I hope the matzoh ball soup was cold...

*Heh*...Biden is in Israel flexing his Vice Presidential muscles trying to give the impression that the President he represents is interested in a peace initiative between Israel and the Palestinians. Benjamin Netanyahu used the occasion to announce that Israel will build a further 1,600 housing units in a Jewish settlement in occupied East Jerusalem.

*SMACK*

What was Biden's response?

After the settlements announcement, Mr Biden arrived 90 minutes late for dinner with Mr Netanyahu.

Netanyahu and the crew probably got a kick out of this. The only ones inconvenienced were, likely, those preparing the meal.

Incidentally, this is the same "hardline" diplomacy used by the White House in dealing with the jack-assery presented by the Iranians and their obsession with securing nuclear capability. The current administration is, obviously, consistently inept across the board.

RUN!!! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!

JERUSALEM — Calling Washington’s ties to Israel “unshakable,” Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. opened talks with Israeli leaders on Tuesday, part of a concerted American effort to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and keep Israel focused on sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program rather than unilateral military action.

Joe the gaffe machine makes a definitive statement calling our relationship with Israel "unshakable." Well...Israelis....RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!!

Palestinian youth orchestra disbanded after playing for Holocaust survivors (IHT)

JENIN, West Bank: The Palestinian authorities disbanded a youth orchestra from a West Bank refugee camp after it played for a group of Holocaust survivors in Israel, a local official said Sunday.

Adnan Hindi of the Jenin camp called the Holocaust a "political issue" and accused the orchestra's conductor, Wafaa Younis, of unknowingly dragging the children into a political dispute.

He added that Ms. Younis had been barred from the camp and that the apartment where she taught the 13-member Strings of Freedom orchestra had been boarded up.

Yeah...the peace process in Gaza is going to happen.

CLARIFICATION:
Palestinian authorities are BIGOTS, HATEMONGERS, & UNREASONABLE ENVY DRIVEN JACKASSES!!!!! Anyone who supports their childish and asinine behavior is similarly categorized into that neat little niche...JACKASSES ONE AND ALL.

Carry on...
_________________

UPDATE: A very cursory and non-comprehensive search will reveal in a period of less than 10 minutes that Palestinians have received more than $14 Billion in financial aid (that's money...not food, supplies, medical equp.) in the last seven years. Considering there are 1.5 million "Palestinians"...that's nearly $10,000 per individual. And yet, they live in "ghettos" and "slums."

Documented US financial aid to Palestine (cursory...and missing quite a bit I'm sure)
2002 $72,000,000
2003 $134,484,000
2004 $74,558,000
2005 $274,400,000
2006 $150,000,000
Other: 2004-2005 $716,000,000
$30,000,000 Australia 2007
SUBTOTAL 1,451,442,000

Pledged 2009: $5,200,000,000 (Palestine only requested $2.8 Billion)
SUBTOTAL: $6,651,442,000

$7,400,000,000 (Paris donors conference for Palestinian Authority‘s President Mahmoud Abbas)

TOTAL: $14,051,442,000 (since 2002 and not inclusive of all contributions)

WHY!?

Hope-a-dopes...

He quoted an article by Anne Roiphe, an American Jewish liberal, which said that witnessing the popularity of Mr. Lieberman in Israel made her feel "as if my spouse had cheated on me with Mussolini."

She added: "We here in America are waiting as of this writing for a government to emerge in Jerusalem, and most of us keep on hoping that its shape will not preclude the peace process, will not doom a two-state solution, will not destroy the hope that our new president brings to the table."

Are there any liberals out there who can reason and evaluate beyond the level of a punch drunk three year old? This "hope" nonsense goes beyond annoying in that I feel pity and sympathy for those shallow and naïve enough to actually believe that this is a tangible and substantial quality.

Of course, for Israel's critics, including those who firmly support the existence of a Jewish state, the problem is not one of image but of policy. They say that four decades of occupation, the settling of half a million Israeli Jews on land captured in 1967, the economic strangling of Gaza for the past few years and the society's growing indifference toward a Palestinian state are all reasons Israel has lost favor abroad, and that no amount of image buffing will change that.

Israel's critics (such as the International Herald Tribune) which published un-vetted Hamas accounts of the latest skirmish in Gaza including inflated casualty reports etc. Or, are we referring to the anti-Semitic jackasses who haunt the halls of the United Nations? Let's not forget the required clarification when the 1967 War is noted by a media organization. Egypt, Jordan, and Syria amassed tanks and soldiers on the Israeli border and started a war in which they had their lunch handed to them. Israel, correctly, expanded their territory in the process. There are repercussions...you know...when you attack someone and lose.

As far as being indifferent to the Palestinians...I would be far from indifferent, and they wouldn't like it. They should be treated reflective of how they treat others. Form your own conclusions on that comment.

Quick...call the post office...I need a policeman !!!

THE HAGUE: The Palestinian Authority is pressing the International Criminal Court in The Hague to investigate potential war crimes committed by Israeli commanders during the recent war in Gaza.

The Palestinian minister of justice, Ali Kashan, first raised the issue during a visit to the court's chief prosecutor late last month, and he and other officials are expected back again in The Hague this week, court officials said.

I don't think this is meant as a joke. But, I could be wrong. I mean...the "International Criminal Court in The Hague" is a joke, and always will be. I was, however, referring to the Palestine Authority actually pursuing this. After all:

The court here is the world's first permanent international criminal court, created to examine war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. It can prosecute any citizen from the 108 countries that are currently members of the court. The United Nations Security Council can bring cases irrespective of the nationality of the accused or the location of the crime.

Israel is not a member and the Palestinian territories, not being recognized as a sovereign nation, appear not to fulfill the requirements.

(if you could see me...I'd look confused) Put aside the outright bias and ineptitude of such a endeavor. Put aside the extrordinary lengths Israel went through in an effort to avoid civilian deaths (to the extent that they called to warn folks that a bomb was on the way). Put aside the fact that neither Israel or the Palestinian Authority qualifies to be heard in the Court. What you're left with is this:

In order to qualify to be heard in an International Court that self-proclaims authority over the 108 members states...you need to be SOVEREIGN !!!

(I still have that confused look on my face...and it's not going away)

That's it...paint the target a little brighter on your chest...

RAFAH, Gaza Strip: It was Friday, the Muslim day of rest, but the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt was a hive of activity. Men scraped sandy soil out of holes that had served as tunnels for smuggling, and were one of the main targets of Israel's assault.

Now, less than a week after it ended, Gazans were back, plunging deep underground with lamps to carry rocky loads of soil out on pulleys.

"Everybody's busy rebuilding now," said a manager of one digging team. "In a month, it will be back to normal."

The defiant pose seemed surprisingly brazen in light of recent events: Israel said smuggling tunnels were a prime concern, after Hamas rockets, in attacking the Gaza Strip, and it hit dozens of them in airstrikes during the war. But the tunnels are the principle livelihood for many people here, and as soon as the bombing stopped, they were right back in them with their shovels.

Stop the carnage!!! The Israelis are barbarians!!! The proportional firepower used by the Israelis was overkill!!!

Are the Palestinians really this stupid??? How vacuous and obtuse do you have to be to flaunt the continuation of one of the primary motives on the Israeli action? And, I'd like to point out that those interviewed in the IHT article do not identify themselves (for the most part) as Hamas. They are Gazans...they are your everyday, run of the mill...Palestinians.

The tunnels do not address the more important question of reconstruction. Though the focus internationally has been on who will receive the money - the West does not want Hamas to get any - here in Rafah, a far more urgent question is whether the Israelis will let materials through official crossings. Tunnels, managers said, will not work.

"Reconstruction now depends on the Israeli's good will," said Jabbar Qeshta, deputy mayor of Rafah, and a member of Hamas.

The municipality has three bulldozers and about 30 cement mixers, Qeshta said, but the most basic ingredient was missing.

"Tell them I want cement," he said.

To summarize...Hamas (with the support of most of the Palestinian constituency in Gaza) lobs rockets continuously on Israeli border towns. Israel responds by taking out the origination of the mortars (continuously hid in residential as well as UN operated buildings), attempts to destroy the tunnels by which the armaments are being smuggled into Gaza, and make a concerted effort to neutralize those responsible for the decision making.

The entire cadre of media morons attempts to show Israel in an unfavorable light, and apply Sainthood to the Palestinians. The United Nations does the same (as expected). A ceasefire is finally realized (although way too early in my opinion).

And NOW...regular everyday Palestinians flaunt that they are continuing on by rebuilding the tunnels such that this same scenario can take place again in the near future.

"Reconstruction now depends on the Israeli's good will."

Yeah...you know what...screw their future...by their own idiotic murderous hands.

Hot Jewish Chicks with Guns...

Ghost of the Flea posted a nice compilation of women of the IDF. In case you're wondering...the IDF is on the side of the Gaza conflict that doesn't encourage opression of women, genital mutilation, covering up all skin or living a submissive subserviant lifestyle at the whim and call of a 'husband' met at age nine while learning the in's and out's of blast radius/ ball bearing trajectory...

Go with what you know...

It's time. Long past time. The best strategy to end the increasingly bloody occupation is for Israel to become the target of the kind of global movement that put an end to apartheid in South Africa. In July 2005 a huge coalition of Palestinian groups laid out plans to do just that. They called on "people of conscience all over the world to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era". The campaign Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions was born.

The Guardian knows a little something about boycotts.

The Guardian, published by Guardian News & Media, which also publishes MediaGuardian.co.uk, had an average daily circulation of 358,379 in November 2008. Back in the beginning of 2007, their daily circulation was 376,881. 18,500+ gave them the ole' heave ho.

This 5% drop can, of course, be explained away in the fact that the UK pet shops sold fewer Macaws, Amazons, Cockatoos, Cockatiels, Parakeets, Finches, and Canaries over the last year.

Nyuk...nyuk...nyuk...

TEHRAN, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Gaza will become Israel's graveyard, the speaker of Iran's parliament was quoted as saying on Sunday after the Jewish state launched a ground offensive deep into the coastal Palestinian territory.

Israeli tanks and infantry battled Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, hours after launching a ground offensive after eight days of deadly air strikes failed to halt the Islamist group's rocket attacks on Israel.

"The Zionists faced the powerful resistance of the zealous Palestinians ... the Zionists should know that Gaza will become their graveyard," Mehr News Agency quoted speaker Ali Larijani as telling parliament.

Meanwhile...back in the real world...Eagles picked by 3 over the Vikes...

Pi$$ing down a well...

William Teach (Pirate's Cove) highlights President Bush's radio address, and then points out a missed opportunity:

See, what Bush should have done was blame it all on Israel, at which point all the moonbats with Bush Derangement Syndrome would have all of a sudden decided that Hamas is the bad guy and switched their normal support of any terrorist and/or America hating group/country to Israel.

There is some surreal truth in that...

Of course, one would have to wonder why in the name of all that is Holy the Bush Administration keeps doing this:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States announced on Tuesday it would give $85 million to the U.N. agency providing aid to Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

The announcement comes as the humanitarian situation is worsening in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which has been pounded by Israel for the past four days in retaliation for rockets fired into the Jewish state by Hamas and other Palestinian factions.

The U.S. funds, which will help cover appeals for aid by the agency for 2009, would pay for urgently needed food, medicines and other humanitarian aid for Palestinian refugees, said the department in a statement.

Show of hands...who is deranged enough to think that any funding given in cold hard currency through the surrogate United Nations is going to be used as intended? And, if by some miracle, the currency finds itself in the hands of the Palestinians...which of you has the extreme optimism to believe that it will be used for food, medicines and humanitarian aid?

The Worm Turns...

CAIRO: A sustained Israeli ground operation in Gaza would sharply increase public pressure on President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt to do more to help the Palestinians of Gaza, despite widespread feelings here that the radical group Hamas provoked the current crisis.

While few criticize Mubarak himself, there is unhappiness with the government's relative silence about Israel's bombing campaign and its Palestinian victims, and the apparent lack of diplomatic pressure from Cairo on Israel and the United States to stop the fighting.

Instead, government officials from Mubarak to Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit have blamed Hamas for abandoning the cease-fire with Israel and seeming to seek Israeli retaliation. On Thursday, for example, Aboul Gheit said that Egypt had warned Hamas of Israel's intentions, but Hamas "served Israel the opportunity on a golden platter to hit Gaza."

Funny how the article focus is that Egypt blames Hamas...yet make a point of calling the Palestinians victims in the second paragraph.

Then again, what's to stop Israel from heading south after initiating a ground war in Gaza. The current stance of Cairo is likely an exercise in self-preservation. Egypt is right down the road.

An undeniable message...

Israeli jets and missiles wiped out at least 100 Hamas rocket-launching sites, security compounds, police stations, command centers and training bases - including two sites where Hamas was holding graduation ceremonies for new recruits - with more than 100 tons of bombs.

Those nasty Jews had the audacity to wipe out a threat to their well being and safety (that's sarcasm by the way).

Additionally, I can't help thinking that this is a non-veiled message to Obama. Israel has shown recently that they are not complacent, and will take the initiative should Obama's presidency reflect an apathetic approach to the conflict, or worse, a shifting of support.

United Nations demonization of Israel in 5...4...3...2...

Be Careful What You Wish For...

I keep Keisha on a leash when we go to public places that are likely to have kids running around. She had a tendency to get excited when there is a lot of activity. She's never bitten anyone, but it pays to be cautious when kids are involved.

However, there are times when she assumes the leash is on and stays right at my side. Then that marble in her noggin kicks in. She notes that the tether is gone...and look out. Furball kicks up the dust and bolts with no particular destination in mind. She just enjoys the freedom.

Which brings me to the point of this nonsense:

Today, Israel noticed that there was a bit of slack in the tether, and let loose a few helicopter missiles in the direction of some Palestinian Militants.

A four-month-old ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza was in jeopardy yesterday after Israeli troops killed six Hamas gunmen in a raid into the territory

.

The point is...this is the first breach of Gaza since the June ceasefire. The timing would suggest a message to the President Elect...and that quaint little Middle Eastern community over there.

Actually...that's not the point at all. The real point is that I wouldn't want to do any travelling to Iran come January 20th. The election yesterday places a US President in office who will be significantly less sympathetic and trustworthy in the eyes of one of the United States' most steadfast allies. The US has tempered retalitory actions by Israel on many occasion. Concerning Iran, it would be a first strike opportunity that they will see as necessity.

Ohhhhh...so that's why President Bush sold them those bunker busters. Now I get it. Soon the Iranians (who supported Obama's election) will get it too.