What Makes People Tick?

As if all in Europe is well and all European countries are flourishing, the European Union seems to feel the need to meddle in affairs that - as far as I am concerned - are none of their (or should I say 'our'?) business. On the 16th April 2015, Israel National News writes that Sixteen out of the 28 EU countries want the bloc to label products from Judea and Samaria in an economic attack on the Jewish state, diplomatic sources told AFP Thursday, confirming a Haaretz report. The plan was first mooted in 2012, but the 16 member states told EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini it was now time to press ahead as part of efforts to force Israel to divide in a "two state solution." Source: EU Label on Israeli 'Settlement' Goods: A Yellow 'Jude' Badge | Israel National News / Arutz Sheva The sixteen countries whose foreign ministers (seem to) want to force Israel to give up parts of historical Israel to a second Palestinian-Arab state (the first ...

Yom HaShoah How do you remember a tragedy some seventy years ago when you see it happening all over again, all around you and all around the world? How do you tell your children that those bad and evil people who murdered so many last century are not dead and gone as we once thought but still here, just wearing different faces, shouting different slogans? How do you honour your family members, the ones still here who lived through it and the ones long gone, murdered or gassed or shot or simply left to rot, how do you remember them without the promise, always, of Never Again? How do you tell your children, your neighbours, your ancestors and future generations? How do you explain to them that despite the horror and the knowledge and the pain, it is happening again? In Brussels (Belgium) where three innocents were murdered at a museum. In Paris (France) where four were murdered at a kosher store. In Copenhagen (Denmark) where a man was killed outside a party. In Amsterdam (Nethe...

In a 26 March 2015 article, The Jewish Press writes that "Rhetoric plays a major role in the demonization of Israel. The dissemination of false arguments is prevalent among the major demonization techniques. It is thus important that those who publicly defend Israel be trained to see through such tactics. One technique used against Israel is false moral equivalence. It is based on the deceitful claim that there is no difference between two greatly dissimilar actions. Examples abound and only some of the most frequent ones can be mentioned here. A prominent one is the perverse claim that Israel’s behavior is equivalent to that of the Nazis. This example of false moral equivalence is widespread throughout Europe. Five studies covering nine European countries show that about 40 percent of Europeans think Israel is a Nazi state." Source: Demonizing Israel With False Moral Equivalence | The Jewish Press http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/demonizing-israel-with-fa...

The English language can be confusing... However so can those who speak the language! England, Britain or the United Kingdom? English, British or perhaps Yuukayeean? Here's an easy tool to help you remember! I don't know why people get confused,  it's very simple... pic.twitter.com/xUCJ2X6fs8 — The Lazy Dog (@TheLazyDog_) March 9, 2013 Disclaimer: Yes, we did make up the word Yuukayeean. Call it attempted humour. Or just silly.  

Terrible. At least 15 attacks took place in France after the #CharlieHebdo massacre. And it will continue. pic.twitter.com/AzrD4pRjFC — Emran Feroz (@Emran_Feroz) January 9, 2015

English soccer team Liverpool sends and then deletes a Rosh Hashanah Tweet after protests against the Tweet as the Jerusalem Post reports. Rational people might ask why. The answer is given by the article's title: Liverpool deleted the tweet after 'anti-Semitic posts'. Yes, you did read that right. “ Liverpool FC would like to wish all our Jewish supporters around the world a happy new year. #RoshHashanah ,” the tweet read. A few hours later, the tweet was removed after the anti-Semitic abuse ensued. The story was originally reported by The Guardian.  “Due to a number of offensive comments that were attached to a tweet on the official LFC twitter account, the tweet and comments have since been removed from the account,” the club told the Guardian. Source: English soccer club Liverpool deletes Rosh HaShanah tweet after anti-Semitic posts , The Jerusalem Post  Source: Jerusalem Post How judgemental is our society that wishing Jewish people the world over a happy ...

Een kort artikel met wat uitleg over de handelsrelaties tussen Rusland en verschillende Europese landen, waaronder Nederland. "De Europese ministers van Buitenlandse Zaken zijn dinsdag bijeen om te spreken over eventuele handelssancties tegen Rusland. Sommige van hen vinden dat de Europese Unie moet ingrijpen om te voorkomen dat het land wapens blijft leveren aan de pro-Russische separatisten in Oekraïne. Maar hoe groot is de handel met Rusland eigenlijk?" Bron: Overzicht van handel met Rusland , Nieuws.nl Gepubliceerd: 22/07/14

Source : Screencap from Adopt a Coin , Corinium Museum website How cool is this! You can adopt a Roman coin from the Tetbury Coin Hoard - discovered in 2010 - for just £10 and help preserve Roman-British history at the same time! Cirencester is a town in east Gloucestershire, England, to the north-west of London. The Roman name for the town was Corinium and the town's Corinium Museum is well-known for its extensive Roman collection. Coins from the Tetbury Coin Hoard are to be displayed by the Museum. The hoard consists of approximately 1500 coins dating from AD 260s – 280s. "Adopt a Roman Coin from Corinium Museum to help raise £15,000 to conserve and display the Tetbury Coin Hoard! The Tetbury Hoard was discovered in 2010 and excavated in the days following its discovery. The coins, and the vessel they were found in, were declared Treasure and initially sent to the British Museum for analysis. They have now been generously donated to the Museum by the landowner and...

In The Netherlands, the fourth and the fifth of May are special national days.  The fourth of May is Liberation Day while the fifth is Remembrance Day. "People experienced the Second World War in very different ways, depending on who they were, what they stood for, what they did or where they lived. All those different experiences are reflected in the different commemoration ceremonies throughout the years. During the national commemoration of Remembrance Day on 4 May, those various experiences come together and the dead are jointly remembered." (1) "On the 5th of May we celebrate that we in The Netherlands live in freedom. We celebrate that we were liberated in 1945 from German occupation in Europe and Japanese occupation in Asia and that since then we've been free from war and repression in the Kingdom of The Netherlands." (2)

Browsing my Facebook feed today, I came across a friend's post asking if shops'd be open tomorrow in her area. I'm in Europe, my friend lives Down Under. I assumed there must be a local holiday I didn't know about until reading the comments - It's "Good Friday" tomorrow. Right. Took a while but : Click. When it dawned on me that I couldn't for the life of me remember what the whole Good Friday and Easter thing was about exactly, I checked Wikipedia. While I understand that Wikipedia is not an encyclopaedia or infallible or anything of the sort, the information it provided still surprised me greatly. Source :  Wikipedia "Easter (...) is a festival and holiday celebrated by Christians and non-Christians" So, according to Wikipedia I celebrate Easter? Uh... NO. I really, really don't! I was raised secular in a mainstream 'Christian' country in western Europe. Even though my family didn't care a...

Check out this very cool vid of Europe's shifting borders over the past 1000 years. Video here at Loiter.co The rise and fall of Hitler's Germany and of the Soviet Union look especially spectacular! Hope y'all enjoy!