What Makes People Tick?

* Disclaimer : Based on a true story, some dramatization. Recently, my neighbours decided to remodel their bathroom. No big deal, apart from the noise which he warned us about early on. I thanked my neighbour for letting us know about the coming noise and promptly forgot all about it. Until the drilling started two days ago. I'd just made myself a large mug of tea in the kitchen, intending to relax on the couch with a book, nurse my cold and soothe my sore throat. I'd put a lot of honey in my tea which is why I made sure not to over-fill the cup - I didn't want to spill that sticky sweetness on the floor after all.   But enough about the tea - where was I? Oh right - And then the drilling started. I'll set the scene: Imagine me carrying my mug of tea from the kitchen to the lounge, feeling a bit frail and under the weather but bravely soldiering on. Suddenly, I hear this ear-splitting noise from behind me, after another second it feels like the noise is coming at m...

"How to get a bikini body: Put a bikini on your body." Sound advice! Yet something women forget all too easily when worrying about something as relatively trivial as physical appearance. Want to wear something? Just put it on, wear it and when you're done wearing it, take it off again. Don't worry about what others might think of you, just wear what you enjoy! The above quote and the image below come from the  Cranky Fat Feminist Facebook page . Wear whatever you want! I have to be honest and admit that when I first saw this image and  read the text, I assumed the intended tone was sarcastic. The second time I read the text, I realised that it wasn't sarcastic at all, it was serious. Examining my first 'automatic' reaction to this image makes me wonder how many other things in life we don't notice at first or take for granted without further examination. 

CNN writes an encouraging and heartbreaking story about life in modern Afghanistan that made me want to share with this blog's readers some of the everyday, the crazy and the amazing that makes Afghanistan what it is today. While many in the west might think of Afghanistan as a war-torn dusty country stuck in the Middle Ages, a country that  oppresses women  and  destroys ancient Buddha statues , it turns out that Afghanistan has left the past behind and has been living right here in the 21st Century for a while now... and  cares more about those statues than I thought ! Burqa-clad women |  Shutterstock The CNN article, appropriately called  The Afghan Voice that won't be silenced , talks about Shabana Faryad, the first female contestant on  The Voice of Afghanistan  and features an interview with Aryana Sayeed, the first female judge. It highlights the lives of women in Afghanistan today and looks at the differences between life before, ...

The Wire reported yesterday that rising sea levels in the Marshall Islands are disturbing the dead as well as the living. According to the article, Foreign Minister of the Marshall Islands, Tony de Brum, recently announced that 26 skeletons of World War Two soldiers have washed up. Rising sea levels have caused the graves to become exposed. The bodies are believed to be those of Japanese soldiers. The Marshall Islands are particularly precarious in their perch; the nation, made up of 29 atolls, is roughly just six feet above sea level. With sea levels predicted to rise by three-to-six feet by the end of the century, the alarm is obviously growing.  Source: Rising Sea Levels Are Exposing Bodies of Buried WWII Soldiers , The Wire The Marshall Islands are a prime example of the damages global warming can cause. As our world becomes warmer, ice caps melt and sea levels rise, causing extreme damage to low-lying countries such as the Marshall Islands. In the same article, Marsh...

Nineteen-year old Dutch inventor Boyan Slat has found a way to remove plastic from the world's oceans. Having spent a year researching his plan, he has now presented it to the world. And what a master plan it is! Since first coming up with The Ocean Cleanup in 2012 while still in high school, Slat has spent a year researching the feasibility of implementing his idea. He presented his findings to the world in New York on Tuesday. Boyan Slat believes that his invention can be implemented by 2020 in an area between Hawaii and California, one of the most polluted locations in all the world's oceans. Speaking about the area in question, Boyan explains "We can remove almost half of all the plastic from that area within ten years." Slat's invention has long floating arms over a 100 kilometres long and 3 metres high, arranged in a V-shape and attached to the ocean floor at specific locations. Sea currents move the plastic towards the point of the V-shaped installat...

The Earth is 4.6 billion years old.  Let's scale that to 46 years. We have been here for 4 HOURS. Our industrial revolution began 1 minute ago. In that time, we have destroyed  MORE THAN 50% of the world's forests. Source:  Science Alert Facebook Page I find it unimaginable that so few listen while environmental agencies the world over are screaming about climate change, global warming, the need to reduce greenhouse gases and CO-2 emissions, the effects of the industrial revolution and really - the overall negative impact humans have had and continue to have on our planet. Wars, famine, floods, crop failures, droughts and the like - these are always localised events. An entire country or region or continent may suffer the effects of a flood or a war, yet in other parts of the world people simply continue on their daily business, oblivious to the suffering of people they don't know who live in a country they may have never even heard of. Global warmin...

As Fatah and Hamas unite and attempt to form a unity government, the weather conspires against Palestinians in Gaza. As the Middle East Monitor reports, a heat wave has caused the death of large numbers of chickens and effected egg yields. The heat wave affecting the Gaza Strip has caused the death of large numbers of chickens and affected egg yields, farmers have reported.  The issue was considered a disaster according to experts who estimated that the damage hit most of the poultry farms in the Gaza Strip killing more than half of the chickens.  Initial reports estimate that 200,000 chickens have died so far. Source: Heat wave in Gaza kills 200,000 poultry , Middle East Monitor

Source: Propaganda Materials - Flyers , Church of the FSM One learns something new every day... Today, I'd like to tell you about something I first heard of some time ago. The first time I heard of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, I thought it was a joke. Even today, I still wonder if this Church is only a farce or actually captures the essence of belief in the Divine. Back to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and let me assure you, Yes, you read that right . First thought up as an argument against teaching Creationism and Intelligent Design in schools in the USA, this idea has turned into an actual religion. Once upon a time, there was a Flying Spaghetti Monster who created the Heavens and the Earth...  No wait, stop laughing. I'm serious. This comes from the Church's website: Q: How do Pastafarians believe our world was created?   A: We believe the Flying Spaghetti Monster created the world much as it exists today, but for reasons unkno...

The Daily Mail reports that more than half of British women hate their bikini body so much they'd rather stay home than go on a summer holiday. Listing a stunning amount of figures, the article explains in percentages exactly what parts of their bodies women are most unhappy with. Tummies, muffin tops, breasts, hips, thighs... It seems that British women really don't like any part of their body when coupled with a bikini. The study asked a 1000 women a series of questions which resulted in some very interesting figures. For instance: * 53% of women admit they hate the sight of themselves in a swimsuit so much that they would rather miss out on a sunshine break than strip off  * Just 1% claim to have no beach hang-ups at all Source:  British women hate their bikini body so much they'd rather stay home , The Daily Mail Online Am I the only one asking WHY for crying out loud women in Britain and the world over are buying into this idea that we need to "look go...

Article from 25 May Pope Francis on Sunday invited the Israeli and Palestinian presidents to come to the Vatican to pray for peace a month after U.S.-backed talks aimed at ending the Middle East conflict collapsed. "In this, the birthplace of the Prince of Peace, I wish to invite you, President Mahmoud Abbas, together with President Shimon Peres, to join me in heartfelt prayer to God for the gift of peace," the pope said at a Mass in Bethlehem. "I offer my home in the Vatican as a place for this encounter of prayer," Francis said, in what Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi described as an unprecedented papal initiative. "All of us - especially those placed at the service of their respective peoples - have the duty to become instruments and artisans of peace, especially by our prayers," the pope said. "Building peace is difficult, but living without peace is a constant torment." Asked about the invitation, a spokeswoman for Pere...

Today was a day full of interesting developments in Israel / Palestine. The Jewish Press reports: Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas swore in what he called a new PA “unity government” today (Monday) at 1:00 p.m. local time in a televised ceremony in Ramallah.  “Today, after announcing the government of national unity we declare the end of division that caused catastrophic harm to our cause,” Abbas said. “This black page in the history (of the Palestinians) has been turned forever, and we will not allow it to come back.” Source : The Wedding is On – Hamas and Fatah Unite in Palestinian Authority , The Jewish Press Al Jazeera English also reports on the formation of a Palestinian unity government: In a pre-recorded message that aired on Palestine TV, Abbas said the new government was transitional, and that negotiations with Israel would remain in the hands of the Palestine Liberation Organisation. "This government, like its predecessors, will abide by all previou...

A Soldier's Mothe r is the personal blog of the mother of a soldier in the Israeli army, the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces). Writing to ease her worries, to share her thoughts and to tell her story to the world, this particular soldier's mother started blogging about her eldest son Elie's entry into the IDF in 2007. Now, A Soldier's Mother will be going to print. There's a fundraising campaign to raise money to print and publish the book:  Help A Soldier's Mother get published at Jewcer.com. I first started reading A Soldier's Mother several years ago. I was looking for new blogs to read, blogs by people from interesting places or those writing about interesting things. I wanted to expand my horizons; get to know different worlds and different perspectives - A Soldier's Mother fit the bill on all counts. Paula Stern is an American Jewish woman who moved to Israel with her husband and three young children over twenty years ago. Now a famed blogger...