Monday Post

Quickly now...


Egypt (of all places) acts as a go-between for Israel and Hamas:

Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers traded fire and tough cease-fire proposals Monday, and threatened to escalate their border conflict if diplomacy fails. No deal appeared near.

An Israeli airstrike targeting a Gaza media centre killed a senior militant and engulfed the building in flames, while Gaza fighters fired 95 rockets at Israel, nearly one-third of them intercepted by an Israeli missile shield.

The number of people killed in Gaza since the start of Israel's offensive rose to 109 on Monday, including 56 civilians. Some 840 people have been wounded, including 225 children, Gaza heath officials said. Three Israeli civilians have been killed and dozens have been wounded.

As I said before, history is repeating itself.


Related: Gaza bombs itself and uses wrong photographs for propaganda.


(two paws up)


You might want to listen to him. He's an economist, not a community organiser:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says if President Barack Obama and U.S. lawmakers can't find a solution to the looming fiscal cliff it could spark other unforeseen economic woes.

Harper told a Canada-United States business forum in Ottawa on Monday that he hopes "reasonable people" can come to a solution now that the election south of the border is over.

"To the extent I hear some people talking about a bungee cord, I think that kind of talk is foolish," Harper said.

"If you go over a cliff, you can't be sure what will happen next. Like we saw with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, how a single major event can trigger a series of events that's very hard to pull back from."

The fiscal cliff refers to the combination of imminent spending cuts and tax increases due to take effect Jan. 1 that could push the fragile U.S. economy back into recession, dragging Canada's along with it.

How will he rub elbows with Hun Sen?

President Barack Obama arrived in Cambodia on Monday having just won four more years in office, but that is nothing compared to his host, Hun Sen. The 60-year-old Cambodian prime minister has held power since Ronald Reagan was in the White House, and says he's not stepping down until he is 90.

Related: the Great Uniter doesn't take the time to learn the correct pronunciation of Aung San Suu Kyi.


(thanks)


David Petraeus testifies that he knew from early on that the Benghazi attack was an act of al-Qaeda terrorism, not the result of a video, no matter what doctored reports to Susan Rice say.


Carry on.

And now, strange musical instruments.