"I wish I had a twin, so I could know what I'd look like without plastic surgery." - Joan Rivers

Conservatives inclined to media conspiracy theories will have a hard time making the case that the "liberal media" is ignoring Hillary's potential problems. Hard on the heels of the email brouhaha comes coverage of foreign firms, including those closely associated with the ruling regime in China, making multi-million dollar donations to the Clinton Foundation. Instead of a liberal bias there's almost a feeding frenzy as the media sharks smell blood in the water.

We hit 91 today. Spring has sprung and my rose bed is alive with opening buds. This pic doesn't do it justice. I took this pic this morning and by this evening I've got double the number of opened buds.

Spencer gave me directions for repainting the area of the front fenders I messed up, and while it will be time consuming the process isn't especially tricky. That's good!

Jake, at AZ Differential, says the locked-up rear axle must be because he put standard axles in a heavy duty case. The standards are 3/8" shorter. He was very apologetic (if a bit profane when he realized the problem) and will fix it at no cost when I get the truck done and down to him. The problem: it can't be driven and so will have to be trailered. Logistical challenge; I'll figure it out.

This morning I ran one mile and then did Phase Two of the pull up training regimen, the ladder routine. Ugh. This afternoon my gym workout included 84 burpees and 84 sit ups.
I need BACON.

Saturday morning I heard a Palestinian leader (or was he a journalist?) expressing his views on the Israeli national elections being held tomorrow. He wants the hardliner Bibbi Netanyahu to win. Huh? Yeah. He called the "two state solution" so popular with the West and moderates the "two state illusion," saying it will never happen and realists know that. Electing a hardliner means Israel and the Palestinians won't have to pretend the peace process can be moved forward. Instead, he called for one state made up of two peoples - Palestinians and Jews as equal members of a democracy electing representatives who will work, however acrimoniously, in a single parliament.

The interviewer said Jews will never agree to that arrangement for one simple reason: Palestinians far outnumber Jews, who wouldn't stand a chance as the minority party.

So what are the prospects for peace?
A: zero.
But not because their current animosities run so deep. Anyone familiar with the book of Genesis knows the story of twin boys, Jacob and Esau, who became bitter enemies, and the divine decree that their descendants would continue the hostilities in perpetuity. No political solution can change that.

So what's the best course? If we were international leaders should we advocate for the two state solution, a one state/two people solution, or something else?

I *think* that despite its certain failure the best course is to advocate for the two state solution. Why? Because the the best that can be done given 3,000 years of ordained animosities is a reduction in lives lost and people displaced. Humanitarian concerns, specifically a basic (Christian) desire that suffering among any group be minimized, seems most likely to be realized if the process of a two state solution is pursued. The end will never be realized; it would require more cooperation than either party will bring to the problem. But international pressure in that direction seems to be the process that will minimize violence and hardship.

I'm curious to see how tomorrow's election plays out. Like it or not, the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians affects things here in the U.S. to a significant degree.