Kol HaKavod to Shmuel Greenberg and the Bet Shemesh Transportation Committee. Under Greenberg's leadership, they have finally arranged some new bus routes for the city that have been long overdue.

In a press release on Friday, Greenberg announced that final details and approvals have been worked out and very shortly the following new bus routes will begin operation:

• The 419 bus from RBS A to Jerusalem. This bus will go through RBS A and then down through Ein gedi area and out to the 38 and Highway 1 to Jerusalem (no information about the route inside Jerusalem, so I don't know if it will go to the Central Bus Station or to the Har Hotzvim area - I think ot Har Hotzvim as it is being described as similar to the 417 route, though the comparison was about RBS)
• The 412 bus rote from Bet Shemesh to Tel Aviv. The route will begin in RBS A, go through RBS B and parts of Bet Shemesh (like the route of the 416) and head out to Tel Aviv via Highway 1. This will give residents another option for travel to Tel Aviv and not be solely reliant on the train.
• Some route changes to the 497 and 454.

According to Rafi Eitan, Jonathan Pollard's chief handler, in a radio interview on Thursday, the Americans were going to prosecute Pollard with a punishment of 10 years in jail. After the agreement, secret information was given to Caspשr Weinberger about Pollard's connections to the Soviets. They then changed the punishment to a life sentence.

Despite the Americans later finding out that that information had been a lie, they kept the life sentence.

Eitan has never been forthcoming or honest in his public dealing with the Pollard situation. Is he now?

I see that the Jerusalem Post is now reporting that based on Rafi Eitan's words, along with the words of Lawrence Korb, Pollard's lawyers have filed a plea for clemency because it is now out in the open and clear to everyone that his sentencing was based solely on lies and injustices.

What are the chances his plea will be granted?

Rabbi Karmi Gross, the guy in the video, is a local RBS rabbi...

Don't forget, starting tonight, to add the prayer for rain, ותן טל ומטר לברכה in shmoneh esrei prayers. We need every drop. I might tape my latest water bill into my siddur to remind me to have extra kavan at this point every time I daven..

Oops. The Eida Haredis is now upset at Mayor of Bet Shemesh Moshe Abutbol.

Ladaat reports that the local Bet Shemesh chapter of Toldos Avraham Yitzchak was celebrating a siyum of shas in a reception hall.

Abutbol showed up, uninvited, to honor the event with his presence. One of the gabbaim caught him at the door and asked him not to come in. The person who brought him insisted on Abutbol's participation, and pushed him in anyway and sat him down at the head table, "causing great distress to the whole community".

The Eida is publishing an announcement that Abutbol came uninvited and was asked to leave, so that nobody should suspect them of hosting him.

---
UPDATE:
Bechadrei now has Abutbol's response. Abutbol says that he was invited to participate by one of the assistants of the Admor and he is the one who sat him at the head table.

1. MK Ilan Gilon (Meretz) has declared that people should break the law and hide foreign workers who are meant to be deported. Specifically he said MKs should be hiding foreign workers because they have immunity and their houses cannot be checked. Would such a statement have been acceptable if a Haredi politician has suggested people break the law? If a right wing MK had said something about supporting breaking a law?
2. The Vaad for Shabbos Observance has distributed a letter calling on people to not go to the shuk Mahane Yehuda too close to Shabbos, but to make their purchases earlier. They say that people coming late to take advantage of cheaper prices cause the merchants to be mechalel shabbos. The merchants are upset because they deny there is any chilul shabbos. They say almost all of the merchants are traditional and keep shabbos, and an hour before shabbos already 95% of the merchants are no longer there. Such a statement, they say, is insulting and harmful to their business.
3. Dr. Mordechai Kedar has said that Ahmadinejad's visit to the Israel-Lebanon border is basically a dare to Israel to show that Israel doesn't have the guts to shoot him. Last night somebody pointed out to me that Ahmadinejad is threatening us with nuclear weapons and our response is sending up 2000 balloons to show him we have returned home. That is how ridiculous we are.
4. Kadima tried to create a sticky situation for Netanyahu, by passing a law that the Declaration of Independence should be considered a set of Basic Laws. This would put the Haredi MKs in a sticky situation as they would not be able to vote for it, and would throw the coalition into uncertainty. The maneuver fell through, as someone pointed out at the last minute that the Declaration of Independence accepts the borders of 1947 as the borders of the State of Israel. if this were to be passed as a Basic Law, it would be disastrous for the country. Another great idea by Tzippi Livni. 

How can they take what the Torah says that the world was created in 6 days with which they go to shul, thats what they read in the weekly parsha, and they want to prove {evolution] scientifically and academically? And then you want us to learn this core curriculum? Have you fallen on your brains?.... We teach secular studies, but you are intervening. Soon you are going to want us to teach about Darwin? What, are we idiots like you?

--- MK Moshe Gafni

U.S.: We suspect Iran doesn't have Lebanon's interest at heart

--- Haaretz

Really? I wonder why you say that...

1. Down With The West

2. The Bus Driver's Mesiras Nefesh

3. New Hope For Pollard

4. The Wisdom Of Rav Hirsch

5. Columbus Invades America And Establishes Settlements!

6. You Can't Criticize Israel And Survive

Bechadrei got an interview with Moshe-Raziel Sharifi, the 14 year old genius boy who is suing the Rabbanut to be able to have his semicha test reviewed and graded.



שריפי from bhol on Vimeo.

Mr. Sharifi (the father) points out that Moshe already has semicha from many rabbonim, and he lists a number of them, and they simply wanted to make it officially recognized by the Rabbanut, which is why he went to take the Rabbanut test.

Mr. Sharifi also disputes the claim that allowing Moshe's test would create a slippery slope that would eventually force the Rabbanut to accept Reform and women applicants. He says that he is among the biggest opponents to reform, and in Netanya he has fought the reform attempts to build a shul in  the city. Rav Amar and the Rabbanut, he says, do nothing to fight against the Reform.

Mr. Sharifi also says he hopes this will not go further, all the way to the Supreme Court. he hopes they will work out an agreement without it going that far. I would have liked the interviewer to ask him why he went to the Supreme Court and not to a beis din (to point out, the father is the one filing the case and dealing with it, not the boy). There are way too many frum Jews solving their disputes in civil court rather than beis din, and I don't understand why. Perhaps it points to how little authority beis din has today, and therefore how little standing it has even in the frum community.

Yet another mazel tov is due to the City of Bet Shemesh. Actually it is a double mazel tov that is deserved.

This is crazy. A new magazine that has a target audience of terrorists.

It is called "Inspire" and it offers advice on how to perform terrorist attacks, such as using a pickup truck to mow people down, create a homemade bomb using a pressure cooker, using firearms to shoot up a crowded restaurant most efficiently, and more.

And of course what would a reference to terror be without the requisite reference to Israel, "The article says that such a plan could be implemented in countries where people back the Israeli occupation of Palestine, the American invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq or countries that had a prominent role in the defamation of Muhammad."

From CNN:

The second edition of an online al Qaeda magazine has surfaced with frank essays, creatively designed imagery and ominous terror tips such as using a pickup truck as a weapon and shooting up a crowded restaurant in Washington.

The magazine is called "Inspire" and intelligence officials believe that an American citizen named Samir Khan, now living in Yemen, is the driving force behind the publication.

The latest edition was emerged on the 10th anniversary of the suicide attack on the guided missile destroyer USS Cole -- struck as it refueled in Aden, Yemen. The first edition came out in July.

Christopher Boucek, a Yemen expert with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the timing is no coincidence.

"It also comes on the heels of a busy week for al Qaeda in Yemen. They released an hourlong video last week. There was also an attack on a British Convoy in Sanaa [Yemen's capital] last week. And an audiotape was released two days ago. Al Qaeda in Yemen is good at amplifying its message and that shows the organization is still active, that they're still able to function," he said.

An article titled "The Ultimate Mowing Machine" calls for using a pickup truck as a "mowing machine, not to mow grass but mow down the enemies of Allah."

The article says that such a plan could be implemented in countries where people back the "Israeli occupation of Palestine, the American invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq or countries that had a prominent role in the defamation of Muhammad."

It said a four-wheel-drive pickup truck is needed -- "the stronger the better."

"To achieve maximum carnage, you need to pick up as much speed as you can while still retaining good control of your vehicle in order to maximize your inertia and be able to strike as many people as possible in your first run," the article says.

Another tip in the magazine includes the use of firearms.

"For this choose the best location. A random hit at a crowded restaurant in Washington DC at lunch hour, for example, might end up knocking out a few government employees.

"Targeting such employees is paramount and the location would also give the operation additional media attention."

An idea in the first edition, "Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom," is touched on again.

"The pressurized cooker should be placed in crowded areas and left to blow up. More than one of these could be planted to explode at the same time. However, keep in mind that the range of the shrapnel in this operation is short range so the pressurized cooker or pipe should be placed close to the intended targets and should not be concealed from them by barriers such as walls."

Adam Raisman, senior analyst at SITE Intelligence Group, said the "very well-presented magazine" covers a variety of topics, is meant to reach a wider audience, and tries to be tongue-in-cheek in its presentation.

"The magazine has suggestions, ideology it attempts to instill in the reader, and it includes tips for technology," Raisman said.

Boucek said the "big takeaway" is that the magazine is focusing on what the individual can do.

"The message to the lone actor is to be patient -- that you can do it -- you can participate in this," he said.

There are writings in the magazine by Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who U.S. authorities have linked to the failed attempt to blow up a U.S.-bound jetliner in December. Samir Khan wrote an article titled "I Am Proud to be a Traitor to America."

I am actually surprised it took this long..

I wasn't going to post this image, but after writing the above, about this new magazine for terror, this cute idea of a new version of Nefesh B'Nefesh program supporting aliyah to Ramallah (really targeting Neturei Karta people it seems) seems more appropriate.

If you don't understand the pashkevil, it says that today Ahmadinejad is going to be throwing stones at the Israeli border, and the Jews faithful to Hashem will gather in Mea Shearim at 1 PM today as well and then go out to the streets of the city and throw rocks at the "offices of the Zionist government" to express our sincere desire to see its speedy destruction.

Crazy people.

Though while they are busy throwing rocks to symbolically be part of Crazy Ahmed's protest, MK Ayoub Kara (Likud) has arranged a different type of rally - he will be releasing 2000 blue and white balloons on the Israel-Lebanon border to symbolize that after 2000 years the Jews have come home and are here to stay.