Traveling by Tube Instead of Airplane?

Summary of Article: A new company, ET3, is planning a new transportation system, called an Evacuated Tube Transit. It is a tube that goes at high speed and uses magnetic levitation. It can travel 4,000 miles/hour, seat 6 and has room for baggage. It could go from NY to LA in 45 minutes (it currently takes 5+ hours) or from New York to China in 2 hours. They would be set up like freeways and to people traveling inside, would feel like being in a car on a freeway. Initially, they would be used to transport cargo. Click here for a picture of what it would look like.

Discussion with Kids:

• What are different ways to travel far away? (Boat, train, car, airplane). What are advantages and disadvantages to each type? (Time, motion sickness, risk of accident, comfort, etc.) Explain how each evolved in time (first boat travel between continents, trains for cross-continental, then cars, then airplanes).
• What is your favorite way to travel and why? 
• Explain above idea by CEO Daryl Oster. 
• What do you think of this idea? What are pros/cons? 
• If you could make a new type of way to travel, what would it be? What would it look like?

Emerging Victorious After Brutal Wrestling Match

Summary of Article: At the Golden Grand Prix women's wrestling tournament in Italy, an Israeli, Ilana Kartysh, was up against an Egyptian, Enas Mostafa. As traditional in all wrestling matches, Ilana held out her hand to shake her opponent's before the match but Enas refused to shake it. While wrestling, Enas was particularly brutal, biting Ilana on the neck until she bled and breaking two of her fingers. Ilana said this only strengthened her resolve to win. And she won indeed, going on to win the gold medal! She stood proudly at the podium as the Israeli national anthem, Hatikvah, was played. Click on link for pictures.

Discussion with Kids:

• Explain story.
• Why is it traditional to shake hands before a match? (In other sports, all members of the team shake hands with all members of the other team after a match and say "good game.") What ethic is being reinforced? (Camaraderie, respect for your team mate and acknowledging his/her humanity, remembering that this is for healthy competition but also fun)
• Why was it particularly insulting to Ilana that Enas refused to shake her hand? What could the referee have done? (Refused to let the game start until Enas shook her hand)
• Why were Enas' actions wrong? (She didn't play "nicely")
• Why did Ilana feel particularly proud to hear her national anthem played after Enas treated her this way? 
• Did you ever have a time where someone didn't treat you nicely and it made you want to emerge victorious? 

Israeli Soldier Evades Kidnapping with Help From Her Friends

Summary of Article: Three female Israeli soldiers were walking down the street toward their army base in Israel when a car with Arab men pulled up alongside of them. The men started following the girls and bothering them. One of the men tried to push one of the female soldiers into the car. She fought him; her friends pulled her toward them until they were able to rescue her. The car drove away and the police are looking for the suspects.

Discussion with Kids: 

• Why do some Arab men want to capture Israeli soldiers? (Because they can try to ransom them--we'll only give you back this soldier if you give us someone in Israeli jail). 
• There are many good Arab men, but what did these bad men try to do? How did the girls stop them? 
• What did the girls do after they got away? (Went to the police) 
• How are these girls good examples? (They walked in a group, they helped each other, they went to the police)
• I'm going to tell my kids the following: if a bad guy ever tries to get you into his car, you think of these Israeli girl soldiers and do the same thing: fight, push, scream for help, and then call the police. These soldiers are a great example of how you fight bad guys. The girls probably weren't as strong as the men, but by sticking together and fighting, they succeeded.

Part II: Israel's Security Fence and African Migrants

In January, I posted a current event about Israel's new security fence along its southern border and efforts to keep out African migrants. Today's post is about new developments.

Summary of Articles: Israel is in negotiations with an African country--which one unknown--to transfer 35,000 Eritrean migrants currently living in Israel. The African country has said it will take the migrants so long as Israel gives them agricultural training first. Israel has also offered financial aid, medical assistance and infrastructure to any country that will take them in. Resettlement could take years. Prime Minister Netanyahu also recently commented that due to Israel's southern security fence, the number of infiltrators has steadily decreased. In May 2012, 1000 people entered Israel illegally and were detained, as opposed to two in May 2013. Netanyahu says they will work to repatriate them.

Discussion with Kids:

• Review the current event from January 3 about Israel's security fence
• Speak about the updates above
• Why do African countries not want to take in the African refugees? (Money, refugee problems of their own, etc.)
• Why do the refugees seek asylum in Israel? (Economic opportunity, fear of persecution in their homeland)
• What has Israel offered in exchange for the refugees? Why would African nations want these things? 
• What do you think Israel should do?

Contaminated Water Found in Japan Resulting from Nuclear Disaster

Summary of Article: In Japan, a terrible earthquake and tsunami destroyed a nuclear power plant run by the company Tepco. This is considered the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. Tepco at first claimed that it wasn't its fault, since it could not foresee the earthquake. Later investigations found that Tepco's lack of a safety culture and bad habits exacerbated the problem, releasing "obscene quantities of radiation into the air and sea" unnecessarily. Tepco was held responsible for cleaning up the nuclear spill but now the company has been found to be doing a poor job: contaminated ground water near the plant has been discovered. Tepco wants to solve the crisis by allowing some of the nuclear waste to go into the ocean but local fishermen are against this. For pictures of the plant and more discussion, click here.

Discussion with Kids:

• Why did Tepco at first claim that the nuclear spill wasn't its fault? What did the Japanese government decide? 
• Who is responsible for cleaning up the nuclear waste? Why is Tepco found to have done a bad job cleaning it up? 
• Why are fishermen against having the waste go into the ocean? 
• If ground water and nearby sea water are contaminated, who suffers? Go down the food chain. (For the sea: fish and people who eat the fish. For ground water: local crops, rice and the people who eat that food). 
• What would you do if you were the Japanese government? 

U.S. Leaks Sensitive Information About Israel

Summary of Article: The U.S. has promised to help Israel build a special ballistic missile, called the Arrow 3. It would be made in a special facility called Tel Shahar. But the Administration revealed all the details of the facility --its cooling and heating systems, its wall specifications -- making the facility open to easy attack. Israel is very upset about this. The U.S. says it is standard practice to reveal facility specifications in order to get competing bids for its construction. The Facility is supposed to be top secret and is in great need because of Iran's budding nuclear program.

Discussion with Kids:

• Israel wants to build a special weapon, called a ballistic missile, to protect itself against Iran.  
• Why do you think the missile has been named "Arrow 3"? (Perhaps it will be shaped like an arrow; it will be thrown like an arrow; it is the 3rd one in its class?) 
• The U.S. has expertise to help Israel build it. But it told the world where the missile is going to be built. Why is Israel upset that the information was revealed? 
• What do you think the U.S. said in its defense? 
• What does it mean to get competing bids for a project? 
• If you were Israel, what would you do now that the information was revealed? 

Obituary: Remebering Senator Frank Lautenberg

Summary of Article: Senator Lautenberg, a Jewish Senator of New Jersey for over 30 years, died today at 89.

Discussion with Kids:

• Tell story of Lautenberg's upbringing: Lautenberg grew up in Paterson, N.J. (show on map), the son of poor Poland and Russian immigrants.He served in the army in World War II, then went to Columbia on the G.I. bill, studying economics. (Discuss the G.I. bill; how did it help army veterans post-army?) 
• He served as head of the United Jewish Appeal, substantially increasing the charitable intake. What does this mean? Why is it good? He became a beloved Senator of NJ for over 30 years.
• Lautenberg used to say that his parents "could not pass on valuables, but left me a legacy of values."What does this mean? 
• As a Senator, he helped bring about well-known legislation, including laws banning smoking on planes, bringing the drinking age to 21 and banning convicted domestic abusers from owning guns. He is most famous for the "Lautenberg Amendment," a law which eases rules on immigration to the U.S. for those seeking asylum from religious persecution; the law was passed in particular to help Soviet Jews seeking to flee Russia. How did it help them? 
• If you were a U.S. Senator, what would you want to do to help America?