Is the universal translator silly?

Hi All,

The .....Thé

These two words seem the same , but mean completely different things in two languages and are pronounced completely differently as well. 

Yet in star trek they have a magic box  "universal translator"  that seems to  allow everyone to speak in a variety of  North American accents, whilst inexplicably Klingons can occasionally go off into a vernacular rant , normally when they're swearing or going on about glorious battle .  

Then there's the Breen who just talk static - but everyone seems to understand them anyway- and there's no explanations as to why they don't speak  Canadian or American :

[Personally I think they should sound like they have a southern drawl]

I can get you could have a interstellar version of Google translate  for existing  known languages and this could work verbally as a computer voice, I fail to see how exactly one could do this with  unknown verbal or written communication in an instant, even with some super computer, let along bodily gestures which can convey meaning.

For example here on Earth if you hold up one hand it means to us in the west "stop". In Iraq it means "welcome" or "come out".  This  difference between humans of different cultures caused tragic consequences when the  America and British military  was occupying Iraq and set up military check points.

These are other cultural differences between the west and middle east (or at least Iraqi) culture as I picked up from my grandparents and other elderly relatives who left Iraq between 1941 and 1950 , who were typically Jewish in the sense of being  very traditional , but also adapting to modernity . Nonetheless they kept some traditions  :

•  A thumbs up in western culture is a positive sign . In Iraq it is the equivalent of the middle finger in western culture.

•  A  handshake in Iraq is rather gentle- a vigorous handshake is seen as aggressive-  after which one places a hand on your heart with a slight bow. This signifies that the greeting is sincere and from the heart.

• With women, non familiar  men aren't allowed to touch them, so the hand gesture  to the heart  is appropriate. 

• Never refuse beverages or refreshment  as it's an insult and we have a culture of hospitality.  This also means that you can't just pop in for quite quick chat in the western sense. A quick chat is at least an hour or so. 

• Also you'd greet each other with "Salaam Aleikum "or in my family "Shalom Aleichem". Both the Arabic and the Hebrew mean "peace be with you".

• Hands -  the right hand is the proper hand to use, but my family ignored this as there were too many left handed people in our family. Also ignored as the separation of women , even within the household. I think our family has always produced feisty girls without any feminist movement!

In Dr Who , the TARDIS has "telepathic circuits"  which allows everyone , alien or Italian to speak with received pronunciation. 

I appreciate that out of universe it would of course be tedious for a tv show to spend time understanding new languages every week, so you can either ignore the problem or try and solve it with "a wave of the hand device". 

Personally I prefer the creative solution of Dr Who , although to my mind or my solution ,  would be that there would be  an interstellar language that everyone used for diplomatic or trade reasons. This is analogous to Earth. Off the top of my head I can think of 

Aramaic

Greek

Latin

French 

Arabic 

English

Spanish

As trading or diplomatic languages that have or are used between governments or even as a dominant language within a multicultural empire.

The peices are put where they are meant to be

Hi All,

Chapter 1 of my cross over fanzine story .

Space /Time Vortex

The TARDIS shuddered and was sucked toward a tear in the fabric of reality....

Inside The mysterious space-time traveller known only as 'The Doctor' was during one of his usual set of acrobatics to steady his ship. Now in his 345th incarnation- having being granted perpetual regeneration cycles by Rassilon herself - the Doctor was once again male ,  in his early thirties , massively build and six foot four ,dressed in a particularly loud Hawiian style  shirt over a tropical jacket  and plain white shorts.

'Steady on old girl !' He muttered to his beloved ship as he moved round the mushroom shaped console  in the centre of the ship, as a central column rose and fell indicating that the ship was in flight.

'So it isn't a space time pot hole, this is deliberate hacking through between dimensions and there's only one way to find out what's going on'. Moving around the  console , the Doctor began to move knobs and buttons in every direction. A wheezing, groaning sound filled the air, as the central column juddered to a halt.

He'd arrived at his destination, but before dashing outside , as he was want to do in his older days, the Doctor decided to check the scanner. Rather nifty this scanner as it would show the Doctor a 3D image of the outside and  immediate surroundings. He could see instantly that he was in some kind of cellar : there was a lot of smoke.  Several soldiers  that looked like bipedal reptilian  rhinoceroses  armed with some form of weapon, were lining up three  humanoid figures as if for execution. 'Here we go again' the Doctor muttered, as he opened the doors, fully armed, as usual with his wit, charm, sonic glasses, which he causally put on..  and of course his  sonic screwdriver was in his pocket.
_________________________________________________________________________________

Stardate :52857.1 (Tuesday January 27th 2376)

Starship :USS Enterprise -  E
Captain  : Jean Luc Picard

Captain's log : Whilst the crew and I were anticipating an order to join Admiral Ross at Deep Space 9 for the final offensive of the Dominion War,  The USS  Enterprise has been ordered by  Rear Admiral Hawksbill of Star Fleet command to the Typhoon expanse , where long range scanners have detected some form of energy anomaly. I have every confidence in my crew as we prepare for this latest, if mysterious, mission.
__________________________________________________________________________

Stardate 52861.4 (Wed 28th January 2376)

Deep Space 9

Alpha Quadrant

Milky Way Galaxy

It was quite an achievement. The three state  Federation Alliance was on the verge of the largest counter offensive of the Dominion War. The Cardassians, Breen and the Dominion had withdrew deep within Cardassian territory, to create a perimeter of defence, within which they would rebuild their forces. The Federation and their allies could either blockade this perimeter, while they too rebuilt their forces or they could gamble and strike with as much force as they could and thus bring the most bloody war of the Alpha Quadrant to an end.  The war council agreed with Captain Benjamin Sisko , the Federation's 'bad ass' , to counterstrike.  There were 16,780  capital ships of the Federation, Klingon and Romulan Empires  spread around the old Cardassian Mining Station, now Federation base Deep Space 9.  The fleet would leave for Cardassian territory within the hour .

Captain Benjamin Sisko, Admiral Ross, Commander Worf,  Klingon Chancellor General Martok and Senator Vornak of Romulus, were finalising their battle plans in the central conference room. There was surprising agreement, despite the less than amicable exchanges between Martok and Vornak, who like most Klingons and Romulans hated each other. The current alliance was purely one of convenience and nothing more. Once this war was over, they would be back to being the best of enemies.

'Sir , we're receiving a message broadcasting from Cardassian territory, it  seems important said Chief O' Brien in his broad Irish accent .

'Put it through chief' said Sisko , knowing that the Chief wouldn't have interrupted the group if it hadn't been important.  The large view screen came to life and on it appeared , not the smug countenance of the Vorta Weyoun, but three of the Founders - the shapeshifters who ultimately controlled the Dominion of which Cardassian had joined 3 years ago, thus starting this long and bloody war. The Female Shapeshifter  was in the centre of the group.

'Citizens of the Dominion as you can see we the Founders are very much alive :living Gods do not die ! The pathetic attempt of Federation genocide has been overcome and with renewed vigour we can continue this war and overcome all Dominion enemies'.

The room looked at each other with alarm : while Doctor Bashir had managed to cure Constable Odo  of the plague that  the Federation's cabal and intelligence agency , section 31 had infected him and all the shapeshifters ,  the Federation Council had refused to release the cure. Furthermore only a handful of people within the Federation were supposed to know about this dirty op.  But of equal mystery was where the other shapeshifters had come from. Intelligence reports had indicated only one shapeshifter remained in the Alpha Quadrant after the Bajorian Gods of the DS9 wormhole had stopped Dominion reinforcements from entering from the Gamma Quadrant.

'You the people of Cardassia have been crucial to this effort and now allied with the Breen and our own forces we will be unstoppable. But we as your Gods understand the sacrifices the Cardassians have made. As of today we can rebuild our forces free from the interference of the so -called Federation Alliance'

Backs stiffened. Where was this leading ?

'For we have been able to create a new a stable worm hole to the Gamma Quadrant here in Cardassian territory. Many reinforcements are being dispatched even as I speak, including medical and food supplies for our citizens here on Cardassia.  The destruction of Lakarian city was unfortunate , but a necessary demonstration of Dominion resolve in crushing the minority of disloyal citizens,  traitors and terrorists who like traitor Demar have been brainwashed by Bajorian Intelligence into hating his own people.

'The Dominion has also as of today formally merged with fellow Gods who inhabit a universe called fluidic space. They are know as Udine and they are our long lost brothers and sisters. They were betrayed by the Federation Starship Captain Janeway to the Borg, who designated them as species 8472, and in yet another example of genocide almost destroyed the Udine as a species. It should be noted.  betraying the citizens of the many Delta Quadrant worlds to be assimilated by the Borg, so that just one , just one starship could return to the so- called paradise of the Federation. '

'Ultimately this genocidal attempt failed and the Federation will fail if it attempts to enter our perimeter of self defence. Should the Federation or its lapdogs on Qu'onos  or Romulas attempt to breach this permimeter they will be met with deadly force.  I have considered many possibilities and we in the Dominion are prepared to enter into an armistice, as a sign of extending the dove of peace to the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. We await the response of the Federation Alliance, but I say to the Klingon Empire, to end a war to save an empire is no defeat and to destroy an empire is no victory. To the Romulans, I say do not allow Federation trickery to blind you to the warmongering ways of the Federation. And to the Federation I say , you say you are explorers and not warriors .Prove this today and give peace the chance it so thoroughly deserves.'

The room was silent before it broke out in a cacophony of voices ...

_________________________________________________________________________________

Delta Quadrant

Analysis :  10 Cubes destroyed.  1.3 million Borg eliminated .... Species 9473 has penetrated  matrix 0560, grid 119 ... pending.... Species 9473 have more than one ship.... pending.... 260 ships within visual range....

Action : Message transmission ....

We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ship. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile....

Await response... pending 

Response audio : Exterminate ! Exterminate ! Exterminate !

Analysis :  Irrelevant  posturing.... 50 Cubes active  to assimilate  species 9473.... pending

Action: prepare tractor beam on nearest ship.... pending

Analysis : Beam unable to penetrate shielding..... Cube destroyed by weapons array of ships ...

Action :  All Cubes to fire upon all species 9473 ships ... pending

Analysis : 22 ships destroyed. 11 ships disabled...

Action : Board all disabled ships and begin assimilation ... pending

Analysis :

Cube 2 of 50 destroyed.....

Cube 3 of 50 destroyed.....

Cube 4 of 50 destroyed.....

Cube 5 of 50 destroyed.....

Cube 6 of 50 destroyed.....

Cube 7 of 50 destroyed.....

Cube 8 of 50 destroyed.....

Action : Recalibrate shielding to adapt to particle beam weapons ... pending

Analysis :  Adaptive shielding unable to withstand assault ...

Analysis : Drones unable to assimilate Species 9473..... X ray beam weapons penetrating personal shielding of Drones... Unable to adapt to weapon signature ...

Action : Drones to eliminate , not assimilate Species 9473.... pending

Analysis :

Cube 9 of 50 destroyed.....

Cube 10 of 50 destroyed.....

Cube 11 of 50 destroyed.....

Analysis : Total of 50 Species 9473 ships destroyed....45 Disabled .

Action : Destroy disabled ship.... total 95 of Species 9473 destroyed .

Analysis :

99 of 260 species 9473 Ships destroyed ...

Cube 12 of 50 destroyed.....

Cube 13 of 50 destroyed.....

Cube 14 of 50 destroyed.....

Cube 15 of 50 destroyed.....

Cube 16 of 50 destroyed.....

Cube 17 of 50 destroyed.....

Analysis : Drones were unable to destroy species 9473 in Melee combat.... all were eliminated before we destroyed their vessels .

Cube 18 of 50 destroyed.....

Cube 19 of 50 destroyed.....

Cube 20 of 50 destroyed.....

Cube 21 of 50 destroyed.....

Cube 22 of 50 destroyed.....

Action: Activ-

Analysis : 260 Species 9473 Ships have emerged behind cube fleet from a worm hole bubble... Cubes 23 to 50 destroyed... pending....  Borg planet 2355 destroyed... contact lost .

Action : All priorities rescinded. Destruction of species 9473 integral to survival of Borg.  All Cubes activated.

Analysis : Planets 345, 666, 678, destroyed.  Total losses since first incursion... pending :   4 ... updated  50 .... updated 60... updated 88... 195 planets destroyed , 18750 Cubes destroyed ...  459 billion Borg eliminated. ... pending ...
Analysis : species 5678, 5556 & 4560 : Hirogen, Voth and Kazon are attacking Borg throughout the Quadrant... uncertain if this is an alliance with species 9473 or opportune raids on Borg space....
Calculate time before Borg are eliminated from galaxy : 460 days, 23 hours, 22 minutes and 70 seconds...

Action :  We have faced such an emergency before. Adaptation procedure...

Analysis : We must send Cubes to the Alpha Quadrant and secure Captain Janeway of NCC 74656 -USS Voyager- who provided technical capabilities  for us to eliminate species 8472 in exchange for being returned to the Alpha Quadrant.

Action :  15,000 Cubes are to be  sent  to the Alpha Quadrant. NCC 74656- USS Voyager - Janeway must be found....

Further adaptation :  use species 6779 as Ambassador for this 'deal' .
Analysis: Limited penetration of species 9473's database . Species have opponent known only as the Doctor. 
Action :Further analysis required .... designate species and update collective archives.
Analysis : Doctor is a  regengade Gallifreyan Time Lord. Temporal machanics and scientific society, capable of manipulating  trans dimensions , space time .. capable of time /interdimensional travel.  Doctor is mentioned in one thousand species databases....  further analysis required.
Action : Cubes and scouts are to monitor galactic communications relays. Assimilate Doctor if found in this galaxy.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Why not identify as reform?

Hi All,

Q:Why are you Orthodox rather than Reform?

A:

There's a concept called Ahavat Yisrael :  "love for one's fellow Jews". So whilst I do not belong to reform Judaism or agree with it ,  I am still required to love them as fellow Jews. I would not describe myself as a sectarian and I do have an Aszkenazi partner (hence the name of the blog, combining  two traditional dishes of our respective cultures) . But I do prefer to see Judaism as a salad bowl, rather than merely a single lettuce leaf.  I guess we'd be the tomatoes.

Sephardim - i.e. Us  Jews who eat better food,dance better than our Ashkenazi brothers and sisters & who  can hold our alcohol ,  eat rice and legumes on Passover, never eat Geffilte fish - are classed as "Orthodox"  because we don't have denominations, but in itself the splitting of Jewry into Reform (and liberal and reconstructionist and secular), Conservative and Orthodox (which in turn is split into modern and Fundamentalist or Ultra or Charedi as they self -designate) begins with European and American Aszkenazi Jewry. I would also say that I simply do not wish to give up the rich cultural heritage of my anscestors, to be assimilated by either Reform or the Ultra Orthodox fractions.  In that sense I strongly and I think my family do identify with the Israeli concept of Masortim. This is NOT to be confused with 'Conservative' Judaism which uses the tag of Masorti.  See here for further information.

This is because  we Sephardim   never went through a Jewish enlightenment and splits like Ashkenazi European Jewry . After all  being dhimmis under the Porte , so just continued as we had for the past several centuries; although of course we were never and are not some borg like entity and today we have different standpoints,  such as rationalist, mystic and I think unfortunately the Sephardic  Rabbinical establishment in Israel has felt too much of the shadow of the Ultra Orthodox Azskenazi, which has turned them in many ways into more ultra orthodox-I don't just mean the tendency to wear the Fedora and black of the Askies - than the Latviks!  But. No Sephardic Rabbi ever said “Casablanca is the new Jerusalem.” Sorry Moses Mendelsohn🔯😃

Crossovers

Hi All,

A fan fiction -crossover that I started to write a few years ago!

Note : I shall put the full story up on the story tag page later this week...

It's all Greek to me

Hi All,

Chapter 2 is brief :

Percy looked incredulously at Brayfield  ' you mean you can't translate this?'

'Of course '   what does this young whipper snapper think I've been doing? 

Seeing the somewhat confused look on his assistance face Brayfield sighed ' it says , in the Greek at least,  ' greetings , to find out more open the jar,  when the jar is not a jar'.

'Well that's easy then'

'Is it old boy?'

'Well what's that?' Percy said pointing to the casket .

'A casket'

' which is what we should try to open'

' Which means you are the student and I am the master and incidentally why I shouldn't take on postgraduates from the old polies . Look at that word there - pithos-  or large jar .  Not  casket, coffin or box :  I had the same problem with Pandora and her pithos .'

'So...'

Brayfield's eyes seemed to glow ruby red as his host Re  wanted to speak I filled her Pithos, well with a different host

'  I didn't realise you had been on Earth so long'

Only 10,000  years 

' And the most memorable with moi! '  interjected Brayfield

Actually that was either Cleo or Temujin his host mused.

' Even so , we have a question : Where is the large jar?

 And another :  what and why is that casket there and not the jar ? 

'Chaps you may as well add another one'

Which is what?

'The riddle on the stone and in fact why is there a stone on Mars , written in Greek and Aramaic and as some yet unknown, presumably  Martian or extra terrestrial  language with a riddle on it in the first place?  

Continue to chapter 3

Tea or coffee? Honey and lemon?

Hi All,

One of my cultural idiosyncrasies is never to have milk with coffee or tea.  Instead , as per my grandparents who called it Chai,  I have lemon and a dollop or two of honey with "black" tea- infused twice-  with seeds called cardamom . I  just have honey with my coffee.  It's better than having this awkward political correct "with milk ?"  Question , rather than "black or white". But in both cases the tea and the coffee have an extremely strong taste and full blown is more viscous than the British way of making these beverages.

I'm not sure why my grandparents  did this,  as tea , sugar and milk are kosher, but it is a tradition I've stuck to anyways.  I also know that my Moroccan Jewish relatives are prone to have saffron tea. 

But what do you have as a tradition for drinking beverages such as tea and coffee? 

Referendums : great if you win bad if you loose

[Note , the orthodox Jewish position is in between both extremes  in respect of abortion, as explained by this article .]

                                                     -

So the plebs have voted the "correct" way and we can all hail the liberation of women in Ireland in having control over their reproductive parts and their abortion rights for unwanted life forms. Women's rights are on the march and are irrevocable. Anyone who opposed us on this referendum should shut up as we sisters in feminism rejoice and gloat along with the guardian, now in its second day of wall to wall coverage .

Except - 

1.But it was... Only an advisory referendum- the Irish parliament has to legislate for it

2.  The voters were ignorant of what they were voting for and no one voted for hard abortion 

3. Was this hard abortion or soft abortion ? 

4. There should be a second vote after the Irish parliament legislation is completed

5. We should do a crowd funding, get some rich billionaire to front a court case to try and stop it

6. Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP shoehorn Scottish independence into this , somehow. 

7. It's too important to trust the voters with this decision

Sound familiar? 

Shabbat Shalom open thread

Hi All,

Open thread as usual!

Shabbat Shalom!

Why have a space monarchy ?

Hi All,

I've been discussing various science fiction 'tropes' recently and of course we'll eventually have to have the big one on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the controversies of robot marriage / robot- human marriage and transgendered robots, who were built in the 'wrong' body. Then there is another interesting, but more overlooked one (unless done in a 'Nazi' eugenics type way ) of transhumanism. Also I also wonder why humans are portrayed as the diverse ones and  yet aliens are always monoculture, with one government and one religion or characteristic which would fall foul of our discrimination laws (e.g. Ferengi as being greedy capitalists, Klingons as warriors ).

Before we look into those, there is another facet of tropes which never really gets discussed and that is the forms of government that we find in the science fiction world.  In space opera in particular you have the space empire verses the democratic federation trope or alternatively you have the space empire verses the terrorists , freedom fighting rebels.  You see the dichotomy here , which is empires and evil and federation democratic republics are good.  The most well known  examples of this are of course star wars and even the enemies of the star trek universe .

The criticism one seems to get of this situation is not to ask whether empires are automatically 'evil' and democaries automatically 'good' , but  that with the ability to space travel, how could an evil empire sustain itself ? For example people often carp at the Klingons and ask 'how could such a backward culture develop the abilities of space flight and warp drives, given its otherwise corrupt and basically feudal structure ?

Well let us deal with the notion that all empires are automatically evil. This to my mind comes from the dominant culture on our planet of today and that is of course America, a country whose origins began in a colonial revolt against an empire -in this case the British Empire. Except that unlike other Empires of the time , France , Russia, Spain, Austria , Ottoman  etc , Britain actually allowed colonial America to have representative legislatures and assemblies. It was not as if there was zero representation or any elections (the franchise is of course a different matter, but at the time time no country was democratic in the sense of today  and most franchises were based upon ownership of land or property ). Indeed Britain itself had a parliamentary system of government and was not in itself an evil empire. True it was greedy, capitalist and people on the make, could make a fortune via exploration, to wit the east India Company. True the Empire contained slaves. Then the Empire got rid of the trade and then slavery itself, but did more and started a one nation mission to stop the trade around the world,  before and without a massive civil war that the USA had to face. For all the wrongdoings of the empire there was a positive legacy in the end. Roads, railways, ports, an uplifting from bronze age civilisations , medical advancement and English as an international language. Oh and cricket. But look at other empires: The Roman Empire was both brutal and advanced. It could wipe out even the children of  Carthage burn Jerusalem and the Temple, commit Jews to crucifixion and slavery, but give to other subjects a common language,  public baths, aqueducts and roads. It could bring peace to a quarter of the globe , but still crucify thousands who dared defied Rome. The Spanish Empire exploited and converted the native Americans. But it also got rid of barbaric Aztec human sacrifices. Oh and Spain in 1492 was still a feudal monarchy, just as it began its conquests of the new world.

So the record of empire is mixed: not completely evil and not exactly benign. But it is certainly no worse or not much better than a democracy or liberal democracy. Colonisation still occurred by democratic states (America and its colonisation of the west) and today despite what the neo conservatives say, democracies can and still will go to war with each other if they feel that the stakes are high enough, but there's just a higher threshold for that to happen.  Also do not forget that democratic countries can be pushed, manipulated or feel compelled to go to war. An example is the events which triggered the 1898 Spanish- American war and the consequent conquest of Cuba, Philippines and Puerto Rico or the constant US interventions, coups and military invasions  in South American countries . 

But what of the question regarding evil empires and space travel? Well I've already answered this I think.  The Klingons could, like the British or the Romans (or Mongolians) have the technology to space travel and be brutal colonisers because  it is clearly a false premise to assume that technology and space travel can only develop within a liberal democracy or a democracy of any kind. The colonisation outside of Europe was not undertaken by a united continent. It occurred because the continent was divided among national and religious lines, which fuelled competition. Likewise the space exploration of last century was not achieved by a liberal democratic one world government, but by two competing states, Americans and the Soviets, who did so because they were in competition to lead the rest of humanity and be top dog.

Even if this is not a satisfactory answer the other way is to look at monarchy as Prince Philip once described our royal family as 'the firm'. Indeed in many ways this is a good summary of the origin aristocracy. It is merely the formalisation of noting the dynastic power brokers of a land,  the recognition of the oligarchy and the elite. The Kennedy family  as the Dukes of Massachusetts , or the Bush clan as Earls of Texas /Florida, the Clintons as Barons of New York and  Counts of Arkansas or the Obamas as the Marquesses of Chicago.

Things we remember Things we forget

Hi All,

There's been or will be  quite a lot of historical  anniversaries this year which will be remembered  or celebrated depending on what that event was  :

1. 70 years of Israel
2. 70 years of the NHS
3. 100 years of women having the vote in the UK
4. 100 years since   the ending of the first world war

One thing that hasn't got anyone remembering - as far as I know- is the anniversary of the Spanish influenza pandemic. Despite its name , it was actually a global pandemic which killed as much as 100 million people or 5% of the global population at the time. This was probably the worse pandemic since the black death killed a quarter of Europe's population in the medieval period and if you look at that period you will see that it caused as much global upheaval as the black death did in Europe. Yet for some reason we've chosen to forget this terrible loss of life , maybe because in many ways so many people still think like pagans, despite monotheism . In other words people often seem to personify 'nature' as if it were a living , personal thing, a Gaia, rather than something that isn't actually anything at all. So we talk about 'forces of nature' , something outside of our control, but something that is controlling. Whereas the world wars are or were something which people think if one decision or another had been taken, then history would have turned out differently.  This from a Jewish perspective is nonsense as we are not pagan nature worshippers and there's no such thing as mother earth or Gaia in a literal sense, but the west seems to like these things anyway.

The other matter to reflect on is that pandemics haven't gone away. In 1918 we were a global world. What has changed is merely the method and  speed, availability of global travel, but above all the fast pace of global communication. We get instant news reports, whereas in 1918 things were much slower paced and incidentally it was far easier for governments to censor information. That's why- censorship -  the 1918 outbreak of flu was called 'Spanish Influenza' . In today's world despite our technology we are far more vulnerable because of it. Although there may be some  long term good  for those who did survive, in so much as it would expose the hollow myths of our age. First the poorer the country the more likely a greater number of  people would be killed. The pharmaceutical industry would also be exposed for what I call 'medical usury ' as a result. Even in richer countries any cure or vaccine would be subject to who could pay, for example in the US where you have to pay for all drugs at the counter. Britain rations pharma by government agency.  It would fundamentally change the relationship between the government- pharma cartels and the citizen , or at least those who survived.  A second consequence would be an end to globalisation as we know it. When something like a pandemic strikes, governments ( with any sense!) will close their borders and shut people out. Never mind windrush, this would be on a completely different scale as people demanded that their governments retreat into the sanctuary of 'fortress Britain' or 'fortress America'.

But I do pray that such events are a long way away...

Science fiction alcholic drinks

Hi All,

In the comments on my thread below, I noted that in science fiction there are - because of how long lasting the genre has been - several tropes of science fiction. This can be anything from warp drive, to laser weapons to symbiotic species, species who are androgynous , space shifters etc etc.  It is similar in fantasy , wherein you always have elves, dwarfs, humans, wizards and ogres/ goblins.  It is what you do with these tropes that counts, e.g.  imagine a Klingon hairdresser or an ogre who happens to be an accountant (rather than working,say, for the DWP or the Home Office).

One of the other tropes is that of alcoholic drink. Ales, beers (never largers for some reason, even though Germans would say larger beer is as old as ale?) . In science fiction you often get 'synthetic' beverages, which often give you the effect of alcohol without the hangover or liver damage.

The most memorable to my mind are Star Treks blood wine and Romulan Ale . The thing is blood wine is apparently fermented blood (rather than grape) and Romulan Ale is a blue colour that served in a whiskey tumbler and is extremely potent (but to my mind doesn't look like a ale as it isn't poured into a pint glass or tankard) . I've never really got why the humans of the future would be happy to be  with outright hematophagia, but there you go. 

But in any case I do wish that writers would actually concoct beverages that are similar to earth drinks, so an ale is an ale and not a whiskey and a wine isn't fermented blood. Also you have to think about the climate and environment that you are making these drinks in. For example, I wonder what a wine or a beer would be like if it were made (everything to growing the hops or vines to putting it in a cask)  in zero gravity.

Any thoughts?

Spring cleaning

Hi All,

You may have noticed that we have changed the format to the blog and done some new tabs- which will, when time permits, be updated.  We thought a more cheerful looking blog would, well, look cool.

Also a tip for today. If going into a business meeting, the Financial Times  is a girls best friend, so take one with you. This isn't because of its politics, but because :

1. It's a nice colour

2. Rabbits in particular like to use it in their nests

3.If you walk into a room with it tucked under your arm, people take you seriously. With an FT under your arm, you can talk about the most frivolous of things in the world and instead of thinking you are an airhead, people think you a heavyweight intellectual who has broad interests.

Olympus Mons

Hi All,

First bit of a story - like a daily comic strip.

Mars. A  planet of red iron rust and dust storms, huge mountain highlands and vast lowlands.  Despite the best efforts of humanity to terraform, the place seemed invulnerable to such attempts. Instead the  people who lived there had to do with living in vast bio domes, as they did on the moon.

Olympus Moms was the largest volcano on Mars and the largest yet mapped by humanity : it would cover  France or Texas and two and a half times as tall as Everest back on earth.  

The power of love

Hi All,

I haven't watch the royal wedding yet,but I think this would be a well cool starting point for Henry and Rachel Sussex :

Don't need money, don't take fame
Don't need no credit card to ride this train
It's strong and it's sudden and it's cruel sometimes
But it might just save your life…

This is not a momentum meeting

If it's one thing you'll quickly understand about politics it is that the more extreme you are, the more shouting you do. In the British case we have to put up with far left shouty figures who think they are the only voice worth listening to. 

Thankfully on last night's question time , an audience member, one of the handful of people who defended Israel, slapped down audience lefties :

You also  get delightful neoclassical leftist t- shirts, like this example : 

Ready for Shavuot?

Shavuot  or in the Greek Pentecost is a Jewish festival , which falls on the evening of  19th May to 21st May.  It is both an agricultural festival and the time which we remember the giving of Torah to the Jewish people at mount Sinai.

There are several traditions :

1. Houses are fully decked out with flowers and greenery 

2. We stay up all night to study Torah 

3. We also read through the book of Ruth

4. We have our customary festive meals, always including wine. Ashkenazi tend to eat just dairy products. Sephardim eat  meat for the evening meal and something dairy for the daytime meal as a compromise , which in a way reflects the difference between Ashkenazi rigidity and Sephardi leniency

5. Special foods are from dairy products. In the Ashkenazi world that would be cheese cake and  blintzes. Sephardim are predictably more exotic , with cheese sambusak, kelsonnes , atayef, kahee and  a cake called the 7  heavens , which is 7 layers  of cake !!

6. In Ashkenazi synagogues the Aramaic poem Akdamut is sung:  Sephardim - who have, as  we all know have no concept of time , but do have  a deeply ingrained  concept of hospitality culture "come in for a chat " after coming round for a specific reason  , involves at minimum  a coffee (or alcohol in the evening)  ,sweets and light food, followed by some gentle small talk, politics and more plates of snacks , after about an hour you get to the purpose of the visit -  instead have a poem Azharot which goes through all 613 Mitzvot .

Happy Shavuot !

Europe's Poynings' Law

Hi All,

A chap said to me the other day that with all the Brexit  talk of customs union, Irish border and "regulatory alignment" , it felt as if both the European Union and in a twist of irony ,  the Irish Republic (1) want a European version of "Poynings' Law ". Not being familiar with this ,I had to look it up and discovered that this was a law passed in 1494 which subordinated the Irish parliament to both the Irish privy council and the English privy council. In effect no legislation could be passed without either of these bodies consent. It also bypassed both the Irish and English parliaments. 

My friend warmed to his familiar theme:  the EU is like medieval Europe , that is a patch work of states , held together in a sort of holy Roman empire , with  the Commission the EU's Papacy.  

The Commission is both seem as a revered holy  force , a good force for stopping wars and promoting  tolerance etc, but also a bad one which can conduct inquisitions, regulates and enforces the current dogmas , plays political intrigue in a way that would make  cardinal Richelieu  blush (2) , has the self proclaimed powers of the "donation of Constantine"(3) , but isn't the absolute power and is just one political force on the European stage, which  has long ago become hierarchically and bureaucratically corrupt.

In this view Brexit is like that start of the reformation , with similar events in Greece ,  Netherlands , Italy , Hungary, Poland , France and Germany. The counter reformation, is apparently being talked up by Germany and France, but so far have led to nothing. In Britain the remoaners are like cardinal Pole and those who put Queen Mary onto the throne.

Seems all very intruding to me, but what do readers think?  Is there a parallel here?

Shabbat Shalom anyways . And yes you can indulge in a bit of an open thread too.

Notes:

 1). In addition so does Ireland . Oh the irony!!

2) Tim curry version of course

3)   faked document apparently from Rome's first Christian emperor giving the Roman papacy massive secular and spiritual powers and see also dictatus papae , which includes among other things papal power overthrow Emperor's and kings . Sounds like the Commission to whit Greece, Italy, Ireland .  The papacy was the source of authority in giving to the English monarch  the title "Lord of Ireland"  . Later during the discovery of the new world the pope used his self proclaimed powers to via Inter caetera give them to Spain, but later  split these vast territories with Portugal under the treaty of Tordelo. This was promptly ignored by France, Netherlands and England.  Henry VIII  got the Irish parliament to make the country a kingdom with him as king , after the reformation.

Antisemitism and racism

Hi All,

I got into this typically unproductive discussion the other day, in which someone said to me that antisemitism, while wrong, is just another manifestation of racism and therefore should be "bracketed"  within the general term racism. The implication - the person didn't specifically say this-  is that Jews shouldn't have a "special"  category.  

The Sods and the Moonies

Hi All,

Would colonising the moon , eventually lead to another branch of the human family? Discuss.

Moon was Earth's first extra terrestrial colony and the first to become independent in 2020, in surface area roughly as big as the continent of Asia, with a current population of 60 million. 94%  are humans, 5%Martian and 1% "other aliens" :the official languages being that of the first settlers during the 1970s , i.e. English and Russian, with Martian- the Lingua Franca of the universe -  being the third language that the  business and political elites use. 

Physiology played a key part in uniting the various lunar colonies into one polity; a near century of humans being born- without the genetic or medical manipulation that later settlers on similar planetary bodies would have ( such as those on Io or Titan) - into a lower gravity environment had ensured that the Moonies has no where else to go and thus had to make do with their lot on the moon . The harsh landscape of the moon had ensured that technological advancement, with collectivism and cooperation were the order of the day in contrast to the more capitalist and individualist Earth or sod  humans. True Moonies could survive in Earth style gravity , but they were wheelchair bound, mostly immobile , as their muscles were simply not capable anymore in the higher gravity environment of earth like planets. 

The other unifying factor was akin to that of Canada or Ireland : the shadow of a much larger galactic neighbour, who used the moon for resources , mostly water and Helium3 , occupied it as the strategic high ground to stop any earth invasion by hostile regimes (in this case Geospiza,  Martians and a plethora of other species eathers have rubbed up the wrong way in 'regime change'  or 'interference in elections' conflicts). Thus it was the, in the eyes of Moonies at least, the entirely of the population of Earth that seemed to threaten them.  Indeed the term 'Moonie' is akin to the usage of 'Paddy' or 'Canuck' : 'Earther' or 'sod' was the retort Moonie equivalent of  'Limey'. Suffice to say that there was a history of bad blood , harsh military interventions and a thoughtless treatment of the natives , to whit  Moonies see Earthers as being the wicked bully goliath who at every turn will do anything they can to end the Moon's independence , thus justifying any alliance with anyone other than earth and the Earthers see the Moonies as ' a bunch of commie, whinging, ungrateful  bastards, who'd rather side with enemy Martians ,Geospiza than their own flesh and blood'.

Jewish News round-up

Hi all,

1) The elections of the Presidency of the board of deputies is over and Marie Van Der Zyl won. The vote was done using the single transferable vote. So we like proportional representation .

 2)George Osborne, former Chancellor and now newspaper editor,  is officially Jewish according to a Beth Din (as his brother was undertaking a conversion , but discovered his maternal grandmother was Jewish ).

3 )Dina Brawer , of Sephardi (Italian /Moroccan) heritage and Chabad by conviction ,  became the first Orthodox Jewish female Rabbi or Rabba: Her husband Dr  Rabbi Naftali Brawer was formerly Rabbi of Borehamwood and Elstree Synagogue . Unfortunately for British Jewry, the couple intend to move to Boston, America.



4)Oh and Israel won Eurovision. Next year in Jerusalem, as it were.😆

Shabbat ice cream

Hi All,

As it is Friday ,it is open thread time. Also just for some fun ,here's a  caption competition: 

For those that don't know, the Israeli Prime Minister has a taste for pistachio and vanilla ice cream, a budget of 10,000 shekels a year for his official residence  ice cream.

Stand with Israel

Hi All,

Israel rightly struck back against the provocations of the Iranian regime. A regime that repeatedly calls  for death to the Jews and wants to wipe the only Jewish state from existence and funds numerous terrorist groups , a country flush with oil and Sun (solar power)  but says they "need"  nuclear power for "energy use" . Where the United States of America is chastised as the great Satan and Britain and Israel compete for the roles of lesser and mini Satan. Wherein Christians , Jews and Zoroastrians are persecuted and gays hung from cranes. This is the context . A regime that wants to murder over eight million Jews and no one in the metropolitan elite of the west  gets that them getting nukes is not in Israeli interests ?  Would you have allowed Nazi Germany to obtain nukes???

Who cool

Hi All,

Dr Who is still cool  (And as I've said before Jewish) .

Its no secret than I'm a doctor who fan. So much so if I ever became the show runner I'd only ask to be paid the minimum wage  write for free ... I've even knitted myself a Tom baker multi coloured scarf 😃!

But what I like about the Doctor is that there are incredible Jewish ethos and  influences on the show: the creator was a Canadian Jew as the first producer was Jewish. Also the actor who played the first companion was Jewish as well.

The idea of a somewhat intelligent , grumpy alien going around time and space, combating evil ,  represents the Jewish ideas of actions repairing the world.  Also the Doctor is an exile from his homeland. Whilst he maintained he ran away and is quite happy with this , deep down in the show there is a desire for him to go back home.... but he also combines this with the British trate of character and pluck.

Like my favourite scene ever from who, when the Doctor refuses to bow to a false god in this case fittingly an Egyptian one , albeit an super powerful alien:

The Doctor: 

Serve you, Sutekh? Your name is abominated in every civilised world, whether that name be Set, Satan, Sadok...

Sutekh: Serve me, Doctor!

The Doctor: Never!

Sutekh: [turning his torture beams on the Doctor, laughingly] You pit your puny will against mine? Kneel!

The Doctor: No!

Sutekh: [laughingly] Kneel before the might of Sutekh!

[Forces the Doctor to his knees]

Sutekh: In my presence, you are an ant, a termite. Abase yourself, you grovelling insect!

That's from the well cool pyramids of Mars

It's not just  me who has a speculated on Dr who as a Jewish character :

Here

Here

Here

And Here

Plus there's the beyond  well cool theme tune:

And another song :

Iran deal

Hi All,

Forget Trump , imagine if Sgt  Hartman takes over as POTUS?

Think that he was speaking to May, Putin, Netanyahu and Marcon & Markel. What a conversation that would be!

But in all seriousness :

The really depressing thing about the Persian deal ( Persia sounds cooler than Iran)  is that neither America , Israel or the west need be adversaries with Persia. The people are educated,  despite living in a ecclesiastrical government,  and wish to embrace the west on their own terms ... the culture of Persia is thousands of years greater than the forced conversion to Islam, Jews contributed immeasurably to Persia and we gave them a Queen called Esther... There's the remaining Jewish , Christian and Zoroastrian minority  

 They are a great& sophisticated  people . 

Unfortunately lead by a conclave of ultra reactionary extremist clerics,Persia has become an enemy of the west. If only we could let the voters decide...

Likewise  Israel , lead by Bibi Netanyahu needs better. ..Let the voters decide...

America under Trump? Let the voters decide...

You will see the difference for yourself.

P.S. here's a clip from "the west wing" which fully shows the Israeli fears  on Iran:

And another fabulous one on terrorism via the British Ambassador :

Enjoying the sun

Hi All,

I trust that the sun is shining where you are : we have had a fantastic   long weekend of  swimming, running, walking and biking and now it is time to relax in the garden of our holiday home.

But what have you been up to?😎

Shuker for Pres?

Hi all,

We in the Jewish community have another election result coming soon,  that is the election of the President of Board of Jewish deputies. 

For the ignorant Corbyn types who with typical vile attacks suggested that this doesn't represent Jews, the board consists of 300  deputies elected by Jews from synagogues - from Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and Sephardi and other affiliated organisations. They in turn elect a President and other officials.

What's interesting is that Sephardi/ Iraqi Jew , Edwin Shuker is a candidate for President. 

"A 38-year track record in serving the Jewish community, which commenced in 1980 with moving to Israel, followed by the setting up of the Sephardic Educational Centre in the Old City of Jerusalem, that served dozens of communities around the world and connected them to Israel. 

Over the years I was involved with a myriad of organisations and institutions: founding member and VP of the World Sephardi Congress; former World President of Justice for Jews from Arab Countries; former national Director of the American Sephardi Federation; former vice-chair of Limmud International and currently on its advisory board. A trustee and adviser to numerous UK Jewish charities and organisations. Former vice-president of the European Jewish Congress and currently the special envoy to the president for Interfaith and Refugees.

Should I be elected as president, I will prioritise this honour at the expense of all else and dedicate whatever time and energy the position requires."

Shabbat Shalom!

Hi All,

Good result from the local elections , with the ghastly momentum thugs / Labour failing to make any headway , with conservatives gaining Barnet, Basildon, Peterborough  and doing well enough to  be able to form minority administrations in Nuneaton, Walsall, Dudley, Derby .  It looks like Labour are doing badly in Birmingham . Ukip are no more, with one of their numbers suggesting they are like the black death. 

 The far left has been stopped.  And thank goodness for that , after the recent antisemitism row, in which the momentum / Corbyn supporters showed their hateful selves. 

We may allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing.

Shabbat Shalom! 

Election special

Hi All,

Local Election special blog .

Will Labour sweep London?

Will UKIP collapse?

Will the Liberals have a revival?

Will the Tories be wiped out?

And should it be the BBC or ITV?


Peston or Davis?

Lag B'Omer

Tonight is the start of Lag B'Omer, so I hope that the wind and rain will stop by tonight for the bonfire and bbq!  

Lesbian lifestyle ?

Sometimes people email and ask why we don't talk more about the "lesbian lifestyle".  Well the thing is why would that be of interest to anyone?  A lesbian lifestyle is as individual / boring/ exciting as a heterosexual one . Do you all really want to be excited about "today I got up, brushed teeth etc , cup of tea, breakfast et al".

Of course the idea of lifestyle inevitably  gets confused with the sex part of a lesbian relationship, along with questions on who is  the 'butch ' one  .The reality is that the British reluctance to talk about sex is such that  we wouldn't write about our admittedly excellent  faire l'amour in the bedroom  and as with any couple the relationship is deeper and multifaceted than that, it is just that it is with two females , rather than a male and a female.