In the Trenches

The violent conflict here is frightening and unfortunate, but Israel is still awesome. Though parts of the country are confined to bomb shelters, life has gone on as usual in J-lem. We all got a kick out of George dubya Bush's comments to PM Tony Blair in St. Petersburg, "what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this sh*t, and it's over."

On the topic of humorous comments by political figures, Arab MK (Member of Knesset) Ibrahim Sarsur addressed the Knesset Internal Affairs Committee regarding the upcoming gay pride event in Jerusalem. www.ynetnews.com reports: A ripple of laughter went through Israeli parliament meeting when Arab MK Ibrahim Sarsur said, "I have never had to participate in such a discussion, because in Muslim society we don't have this problem."
(credit to this place: http://209.157.64.201/focus/f-news/1660124/posts I don't know who it is or how I even got there)

But it is not all fun and games. People are dying and being blown up, rockets and missiles are hitting towns and cities. Soldiers on both sides are risking their lives and sometimes losing them. Parents are worried about their children. It is crises like these that often inspire a desperate recourse to God as the only source left for comfort and order in a terrifying, painful, unpredictable, and uncontrollable world.

News agencies the greatest beneficiaries of war. In wartime, keeping up with the latest news becomes a widespread fascination, even addiction. The mass psychology of crisis and war is really intriguing; everybody goes through predictable, identifiable progression of phases that actually impact events in a big way.