

In modern times, the lack of a map defining the boundaries of Greater Israel influenced crucial political decisions. For example, Sinai Peninsula was given to Egypt casually, because it was not considered by the government of Menachem Begin as part of Greater Israel.

The Catholic Church announced a few years ago, based on an Israeli scholar's research, that Mount Sinai is in the Negev plateau.

In contrast to its mental cancellation as a tangible object, the Land of Israel has always evoked the deepest feelings in all Western and Monotheistic cultures. Longings to Israel, the Holy land, find their expression as a strong physical and emotional experience in prayers, hymns, and works of religious art throughout history.

Gospel songs expressing longing to the Holy Land are major assets of Western Culture. They are earthy level of religious poetry. In them, religious and folk poetry is combined in an inseparable connection.

An American Gospel song:

I'm a Pilgrim

I am a pilgrim and a stranger,
Travelling through this wearisome land,
got a home in that yonder city, oh Lord,
and it's not, not made by hands.

I got a mother, sister and a brother,
who have gone to that sweet land.
I am determined to go and see them
oh Lord,
all over on that distant shore.

As I go down to that river of Jordan,
just to bathe my weary soul.
If I could touch but the hem of his garment,
oh Lord, well, I believe it would make me whole.

A philosophy that deals with human beings must adjust to the images of poems and continue their flow. Philosophy must learn poems honestly, because poetry is the peak of contemplation and expression, the climax of thought and dream.

The connection in this poem between the physical Jordan River and the abstract celestial city is too clear and strong then required for a simple metaphor.
It arouses questions regarding the intimacy between religious and material experiences.

The consistant relationship between the personal religious experience and the physical Holy Land calls for examining its sources.

18 * 18 ratio between Sinai Peninsula and Sea of Galilee

2011-01-26T11:09:00.000-08:00

Sinai Peninsula dimensions are 383 by 237 kilometers.

Sea of Galilee dimensions are 21 by 13 kilometers.

Dividing the length of Sinai Peninsula with that of Sea of Galilee gives approximately the result 18:

383/21 = 18

Dividing the width of Sinai Peninsula with that of Sea of Galile gives approximately the result 18:

237/13 = 18

You can include Sea of Galilee in Sinai Peninsula 324 times:
18 * 18 = 324

324 AD is a very important year historically and religiously.
This year the global hegemony passed to the Christian Byzantine Empire.
The Byzantine Empire, whose capital was Constantinople, finally won the war this year, against the pagan Roman Empire, whose capital was Rome.

Extended Reading:

The Holy Land and the Golden Ratio - Chapter 8 - 18 * 18 ratio between Sinai Peninsula and Sea of Galilee

Sea of Galilee as Golden Rectangle

2011-01-26T10:52:00.000-08:00

The length of Sea of Galilee according to the rectangle enclosing it is 21 kilometers.

The width of the lake is 13 kilometers.

21 and 13 are two consecutive numbers in the golden ratio series.

The result determines the astonishing fact that the Sea of Galilee dimensions are of a Golden Rectangle.

Extended reading: The Holy Land and the Golden Ratio - Chapter 7 - Sea of Galilee and the Golden Ratio

Sinai Peninsula as Golden Rectangle

2011-01-26T09:29:00.000-08:00

The length of Sinai Peninsula according to the rectangle enclosing it is 383 kilometers.

The width of Sinai Peninsula is 237 kilometers.

The size ratio between length and width is approximately 1.616.

383/237 = 1.616

The exact relationship between two consecutive numbers of the golden ratio series is 1.618.

The result states that the dimensions of Sinai Peninsula are of a Golden Rectangle.

Extended reading: The Holy Land and the Golden Ratio - Chapter 8 - The Golden Ratio and Sinai Peninsula

Paleo-Future - A look into the future that never was

2010-12-06T07:49:00.000-08:00

Post card show the year 2000 [circa 1900] - Personal Flying Machines

The Paleo-Future blog was started by Matt Novak in January of 2007. Matt has since become an accidental expert on past visions of the future, and has amassed an enormous library of media related to the study of retro-futurism.

20 Dynamic Paintings From The Italian Futurists

2010-12-06T06:28:00.000-08:00

Shaking Flight [Tullio Crali, 1939]

CreativeCloud blog presents 20 Dynamic Paintings From Italian Futurists in a time line which shows how Futurism became synonym to Fascism.

Autumn migration of cranes in Hula Valley, Israel

2010-11-09T03:04:00.000-08:00

Sabina Spielrein

2010-08-24T00:08:00.000-07:00

Sabina Spielrein , born 1884, died August 12th 1942 (both in Rostov-on-Don), was one of the first female psychoanalysts. She studied under Carl Gustav Jung, with whom she also had a romantic relationship.

Born 1885 into a family of a Jewish doctors in Rostov, Russia, her mother was a dentist, her father a physician. One of her brothers, Isaac Spielrein, was a Soviet psychologist, a pioneer of labor psychology. Sabina was married to Pavel Scheftel, a physician of Russian Jewish descent. They had two daughters: Renate, born 1912, and Eva, born 1924.

Before enrolling as a student of medicine in Zürich, Spielrein was admitted in August 1904 to the Burghölzli mental hospital near Zürich, where Carl Gustav Jung worked at that time, and remained there until June 1905. While there, she established a deep emotional relationship with Jung who later was her medical dissertation advisor. The historian and psychoanalyst Peter Loewenberg argues that this was a sexual relationship, in breach of professional ethics, and that it "jeopardized his position at the Burghölzli and led to his rupture with Bleuler and his departure from the University of Zurich".

Spielrein graduated in 1911, defending a dissertation about a case of schizophrenia, and was later elected a member of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society. She continued with Jung until 1912 and later saw Sigmund Freud in Vienna.

In 1923, Spielrein returned to Soviet Russia and with Vera Schmidt established a kindergarten in Moscow, nicknamed "The "White Nursery" by the children (all furniture and walls having been white). The institution was committed to bringing up children as free persons as early as possible. "The White Nursery" was closed down three years later by the authorities under false accusation and it was accused of practising sexual perversions on the children (in fact, Stalin actually enrolled his own son, Vasily, into the "White Nursery" under a false name.

Sabina's husband Pavel perished during Stalin's Great Terror, as did her brother Isaac. Sabina and her two children were probably killed by an SS Death Squad, Einsatzgruppe D in 1942 in Zmievskaya Balka.

While Spielrein is not often given more than a footnote in the history of the development of psychoanalysis, her conception of the sexual drive as containing both an instinct of destruction and an instinct of transformation, presented to the Society in 1912, in fact anticipates both Freud's "death wish" and Jung's views on "transformation" (Bettelheim 1983). She may thus have inspired both men's most creative ideas.

Spielrein's letters, journals and copies of hospital records have been published, as has her correspondence with Jung and Freud.

A documentary, My Name was Sabina Spielrein, was made in 2002 by the Hungarian-born Swedish director Elisabeth Marton and was released in the United States in late 2005.

There is a biopic, The Soul Keeper, directed by Roberto Faenza, with Emilia Fox as Spielrein and Iain Glen as Carl Gustav Jung.

Spielrein figures prominently in two contemporary British plays: Sabina (1998) by Snoo Wilson and The Talking Cure (2003) by Christopher Hampton, in which Ralph Fiennes played Jung on the London stage. Both plays were preceded by the Off Broadway production of Sabina (1996) by Willy Holtzman. Hampton has adapted his own play for an upcoming feature called A Dangerous Method, which is being produced by Jeremy Thomas and directed by David Cronenberg.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Europe's Alcohol Belts

2010-02-01T06:13:00.000-08:00

This map shows Europe dominated by three so-called ‘alcohol belts’, the northernmost one for distilled spirits, a middle one for beer and the southernmost one for wine.

Source: Strange Maps

Airplane on Water

2010-01-03T23:05:00.000-08:00

Many men drowned in front of mirrors. - Gaston Bachelard

photo: axiepics

Chicago's Annual Air and Water Show

2010-01-03T22:54:00.000-08:00

Near water, light takes on a new tonality; it seems that light has more clarity when it meets clear water. - Gaston Bachelard

photo: Chaseism

Air and Water

2010-01-03T22:42:00.001-08:00

To disappear into deep water or to disappear toward a far horizon, to become part of depth of infinity, such is the destiny of man that finds his image in the destiny of water. - Gaston Bachelard

photo: ms4jah

Drifting Toward Defeat - The French Air Force in Second World War

2010-01-03T22:31:00.000-08:00

Amiot 143 and Potez 540 - Two Bomber-Combat-Reconnaissance

French aircrafts of Second World War.

Exploring counterfactual history is always a risky business. French soldiers and airmen did not expect to lose the war against Germany in 1940. Thus, Historians must view their preparations during the 1930s with an appreciation of the context that shaped their decisions. These decisions had a rational basis that passed the reasonability test among government leaders and military professionals alike. Nevertheless, at several points in the 1930s, French leaders could have chosen other options. The most important areas under direct Armee de l'Air control were technology, organization, and operations.

Technologically, the decision to procure the Bomber Combat Reconnaissance aircraft series to modernize the Armee de I'Air by 1936 proved fatal. Although the decision soothed interservice political concerns, it provided modern technology only briefly. Production problems and an ongoing technological revolution saddled the air service with useless materiel. But was this decision the only reasonable alternative at the time?

French aviation industry experts could have advised the Air Ministry to procure specialized bomber and fighter airplanes. By 1933-1934, it had become clear that fighter engine designs were well on their way to providing better performance than those for bombers. The advent of high-octane fuel, superchargers, and high-performance wing designs, increased the single-seat design advantages dramatically. So, why would Cot and Denain, French air ministers at that time, choose a design that was obviously on the wane? The answer lies in the pressure brought to bear by the economic and political crisis and by the army. Since Cot and his chief of staff had limited credits to spend on modernization, the army and navy could not allow the aggressive air leaders to procure pursuit of bomber airplanes that were not suited for observation or close air support missions.

Moreover, industry leaders wanted to produce airplanes that appealed to commercial as well as government customers. Investments in fighter designs would lock the industry into a narrow military market, and the 1920s 'politique des prototypes' had proved this to be fraught with uncertainty, as the government allowed firms to undertake research and development without ordering enough airframes to permit them to recoup their investments. Thus, leaders in the senior services and in industry held the Air Ministry hostage. Aircraft firms would not build planes unless the government ordered enough to ensure they turned a profit, and the army and navy would support credits only for airplanes that fit their notions of how airpower should perform on the battlefield.

In retrospect, the first generation of BCR aircraft (1934-1935) should have been the Iast. lnstead, French firms continued to make incremental improvements in the designs until 1938. Again, the reasons are obvious. The Armee de l'Air had created an entire organization and training system based on employing formations of BCR type battle planes. Abandoning the designs and the accompanying service structures probably would have spelled the end of the airforce as an institution. The airmen became caught in a trap that forced them to try to perfect a flawed system in the face of increasing evidence that their technological gamble was bankrupt. To recast the air service into one that was better able to meet the Luftwaffe on more or less equal terms would have required greater courage and large amount of political capital. The British managed to pull off such a feat when the minister for the coordination of defense forced RAF leaders to shift procurement emphasis from heavy bombers to fighters and radar. As late as 1938, the French could have attempted a similar technological shift, but the institutional battle lines had ossified to the point that all the Air Ministry could do was attempt an incremental solution to the problem. The result was the D-52O, a technological solution that the Armee de l'Air could have used to compete effectively against the Luftwaffe had the war occurred in 1941 or 1942, when sufficient numbers would have appeared in the squadrons.

A second, perhaps more telling turning point occurred in February 1940, when Air Minister La Chambre and Chief of Staff Vuillemin surrendered their service's organizational structure to the army. If there was a single area in which airmen were responsible for the defeat, this was it. French military aviation had operated since 1933 by attempting to follow the principle of concentration of forces. Air leaders had succeeded in gaining the army's acceptance of the necessity of having an air commander to advise army and navy commanders on the proper use of aviation assets. Since 1933, annual exercises and war games had reinforced the concept that only by concentrating scarce airpower resources could commanders expect to achieve maximum effect on the battlefield. Therefore, the decision to change how aviation command and control would function, occurring after the French declaration of war and three months before the Germans attacked, amounted to the air leaders' abandonment of their duty to employ air capabilities correctly.
This decision amplified the shortcomings that the airmen knew existed in their service. The weaknesses of the alerting networks, the poor readiness of the reserves, and the inadequacy of the logistical systems all came under greater stress as the reorganization and later the pressures of combat dismantled the geographic command structure. After seven years of doctrinal development and experimentation that emphasized the operational and strategic utility of airpower, French air leaders allowed the army to force it into a mold that, at best, gave the air service only a tactical role. In their country's hour of greater need, airmen chose to restrict their vision of the war to the cockpit. This loss of operational vision and the inability to present the unique aviation options to the supreme war council deprived France of one of its most potent weapons.

Finally, the French failed to operate their part of the national defense structure in ways that would lead to effective combat performance. The clear lack of trained, proficient aircrews limited the operational capability of the Armee de l'Air. This Stemmed, in part, from a willingness to accept the army's view that the pace and scope of warfare had not changed appreciably since the last war. Airmen chose to ignore lessons they could have learned about airpower from the various small wars of the interwar period. They underestimated the efficiency of fighter airplanes, they overestimated the effectiveness of ground-based air defenses, and, curiously, they overestimated the effectiveness of their own aerial striking capabilities while simultaneously under estimating the same capabilities of their adversaries. There were clear intellectual and operational shortcomings that professional aviators should have avoided.

In the final analysis, the Armee de l'Air deserves a considerable amount of the blame for the German conquest of France in 1940. Was the French air service the primary culprit in the defeat? Was it the subversive element that conspired to open the doors for Germany by purposely failing to do its duty? The answer is no on both counts. French airmen exhibited failings that were similar to those of their surface warfare counterparts in the army and navy. They served honorably in combat, and many of them died attempting to counter forces that were better suited in terms of technology, tactics, organization, and operations.

Analysts seeking to learn from the Armee de l'Air's interwar experience should recognize that political, interservice, and economic pressures; technological constraints; and organizational decisions came together to force hard decisions that military and civilian authorities did not necessarily want. Leaders, however, often have to make suboptimal choices to carry out their duties in the politically charged realm of national defense. Such decisions may reflect the only choices, and they may even be "right" choices. But when a number of suboptimal choices come together in a time of crisis, such as occurred in the 1940 Battle of France, institutions and individuals find themselves at a loss to explain how they could have been so blind.

from: Why air forces fail: the anatomy of defeat

photos: Airminded

Why Air Forces Fail - Anatomy of Defeat

2010-01-01T03:22:00.000-08:00

Biggest test of government is whether or when war occur it is able to maintain a strategic reality on, through resources, manpower, etc, by understanding the nature and vulnerability of both the enemy and of itself.

Air Force is particularly vulnerable in this context, because of the relatively small part of the warrior section, because of the vulnerability of bases, and of course the high technology and the level of complexity. This creates a dependency of the Air Force and binds the whole civil defense system.

Air Force failures in history come from, as a result, not so much from due date, but due to circumstances. Not technology but foresight caused the failure. Understanding and managing air equation correctly, recognition of the importance of the factors that support, played a central role.

Despite that defeat of air forces may be fast, and instill the feeling that they are fragile, the simplicity of the ultimate end is only a tip of the iceberg of the many complex factors. Therefore two immediate questions arise: Is the loss of air superiority caused the loss of protection for the entire country, and whether it was the only reason.

So for the leaders of the war the question of what are the security margins of air superiority is critical. When the state in war felt that she was going to lose its air space superiority she certain will take every step possible to prevent it.

Air Force can hurt each and every place. At the same, the sense of flight is central to the human soul. As a result, a sense of vulnerability intensifies as a result of air superiority among the citizens, making them full partners to the leadership upheaval. The birds carrys the voice, and a slight change in the balance of air superiority immediately finds expression among the citizens.

Air historian described it this way: "The fact is that bombs from the sky has the unique power of terrorism. When bombs are dropped from a great height, it seems that, quite accidentally, they seem to fall on top of everyone ... exposed to uncontrolled destruction feeling soldeirs fear, as in natural holocaust, that they are tempted to feel that they are completely defenseless, though in reality, if someone is hiding in a trench or even lay on the ground, he is protected fair enough from explosions."

Nazi Germany had strategic failures in grand scale. You can connect the strategic blunders to the moral: The inability to understand the nature of war in the air, as well as incorrect management of the war economy, were bound with her inability to understand human nature, whuch led to the order of final solution and the Holocaust.

The main strategic failure of the Nazis was a lack of evaluation of the potential strategic bomber, born passionately during war, and causing shrinking German space so that every plant had become vulnerable, so the German air defense demanded unlimited resources of manpower and weapons.

Heavy bombing on German soil began some time before the order of final solution was signed. You can see that the trigger of strategic bomber was the last drive for Goering about it. Terminology of the imagination suggest that air bomber harbinger thick clouds of terrible storm, a powerful sense of vulnerability. No wonder Goering felt the need to defend himself in any way, including meanest way.

When the war was before his eyes in the context of rumors, some of which may be based, local Jews directed the Allied bombers at the important goals in Germany.

These days, attempts of al Qaeda to blow up airplanes are parallel to Nazi attempts to gain dictatorial power worldwide through air superiority.

Bibliography: Why Air Forces Fail - Anatomy of Defeat

China - Land of great beauty

2009-12-16T22:10:00.000-08:00

Source: Artsy Spot

Human Body as Industrial Palace

2009-12-06T00:46:00.000-08:00

Ear Bones in Dead Sea

2009-11-25T23:25:00.000-08:00

Visualizing the decline of empires

2009-11-17T19:10:00.000-08:00

Visualizing empires decline from Pedro M Cruz on Vimeo.

The data refers to the evolution of the top 4 maritime empires of the XIX and XX centuries by extent. The visual emphasis is on their decline.

Brown Man

2009-10-27T23:20:00.000-07:00

Spirited Away - The best Japanese Anime movie

2009-09-10T01:19:00.000-07:00

Anthropomorphic Map of Pan America

2009-08-18T22:52:00.001-07:00

Source: Federico Aubele’s Anthropomorphic Map of Panamericana

The Word - The Beatles

2009-07-29T00:26:00.001-07:00

650 Million Years In 1:20 Min.

2009-06-15T01:02:00.001-07:00

650 Million Years In 1:20 Min.
by xchristox

Airplane-Candlestick

2009-04-26T21:06:00.001-07:00

Mr. Canopener

2009-04-20T11:29:00.000-07:00

Can opener sheriff

2009-04-19T03:46:00.001-07:00

Source: Flicker

BOTTLE OPENER

2009-04-19T03:40:00.000-07:00

© Photographer: Yasioo | Agency: Dreamstime.com

Women In Art

2009-04-09T01:36:00.001-07:00

Saving Plan for an Internet Home Business

2009-03-20T05:16:00.000-07:00

The cost of running an Internet Home Business is low relative to common business expenses. However, existing consumption habits may cause cash burning. New Internet enterprisers are apt to find within few months that they spent the budget, and the burden of household payments forces them to return to the labor market.
A new life style with many economic changes is required. Although seems simple, it require time and effort, because it is hard to get rid of existing consumption habits.
Here is an action plan for a balanced budget. It is a list of the most important changes which should be done in the domestic consumption habits, for creating a positive cash flow.

But these are not just saving tips. The following changes also promise at the same time significant improvement of life quality.

Housing
The Internet provides an excellent opportunity to reduce dwelling costs. It's possible to work from remote, inexpensive and attractive places.
At home, the entire activity can be concentrated around a portable table where the computer is stored, and in any available place.
Big bookshelves are unnecessary, since most of the books arrive nowadays as computer files.
Viewing movies and listening to music from the Internet with the PC spare the money for large televisions and stereo sets.

Car
The car is dispensable for home workers. Even when it is parked for a long time it causes big expenses because of depreciation, insurance and more.
If the car is old it is profitable to throw it immediately to the junkyard and not to try to sell it. The saving in ownership costs is so great that the loss is balanced within few months.

Public transportation
Walking and bicycle riding enable the arrival from home to many places faster, easier, and at no cost at all.
Most of the services that a citizen need for his daily living are located in a commercial center at a distance of a healthy walking.
Buses and other mass transport systems demand a long waiting time and have a long route.

Telephone and mail
Free software enables nowadays a connection free of charge between any point in the world, including video conversations.
E-mails are excellent replacement for ordinary mail.
The option of switching from printed flyers to E-mail newsletters already encouraged many people to start publishing through the Web.

Electricity
The professional Web surfer should wear a good Ski suit for the winter. When dressed in such suit there is no need for a heater and it's possible to benefit from open window and fresh air on cold days.
The beauty and comfort of these modern suits make them suitable for the entire day.

Cables and Satellite TV
These services do not offer much. The biggest part of the visual medium is stored nowadays in the Internet, with countless channels that enable viewing anything according to personal preferences.
Any Internet enterpriser is a media producer who contributes original works to the scene.

Newspapers and magazines
Updated information can be found easily on the Internet and there is no need to wait for daily newspaper or magazine.
Beside, all the strength for reading is needed for the Internet.

Computer
There is no need for a super computer for the Internet Home Business. Familiar computers and software products are enough. They are more reliable then the advanced and expensive merchandise, which tend to suffer from running problems.
The computer must function perfectly. It reflects life and is important as breathing air.

Internet
The cost of standard Internet connection is low. There are excellent learning courses on the internet at no cost on the subjects of Web sites building, graphics, and basic marketing advices.
Outsourcing is not needed. It is possible to do all the Internet tasks alone with proper software. The Internet is a Vision Board where the Law of Attraction operate the best.

Food
Cooking food from market goods is much more healthy, tasty and inexpensive then half-made food from the supermarkets.
The main food types such as bakery, dairy, meat, fruits and vegetables products, are in greater abundance in the market and in much cheaper prices.
The cooking of basic food is simple and there are plenty of recipes directories on the internet.
It is recommanded to save cooking time and effort, and prepare food, such as stews, for the whole week, and to prepare recipes similar to that of fast food and take them for the road.
The sum of money saved this way turns to reality the vision of the full refrigirator.

Appliances
Use the Internet to compare between products. Shopping online is inexpensive, sure and pleasant.
The products arrive home directly and reinforce the working experience.
Simple Alternative markets close to home offer many products in good quality. The prior search on the Internet makes visiting them an esthetic experience.

Finances
When working from home it is much easier to manage the expenses.
It is easier to control, repair and improve the domestic budget.
Unexpected expenses are much lower thanks to the calm lifestyle.
The use of credit cards become rare.
It is not wise to liquidate the savings by a monthly drawing from a fund. It is better to invest in a solid mutual funds that give a high interest and guard the original value. Trading stocks and currencies online is also an option.

Taxes
It is advisable to keep a low pursuit definition.
Opening of a regular business brings with it fixed expenses.
A freelancer can register as employee in a specalized company which pays a salary according to the revenues, for a fee of few percents. It takes care for the taxes and supply receipts.
Clarification of the income issues prevents unnecessary taxes.

Extra work
Domestic works like: homecrafts, renovations, cooking, sewing, gardening and the like, complement the main pursuit.
The ability to do such jobs should be important consideration in the central decision, because they mingle with the activity with the computer.

Social environment
The zoo, theater, museum, public library and the like are vital pastime for home workers. The same is with lectures in the community center, meeting nice people from the neighborhood and sitting in coffee shops.
A public prayer once in a week can strengthens the spirit a lot and and the same is with voluntary activity.

Fitness
Walking or biking from place to place is easier, healthier and faster.
This can be complemented with workout equipment beside the computer. There is no need for a country club subscription.
The daily walking is an opportunity to unite with nature in hidden paths and corners of vegetation and water, which can offer relaxation even in the heart of the city.
Additional walking tracks, like the promenade, seaside, and park, improve the workout.

Holidays
Dreams about expensive holidays abroad contradict with the international athmosphere of the Internet. Substituting four walls at home for four walls at a hotel is not healthy.
Vacation in a tent in the open country and in alternative festivals is much more attractive.
Modern camping equipment enables a pleasant staying in nature for a long period.
Alternative festivals are inexpensive. They are health institutions, places for social acquaintance and potential markets.

Low profile
The Internet is lucrative working environment. It is a major source of information, social environment and a huge market. The amount of money that rolls in it is unprecedented, and people from all over the world are attracted to it.
Therefore the work in it requires a lot of concentration.
Boasting on it in front of everybody will cause quick mind drifting and total loss of inspiration.
Beyond that, they who travel a great distance every day to a tedious work might be envy.

The Media Player is a little gadget for many purposes. It's possible to download to it audio files of music, lectures or books, view photos and movies and even record ideas and conversations.
It is a way for creating a personal environment and positive atmosphere in a hostile public world.

All these changes promise simultaneously significant improvement of life quality and a huge money saving.
Therefore each change should be implemented fully before continuing to the next one, in order to create a natural process. Economic changes are seemed simple at first, but they demand a great effort because it is very hard to get rid of existing consumption habits.

It is possible to live properly on minimum financial expenses. A personal budget of about half the minimum wage can afford standard of living which is higher then achieved by average salary.

People who live on a fixed salary spend large sums of money on cars, shopping in shopping centers and on mass media products. They have a small amount of money, time and strength for the truly important things.
For no reason, Home Business entrepreneurs without steady income suffers from lack of self-confidence; anxiety; lack of stability and tend to feel poor.
The best things are located under the nose and they are at no cost.

While finishing the entire program, it's possible to turn to quality investment on the Internet.
The Internet's economy is Information Economy. The money invested on it is Information Money. It provides constructive knowledge. Therefore it gives greater spiritual welfare then any spending on regular consumption products.
Money becomes an abstract concept and creates sublimation process for the soul.
It becomes a habit to contemplate on any penny before spending it.
This is well and so it should be done.

Money is just the reflection of the human shape in the crowd.

Open the Third Eye

2009-03-05T23:27:00.000-08:00

Human Body Energy Centers

2009-02-27T22:14:00.001-08:00

The purple crown - Chakra 7

2009-02-27T21:32:00.000-08:00

source

Angel meditation

2009-02-27T21:10:00.000-08:00

Source

Mandalas in daily life

2009-02-16T04:23:00.000-08:00

Child In Time - Deep Purple

2009-02-14T21:30:00.001-08:00

Dire Straits & Eric Clapton - Sultans of Swing Live

2009-02-05T12:32:00.000-08:00

There is no remedy for love but to love more

2009-01-30T20:13:00.000-08:00

source: Flicker

Glass Maze

2009-01-18T23:21:00.000-08:00

Photo: Flicker

El condor pasa

2008-11-01T02:59:00.000-07:00

This is how Noah felt after the Flood.

The Mamas & The Papas » California Dreamin'

2008-11-01T02:18:00.000-07:00

The Mamas & The Papas |MTV Music

Australian Aboriginal Music: Song with Didgeridoo

2008-10-11T12:59:00.000-07:00

Building of Human Anatomy Museum in Netherlands

2008-09-30T00:47:00.000-07:00

Website: Corpus - Journey Through the Human Body

Heart in the holy land map

2008-09-20T08:51:00.001-07:00

Human Anatomy

2008-09-10T00:00:00.001-07:00

source: FLICKER

Rembrandt's Anatomy Lesson

2008-09-09T23:55:00.001-07:00

Stereo Face

2008-09-09T23:36:00.001-07:00

source: FLICKER

Pipe

2008-09-09T23:29:00.000-07:00

It reminds of the women from certain tribes who have saucers inside their lips as a jewelry and status.

source: FLICKER

Rock Formation

2008-09-09T23:23:00.001-07:00

From certain angles this rock formation lookes like a human head.

source: FLICKER

La Jetee - The classic short that inspired "12 Monkeys".

2008-07-17T00:50:00.000-07:00

'The Jetty' is a short film from the 1960th, about a man who's last ordinary memory is of a moment in his childhood, when he sees his mother in an airfield terminal.
What happened next was an Atomic Holocaust, which erased life from the planet's surface, and sent the remaining few survivors to the underground, for many years.
There they developed scientific society, with emphasis on experiments in Time Travel, in order to regain the moment before the atomic explosion.
The hero, who's mother's image is fixed in his mind, is sent back to the place and time of his last memory, the terminal, only to find again that there is no escape from the arrow of time.
Time control the last scene, where he is helpless in his attempt to change anything.

The film inspired the "12 Monkeys", a famous movie starring Bruce Willis. In that movie, the cause for the holocaust are biological viruses, which are spread by air transportation very fast around the world.

A SACRED DUTY: Applying Jewish Values To Help Heal The World

2008-07-16T23:40:00.000-07:00

A Major Documentary on Current Environmental Threats and How Jewish Teachings Can Be Applied in Responding to These Threats.Produced by Emmy-Award-winning producer, director, writer, and cinematographer Lionel Friedberg, A SACRED DUTY will take its place alongside Al Gore's AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH and Leonardo di Caprio's THE ELEVENTH HOUR as another powerful expose of the dangers of global warming. However, it goes beyond the latter two films, by showing how religious responses can make a major difference and why a shift toward plant-based diets is an essential part of efforts to reduce global climate change and other environmental threats.

What makes this film unique is the religious POV and ESPECIALLY the Jewish focus because cit is RARE to see a Jewish POV on anything in the mainstream media.

*A Sacred Duty* proves that a *different kind* of monumental and urgently needed change needs to take place throughout the world if there will be any chance of stopping global warming.

It was originally commissioned and produced by members of Jewish Vegetarians of North America to educate people within their own Jewish community. For them, Al Gore forgot to include *cattle* as one big cause of global warming, and *vegetarianism* the number one solution.

Responsebility for the Animal Kingdom, through the religous concept of compassion, can indeed increase harmony between humankind and nature, which is manifested in the clearest way by the map of the Human Shape of Israel.

The film combines long scenes concerning the complicated ecological situation of the Land of Israel.

Joseph interpreting Pharaoh's Dreams

2008-07-05T00:15:00.000-07:00

''The market will experience technical correction''

Israel does amazing things for the world but hardly anyone knows.

2008-06-18T01:11:00.000-07:00

View Israel's accomplishments and spread the word!

Ads for Israel.

----------------

Send Your Name to the Moon With New Lunar Mission

2008-05-01T14:18:00.000-07:00

NASA invites people of all ages to join the lunar exploration journey with an opportunity to send their names to the moon aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, spacecraft.

The Send Your Name to the Moon Web site enables everyone to participate in the lunar adventure and place their names in orbit around the moon for years to come. Participants can submit their information at http://www.nasa.gov/lro, print a certificate and have their name entered into a database. The database will be placed on a microchip that will be integrated onto the spacecraft. The deadline for submitting names is June 27, 2008.

"Everyone who sends their name to the moon, like I'm doing, becomes part of the next wave of lunar explorers," said Cathy Peddie, deputy project manager for LRO at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "The LRO mission is the first step in NASA's plans to return humans to the moon by 2020, and your name can reach there first. How cool is that?"

The orbiter, comprised of six instruments and one technology demonstration, will provide the most comprehensive data set ever returned from the moon. The mission will focus on the selection of safe landing sites and identification of lunar resources. It also will study how the lunar radiation environment could affect humans.

LRO will also create a comprehensive atlas of the moon's features and resources that will be needed as NASA designs and builds a planned lunar outpost. The mission will support future human exploration while providing a foundation for upcoming science missions. LRO is scheduled for launch in late 2008.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is being built at Goddard. The mission also will be managed at the center for NASA's Explorations Systems Mission Directorate in Washington.

Send Your Name to the Moon is a collaborative effort among NASA, the Planetary Society in Pasadena, Calif., and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md.

To send your name to the moon, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/lro

Elephant paints his own portrait

2008-04-04T10:20:00.000-07:00

More Information

Wind

2008-03-17T03:47:00.000-07:00

Of all the airy substances, the wind is the one that provides the most restless dynamic air images, the most unstable, the world of storms. The wind creates very clear and accumulating psychological imagery.

It looks as the tremendous emptiness, awakens suddenly to act, changes into a particularly clear image of cosmic rage. The angry wind is a symbol of pure anger, anger without target or cause.

Sounds of the winds of rage create airy monsters. It's possible to the hear them scream. In the reverie of the storm, it is not the eye that creates the images, but rather the frightened ear. It is not the scream that arrives from a beast's throat, but rather the scream of the storm. The power that created it is the cry of anger.

By means of the restless air we are able to understand a basic anger, which is absolutely movement and nothing except of movement. From personal experience of storms we learn how furious and useless the desire is. The exaggerating wind is anger situated everywhere and nowhere, born and reborn from within itself, distorted and revolves.

By following the great dreamers of universe doctrines in the creations of their imagination, we find that they often give to anger a courage validation. The anger attacks the work that has to be done.

As if by way of provocation, the world is created by means of anger. Anger puts the foundation to the dynamic entity. Anger is the action by which the entity begins.

The first thing created by this creative anger is the storm. The swirling air of storm creates the stars. The cry creates images, speech, and thought.

The more any action is considered, and as much as it promises to be canny, it still must first cross a little threshold of anger. Anger is the acid that without it any impression is not engraved in our mind. Anger creates active impression.

For many dreamers, the four compass directions are first and foremost the counties that belong to the four great winds. In many aspects, these four great winds are the four elements. They produce the double dialectic of heat and cold, dryness and humidity.

This renewed soul of the world has a profound self. The gust of wind is wild and pure. It dies and reborn again. In the wind breathes a virginal soul that was not corrupted by any earthy thing. Life is so great that even the winter has a future.

Exercises of breath receive moral significance in alternative religions. They are real ceremonies that place mankind in contact with the universe. Wind for the world and breath for mankind demonstrate the expansion of infinite things.

When the fire desists, it desists in the wind. When the sun set, it set is in the wind. When the moon disappears, it disappears in the wind. So the wind consumes everything.

From Gaston Bachelard's book 'Air and Dreams'

K.I.S.S.

2008-03-10T21:27:00.000-07:00

Peace. It's not found in the complexity. Truth. It's not there in the endless chatter. What we seek - what we need - is simplicity. As the world generates more and more of more and more, we will only find our peace and truth in simplifying our thoughts and needs and desires.

In case the title "K.I.S.S." is unfamiliar to you, it comes from "Keep It Simple Stupid."

Read the full article by Karen Wright at METHAMORPHOSIS MAGAZINE

Energy Crisis Paradox

2008-03-10T04:59:00.000-07:00

The oil prices increase rapidly, and bring to the becoming rich of solitary people and oil companies. In addition, part of the oil money is strengthening the fundamentalist Islam and the Islamic terror.

But the expensive price inspires energy saving, and the search for alternative clean energy, that will stop the greenhouse effect, which can bring to the dangerous warming of Earth, as a result of the accumulation of fuel's gaseous exhaust in the atmosphere.

The paradox is that as a result from it, actually the few rich, who exploit with exaggerated prices the mass of consumers, are 'right', because the exaggerated prices create an incentive for saving and change.

Patrick Ziskind, author of the bestseller 'Perfume', describes a similar idea that comes from the hallucinating brain of a French noble from the 18 century: This noble concocted an economic method of inversed progressive tax, by which the poor will pay more taxes than the rich, in order to create for the poor greater incentive to work.

The Paradox of energy crisis is perceived by some as the natural existential condition of Mankind.

It is possible, then, to understand the weight of political difficulties that exist among the decision makers in the state of Israel, one of the world's leading states in the area of Alternative Energy, as they come to decide if to invest in the development of alternative energy, mainly in the field of Solar Energy by photovoltaic cells.

Who will, perhaps, enjoy it primarily will be hostile Arab states, which have large deserts and abundance of sun energy. If today they export oil, in future they will export electricity that was produced by means solar power stations, in an amount much larger.

But the potential strengthening of Arab states as a result from development of alternative energies is irrelevant.
As a result from accumulative development of different energy sources, the world is very close nowadays to the era of global abundance of clean energy.
Clean Energy in high quality, available and inexpensive, is not anymore a technical matter, but rather political only.

Every state is able already to produce all the energy that it needs by itself from alternative sources.
The sun is the main source, but there are additional, complimentary sources, like wind energy, bio energy, atomic energy, hydrogen energy and more.
Developed states work hard at this direction by means of subsidies.

It is possible, in the foreseeable future, that a world net of electricity lines, similar to the Internet, will be able to provide electricity, mainly through solar power stations, from places where the sun is rising to places where there is darkness, 24 hours a day, without the expensive need to store electricity.

The era of energy abundance will strengthen the importance of the human factor.
In the current condition of expensive energy, energy poor states, like Israel, must realize fully the human factor in order to survive.
It seems that the importance of human resources will decline with free energy.
But in the era of more or less equality between all states with respect to the supply of energy, the central question will be how to make the most intelligent use of all this free energy.

The focus of environmentalists will have to pass from the warming of Earth, to the question of uncontrolled land uses.
The intensified use of electrified cars is liable to bring to the excessive expansion of roads network, that is already excessive nowadays, and consume insufferable monstrous amount of green land.
Personal Solar Energy, which will be technologically inexpensive, will bring to the cancellation of the need to join the electricity network, and unplanned settlements will appear everywhere.

Israel must provide solutions to mankind in these subjects, because the Holy Land is situated in the eye of the storm of the international thirst for oil and holiness.

But the paradoxes might accumulate, contrary to the desirable course of events, and the absurdity principle might motivate the political leaders in Israel.
What is required is political rethinking on immediate legislation and incentives, in order to bring significant change.

The captains of Israel must adopt new policy in two fields that are attached to each other:
A. The state must invest more in alternative energy.
B. The state must increase the supervision of illegal building construction, and disable any anarchism by planning and inspection.

Internet 'Addiction' Is Good

2008-03-10T02:38:00.000-07:00

Using the Internet throughout your entire waking hours is a tremendous benefit, and people who call it an 'addiction' are just feeding a meaningless trend.

Read the full article by Alan Reiter at INTERNET EVOLUTION

Saving Plan for an Internet Home Business

2008-03-08T13:19:00.000-08:00

The expenses for running an Internet business are low, compared to common business expenses. However, existing consumption habits may cause cash burning. New Internet entrepreneurs are apt to find, within few months, that they spent the budget, and the burden of household expenses forces them to return to the labor market.
A new life order with many economic changes is required. Economic changes, although simple, demand a long time, because it is hard to get rid of existing consumption habits.
Here is an action plan for a balanced budget. It is a list of the most important changes which should be done in the domestic consumption habits, for creating a positive cash flow.
But these are not just saving tips. Each change promise significant improvement of life quality.

Housing
The Internet provides an excellent opportunity to reduce dwelling costs. It's possible to work from remote, inexpensive and attractive places.
In the apartment, the entire activity can be concentrated around a portable table in which the computer is stored, and in any available place.
Big bookshelves are unnecessary, since most of the books arrive nowadays as computer files.
Viewing movies and listening to music from the Internet with the PC saves the money for large televisions and stereo sets.

Car
The car causes big financial expenses. It is dispensable for home workers. Even when it is parked for a long time it causes big expenses as depreciation, insurance and more.
If the car is old, it is profitable to throw it immediately to the junkyard, and not to try to sell it. The saving in ownership costs are so great, that the loss is balanced in few months.

Public transportation
Walking or bicycle riding, enable the arrival from home to many places faster, easier, and at no cost.
Most of the services that a man need for daily living are located in a commercial center, in a distance of a healthy walking. Buses demand a long waiting time and they have a long route.

Telephone and mail
Free software enables connection free of charge between any points in the world, including video conversations.
E-mails are excellent replacement for ordinary mail.
Switching from printed flyers to E-mail newsletters is a significant incentive to start working with the Internet.

Electricity
The professional Web surfer should wear a good Ski suit for the winter. When dressed in such suit there is no need for a heater, and it's possible to benefit from open window and fresh air on cold days. The beauty and comfort of these modern suits make them suitable for the entire day.

Cables and Satellite TV
These services do not offer much. The biggest part of the visual medium is stored nowadays in the Internet, with countless channels that enable viewing anything according to personal preferences.
Any Internet enterpriser is a media producer who contributes original works to the scene.

Newspapers and magazines
Updated information can be found easily on the Internet, and there is no need to wait for a daily newspaper or a magazine.
Beside, all the strength for reading is needed for the Internet.

Computer
Common Computers and software products are more reliable then the most advanced and expensive, which tend to suffer from running problems.
This is a critical point. The computer must function perfectly. It reflects life and is important as breathing air.

Learning
Excellent learning courses are on the internet at no cost. Especially on the subjects of Web sites building, graphics, and basic marketing advices.
Outsourcing is not needed. It is possible to do all the Internet tasks alone with proper software.

Food
Cooking food from market staples is much is much more healthy, tasty and inexpensive, compared to half-made food from the supermarkets.
The main food types, such as bakery, dairy, meat, fruits and vegetables products, are in greater abundance in the market and in much cheaper prices.
The cooking of basic food is simple, and there are plenty of food recipes directories on the internet.
It is recommanded to save cooking time and effort, and prepare food, such as stews, for the whole week, and to prepare recipes similar to that of fast food and take them for the road.
The sum of money saved this way turn to reality the vision of the full refrigirator.

Domestic products
Use the Internet to compare between products. This shopping method is inexpensive, sure, and pleasant.
The products arrive directly to home, and reinforce the working experience.
Alternative markets close to home offer many products in good quality. The advanced search on the Internet makes the visiting in these simpler markets an esthetic experience.

Finances
When working from home it is much easier to manage the expenses.
It is easier to control, repair and improve the domestic budget.
Unexpected expenses are much lower, thanks to the calm lifestyle.
The use of credit cards become rare.

There are many free tools in the Internet for managing a personal financial portfolio, in order to gain more profits then by the banks.
It is not wise to liquidate savings by a monthly drawing from a fund. It is better to invest in solid mutual funds that give a high interest and guard the original value.

Taxes
It is advisable to keep a low pursuit definition.
Opening of a regular business brings with it fixed expenses.
But a freelancer can register as employee in a specalized company which pay a salary according to the revenues, for a fee of few percents. It takes care for the taxes and supply receipts.
Clarification of the income issues prevents unnecessary taxes.

Domestic works
Domestic works like: renovations, cooking, sewing, gardening and the like, complement the main pursuit.
The ability to do such jobs must be important consideration in the central decision, because they balance the activity in front of the computer.

Social environment
The zoo, theater, museum, public library and the like are vital pastime for home workers. The same is with lectures in the community center, meeting nice people from the neighborhood and sitting in coffee shops.
One public prayer in a week can strengthens the spirit a lot, and voluntary activity too.

Fitness
Walking and biking from place to place is easier, healthier, and faster.
They can be complemented with workout equipment and there is no need for a country club.
The daily walking is an opportunity to unite with nature, in hidden paths and corners of vegetation and water, which can offer mental retreat in the heart of the city.
Additional walking tracks, like the promenade, seaside and park, improve the workout.

Holidays
Dreams about expensive holidays abroad contradict the international athmosphere of the Internet. Substituting four walls at home for four walls at a hotel is not healthy.
Buy a tent and go to vacation in the open country, and in alternative festivals.
Modern camping equipment enables a pleasant staying in nature for a long period.
Alternative festivals are inexpensive. They are health institutions, places for social acquaintance, and potential market.

Low profile
The Internet is lucrative working environment. It is a major source of information, social environment and huge market. The amount of money that rolls in it is unprecedented, and people from the entire world are attracted to it.
Therefore the work in it requires a lot of concentration.
Boasting on it in front of everybody will cause quick mind drifting and total loss of inspiration.
Beyond that, those who hear about someone who work from home and on the Internet too, while they travel a great distance every day to a tedious work, might envy.

Learn to operate a MP. This little device serves not only for listening to music. It's possible to download to it audio files of lectures and books, view photos and movies, and even record ideas and conversations.
MP is a way to create a personal environment and positive atmosphere in a hostile world.

There are many tips in this saving plan. Each of them should be implemented fully before continuing to the next one, in order to create a natural process.

It is possible to live on a minimum of financial expenses.
A personal budget of about half the minimum wage can allow level and quality of living which is higher then achieved by average salary.

People who live on a fixed salary spend large sums of money on cars, shopping in shopping centers and on mass media products. They have a small amount of money, time and power to the truly important things. The best things are located under the nose and they are at no cost.
For no reason, entrepreneurs without steady income suffers from lack of self-confidence; anxiety; lack of stability and tend to feel poor.

After finishing the entire budget cut, it's possible to turn truly to quality investment on the Internet. The Internet's economy is Information Economy. The money invested on it is Information Money. It provides constructive knowledge. Therefore it gives spiritual welfare greater then by any regular consumption product.
Money becomes abstract concept and creates sublimation process in the soul.
Contemplating on any penny before spending it and speculating for hours if it is invested properly, become a habit.
This is well and so should be.
Money is only a reflection of the human shape in the crowd.

Mysteries of Bulgarian Voices and Planet Earth

2008-03-07T01:35:00.000-08:00

'Mysteries of Bulgarian Voices' is a vocal women chorus from Bulgaria. Some of its songs were edited together with magnificent Nature and Outer Space Video clips, to create a unique experience.

Balkan Boy – Human Face of the Balkan Region

2008-02-23T08:01:00.000-08:00

Balkan Face – The nose is Instanbul's peninsula

Click here for a larger view

It is possible to integrate the whole Balkan under one common idea, by adding together the external borders lines of the war torn Balkan states, to create a clear shape of human face profile that turn rightward.

The Balkan is the name of South East Europe.

It is a pastoral land of many mountains and valleys, and shores with many bays.
The people are colorful, and play heart penetrating Gypsy music.

At present, this region with dynamic borders includes the following states:
At North: Moldova, Romania, and Hungary.
At Center: Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia.
At South: Greece, Macedonia, and Albania.

Factionalism is typical to the Balkan from early history.
Continuous bloody wars between Balkan States at the early 20 century ignited the First World War.
A prolonged civil war at the end of the 20 century resulted in dividing Yugoslavia into smaller states.

A new state was declared in the Balkan region: Kosovo.
United States and most of the European Union recognize it.
Serbia's head of state condemned Kosovo's declaration of independence.
Russia, Serbia's ally, resent firmly this declaration too.
Serbian demonstrators broke into the US embassy in Belgrade and set it on fire.

It is possible to integrate the whole Balkan under one common idea:

Adding together the external borders lines of the Balkan states create a clear shape of human face profile.

The profile turn rightward. Its nose is where Istanbul's peninsula is.

This human profile reminds of a shepherd-boy, which can be linked to the popular Balkan folklore.

Here are few of the characteristic of the 'Balkan Boy' figure:
The Adriatic Sea coastline is the back of the head.
The Black Sea coastline is the forehead.
The Aegean Sea coastline is the mouth.
The huge Danube River, the life line of the region, is the eye, partly closed, partly winking.

Click here gor a larger view

Animated Quantum Video

2008-02-14T22:46:00.000-08:00

Painted Buses

2007-09-02T21:27:00.001-07:00

Painted Buses - For more funny videos, click here

Humor in Business management

2007-03-03T04:26:00.000-08:00

The sense of humor is essential for business leadership. This article describes the central place of humor in life and the possibilities of using the precise humoristic expression in business training with daily cartoons.

With the advancement of computers the good businessman can simulate all the routines before he goes to the business work.
He has the opportunity of concentrating more on the uncomputerised human expressions:
The customer service, the relationships among fellow workers, safety and self improvement.

The occupation with the human capital in business management is obligation to deal with emotions.
Emotions volumes are not measurable accurately, contrary to cognitive or physical volumes.
The reason is that emotions expand all the time. It gives them their unique attribute: The human ability of identify with the other and be empathic.

We can measure exactly sales volume, I.Q. and weight lifting, but not the intensity of love and hate.
For example: Questionnaires about satisfaction from a product or a boss give very limited answers.
This leaves the business leader exposed to mistakes of emotional intelligence and the computers cannot help him.

There is nothing better then the sense of humor, the best known therapy for the soul, for illuminating the human factor.
Humor is derived directly from an overloaded mind which seeks to facilitate the feelings it faces with others.
Any accurate expression of emotion is followed by humor as part of a relief.

The definition of humor is: Emotions made precise.

Isaac's ['Laugh' in Hebrew] Sacrifice

Every business negotiation is also a transaction of emotions. These are accurate emotions, purified through the long bargaining process.
After a deal is closed, there is a mutual sense of emotional relief between the negotiating sides.
While this sense of relief fades away down, It create a by product in the form of a lightness of the spirit, a sense of humor.

The precision of humor makes it suitable for the businessmen training.
There is a use for humor in all aspects of business communication, but currently it is limited in scale and methods.
Humor workshops for businessmen are relatively rare.

Large part of the business continuity, from the morning meetings, through the motivation papers and finally with the private learning,
is dedicated for advice on human resources.
The amount of humor in it is very small, compared to humor in ordinary life.
While daily life is a continuous effort for laugher, business life is a cooperated effort for making life more serious and heavier.

The business office needs steady humor supply. Otherwise its athmosphere may turn into acidly cynic.

Business fun is not as simple as it looks like. It demands professionalism both in humor and business. It has to be precise.
Otherwise there is a danger of getting out of focus. Laser precision is part of any humor. If the target is missed, the damage is big.

One medium of humor, the cartoon, is more suitable for the business office.
The Visual aspect of the cartoon makes it easy to grasp the content. It affords a visual relaxation in the visually intensive business world.

Two major daily cartoon series deals directly with the business work:

One is Dilbert by Scott Adams.

Another one is The Daily Cartoon by Randy Glasbergen.

An example of Glasbergen's cartoons

Let us compare between these two cartoon series:

Dilbert has not a very inspiring affect. The characters are clumsy. They create clumsier situations.
It is the result of their incriminating surface behavior. It is very hard to understand them. We laugh at them without very much intellectual gratification.

The Daily Cartoon by Randy Glasbergen is much more sophisticated. A delicate situation, the result of ordinary human behavior, is at the center and not a character.
The situation is mostly a very sharp event regarding money. The elusive world of money making motives finds here its accurate, funny representation.
The characters serve just as a mean for clarification. The subject is not a certain character with unique attributes, but a situation with a familier background.

The reliance on practical situations makes the Daily Cartoon by Randy Glasbergen a favorable choice for the business world.
If we could apply it on a daily basis, we would laugh all the way to the bank.

To do so we need a closer focusing on business stories.
Anybody can identify and act properly when facing a situation which was represented before him in a cartoon with dynamic replacing of characters.

There is a huge need for sophisticated cartoons in all that is concerned with hman resources. It is a business training technique.

The Business cartoons by Randy Glasbergen combines intensity with sophistication.
New cartoons are published every day and they are backed up by a huge archive.
The subjects of the cartoons deals directly with all the modern business environment:
computers and Internet work, management and workers, decision making, work morality and so on.
It covers in exactingness almost any field with a very positive affect.

Whenever I open my Daily Cartoon website I find also ideas and advice regarding other aspects of life, like health, family and self improvement.

I suggest cartoons as the best way for introducing emotional intelligence to businessmen.
Applying them to the daily business processes, adding more sub topics and finding ways for implementing them to the infrastructure of business management,
will give us a better world.

The Map of Israel and U.S.A Presidency

2006-02-19T04:30:00.000-08:00

I write this post after watching the film "Nixon" by Oliver Stone.
This film shows us the marks which a great man leaves on our heart. The mark of Nixon is of honor: He left his office because of a minor crime after years of major political achievements, but he accepted the verdict.

There are two other U.S.A presidents in the last decades who served a second term. What was their impression on our heart?
The first is Ronald Reagan. His mark is excellent, but it came with a price. He survived an assassination attempt which shocked the system.
The second is Bill Clinton. Unfortunately, the end of his second term was an embarrassment, because of the Lewinsky affair.

George Bush is facing critical years in the White House. He is like a craftsman in the last stage of building a great structure. In this stage it is easy to stumble. He has to be careful of his last move.

The cycle of political events brings me to the Middle East politics.
It is almost a tradition in this region to have a war every decade. The last two were the wars in Iraq. The last war helped, together with the ''Separation Fence", to end the terror attacks on Israel.

I predict an elusive dialog between Israel, the Hamas and rest of the world, for the next few years.
The question is what will happen eight years from now. Without a determined stirring, the results will be an Islamic Jihad, with the collapse of the western nations in this region, including Egypt.

The victory of the Hamas reversed the direction of trust in this land, and we are now in a primordial stage of deep fear. To combat it we must rely on our values and belief. No matter what the oil prices will be, a strong Israel is an objective for the free world.

In this perspective I find it proper to share with you my own interpretation of the bible. I call it: "The Holy Land Map as a Human Shape".

The link for the website is:
http://www.holylandmap.net/

In this map I describe a parallelism between the human body organs and the geographic regions.
This revelation of the sacred nature of the land of Israel may serve as an inspiration for any human being, to live in harmony on his soil.

Israel Map as a Human Shape

2006-01-18T00:03:00.000-08:00

The Holy Land Map is a revolutionary description of the Land of Israel as a human figure shape.

The correlation is clear. The landscape can serve almost for anatomy lessons.

This shape includes: The land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea as face, the Negev Plateau as neck, Sinai Peninsula as the torso.