Gun laws in Israel

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TheNewtown shooting has once again opened up debate in the U.S. about gun control. Naturally it will lead to nothing or at best some cosmetic change that will be used by both sides of the debate to win some points - if you're actually keeping score. 

I am the first to acknowledge that keeping guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill is quite the challenge while still allowing responsible citizens to own and carry firearms. Though I can't really contemplate a scenario where ordinary citizens need access to assault rifles.

On Sunday, the NRA’s chief executive, Wayne LaPierre, invoked his perception of the Israeli school security system to back his proposal.  Interestingly enough Israel is country with very restrictive gun laws.   You would think with the threat of attack in Israel that gun laws would be pretty lax. Wouldn't just about everyone be allowed to carry a firearm to protect themselves? Surprisingly no.

This is my understanding of gun laws in Israel from talking to Israelis and the Internet. The laws are extremely restrictive, but have some elements of common sense. All weapons are listed, registered and individually licensed. The Ministry of Interior is responsible for the licensing of weapons and Gun Shops. Also keep in mind that all citizens serve in the army and then become reservists until the age of 45. Depending on their rank in the Reserve they may have a M16A1 military issue rifle which is “signed out” from the military, for civil defense.

To get a license for a gun in Israel you have to show that you need a gun. This means that you have to be: a) A member of the armed forces - only career soldiers above a certain minimum rank (officer/warrant officer)b) Have a job which might put your life at risk, or requires you to protect others. (diamond courier, security personnel)c) Work in a job which requires travel in the West Bank.
For the above three rules, you also have to prove that you are sane and do not have a criminal record.
There is another possibility, that is you live in the West Bank, in which case you can get a weapon and do not have to prove that you are sane and do not have a criminal record (you would have to be insane to live in the West Bank).
For an Arab citizen of Israel to get a license is difficult but not impossible. The civil courts in Israel are tough making virtually any use of a weapon more of a liability to you than a danger to anyone else. For example, you could be jailed for threatening an intruder to your home with your pistol.
You cannot legally use a weapon to prevent a bank robbery (even if the robbers are armed).You can be held responsible if your weapon is stolen from your property.
Ammunition is limited, except ammunition purchased in a firing range to be used at the range. You can simply go to the range, buy 3 boxes of ammunition, practice with two, and no one is the wiser.
You do not need a license to practice with a weapon inside a legal firing range. Weapons do not need to be concealed or otherwise. The normal way to carry a pistol is in a holster in the belt. In summer you can see it, in winter it is concealed by your coat. The preference is for unconcealed weapons, to serve as a deterrent.
Every 5 years a gun owner is to pass a physical and mental health check, criminal background check, qualify at the range, and pay a renewal fee for my carry permit.

Who carries weapons in Israel?
Servicemen and women, on duty and off, in uniform or not. Reservists, Cops, Ambulance Drivers, Firemen, Teachers, Security Guards, Businessmen, and anyone else that has a valid carry permit. Jews, Arabs, and Christians (and everyone else) all carry weapons.

Rifles are generally issued by the Israeli Defense Force and carried by Servicemen and Reservists, although if you live in an area deemed by the Government to be a high risk (that’s almost every small town in Israel today) you can be issued a rifle for civil defense.

Wrong man held, drugged at hospital

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A man was given anti-psychotic drugs after he was mistaken for an escaped Graylands Mental Hspitial patient, having been picked up by police and detained at the hospital.

The shocking incident occurred earlier this month and authorities did not realize they had made the blunder until after they gave the innocent man a cocktail of powerful drugs.The man fell ill after being given the drugs and needed hospital treatment.An investigation into the incident is now underway.

The series of events started after a patient at the hospital left without permission in mid December.Police were called to help locate the patient and several days later, a man with the same description of the escapee was brought back to Graylands by police where he was wrongly identified by hospital staff as the runaway patient.The man was subsequently given a batch of antipsychotic drugs but it caused an adverse reaction and he was treated overnight in hospital.

The “real” missing patient eventually returned to Graylands.Health authorities and WA Police have both launched their own investigations into the incident.WA Mental Health Minister Helen Morton has reportedly apologised for the blunder and labelled the incident a “dreadful mistake.”

source

Maple Leaf prospect Joe Colborne may be a bust

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I attended today's Marlie matinee game at the ACC today.  The Marlie win was in front of a sold out crowd and puts then second overall in the league.  It was a good opportunity to catch up on Maple Leaf prospects.

Nazem Kadri after a slow start is at a point a game pace.  Matt Frattin has recovered very nicely from knee surgery.  Jake Gardner was out of the lineup with a neck injury but has been dominating AHL opponents this season. But Joe Colborne has been terrible.

Today he scored just his second goal and tenth point of the season in 26 games. Last season he had a great start with 19 points in his first 11 games and the AHL player of the month award for October, he was called up to the Leafs for a 10-game stretch in which he netted five points and looked relatively comfortable in his first sustained NHL action.  Then he disappeared.  He posted no goals and only four points in his final 24 regular season games.  This is Scott Gomez territory.

Last season he had a number of injuries that hurt his production.  I haven't heard that injuries have slowed him down this season which must be creating significant concern in the Maple Leaf organization.

Perhaps it's too early to be writing him off but it's not too early to sound the alarm.  This guy is AWOL and no one has a clue when he plans to get back.

Judge orders parents from Hell to stop stalking their daughter

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Aubrey Ireland had so much going for her. A senior in the prestigious College-Conservatory of Music, she had supportive parents who wanted her to excel in her music and acting career, so much so that they paid her tuition to University of Cincinnati even though she was offered full scholarships to other schools.

That relationship, though, devolved to the point where the 21-year-old senior sought and won, in an unusual court case, a stalking order against her parents.


Despite her good grades and success in musical shows, David and Julie Ireland often drove 600 miles from Leawood, Kan., to visit their daughter unannounced. They accused her of using illegal drugs, promiscuity and suffering from mental woes. She insisted none of that was true and asked them to stop, but their accusations escalated. They informed her department head she had mental issues that could force them to go to court to have her treated.

The parents knew about what they saw as their daughter’s problems because, they admit, they installed monitoring software on her laptop and cellphone, allowing them to see her every keystroke and phone number dialed or received.

The parents became such an issue that the school hired security guards to keep them out of their daughter’s performances. When the parents stopped paying her tuition because she’d cut off all contact with them, the school gave her a full scholarship for her final year.

The college senior decided to seek a civil stalking order to keep her parents away from her after they went to UC and told her college administrators they could seek to have her taken in for mental evaluations.

source

Boxing Day shoppers call 911 to get out of traffic

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News flash for shoppers: Being stuck in Boxing Day traffic is not an emergency.

That’s the message Burnaby RCMP had to give out Wednesday afternoon after an onslaught of 911 calls from frustrated motorists stuck in traffic on streets and parking lots, particularly at Metrotown.  Staff Sgt. Robert Marks said the calls — too many to count — started coming in around noon and continued into the evening.

“Obviously, people on Boxing Day are out returning things and doing their shopping. It’s the traffic and people not being able to exit parking lots at the mall that’s causing this. So it’s kind of an unusual call to get as far as 911 calls are concerned.”


The deluge of calls prompted Burnaby RCMP Staff Sgt. Steve Crawford to send out a Twitter plea around 2 p.m. on the @BurnabyRCMP account urging people to stop dialling the emergency number for traffic problems.

source

"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" is Still Great

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Just about everyone who has seen it is saying that the new revival of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is not to be missed.  And they’re right.
This latest version of Edward Albee’s masterwork opened at the Booth Theatre  on Oct. 13, 50 years to the day that the original opened at the old Billy Rose Theater (now the Nederlander and home to Newsies). But there is nothing dated about Albee’s gimlet-eyed look at the desperate games unhappy people can play to keep themselves going.
Albee had been a success in the downtown theater scene but Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was his Broadway debut. His chronicle of a night in which two college professors and their wives drink oceans of alcohol, flirt with adultery and reveal the secrets that have kept their unhappy marriages together gob smacked the uptown crowd.
The New York Times declared that it “towers over the common run of contemporary plays.” But there were dissenters too.  “If Edward Albee is the white hope of the American theater, then our nation is in need of a strong detergent,” huffed one letter to the paper’s editor.
The play was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama but the board was apparently as prudish as the letter writer and awarded no prize that year. But the theater community knew what it had been given. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? took home four big Tonys for direction, best actor and best actress for Arthur Hill and Uta Hagen as the battling older couple George and Martha, and, of course, best play.
Four years later, Mike Nichols directed a movie version that starred Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, who won her second Oscar for her performance as the bitterly frustrated Martha. I was in my teens then but my mother took me to see it and while I won’t pretend that I understood everything I was seeing, I do remember being transfixed.
Director Pam McKinnon’s crackerjack production is the third Broadway revival.  The last, in 2005, which starred Kathleen Turner and Bill Irwin was so good that my husband K decided not to see this one because he didn’t want to taint the memory of such a great evening in the theater.
But this new production drew raves when it opened at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre in 2010 and later when it moved to Washington. So I decided to risk it and I had little trouble persuading my theatergoing buddy Bill to see it with me.  
And we were so glad we went. The play runs 3 hours and 15 minutes with two intermissions but the time flew by.
That’s in part because Albee’s play is often throw-you-head-back-and- laugh funny. But it’s also because McKinnon and her outstanding cast found new ways to unleash its devastating pain as well. 
Amy Morton, best known as the oldest daughter in August: Osage County, makes Martha less of a gorgon than others have.  Bill said he missed that harpyish streak in the character but Morton’s human-sized Martha seemed more like the college president’s daughter that Martha is—and more vulnerable. This Martha touched me in a way that others—even very good ones like Turner’s—didn’t.  (Click here to read an interview with Morton.)
Tracy Letts, who wrote August: Osage Country confirms how theatrically ambidextrous he is because, while, just as you'd expect one playwright to treat the work of another, he is totally faithful to the text, he's also managed to subtlety reimagine George. 
The wounds that Letts' George has suffered over the years throb right beneath the surface but over them he has grown a blister that numbs the pain just enough so that he's able to push ruthlessly ahead.  (Click here to read an interview with Letts.)
I also have to give a shout-out to Carrie Coon, who plays Honey, the puerile wife in the younger couple, and who may be the best onstage drunk I’ve ever seen. But everything about this production—Todd Rosenthal’s set, Nan Dibula-Jenkins’ costumes, Aileen Lee Hughes’ lighting and, of course, McKinnon's deft direction—works, the pieces adding up to a magnificent whole. 
There was silence for the first few seconds after the performance that Bill and I saw ended as those of us in the audience (dotted with celebrities including Stephen Sondheim and the movie actor Bradley Cooper, as I said, everyone who loves theater is trying to see this) pulled ourselves together and then erupted into applause, including opera-house bravos. 
After the show, Bill and I walked through Shubert Alley for a late dinner at Sardi’s.  As we were leaving the restaurant, I spotted my old friend the veteran publicist Irene Gandy having dinner with McKinnon.  I went over and when Irene introduced me, I put my palms together in a gesture of thanks and bowed. “I’ve been hungry for a nourishing evening in the theater,” I told McKinnon.  “Thank you so much for giving it to me.” 
And now here's what I want to tell you: go see it and be fulfilled too.

"Emotional Creature" Celebrates Girl Power

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Eve Ensler hit the theatrical equivalent of the Mega Millions lottery with The Vagina Monologues, her collection of solo pieces in which women talk about the full spectrum of the feminine experience, ranging from the pleasures of orgasms and becoming a mother to the horrors of rape and genital mutilation.  But she’s unlikely to score as big a hit with her latest work, Emotional Creature, which covers some of that same territory but this time from the perspective of adolescent girls.
For starters, the title of the new show, which is playing at The Pershing Square Signature Theater through Jan.13, is nowhere near as brazen as that of its older sibling.  And the same thing holds true when, as is unavoidable, the shows are held up against one another. 
That doesn’t mean that some of the stories adapted from Ensler’s book “I Am an Emotional Creature: The Secret Life of Girls Around the World” aren’t compelling (click here to read an interview with Ensler). Only totally atrophied hearts could be unmoved by the despair of a teenaged prostitute in Bulgaria or the anguish of a young sex slave in the Congo.
Other segments of the show deal with anorexia, coming out and even making Barbie dolls in a Chinese factory.  But because Emotional Creature is about—and presumably aimed at—tweens and teens, these tales are juxtaposed alongside others about wanting to fit in with the cool crowd at school and accepting the way one looks.The overall effect is sometimes jolting and tends to trivialize the more serious issues.  
Same goes for the peppy girl-power anthems that are sprinkled throughout the piece and sound as though they’ve been lifted from the “Free to Be You and Me” songbook. 
But now I worry that I’m making the show sound far worse than it is.   
What saves Emotional Creature is that Ensler and director Jo Bonney have put together a six-member cast that is multi-ethnic but uniformly talented. Each young woman is given several moments to shine and all six of them glow. Still, I can’t help singling out Joaquina Kalukango, who is shattering as the Congolese sex slave.
Bonney's staging is also engaging and incorporates references to Facebook, Instagram and other smartphone technology.  And despite the sad stories that are told, the 90-minute show ends on a high note as the young women celebrate the potential of women in the 21st century.
So ignore my grumpiness. This may be just the ticket if you’re looking for some holiday entertainment for a sophisticated girl who feels she’s outgrown Annie or Mary Poppins.  And, apparently, you don’t have to be 15 or under to appreciate the show’s empowerment message. The two women sitting in front of me looked to be at least three times that age but at the show's end, they stood and pumped their fists in the air.    

A Terrific Gift for Your Favorite Theater Lover

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Christmas is less than a week away and so you’re no doubt already deep into your shopping list but there may be one person you haven’t gotten around to yet: you. 

Not to worry. I’ve got just the thing for you (or for some other deserving theater lover on your list). For the Victoria and Albert Museum in London has put together “Played in Britain: Modern Theatre in 100 Plays 1945 – 2010,” a terrific iPad app that chronicles the 100 most significant productions to play in London over the past 60 years, from  J. B. Priestley’s An Inspector Calls in 1946 straight through to Laura Wade’s Posh in 2010.
No musicals are included; the play's the thing here.  But there's more than enough to satisfy most theater geeks.  The works of every major British playwright of the postwar period—Beckett, Osborne, Pinter, Orton, Bennett, Churchill, Stoppard—are included. And so are those by several American greats including Miller, Williams, Mamet and Kushner.
Each play is presented with rare captioned photos from the V&A’s theater archives, a brief essay that recaps the plot and the play’s influence and later production history, the cast list for the original production, contemporaneous reviews of that production from both The Guardian and The Telegraph, a bibliography of other major works by the playwright, and suggestions for similar works by other writers. 
But what sets this apart from the usual coffee table book is that because it's an app many of the selections are accompanied by excerpted dialog from the play and audio interviews with people associated with either the original production or a significant revival.
An online website provides even more information, including audio commentary from The Guardian’s chief theater critic Michael Billington on some of the plays that didn’t make the list.  The competition was so stiff that among the also-rans are Pinter’s The Birthday Party and Michael Frayn’s Noises Off.
And there’s more.  Beginning in January, the V&A is offering a 10-week course that further explores its greatest hits list.  That costs about $400, airfare and accommodations not included. So the app itself is a relative bargain at just $11.95.  Click here to find out more about all of it.
Getting a jump start on the holidays, I downloaded the app a couple of days ago and going through it has made me as giddy as, well, a kid on Christmas morning.

Why You Should Try to Catch "Falling"

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The small Minetta Lane Theatre was less than half full when my theatergoing buddy Bill and I went to see the powerful new play Falling. The poor turnout could have been because it was the week before Christmas and people had other things to do.  Or it could have been because the play is two months into its run and with so many other shows opening since it started, the competition is just too stiff. But I suspect it’s because Falling is such an unflinching look at what it’s like to have a severely autistic child that the word of mouth has been halting.
Seeing it shook me too. But that is precisely why I want to speak up for Falling.  I can’t tell you that it’s the best play currently on the boards (it isn’t) or that you’ll have a great time (you may not) but I can say that I’ve rarely seen a work so totally honest or deeply affecting.
Unlike so many shows about autism, the child in Falling isn’t a cute tyke with a few odd habits. Josh, the central figure in the play, is a hulking 18 year-old man-child who is barely able to speak, prone to off–putting behavior like masturbating in public and menacing when flustered.
Josh’s parents Tami and Bill have devised a series of intricate rituals to get him through each day but focusing so much on Josh is alienating their other child Lisa and straining their marriage. That’s all brought into stark relief when Bill’s mother Sue arrives for her first visit in three years.
Now, anyone who knows someone with an autistic child or who has read one of the many accounts of raising one is familiar with some version of this story. But playwright Deanna Jent, the mother of an autistic child, paints her version of it with the excruciating specificity of a pointillist.  And she refuses to add the gloss of hopefulness that usually makes these tales easier to take. (Click here to read a Q&A with her).
I have friends and relatives with autistic children and I had thought myself knowledgable about and sympathetic to their situation. But I had never truly felt their anguish until watching Tami go through the conflicting emotions of what Josh’s death might mean for the rest of the family.
It would easy for Falling to turn mawkish but, under the scrupulous direction of Lori Adams, all five members of the cast give impressively unsentimental performances. 
Still, special praise has to be saved for Daniel Everidge, who manages to make Josh more than just a collection of tics. And even more must go to Julia Murney, who, even in her silent moments, makes palpable the fierce connection between mother and child.   
The producers have announced that Falling will close on Dec. 30.  It’s hard to blame them when the show is selling so few tickets.  And it’s hard to blame the theatergoers who aren’t turning out to see such a heartbreaking show during the feel-good holiday season. Still, it’s a shame because this one is worth seeing.

There's A New Spider In Town

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T.V. Carpio’s  first official performance as “Arachne” in SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark is one she will likely remember for the rest of her life.  She emerged from the stage door a star, with a giant bouquet of roses in hand, to meet a crush of news crews and photographers.  Everyone wanted to know what it felt like to land the role and if she had any trepidation in taking it on.  The bouquet was from co-star Reeve Carney.  It turns out T.V. goes way back with Reeve and his super-guitarist brother Zane Carney.

Onstage her character uses her powers of illusion to wreak global havoc, but off stage she is humble and demure. Earlier in the day, she told George Stephanopoulos on “Good Morning America,” “I have a great want to step into some big shoes and do the best I can do to service this piece.” 

Model's Own Golden Green

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Hey there! Today's post is another green in honor of St. Patrick's Day week and another Model's Own color I got from my swap with Rachel of Polished Criminails. 
(Please ignore the band aid on my pinky... I cut myself with scissors while being an idiot -_-')

Natural Light - Direct Sunlight

Natural Light - Direct Sunlight

Natural Light - Shade

Model's Own Golden Green. This color is from the Beetlejuice duochrome collection. This is olive green with gold duochrome. I used 2 coats for this picture. I really love this color. I have a weak spot for olive greens and this one is no exception. I'm in love with this and the other colors from Beetlejuice I got... so in love!!! The formula was really good and it dried fairly quickly. Yay Model's Own!!!

Thanks for reading, until next time!

Model's Own Emerald Black

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Today I'm continuing the green for St. Patrick's Day week with yet another Model's Own I got from my international swap. Once again, please ignore the band-aid >.<!

Natural Light - Direct Sunlight

Natural Light - Direct Sunlight 

Artificial Light

Model's Own Emerald Black is probably my favorite of the Beetlejuice colors because it combines two of my favorite colors... black and green! :) As with all the other Model's Own so far, the formula is fantastic! :) I'm totally in love with this brand so far. yay!!! This is 2 coats.

Thanks for reading, until next time!

Model's Own - Nude Beige

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Today's post is a gorgeous nude that actually looks fantastic on me *gasp*

Natural Light - Direct Sunlight

Artificial Light

Nude Beige from Model's Own. Nude creme. I have NEVER found a nude that looks good on me and thanks to Raych now I have one! Most nudes are either too pale or too dark and me and this one is perfect. I can't get over how great it looks on me. I've needed a nude palette cleaner that's not OPI Bubble Bath, Coney Island Cotton Candy etc... basically the colors that are more of a sheer jelly vs. this one is a perfect creme. The formula is amazing. I only used 2 coats for perfection. I'm in love with Model's Own!

Thanks for reading, until next time!

Claire's - Night Sky

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Today's post is a dark holo glitter that I bought on a whim at Claire's and I'm sooo glad I did!

Artificial Light

Artificial Light

Natural Light

Natural Light

Natural Light

Natural Light

Night Sky is a gorgeous deep blue microglitter in a clear base with chunky holo glitter throughout. 3 coats. 2 of the pictures above are blurred to show the holo. The holo glitter on this is really strong. The only issue I have with this is that its really goopey and think. I will probably thin it next time I wear it. Other than that, this color is fantastic! I love dark holos!

Thanks for reading, until next time!

I'm back....ish

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Hey guys. I just wanted to let you know that I'm back-ish and plan on posting some stuff soon. I've been MIA because I totaled my car and have been dealing with all that stuff and insurance, etc, and I was working on a musical and a play which left me zero social life. I'm on summer break right now and should have time to do stuff.

Also, updated my blog sale so I can at least pay for gas... got a new used car, but that left me BROKE so if you like anything, please don't hesitate!

Thanks for reading and I'm SO sorry I've been gone.

Model's Own Golden Green

To contact us Click HERE
Hey there! Today's post is another green in honor of St. Patrick's Day week and another Model's Own color I got from my swap with Rachel of Polished Criminails. 
(Please ignore the band aid on my pinky... I cut myself with scissors while being an idiot -_-')

Natural Light - Direct Sunlight

Natural Light - Direct Sunlight

Natural Light - Shade

Model's Own Golden Green. This color is from the Beetlejuice duochrome collection. This is olive green with gold duochrome. I used 2 coats for this picture. I really love this color. I have a weak spot for olive greens and this one is no exception. I'm in love with this and the other colors from Beetlejuice I got... so in love!!! The formula was really good and it dried fairly quickly. Yay Model's Own!!!

Thanks for reading, until next time!

Model's Own Emerald Black

To contact us Click HERE
Today I'm continuing the green for St. Patrick's Day week with yet another Model's Own I got from my international swap. Once again, please ignore the band-aid >.<!

Natural Light - Direct Sunlight

Natural Light - Direct Sunlight 

Artificial Light

Model's Own Emerald Black is probably my favorite of the Beetlejuice colors because it combines two of my favorite colors... black and green! :) As with all the other Model's Own so far, the formula is fantastic! :) I'm totally in love with this brand so far. yay!!! This is 2 coats.

Thanks for reading, until next time!

Model's Own - Nude Beige

To contact us Click HERE
Today's post is a gorgeous nude that actually looks fantastic on me *gasp*

Natural Light - Direct Sunlight

Artificial Light

Nude Beige from Model's Own. Nude creme. I have NEVER found a nude that looks good on me and thanks to Raych now I have one! Most nudes are either too pale or too dark and me and this one is perfect. I can't get over how great it looks on me. I've needed a nude palette cleaner that's not OPI Bubble Bath, Coney Island Cotton Candy etc... basically the colors that are more of a sheer jelly vs. this one is a perfect creme. The formula is amazing. I only used 2 coats for perfection. I'm in love with Model's Own!

Thanks for reading, until next time!

Claire's - Night Sky

To contact us Click HERE
Today's post is a dark holo glitter that I bought on a whim at Claire's and I'm sooo glad I did!

Artificial Light

Artificial Light

Natural Light

Natural Light

Natural Light

Natural Light

Night Sky is a gorgeous deep blue microglitter in a clear base with chunky holo glitter throughout. 3 coats. 2 of the pictures above are blurred to show the holo. The holo glitter on this is really strong. The only issue I have with this is that its really goopey and think. I will probably thin it next time I wear it. Other than that, this color is fantastic! I love dark holos!

Thanks for reading, until next time!