There are summer camps that brand themselves as survivalist camps. They teach the necessary skills one might need if one were to find himself stuck in nature with no tools or our modern conveniences - things like how to start a fire, how to forge for food, building shelter, identifying poisonous or edible plants, maybe even fighting off a bear in the woods.

I feel somewhat irresponsible. I didn't make any laser jokes. 

this is pretty funny, even if it has nothing to do with Israel...

I have seen people post online attitudes against using the Rav Kav system on public transportation due to their believing the real purpose of the rav kav is for the government to be able to keep track of our movements, via the rav kav - they will somehow have access to seeing what buses and trains you are taking to go places and will know where you are.

The government must lead pretty boring lives to get excited about tracking my movements.

Those calls are generally on individuals to not use the rav kav, rather to pay with cash or use an anonymous card that is not customized to the rider, even though that means the specific rider will generally pay more.

That conspiracy theory has just escalated.

According to Kol Milchama, some sort of headquarters for distributing information in the fight against the IDF draft, the rav kav information is now available to government offices and the Ministry of Education gets reports in real time of students who should be in school or yeshiva but are in transit to other places. They also add to make sure not to buy things using your credit card, as that is also tracked.

Even more interestingly, they advise people who need to go somewhere by public transportation but not wanting to be noticed by the government - if you must use a rav kav with a deal on it (ie not an anonymous rav kav), you should use someone else's rav kav, like your father's or brother's rav kav.
source: Kol Hazman

Note: they do not say it, but using someone else's rav kav is against the rules. Putting their money where their mouth is they should be honest and say that one can use an anonymous card and pay full price. That is the price you pay for anonymity.

I hardly ever listen to the radio nowadays. I got tired of the repetitive banter and fighting. I find my attitude is so much more pleasant since I stopped and switched over to listening to podcasts instead.

This morning as I was getting into my car I heard the talk show host talking to Minister Litzman about the Shabbos ultimatum, so I kept it on for a moment before switching to my podcast.

Litzman said that there was no chilul shabbos by Jews last Shabbos, because of his ultimatum. When asked about the claims repeated by other politicians that Jews did also work, he responded that it is not true and everyone knows that no Jews worked. Litzman continued that it is just one person behind the claim that Jews worked, he refused to say the name though he says he knows who it is and that it can be discounted and ignored and this person is only pressing this claim in order to pressure the Haredi parties to leave the coalition..

This isn't the most titillating conspiracy theory ever produced, but it isn't bad. Where is Barry Chaimish when we need him???

I guess Litzman gave himself his own ladder to climb down. No matter what happened, everyone knows no Jews are working on Shabbos.

I am not sure, if that is the case, why he needs to continue giving ultimatums, if no Jews are working on Shabbos.

Political Talk Radio can be pretty entertaining, but I do not intend to go back to it anytime soon...

I am beginning to wonder if there is some sort of conspiracy going on regarding the splitting of Eli Yishai from Shas and the formation of his new party. My suspicion goes so far as to think that it was a planned split with the goal being an eventual merger of sorts, or some sort of agreement to work together at minimum, between Yishai's new party and Shas.

Over the past couple of days, I keep seeing Rav Mazuz, Eli Yishai's new "maran" and rabbinic council, talk about the new party not poaching voters, or targeting them, from Shas, but only from the Dati Leumi parties of Habayit Hayehudi and Tekuma. When the deal with Tekuma fell through, Yishai said he will next approach Ben Ari and Otzma people. Now Rav Lior and Rav Levanon are announcing their support for Eli Yishai, even though Tekuma is not moving over, as if they think they will have any say in what goes on over there.

If he is not taking away [much] from Shas, but only from the Dati Leumi, what is he really offering? Why does he want to lead a community that is not his? The only thing I can think of is that by doing this he will be bringing, or trying to bring, a bit more power and seats to the Haredi parties from communities that would not normally have voted for Yishai or Shas.. Shas could not attract them even under the best of conditions, but maybe the new Eli Yishai party can...

hmmmm

With Sammy Ofer "suddenly" dropping dead, just as his shipping company is at the heart of a juicy scandal with his ships being spotted at ports in Iran, the door has opened for salacious conspiracy theories.

The best conspiracy theories so far:

1. Sammy Ofer is not really dead. Rather he has gone into hiding. Perhaps this will derail the trial. Perhaps certain secrets won't need to be revealed, even if the trial and investigation continue.
2. Sammy Ofer was knocked off, so certain things would stay secret. Did the government knock him off? His brother? The Iranians? someone else?

The 2012 Summer Olympics in London are getting closer. That means it is time for the controversial issues to start popping up.

who designed this ugly logo anyway?

Who would have thought that an ugly logo would have been the cause of great controversy?

This zigzag rendering of the numbers 2012 has upset Iran, as they think that it was designed to display the word "Zion".

If you squint and hold your head sideways, and maybe drink a couple of cups of strong whiskey, you can see the word "Zion" in this ugly scribble of a logo.

ESPN reports that Iran is threatening a boycott over the logo issue.

ESPN reports:

Iran objects to the logo for the 2012 London Olympics, contending it is racist because it resembles the word "Zion" and warning of a possible boycott of the Games.


The secretary general of Iran's National Olympic Committee said Iran sent a letter to International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge. The letter claims the 2012 logo spells out "Zion," a biblical term widely recognized to refer to the city of Jerusalem.


Iran objects to the 2012 London Olympics logo, contending it is racist because it resembles the word "Zion" and is warning of a possible boycott.
In comments carried by the official IRNA news agency Monday, secretary general Bahram Afsharzadeh said the letter urges other Muslim states to oppose the "racist logo."


"There is no doubt that negligence of the issue from your side may affect the presence of some countries in the Games, especially Iran which abides by commitment to the values and principles," the letter said.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for Israel's destruction and questioned historical accounts of the Holocaust.


Iranian athletes have refused to compete against Israelis.


The London logo shows the numbers "2012" in four jagged figures and until now has been criticized only for its design. The IOC said it received the letter and joined London organizers in rejecting Iran's complaint.


"Our response is as follows: The London 2012 logo represents the figure 2012, nothing else," the IOC said.


The London organizers said the design was launched in 2007 after testing and consultation.


"We are surprised that this complaint has been made now," the committee said.

In the Yisrael Hayom newspaper today there was a small article about how an electrical fire broke out in the "Prime Minister's Office" and spread among a set of office rooms before it was put out. Nobody was injured, but there was a lot fo fire and smoke damage.

One of the rooms hit by the fire was the archives room, and many classified documents were destroyed in the process.

This is ripe for a conspiracy. Who lit the fire? What document were they trying to get rid of?

Was it just an innocent fire or was it more than that?