Arab Destruction of the Temple Mount

Talk about stupid. Handing over control of the Temple Mount over to Arab Muslims certainly qualifies.

Mind boggling to say the least.

Is Israel losing Temple Mount war?


Ynetnews special: Why is Israeli government covering up Muslim effort to erase any trace of Jewish history on Temple Mount? Archeology expert: Excavations barbaric, a crime

Amir Shoan

Ira Pasternack couldn't believe his eyes. The tractor's huge blade was lifted high up and then brought down with great force, shattering the ancient floors on Temple Mount. The large clods of earth exposed by the work were cast aside by the mustachioed driver. Yet even an amateur archeologist could spot the priceless remnants of Jewish, Christian and Muslim history being cast away.



A few hours earlier, on a steaming July day in 2007, Pasternack was sent to Temple Mount in his role as an Israel Antiquities Authority inspector, in order to supervise excavation works at the holy site, which in the past boasted two Jewish Temples. This marked the first such project at the site since the 1967 Six-Day War, as the area's sensitivity could prompt a political and diplomatic flare-up, thereby discouraging any such work.

According to specific Antiquities Authority instructions, any digging at the site was not allowed to exceed 60 centimeters (roughly two feet) and was not to be undertaken using mechanical equipment. However, reports drafted by Pasternnack and other sources, exposed for the first time by Yedioth Ahronoth Friday, indicate that workers largely ignored the instructions.



Much of the work was done using a tractor, continued during the night with the help of a flashlight, reached deeper than the permit allowed for. Moreover, the clods of earth removed from the site, which apparently comprised valuable remnants from the two Jewish Temples, were thrown away to an improvised garbage dump by members of the Waqf (the administrative Muslim body in charge of Temple Mount.)

Archeology expert Dr. Gabai Barkai, a world-renowned expert on Temple era excavations, was shocked by the reported work: "How could one dig up such sensitive area at night? How could one dig using mechanical equipment? Every such move is a crime. This is first-rate barbarity."



Why is report secret?

Muslims pray on Mount (Photo: Ohad Zoigenberg)

An investigative report by Yedioth Ahronoth revealed the ongoing failure of various Israeli authorities in safeguarding the rare archeological treasures found on Temple Mount. Information elicited by the newspaper showed that the Waqf is consistently erasing any trace of Jewish history at the site.

COMPLETE STORY

The complete story is worth the read.

Syrian Torture Centers

I wonder why this comes as a surprise to me. Considering how Bashar Assad has been responsible for killing nearly 10,000 civilians so far, a systematic system of torture should have been expected.

Report: Syria running 27 torture centers

Human Rights Watch says Damascus' intelligence agencies inflicting gruesome torture on hundreds of detainees

The Syrian intelligence agencies are running torture centers across the country where detainees are beaten with batons and cables, burned with acid, sexually assaulted, and their fingernails torn out, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Tuesday.



The New York-based rights group identified 27 detention centers that it says intelligence agencies have been using since President Bashar Assad's government began a crackdown in March 2011 on pro-democracy protesters trying to oust him.

Human Rights Watch conducted more than 200 interviews with people who said they were tortured, and the report says that tens of thousands of people had been detained by the Department of Military Intelligence, the Political Security Directorate, the General Intelligence Directorate, and the Air Force Intelligence Directorate.

   FULL STORY

I'm Farming and I Grow It

From the Great State of Kansas

Mayor Bloomberg Car Air Conditioner draws humor

A number of years ago I worked as an OTR driver. Had to go to Long Island, New York for a delivery. Wanted to spend the night, but idling for the air conditioner was by then illegal. So we had to leave and fight afternoon traffic as staying in a furnace like cab wasn't an option.

Might have been different if we were rich New York mayors. I would really suffer the fate of a lowly working stiff than become anything like a New York mayor.

Stupid Mayor Tricks: Bloomberg Pimps His SUV With Window A.C. Unit

In April 2009, Mayor Bloomberg signed a bill giving NYC the toughest laws against vehicular idling, with stiff fines for repeat offenders. Three months later, AP reporters caught the mayor repeatedly flouting the law, with his chauffeur and security detail sometimes leaving their engines running for an hour while waiting for the mayor. Bloomberg had to apologize, but ever since he's presumably had a team of engineers working around the clock to come up with a solution to keep his SUV cool when he's not in it. Well, they finally had a major breakthrough, and yesterday they did some beta-testing!

As you can see from these photos obtained by the NY Post, they're experimenting with a high-tech solution that will enable the mayor to step into a pre-chilled, hypocrisy-free SUV. To be honest, the science at work here is beyond our primitive understanding, but to put it in layman's terms, it seems engineers have connected what appears to be a standard residential A.C. unit onto the rear window of Bloomberg's SUV. Then, using a complicated series of "extension cords" and—no doubt—some sort of nuclear fusion, the A.C. unit will be "plugged in" to an electrical power source.

At press time, it was unclear how many miles of extension cord the mayor will need to conduct official business within the five boroughs, but clearly this innovation will be an enormous boon for New York's troubled extension cord industry. (Rumors that Bloomberg was sourcing the extension cords from Malaysian sweatshops could not be confirmed.) Speaking to the Post, Bloomberg's spokesman said yesterday was just an experiment, adding that "there is far less emissions corresponding to the power of a single air conditioner on the grid than idling a V-8 engine." And by attaching colorful plastic ribbons to the AC's vents, Bloomberg's backseat is bound to be far more festive!

 gothamist