UCLA Israel studies

UCLA has an Israel Studies program which delivers a podcast which has around 6 issues in its feed. The latest in the series is a lecture by Shimon Shamir about the peace process in the Middle-East. Shimon Shamir was an envoy to Egypt for Israel during the days of the Peres/Shamir unity government. In his lecture he uses the two peace models that are working (more or less)- the peace with Egypt and the peace with Jordan - and analyzes how these models can be helpful for peace with Syria, the Palestinians and the rest of the Arab World.

Shimon Shamir summarizes 5 lessons from the peace with Egypt and Jordan:

1- It is problematic to have peace with one Arab country and not the other. Conflicts can spill over. Therefore peace must be comprehensive, that is: with the whole Arab World.

2- Israel expects normalization upon peace, but this is not always realistic and can in fact be damaging. The Arabs are afraid of some kind of immaterial domination. So one must not try to achieve normal relations where there is no genuine interest. It can be peace when there is just no fighting.

3- One must be realistic about the security that can be achieved in return for a peace agreement. Most of the security was already achieved with Jordan and Egypt. Syria and the PA have very little extra to offer, even reduction of terrorism, since it is mostly out of their hands. However, what is important to have also peace with Syria and the Palestinians, is to have a comprehensive peace with the whole Arab World. The symbolic effect of that should be valued and if anything, this can offer the maximum of security in return.

4- There is great importance in joint interest. One must make sure to have joint interest with for example Syria, even if that is rather complicated.

5- One must adopt the existing models to the appropriate players. The Egyptian model should be followed with Syria and the Jordanian with the Palestinians. The real effort will be to adapt these properly for there are specific problems with Syria and the Palestinians that do not exist with Egypt and Jordan.

Dan Carlin on the Assyrians

Dan Carlin's Hardcore History is an extremely original history podcast in that it takes the listener through the facts and engages in analysis, comparative narration and as such makes a unique attempt to connect us with history, which is especially rewarding and laudable, when Dan addresses ancient history. He calls it: very very old world.

It just so happens I have been engaged in history podcasts recently that also address the very, very old history and also make remarks about the area of Mesopotamia. For one there is the Berkeley lecture series of Isabelle Pafford: The Ancient Mediterranean World (History 4A) In addition there is the newly revived World History podcast by David Kalivas. They do not pick out one of the Mesopotamian civilizations and concentrate, like Dan does with the Assyrians. And if they mention the Assyrians, they are not specifically identified from the Babylonians, the Medes or whoever, let alone they can be called: the Nazis of the ancient world.

Dan brings the Assyrians to life, compares them to the Germans for good measure and goes over there rise and sudden fall. He touches upon the Huns, the Medes, the Babylonians, the Israelites and so on. This podcast brings the history alive.

ICT Update - Maurice Zondag

Soms kan je van ellendige verbazing van je stoel vallen. Podcasting in het Nederlands, zou je verwachten, moet de beste content bieden via omroep en kranten, maar behalve over de VPRO ben ik reuze ontevreden. Zodoende dacht ik, en stelde ik ook de hele tijd, dat podcasting in het Nederlands niets voorstelt. Misschien beter dan het Hebreeuws, maar toch. Recentelijk echter werd mijn blog ontdekt door een actieve Nederlandse podcaster: Maurice Zondag.

Maurice heeft een aantal eigen podcasts en als je de podcasts meerekent waaraan hij meewerkt dan kom je al op vijf (en dan hoop ik dat ik niets gemist heb). Veelzeggend is dat Zondag een zelfstandige podcaster is. Geen krant of omroep komt aan zijn producties te pas. Misschien is er toch meer podcasting gaande in Nederland dan ik dacht. Ik hoop in de komende tijd aandacht te besteden aan Maurices podcasts alsmede een profiel van hem als podcaster te brengen. Afwachten.

Laten we nu meteen beginnen met een nieuws podcast waar hij aan meewerkt. ICT-update NL. Dit is een panel stijl cast die min of meer wekelijks uitkomt met een klein uur gesprek over allerlei nieuwsfeiten in de ICT (high tech noemen we dat in Israel) die in Nederland de koppen hebben gehaald. Uitzending 14, de laatste tot nu, gaat over het succes van TomTom, over google, over in de file staan, rechten over CD's, muziek en meer.



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Economist on elections 2008

On the Economist blog and podcast Democracy in America there is an interview with professor Brian Balogh (University of Virginia and Miller Center of Public Affairs). The idea is to look at the presidential candidates' biographies and evaluate inasmuch these life stories contribute to their chances of being elected. Most of the attention is given to Clinton and Obama.

It has been said in other podcast that try to analyze the upcoming elections. The Democrats are bound to win and among the Democrats Hillary Clinton looks like the most potent candidate. Only Barack Obama seems to stand a chance of faltering her. Hence the assumption is made that either she or he will be the next American president.

In either case there will the an exceptional new thing; either the first woman or the first African American to be president. Balogh is invited to think about constructing a written biography and ponder where to take the narrative.

Hot and sour - very mild version

When we were in India, high up in the Himalaya in Himachal Pradesh, we ate a hot and sour soup that I have tried to emulate ever since. Especially with chicken, my wife loves it. My kids, I know from experience, love sour soup, but less so, hot food. Hence I tend to make milder versions of my hot recipes these days. Here is the hot and sour soup with chicken and less hot and sour.

1 onion
1 red paprika (bell pepper)
1 green paprika
1 carrot (grated)
1 tea spoon ginger
juice of 1 lemon
2 table spoons olive oil
1 tea spoon sweet paprika
2 tea spoons ground caraway
1 tea spoon ground cumin
1 table spoon ground fenegreek
2 tea spoons soy sauce
10 drum sticks
1 tea spoon rock salt

Heat the oil with the sweet paprika, caraway and cumin. Simmer in it the onion (finely cut) and the grated carrot. Grate the ginger and finely cut the paprikas and add them to the soup. Heat well and add the drumsticks. Keep stirring; the vegetables and spices should not scorch. When the meat turns white, add garlic, salt, soy sauce, lemon juice and fenegreek and cover. After a couple of minutes add 1.5 liter of boiling water. Turn the fire low and let the soup boil slowly for 15 minutes. If you like, you can take out the chicken and mash the vegetables further with a hand blender.

The Sassanian Empire - IOT

In Our Time turned its attention to the Sassanian Empire, a Persian empire lasting from the third to the seventh century CE. This empire was ruled by Zoroastrians, it traded with the Romans as well as the Chinese and at times defeated the Romans. Eventually it was brought down by the Muslems. It was an wonderful In Our Time again, as so often. I want to take two points that stuck with me - notnecessarily the main line of discussion.

The speakers emphasize the separation of East and West, of China and the Eurasian continent. These two power centers do not influence each other politically or militarily. What on the other hand does exist and the Western looking Sassanids take part in this actively is trade. Goods and by nature also ideas travel between the Mediterranean and China, but somehow China remains untouched by the west, even by the Sassanids, even if they traded with the Chinese themselves.

When Huns appear in history, they attack and even occupy for a moment, China first, but then, after being kicked out, they move west. The Sassanids anf the Romans face the Huns together. So far are the East and West apart that the invaders of China around 311 CE were not identified as the same as the Huns for a long time.