[dante]

So in a prime example of some of the huge issues with parliamentary systems, anybody following what's going on in Israel right now? Kadima, the center/left party received the most seats (28), which means that they are technically assigned to form the government with Livni as PM. However, the left-leaning parties only received 55 total seats, and a total of 60 are needed to form the government. Likud, the largest right-wing party received 27 votes, and could probably form a 100% right-wing party, but are hampered by the fact that they're not assigned to form the government (yet), and the fact that two of the right-wing parties necessary absolutely hate each other (hard right Yisrael Beiteinu and ultra orthodox Shas) and probably wouldn't last long in a government together. There's even talk of a revolving PM between Netanyahu (Likud) and Livni (Kadima), with each holding office for 2 years. There *might* be able to be a unity coalition between Likud, Kadima and Labor or Shas, but those are traditionally unstable and rarely last more than a couple years, especially with neither Netanyaho or Livni willing to concede and play a junior role...

Let the horse-trading begin!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090211/wl_nm/us_israel_election_26

 

[$tinkle]

they should start by agreeing on what constitutes a high holiday

 

[johnbryanpeters]

They should start by contracting the plague and dying.

 

[$tinkle]

i was reading a story yesterday from World Magazine (definitely pro-israel)

After withdrawing from Gaza in 2005, Israel imposed economic sanctions on the region already languishing in poverty, citing Hamas' rocket attacks. Hamas captured the Gaza Strip from rival party Fatah in 2007 largely by promising social services and capitalizing on the economic sanctions. Israel and Egypt sealed their borders with Gaza, in part to stop the flow of weapons into the region. But the closed borders also stopped the flow of people and made leaving the tiny strip mostly impossible for its packed population, even under fire.

El-Haddad's parents are among those who can't flee. Her father sends images of Israeli fliers instructing Gazan residents to leave their neighborhoods before attacks grow worse, but the fliers leave him wondering: Where can he go?

From her kitchen table in Durham, El-Haddad scrolls through satellite images on Wikimapia, an online map that allows users to label their locations. She points out an image of her parents' home in Gaza City before the strikes began. It's situated near a mosque her father attended and two blocks from the Parliament Building struck by Israeli bombs early in the offensive. "He's so close," she says.

El-Haddad was born in Kuwait where her parents attended medical school, but since most Gulf States don't grant citizenship to Palestinians (or other outsiders), she inherited her parents' Palestinian status. (Palestinians don't have formal citizenship anywhere since most were forced out of Israel beginning in 1948.) Growing up, that meant a long series of ever-changing identity documents, and yearly trips back to Gaza to update the family's residency papers. (Many Gazans didn't make the costly trips back to Gaza and eventually lost their right to return home.)

El-Haddad's husband was born in Lebanon to Palestinian refugees and inherited their refugee status. Differing identity papers mean the couple often can't travel together: For example, El-Haddad's papers don't allow her to enter Lebanon, though her husband may enter. Her husband can't enter Gaza, though El-Haddad could enter before Israel indefinitely sealed the borders. (Now El-Haddad is unable to visit her family in Gaza.)

The stateless status of most Palestinians produces a "permanent temporariness," according to El-Haddad: "Our lives are very precarious. Our identities are very precarious. But that's what Palestinian life is built on."

Palestinian life in Gaza is bleak, with high poverty rates, a devastated economy, depleted resources, and sealed borders. But El-Haddad—who lived in Gaza three years—says the psychological trauma is worse: "You feel like it's choking you from the inside out." She quotes Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish: "The earth is closing in on us."

Conditions in southern Israel are better, but Malul of the Barzilai Medical Center says eight years of bombings from Gaza have taken a heavy toll on residents. The 500-bed hospital serves as the region's public health office, and Malul says thousands of residents suffer from psychological trauma: "You don't know how to run your life, and these people in southern areas have been living like this for eight years."

can you imagine living like this for any amount of time? i truly hope the israeli gov't can affect changes from within that both preserve their security while not compromising the dignity off all

 

[ohio]

stinkle, your account has been hacked.

 

[Silver]

stinkle, your account has been hacked.

His password was pretty easy to guess.

It look a couple of tries, but "rustytromboneted" works...

 

[$tinkle]

can't help but wonder why (presumably) well-intentioned people aren't curious about this. maybe it's the parental phenomenon of refusing to consider a pov b/c of the source, or those jews have some serious mind control

or maybe b/c it's 3 years ago today cheney shot someone in the face

 

[Secret Squirrel]

The more I try to understand, the less I care.

I suppose it would be different if I were there, but therein lies the beauty of the situation.

Ahhhh, ideological bloodfeuds, the great mid-east pasttime. But in this case a homerun means running into someones home with explosives...

 

[Defenestrated]

Stinkle is willing to admit that Israel is terrorizing the population of Palestine?

Gasp. I was beginning to be depressed by my own cynicism but my hopes are up once again.

 

[$tinkle]

Stinkle is willing to admit that Israel is terrorizing the population of Palestine?

Gasp. I was beginning to be depressed by my own cynicism but my hopes are up once again.

terrorizing? not quite. isn't like the article said they routinely fly @ mach+ over densely populated areas, causing grievous psychological & physiological damage

 

[Defenestrated]

Surrounding a population with a 40 foot concrete reinforced separation wall with the aim of segregation, imposing economic sanctions causing their economy to completely collapse throwing the region into crushing poverty, and using aforementioned wall to steal ancestral lands for Zionist settlement with no due process of law... is terrorism.

The population of Palestine is not a criminal one, Israel choose the lowest moral ground possible without killing them off (an option which as of late seems to be becoming popular) when it chose collective punishment.

Need I even point out the irony when you compare Israeli treatment of Palestinians today to German treatment of Jews in the 30s and 40s? Let's hope that Israel doesn't seek the same solution to the "Palestinian question".

 

[sanjuro]

Things are screwed in the Middle East?

 

[DaveW]

This thread is as good a place as any to drop this.
Blinded by religion much?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/oddstuff/7445264/The-specs-for-men-who-don-t-want-to-see