Community Magazine January 2009

74 Community magazine the international community Fill-Up in the Parking Lot Israeli motorists will soon be able to fill up their cars in the “parking lot of the future.” A California-based company, Project Better Place, has equipped 400 parking spots in Tel Aviv with charging stations for electric cars, and hopes to wire a total of 100,000 spots throughout Israel by 2010. Battery-powered cars developed by the Renault-Nissan Alliance are scheduled to arrive in Israel in 2011, in the hope of reducing Israel’s dependence on oil and pollution. The cars require frequent recharging, thus necessitating wired parking spots and battery-changing stations. The cost of the new cars, and the cost of charging, has not yet been determined, but recharging will cost less then refueling with gasoline. - CORRESPONDENT DAVE GORDON Iran Worried Over Oil Prices Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has admitted that the fall in world oil prices will affect his government’s proj- ects. He acknowledged that “oil prices will be low for some time” because of the global recession. Iran, OPEC’s second largest producer, has an official daily output of 4.2 million bar- rels, which provides half the country’s budget. Ahmadinejad boasted recently that his gov- ernment was impervious to the global recession. Ahmadinejad was elected in 2005 on a cam- paign promising to invest oil-generated cash into local infrastruc- ture and granting low-interest business loans to create jobs, but economists have criticized the lack of investment in domestic industry and savings. - CORRESPONDENT DAVE GORDON Cell Phone Homes are Increasing The number of US homes without landlines increased to 18 percent in 2008. Most of these homes include adults living with unrelated roommates, renters and young people. An additional 13 percent of homes receive most of their calls via cell phone but have a connected landline. The reasons for this trend is a cheaper phone plan and 24/7 availability. Many people still feel that landlines provide security that wire- less phones cannot. In an emergency, 911 dispatchers can only locate your exact home address through your landline, whereas cell phones only provide a longitude-latitude location, which is accurate only within 50-300 meters. In event of a power outage, non-cordless phones can be used to contact emergency services. - CM STAFF EU Embraces Israel The European Union recently decided to improve their relationship with Israel, despite disagreement by the Palestinian Authority and Egypt. The new relationship includes a first- ever meeting between Israel’s prime minister and all the leaders of the EU member states, which will take place in Brussels. As well, the EU ministers decided to put aside a proposal for the peace process that was to take place this year, as requested by Israel. The EU has been debating relations with Israel for 18 months, and throughout has received negative pressure from Arab countries. The Arabs argued that the EU-Israel relationship should be dependent on the Israelis stop- ping the expansion of settlements in disputed territories. Recently, interim Prime Minister Tzipi Livni conducted meetings with EU foreign ministers to try to exert pressure to agree to the agreement. The new agreement means that Israeli ministers will meet more often with their EU counterparts, and there will be dialogue on issues including Iran and counterterrorism. - CORRESPONDENT DAVE GORDON Kennedy for Undivided Jerusalem After Hillary Clinton’s upgrade to Washington as the Secretary of State, Caroline Kennedy would like to fill Clinton’s vacated seat as NY Senator. In a written response from her spokesman, Kennedy stated her strong support of Jerusalem as Israel’s undivided capital. The American Embassy located in Tel Aviv has been scheduled to move to Jerusalem since a 1990 resolution confirming this, but the presidents have used a security waiver clause to suspend the move for over 18 years. - CM STAFF