i wonder what a zionist cat sounds like?

They're going to have an early election.

Do you read Haaretz, graeme? I started reading it. I find it a bit more of an optimistic paper. Really interesting. I get a feel for life there of everyday citizens. I read news we don't get here. I realize though that it is seen as a "left leaning" paper . I get the sense that there are concerned citizens in Israel, not naive on one side or the other of the issues they face...it's not all about the drum beating we hear here. There's some optimism and hope.  When we read the headlines here, they seem shocking...but don't seem to shock people so much there. They seem used to it t osome degree..having always lived in a dangerous neighbourhood I guess would do that...but they haven't stopped paying attention. It's good to realize that, since they are the ones closest to the problems going on there, that they're not panicking, at least not everyone is, the way some in North America are. Interesting how different media will give us a totally different view of things.

Politicians tend to focus on political games; military leaders understand the real cost of those games, and how they can go badly wrong.

Haaretz is to the left - but it doesn't lie, anad it doesn't deliberately omit news. Virtually all North American papers do lie, and do omit news.

In your newspaper, have you seen the story about1,600 Paliestinian hunger strikers in Israeli prisons whose lives are in danger?

I didn't see that in the local paper...maybe there was somethng about Kim Kardashian and  Jay-Z though. ;)

Oh, you must get The Moncton Times and Transcript, too.

Say it isn't so they once covered J-Lo?

(It is the end times)

I read most of my news online. I've certainly read of this, and a quick news search on Google on "Palestinian Hunger Strikers" links to articles from Reuters, the BBC, Fox News, the Associated Press, the Canberra Times, AFP, the Los Angeles Times, CNN, the New York Daily News, the New York Times, CBS News and the Halifax Chronicle Herald. The Wire reports would have been picked up by at least some other newspapers, so this isn't exactly going unreported by the mainstream news media, although I agree that it also hasn't been front and centre either.

It usually takes a couple of days longer  to hit the mainstream press if it does get there. 

Interesting developments. Netanyahu is now solidly in power.

Isael has returned to its old policy of punishing the families of Moslem israelis that are found guilty of anti-government acts. they lose their homes - either to Jewish israelis - oro the homes are destroyed.

His policy is clearly to keep Palestine as a sort of open air concentration camp, to continue illegally annexing territory - and to establish its dominance in the region by crushing Iran. If it uses even a small part of its nuclear arsenal, it can certainly do that - though that would be too risky as anything but a last chance. Without that, he needs US participation. Obama is clearly not enthusiastic.

If Netanyahu figures that Obama will win the election, then he'll have to attack before that happens. If he's confident that Romney will win, he's more likely to decide to wait a bit - knowing that his plans will certainly have the support of the oild industry.

But will Romney win? it's looking quite possible.

that'll  be neat, having a member of a UFO cult/scam be the leader of the USA -- the US is certainly never boring

Weird. Just a couple of days ago it was repoted that  Israel was going to have a September 4th election. Was it officially called and then retracted...or was the September 4th idea just an unoffical possibility?

hm. race riots in Israel. I can just about cry when I see how Israel is destroying Judaism.

graeme,

have you heard how many are involved?

No, I haven't. I'm finding life very difficult with a blog to get out every day. It doesn't take long to write (about two hours) but, oh, it takes a long time to comb the news.

Ii really wish I could free up time to do more bad painting.

Israel has done what Hitler tried to do. It has defined Judaism as a race.