A blog for all seasons; A blog for one; A blog for all. As the 11th most informative blog on the planet, I have a seared memory of throwing my Time 2006 Man of the Year Award over the railing at Time Warner Center. A member of the loyal opposition since November 4, 2008.
Chicago public school bureaucrats skirted competitive bidding rules to buy 30 cappuccino/espresso machines for $67,000, with most of the machines going unused because the schools they were ordered for had not asked for them, according to a report by the CPS Office of Inspector General.
That was just one example of questionable CPS actions detailed in the inspector general's 2008 annual report. Others included high school staffers changing grades to pump up transcripts of student athletes and workers at a restricted-enrollment grade school falsifying addresses to get relatives admitted.
In the case of the cappuccino machines, central office administrators split the order among 21 vocational schools to avoid competitive bidding required for purchases over $10,000. As a result CPS paid about $12,000 too much, according to Inspector General James Sullivan. "We were able to find the same machines cheaper online," he said.
"We also look at it as a waste of money because the schools didn't even know they were getting the equipment, schools didn't know how to use the machines and weren't prepared to implement them into the curriculum," Sullivan said.
That's $67,000 that could have been spent on books or materials that actually improved student learning.
What has taken Michigan so long to figure out that the Detroit schools are in trouble? Why has it waited until the district was $400 million in the hole? You would think that they would have noticed something was wrong when you have generations of students who are ill prepared for college and work. Why do Detroit residents continue to stand for a product - public education - that wastes money and can't spend the money in the classroom?
Throw in the fact that the state is going to send less money to the district because a headcount will reveal that they have fewer students, and the Detroit school outlook looks bleak. This would be the second time in 7 years that the district is to be taken over, and the teachers union, the DFT, complains that the reason that the district is the current bind is because of what happened the last time. Curiously, you would think someone would actually look and see why the budget went from a surplus to a massive deficit within six months:
Flanagan's action came after months of revelations about the district's precarious finances, in which the administration went from declaring a fund surplus in the spring to announcing a projected $408 million shortfall by June. The board later agreed to massive budget cuts, including layoffs and school closures, but ended fiscal year 2008 in a deficit nearing $140 million
The downturn in the auto industry could certainly play a role in the shortfall, but I suspect that there's more to this story than that.
Gov. David Paterson sees New York's condition as "perilous,'' but the courage to balance the government's budget and priorities can create "a brighter, smarter future,'' though it could take months and even years.
In his first State of the State address, Paterson called Wednesday for "shared sacrifice'' for a future where everyone has access to health care, excellent education and a good job and will breathe clean air and use clean energy.
"We still do not know the extent of the economic chaos that awaits us,'' Paterson told a joint session of the state Legislature. Noting New York entered a recession in August, he said an estimated 225,000 New Yorkers could lose their jobs before the crisis is over, and "the pillars of Wall Street have crumbled.''
Paterson already proposed a $121.1 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year, up 1.1 percent, that includes layoffs, a cut in school aid and 88 new or higher fees.
"We cannot solve our problems overnight or without sacrifice -- they run too deep for that,'' Paterson said. "These problems may last for many more months or even years. But we can solve them.''
Funny then, that the state's budget is higher this year than last by more than a billion dollars and that much of that increase is the result of higher fees and taxes.
Paterson's trying to have it both ways - grow state government all while claiming that he's being fiscally responsible. The sad fact is that by New York standards, he's actually as fiscally responsible as they've come over the past several decades (including Republicans like George Pataki and Democrats like Mario Cuomo and Eliot Spitzer). He's increasing the size of the state budget, but just not as much as the rate of inflation. All the usual suspects - leftists, the unions, lobbyists - will raise a great stink about how their programs are being cut, even though they will still see more money this year than last.
New York truly is in bad financial shape, but Paterson's proposals aren't the solution; they're only sending the bill on to the taxpayers in the form of higher taxes and fees at a time when they can ill afford them.
The state is in such bad financial shape because Wall Street stopped being its cash cow/piggy bank. It isn't feeding Albany with its tax revenues fast enough, so they have to make the money up elsewhere, hence the taxes and fee proposals, including one on soft drinks.
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Herb Jackson, who's reporting that story notes that there's questions over where in New Jersey the seat should come from - with Democrats predictably looking to unseat Republicans, and Republicans doing likewise to Democrats. Things are pretty close right now based on population studies.
I'd suggest looking at why the state is losing residents to other parts of the country. Could it be the insanely high tax burden in the state? Reduce the tax burden, and people will be more inclined to stay in the Garden State. Polls have suggested that 49% of New Jerseyeans want to leave the state.
No one in Trenton seems concerned about the correlation between high taxes and losing population - and the resulting tax base.
Whether it was because Israel's political leaders lost their nerve after yesterday's school incidents, are providing a genuine humanitarian relief to Gazans who are caught between Hamas and a hard place, or because they think that Israel benefits from giving Hamas three hours to regroup and rearm, it should be clear that from here on out, the diplomats will dictate what happens, not the Israeli military, which had been crushing Hamas throughout Gaza for the past 12 days. Israel has forgotten a key lesson from the Winograd Report in the process.
Mark Regev says Israel could accept the proposal if it halts "hostile fire" from Gaza and includes measures to prevent Hamas from rearming.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Wednesday that Israel and the Palestinian Authority accepted the proposal. Israeli officials will not confirm that.
The precise details of the proposal remain unclear.
Earlier today, Israel ordered a pause in its Gaza offensive for three hours to allow food and fuel to reach besieged Palestinians, and the country's leaders debated whether to accept an international cease-fire plan or expand the assault against Hamas.
With criticism rising of the operation's spiraling civilian death toll and Gazans increasingly suffering the effects of nonstop airstrikes and shelling, Israel's military said opened "humanitarian corridors" to allow aid supplies to reach Palestinians.
Israeli military spokesman Peter Lerner said the "recess in offensive operations" was aimed at allowing in supplies and fuel and would last from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m local time (6 a.m. to 9 a.m. EST). He said similar lulls in the coming days would be considered.
However, Lerner said that even during the pause "for every attack against the army, there will be a response." Gaza residents reported scattered gunfire and explosions even after it was supposed to have gone into effect, but the scale of fighting appeared to drop.
I have no doubt that the world media will ignore that part and simply call attention to the fact that Israel is continuing its fighting against Hamas and killing civilians.
Hamas will eventually claim to agree to a ceasefire, but continues attacking anyways. The diplomats will see that there's a decrease in attacks, so claim that there is a lull in fighting, and that the ceasefire is in effect. Thus, when Israel strikes back, the diplomats and the media will go after Israel, and ignore Hamas who once again precipitates a conflict in pursuit of its ideological goal - the extermination of Israel.
All of this favors Hamas and their ability to regroup and rearm, all while continuing their war against Israel. It's the hudna, stupid.
The UNRWA is lying and obfuscating about what happened at the Jabilya school yesterday. Keep in mind that if Israel truly intended to attack the school, far more than 30 people would have been killed. The entire facility would have been flattened. Hamas wouldn't have minded that one bit, which is why they were firing from positions in and around the school, hoping to lure Israel into doing just that. The EU is disturbed by the casualties at the school. Figures. Ignore that Hamas causes the fighting by attacking Israel incessantly, and then whine when civilians are injured or killed as Israel fights back.
Does anyone believe that the thousands of rockets Hamas has fired at Israel over the years wasn't meant to kill and maim Israelis? Every last rocket was meant to do so. To manufacture the kassams, Hamas uses sugar and fertilizer; materials that can easily be taken from humanitarian relief and repurposed for making bombs to kill Israelis.
Meanwhile, Hizbullah continues squawking that they're ready to fight Israel. Of course they are; they've had two years to get the latest and greatest weapons into Southern Lebanon courtesy of Syria and Iran with UNIFIL looking the other way the entire time as the Lebanese military is incapable of taking on Hizbullah itself and the Lebanese government has been coopted by Hizbullah.
Hamas has to show something for the fearsome pounding it's received at the hands of the IAF and IDF, so they're going to try and hit Israel with something more than just kassams, mortars, or grad rockets. Suicide bombings would do the trick.
Giving Hamas any pause or break in the fighting means that Hamas can and will use that time not to provide humanitarian relief or to actually do the work of a government of which it is part as the elected leaders of the Palestinian Authority, but to rearm and prepare for the next phase of its war against Israel. Even still, the rockets keep falling on Israel.
UPDATE: Palestinian witnesses counter the UNRWA nonsense and say that Hamas was undeniably using the areas in and around schools as mortar launching facilities. So much for the UNRWA being a neutral party in all this; they know that they've been facilitating terrorism for decades by allowing Hamas and Fatah to build up a terrorist infrastructure in the refugee camps and then by allowing them to openly operate militias. UNRWA is being exposed as nothing more than a terrorist facilitating entity, paid for out of the goodness of US tax dollars (among others). The UN will do everything imaginable to deny and obfuscate their role in the attack, particularly because this isn't the first time that the terrorists in Gaza have done this, nor is it the first time that terrorists have attacked Israel from UN positions either - see the Hizbullah war in 2006 when Hizbullah repeatedly fired on Israeli positions from in and around UNIFIL observer posts, getting UNIFIL forces caught in the line of return fire.
UPDATE: I've been warning about this for some time now that the Israeli practice of warning Palestinians of impending attacks was counterproductive. Carl in Jerusalem notes that that's indeed the case; Hamas has been using those calls to organize human shields to protect their vital assets.
UPDATE: Well, the war's back on. Fighting has resumed in earnest, although I'd point out that it never did stop during the 3-hour period.
UPDATE: Aaron at Internet Haganah posts an interesting video showing a Hamas mortar crew firing on Israel. It was apparently taken last summer, and while it shows that the crew was hit by Israeli counterbattery fire, I think the more useful detail is how the terrorists were firing the weapon.
Note how the terrorists are using string to hold up the mortar round in the barrel and are then able to fire it from a distance. These terrorists know that the IAF and IDF is excellent at killing terrorists, and they're trying to fire remotely. It's crude; it's cheap, and it gives the terrorists the ability to cut and run at the drop of a hat because they could set up the launchers anywhere (the center median of a street or near a school) and fire from the relative safety of a nearby building).
You want to know how Hamas can seemingly slip away after firing these mortars and rockets; there you go.
UPDATE: Hamas is busy murdering Fatah and people it considers collaborators - more than 40 of them, and no one is getting particularly upset at those criminal acts. Israel kills civilians by accident after being fired upon by Hamas from UN facilities and the world gets pissed. Fancy that.
UPDATE: Israel is going after those smuggling tunnels again and has warned residents in and around Rafah that they will be attacking. It appears that the Israeli military is going to sweep through the Philadelphi corridor to destroy Hamas' capabilities to regroup and resupply its weapons caches via the smuggling tunnels.
As I've continually reported, Hamas makes money from those tunnels to sustain itself - both by smuggling in contraband and from getting a piece of the action, to say nothing of the weapons, equipment and personnel it brings in. Destroying those tunnels limits Hamas and what they're capable of doing going forward.
Israeli communities continue to be bombarded by Hamas rockets and mortars. Hamas thugs who had been begging for Israeli soldiers to come into Gaza are suddenly scarce and shying from a fight. Gee, what did anyone expect from a bunch of terrorists who hide behind women and children? They're biding their time until the diplomats get to bail them out again. And just as predictably, the diplomats are right on cue: a truce is possible within 2 days. Really?
Hamas has agreed to a truce before? They've continually stated that they will not accept a truce, and they most certainly don't accept Israel's existence.
Nothing has changed to that calculus.
And in an up-is-down world, Amnesty International (and YNet, which published the report) says that the IDF purposefully endangering Gazan civilians, and only at the bottom of the report indicates that Gazan gunmen were a danger to civilians. Nice. Shame on both of them for not only the moral equivalence, but ignoring that the current war in Gaza was wholly the result of Hamas, a terrorist group, firing thousands of kassams into Israel each with the intent to murder Israeli civilians, and Hamas now hides among civilians while carrying out ongoing terrorist operations against Israel. Israeli forces are doing their best to avoid civilian casualties, but any such casualties are the fault of no one but Hamas under international law and common sense (which is sorely lacking among all these so-called human rights groups that suddenly awaken to report on Israel's response while ignoring Hamas and the months of attacks during the so-called ceasefire).
Labels:
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UNRWA
I've separated out the two incidents occurring at UNRWA schools in Gaza from the rest of the Operation Cast Lead coverage because the incidents speak volumes about Hamas, the UN, UNRWA, and Palestinian culpability for the mayhem in Gaza.
Reuters has a photo with the following caption for the incident at a school where three Palestinians were killed.
6 hours ago: Palestinians survey the scene after an Israeli air strike at a United Nations school in Gaza January 6, 2009. An Israeli air strike killed three Palestinians in the United Nations school in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, medical workers and U.N. officials said.
What exactly was fired? Machine guns? Because it certainly wasn't anything larger than that - Hellfires blow up cars and leave craters and bombs leave gaping craters. Here? A small hole punched in the wall and smaller shrapnel holes. I think we've got some real questions about what happened at that school.
Israel may have opened fire on Hamas operating in close proximity to the school, and by the looks of it, used limited firepower in the process. The only sources providing details on who was killed or injured in the attack are Palestinians, who aren't exactly going to say that Hamas thugs were involved.
As a vivid reminder of what Israel is up against, here's Hamas busy firing kassams from outside a Gaza school in 2007. Some things don't change. They're still at it today:
More at Gateway Pundit. Hamas is also purposefully dragging children to be human shields in their war with Israel. Here's the visual proof:
So, keep that in mind as the reports come in on the incident in Gaza.
Kenneth at LGF points out that there are now conflicting reports about what happened in or near a school in Gaza. An AP report notes that Hamas fired on Israeli forces from the school and the Israeli return fire set off secondary explosions - meaning that Hamas used the school as a weapons depot:
n Israeli official says Palestinian militants fired on Israeli soldiers from the courtyard of a U.N. school where dozens of people died in fiery explosions.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he said the army is still drafting the country's official response to the incident.
The Israeli official said "hostile fire" was directed at the soldiers from within the school. He said soldiers returned fire and multiple explosions went off, presumably emanating from munitions stored there.
John Ging, head of Gaza operations for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, said most of the casualties at the U.N. school in Jebaliya, where some 350 people had taken refuge, were outside the building. He did not say whether the artillery came from Israeli forces.
More recent reports indicate that Hamas had boobytrapped the school, and that Hamas set off the explosions resulting in the multiple casualties.
The intended effect was to get the media to blame Israel for the carnage; some will inevitably do so regardless of the facts, but the fact is that Hamas uses human shields and purposefully uses UN and UNRWA facilities from which to carry out their evil intentions.
UNRWA and the UN bear special responsibility for this conflict since they have repeatedly gone out of their way to look the other way as Hamas has built up its military capabilities, while making demands of Israel to concede more of its security to terrorists.
Another way to look at this is that Hamas tried to pull a Beslan massacre. They rigged the school to blow, killing as many people as possible. In both instances, jihadis were responsible for the carnage and the hoped-for victims were mostly children.
An IDF spokesman said that troops had fired mortar rounds at the school, after militants barricaded inside shot mortar shells at the Israeli forces.
"Initial checks ... show that from inside the school mortars were fired at Israeli forces," a spokesman said. "In response, the forces fired a number of mortar rounds into the area."
The army said that the bodies of numerous Hamas militants were found inside the school following the attack.
The attack brought the Palestinian death toll to nearly 600 in Israel's 11-day offensive on the Hamas-ruled coastal territory.
Two tank shells exploded outside the Gaza school, spraying shrapnel on people inside and outside the building, where hundreds of Palestinians had sought refuge from fighting between Israeli soldiers and Hamas militants. In addition to the dead, several dozen people were wounded, the officials said.
UPDATE: Elder of Ziyon has more details about the location of the school, and that it was located in what can only be described as a surburban area of Gaza.
One more thing, speaking of pornography -- we've all seen endless pictures of dead Palestinian children now. It's a terrible, ghastly, horrible thing, the deaths of children, and for the parents it doesn't matter if they were killed by accident or by mistake. But ask yourselves this: Why are these pictures so omnipresent? I'll tell you why, again from firsthand, and repeated, experience: Hamas (and the Aksa Brigades, and Islamic Jihad, the whole bunch) prevents the burial, or even preparation of the bodies for burial, until the bodies are used as props in the Palestinian Passion Play. Once, in Khan Younis, I actually saw gunmen unwrap a shrouded body, carry it a hundred yards and position it atop a pile of rubble -- and then wait a half-hour until photographers showed. It was one of the more horrible things I've seen in my life. And it's typical of Hamas. If reporters would probe deeper, they'd learn the awful truth of Hamas. But Palestinian moral failings are not of great interest to many people.
I'd go much further than that; the media's refusal to dig deeper and expose Hamas and its gross brutality and unimaginable carnage is one of the reasons that Israel is in this fight at all. Had Hamas been exposed long ago, Israel would have been able to destroy Hamas before it managed to obtain longer range rockets and missiles affecting still more people. Each time Hamas is on the ropes, they trot out the corpses, and the media reprints and distributes them worldwide and the diplomats force Israel to stop killing the terrorists responsible for putting those children in harms' way. Today is no different.
Labels:
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Are they really budget cuts or are they reductions in the increase in state spending from previous projections? That's the problem when some of these articles are published without any relevant context.
Some of the areas identified for cuts by Governor Corzine:
The state’s contribution into the employees’ pension fund: $115.6 million New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission: $10 million Management salaries: $15.7 million Executive branch employee salaries: $6 million New Jersey Stem Cell Research Institute: $13.7 million Cancer research grants: $7 million Homeland security grants: $1.4 million Office of the Child Advocate: $1 million Office of the Public Advocate: $2.6 million State comptroller: $1.5 million Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike feeder-road maintenance program: $4 million Hunters and anglers fund: $1 million Law enforcement training and equipment: $882,000 Governor’s Literacy Program: $700,000 Mosquito control: $257,000 Department of Transportation ride-sharing program: $240,000
One that should draw a huge red flag? He's looking to cut pension payments by nearly $116 million. That's on top of the already massively underfunded state pension system. Nice. In other words, Corzine is looking to make the pension timebomb in New Jersey even worse by calling for cuts there. Don't hold your breath to see that happen though; the unions would never allow that to happen. The unions also will not discuss givebacks or reductions to their gold plated benefits packages going forward either, despite the fact that the state cannot afford them.
Another program to watch? The state is looking to cut the Stem Cell Research Institute Funding by $13 million. Why is that a red flag when I've repeatedly counseled that the state shouldn't have been involved in it in the first place? Simple. It's very hard to eliminate programs once they've been placed on the budget. Corzine has tried to spend hundreds of millions in debt financing to make the stem cell research center work, but taxpayers voted that down. He's settled instead for spending state money on the program when the state simply doesn't have the money. Now, he's forced to take action. Again, watch proponents try to keep the funding where it is.
Had the state not funded the stem cell research institute in the first place, there would be tens of millions available for other more crucial programs or lower debt financing or other benefits that accrue to taxpayers by the state not spending money it doesn't have and/or taxpayers whose wallets are not even lighter than they already are.
I'm still not sure what the office of the public advocate is, and why it is needed when it handles many of the same functions as the Attorney General's office (particularly the Division of Consumer Affairs).
Meanwhile, one agency that isn't seeing its budget cut? Global Warming. Nice.
UPDATE: Instapundit links. Thanks. By the way, I'm a finalist in the 2008 Weblog Awards Best Small Blog category (as listed as A Blog For All). If you're so inclined, send your votes my way early and often (Chicago rules apply).
[T]hugo Chavez, the socialist leader of Venezuela is having to scale back his socialist operations and among the first to go is his attempts to lure Americans to believe his socialist claptrap.
He's had to stop the low cost oil program in the US. Crashing oil prices meant that Chavez didn't have the money on hand to run the program. Of course, Chavez doesn't have the money to expand his military either, so it's a win-win proposition for those who see Chavez's bellicose statements and his repeated efforts to undermine the Venezuelan democracy by granting himself greater powers at the expense of the people.
Chavez is an economics nitwit, peddling his socialist visions, and Venezuela's economy was already reeling from Chavez's economic programs, so that the worldwide slowdown and lowered demand for oil has meant that Chavez doesn't have the money to spend on his socialist cause.
Hardest hit aren't the people who had been taking advantage of the free oil program, but the useful idiot Joe Kennedy, who had been shilling for Chavez for years. Jammie notes that Kennedy is getting the cold shoulder not only from Americans, but Chavez isn't exactly reaching out to him either.
Overnight, the Israeli military announced that three more Israeli soldiers were killed. They were members of the elite Golani Brigade, whose predecessors defended Israel's northern borders and who saved Israel from ruin during the 1973 Yom Kippur War when their unit went into the breach and stopped the oncoming Syrian armor from pouring down and out of the Golan Heights. The incident involved an errant tank shell, which shows just how difficult things are for Israeli soldiers fighting in the urban warrens of Gaza City and the refugee camps.
Hamas is busy trying to spin things in their favor, but the fact is that Hamas is desperate for a timeout. They've been hit hard, but they need a hudna. There's no way Israel should relent. Now is time to slam the hammer down on Hamas. Israel's future deserves no less than to ensure that Hamas is destroyed.
Speaking of the diplomatic effort, there's much talk, but not a whole lot of action. It's diplomats doing what they do to look important, but not much else. The UN continues to make statements of moral equivalence - putting Hamas and Israel on equal footing when anyone who knows the difference between good and evil would demand that the UN support Israel against Hamas and see that the terrorist group is destroyed. Of course, the history of the UN since 1948 has been one to try and undermine Israel's right to exist at every turn and the anti-Israel lobby is constantly trying to stop Israel from defending itself. Any ceasefire or truce demands concessions of Israel while the terrorists walk scot-free. Just look at Hizbullah in Lebanon. UNIFIL continues looking the other way as Hizbullah maintains their military forces, despite UNIFIL mandates to disarm Hizbullah.
Israeli Defense Minister Barak is prepping for a long term operation, knowing that Hamas has squirreled away significant weapons caches for a prolonged fight. He needs Prime Minister Olmert to give him the time to carry out the necessary operations to take out Hamas leaders and their thugs who have brought nothing but pain and misery to Gaza.
It was at that meeting that ministers confided that Mubarak had told them 'Hamas must not be allowed to emerge from the fighting with the upper hand.'
Hamas believes Egypt is trying to broker a ceasefire and sent a delegation to the city on Monday. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert meantime has told visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy that Israel will not honour a ceasefire imposed by the UN Security Council. It will only honour an agreement that it agrees to, the Israeli prime minister told Sarkozy.
Israel wants the rocket attacks to stop, and the smuggling of weapons from Egypt to cease. Mubarak, whose country patrols the border with Egypt, was insisting Monday there was no smuggling, that supplies to Hamas were coming from ships off Gaza.
Israel has said it is a member state of the UN and should not be put on the same basis as Hamas, which it says is a 'terrorist organization.'
Still, there are two jihadis in particular who are notably quiet about the situation in Gaza. You would think that they'd be out front leading the charge against Israel and the West especially given their prior statements and how they've repeatedly tried to tie everything that happens around the world to Israel and the Palestinians.
You know who I'm talking about: Al Qaeda's own top two - Ayman al Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden.
Both are notable by their silence. Perhaps they're having problems getting their videos out from the undisclosed locations near the ninth plane of Hell or the NWFP (interchangeable under certain circumstances as a little know fact is that Hell can freeze over)? Maybe they're dead? I find it hard to believe that they're having trouble find the words to put together to a video or audio tape, although their propagandists might be having trouble getting the video and audio to sync up properly.
Silence is usually golden, but in this case, it speaks volumes.
Now, it's possible that they will be heard from soon enough. Maybe their next video or audio will mention the situation in Gaza. I just wouldn't hold my breath and I certainly wouldn't expect to hear anything new from them. It's the same story we've been hearing for decades; someone is going to destroy Israel and yet when the latest terrorists and their terror masters try, Israel swats them hard. Each time restraint is mistaken as weakness, although Israel's reluctance means that we have to keep replaying the same stories every few years and more civilians die than if Israel simply fought to defeat its enemies.
The great equalizer, however, is the media war. Hamas still benefits greatly from media sympathizers who will unquestioningly run agitprop for Hamas and savaging Israel's defensive actions. MSNBC is particularly awful at maintaining objectivity in US media. The British media is far worse and I wont even begin to get into the sewers and fever swamps of the state-run propagandists of the Arab world.
I've been going through the photos regularly on Getty Images and Daylife, and if you counted all the photos of injured children and those of injured adults, you'd think that Israel targeted only children. There's a stunning lack of adults being captured on film being brought to the hospitals or receiving medical care at all.
I can't imagine why that's the case. Maybe it has something to do with media bias and the bias of the stringers taking the photos - knowing full well that showing images of terrorists being wheeled in to the hospitals isn't going to make a convincing case that Israel stops bombing, but show a bunch of children dead or injured, and you might get the sympathies sufficiently riled to get the diplomats to stop Israel before Hamas is thoroughly dismembered.
Reuters makes nonsensical claims and headlines, which do nothing but bolster Hamas. They claim that Israel is ignoring the possibility of a truce, but even Reuters had to report that Hamas is urging its fellow terrorists to fight every street and to the last breath and last man. Gabriel Malor at Ace of Spades has the details. So does Omri at Mere Rhetoric, who notes the New York Times doing the same thing.
There's a reason that the Gazan hospitals are crowded with patients and it's left out of practically every report. Israel has stated that Hamas is using hospitals as terror command posts, although doctors there deny it (with the omnipresent Hamas thugs at the facilities, there's no way to trust that without searching every inch of the hospital to be sure). Reports also suggest that Hamas thugs have set up hospital facilities for their wounded terrorists, but are taking aid and relief supplies meant for civilians injured in the fighting.
Israel would not have gone into Gaza had Hamas not fired thousands of rockets at Israel.
Israel left Gaza in 2005, and all it got for that unilateral effort was kassams that rain down on Sderot and other Israeli communities throughout Southern Israel. People within range of the kassams have less time to react than they do to read this post. They have seconds.
That conditions for Gazans is bad now is the fault of no one but the Hamas terrorists who wished for a war with Israel, and Hamas all they could to ensure that one would bring the maximium amount of civilian casualties.
None of this matters to the many anti-Israel demonstrators around the world who display their real intentions. It isn't anti-war sentiments driving much of the demonstrators, but raging anti-Semitism. Israel's existence is sufficient for the demonstrations, and the grievance theater surrounding these displays shows just how deluded so many of these people are. They demand nothing less than jihad and the destruction of Israel - in so many words.
Hamas thugs call for killing Israeli children, as though Hamas hasn't been busy trying to achieve that goal. After all, they tried to blow up this kindergarden class. Sadly, that's not a new call either, as Hamas has routinely called for the murder of Israelis of all ages, and has managed to succeed in their terror attacks on occasion. That they haven't killed more people is the result of Israel securing its borders, manning checkpoints to stop suicide bombers and gunmen, and sealing the border with Gaza to prevent terror attacks.
It was that latter part that sent Hamas scrambling for rockets. Since they couldn't infiltrate Israel with suicide bombers, they went with the next best thing - rockets. And they've sent thousands into Israel - each with the murderous intent to slay Israelis.
The UN Security Council will be meeting shortly to discuss the situation in Gaza. I have no doubt that the focus will be on Israel to stop attacking Hamas. Much less discussion will be had on Hamas and dismantling the terrorist infrastructure. The US has already said that it will veto any plan that is unbalanced.
Much will be made of the fact that Prime Minister Olmert rejected a 48 hour ceasefire, but the fact is that Hamas has said that they would never entertain a ceasefire unless Israel stops attacking and destroying Hamas terrorists. Hamas has never said it would stop firing its rockets into Israel.
Bret Stephens posits an endgame for Israel, one that includes the possibility for peace. Key among Israel's options is that it must assert aggressive deterrence, a policy that had been all but abandoned by Olmert in the runup to both the Hizbullah war and the operation in Gaza.
And, as a reminder to anyone who thinks that Fatah is a preferable alternative to Hamas, many Fatah are sympathizing and showing solidarity with Hamas. They have short memories given that Hamas took to throwing Fatah thugs off rooftops in the Palestinian civil war and has been murdering Fatah in Gaza during the current conflict claiming that they are collaborating with Israel. Both terrorist groups have sought the destruction of Israel, but Hamas has been the more violent of the two, if only because Fatah was lured by kleptocracy.
MSNBC continues its pro-Hamas stance, by claiming that 500,000 Gazans are in danger. No word in the headline about the nearly equal amount of Israelis endangered by Hamas rockets that can reach as far as Ashdod and Beersheeba.
UPDATE: Two separate reports from Gaza indicate that Israeli airstrikes have apparently hit two schools. The NY Daily News reports that an attack on one school killed three, while another wire report says that 30 have been killed in a second attack.
No doubt that the anti-Israel brigade will try to do as much damage politically and with the full force and effect of propaganda from the airstrikes if they killed civilians. The problem is that Hamas is operating in and among civilians, and there's no way to know if Hamas wasn't operating in close proximity to those schools at the time of the attacks. Hamas has no regard for human lives, least of all Gazans, who are simply props for use as propaganda against Israel. If they can't kill Israelis with their rockets, dead Palestinians will suffice since it means that they can use the dead to increase pressure on Israel to stop attacking and destroying Hamas capabilities.
Hamas has repeatedly used UNRWA facilities to operate. The Islamic terrorists have used UN ambulances to transport weapons and equipment, and have repeatedly taken advantage of the refugee camps to wage war against Israel. UNRWA has an obligation to maintain the peace, but has repeatedly chosen to look the other way.
UPDATE: Carl in Jerusalem is reminding readers not to jump to conclusions about what happened in Gaza and the early reports of Israel attacking schools. He reminds people of the Qana incident, which was claimed to be a massacre, but turned out to be no such thing. It was a hoax. He also makes the same observation I did that Hamas is using human shields, and notes Israeli radio reports claiming Hamas was dragging children into buildings where they were operating.
UPDATE: Elder of Ziyon notes that the Guardian has published an op-ed agitprop piece courtesy of Hamas terror master Khalid Meshaal. It's full of lies, distortions, and propaganda claiming that Israel is behind the attacks. Elder of Ziyon cuts through the agitprop and rebuts each of the lies succinctly. Sadly, I expect to see Meshaal's writings (or those of other terrorist sympathizers or spokesthugs) included in the Washington Post or New York Times within the next few days as they make the rounds.
This is why Israel is doing what it must. Hamas is steadfast in their demands that Israel be destroyed. Honor and elevate bloody murdering terrorists. That's what they are, that's what they call for, and the world ignores all that to find fault with Israel instead.
Meanwhile Israeli humanitarian aid to Gaza continues to roll into Gaza to help Gazans, who will take the aid and still demand Israel's destruction; Hamas will steal it and/or use it for their terror purposes, but the world finds fault with Israel.
Ah, now this seems odd. We've got a Reuters caption claiming that the following photo is of the school where an airstrike killed 3.
6 hours ago: Palestinians survey the scene after an Israeli air strike at a United Nations school in Gaza January 6, 2009. An Israeli air strike killed three Palestinians in the United Nations school in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, medical workers and U.N. officials said.
What exactly was fired? Machine guns? Because it certainly wasn't anything larger than that - Hellfires blow up cars and leave craters and bombs leave gaping craters. Here? A small hole punched in the wall and smaller shrapnel holes. I think we've got some real questions about what happened at that school.
Israel may have opened fire on Hamas operating in close proximity to the school, and by the looks of it, used limited firepower in the process. The only sources providing details on who was killed or injured in the attack are Palestinians, who aren't exactly going to say that Hamas thugs were involved.
UPDATE: As a vivid reminder of what Israel is up against, here's Hamas busy firing kassams from outside a Gaza school in 2007. Some things don't change. They're still at it today:
More at Gateway Pundit. So, keep that in mind as the reports come in on the incident in Gaza.
UPDATE: Jules Crittenden kicks the media like a rented mule for its ongoing horrid coverage of the situation in Gaza and how they repeatedly present only one side of the conflict in any detail - that of Hamas and the Gazans, instead of focusing on why Israel is fighting back against Hamas in the first place - because Hamas couldn't stop itself from trying to destroy Israel.
UPDATE: Kenneth at LGF points out that there are now conflicting reports about what happened in or near a school in Gaza. An AP report notes that Hamas fired on Israeli forces from the school and the Israeli return fire set off secondary explosions - meaning that Hamas used the school as a weapons depot:
n Israeli official says Palestinian militants fired on Israeli soldiers from the courtyard of a U.N. school where dozens of people died in fiery explosions.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he said the army is still drafting the country's official response to the incident.
The Israeli official said "hostile fire" was directed at the soldiers from within the school. He said soldiers returned fire and multiple explosions went off, presumably emanating from munitions stored there.
John Ging, head of Gaza operations for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, said most of the casualties at the U.N. school in Jebaliya, where some 350 people had taken refuge, were outside the building. He did not say whether the artillery came from Israeli forces.
For additional coverage of the Gaza school incidents, see my separate post here.
UPDATE: I'd been wondering when we'd hear from Zawahiri. Well, here he goes...
We will never stop until we avenge the death of all who are killed, injured, widowed and orphaned in Palestine and throughout the Islamic world," said Ayman al-Zawahiri in a new 10-minute audio recording released today on extreme Islamist Web forums.
The message is entitled "The Massacre in Gaza and the Siege of the Traitors".
Zawahiri refers directly to President-elect Barack Obama saying he has partnered with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, whom Zawahiri labels as a traitor to Islam.
So, let's see - Zawahiri still considers the US as the enemy, and that Obama isn't going to be treated any different than President Bush.
Vote early and often - once per day per category. I'm in the Best Small Blog category, and there's some tough competition there as well. Best of luck to my competitors!
Chicago rules are in effect (though no money for seats at present, I know... it's something we'll have to work on).
Ace of Spades, Victor Davis Hanson, LGF, and Michelle Malkin are in a tough race for Best Conservative Blog.
Other well known lizards (folks who regularly visit littlegreenfootballs.com) and many friends of A Blog For All are up for awards as well:
Zombie (zombietime.com) and Carl in Jerusalem (Israel Matzav) for Best Midsize Blog.
Of all the people that President elect Barack Obama could choose to be Director of Central Intelligence, he picked a guy who has absolutely no intelligence experience, no military experience, and is strictly a numbers guy: Leon Panetta.
What does this say about Obama and the intel community from which he had choices?
Admiral Dennis Blair was also named to be national intelligence director, according to officials.
Panetta is qualified to be DCI why? How? What are his qualifications?
Admiral Blair is more qualified to be DCI than Panetta. Then again, according to Blair's wiki, he's got himself a thing for not following orders and odd relationships with defense contractors.
Is it an admission that there's no one qualified to run the intel business in the nation, so we've got to get a numbers guy to do it? Or just no one qualified that is a Democrat? Or that Obama couldn't find someone who wasn't associated with current intel policy that the far left could find satisfactory (aka opposed aggressive tactics to uncover terror plots, waterboarding, and other tactics used since 9/11 to prevent further terror attacks inside the US), or a combination of the above?
UPDATE: Sen. Diane Feinstein is not a happy camper with the choice. The California Democrat wasn't informed of the choice. That's a polite way of saying, you never bothered to ask my opinion. She's not alone either. Sen. Jay Rockefeller echoes those sentiments; couldn't Obama have found someone with experience who opposed the aggressive interrogations, which the left construed as torture? Steve Kappes was apparently their choice; someone who had experience and opposed waterboarding.
I further disagree with Instapundit's take relying on Angelo Cordvilla about Panetta being a good choice to fight Obama's turf battles with the CIA to avoid the problems that dogged President Bush from 2001 onwards.
The CIA is a massive bureaucracy with its own inertia. It will do what it must to survive those who pass through. That means that there will always be people who oppose the President, regardless of which side of the aisle is in charge. There are partisans who think that they know better than the President or that they are the ones who make the decisions. They are the ones who leak information to the press, which often reports it regardless of the potential for undermining national security.
Panetta's selection wont fix any of that. If anything, it will make the problem worse since he has no understanding of the culture at CIA and no experience in intel matters. He's a bean counter, and a bad one at that given that he opted to cut the intel budget during the 1990s when al Qaeda was an emerging threat.
It's wishful thinking to believe that Panetta will fix the problems at CIA or will allow Obama to avoid the pitfalls that befell Bush. The reality is that bureaucracies the size, scope and nature of CIA are creatures unto themselves.
The thing is that someone has to get the CIA under control and to ensure that the nation gets the best intel possible from all sources - human and signal. It means dealing with unsavory characters. It means getting your hands dirty from time to time, but the end result should be an organization that is free of politics and puts the national interest first and foremost. Having opposing viewpoints proffered isn't a bad thing either, but it should be free of politics.
The Panetta choice does nothing to solve the problems, and shows that Obama is putting politics ahead of the best person for the job.
Once again, the media distorts an immigration related issue. Here, New Jersey is contemplating extending driving privileges to illegal aliens, but the Bergen Record calls them migrants or undocumented immigrants. That's just the start, as the meat and bones of the article should raise hackles over what rights and privileges are being considered for individuals who entered the US illegally:
The governor's immigration advisory panel this week is expected to consider recommendations that the state allow undocumented immigrants to drive with a special "driver privilege card" and to attend college at in-state tuition rates, two Hispanic leaders say.
The recommendations are among several from subcommittees of Governor Corzine's Blue Ribbon Panel on Immigrant Policy, which will meet Tuesday in New Brunswick. The Hispanic leaders, who are not panel members, said that New Jersey Public Advocate Ron Chen told them at a meeting last month that the recommendations would be included in the panel's report to Corzine.
The "driving privilege card" would allow undocumented immigrants, who are forbidden from obtaining driving licenses in New Jersey, to drive legally. But it would not have the same identification function of a standard driver's license. Many undocumented immigrant students forgo higher education, which often requires them to pay higher, out-of-state tuition.
"Those are the big issues, as far as many leaders of ethnic communities are concerned," said Daniel Santo-Pietro, executive director of the Hispanic Directors Association in New Brunswick, an umbrella group. Santo-Pietro says he has been in regular contact with Chen's staff and with panel members. Laureana Organ of Montvale, who attended the meeting with Chen as a representative of the Dominican American Council, confirmed Santo-Pietro's account of the meeting.
Why exactly is the state suddenly concerned with extending in-state tuition rates to non-citizens who entered the US illegally?
If these proposals are adopted, New Jersey would be treating illegal aliens better than the citizens of other US states. Out of state tuition is nearly $10,000 a year more than in-state tuition. If Trenton agrees to this, they'll be subsidizing illegal aliens to the tune of $10,000 per year who seek education at Rutgers. Why would any legal resident of another state want to go to Rutgers knowing that if they were an illegal alien that they'd be paying the in-state rate? They wouldn't, or they'd try to claim that they too are illegal aliens in order to pay the in-state rate.
This is also a spectacularly insane way to spend the state's money as a subsidy for illegal aliens.
Then, there's the whole issue of drivers' licenses. Terrorists can and have gamed the system to obtain drivers' licenses, which are gateway documents and enable the holder to obtain other documents - essentially establishing new identities.
Illegal aliens are in the country illegally and states should not be going out of their way to extend them still more rights and privileges at a time when these states can ill afford to pay for services to lawful taxpayers.
Labels:
illegal aliens,
immigration,
media bias,
NJ politics
It certainly looks that way. Try and get people to think that there are more children injured than there really are by getting the injured child to be carried by more than one person. Aussie Dave at Israellycool has the details (scroll down halfway into the post)
The same child is being paraded around by different men. If the kid is truly injured, why all the photos since that would be getting in the way of the kid's medical care. Instead, they're parading the kid for the cameras.
It's typical of the media in Gaza. They're milking the crisis for all its worth.
We can tell it's the same child based on the clothes and the facial scars, which are common to both.
UPDATE: More media bias, this time courtesy of AP. They're busy reporting statements without questioning the source or veracity, and cutting together quotes to demonize Israel's defense in the face of terrorists who hide behind women and children, and who are using hospitals as command and control centers for carrying on their war with Israel.
First, AP states:
At least 14 Palestinian children were killed on Monday, raising the known Palestinian death toll from the 10-day onslaught to 540 — including 200 civilians, the U.N. and Palestinian officials said. Gaza's biggest hospital said it was overwhelmed.
Then, it states:
The Israeli army said "dozens" of militants have been killed or wounded, but Hamas has not released casualty figures. A Palstinian health official said 80 people — including 70 civilians — have died since the ground invasion began, fueling international outrage.
If the second guy is accurate, that's some genocide ISrael is carrying out - 80 out of 1.4 million living in Gaza. If the first part is accurate, that 540 were killed, why include the second quip, especially since it's out of tune, unless the writer was specifcally hoping to latch the 70 civilians killed out of 80 reported deaths - to claim that Israel is targeting civilians.
It's that latter bit that I see loud and clear.
The headline includes its own bias, ignoring that it is up to Hamas to have a ceasefire. Hamas must stop attacking Israel and disarm, in order for Israel to stop, but as we all know, Hamas can't help itself.
Hamas has a thing for those smuggling tunnels between Gaza and Egypt. They're not for food and humanitarian aid; if Hamas were truly serious about providing for the needs of Gazans, they would have long ago ceased firing the kassams and allowed the food and aid to flow and for Gazans to be able to work in Israel to earn a living. Instead, Hamas knows that controlling the flow of goods into Gaza is a guarantee that they retain control.
Hundreds of tunnels have been carved out beneath the Gaza-Egypt frontier, providing a vital conduit to bring basic needs into the territory which has suffered an increasing stranglehold in the past 18 months.
Foodstuffs, building materials, medicines and electric equipment are all brought from Egypt through the passages -- as well as weapons, notably rockets, and ammunition.
Such contraband provides smugglers with a profitable business. It is also a source of income for Hamas, the Islamist movement which has been the sole ruler in the Gaza Strip since June 2007.
The movement levies taxes on the smugglers' income from the tunnels which are linked to the territory's electricity grid with the blessing of Hamas.
Conscious that the goods, particularly weapons, flowing under the border are vital to Hamas in its conflict, Israel has bombed dozens of tunnels since Israel began its offensive on the Gaza Strip on December 27.
Hamas maintains a firm grip on the smuggling operations because they get a piece of the action; and that's not counting the weapons and equipment used for the terror war against Israel.
Israel must secure the Philadelphi corridor to thwart Hamas from continuing to resupply via Egypt. The Israeli operations has now entered a new phase where the Israeli army will search for terrorists and their weapons caches and destroy them. That's going to be a very dangerous and potentially lengthy phase. Much can go wrong during it, including significant civilian casualties and Israeli casualties.
Everything that Israel does is a so called naqaba. Israel's existence is a naqaba that Hamas hopes to correct by destroying it.
Jordan's politicians are demanding that the country sever ties with Israel. Siding with terrorists isn't a good idea or good for your health. Qatar is busy calling Israel's acts to defend itself war crimes. No word on when Qatar will get around to calling Hamas' terrorist acts war crimes, which they are. The Arab world has fully and truly debased the meanings of all these terms - whether it is genocide, terrorism, holocaust, war crimes, etc. They'll ignore the violence perpetrated by their fellow Arabs or Muslims, but the moment Israel stands up for itself and goes after those that seek to destroy it, Israel is automatically called the aggressor and guilty of criminal behavior.
There's a simple way to stop the Israeli operation. Demand Hamas surrender and Israel will stop going after Hamas. Stop the rockets, and no more Israeli interventions in Gaza. Gazans have a choice, and they sided with the terrorist group that demanded war against Israel. Israel gave them that war.
Hamas knows how to stop the war - stop attacking Israel, but everyone knows that Hamas is incapable of doing so. To do so would mean admitting that Israel won - that Israel beat the Islamists on their home turf. Again. So, the world puts pressure on Israel to stop attacking those who attacked it first. They know that eventually Israel will give in to the pressure.
Blue Star Chronicles came across a Hamas propaganda video, which was translated for our benefit. Hamas' death wish is being satiated in the blood of Palestinians who are cannon fodder for Hamas, are props for propaganda in media outlets, and brag about the use of women and children as human shields.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Olmert, who days ago claimed that he would not tolerate talk of truces or ceasefires, is now raising the notion of a ceasefire if Hamas meets certain conditions. I'd prefer room temperature for their leaders, unconditional surrender, and destruction of all their weapons stockpiles, but Olmert is thinking that a return to quiet - without the daily rocket attacks would be sufficient. He's counting on the international community to enforce the actions:
According to Olmert, Israel is interested in a ceasefire agreement that would bring to an isolation of Hamas and include the following conditions: A stop to the rocket fire and the terror emanating from Gaza, as well as to Hamas' military buildup, and the deployment of international forces in the Gaza Strip to enforce the implementation of a truce.
The release of Gilad Shalit will also be stipulated as one of Israel's terms for a halt to the fighting as part of any future agreement.
A senior source in Jerusalem said Sunday: "After Israel launched the ground incursion, the world realized it must wake up and abide by the conditions set by Israel.
"Contrary to the empty moves initiated by various countries, including the humanitarian ceasefire initiative promoted by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, the American initiative is based on the agreement of the four elements that surround the only geographical territory in the world that is ruled by a terrorist entity – Gaza.
The official explained that the initiative does not include negotiations with Hamas, but rather forcing such a regional treaty on the organization. He added that Olmert has made it clear to the Americans and to other world leaders involved in the move, that Israel's conditions were not negotiable, and that if they are not obtained through a diplomatic course, they would be secured through the military operation.
I have a real bad feeling about this - Olmert has not learned the mistakes of the Hizbullah war, and allowing the UN or EU to dictate Israeli security is a recipe for disaster. Hizbullah is in a stronger position now than in 2006 precisely because UNIFIL has not demilitarized South Lebanon and Hizbullah has essentially usurped power from the Lebanese people.
Hamas, seeing the Israeli options being floated, will simply do what it can to hold out - maximize civilian casualties, and wait for the UN to step in on its behalf to stop Israel. Why would Hamas accept any treaty? They've never held up their end of the bargain on previous ceasefires; why would they start now?
Hamas will then claim victory, and Israel will have achieved little in return.
Hamas leaders, who show their heroism by calling for more terror attacks from undisclosed locations or the safety of residences in Damascus or the safety of Egypt, are calling on their thugs to crush Israel's military and that Israel has legitimized the killing of children. That's particularly rich since Hamas has specifically targeted civilians - including a kindergarden hit in Ashkelon today - while Israel has done its utmost to avoid killing civilians all while Hamas is busy using women and children as human shields and as props to garner sympathy to force Israel to stop short of stopping Hamas once and for all - a situation that would truly lay the groundwork for peace.
Hamas also claims that it has weapons that it hasn't used to date. That probably means a combination of longer range rockets and suicide bombers, or both. Expect to see both before long. Hamas will be forced to choose between using them or losing them as Israel moves forward with the ongoing ground operation. Hamas also claims that it will start targeting civilians - as though that's different than the thousands of kassams and mortars fired into Israel before today.
The Turkish Prime Minister thinks that Allah will punish Israel. So far, I'd say that Allah hasn't exactly shown much interest in helping Hamas.
"Let me say unequivocally that I and my Administration have acted properly in all matters and that this investigation will bear out that fact," he said Sunday in a report by NBC News' Andrea Mitchell. "But I have concluded that the ongoing investigation also would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process."
He said he plans to continue in his role as governor. "I appreciate the confidence President-elect Obama has shown in me, and value our friendship and working partnership. I told him that I am eager to serve in the future in any way he deems useful. And like all Americans, I pray for his success and the success of our beloved country."
Make no mistake about this. Richardson is concerned about the direction that investigations into his shady business dealing might take.
Labels:
Barack H. Obama,
Bill Richardson,
scandals
The situation in Thailand is quite relevant in the discussion of the global war on terror and the current conflict in Gaza.
Thailand has been wracked by Islamic terrorism for the past five years, killing more than 3,000 people and thousands more injured. What has begun to get the situation under control?
It isn't appeasement.
It's the military engaging in constant operations to kill and root out the terrorists operating in Southern Thailand while the political leaders can't quite figure out who is to run the country.
Thailand's new premier has vowed to tackle a separatist insurgency raging in the south, but the Muslim region on Sunday marks five years of bloodshed with little end in sight to the daily violence.
Thai political turmoil has left the army with free rein in the south, prompting widespread human rights violations, activists say, while militants are turning to increasingly sophisticated technology to terrorise communities.
The number of deaths has dropped as the military conducts its massive campaign, but rebels have scaled up their onslaughts using car and roadside bombs, while beheadings and the mutilation of corpses continues.
"Although the number of incidents decreased in 2008, the attacks are greater in terms of destruction," said Mohammad Yub Pathan, a researcher with independent monitoring group Intellectual Deep South Watch.
"Also, the militants have acted much more systematically and with clear control and organisation."
In early November, a car bomb and a motorcycle bomb ripped through a market and a tea shop in Narathiwat province, injuring 70 people, in the biggest single assault on civilians since the rebellion began.
Appeasement by the Thai government led the Islamists to believe that they could succeed in creating an Islamic state out of South Thailand. The military has put a serious dent in that plan, which is part and parcel of the global jihad.
It just isn't reported as such.
The situation in Gaza is a reminder of what happens when you engage in appeasement coupled with limited response. Restraint is mistaken for weakness, and the terrorists engage in multiple attacks knowing that the Israeli restraint will limit the repercussions of their attacks.
Labels:
Gaza,
Hamas,
Islamofascism,
Israel,
jihad,
Operation Cast Lead,
terrorism,
Thailand
So, who are we to believe? Global warming activists who claim that the ski industry as we know it will cease to exist because of global warming, or the fact that the ski resorts around the world have found themselves an abundance of snow at a time when the so-called experts claimed that they would face a rough season?
A lack of snow caused by global warming could be threatening the future of many ski resorts, according to scientists.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has warned of the eventual disappearance of some low-lying mountain resorts.
Maybe you prefer Canadian skiing? Resorts in British Columbia and Alberta are at or near full capacity.
For an industry that is supposedly on the brink as a result of global warming, there's plenty of that white stuff to go around and make for very good conditions for skiers and snowboarders.
Labels:
global warming,
junk science,
skiing
Doctor Who, a British sci-fi show and one of the longest running television programs in history, will welcome a new face as the venerable Doctor in 2010. Matt Smith, age 26, will replace David Tennant who has been the Doctor for the 2005-2010 seasons.
I became a fan of the show while Tom Baker and Peter Davison were in the lead role, having watched reruns and when it was available on US television.
Reports claim that New York Jet quarterback Brett Favre is considering retirement again. I'd say that he already retired a month ago when his arm pretty much gave out. Only after the season ended was it revealed that he had a torn tendon in his arm, affecting his accuracy and play.
I'm sure that this isn't going to be the last time we hear about Favre and his decision to retire. I'm sure he'll attempt yet one more year in the NFL, hoping to erase the stink of failure surrounding the 2008 campaign. After all, the Jets were in a prime position to make the playoffs before their complete collapse with a losing December.
For the Jets, they'd better start looking at quarterbacks on the market and in the draft, because it will be some time before they have a franchise quarterback to helm the team.
Israeli ground forces have effectively bisected Gaza and split the area into two sections. MSNBC wants people to focus on the death and destruction without reminding people that the reason that Israel is back fighting inside Gaza is because Hamas refused to stop firing rockets and mortars against Israel during the hudna and increased the level of attacks throughout the six-months that just ended.
The MSNBC lede says it all, 500 Palestininans killed, 4 Israelis killed. As though that is a tangible sign that Israel has used disproportionate force. I'm sorry, but there's no such thing as disproportionate force in war. There is either sufficient force to win or there is insufficient force. The number of dead Palestinians don't tell the whole story either. Nearly all are terrorists. All the Israelis killed thus far are civilians. Hamas had more than ample opportunity to fire and target Israeli security and Israeli military forces arrayed against Gaza over the past week; they've targeted Sderot, Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Beersheeba instead. They are purposefully attempting to hit cities and civilians.
Had Israel fired indiscriminately against Hamas terrorists in Gaza, the death toll would be in the tens of thousands. Israel warns Gazans residing in close proximity of airstrikes to get out of the way - giving away valuable time and opportunity to strike with the element of surprise. Hamas just fires indiscriminately.
Of course, no one would expect otherwise.
So far, more than 50 Hamas terrorists have been killed in the fighting according to IDF officials. That's a good start. There's plenty more Hamas to dispatch. Hamas leaders have warned their terror minions to switch out of uniforms and wear civilian clothes. They've also told their terror thugs to hide their weapons and watch how they move through Gaza to avoid Israeli detection. The terrorists know that an open fight between uniformed forces and the Israelis would mean certain destruction. So, they continue to hide in and among civilians.
Jerusalem Post reports dozens of terrorists have been killed, including still more commanders. 30 Israeli soldiers were wounded in mortar attacks, two seriously.
Dozens of Hamas gunmen have been killed by IDF troops. Gaza health officials said around 20 civilians had also died in airstrikes and shelling, including a 12-year-old girl, five members of the same family, and another eight civilians killed by a tank shell in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya. The new deaths brought the death toll in the Gaza Strip since Saturday to more than 500.
Residents of the small northern Gaza community of al-Attatra said soldiers moved from house to house by blowing holes through walls. Most of the houses were unoccupied, their residents already having fled.
On Saturday night, 30 IDF soldiers were wounded in clashes with Palestinian gunmen, encountering fierce resistance from Hamas forces entrenched in fortifications just over the border.
Two of the soldiers were seriously hurt, three were moderately wounded and several others were listed as lightly hurt after they were hit by a mortar shell. Most of the wounded were taken to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba for treatment.
The IAF bombed some 45 Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip overnight, including seven tunnels, several mortar firing cells and Kassam rocket launching cells.
Anti-war protesters continue to slam Israel's role in the conflict. Then again, this isn't really anti-war protesters agitating for world peace, but rather anti-Israel and anti-Semitic protesters who wouldn't mind seeing Israel gone. Their silence over Hamas' role in the conflict showcases their true intent. They ignored months of terror attacks on Israel, but only found their voice when Israel fought back. Their moral debasement is all too evident.
Israel is attempting to do a better job of managing the media and cutting off Palestinian propaganda. To that end, the Israelis cancelled Hamas TV.
I consider this a serious problem with Israel's plans: the Jerusalem Post reports that Israel is not considering entering Gaza City or the refugee camps. That means that Hamas will continue to operate freely in those areas and can continue to use civilians as human shields as they fire on Israel's citizens. I understand that the IDF wants to avoid civilian casualties if at all possible, but the terrorists have purposefully used human shields and Gazans are seen as cannon fodder for Hamas purposes. The dead are props to Hamas, nothing more. Allowing Hamas any breathing room is a mistake since it will mean continued misery for Israelis within rocket and mortar range.
New York City officials are heading to Israel to show their solidarity with Israel, including Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, and Rep. Gary Ackerman. They were in Sderot, which has been the prime Hamas target for months.
UPDATE: Muqata's Twitter feed is reporting sad news; the first Israeli military casualty has been reported. Stay tuned for more details and additional information.
China has been providing weapons to Hamas. Other weapons, including heavy machine guns, used by Hamas were originally purchased by the US and Israel for use by the Palestinian Authority for security forces. However, they ended up in Hamas' hands when Hamas took over Gaza in 2006.
UPDATE: RS McCain derisively notes that Hamas will fight to the last Palestinian civilian as the terror masters are holed up in their bunkers surrounded by civilians.
The Israeli ground operation has split Gaza into three areas of operation. Egyptians and Jordanians leaders have expressed their displeasure over the ground operations. It figures. They have their own Islamists to placate, and are double dealing. They know that Israel needs to take this action - not only to protect Israel, but to save themselves from the rising tide of Iranian dominion in the region.
The Palestinian phone system is near collapse. That's a good thing for the Israelis since it means that the terrorists capabilities to communicate becomes that much more difficult. Of course, the media will also proclaim that this is yet another reason that Israel is engaging in war crimes or other such nonsense.
Hamas says that they've used only 5% of their capabilities so far. That doesn't bode well for them because Israel has used only a fraction of the military force against them. Israel also doesn't use wanton destruction to kill Hamas. They'd rather not engage targets in Gaza than inflict civilian casualties. No matter what the anti-Israel crowd might say, if Israel really and truly intended to kill Gazans, they could inflict such a bloodbath that it would rival what Syria's Assad did in Hama or what Saddam did during his decades of murderous rule. Their restraint is a double-edged sword as well, as the restraint gives the terrorists hope that they can simply outlast Israel's operations and that the world will tire of Israel's efforts to defend itself.
Syria is pressing Russia to stop Israel's defensive operations. That's rich given that Syria has looked the other way for decades as terrorists have used Syria as a base of operations. Hamas thugs consider Damascus home while they plot attacks on Israel, including Khalid Meshaal, who continues to make statements calling for Israel's destruction from the comfort of a Damascus address.
There were actually pro-Israel demonstrations in Paris today.
Israel had no choice but to engage in ground operations because of the underground stockpiles and caches of weapons and equipment used by Hamas in terror operations.
UPDATE: This is an excellent primer on the current conflict:
