Jerusalem Post

The 'Post' now has an advertising slogan claiming that the 'best newspaper in Israel(Where the principal language is Hebrew) is in English.' In my judgment though I do not particularly like this kind of 'fluff' their claim is true.

The 'Post 'is now edited by David Horowitz, the former editor of 'Jerusalem Report'. He has in my opinion and to my surprise done an outstanding job as editor. He has broadened and deepened the paper, introducing new writers. He has not as I thought he would, radically changed the political line of the paper so as to bring it in line with that of the former 'Jerusalem Report' or even worse 'Haaretz'.

The 'Post' has some truly outstanding writers and reporters. Judy Siegel is as fine a 'healthreporter' as I know. Arieh O'Sullivan is an excellent military correspondent. Caroline Glick is now , in my opinion, the strongest political writer on IsraeliMiddle East subjects in the world. I may find her a bit gloomy at times, but she provides the information and analysis in a most forceful and convincing way. Evelyn Gordon covers judicial matters with great knowledge and insight. Barbara Sofer is one of the best columnists now writing on the broad range of issues in Israel and the Jewish world. There are many others of high quality.

Horowitz likes a divergence of views, and so brings in voices whose opinions are far indeed from mine. But there is 'balance'.

The paper has also recently greatly improved its domestic coverage.

Also I believe that its weekend Shabbat magazine has improved, especially the bookreview section.

The Letters column is one of the most generous , and certainly most ablyedited. This by one of the Post's outstanding editorwriters Judy Montagu.

On the whole I would say anyone who truly cares about Jewish issues, and about Israel would do well to be a regular reader of the 'Post'.

If nothing else, one should read The Jerusalem Post online daily for the courageous coverage of the conflict offered by Palestinian journalist Khaled Abu Toameh.

The Tulkarem-born reporter is a rare commodity --a man with access to Palestinian leaders in all factions, who is not afraid to regularly detail the corruption, graft and other problems rife in the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. He is also well aware of the daily barrage of anti-Jewish hatred aired over the PA media and is not afraid to expose it. "An entire generation has been lost," he told me a little over a year ago.

After the most recent suicide bombing in Hadera, Abu Toameh took to the streets of Kabatiya, south of Jenin, to report on thousands of Palestinians celebrating the attack. He reported on the celebrations unflinchingly.

"Chanting Allahu Akbar (God is great)," he wrote, "some 3,000 people, including Fatah and Islamic Jihad gunmen, converged on [Hasan] Abu Zeid's home to "congratulate" his family on the success of the attack, which killed five people [as of Nov. 7, 6] and wounded more than 30."

But the paper has other stellar columnists and reporters as well, including Arieh O'Sullivan, Caroline Glick and Saul Singer.

And then there are the simple statistics and details that never show up in the international media. For example, the fact that 15 explosives have been found along Israel's border with Gaza since the Israeli withdrawal last summer. And the fact that Israel has suffered more than 20,000 terror attacks since 2000. And the names of the victims of suicide and other attacks.

If you want a balanced perspective from Israel--one that includes viewpoints across the political spectrum, from Arab and liberal to right--read the Jerusalem Post daily.

--Alyssa A. Lappen

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Metal Hammer

In the metal world there are a few magazines competing for your hard-earned money. Metal Hammer is one of those magazines that obviously don't get the recognition it deserves, it's not as famous as Kerrang or Revolver but I feel it's much better for me in some ways. For one thing the people contributing to this magazine know metal, they love metal and have the same kind of passion I have about it that it makes it impossible not to like it! Ever since their first issue in 1986 they've been dedicated to it and they still love it as much today. I like what they bring as information and how they say things, the format of over 130 pages, and the extras you get each month.

Okay, the price seems pretty high but I can assure you it has the best metal coverage of any magazine and has good humor which makes it a fun reading. I'd rather pay more like I currently do instead of reading a second rate metal magazine. Besides each month you get a CD of new songs from artists which are interesting to hear , and sometimes you get more like an Iron Maiden sticker book, a poster, it's always cool to get it gives you extra value for your money. Each time I pick up the new issue and love what's in it, I don't like everything they have in their magazine but every genre has a place in it and that's probably the best thing about it. They have excellent articles that are always interesting, the tattoo section, classic album covers, a monthly question pool result, ask Jurgen!, and I like how they have an interview section. Of course there is also an album ratings section and they rate DVD's and Books as well, just anything metal. They also have a feature which has a musician explain how a specific album changed his life, for example Kerry King of Slayer explains the impact of Iron Maiden's Killers on him. The newsletters and e-mails the magazine gets each month are great to read and come from people who love metal just as much as you do (or should since you are reading this!).

I find it quite similar to Classic Rock magazine and that's because they're sister publication so there are obviously going to be similarities. This one however focuses on a little heavier stuff and there is excellent coverage of the classic bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica, KISS and Dio, as well as newer stuff like Rammstein, HIM, Five Finger Death Punch and DragonForce, plus underground and unknow bands. It's an interesting mix and never fails. If you're looking for a metal magazine worth your money you should get their latest issue right now whatever it is, read it and decide whether or not it's worth the price of admission each month. To me the only magazine that rivals it today is Classic Rock. This would make a perfect gift for the obsessed metal fan!

i like this magazine because its an europeon magazine and it has alot of interesting information about bands there you never even knew exsists. i love the HIM articles and the articles on bands that you want to hear about here in the united states but its difficult to. i think this is a great magazine and its worth the money.

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What you do is you subscribe to two magazines. One is the UK edition of Metal Hammer and the other is its sister mag Classic Rock. And there you go, no more needs to be said.

Well OK if you insist.

Metal Hammer started back in the mid 80's to service the HUUUUUGGGGEEEEE groundswell of hard rock and heavy metal bands exploding all over the place at that time. The NWOBHM was spluttering to an inglorious end but it had kicked the metal community in the collective posterior and sent shockwaves of heavy guitar rippling around the world. The whole thing kicked off in Germany (one of the bedrock nations of loud rock music don't ya know) and pretty soon editions were springing up all over the European continent Greece, Holland and most importantly for the English speaking world Metal Hammer. At certain points in it's career it has come out fortnightly but it has been monthly since.... oh god I was reading it back then but I can't put a date on it off the top of my head.... the late 80's anyway.

As my tag line indicates Metal Hammer tends to be targeted towards the younger audience. I guess back in the day it was competing against Circus and Hit Parader (and you have to wonder why anybody would have read those had they known of the existence of Metal Hammer.... but there was never a US edition for some reason). Of course like all magazines it changes it's format from time to time but for many years now there has been a free cover mount disc on almost every darn issue, in fact sometimes two, and at times the free item has actually been a DVD. Some cheeky sods actually the on-sell these items right here on Amazon just type in Metal Hammer presents into the Amazon search engine.

Anyhow, with its combination of quality writing, free items, reviews and views Metal Hammer is certainly one of the premier English language hard music monthly magazines forget Kerrang for the most part, they were metal but ran for the hills in '93 and fell hook line and sinker for the alternative scene lame. Hammers global distribution seems to be matched by... well only Classic Rock and perhaps Revolver (which I can't comment on as I've never read it). Other English language magazines you may want to try would be Power Play and if the lighter end of the spectrum is more your bag perhaps Fireworks magazine (both from the UK) and two magazines I've yet to try Revolver and BW&BK. Oh and if you are reading this review in five years time please note that things can change!

Read Best Reviews of Metal Hammer Here

I really did cancel my subscription to Metal Edge and Revolver. Expensive here in the states, but you do get either a CD (or two) or DVD each month. WELL worth the money!!

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From across the Atlantic comes this excellent source for all things metal!! Full of great articles, pictures and reviews. Worth every penny.

Sky Model

Light on page count but that's probably due to very few advertisements. Focus appears to be more on build-up and modification of three or four subjects although there are great reviews of both current and out of production kits, resin part kits, decal kits, and photo-etched detail kits.

Geared toward the serious builder and definitely not for beginners. Even intermediate builders may be intimidated by the attention to detail: lots of scratch-building, use of photo-etched parts, and realistic dioramas in the builds. Planes have moveable flaps and rudders, working landing gears, built-in electric motors to spin the propellers, etc.

Build-ups include excellent color photos and colors appear spot-on with the real thing. Magazine is printed on thick glossy paper that will last a long time if taken care of. Just wish it were monthly instead of every other month.