End of an Era

The IDF is handing over control of Megiddo Prison to the Prison service. Soon to follow are Ketziot and Ofer.

Ketziot and Megiddo were the places I did my first duties in the army, what a relief there'll be no more chance of miluim there - Ketziot in particular is the most abysmal hole - 50 miles past the back end of nowhere in a howling wilderness (literally, jackals all over) "improved" by mile upon mile of barbed wire and chain-link fence. Just the name brings back memories of near-suicidal boredom.

Of course, afterwards I was transferred to guard in the Be'er Sheva jail which is officially under the Prison Service so...oh no...it's still possible I'll end up guarding Ketziot.

Oops, forgot the other UN scandal

Quite the important one, showing as it does the UN's clear moral compass, by which it leads the world.

The LATimes article notes the strict measures the UN is going to take. Apparently you are no longer allowed to rape children while working for the UN as a peacekeeper, and "Offenders will be repatriated".

Fighting talk.

Gotta love the UN

Great coverage on the latest UN scandal from Dale at Q & O.

This of course as opposed to the previous (but still ongoing) major UN scandal.

...which is of course separate and distinct from the main UN scandal.

...And further news from our "huge surprises" department...

North Korea announces it has nuclear weapons
and
Prince Charles to marry Camilla Parker Bowles

wow - never saw those coming </sarcasm>

...I guess it's a slow news day

Yeah, peace is breaking out all over

Forgive my cynicism but did anyone seriously think this "peace" would last?
30 mortars fired on Gaza, IDF kills one
Israel-PA meeting cancelled due to attack

Surely this is a failure from the start...

One of the largest nanotechnology research centers in the world will be opened at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa

Free Cody!

Now this is funny - if you saw this story:
Hostage: Cody

You have to read this:
Girlfriend pleads for Soldier's Release

and this:
Are they kidding?

(I'm not sure how this trackback thing works so forgive me if I did it wrong)

Favour for a friend

Here's a useful little link (well, if you are in England anyway)
Lock Doctor Services - Replacement furniture keys from just 99p
For example, you might have lost the key to your locker, or you might just possibly want to break into someone else's locker untraceably...well, the possibilities are just endless.

Alright Adam?

Anyway...on with the show

Obviously I didn't manage to get near a computer on miluim (except of course for my phone, on which I played far too many games of Solitaire), but it's probably just as well - a warblog it wouldn't have been, and how much can really be said about not managing to sleep because the TV and lights are on in the same room (huh, what kind of a soldier are you anyway?)

Well, the wife and kids were glad to see me home so I felt cherished which is good - and I did get a real break from work - though of course now I'm back with a vengeance (the program I "finished" before miluim is doing quite well, but now it's actually in use people are finding the bugs - well, software's never really finished, is it?).

I also had time to think - it's something everyone says they wish they had. Certainly 8 or more years ago when I was doing my long (well 4 months seemed long to me) stint in the army, I had time to think and I actually decided to turn my life around a bit - I came out of the army, got a new job, got married and moved into my new glorious era. I guess I must be somewhat complacent - I didn't make any real decisions to make huge changes in my life -I just chilled for 3 weeks, let my mind spin free and relaxed a bit.

Maybe to really change my life around I need a longer period of miluim (Heaven forefend). No - actually, I think my life is basically pretty good, and this time I didn't need to make any huge decisions.

Since I came back, I've been looking at some other people's blogs - particularly the Jewish blogosphere. On the one hand you could say there are a lot of people searching for the truth out there, but to me it mostly looks like bitterness and tilting at windmills - the blogs I blogrolled are ones I read because they are interesting - and I don't feel the writers are trying to show off how "in" they are - they're just writing what they want.

New years resolution (nearly the Chinese new year so why the hell not?) - I will also try to write for my own pleasure here - hopefully some of it will be readable to you.

"Well," said Sam, "I'm back."

Miluim is over - thank G-d all went smoothly. Bored stiff from far too much time doing nothing at all, totally fumigated with cigarette smoke, and in slightly worse physical shape than I was before I left, I'm back in town with an intense desire to not go again.

Bare facts: after our 2 day "imun" (where we stood around in the rain and totally massacred a field of cardboard cutouts with live ammunition) we were sent off to guard various yishuvim in the Shomron. I chose the one which was closest to the Green line since it was closest to Modi'in, giving me the best access to civilization and home. So I ended up with 6 other guys in Na'aleh. (motto - "It's quiet tonight - too quiet").

Good point - it was quiet - not one real security incident in 3 weeks (just some false alarms) - I have nothing against remaining safe, and to be honest, who would trust me under real combat conditions?

Bad point - it is the most boring parochial little flyspeck village on earth. I can't imagine the casual cruelty which would cause a parent to move his children to a place where they are doomed to have nothing - but nothing to do of an evening except hang out at the shin-gimmel smoking or bumming rides into Modi'in to see the "big city."