Posts by happygoldfish

the weather

happygoldfish — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 20:15:32 +0100

starfish

happygoldfish — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:01:35 +0100

david ward, mp

happygoldfish — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 09:24:30 +0100

"six million, and one"

happygoldfish — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 07:39:56 +0000

time to remember

happygoldfish — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 13:12:40 +0100

background goldfish

happygoldfish — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 18:00:37 +0100

parchment-faint-mouseover

happygoldfish — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 17:25:45 +0100

the three wise fish

happygoldfish — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 18:07:39 +0000

may everyone be visited this season by the

three wise fish

bearing their traditional gifts of …

goldfishsense

frankness

and

m i r t h

a merry fishmas to all my readers!

someone wrong on the internet!

happygoldfish — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:01:16 +0000

some jc bloggers seem determined to reply immediately, even out-of-office-hours, when replies have been disabled!!

(LEGAL NOTE: this cartoon is licensed from xkcd.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License, see http://xkcd.com/license.html )

the goldfish report :)

happygoldfish — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 11:21:19 +0100

cartoons: from my little bowl …

happygoldfish — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 11:14:14 +0100

'meat from humane slaughter without stunning'

happygoldfish — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 22:59:02 +0100

annexe iii of the eu regulation on the provision of food information to consumers (page 51 of http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/labellingnutrition/foodlabelling/publicati... ) at present begins …

TYPE OR CATEGORY OF FOOD	PARTICULARS
1. FOODS PACKAGED IN CERTAIN GASES
1.1 Foods whose durability has been extended by means of packaging gases authorised pursuant to Council Directive 89/107/EEC33	‘Packaged in a protective atmosphere’
2. FOODS CONTAINING SWEETENERS

annexe iii may be amended by the eu commission (articles 10(2) and 49(4) at pages 29 and 45), unless the eu parliament within four months opposes the amendment by a majority, in accordance with the procedure in article 5a(4)(e) of 1999/468/EC (page 6 of http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/consleg/1999/D/01999D0468-20... )

the commission's proposed amendment (#205 of http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+REPORT+... ) inserts a new category 1a, "meat products from special slaughter" …

1a. MEAT PRODUCTS FROM SPECIAL SLAUGHTER
1a.1 Meat and meat products derived from animals that have not been stunned prior to slaughter, i.e. have been ritually slaughtered	'Meat from slaughter without stunning'

… with the following justification:

Justification

EU legislation permits animals to be slaughtered without prior stunning to provide food for certain religious communities. A proportion of this meat is not sold to Muslims or Jews but is placed on the general market and can be unwittingly purchased by consumers who do not wish to buy meat derived from animals that have not been stunned. At the same time, however, adherents of certain religions specifically seek meat from animals which have been ritually slaughtered. Accordingly, consumers should be informed that certain meat is derived from animals which have not been stunned. This will enable them to make an informed choice in accordance with their ethical concerns.

of course, this does not "enable them to make an informed choice in accordance with their ethical concerns", since it does not tell them whether the animal was humanely slaughtered

on the contrary, it enables consumers only to make a choice in accordance with their religious (or anti-religious) prejudices

eu legislation should not give consumers the right to know "what was the religion of the slaughterer?", but it should give them the right to know "was the slaughter humane?"

give gentiles the choice!

gentile slaughter essentially involves blowing the animals brains out (or electrocution … for details see para 13 of schedule 5 to the welfare of animals (slaughter or killing) regulations, s.i. 1995 no. 731) … that's ok so long as the animal is unconscious, but unfortunately in many cases the stunning is not effective, and the animal is still conscious when its brains are blown out

now i wouldn't seek to stop gentiles eating meat from such animals, but i do think they should be given the informed choice …

they should know "is this animal guaranteed to have been killed carefully and humanely, or did it possibly have its brains blown out in great pain and terror?"

proportionality

this amendment should be opposed on the grounds that it "does not respect the principles of … proportionality" … it causes undue harm to the kosher and halal slaughter industry, and to race relations, without achieving the intended purpose, of giving consumers an ethical informed choice based on humaneness

moreover, the amended legislation would not give the consumer an informed choice about whether non-ritually slaughtered animals were humanely killed

"humane"

the amendment should be revised by adding the word "humane" to the label, so that it reads

'meat from humane slaughter without stunning'

this would give the consumer more information than the proposed label, and would specifically answer the very question the consumer needs to know, thus restoring proportionality

i assume the proponents of this amendment are not actually claiming that shechita isn't humane, and unless they do it is difficult to see what objection they can have to this revised label

a survey?

perhaps there should be a survey of eu consumers, asking them "what would be your reaction to meat labelled 'meat from humane slaughter without stunning'? would you prefer to buy meat with or without such a label?"

i expect most eu consumers would prefer meat labelled as 'humanely slaughtered' to unlabelled meat

pre-emptive action?

perhaps kosher slaughterers should start now to use the label 'meat from humane slaughter without stunning', at least in a trial area, so as to present the eu parliament with an established usage?

(this could be accompanied by a campaign, aimed at consumers, emphasising the benefits of humane slaughter, and the terrible consequences of ineffective stunning )

if it achieves consumer approval, it will show the parliament that this label is in consumers' interest

if the amendment is approved without revision

even if the amendment is approved without revision, it is arguable that shechted meat could still legally be labelled 'meat from humane slaughter without stunning', since the extra word gives extra information which in no way detracts from the official label

(alternatively, the words "humanely slaughtered" could be added at the beginning, leaving the official label intact)

and finally of course there could be a challenge in the european courts on the grounds inter alia of lack of porportionality

(a interesting review of ritual slaughter legislation in the usa britain and nazi-occupied poland is at http://www.law.duke.edu/shell/cite.pl?70+Law+&+Contemp.+Probs.+175+(winter+2007)#H2N10 )

rename the zionist federation "love-israel" (say dovy and shaloma the peace-bears!)

happygoldfish — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 09:30:18 +0100

from my little bowl, i notice that pro-israel pr is terrible

the pro-israeli community needs to "get with it"

events like the "flotilla" are not a problem, they are an opportunity

when tv news shows banners in trafalgar square saying "freedom for palestine", why are there no banners saying "freedom for israel"? (the four freedoms, of course, are freedom from rockets, freedom from suicide bombs, freedom from conscription, and freedom from international double standards)

unfortunately, in the public relations war, it is we who "never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity"

"a bad name"

in marketing and pr, there are good words and bad words

"zionism", in that context, is a bad word

jews who continue to use it are living in the past

it used to mean support for the creation of a jewish homeland, but since 1948 that has been obsolete

it now is defined by its opposite … there are so many people who want to destroy israel that zionism continues to exist only to oppose them … zionism is the opposite of anti-zionism, and it is the anti-zionists who make all the running

for several decades, "zionism" has been used all over world as term of disparagement … for many, it is an insult even worse than "jews"

and … worst of all … it means whatever the speaker (or the listener) wants it to mean … we have lost control of the meaning of the word!

photos of demonstrations with banners marked "zionist federation" are bad pr for israel

let's face it, in the twenty-first century the name is an embarrassment

"getting with it"

modern times require modern names

solicitors used to be called "attorneys", but there came a time when attorneys had such a bad reputation that they decided on a fresh start, and re-named themselves "solicitors"

british petroleum became "bp", international business machines became "ibm" (and ibm's competitor simply called itself "apple", right from the start)

the national council for civil liberties became "liberty", and the marriage guidance council became "relate"

it is time for zionism to "get with it", and do the same

let's replace the zionist federation by "love-israel" (or "love-israel.org.uk") , with its mascots dovy and shaloma the peace-bears!

(and maybe also emmy and essy the truth-bears, and perhaps even kev קו and hayley חלי the hoffbears! )

it'll need a flag (the israeli flag, i suppose, but with the magen dovid replaced by something, perhaps overlapping hearts?)

and it'll need some marketing people who can design posters as good as the anti-israel posters

nationwide launch

to stop anyone else using the name, i hereby declare that love-israel.org already exists!

sign up here!

i see the first national love-in assembling … let's say … hmm … on sunday 3rd october, somewhere like the logan hall, to elect national officers and to draw up a constitution

(i won't be there, of course … i'm stuck in this little bowl! )

i see everyone setting up local love-ins in their own neighbourhoods!

i see anti-zionists fretting that there's no longer any zionists to object to!

i see a future in which goldfish and teddy-bears will rule the world!

(ooh, is that overdoing it slightly? nah!)

i see a lot from my little bowl!

goldfishy guide < html for guppies >

happygoldfish — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 00:13:30 +0100

html for guppies:

there's no official html guide on thejc.com, so here's a few hints, and some codes for you to copy-and-paste onto a file on your own computer

(a very useful guide to html (with a try-it-yourself facility) can be found at http://www.w3schools.com/html/)

comment:

all html codes must begin and end with angled brackets (< and >)

previewing your blog or comment:

there's no preview facility on the blog itself, but you can use the preview facility on the private message part of the website …

bookmark http://www.thejc.com/privatemsg/msgto (it only works if you're logged-in! ), type your name as the addressee, anything as the subject (i suggest the title of the blog, if you want to save the comment as a separate message), your draft comment in the message box, and click the "preview" button

(and if you actually click the "send" button, no harm's done … you've only sent it to yourself! )

tags to rememmber:
i tags (eg <i>italic text</i> gives you italic text)

b tags (eg <b>bold text</b> gives you bold text)

small tags (eg <small>small text</small> gives you small text)

big tags (eg <big>big text</big> gives you big text)

h6 tags (eg <h6>a small heading</h6> gives you

a small heading

h4 tags (eg <h4>a big heading</h4> gives you

a big heading

(other sizes, such as h5, do not seem to be available on these blogs)

quotes:

to quote some text, put it between blockquote tags, eg <blockquote>some text</blockquote> gives you

some text

clickable links:

to turn some text into a clickable link, put <a href="http:www.etc"> before the text, and </a> after, eg <a href="http://www.thejc.com">this text is clickable</a> gives you this text is clickable

but a web address is automatically clickable … just type it (eg http://splurge ), and the jc's computer makes it a clickable link!

you can combine the previous two methods to quote some text and begin the quote with a clickable link, as follows:

to quote from a comment on the same page:

copy-and-paste the following before the text (and </blockquote> after the text):

<blockquote><span class="user_name"><a title="click here for original quote" href="#comment-12345"><small>happygoldfish: </small> </a></span>

but inserting the blogger's name instead of mine, and the actual comment number instead of 12345 (you can find that number by hovering your mouse over the word "reply" at the bottom of the comment, and looking at the status bar at the bottom of the window)

eg <blockquote><span class="user_name"><a title="click here for original quote" href="#comment-12345"><small>happygoldfish: </small> </a></span>all html codes <i>must</i> begin and end with <i>angled</i> brackets (< and >) </blockquote> gives the comment with a clickable link on the name:

happygoldfish: all html codes must begin and end with angled brackets (< and >)

to link to the original blog, type "#content-header" instead of "#comment-12345":
<a href="#content-header">

to link to a different blog, you'll need to type the site url of the blog (ie, everything from the "/" after "thejc.com") before the #, eg <a href="/blogpost/israeli-oranges-iran#comment-12345">

indenting:

to slightly indent text, place it inside a table with only one cell, but with a cellspacing of 10, eg:

<table cellspacing="10"><tr><td>this text is indented 10 points</td></tr></table> gives you:

this text is indented 10 points

alternatively, place it inside the second cell of a table, with the first cell empty but with a width of 10 points, eg:

<table ><tr><td width="10"></td><td>this text is indented 10 points</td></tr></table> gives you:

this text is indented 10 points

centreing:

there are two ways of centreing text:

i] the simple and obvious way is to type <div align="center"> before and </div> after … unfortunately, i have found this unreliable: it does not always give the desired result, and sometimes the appearance on the preview is not the same as on the blog itself: so instead i prefer …

ii] centreing a short line of text (or slightly indenting several lines) can be achieved by putting the text into a table with centre-aligned cells, eg: <table align="center" cellspacing="10"><tr><td>this text is centred</td></tr></table> gives you:

this text is centred

(nb: "cell-spacing="10"" is needed to prevent the table from getting too close to the following line)

(several lines will be slightly indented, but still left-aligned within the table … to centre several lines reliably, use method i] inside method ii])

(you can also right-align by typing "right" instead of "center"!)

red text:

place <span class="messages error"> before and </span> after to produce red text, eg <span class="messages error">this text is <i>red!</i></span> gives you:
this text is red!

(this also works with p or td instead of span, but not with div, which for some reason produces instead …

black text in a long pink box!

but if you place it in a cell of a table, that cuts the box to size … eg, <table><tr><td><div class="messages error">black text in a <i>snug!</i> pink box!</div></td></tr></table> gives you:

black text in a snug pink box!

)

blue text:

place <span class="user_name"><a><small> before and </small></a></span> after to produce blue text, eg <span class="user_name"><a><small>this text is <i>blue!!</small></a></span> gives you:
this text is blue!!

(this also works with p div or td instead of span)

(unfortunately, the blue text is underlined, and goes black if you place the mouse over it … i don't know how to avoid that … the blue isn't underlined in message-preview )

and mixed
text:

this is red

this is black

in a pink box

this is blue

this is red again!

smilies:
smilies are not officially provided for on these blogs, but you can produce them by copy-and-pasting:
<img src="/files/imagecache/simchach_galleria/smile.gif"> gives you

and replacing the word "smile" by other words gives you other smilies, as follows:

wink
confused
frown
redface
rolleyes
biggrin
rofl
tongue2
angel
yuck

i'm not sure why one would ever want to use such a frame in a blog , but for what it's worth, it was done with <fieldset><legend align="center"><b>smilies:</b></legend> before and </fieldset> after

oh, i almost forgot …
cheers!

israeli oranges in iran (the usual suspects hijack a blog again)

happygoldfish — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 08:39:13 +0100

this blog was originally about jewish refugees from arab lands and their right to return or compensation

the usual suspects (i'm not including you, deborah) came along and derailed the blog into a discussion of palestinian refugees and whether they left willingly

i asked the moderators to stop this at the start, but they didn't

so i've removed the original text of this blog, and the original title, and i'll re-post them in a fresh blog, at … hopefully, that won't be derailed!

too many blogs here are hijacked by the usual suspects and derailed from the original topic

on most internet forums, posting off-topic is frowned on, and sanctions are applied, but here it seems to be acccepted

well, if they can post off-topic, so can i …

israeli oranges in iran

from my little bowl, i noticed recently that iran has been visited with a plague of oranges ° not falling from the sky and killing all the firstborn cattle, but lying unexploded in boxes waiting to terrorise the population ° only the vigilance of the iranian fruit police has exposed this insurgence, with its international connections

the oranges were displayed for sale around teheran, masquerading as good chinese oranges, but they were found to have originated from jaffa, and were imported via dubai in boxes with chinese lettering ° clearly an international conspiracy seeks to undermine the iranian republic with sweetness and easy peelability

the israeli government has, as is usual on security matters, refused to comment ° but it is known that jerusalem has been visited by a top american spy with the code-name agent orange ° and a rabbi in jaffa recently gave a sermon on the verse "out of sweetness came forth strength"

israel's orange enrichment program is an open secret, and the whole city of tel-aviv "never sleeps" in its single-minded sixty-year quest for the "big orange"

already iranian dissidents are openly eating these oranges in public, in defiance of the strict fruit laws ° by the cunning zionist trick of removing the labels, they are making it impossible for the fruit police to tell who is a good peace-loving citizen and who is a dangerous dissident and counter-revolutionary

as a result, the government is trying to recall all oranges, officially for "safety inspections", but in reality for stockpiling for use against iran's arab neighbours ° but the people are hiding and even burying their oranges, and bringing them out for wild anti-government orange parties when the inspectors have gone

the police have arrested all the usual black marketeers, but they cannot find the orange marketeers who are running the orange underground ° anarchists in isfahan started a rumour that israel had grown an army of mutant oversized oranges which were parachuting into iran disguised as grapefruit, and many innocent grapefruit were crushed in the panic

the orange revolution has started! o people of iran, rise up for freedom of fruit! ° remember how william of orange freed ireland from the austrians by rescuing an orange from his son's head! ° where oranges lead, let the people follow! ° the people's flag is deepest orange!

i see a future in which oranges of every persuasion have a place in paradise ° i see a future in which the duck shall lie down with the orange, and a little child shall eat them ° i see that the future is sweet! the future is orange!

i see a lot from my little bowl!

hmm … the usual suspects should have no difficulty staying off-topic from that!

ok then …

jon i cohen, you can start …

"release shalit" says european union, but not palestinian prisoners

happygoldfish — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 14:32:32 +0100

the foreign affairs council of the european union on 14th june 2010 issued a policy statement including gilad shalit whose significance is not generally recognised

at page 11, the council deals with gaza:

GAZA Council conclusions
…
3. The Council deplores the continuing acts of rocket fire. All those responsible must take immediate and concrete steps to cease and prevent such violence.

The Council calls on those holding the abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit to release him without delay. Hamas must also unconditionally allow ICRC access and end its interference with the operations of NGOs and UN agencies in Gaza.

no mention is made of the release of the 1,000 or so palestinian prisoners (in israel) with whom shalit's released is normally linked … the release is to be without delay, and no conditions are mentioned

the european union is sticking unequivocally to the position under international law, that shalit's imprisonment is illegal, while those of the palestinian prisoners is not

(a similar statement was issued on 8th december 2009, see page 9 of http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/111833.pdf)

(by contrast, the council of europe, a completely separate body to the eu, does link them … see the political affairs commitee report of 22/6/10 at http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link=/Documents/WorkingDocs/Doc10/EDOC12308.htm on 22/6/2010:)

15. The Assembly urges Israelis and Palestinians to reach an agreement for the release of soldier Gilad Shalit and the thousands of Palestinian political prisoners.

fortunately, the council of europe, whose principal concerns are the european court of human rights, and various european regional conventions, does not appear to have any functions outside europe!)

the significance is that neither the european union (and, by implication, the quartet) nor mahmoud abbas are putting any pressure on israel to release palestinian prisoners in return for gilad shalit

smiles

happygoldfish — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 16:54:10 +0100

here is the San Remo international law of blockade …

happygoldfish — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:17:09 +0100

having gone to a freshwater university, i didn't study maritime law, but it can be easily found on the internet

israel's blockade of gaza is perfectly legal under international law, and is so regarded by most governments

the international law of war at sea is laid down in …

the San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea, "convened by the International Institute of Humanitarian Law. Adopted in June 1994", and published on the red cross website at http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/57JMSU

it is very clear, and easy to read, and other jc bloggers should study it, instead of making up the law as they wish it to be, or getting it from newspapers or television

to summarise: a blockade is a legal method of warfare, and may be used to prevent not only arms but also food from reaching enemy territory (provided that, in the case of food and other essential supplies, if supply would otherwise be inadequate, the blockading party must provide for their free passage, subject to a right of search)

it is enforceable in international waters, including by searching neutral ships, and attacking and capturing them if they try to break the blockade

and it is lawful if it satisfies paragraphs 93 to 104 … which israel's blockade does

now here's the details …

[attack and capture of neutral ships are dealt with by paragraphs 67 and 146 respectively, and lawful blockade is defined by paragraphs 93 to 104 …]

67. Merchant vessels flying the flag of neutral States may not be attacked unless they:
(a) are believed on reasonable grounds to be carrying contraband or breaching a blockade, and after prior warning they intentionally and clearly refuse to stop, or intentionally and clearly resist visit, search or capture;

146. Neutral merchant vessels are subject to capture outside neutral waters if they are engaged in any of the activities referred to in paragraph 67 or if it is determined as a result of visit and search or by other means, that they:
… (f) are breaching or attempting to breach a blockade.

[N.B. "Neutral waters" are not international waters, they are only the waters of neutral states, see …
14. Neutral waters consist of the internal waters, territorial sea, and, where applicable, the archipelagic waters, of neutral States.]

[a ship is "attempting to breach a blockade" even before it reaches the declared blockade area … see for example paragraph 7.7.4 of the U.S.A.'s Commander's Handbook on the Law of Naval Operations …
7.7.4. … Attempted breach of blockade occurs from the time a vessel or aircraft leaves a port or airfield with the intention of evading the blockade …]

95. A blockade must be effective. The question whether a blockade is effective is a question of fact.

100. A blockade must be applied impartially to the vessels of all States.

[paragraphs 95 and 100 mean that if israel had let the flotilla through, it could then be claimed that the blockade was not effective, and therefore the whole blockade was illegal … this is the main legal purpose for attempting to breach the blockade]

96. The force maintaining the blockade may be stationed at a distance determined by military requirements.

98. Merchant vessels believed on reasonable grounds to be breaching a blockade may be captured. Merchant vessels which, after prior warning, clearly resist capture may be attacked.

israel went through all the necessary procedures, and was perfectly entitled to use lightly armed troops to capture a vessel attempting to breach the blockade

rename "rachel corrie" the "gilad shalit"

happygoldfish — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 11:47:39 +0100

from my little bowl, i notice that israel's pr is terrible

israel needs to "get with it", both in terms of speed and content

ships like the "marmara" are not a problem, they are an opportunity

unfortunately, in the public relations war, it is israel which "never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity"

the "rachel corrie" is another opportunity, but it must be seized immediately …

the palestinians' pr method, of renaming a ship, can be turned against them …

by renaming the "rachel corrie as the "gilad shalit"

once the ship is captured, the old name should be painted over, or covered with a banner, and since news media always refer to the name of the ship, they will feel obliged to at least mention the new name

i see gilad shalit temporarily becoming a household name, and israeli spokespersons issuing such statements as

"we are sure that rachel corrie would have protested against gilad shalit's four years of solitary confinement"

and

"to hamas: if you release our gilad shalit, we will release your gilad shalit"

i see ashdod harbour filled with israeli banners saying "welcome gilad shalit"

i see all the humanitarian aid stamped "from gilad shalit"

i see a lot from my little bowl!

israeli oranges in iran

happygoldfish — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:47:12 +0100

from my little bowl, i noticed this week that iran has been visited with a plague of oranges ° not falling from the sky and killing all the firstborn cattle, but lying unexploded in boxes waiting to terrorise the population ° only the vigilance of the iranian fruit police has exposed this insurgence, with its international connections

israel's orange enrichment program is an open secret, and the whole city of tel-aviv "never sleeps" in its single-minded hundred-year quest for the "big orange"

i see a lot from my little bowl!

Posts by happygoldfish

the weather

starfish

david ward, mp

"six million, and one"

time to remember

background goldfish

parchment-faint-mouseover

the three wise fish

someone wrong on the internet!

the goldfish report :)

cartoons: from my little bowl …

'meat from humane slaughter without stunning'

give gentiles the choice!

proportionality

"humane"

a survey?

pre-emptive action?

if the amendment is approved without revision

rename the zionist federation "love-israel" (say dovy and shaloma the peace-bears!)

"a bad name"

"getting with it"

nationwide launch

goldfishy guide < html for guppies >

html for guppies:

previewing your blog or comment:

a small heading

a big heading

quotes:

clickable links:

to quote from a comment on the same page:

indenting:

centreing:

red text:

blue text:

and mixed text:

israeli oranges in iran (the usual suspects hijack a blog again)

"release shalit" says european union, but not palestinian prisoners

smiles

here is the San Remo international law of blockade …

the international law of war at sea is laid down in …

now here's the details …

rename "rachel corrie" the "gilad shalit"

israeli oranges in iran

and mixed
text: