Israel – Iran – and the Bombs

The recently appointed Head of Israel’s legendary Mossad warned that "Iran is working at this very moment to realize its nuclear dream under the cover of international protection, [...] with lies and concealment, Iran is in a constant state of advancing its plan to create weapons of mass destruction."

 

Israel should know and perhaps this is also why it is so worried. After all, lying and concealing to create weapons of mass destruction is exactly what Israel itself has done, from the very beginning, in 1958, when some 1500 French engineers and technicians built a nuclear reactor in Israel’s desert town of Dimona. The cover story was that it was a... textile plant. This same "textile plant", experts believe, has produced between 90 and 400 nuclear warheads, which Israel now possesses.

 

The reactor was built long before Israel became a client-state of the USA, which became suspicious of the secret goings-on in the Israeli desert, and demanded to be allowed to visit the site. Israel prevaricated, lied, and misled. For years, Israel lied and cheated the whole world as to the true purpose of its Dimona project. It still is, according to Israel, a research facility only. A super-clandestine organisation was established by Israel for the acquisition, by any means possible, including theft, of materials and equipment,including bomb-grade uranium, which it required for its bomb production.

 

Israel will still not allow supervision by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Indeed, like India, Pakistan and North Korea, Israel has never signed the international nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT).

 

Understandably, Israel and other countries are worried about the Iranian nuclear programme. It is, however, somewhat ridiculous for the head of Israel’s Mossad to bemoan “Iran’s lies and concealment”. As far as nuclear plans and programmes go, Iran is as honest as Israel.

Irresponsible Doctors

Dr R, my paediatrician in Tel-Aviv, was a friendly man and was deemed to be competent by my parents. They did, however, not consider Dr R to be very intelligent and I would occasionally hear them making jokes to that effect. I was thus inoculated at a very young age against the notion that the physician’s white coat should bestow automatic admiration.  

 

Last week a not so young friend of mine told me that his much-admired surgeon, with whom he had had a general conversation, had in no uncertain terms told him not to get the Covid vaccination, until more research about possible risks has been published. He himself, he added, has not been vaccinated.

 

Does a surgeon have better understanding of vaccines than someone who has not studied medicine? Is he more capable of analysing the impact, efficacy, and risk information? Not really. He might be a great surgeon, however, had he also been intelligent, he would refrain from such irresponsible advice. 

 

No doctor's dilemma here. 

More from London – The Unhealthy Health Service

In the UK there is no obligation to wear masks in closed areas, such as supermarkets. Indeed, my impression is that most people don’t. On the other hand, it is almost impossible to actually get and see one’s doctor, because the doctors try to do almost EVERYTHING digitally.

 

I prefer the German system in which, wearing masks in shops is obligatory but the doctors don’t – in times of a pandemic – just opt out of seeing their patients.

 

Whilst whingeing about the NHS, I have just learned that due to a lack of glass vials for blood samples, the NHS is avoiding carrying out blood tests and postponing them if possible. Now they have also announced a two-week-delay in the delivery of flu jabs to the doctors’ practices. Boris Johnson’s England does not have enough lorry drivers...  

Retail in London – sad sights

Walking down upmarket New Bond Street, one sees one abandoned shop after another:

 

 

 

Some property owners, such as the Burlington Arcade, try to make it seem less desolate: 

 

 

Regent’s Park

Last Saturday, I spent a couple of hours walking in the delightful Regent’s Park. People were rowing in the Boating Lake, playing tennis in the many tennis courts, or listening to a wonderful band playing New Orleans type Jazz.

 

 

Hyde Park ( a few days later) isn’t bad either...

SPRACHGEWALT: 2 reviews

Aachener Nachrichten:

 

„Sprachgewalt“ ist ein spannendes, hochinteressantes Plädoyer für einen kritischen Blick auf unseren Sprachgebrauch.“   

 

„Die 28 Einzelanalysen des Buches sind durchweg von sehr hoher Qualität.“

 

Here's a link.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ):

 

„Das von Ranan herausgegebene Buch ist in diesen Zeiten [...] ein wichtiges Werk.“

 

„Ein Leitfaden für differenzierte politische Sprache.“   

 

„Hilft dabei, die Diskurse hinter der Sprache zu verstehen.“

To buy: At any bookstore and by mail-order here.

Afghanistan I

Photos of refugees and their misery can regularly be seen on TV. And tragically, there is nothing new about them anymore. One almost gets used to them. And yet, something about the latest photographic reports showing Afghans trying to flee their country, clambering on to the airport gates and attempting to board the remaining flights, reminds me of our own history: Jews who hopelessly tried to flee Germany, no country willing to take them in, as they were left to be killed.

Afghanistan II

Many of us were truly delighted and relieved, last year, when Biden won the elections. The hopes were high, very high. Recent days are a stark reminder that US Republicans and Democrats are not that far apart. There is indeed a great difference between Biden’s and Trump’s administrations: Decision making seems to be much more matter of fact and the language used is no longer gutter language. But when it comes to business, Biden now simply completed a process that was started by Trump.  

Back in London

I have finally made it back to London - Despite being fully vaccinated and coming from what the UK defines as a “green” country, I had to undergo a Covid Test before flying out and book (and pay!) for a further test, to be taken on the second day after my arrival in the UK. BUT no quarantine!

 

BA in Munich asked for proof of vaccination. I don’t know whether big brother is meanwhile so high-tech that Heathrow know all about arriving passengers or whether immigration authorities are simply inefficient? However, at Heathrow nobody wanted to see any proof of my Corona status.

 

Not so highly developed is the BA Terminal 5 at Heathrow. With passenger numbers still on the floor, compared to pre-Corona volumes, I would have expected a very fast turnaround. Not so. Our luggage arrived almost 1½ hours after we landed. I spent almost the same amount of time flying to London, as I did waiting for the luggage. Only a few luggage belts were in use. Most were empty. Our luggage belt served three(!) additional flights at the same time, including one from a Corona “red” country. The area was crowded.  

 

 

Salt Beef to fight off Corona?

Most of the shoppers at my London supermarket were not wearing masks. Perhaps, I should not have been surprised: Here we are only asked kindly to do so but there is no obligation.
 

The Jewish restaurant Reubens has a better idea: