Greetings and salutations!
"I had crises of faith. I thought you had to experience things if you want to know right from wrong. I'd go to Christian revivals and be moved by the Holy Spirit, and I'd go to rock concerts and feel the same fervour. Then I'd be told, 'That is the devil's music! Don't partake in that!' I wanted to experience things religion said not to experience." - Brad Pitt
On that note, let's just dive right in, shall we?
On Getting Back to Why I'm Here (In Part)
Update: Unfortunately, the event described below was canceled, in its entirety, for security reasons.
This Thursday, an unprecedented event will take place and I hope to be in attendance:
"On Oct. 18th, 2007 hundreds of thousands of people all over the world will unite for the One Voice Summit – an unprecedented mobilization of moderate voices to achieve a two state solution that fulfills the overdue aspirations of the Palestinian and Israeli people to end the occupation, to end all forms of violence, to permanently end the conflict, and achieve international recognition, respect, peace, and prosperity."
This statement is part of the mandate of the One Voice movement and their One Million Voices campaign. The central purpose of One Voice is to bring the moderate majority of Palestinians and Israelis together, forming a grass-roots movement dedicated to driving change in the ineffective, top-down policies currently being pursued by various administrations.
Though some of the planned events have been canceled, supposedly due to security concerns, the main summit will still take place at locations in Israel, Palestine, and throughout the world, all of which will be linked by satellite and broadcast live across the globe. These events are the results of the passionate efforts of thousands of people - Israeli and Arab, Jewish and Muslim - to bring the voices of the people to the ears of those in power during their ongoing negotiations. If this is an initiative you feel you can support, I encourage you to get involved.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123780
http://video.yahoo.com/onevoice
On the End of Nova (Cont.)
For those poor souls holding out hope for Nova's shady investment capital scheme to save the company and, therefore, their jobs, it seems the final straw is near breaking. Apparently the business magnate behind the firms tagged to bankroll Nova's escape from the jaws of bankruptcy has himself been arrested for insider trading, of all things. Corporate corruption? It seems there really is nothing new under the sun, rising or otherwise. I do feel horribly for my friends though, and can only hope they are able to find alternative employment or return to their homes with as little hassle as possible. It is entertaining, at least, to see how some of them are responding to the unfortunate situation.
On Work & Daily Life
I mentioned how things in Israel move slowly, and they do, but that certainly doesn't mean you can just stand around, not unless you like being hassled by security guards! On several occasions I have been asked to move on by security personnel simply because I was standing still, apparently highly suspicious behavior. Outside the IBM campus in Petah Tiqwa last week I was prohibited from taking photos. I understand the need for vigilance, particularly with so many military installations around, but in outdoor public space it gets just a little unnerving.
The perfect example of something that moves slowly, however, is my landlord. I'm still waiting for my clothes washer, among other things, and it seems we have some billing issues to get sorted out. After arguing with the electric company for a while, I had my computerized meter swapped out for the standard analog one and a standard bill, as it seems I've been paying off my landlord's electricity debt. There are other small problems as well but as my confidence builds I believe each day is getting better. Work is also picking up which keeps me busy and allows me to feel productive and valuable - all good things and I will continue pushing forward.
While I am adjusting to daily life here and settling more into comfortable routines, loneliness still strikes at times...even the strangest and most fleeting of times. I'll be reading a sign, for example, and suddenly be overwhelmed with this extreme feeling of isolation, like I am the only guy in a planet of 6 billion people looking at a sign at that exact moment. It's a strange experience to be sure. My birthday was also a particularly difficult time in that sense.
Anyway, it's not like there haven't been some interesting social encounters. It seems one of my co-workers and I share a common love of unique films. I also had a very energetic, 3.5 hour debate with some tremendously narrow minded/insecure messianic believers here. I was planning to go into much more detail on that encounter but I think I'll just let it rest with this: when you build your entire faith on the idea that Brick A can only fit into Brick B in only one way, it's very easy for someone to come along and shake your foundations. Other than that, my sister's friend Aria, and a friend of hers visiting Israel, has spent the last few days at my apartment. It's been nice to have some company at least.
Lately though I've been entertaining myself by reading the Watchmen graphic novel and watching the entire first season of Smallville. Smallville was always a show I wanted to get into but never really got around to it. It's been interesting watching the first season knowing how much the show improves over time (or so I've been told). All of the episodes in the first half of the season go precisely the same way: Clark saves people, Clark fights Kryptonite empowered villain, mix in some romantic complications and vehicular accidents (every episode, I swear - I'm saddened to see two Porsches already destroyed) and that's about it. Once people start to get closer to his secret though, the episodes begin to improve. I especially enjoy the interplay between the characters of Lex Luthor and his father, Lionel. Another thing that was really cool, and actually had me do a double take, was to hear music from the Myst series of games in the soundtrack!
On Other News
Watching the world lately, some exciting and horrific things are happening, as per normal. In the good news department, Stephen Colbert, famed media personality, has announced he is running for President of the United States! Is that great? Yes! Is he for real? Who cares? :0) Either way, he's got my support!
Finally, what began as Benazir Bhutto's triumphant return to Pakistan has become a tragedy as over 130 people were killed during a suicide bombing attack on her convoy in Karachi. Upon reflection, I can't help but think that Ms. Bhutto has to accept some responsibility for those deaths through her callous disregard for the situation. She had been asked not to draw unnecessary attention to herself, and she knew that there had been threats made against her return. More than that, there was little need for her to Karachi, an unstable area, compared to the much calmer Islamabad. Of course, the other side of all this is her new power sharing "partner", a more than reluctant President Elect Musharraf, may very well have wanted this to happen, if not facilitated it directly or otherwise.
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/10/19/pakistan.explosions/index.html
Though it becomes increasingly difficult in this world, I remain....
With Hope,
Joseph
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