It's Israel

I'm not sure what to write about anymore. Perhaps the two quad flights of F16's ( and a.n.other) off on their way down south might be something. As they're right over my head incoming and outgoing I'm glad they're coming back safe. The sound of freedom as they say.
Another strange interview for work and long expensive trains and buses but met friends. Mrs Egghead was off to fill in gaps for a friend and then work when she got home. Ah well, we will get to meet one day.
Job situation reviving but in strange ways.

Someone told me the Knesset was sworn in today. I don't give a shit.

Unemployment

The eggheads turned up at our local unemployment office to sign on. Only took half an hour. Another trip on public transport to sort of the finance tomorrow. I did hear this is being called 'Black February" on the radio. If you have a public service job, hold on to it with with both hands.

The Israeli left is dead

A powerful eulogy to the demise of the Israeli left from Gideon Levy.

The Israeli left died in 2000. Since then its corpse has been lying around unburied until finally its death certificate was issued, signed, sealed and delivered on Tuesday. The hangman of 2000 was also the gravedigger of 2009: Defense Minister Ehud Barak. The man who succeeded in spreading the lie about there being no partner has reaped the fruit of his deeds in this election. The funeral was held two days ago.

Elections

This is not the outcome the Eggheads would wish for. It's bad enough Mrs E's party didn't get any seats and that my party went down from 5 to 3. It's Labour being beaten into 4th place by what I can only charitably describe as a bunch of loonies. To cap it all it's unclear how the next government will be formed. It's going to be difficult over the next few weeks.

Elections

Polls closed. Looks like the right wing are back.

Elections

Less than three hours to go. Turnout has been better than expected. It's still wet in the North.

Elections

It rained even more than I thought possible. Voting still going on and Mrs E is back on election watch. Just soggy banners and people huddled out of the wind, rain and cold. The voters still keep coming.

Elections

Dry, and now wet. Very very wet. With wind, thunder and lightning. Our local voting place is nearly deserted apart from those unfortunate souls on security and the elections tellers. The banners struggle to stay up. Mud and damp everywhere. It's a day off for everyone and most people are warm and dry at home hoping for a change. Won't happen this election.

Elections

Treppenwitz has a good post on how voting works in Israel for those interested. Better than the post I was going to write anyway. The Eggheads, having refreshed themselves, split up, one going to teach and the other goofing off for a while to mend the stapler. It will be needed. It's the industrial kind useful for fastening posters to vertical surfaces. The weather turned bright for a while and now it's pouring down again. With thunder and lightening.

Mrs E says it's God crying. I maintain it's Bibi's weather. " Look! We voted for him and he brought us winter!".

Elections

I found it. For those fans of proportional representation the link you need is just above. In Israel, we have a very , very crude form of PR. One person, one vote, one party. The vote is totaled, divided by the number of Knesset seats , and for every vote block that a party has , you get one seat. So far so good.

Imagine that the number of voters divided by 120 comes at at 50,000. Party X got 120,000 votes so it gets two seats in the Knesset. But what about the 20,000 votes left over? Tough luck I hear you say. Oh no, in Israel, they use the Hagenbach-Bischoff quota which means those votes can be transferred to another party to make up the numbers for possibly another seat. Yes, you heard me right. If Meretz is a few votes over, they can legally tranfer those to another party, in short, telling me, thanks but no thanks , we gave your vote to somebody else. In any country , those concerned would be facing jail time.

Elections

It's heaving with rain. Lots of it. There is a trickle of voters struggling with the wind and rain determined to vote. The Eggheads have retreated back home for restorative hot drinks and some breakfast. Just tying up banners is a challenge. Mrs E. was slightly pissed off that after all our hard work with bio-degradable string between two palm trees , the Likud people levered our anchorages for their own banner. I still haven't voted even though I travelled back and forth four times. While the rain is very welcome it does come at an inconvenient time. We are debating the wisdom of yet another party in Israel versus the inadequecies of the existing parties to fully address environmental issues.

Elections

So we're off to the polling station armed with a ton of Green Party stuff. I just heard on the radio that there are 36 parties standing this time. Thiry six? We're heading towards 120 parties for 120 seats which would be oh, ever so Jewish. Two Israelis and three opinions. I also heard that the BBC has sent 70 (seventy!) journalist to cover this one and that the son of Yitzak Rabin is going to vote Labor but supports Bibi. So vote for him you dumb cluck and stop dicking around.

Elections

Mrs Egghead has volunteered as an election observer for the green party. She expects her loyal husband to help out even though he is not planning to vote for this one. My mind is made up. Meretz it is. Have a fun day even with the rain while the Eggheads boo and hiss at each other.

It's the elections

Tomorrow Israel votes. I have no idea who to vote for.

A.Q. Khan

I see from the news that A.Q.Khan has been released from house arrest in Pakistan. He was the person who admitted passing WMD technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea. Whilst coalition troops and Iraqi civilians died by their thousands in the Bush-Blair vain search for WMDs he enjoyed a privileged lifestyle and is a hero is his own country.

Pakistan has been rewarded with additional military help from the USA, investment and support. Iraq just got dead people.

There were and are WMDs. They were never in Iraq. It is now very likely there there are other countries with this technology and Saudi Arabia is now what is generally called a precursor state.

At last, Blair is free to 'do God' – and America loves it

Oh no. Tony Blair is doing the religion thing in the US? I quote from the Independent.
"Tony Blair gave an extraordinary speech about the global importance of religion yesterday, telling an audience which included the newly-inaugurated President, Barack Obama, that faith should be restored "to its rightful place, as the guide to our world and its future."

No thank you. Living in the Middle East has given me a very jaundiced view of religion as a moral force. Anybody who uses the bible as a source of ethics either hasn't read it or doesn't understand it. For those retaining an ability to think, please read Richard Dawkins 'The God Delusion".