And I'm Off...

Shvita italki: Nadine, sensing that I am leaving for the airport in just a few hours, stages a shvita italki (Italian strike). Unlike American-style worker strikes with picket lines and rallies, the so-called Italian strike (popular here and throughout Europe) has workers going about their usual tasks—just very, very slowly. They dawdle, stall, and generally bring the industry in question to its knees until management negotiates. Nadine's version is to not exactly shun me, but to come very slowly and deliberately when I call. This afternoon she ignores me, and I am forced to scoop her up and bodily stuff her under the covers for a last-minute snuggle. Of course, she instantly melts into a warm, purring blob of kitty blubber. So much for worker solidarity.

Elections: I'm curious to hear my American clients' take on the election results. It seems to me that this can hardly be called a decisive Democratic victory, as many of the freshman members of Congress, despite running as Democrats, hold extremely conservative views. The Senate majority is so tenuous as to be meaningless. We'll see.

Here, politics is never far from the front pages. One of our cabinet ministers, Ophir Pines-Paz, resigns from the Olmert government after Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu party is accepted into the coalition. We'll see if Pines-Paz takes over leadership of the Labor party and makes a bid for PM in the future.

Quietly gay: The security risks being too high, the International Gay Pride celebration changes from a march through Jerusalem to an event in a Jerusalem stadium. It is well attended by politicians, musicians, celebrities, and draws visitors from many countries. The question isn't whether a country houses fundamentalist loonies and fanatics, but whether it allows such a minority to restrict the right and freedoms of all citizens. Thankfully, we still walk the path of democracy and do not allow small bands of fanatics to dictate our lives. So far.

Never take your freedom for granted.