The Detail

Marla Daniels:

But you can't lose if you don't play.

Cedric Daniels:

I always heard it

that you can't win if you don't play.

Marla Daniels:

The department puts you on a case

it doesn't want.

You're given people

that are useless or untrustworthy.

Cedric Daniels:

Correct.

Marla Daniels:

If you push too hard,

and any shit hits the fan...

you'll be blamed for it.

Cedric Daniels:

Correct.

Marla Daniels:

If you don't push hard enough, and there's

no arrest, you'll be blamed for that, too.

Cedric Daniels:

Correct.

Marla Daniels:

.The game is rigged

But you cannot lose if you do not play.

Ehud Barak had made the impossible happened. He got the Labour party convention's approval for the coalitional agreement and kept his position as minister of defence. The interests of those who sided with Barak are plain to see. The ministers to be, Ben Eliezer, Simhon, Noked and Herztog draw their power from bringing the interests of the power groups in that convention to the government table. this is why the Labour party was in every coalition in the last 10 years. In the case of Ofer Einy, the Histadrut chairman, it was even more obvious. Einy helped the coalitional deal pass by preserving and sealing most of the big workers unions privileges as part of the agreement.

Their excuse for joining the government was that it's a choise between two evils. That while Kadima is the biggest party in the opposition, the labour party will have to play second violin and wont be able to draw votes in the next elections from representing an alternative to Likud. This Theory has a few holes in it. 25 to be exact. Beside Hanegbi, Hasson and Plesner none of Kadima's Knesset members will find their arms and legs in the opposition's seats. This week Ehud Barak convinced himself that he has to chose between two evils. that either way he will be that history will blame for turning the Labour party from the party of the founders to a small and irrelevant party. He chose to keep playing.

All this week the media had to deal with more and more testimonies of war crimes committed by the IDF in the last was in Gaza. What the spinners called "Operation Cast Led". in Hebrew is even sound like a sale. The IDF still denies. During the war itself, the evidence for war crimes was plain to see even in the Israeli media. not to mention CNN and Al Jazeera English. We saw phosphorus bombs being used daily in dense civilian neighbourhoods, carpeting wide areas in smoke and starting numerous fires. We saw the embedded Israeli journalist Or Heller from "channel 10" filming (why should a journalist start a conversation with people he doesn't know) a Palestinian family being held at the ground floor of their own house as human shields, while the second floor is being used as a platoon headquarters. But nobody from the media or the Israeli viewers wanted to call those things in their proper names. If a discussion about the war in Gaza will find itself room in the Israeli discourse it shouldn't stay in the boundaries of "Cast led". IDF is occupying the Palestinians territories for 42 years. This is the true culture of the Israeli society as a whole after 42 years of occupation.

While in the first episode we saw Herc and Carver talking about busting heads. this episode the trash talk materialised itself. Carver, Herc and Prez visited the towers in 2 AM drunk and frustrated. things get out of hand and a 14 year old teen loses an eye. Daniels takes it very emotionally but backs up Prez, and officer he would love to get rid off, and even give him tips of how make it go away with the internal affairs unit.

Are there any IDF commanders who are feeling sorry for what happened in Gaza ? I don't believe so. But it is obvious that the cover up mechanism culture that shows in Daniels' actions it thriving in the IDF. Today the IDF changed the numbers of "Hamas members" being killed in the operation from 300-400 in the days of the fighting to around 800. The IDF spokesmen counts on the military correspondents and the Israeli collective denial to let that dyscalculia pass.

Season one Episode Two @HBO

The Target

McNulty:

I gotta ask you.

If every time Snotboogie...

would grab the money and run away

why'd you even let him in the game ?

Witness:

What ?

McNulty:

If Snotboogie always stole the money,

why'd you let him play ?

Witness:

Got to. This America, man.

Benjamin Netanyahu is a prime minister again, it's a matter of Days. Apparently in a right wing orthodox coalition, we'll know in a few days. Why did we chose him again ? only ten years ago "farther away from Netanyahu" replaced "Peres will divide Jerusalem" in a winner election slogan. Netanyahu Lied, He opened the Western Wall Tunnel, He was caught red handed trying to buy votes in his first government in order to approve the pullout from Hevron by appointing an attorney general that will work out a deal with Aryeh Deri. His economic policy have widen the gap between poor and rich in Israel and placed us in the top five list. Why are we letting him to play crap with us ?

Ehud Barak Lost an election again. Again he is doing everything in his power to join a right wing coalition only to stick to power and to enjoy the prominent position of the minister of defence. The fact that Barak is shameless and will do just about anything in order hold a position in any government was demonstrated in Yoel Marcus' column at Haartz. The only thing that was on Ehud Barak's mind when he found out Yitzhak Rabin was murdered was the legal position of a government that it's prime minister is murdered and what is the legal procedure that will make him the minister of defence . In the last two times Barak had lost in the poles, once in a primaries for the labour party and once a general elections, he showed little faith in that esoteric body called the Israeli parliament, if not to that bureaucratic thing called democracy. He simply quitted and went to his businesses. Why are we letting him to play crap with us ?

The first episode of the wire introduces us to the organisations that the show will follow in the next five seasons. We learn about two of those, The Baltimore police department and the Barksdale crime organisation, from the personal stories of detective McNulty and D'angelo Barksdale. Mcnulty is stirring the peace in the department by telling judge Phelan how badly the department is dealing with the Barksdale organisation and let it's people get away with at least 12 murders. Phalen causes a "shit storm" in the department and forces the deputy of operation Burrell to open a special investigation team. D'angelo in his turn loses his temper, shoots somebody for no good reason and in front of to many witnesses and costs the organisation platy of time and money in order to make it go away. The answer Burrell finds to the new problem is to act swiftly and make it go away. to do the least he can but enough to set Phelan's mind in peace.

The last week was led by the notion that the Gilad Shalit's saga is closed to an end and it is a matter of days until we will see him with his family. safe and hopefully sound. We saw high profile publications about the work done in Gilad Shalit's negotiations efforts led by Yuval Diskin and ofer dekel going to and from Eygept. And other front page headline promising a break through in those negotiations. apparently Ehud Olmert is doing anything in his power to set the Israeli mind in peace about the Shalit issue and to give the Israeli public the notion that he is keeping his promise to do everything he can to free Gilad shalit. This is so important for Olmert that he is doing it even in the price of freeing Gilad shalit. You don't need to be an expert to know that that kind of sensitive negotiation has to be dealt far away from the media and the public eye. Most probably that his Public relation campaign today will be a burden on Benjamin Netanyahu when he in his turn will have to free Gilad Shalit.

Bunk:

There you go, giving a fuck

when it ain't your turn to give a fuck.

Beside the coalition negotiations the other thing that occupies Benjamin Netanyahu's schedule is "not to pick up the phone when it's not his turn." It is not his turn to deal with the release of Gilad Shalit just as it wasn't his turn to deal with the development in the war in gaza. (operation cast led). McNulty and Landsman are angry at Bunk for answering the phone when it wasn't his turn and by that added a red name to Sgt. Landsman's unit's statistics. Rawls and Burrell and basicly the whole department are angry at McNulty for showing concern, or in Bunk's words give a fuck, in the Barksdale organisation when it wasn't his turn. Netanyahu knows he can't put to blame if he'll keep low in those sensitive issues.

Season one Episode one @HBO