Interesting Facts on Israel

In the recent years, Israel had been in and out of the international news headlines. Some are due to controversial issues, while others are positive reasons. Because these different reports surrounding this beautiful country, foreigners have become interested to know the small country from the Middle East.

Ever since the beginning of civilization, Israel already existed! You can read mentions of this beautiful place, like Jerusalem in the bible, during the time of Jesus. In modern times, you can catch a glimpse of the sights of Israel in travel magazines.

For starter, Israel is a melting pot; a fusion of different culture, customs and nationalities that make this place truly unique. What is more, there are other interesting facts on Israel that we are not made aware of, until now.

Did you know that?

- Israel has high life expectancy. 82 years old is the average age of most women, whereas, men usually reach 78 years old.

- The majority of people in Israel are Jewish, in comparison with the 20% Muslim population in the country.

- In addition, there have been an increasing number of immigrants since 1989 from the previous Soviet Union. Further, members of the Jewish community in Ethiopia also migrated to Israel. Some of them are even airlifted.

- Compared to other countries in the world, Israel holds the highest number of university degree holders.

- Hebrew and Arabic are the two official languages of Israel.

- Unknown to many, it was from Israel that the most sophisticated and dense airline security features were developed.

- ‘Firewall’ a computer security setting was created by an Israeli company, called Check Point.

- Israel has its own space program that can build, launch, create, and operate satellites.

- Israel is the only nation to have entered free trade agreements with Mexico, Canada, and United States. Aside from that, it is also a member of the European Free Trade Association and European Union, all at the same time.

- It is compulsory for Israeli men and women to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).

- Cellular phones from Motorola Company were designed in Israel.

- The highest percentage of home computers per capita in the world is Israel.

- Next to Silicon Valley, Israel has the most number of start-up companies and ‘Hi-tech’ companies.

- As compared to other highly developed countries like Germany, US, and Japan, Israel tops the world with the most number of technicians and scientists.

- In 1996, AOL instant messaging application was developed by 4 young Israelis

- Voicemail was invented in Israel

Are Greener Alternatives Practical?

I’m in a quandary about whether I can implement the “lifestyle change solutions” to address the environmental issues we face.  I fly on holiday, drive a petrol engined car and use gas central heating at home.  I’m in awe of those people who can modify or adapt their lifestyles to have as little environmental impact as possible.  I’m dubious about the practicality of whether those approaches can be applied as universally as they would need to be though.

Take air conditioning for example.  I don’t have much experience of it living in the UK, but there are some parts of the globe where it seems to be a prerequisite for human habitation.   The central states of the USA suffered one of their hottest summers ever in 2010 with temperatures rising to more than 105 degrees on some days.  That level of heat of sustained over the course of a day is pretty thermally hostile.  Obviously, more people will switch on their air conditioning in these circumstances, but that potentially could produce more greenhouse gas emissions that in turn make the summers even hotter.

The HVAC industry points to the fact that the refrigerant gas known as R-22, used in domestic air-con systems and heat pumps is progressively being phased out as leaks of R-22 contribute to ozone depletion and the manufacture of the stuff results in a by-product called HFC-23 which also contributes to global warming.  That was a real double environmental whammy!   Even with diligent air conditioning maintenance procedures on new systems that minimise energy consumption and use less dangerous refrigerants, many are calling for reduced dependence on air conditioning.  Some keen environmentalists in the USA choose not use air conditioning as a matter of principle, even on the most hostile days.  They keep cool by staying as inert as possible, dressing appropriately (i.e. in very little but shorts), maybe using ceiling fans but switching off all heat-generating appliances except perhaps for the refrigerator.   Others suggest escaping to the cool of a basement or hammocks under overhanging shade trees.  

There’s my problem right there.  That’s probably a good suggestion, provided of course you have the luxury of a property with things like a basement and a decent yard or garden.  It’s a great suggestion if you are middle class and relatively well heeled and can afford such a property.   For the rest of us largely urban dwelling hominids who live in countries where the summers are habitually “thermally hostile” and live in crowded flats or apartment blocks with little space or cash to spare, the air conditioner is probably the only practical option.

I couldn’t imagine living in some of the southern US states or spending a summer in say Crete or Rhodes without some form of air conditioning.  Modern systems  do as little environmental damage as possible, use  "green" refrigerant gases and run on  energy which can be produced from renewable resources like wind, wave or solar.  While this may not be the perfect solution, it’s probably the most practical and effective one for the vast majority of the world’s mainly urban population who don’t have any possibility of significantly changing how and where they live, but still want to do their bit for the planet.

Accident Compensation From Uninsured Drivers

If you are involved in a road traffic accident which was not your fault, then many companies encourage you to make a personal injury compensation claim. Perhaps the most common type of injury resulting from a road accident is whiplash.  We all have the comedy image of whiplash from movies like “The Fortune Cookie” where Jack Lemon hires a lawyer called “Whiplash Willie” to help fake an injury.  The media continues to equate whiplash with schemers and fakers, suggesting that all you’ve got to do is strap on a neck brace and moan a bit, although people who genuinely suffer whiplash tend not to see the funny side.
Nonetheless, if you were a passenger in a vehicle involved in the collision that caused your whiplash injury, your compensation claim would be made against the insurance company of the person responsible for the accident.  That could be the driver of the car you were travelling in or a third party.  If you are a driver, a cyclist or a pedestrian your whiplash compensation claim would be made against the insurance company of the person driving the vehicle that collided with you and caused your injury. Any road traffic accident should be reported to the police, but even if no criminal charges are levied, anyone injured would still be entitled to claim compensation from the driver’s insurance company.
Therein lies the main problem of course.  What happens if the offending party is driving without any sort of insurance cover?  We all suspect that a person reckless enough to cause a serious accident is also likely to be the kind of driver who regards insurance (whether 3rd party or fully comprehensive), paying road tax or getting regular car servicing as not really that important.   Kind of like Bob Newhart’s Grace L Ferguson Airline & Storm Door Company that kept costs down by doing away with “frills and extras”  like radar and maintenance!
Road accidents involving untraceable or uninsured drivers are not uncommon, but if your property (like your own car or possessions) has been damaged you may still be able to make a claim for compensation.   In the UK, the MIB (Motor Insurers' Bureau - no they don’t wear dark suits and don’t have flashy memory-wipe thingies!) has a scheme that covers this scenario, provided you (or your solicitor) contacts them within nine months of the accident and reports it to the police no later than five days after the event.
The MIB will expect you to have already made reasonable efforts to trace the driver or insurer concerned by reporting the accident to the police and to your own insurance company and to have made enquiries of the DVLA about the registered owner of the vehicle.  If the driver remains untraced, you must at least be able to identify the vehicle type in order to make a claim for property damage and an excess of £300 is deducted from claims made under this untraced driver scheme.  The Motor Insurers' Bureau will only deal with claims registered with them within nine months of the accident.  They will also expect the accident to have been reported to the police within five days of the accident.


http://www.compensationclaims.net/accident-compensation/

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Earths Wobble Changes Horoscopes
Capricorn: Jan. 20-Feb. 16.
Aquarius: Feb. 16-March 11.
Pisces: March 11-April 18.
Aries: April 18-May 13.
...Taurus: May 13-June 21.
Gemini: June 21-July 20.
Cancer: July 20-Aug. 10.
Leo: Aug. 10-Sept. 16.
Virgo: Sept. 16-Oct. 30.
Libra: Oct. 30-Nov. 23.
Scorpio: Nov. 23-29.
Ophiuchus: Nov. 29-Dec. 17.
Sagittarius: Dec. 17-Jan. 20.

Maximize Your Home’s Energy Efficiency: 4 Easy Ways to Warm Up This Winter for Less

You may think that your energy bills are pretty much set in stone each season, especially if you have been in your home for some time and have had the opportunity to gauge your bills’ trends over a period of years. However, this is no reason to become complacent with your energy efficiency efforts and by no means indicates that there aren’t areas for improvement.

If you are looking for some ways in which to increase energy efficiency when it comes to your home and its heating bills, here are a few tips that might help you improve efficiency and lower costs.

Division of Space

Reducing the amount of space within your home that you must heat can significantly affect your energy efficiency. From closing off vents and doors to unused rooms to shutting off entire floors of unused space, you could find your energy costs being reduced dramatically. Even hanging a sheet from a curtain rod to reduce the heat flow being lost up an unused staircase can help cut heating costs.

Comfort Levels

Adjusting your comfort level can be another effective way in energy savings. In addition to closing off certain sections of your home, by turning down the thermostat and using energy efficient (and safe) space heaters to warm the portions of your home that you are currently using can cut energy costs.

Additionally, turning down the heat down when you are warm and cozy in bed or away at work can also increase your energy efficiency. Utilizing a programmable thermostat can help you to better control your heating usage when you are out of the house or sleeping.

Plugging the Gaps

You could be losing a significant amount of warm air through gaps and cracks in your home. Spaces between doors, gaps in window seals, and similar areas in which cold air could be seeping in or warm air escaping could decrease the ability of your home to remain energy efficient. To detect such gaps, consider holding a lit candle at a safe distance in front the area in question to see if the flame wavers due to airflow. Patching or filling these spaces or replacing windows with energy efficient windows or doors could help your heating efficiency.

In an effort to increase the ability of your home to retain heat, it could also be worthwhile to consider replacing old or deteriorated insulation in areas such as the attic, basement or crawlspace. You might also want to use window seals to cover windows during colder months in order to help you reduce heat loss.

Heating Units

You might be surprised at just how much of a difference your heating unit can make in your energy efficiency. Even if your unit is less than ten years old, you could recognize significant savings in your energy bills with a new model, although the savings will likely be recognized over a longer period of time and the amount may depend upon the severity of winter temperatures in your geographic location.

Whatever your methods or attempts to conserve energy, it can be important to the success of your efforts that you track and gauge your progress. Doing so can help you determine whether your efforts are successful and how you might improve upon or change them for next year.

Kathy and her husband own a company that sells and installs <a href="http://www.superiorwindowcompany.com">replacement windows in Houston</a>. She enjoys writing about energy efficient products that can help home owners save more and spend less. For more energy saving tips visit http://www.superiorwindowcompany.com.

A Mother's Love- Inspirational Story

A little boy came up to his mother in the kitchen one evening while she was fixing supper, and handed her a piece of paper that he had been writing on. After his Mom dried her hands on an apron, she read it, and this is what it said:
For cutting the grass: $5.00
For cleaning up my room this week: $1.00
For going to the store for you: $.50
Baby-sitting my kid brother while you went shopping: $.25
Taking out the garbage: $1.00
For getting a good report card: $5.00
For cleaning up and raking the yard: $2.00
Total owed: $14.75
Well, his mother looked at him standing there, and the boy could see the memories flashing through her mind. She picked up the pen, turned over the paper he’d written on, and this is what she wrote:
For the nine months I carried you while you were growing inside me:
No Charge
For all the nights that I’ve sat up with you, doctored and prayed for you:
No Charge
For all the trying times, and all the tears that you’ve caused through the years:
No Charge
For all the nights that were filled with dread, and for the worries I knew were ahead:
No Charge
For the toys, food, clothes, and even wiping your nose:
No Charge
Son, when you add it up, the cost of my love is:
No Charge.
When the boy finished reading what his mother had written, there were big tears in his eyes, and he looked straight at his mother and said, “Mom, I sure do love you.” And then he took the pen and in great big letters he wrote: “PAID IN FULL”.
Lessons:
You will never how much your parents worth till you become a parent
Be a giver not an asker, especially with your parents. there is a lot to give, besides money.
Advice: If your mom is alive and close to you, give her a big kiss and ask her for forgiveness. If she is far away, call her. if she passed away, pray for her.

Cool Off Duty

Don’t look now on-line gaming buddies, but you’re leaving yourselves open to a very subtle attack and what’s more, you have no-one to blame for the infiltration of the enemy but yourself!  Want to know the weakness in your defence?  Letting on-line gaming take over your life, that’s what!

 

It’s come to my son’s attention that he has the ability to clean up very nicely in the love stakes lately through events completely not of his own making!   The scenario goes like this: friends a-plenty, couples and singles all meet up in the relevant hostelry.  The fraternity of avid on-line gamers, one of whom imaginatively uses his C.O.D. username as his real-life nick-name (and expects his girlfriend to address him by it) immediately get into a huddle for a recon of last night’s mission and to plan further steps in their total annihilation of some poor sap who doesn’t know the rules yet.  

 

Initially, this left my son (non-gamer, but writer-type, pen being mightier and all that ..) feeling a bit peeved and left out, until he realised that the abandoned females in the party, realising their own come-hither moves cannot compete with the significant military manoeuvres that were under discussion, were turning to him for attention and also (shamelessly in some cases) offering up rather more attention to him than they should, all in a bid just to get their own fella to notice them!   Well, he’s a good lad (so he tells me) so he makes no moves of his own, but now that he’s adjusted to this scenario, he does have a great time in the company of some very lovely females, whilst the wanna-be territorials spend their evenings planning their next virtual gathering. 

 

So our point is, isn’t virtual gaming is one leisure activity and an evening down the pub with friends and girlfriend quite another, so when you are with your girl, the gaming side should cool off (because we know this happens the other way around when she’s round yours for the evening)?   Surely one has to have priorities that include those who are real, living and breathing and waiting for a drink, rather than those who have a gaming persona that will shoot you in the virtual back soon as look at you if it means they will rise through the ranks quicker?  Whilst meanwhile behind your real back, this real cooling off of affection duty could lead to your girl seriously seeking new alliances of her own.  Just a thought!

 

Author Byline:

Musa Aykac is a guest blogger for MobyMemory, he absolutely loves the internet and is a tech geek at heart.