Coming storm

Storm clouds from the west

The temperature continues to fall and the forecast for a super storm tonight was already coming true this morning. Dark storm clouds were blowing from the west (Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus which is under the storm). The cold spell from Europe especially Greece has blown into the Levant this morning. The wind was strong and humidity was so high you could smell it in the air. The skies continued to darken and the winds got stronger and stronger. Everyone could feel the cold ... even the soldiers and my security friends who are very tough and served in some of the toughest units of the army ... all felt very cold and kept moving in order to stay warm. Hope those guys are well covered when they do the night shift.

Pigeons on the
rose window

Well I've decided that if the storm gets heavy I won't go to work tomorrow ... at least to the library up the hill. It's been so cold, at 4pm when I was going to the MC sisters' convent for confessions and adoration, I noticed dozens of pigeons huddled in the rose window of Ecce Homo basilica. The Roman Arch abuts the rose window thus providing a shield against the rain and wind so the pigeons are pretty smart in looking for shelter. One thing to watch out for though ... never walk below the rose window because the pigeons poop like crazy.

One good thing about this storm is if it's as powerful as predicted, then there'll be no violent clashes at the borders and no demonstrations in the streets. Everyone will stay at home. And talking about violence, the Knesset was set to push a law to make the death penalty easier to pass for terrorists. But in a surprise move the PM said this death penalty should equally be applied to jewish terrorists who kill arabs. Suddenly the ministers backed down and said the law was not necessary. Democracy? Justice? it's a tragic comedy.   http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/PM-Jewish-killer-of-Palestinian-family-also-deserves-death-penalty-532750

Meantime the bad New Year is not getting better ... over 2000 Municipality workers were fired because the govt. is not paying their salaries. And more are expected. All this after the workers dumped garbage at the Finance Ministry's doors.  https://www.timesofisrael.com/jerusalem-municipality-begins-firing-over-2000-workers-amid-budget-crisis/

Meantime a police study was released today regarding the number of road accidents and deaths in 2017. The main cause of deaths was using the cellphone while driving. But don't count on this study to stop people from using their cellphones while they drive.  https://www.timesofisrael.com/cellphones-were-number-one-cause-of-israeli-car-accidents-in-2017/