The Vicious Babushka

Solar Technology from Israel Can Save the Planet

Solar technologies create a cleaner environment and break our dependence on oil. ISRAEL21c takes a look at the top seven solar technologies being developed in Israel.

They're on investors' hit lists and the green tech media is keen to monitor their progress. Environmentalists and key policy makers from the United States urge them on. Israeli solar technology innovators are channelling and shaping the sun's energy and breaking America's dependence on oil.

With organizations like the Cleantech Forum, an international business development firm that's listing Israel in a league of its own, world rankings show that Israel is no small player in solar energy innovation.

A recent survey released by the Guardian newspaper in the UK and the Cleantech Forum chose five Israeli-based and two Israeli-developed companies among a global listing of 100. That's a significant number, considering that Israel is about the size of a small American state.

Over the years ISRAEL21c has brought you many reports about home-grown Israeli solar energy technologies that are making our world a better place. We'd like to present you with a summary of seven of our favorites:

Read more at Israel21c:
 

Israel Plunges Into Water Technology

JERUSALEM (AP) -- In a country with few natural resources and where the most famous body of water is the Dead Sea, Israel is looking beyond its arid landscape and taking the lead in water technology, the latest export-oriented industry to help it weather the effects of the global meltdown.

The force behind the Jewish state's entry into the budding multibillion dollar industry has been decades of expertise in satisfying local demand. Now, a growing number of Israeli firms are eyeing lucrative overseas markets, offering cutting-edge expertise in areas such as desalination technology, sewage-eating bacteria and wastewater treatment.

"Israel is definitely one of the leaders, if not the leader, when it comes to water. ... I think of Israel as the Silicon Valley of water," said Shawn Lesser, president of Sustainable World Capital, an Atlanta investment group that focuses on clean energy and water technology companies.

Israel's emphasis on exporting high-tech innovations in areas like water technology played a major role in helping the country rebound before most other nations from the world's worst recession in decades, officials said.

"When you check the breakdown, the only market segment where the level of exports is higher than pre-crisis levels is in the high-tech sector," said Amit Friedman, head of the macroeconomic research department at the Bank of Israel.

Reflecting the growing prominence of water technology, Israel's fastest growing technology company this year was Aqwise, a water treatment company that uses small, bacteria-dispensing plastic cubes to break down sewage, increasing treatment efficiency and capacity.

Read more at YNet.

UK Chief Rabbi Urges Shabbat of "Environmental Awareness"

UK chief rabbi calls for environmental Shabbat

Jonathan Sacks asks Jews across Britain to pray for sustainable habits of consumption, energy use

Britain's chief rabbi has called for a Sabbath devoted to the environment ahead of the climate talks due to be held next week in Copenhagen.

Jonathan Sacks says he wants the Shabbat beginning Friday night to be focused on environmental issues and has asked Jews across the UK to pray for sustainable habits of consumption and energy use.

The 61-year-old rabbi says he realizes that there are disagreements over climate change but that "there are some risks you just don't take ... and one is the risk of endangering the very viability of life on earth."

The rabbi spoke as world leaders prepare to meet on reducing emissions at an upcoming United Nations summit in Denmark, which begins Monday.

AP and YNet.

If everyone stopped driving their car one day a week, that would certainly reduce carbon emissions. However, the downside is that excessive consumption of cholent will cause a surge in methane emissions.
 

EPIC FAIL: Wildlife Foundation Ad Compares 2004 Tsunami to 9/11

Advertisers have been fixated on hurtling planes at the Twin Towers long before 9/11 happened, but it's safe to say they held off on it after that tragic day. Now, it turns out that a Brazilian ad agency—DDB Brasil—tried to win the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)'s business with this ad concept: An image of lower Manhattan showing many, many planes aiming at Manhattan—and they even include the Towers. (What is it with Brazilian ad agencies?). The text urges us to protect the planet; it also reads: "The Tsunami Killed 100 Times More People Than 9/11." Okay, so who wants to make a mock-up of 1,000 Nazi soldiers being catapulted into Thailand?

Read more at Gothamist

Who wants to tell World Wildlife Fund the difference between the southeast Asian tsunami and 9/11? Hint: It's the same as the difference between the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic and the Holocaust.

A Tour of Post-Apocalyptic Detroit

Babushka's home town. Sad.

Jews Discover Cure for Radiation Sickness

 

Cure for radiation sickness found?

Exclusive: Dramatic discovery by Jewish-American scientists could change world; anti-radiation medication proves effective, safe in tests. Further experiments to be fast tracked, FDA approval possible within 1-2 years

Medication that can protect humans against nuclear radiation has been developed by Jewish-American scientists in cooperation with a researcher and investors from Israel. The full story behind the dramatic discovery will be published in Yedioth Ahronoth's weekend edition.

The ground-breaking medication, developed by Professor Andrei Gudkov – Chief Scientific Officer at Cleveland BioLabs - may have far-reaching implications on the balance of power in the world, as states capable of providing their citizens with protection against radiation will enjoy a significant strategic advantage vis-à-vis their rivals.

For Israel, the discovery marks a particularly dramatic development that could deeply affect the main issue on the defense establishment's agenda: Protection against a nuclear attack by Iran or against "dirty bomb" attacks by terror groups.

Gudkov's discovery may also have immense implications for cancer patients by enabling doctors to better protect patients against radiation. Should the new medication enable cancer patients to be treated with more powerful radiation, our ability to fight the disease could greatly improve.

Read more at YNet

Israelis Solve the Mystery of "Bee Colony Collapse"

An Israeli company has developed a revolutionary new drug that could solve the problem of Colony Collapse Disorder, the disturbing syndrome that has been wiping out bee communities and threatening agricultural production all over the world.

The drug, Remembee, which was developed by Beeologics, has completed successful clinical trials on millions of bees in North America. Not only has it proved effective in maintaining bee health, but it also improved the longevity of bees and increased the honey in the hives.

Based on Nobel prize-winning RNAI technology, Remembee helps the bees overcome IAVP virus, also discovered in Israel, which has been associated with colony collapse in scientific literature.

"It's really a tug of war between the virus and the host. We are helping the bee tug the rope more strongly and beat the virus. We take advantage of an immune system that the bees elicit for viral disease. But we are really using naturally occurring phenomenon. It's not a pesticide and it's not toxic," says Nitzan Paldi, CTO of Beeologics.

The US Department of Agriculture has been accompanying Beeologics with its FDA certification process due to the urgency of the need for the drug.

Israel21c.com

IDF Robot Snake - Now With Improved, Infra-red, Chemical Weapon Vision!

Snake vision to fight chemo-terrorism

Chemical terrorism, or chemo-terrorism for short, doesn't get as much press as bio-terrorism, but the objectives are the same and the means even more readily available.

In both cases, the purpose is to intimidate or coerce governments or civilian populations, to further political or social objectives. The difference is the method: chemo-terrorism means poisoning the air, water and food supply using chemicals such as caustic acids, arsine, benzene, cyanide, hydrofluoric acid, mustard/T, ricin, sarin, and others.

Bioterrorism involves releasing biologic agents or toxins, such as anthrax, brucella, cholera, e.coli 0157:H7, glanders, ricin toxin, typhoid fever, viral hemorrhagic fever, or any communicable disease. And while it may be difficult to get hold of anthrax, many poisons are as easy to get as going down to the local hardware or gardening store.

Urban water supplies are particularly vulnerable to chemoterror, says Israeli physicist Prof. Abraham Katzir. Colorless and odorless liquids can't be seen by the human eye and water supplies aren't necessarily subject to daily testing.

With many skyscrapers holding water reserves on the top of the building, a terrorist only needs to introduce poison into a tank to wreak havoc. "A terrorist wouldn't have to kill tens of thousands of people. Only 50 deaths - as horrible as that would be - would cause nationwide panic."

Now, to combat the threat of contamination due to sabotage, industrial spillage or natural disaster, Katzir has developed a new system that uses a part of the infrared (IR) spectrum seen only by snakes or vampire bats, to monitor the safety of a building or community's water supply - and in real time.

Read more at Israel21C

The Silence of the Geese

 

NYC to Remove Canada Geese Near Kennedy and LaGuardia Airports

June 11 (Bloomberg) -- New York will remove thousands of Canada geese from city-owned properties near John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports as part of a strategy to keep the birds from interfering with flights.

The city said in a statement that it’s contracting with the U.S. Agriculture Department to “remove and dispose of” Canada geese from about 40 parks, wastewater treatment plants and other properties within 5 miles (8 kilometers) of the two airports from mid-June to the end of July, during the birds’ molting season.

The city said it will also fill in a depression on Rikers Island that’s known to attract geese, and install new signs banning the feeding of animals at parks within 5 miles of the airports.

The city estimates the program will remove as many as 2,000 of the region’s 20,000 to 25,000 resident Canada geese. The steps are the first taken by a city committee formed after US Airways Group Inc. Flight 1549 struck a flock of birds Jan. 15 and made an emergency landing in the Hudson River.

“The serious dangers that Canada geese pose to aviation became all too clear when geese struck US Airways Flight 1549,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News, said in a statement. “The incident served as a catalyst to strengthen our efforts in removing geese from, and discouraging them from nesting on, city property near our runways.”

Coordinated Effort

The panel, made up representatives from the city, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Agriculture Department and other groups, will coordinate efforts to remove Canada geese and other wildlife in the metropolitan area.

The Port Authority, which operates New York’s international airports, will pay half of the cost of the culling program.

The authority already works to control bird populations through methods including shooting, trapping and removing nests as part of a federally mandated wildlife mitigation plan.

LaGuardia has a particular problem with birds because many of its natural features and man-made structures are attractive for perching. Seagulls often laze on the edge of a pier that carries one of the airport’s runways over the East River.

Read more at Bloomberg.com

 
Roast Goose.

Gaza Sewage Project Goes to Crap

 

Blair sewage project in Gaza may collapse

Israeli restrictions on bringing equipment into Strip could curb $75 million project, World Bank memo says. International donors view project as urgent

Middle East envoy Tony Blair's signature project in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip could collapse because of Israeli restrictions on bringing in equipment, an internal World Bank memo obtained by Reuters said.
 
The $75 million north Gaza sewage treatment project was the centerpiece of an economic package spearheaded by the former British prime minister to try to boost Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.

In a June 4 memo to donors, the World Bank said Israel has prevented delivery of critical equipment to the project since March. The equipment included pipes, cement and spare parts.

Attempts to hire building contractors failed last year.

"No bid was submitted as the bidders did not want to run into the security risk in Gaza," The World Bank said. "The failure of attracting bidders in the second round will be devastative to the project."

International donors and Gaza residents view the sewage project as urgent. In 2007, a flood of raw sewage from a plant in north Gaza killed several people.

But like other Western-backed infrastructure projects in the territory, Blair's have suffered lengthy delays because of an Israeli-led blockade which was tightened after Hamas' violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007.

Read more at YNet/Reuters

Bad News for Israel Boycotters--More High-Tech Stuff You Can't Use

LA conference discovers a hot bed of Israeli innovation

Last week, over 400 people attended the Israel Conference at the Luxe Hotel in Los Angeles. Under the banner "Incredible Technology, Amazing Companies," the event brought together some of the biggest and brightest stars in the Israeli and Southern California technology, investment, and venture capital world.

With panels covering everything from clean tech and high tech to med tech and social media, the event also boasted technology rock stars like Yossi Vardi and Bob Rosenschein.

The turnout was impressive given the current state of the economy. Yet despite the recession there was still plenty of interest and a true desire to try and invest in the next big thing.

In addressing the attendees, Los Angeles Israeli Consul General Jacob Dayan noted that the downturn in the economy has actually benefited both Israel and the US, in light of the stimulus packages that are being doled out by the US government.

Together with Utah Governor John Huntsman, Dayan recently returned from a trip to Israel where as a result of Utah's receiving a $1.5 million stimulus package, Huntsman is now working together with the Israeli solar company BrightSource, on a deal similar to the one struck last month between BrightSource and Pacific Gas & Electric in California.

Perhaps some of the greatest buzz surrounding the conference was in the area of clean tech and the recent deal struck between Assaf Barnea, CEO of Kinrot Ventures and the head of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, David Nahai.

It's not about the money

Nahai was part of a delegation to Israel recently with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, where a cooperation agreement was drawn up between the LADWP and Kinrot.

Barnea told ISRAEL21c that when it comes to clean tech and water technology it's not simply about the money, rather, "It's a necessity for the very well-being of people on the planet. New technologies that can optimize the usage of water and infrastructure is crucial whether these are good economic times or bad."

Nahai agreed, saying, "We can learn a great deal from Israel, which has long been grappling with the kind of challenges we're dealing with today in Los Angeles."

Some of those challenges include the fact that LA is in its third year of a drought and is now facing mandatory water conservation. Nahai cited Israel's pioneering of drip irrigation, saying, "Los Angeles has a ban in place now where you can only water your lawn with sprinklers twice a week, but if you install drip irrigation that ban does not apply."

During the panel discussion on Clean Tech, Nahai also noted that "crisis and opportunity are two sides of one coin, which produce the opportunity for innovation and creativity and Israeli companies have clearly stepped up to the plate."

Jacob Segal who is on the board of directors of the Southern California Israel Chamber of Commerce -- one of the events' sponsors -- echoed Nahai's words, telling ISRAEL21c, "Even though there's a recession, good ideas will always transcend any kind of economic situation."

Read more at ISRAEL21C

EPIC FAIL: The New "American Girl" Doll is also Wanted Eco-Terrorist

   

 
Rebecca Rubin (L) and Rebecca Rubin (R) AKA "Little Missy"

American Girl, the doll company based in Middleton, Wis., is expecting strong demand for the newest doll in its historical character line. The 18-inch doll, which went on sale on Sunday, is named Rebecca Rubin and comes with a storybook that describes her life in 1914, growing up on the Lower East Side as the daughter of Jewish Russian immigrants.

But the F.B.I. is more interested in another Rebecca Rubin. Rebecca J. Rubin, who sometimes goes by the alias Little Missy, is a fugitive who was indicted in 2006 in a series of arson fires in Oregon dating to 1997, according to her F.B.I. wanted poster.

The wanted Ms. Rubin carries a $50,000 reward and “should be considered armed and dangerous,” her wanted poster says. The doll Ms. Rubin costs $95 and can be bought with pet kittens and a toy challah bread.

How did the marketing slip happen? Julie Parks, a spokeswoman for American Girl, said that the company originally applied to register the name with the United States trademark office in 2004.

Read more at NY Times

CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT ARSON OF UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PROPERTY AND OF PROPERTY USED IN INTERSTATE COMMERCE; CONSPIRACY TO DESTROY AN ENERGY FACILITY; ARSON OF A BUILDING; ATTEMPTED ARSON OF A BUILDING
REBECCA J. RUBIN

liases: Rebecca Jenneatte Rubin, Rebecca Jeanette Rubin, "Little Missy", "Kara"

CAUTION

On January 19, 2006, a federal grand jury in Eugene, Oregon, indicted Rebecca J. Rubin on multiple charges related to her alleged role in a domestic terrorism cell. Rubin was charged with two conspiracy violations related to seventeen incidents and two counts of arson. These crimes occurred in Oregon and date back to 1997. Many of the crimes she is accused of participating in were claimed to be committed by the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) or the Animal Liberation Front (ALF).

REWARD

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest of Rebecca J. Rubin.

SHOULD BE CONSIDERED ARMED AND DANGEROUS AND AN ESCAPE RISK

IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS PERSON, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LOCAL FBI OFFICE OR THE NEAREST AMERICAN EMBASSY OR CONSULATE.

FBI.GOV

Environmental Elitist wants to ban cars: "Let them walk or ride the bus"

 

Expensive fuel is good

Tani Goldstein says cars are our enemy, wants drivers to pay more for privilege

Upon the publication of this op-ed, a week after fuel taxes were raised and on the eve of yet another price hike, I am about to become the nation’s most hated figure, so I will start by offering full disclosure: Firstly, I do own a car, and I used it on occasion and enjoy it. Secondly, on occasion I also make use of public transportation, and I am aware that Israel’s train and bus system is terrible.

Yet despite the above, I am convinced that expensive fuel is good, period. Very expensive fuel is very good, and even more expensive fuel is excellent. The reason for this is as follows: Making fuel more expensive will prompt some of us to use our cars a little less, and cars (including mine) are, simply put, humanity’s enemy.

Cars are an enemy because they kill people: Since World War II, road accidents are the leading cause of unnatural death in the world. Cars are also responsible for a significant portion of our air pollution – and this will be the case with electric cars as well, because electricity is produced by burning fuel. Cars turn the world into a loud, stinky, and filthy place, filled with junk metal.

Expensive fuel is good because oil became more expensive, and the refineries should not be subsidizing this price hike and encouraging us to drive. The answer to the rising price of oil should be a decline in demand – because oil is the oxygen of our worst enemies.

Indeed, in Israel fuel is first and foremost a tax. Most of the money we pay for fuel ends up in the State coffers through an excise tax. Yet as opposed to Value Added Tax and similarly to income tax, this tax is imposed on the rich and middle-class, rather than on the weak strata of society. Moreover, as opposed to income tax, this is a tax which the payer can regulate as he or she wishes; a tax that is only imposed on those who feel like traveling in their car.

More of this blithering idiocy at YNet.

Obama wants everyone to drive one of these

DETROIT – Some soccer moms will have to give up hulking SUVs. Carpenters will still haul materials around in pickup trucks, but they will cost more. Nearly everybody else will drive smaller cars, and more of them will run on electricity. The higher mileage and emissions standards set by the Obama administration on Tuesday, which begin to take effect in 2012 and are to be achieved by 2016, will transform the American car and truck fleet.

The new rules would bring new cars and trucks sold in the United States to an average of 35.5 miles per gallon, about 10 mpg more than today's standards. Passenger cars will be required to get 39 mpg, light trucks 30 mpg.

That means cars and trucks on American roads will have to become smaller, lighter and more efficient.

Eric Fedewa, vice president of global powertrain forecasting for the auto consulting firm CSM Worldwide in Northville, Mich., said the changes will make pickup trucks so much more expensive that they will be used almost exclusively for work.

Read more at Associated Press

Environmental Technologies Developed by Israel

In spite of all this accomplishment, the vile anti-Semitic comments on this video are sickening. What environmental technologies have the Palestinians developed? What environmental technologies has the entire Muslim world developed?

Joe Lieberman at Birkat Hachama

 

Senator Joseph Lieberman and many others joined in the Birchas Hachamah in Stamford, CT. As the gathering on the shore of Long Island Sound waited for the sun to appear from behind the clouds, Shliach Rabbi Yisrael Deren addressed the assembled followed by a siyum delivered by Rabbi Levi Mendelow.

Gallery of Birkat Hachama from all over the world.

Environmentalists Reach Bottom

 

American taste for soft toilet roll 'worse than driving Hummers'

By Suzanne Goldenberg

Extra-soft, quilted and multi-ply toilet roll made from virgin forest causes more damage than gas-guzzlers, fast food or McMansions, say campaigners

The tenderness of the delicate American buttock is causing more environmental devastation than the country's love of gas-guzzling cars, fast food or McMansions, according to green campaigners. At fault, they say, is the US public's insistence on extra-soft, quilted and multi-ply products when they use the bathroom.

"This is a product that we use for less than three seconds and the ecological consequences of manufacturing it from trees is enormous," said Allen Hershkowitz, a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defence Council.

"Future generations are going to look at the way we make toilet paper as one of the greatest excesses of our age.

What a Bummer.