Stupid, stupid, stupid

Really, as much as I try to convince people that I don't live in a backwards country, it gets tiring trying to convince myself of that very same thing sometimes.

Our national union is going on strike... again. This is the THIRD such strike in nine months.

When this kind of strike happens, we're without public services -- including garbage collection, government offices, mail, trains, border control (there's still security, but no way to get in or out of the country), the airport, some of the national health services, the ports, etc.

Last November, I was stranded in the Frankfurt airport for 15 hours without food, because of this kind of strike. It would have been another 12-24 hours, except that my flight was allowed to come back because of humanitarian reasons -- an Israeli girl had been in a horrible car accident in Germany, and she was being flown back to Israel for treatment. I just happened to be on that flight.

Now, it's the busiest tourist time of the year. So we're going to leave people stranded all over the world, including sitting on airport floors, because the Histadrut has decided *this* is the time to fight (again) for more money.

Don't get me wrong -- I am all about having the protection of unions. But not at the expense of the public.

As it is, government offices and post offices are only open to the public about 20-25 hours/week. Same with banks. For any normal person to be able to go to those, the person has to take a day off of work. No late hours... no Fridays... it really stinks.

The union is asking for a 10% wage hike. The government has offered 1%. Both of those are completely unreasonable.

I hope they can come to an agreement fast... it's hot in July. Too much time without garbage disposal will get ugly.

Entertainment through the "news"

It seems to me that while the news gets sadder and more frustrating, it also gets funnier.

Today's headline that cracked me up:

"Trouble finding 250 eligible prisoners hinders release"

(http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1183053079656&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull)

See, Olmert, in his infinite wisdom, agreed to try to release 250 Fatah Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails in an attempt to boost Abbas' standing in the West Bank.

But the one thing he did that made at least a tiny bit of sense was that he agreed to release only prisoners "without blood on their hands."

I guess he didn't take into consideration that:

A: Our soldiers are too busy dodging rocks and bullets to hunt down many people for car theft.

and

B: If someone is in Fatah, of COURSE he has blood on his hands, you dummy.

Duh.

Fatah is a terrorist organization, you big flippin' idiot. What are you thinking?

G-d, I hate stupid people. And even worse, I hate stupid people who end up in positions of political power.