another two days down - part iii

[... continued]

to put it simply, while our non-religious majority pays heavy taxes, serves in the military and has to suffer reserve duty until our forties, the religious don't pay taxes, don't serve (they don't believe in our right to exist) and receive huge stipends, usually based on the number of children they have.

the absurdity is a fact of life here, no matter how much we all complain. to rub our noses in it, it's just been proposed to grant something in the region of 130 million shekels from the education budget specifically to students of religious institutions.

it wasn't equality to begin with, but this is too much.

---jerusalem was cold. i got exercise in the form of being handed a floppy poster to rage with. my ears were hurt by a bunch of idiots behind me with vuvuzelas - i got them to stop eventually, but it was too late :(

it was hard to get comfortable on the buses there and back, but i managed to sleep *just* enough to get off in that fuzzy, unintelligible state that we all know and don't particularly love. pg and i got off the next bus and stopped for sushi and ramen - not bad, but the soup itself wasn't too great - and ran into the girl who ditched me on the way to goa before separating for the night.

aaargh! something's eating me while i type this!!!
i can't believe it's so late already... all i've done is blog, upload photos and decide on my birthday plans...

---why whites don't want to apologize for apartheid: boy is this a tough one. one can't argue the facts presented - one can, however, argue that the misdirection is incredibly meaningful.

the whites brought and created all those wonderful things, but they did it in such a way as to ensure that the rest of the nation couldn't touch them. there is absolutely no justification for the mistreatment (he says, generously) of the non-whites, and one of the primary reasons for the country being in such shit post-apartheid is that that's their legacy.

they passed on hatred, they passed on selfishness, and they forgot to pass on work ethic. for all those who supported / in support of apartheid - you do need to apologize. you need to apologize for giving africa a taste of civilization with one hand while simultaneously slapping her face with the other.

"i have one great fear in my heart, that one day when they are turned to loving, they will find we are turned to hating"
- alan paton, cry, the beloved country

and here is what his wife had to say about this.

[i can't believe someone pulled the post from my facebook page. was i being too fair?]