Them & us

Empire state of...

Good morning Mel!

I want one!!

Things on wheel(s)

It may look like a spare tyre, but the makers of this one-wheeled scooter claimed yesterday that it will take Britain by storm.The "Magicwheel" has no handlebars or brakes, can turn on a sixpence and reach speeds of up to 20mph (32.1 km/h).




The Magic Wheel - video powered by Metacafe

Ancient Jewish city found under Palestinian suburb

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Workers digging a new Jerusalem tram line have stumbled upon the remains of an ancient Jewish city from the first century AD under what is now a Palestinian suburb of the Holy City.

Archaeologists are frantically working to unearth the nameless settlement that lies beneath the bustling streets of the Shuafat neighbourhood before they have to bury it again in order to lay tracks for a long-planned light rail line.
The newly discovered settlement dates back to the period of the second Jewish temple.
Although some archaeologists have argued that this is the site of the biblical city of Nob, a refuge for ancient priests where Saul was anointed King of Israel' .

"No one knew of a city of this importance just a few kilometres (miles) north of Jerusalem, and its name remains unknown," said Rachel Bar Nathan, one of the three archaeologists from Israel's National Antiquities Authority working on the site.
The city is believed to have been built after Roman legions sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the second temple of Herod in the year 70 AD, Bar Nathan said.
It was abandoned in the year 130, at the time of the last Jewish revolt against Rome, during the reign of Hardian.
Bulldozers have ploughed through the heart of modern-day Shuafat to make way for a tram line that will serve Jewish districts north of Jerusalem on land occupied and annexed after the Six Day War of 1967.
Armed with spades, shovels, picks and brushes, more than 50 Palestinian workmen are painstakingly digging for clues in the ancient settlement, sheltered from the sun by an overhead tarpaulin.
They have discovered traces of a fire that swept through the city almost 2,000 years ago.
Pots filled with coins have also been found buried in walls, suggesting that the residents hoped one day to return to their pillaged settlement.
A rare gold coin emblazoned with the face of the Roman emperor Trajan, who ruled from 98 to 117 AD, was among them.
The city was built facing west towards the ancient Roman road which connected Jerusalem to Flavia Neapolis, modern-day Nablus, the city founded in 72 AD by Titus, the Roman general who crushed the Jewish rebellion and was later made emperor.
Its layout and the large number of water cisterns found have led archaeologists to conclude that this city was probably a supply stop for travellers using the north-south Roman road.
Archaeologists have also uncovered private homes, public buildings, and stone cooking utensils used by Jews of the era because they believed them to be immune to impurities.
Coarse stone steps were found leading down to the remains of thermal baths, decorated with colourful mosaics, in which the faithful cleansed themselves.
The residents had also learned from their tormentors. The baths were heated by the same Roman technology found in the recently discovered bathhouse used by the 10th Roman Legion that had sacked Jerusalem and destroyed its temple.
The remains of that bathhouse were found at the city's western edge in 2005 by workers on the same tramline project.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070331/lf_afp/israelarchaeology

Jerusalem Tram Plan Trammelled?

Graffiti daubed on construction sites for the tramway in downtown Jerusalem. Snaps by JMcG

Getting around inside Jerusalem unobstructed is almost impossible, except on foot. Drivers face sudden improvised barriers, detours, closed lanes, potholes,and shallow ditches. An ambitious one-way road system keeps getting rejigged and rerouted before drivers can work it out. Local cynics insist that it's designed to enrage and frustrate car owners so they'll be willing to park and ride the city's new Light Railway once it is up and running in 2009. For now, parked cars, straddling the curbs, block most sidewalks. The city buses run sporadically, are too wide for narrow inner streets, and must share the roadway with enormous tourist coaches. Reliable public transportation--if it can be kept safe from attackers-- would be a godsend for Jerusalemites. Envisioned by Theodor Herzl back in 1900, a city rail transport plan was finally signed into existence a century later by then-mayor Ehud Olmert. He's now the Prime Minister, and the least popular man in the country.Citypass consortium is contracted to build and run the long-awaited light rail project in Jerusalem.If it can ease the traffic snarls and improve the humour of impatient drivers, that will be viewed as a minor miracle. Tempers have been fraying for months as construction workers get stuck in. With streets torn up and constantly re-piped and repaved, no one seems to know how to avoid bottlenecks.But there is yet another stumbling block. Two French companies, Veolia Transport and Connex, hold contracts for the tramway's construction and are being sued in Paris. It's political, with suggestions that the city fathers plan an apartheid railway, with separate carriages likely for Arab-Israelis, and severe restrictions against any Palestinian riders. Prosecutors allege that "Israel was exploiting international and regional crises to create a new permanent reality in Jerusalem and its vicinity, expanding the settlements, building the separation fence and constructing the light rail." The pro-Palestinian plaintiff insists that a conspiracy is underway to "turn the settlements that are located close to Jerusalem into Jewish neighborhoods of the city, facilitating transport to and from these settlements and encouraging more people to live there" because of the quick link to downtown.Creating Israeli strongholds in Arab parts of Jerusalem will further isolate the east Jerusalem neighborhoods from the West bank, the lawyers charge. The project will expropriate land from Arabs for parking lots and some rail routings. Under union pressure, a Dublin firm called Veolia Transport Ireland has balked at the project. It abruptly cancelled plans to train Israeli personnel.Dublin's union drivers refuse to allow their transport system to be used by drivers destined for a new tram system linking the illegal Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem. “It’s not going to happen”, trade union official John Flannery said.In November the Dutch ASN Bank decided to divest from Veolia until the company respects the relevant UN resolutions. Meanwhile, the streets of Jerusalem are in disarray as railway workers pickaxe the pavement again and again.

Via Israelity bites

As labelled

VW of the Week

As labelled...

Rail stuff

New label...