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Israel breaks record, cramming 15 into mini
In just four and half minutes, a mini-car is filled with fifteen people at Rishon Lezion’s Zahav mall.
Israel on Thursday broke a national record of fitting the most amount of people in a mini-car, cramming 15 people into one mini in just four and a half minutes.
The record-breaking event took place in Rishon Lezion’s Zahav mall, which is currently giving away 70 Suzuki Alto cars as part of a raffle held in honor of the new mall’s grand opening.
The challenge was to set a new Israeli record by fitting as many people as possible into one mini at the same time, closing all doors and windows shut after them.
According to a press release, the accomplishment was recorded and will be sent to the Guinness World Book of Records with the aim of setting a world record.
A spectator at the event noted that these days, Israel is only on world news regarding the subjects of Iran, women’s exclusion and the social justice movement. “We could use a little national pride by setting a world record,” he said.
Source: Jpost.com
Gilad Shalit opens Facebook account
Soldier released from Hamas captivity catching up with technological innovations of past five years
Former captive soldier Gilad Shalit is taking another step in his rehabilitation process and has recently opened his own Facebook account.
His personal account includes a slightly blurry profile picture, and he uses it through an iPhone application as well.
The Shalit family reported that several days after returning to his home in Mitzpe Hila, Gilad began to catch up with technological innovations and learn about the immense popularity gained by the social network during his years in Hamas captivity.
At this stage, other Facebook users cannot add his as a friend, send him messages or write on his wall. In addition, he has yet to install the social network’s latest addition – the Timeline, which tells a person’s life story through photos, friendships and personal milestones.
Shalit currently has only few people on his friends’ list, including his sister and close friends. He appears to have a sense of humor, as he has joined a group calling for his release. The group, which has more than 300,000 members, is naturally no longer active.
Shalit also recommended a link to a video titled, “The best basketball shot of 2011,” from American college basketball.
Gilad’s father, Noam, said in response: “He is a big boy. He acts independently, so your question should not be directed at me. But I do know that he has opened a Facebook account.”
Is it his real profile?
“Yes, I believe it is his profile judging from the list of friends.”
Source: Ynetnews.com
PICTURE: A Snowman in Israel?
Time for some Skiing and Skating… Mt Hermon (Northern Israel) this morning
Tel Aviv to participate in the “Global No Pants Subway Ride 2012 “
As in years past, there are No Pants Subway Rides happening in dozens of cities around the world on January 8, the same day as our annual event in New York. Below find a list of participating cities with links to Facebook events. If you do not see your city and want to organize a ride, you can register your city by filling out this form.
Cities participating in the global No Pants Subway Ride:
- Adelaide
- Amsterdam
- Ann Arbor
- Atlanta
- Austin
- Barcelona
- Bangalore
- Berlin
- Boston
- Brisbane
- Buenos Aires
- Calgary
- Chicago
- Cleveland
- Copenhagen
- Dallas
- Hamburg
- Helsinki
- Houston
- Jerusalem
- Las Vegas
- Lisbon
- Ljubljana
- London
- Los Angeles
- Madrid
- Manchester
- Mexico City
- Miami
- Milan
- Minneapolis
- New York
- Oslo
- Paris
- Phoenix
- Portland
- Porto
- Prague
- Prescott
- Salt Lake City
- San Diego
- San Francisco
- Santiago
- Seattle
- St. Louis
- Stockholm
- Sydney
- Tel Aviv
- Taipei
- Torino
- Toronto
- Vancouver
- Vienna
- Warsaw
- Washington, DC
- Zürich
Source: http://improveverywhere.com/2012/01/03/global-no-pants-subway-ride-2012/
Banned! Israel May Outlaw Weird Names
Israel would ban strange names under a bill that was just debated by Israel’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation. It seeks to outlaw parents from giving their newborns highly unusual names.
Current law already authorizes the Interior Minister to refuse to register a name if “it could mislead or offend the public.” The newly proposed law, however, would establish a “Public Names Committee” that would judge whether a name could also be possibly damaging to a child him or herself.
MKs Zevulun Orlev (Habayit Hayehudi) and Miri Regev (Likud), who co-sponsored the proposal, have suggested that the committee would consist of an educator, a social worker and a psychologist. The idea would be that these people would be able to provide guidance to the Interior Ministry and parents in such cases when a births registry clerk was confronted with a questionable name. “Giving a hurtful and insulting name to a minor, or names of curses or negative figures, could make him an object of mockery in the eyes of his peers and damage his self-image and self-confidence,” the lawmakers were quoted as saying.
Whether or not this proposed law actually passes the Knesset, it’s unclear whether it might be applied to Natalie Portman’s baby, who is named after the Hebrew letter, Aleph. In any case, the 6-month old with the unusual moniker would probably have been grandfathered in.
Read more: http://blogs.forward.com/the-shmooze/148967/#ixzz1iVT6ChUR
Israeli brothers win world debating championship
Omer, Sela Nevo from Tel Aviv University crowned debating world champions in English as Second Language category
Brothers Omer and Sela Nevo from the Tel Aviv University won the World Universities Debating Championships in the English as Second Language category which was held in Manila on Tuesday. More than 3,000 teams from around the world participated in the competition.
Six months ago, the two won first place at the European championship held in Ireland. Also, this is the second time in the past three years that an Israeli team has won the world championship.
As part of the competition the various teams hold oral debates on a pre-agreed topic with each side either arguing for or against it.
Yoni Idov, the team’s trainer and himself a past winner said: “This is a very important achievement for the Tel Aviv University and the State Israel.
“This is the second time we have won a competition whose sole purpose is to hold a cultural dialogue and we’re showing the world the cultured Israeli who knows how to express himself in an eloquent and determined manner.”
Chairman of the Tel Aviv Student Union Ori Reshtik said: “We are proud of Omer and Sela for this massive achievement and are confident we will see similar achievements in the future.”
Source: Ynetnews.com