Another day, another Israeli attack on a UN school sheltering 3000 - 11 killed
120 Killed by The IDF in Rafah Based on an Israeli Lie That Hamas Captured an Israeli Soldier. Below a Picture of Dead Bodies of Gazan Civilians Killed by the IDF in Rafah, Piled in a Refrigerator:
(Reuters) - Israel on Sunday declared dead a soldier feared abducted by Hamas Islamist militants in the Gaza Strip and said it would continue to fight even after the army completes destroying cross-border tunnels used by Palestinian fighters to attack its territory.
The dead are kept in vegetable refrigerators
#GazaUnderAttack
Saturday 2 August 2014 12:47 BST
Last update:
Saturday 2 August 2014 3:17 BST
As Gaza stranglehold tightens, full morgues have forced people to store dead bodies in refrigerators
Abu Taha, a farmer in Rafah, opened the refrigerator he normally keeps his potatoes and carrots in. In it were the corpses of children, young men and women lying on top of one another, soaked in blood. Many were impossible to identify and only a few have been placed in white burial shrouds.
Such was the savagery of Israel's bombardment in Rafah, such was the quantity of dead bodies, that there was simply no other option but to use vegetable refrigerators as makeshift morgues. The closure of hospitals which came under bombardment led to a cascade of corpses. It started when medical staff were forced to abandon Rafah's main hospital Abu Yousef al-Najjar which came under constant bombardment by artillery shelling from the east of the city.
They evacuated the injured to Kuwaiti Hospital, a facility totally ill-equipped to deal with major trauma injuries from the extended battlefield that the Gaza Strip has become. Even so, several bodies were left lying on the roads, bleeding for hours without any ambulance crew arriving to rescue them.
Meanwhile, three ambulance crew members have been killed, their bodies were unidentifiable after they were hit by an Israeli tank shell directed at their ambulance. Several of the cases close to the hospital gate were not reachable by rescue teams, says Abu Ahmed, an ambulance driver. “Each time, I drive through tank shells are fired nearby,” he says while he is a couple of hundred meters from tens of victims bleeding on the road.
Most cases of those killed in Rafah are civilians slain by canon shells that wiped several homes in Hay al-Junina area. Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes fired missiles on several homes in Rafah targeting homes of Abu Suliman, Zorb, Alshaer, and Abu Suliman. The death toll in Rafah in the past 24 hours is now 110 killed and hundreds injured. Medics say there are more bodies they could not reach.
The corpses were taken into vegetables refrigerators in Rafah, which have their own electricity generators. Even burying the dead was full of hazard, as the cemetries in the east of the city have also been under Israeli artillery shelling over the past 24 days.
“We had no option but to put the bodies of tens killed in the refrigerators,” Subhi Radwan, mayor of Rafah told MEE.
Al-Nujjar hospital has only enough beds for a few dozen patients, but evacuation has meant nowhere else to go for victims of the attack.
Radwan says, the war on Rafah is not over, and his staff members are unable to offer any facilities to people on the ground, that includes water and electricity lines which were destroyed by strikes.
“We appeal to the international organizations to step in and help us evacuate injured people lying in the east of Rafah,” he says.
Meanwhile, international groups have tried to help evacuate victims, but to no avail.
Survivors of the 24-hour bombardment said they had seen nothing like it in their lives. They were bombed from the air, sea and ground simultaneously.
“It is terrifying, the Israeli military has gone out of control, they bombed a building of families fleeing and killed 23 innocents,” says Abdelraouf Ayyad, a 33-year old whose home he fled in Hay al-Junina when bombing started 24 hours ago.
“No one is safe; no home, no hospital, no shelter” he says as he runs into Tal al-Sultan to seek shelter at his cousin's house.
Twenty three family members have been killed by Israeli F16 missile, mostly from families that fled bombing in east of the city to the West of Rafah.
Radwan says, there is no other hospital, and now even the Kuwaiti hospital is under canonfire—journalists and rescue teams were forced to leave the area under gunfire.
Ashraf Al Qudra of health ministry appeals to the international community to allow ambulances to evacuate injured people from roads of East of Rafah and Kuwaiti hospital.
“We need safe routes for ambulance to evacuate victims into other hospitals in Khan Younis.”
Israeli tanks could be seen in the east, overlooking Rafah, home of 180,000 inhabitants in the far south border with Egypt.
“There are tens of cases of people bleeding and the hospital is unable to deal with massive number of victims”
Rafah’s massacre occurred two hours into the 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire announced yesterday. Hamas and Israel exchanged accusations of breaking the ceasefire. However, Israel insisted on carrying out a military ground operation on the eastern border, despite the truce.
Israel announced one missing soldier during its ground invasion, while Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades say they lost communication with some of their members who were in combat with Israeli troops before the ceasefire started. Qassam Brigades said in a statement that the Israeli soldier was probably killed during in ambush along with Qassam Brigades members.
The death toll across the Gaza strip is 1680 dead and 8500 injured since the war began 27 days ago - the majority are civilians according to the UN. Meanwhile in Israel 3 civilians and 50 soldiers have been killed during the ground attack in Gaza.
Palestinian factions and Israel were expected to travel to Cairo for talks with Egyptian on a long-lasting truce, but the presence of Israeli tanks around the Rafah Crossing point will make this unlikely to happen anytime soon.
The hell hole called Gaza is the creation of Hamas, and no one else.
ReplyDeleteThey have no business launching rockets at another country.
Many arab nations are backing Israel in this dispute, believe it or not.
g'nite
Cheers !
Cheers? You foolish man.
Delete.
DeleteMany arab nations are backing Israel in this dispute, believe it or not.
Believe it or not? Why would anyone doubt it? Other than the occupied territories the only two countries that have ever done anything for the Palestinians are Jordan and Syria. For the past 65 years, the rest have merely used them as pawns, an excuse to further their own ends. They did it from the beginning. All those Arab countries that fought Israel in '48 didn't do it for any bloody Palestinians. They did it to get their share of the spoils from the breakup of the mandate.
Do you think Saudi Arabia gives a shit about Palestinians?
Read and learn old timer.
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Jordan is one of the countries supporting Israel, old timer.
DeletePick up and read, old timer.
DeleteOr shut your pie hole.
DeleteHow is your new ebola vaccine selling?
DeleteAre you still offering the discounted stock options?
DeleteHamas is a consequence of the occupation by Israel. Desperation and humiliation has consequences. Hamas is a symptom of a problem. Destroy Hamas, with massive disproportionate damge to ordinary people as Israel is doing and they will get Hamas 2.0, and if that doesn’t work, they will get something worse.
DeleteThe myth and the model cannot stand the test of time. Even the Conga Line will tire of this. Israel is losing the next generation in the US and has lost all of the masses in Europe and the majority in Latin America.
It is absurd that the US Congress has no money for anything but can pull $250 milion out of its ass for Israel whenever summoned. The millenials and civil rights community are sympathetic to the suffering of The Palestinians.
This brutality will leave millions like me, who have always believed the story that Israel is the victim of the hostility of its neighbors, deeply suspicious, and made aware that Israel is willing to murder children en masse as long as it’s own objectives are achieved.
ReplyDeleteCan't recall your own name, rat?
DeleteMore bullshit...
ReplyDeleteWASHINGTON POST:
ReplyDeleteBy Sudarsan Raghavan July 25
RAMALLAH, West Bank – Muhammad Assaf remembers hurling rocks at Israeli soldiers at the border checkpoint Thursday night. He remembers hunkering down with his friends, teens like him, against a tall concrete security barrier that separates Israelis from Palestinians. Then, he said, two Israeli soldiers appeared — and started firing live bullet rounds at them.
Assaf was shot in the right leg. On Friday, as the violence spread to other parts of the West Bank, he was walking with crutches — but without regrets. He was at the protest “because of Gaza,” he said with pride. The anti-Israel protest, one of the biggest in years here, marked his initiation into the Palestinian resistance. Assaf is 15.
A new generation of Palestinian youth is emerging to battle Israel, their anger fueled by social media, smartphones and Web sites that provide searing news and images round-the-clock.
Most were not yet born or were toddlers during the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, of the early 2000s, a brutal period when Palestinian militants dispatched suicide bombers to kill Israelis and Israel cracked down with tanks, airstrikes and targeted killings. And they were too young to fight when Israel launched offensives against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip in 2009 and 2012.
Now, in their mid- to late-teens, the youth are coming of age in an era when technology provides a highly personalized, ringside view of the violence, and YouTube videos, photo-sharing apps and militant-run television channels transform fighters into heroes and suicide bombers into immortals.
To be sure, Palestinian teenagers confronting Israeli soldiers are not a new phenomenon. According to B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, from January 2005 to December 2010, at least 835 Palestinian minors, ages 12 to 17, were arrested and tried in military courts in the West Bank on charges of stone throwing. On Thursday night, though, some Palestinians said they sensed a transition of sorts.
“This is the first time I have seen this many children demonstrating,” said Muayed Debah, 21, an ambulance worker whose job was to retrieve the dead and injured at the Thursday protest.
Thousands of Palestinians were throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails, and burning tires at Israeli security forces at the Qalandia checkpoint straddling Israel and the West Bank, where restiveness is rising as casualties and violence mount in Gaza. Israel’s military acknowledges that its soldiers used live rounds, rubber bullets and lobbed tear gas canisters against the crowds. The military said it did so in self-defense, because soldiers felt their lives were threatened.
Debah said he carried out 10 injured teenagers, as young as 15, before two bullets struck his own arm and upper left leg. The one Palestinian shot dead Thursday night was Muhammad al-Araj, a 17-year-old cook at a popular restaurant in Ramallah. Five more Palestinians were killed in West Bank protests on Friday.
“The Israelis were using live ammunition to kill, and they didn’t care if they hit kids,” Debah said as he lay in a hospital bed at Ramallah’s main hospital, blood seeping through his bandages.
“The situation is creating a new generation of resistance fighters,” Hamad said, minutes after he had operated on a youth who was shot near the heart. “And this will pave the way for a third intifada.”
ReplyDeleteDownstairs, Wajdi Khatab, 17, was hobbling on one leg; the other one was hit by a bullet. He has two cousins in Gaza, but he has never seen them. During the second intifada, Israel stopped allowing Palestinians in West Bank to travel freely to Gaza, and vice versa.
So Khatab connects with his cousins and other Gazans almost daily through Facebook, WhatsApp and other social media. Through this, he said, he realized how much Palestinians in Gaza are suffering. And they made him decide to risk his life in Thursday’s demonstrations, he said.
On Friday, thousands came to mourn Araj at his funeral. His father, Ziad al-Araj, said that his son was deeply disturbed by the images of “dead children and women” he saw on television. “Muhammad wanted revenge for Gaza,” his father said. “He would ask, ‘Why I am not in the resistance? Why I am not defending the honor of these women and children?’ ”
Assaf and his friends also came to pay their respects to Araj. They said they understood why he risked his life. Assaf shares his name with the popular Gazan winner of last year’s “Arab Idol,” the Middle East’s version of the American talent program.
But ask Assaf who are his icons, and he will respond: Hamas.
“They are heroes,” Assaf said, as his friends nodded.
The group included 10-year-old Mustafa, who said that he, too, had taken part in Thursday’s protests to show “solidarity with the children of Gaza.” When asked if he was scared during the mayhem, he replied like any child would in front of his pals.
“I was not frightened,” he said.
There is 40% unemployemnt in a population of 1.5 million and more than half under 20. Their vision of the true face of Israel has been cast for a lifetime
ReplyDeleteIsrael, YOU have a problem.
Actually the problem is Hamas, that acts as a tax authority and skims 25% off the top of all aid that comes into gaza. Not to mention misdirecting billions and billions to military project rather than uplifting the people of the strip.
DeleteA recent article talked about WHY Hamas started this war?
MONEY...
Money money money...
Hamas will fight to the last standing civilian and not give a hoot.
.
DeleteOnly a fool wouldn't recognize it was Bibi who stated this war, not for money but for the fact that he couldn't let stand the reconciliation agreement that would have united the Palestinians under the more moderate control of Fatah. To let the agreement stand would have put to a lie the propaganda campaign he has been pushing since he entered political life.
.
Everyone knows who supplied the ammunition and the weapons to deliver it. If Americans were treated in this fashion, we would also take revenge. Don’t be shocked when they do as well.
ReplyDeleteYup, Iran supplied Hamas with weapons and missiles.
DeleteIf we were under missile attack in this fashion we would also take revenge.
We might even attack Iran.
If the port of San Diego were to be blockaded, the US would go to war.
DeleteAs for the propaganda war, if the women of America ever understand what these folks have in store for them and their clits........
ReplyDeleteAll these groups, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, al-Qaeda, ISIS, all are descendents of the Moslem Brotherhood, the grandfather of them all.
It is such a pleasure to me to contemplate Morsi sitting in the very jail cell recently occupied by Mubarak. It is so Shakespearean, or old tragedy. He had become corrupt, and needed to be replaced. But not by Morse of the MB.
Thank Allah for the Egyptian military.
I can imagine some fast friendships may have grown up between some in the IDF and some in the Egyptian military.
Hopefully the blockade will be strengthened after this is over, so that it is a long time until it occurs again.
It's hard to decide whether one should hope Hamas is disbanded, or not. Both options have something to say for themselves.
They should be disarmed. The EU agrees with this, and has called for it.
August 3, 2014
ReplyDeleteWas Kit Carson like Hitler, or was he an American Hero?
By John T. Bennett
http://www.americanthinker.com/2014/08/was_kit_carson_like_hitler_or_was_he_an_american_hero.html
Interesting article.
Quirk has probably not heard of Kit Carson, so I urge him to read it just for general interest and education.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/08/02/Saudi-King-Publicly-Blames-Hamas-for-Gaza-War
ReplyDeleteSAUDI KING PUBLICLY BLAMES HAMAS FOR GAZA WAR
allenSun Aug 03, 07:43:00 AM EDT
Deletehttp://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/08/02/Saudi-King-Publicly-Blames-Hamas-for-Gaza-War
SAUDI KING PUBLICLY BLAMES HAMAS FOR GAZA WAR
There is a reference and endorsement for you. The Saudis approve of the way Israel is handling an insurrection of people fed up with Israel’s repression and brutality. The Sauds, paragons of virtue and defenders of universal human rights!
Israel has really arrived into the big leagues. It can dust off its old credentials established by their old brown shirt buddies in South Africa.
Good find Allen. “Spot on”
An Axis of the Willing
DeleteAmnesty International blasts Saudi Arabia for continued human rights violations
DeleteBy Ray Hanania
King Abdullah ibn Abdul Aziz, Saudi King and absolute monarch since 2005.
Saudi Arabia, which has one of the worst human rights records in the Middle East, has been singled out for criticism again by the civil rights and human rights watchdog organization, Amnesty International.
Another prominent Saudi Arabian activist, Fowzan al-Harbi, a founding member of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA), was sentenced to an extraordinary harsh seven years in one of Saudi Arabia’s prison gulags because of his fearless championing of human rights causes in the oppressive oil-rich Gulf nation.
“Fowzan al-Harbi has been ruthlessly targeted for daring to question the Saudi authorities’ human rights record,” said Said Boumedouha, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.
“His sentence should be quashed immediately and he should walk free from the court. He should never have faced trial in the first place.”
Al-Harbi was convicted of several “offenses” including “breaking allegiance” with the ruler by calling for protests, criticizing the authorities and participating in the founding of an “unlicensed organization” (understood to be ACPRA).
Criticizing the Saudi King or a member of his wealthy royal family can result in your immediate arrest. And the country has so many restrictions on women making it one of the most oppressive locations for violations of civil rights and free speech.
The 36-year-old father of two had been arbitrarily detained since 26 December 2013, when a Saudi judge related to the royal family ordered his arrest without providing any reason.
According to the Amnesty International condemnation of the Saudi government, Al-Harbi was released on 23 June, a day before his conviction, and is currently free pending the outcome of his appeal. However, the judge insisted that he sign a pledge not to publish anything on social media or socialize with other people until the sentence is considered final after the appeal. He remains at risk of arbitrary detention.
Saudi Arabia has repeatedly prosecuted human rights activists with total impunity, with ACPRA bearing the brunt of the authorities’ repression. During the American-led invasion of Iraq and the war on terrorism in Afghanistan Saudi Arabia served as a location for the torture of prisoners accused but never tried for involvement in terrorism, violence of membership in Al-Qaeda, the Saudi-based terrorist organization that murdered nearly 3,000 Americans using hijacked planes to destroy the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and damaged the Pentagon.
I knew if I lived long enough, a Saudi King would finally get something right !
ReplyDeleteAnd I hope to live long enough to finally see Quart get something right, too.
DeleteThus I would be assured of a long long life.
;)
Dare I hope for a this worldly immortality?
DeleteShould my ripe fruit never fall?
And the imperfect become my paradise?
I wonder how those existential sharpshooting IDF mother fuckers are doing this morning?
ReplyDeleteLet’s take a look:
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military continued its substantial military attacks around Rafah in southern Gaza on Sunday, with Palestinian officials reporting that a strike near the entrance of a United Nations school sheltering displaced people killed 10 people and wounded 35 others.
Witnesses said those killed or hurt were waiting in line for food supplies when a missile hit. A photographer said the target appeared to be a motorcycle near the entrance of the school in the center of Rafah. Some 3,000 Palestinians in the area, where the Israeli military has been battling Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters, had been sheltering in the facility. The Israeli military had no immediate comment, and the United Nations said it was not immediately clear where the strike originated.
Mohammed Muafai, who works for the United Nations there, said that he was inside the school when the missile hit. In a telephone interview, he said there were bodies on the ground, including two guards and a sanitation worker. He said seven more people from displaced families also died, including one selling flavored ice.
t. A photographer said the target appeared to be a motorcycle near the entrance of the school in the center of Rafah.
DeleteSounds like a hamas terrorists was using the school. I wonder how much supplies were being stored there, or personnel?
I hope the fair people of gaza learn quick to not be anywhere terrorists are...
The terrorists will cause pain and suffering everywhere they go..
The question I have? Did the IDF kill the motorcyclist?
ONE CAN ONLY HOPE.
.
DeleteTypical thinking of the Israeli. Obama's attack protocol calls for attacking groups of men or as we have also seen boys spotted in certain neighborhoods assuming that they must be or could be terrorists (whether they are planning their next attack or playing soccer). Indiscriminate. Callous. Disgusting. The Israelis take it a step further spotting a motorcycle you have to assume there is a rider somewhere who must be a terrorist and if you take out 10 or 20 innocents with your weapon well that's war. So sad. Even more indiscriminate, callous, and disgusting.
.
August 3, 2014
ReplyDelete'What Does Hamas Want?'
By Connor Headrick
The charter of Hamas, the controlling faction in the Gaza Strip, states, “[Peace] initiatives, the so-called peaceful solutions, and the international conferences to resolve the Palestinian problem, are all contrary to the beliefs of the Islamic Resistance Movement. For renouncing any part of Palestine means renouncing part of the religion[.]”
Suddenly, the current conflict between Israel and the Hamas faction in the Gaza Strip comes into striking clarity. In evaluating the violence currently going on in Gaza, it is informative to understand not only how both sides operate, but how both sides define themselves and their purposes.
Although Hamas rejects the peace process, its charter, written in 1988, proposes an acceptable alternative solution to the conflict: “There is no solution to the Palestinian problem except by Jihad. The initiatives, proposals and International Conferences are but a waste of time, an exercise in futility.”
Hamas’s enmity toward Israel is not because of Israel’s policies or actions. It is because of Israel’s identity and existence. The charter continues, “Israel, by virtue of its being Jewish and of having a Jewish population, defies Islam and the Muslims.”
The charter is not vague about how it will deal with the Jews or the state of Israel. It further states, “The prophet, prayer and peace be upon him, said: The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! there is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!”
It adds, “I swear by that who holds in His Hands the Soul of Muhammad! I indeed wish to go to war for the sake of Allah! I will assault and kill, assault and kill, assault and kill (told by Bukhari and Muslim).”
In the recent conflict in Israel and Palestine, Hamas stands as the organization committed to the destruction of its neighboring state. Hamas launched rockets toward Israeli population centers, aiming for civilians rather than military targets. Hamas continued to launch rockets toward Israel during a humanitarian ceasefire, and Hamas rejected the opportunity for a truce.
DeleteOnly after ten days of being bombarded by Hamas, and responding through missile defense systems and air strikes, did Israel finally respond with a ground offensive. Yet during this offensive and during the retaliatory air strikes that preceded it, Israel has exercised every power within its ability to show restraint and minimize Palestinian civilian casualties.
As confirmed by the New York Times, Israel has attempted to reduce civilian casualties by dropping leaflets warning citizens to evacuate, by calling phones in target buildings, and even by firing flares or dummy missiles at Palestinian roofs to ensure the occupants that the military is serious about an imminent strike.
How has Hamas responded? “To all of our people who have evacuated their homes – return to them immediately and do not leave the house,” a statement by the Hamas Interior Ministry commands.
In commenting on this issue in the same article, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated, “[O]ne must understand how our enemy operates. Who hides in mosques? Hamas. Who puts arsenals under hospitals? Hamas. Who puts command centers in residences or near kindergartens? Hamas. Hamas is using the residents of Gaza as human shields and it is bringing disaster to the civilians of Gaza. Therefore, for any attack on Gaza civilians, which we regret, Hamas and its partners bear sole responsibility.”
DeleteAs tragic as Palestinian civilian casualties are, there is no question that Israel is doing everything within its power to prevent casualties in its offensive against Hamas, while Hamas is actively endangering its own civilians’ lives.
If anyone has the moral high ground in this conflict, it is Israel. Israel is not an oppressive, racist state. Rather, it provides freedoms for citizens of all ethnicities, and allows religious freedom for Jews, Christians, and Muslims. In response to the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, Prime Minister Netanyahu stated, “Courageous Arab protesters are now struggling to secure these very same rights for their peoples, for their societies. We’re proud in Israel that over 1 million Arab citizens of Israel have been enjoying these rights for decades. Of the 300 million Arabs in the Middle East and North Africa, only Israel’s Arab citizens enjoy real democratic rights.”
In the same speech, Prime Minister Netanyahu stated, “[A]ll six Israeli prime ministers since the signing of the Oslo accords agreed to establish a Palestinian state, myself included. So why has peace not been achieved?
Because so far the Palestinians have been unwilling to accept a Palestinian state if it means accepting a Jewish state alongside it.
You see, our conflict has never been about the establishment of a Palestinian state. It’s always been about the existence of the Jewish state.
A 2012 television ad by Hamas captures this truth with precision. The ad says, “The price will be high, Sons of Zion. Are you willing to pay the price...? All of Palestine is ours. There's nothing here for you but death. There's nothing here for you but to be killed and to leave… If your arms reach [us], they will be cut off. If your eyes look [at us], they will be gouged out… In the land that you came to alive, you will end as body parts. That is Allah's promise."
It would be false to claim that Israel is perfect, or incapable of doing wrong. But the balance of moral authority between Israel and Hamas is clear. Israel is a beacon of democracy and freedom within the turbulent sea of the Middle East. Hamas is a group of terrorists whose stated goal is to destroy the state of Israel.
Israel, on the other hand, is willing to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a two-state solution. In a call to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a member of the Fatah faction rather than Hamas, Prime Minister Netanyahu said, “So I say to President Abbas, ‘Tear up your pact with Hamas, sit down and negotiate, make peace with the Jewish state. And if you do, I promise you this: Israel will not be the last country to welcome a Palestinian state as the new member of the United Nations. It will be the first to do so.’”
Let us not make the mistake of putting Israel and Hamas on the same moral ground. Let us no longer condone Hamas by our silence.
Rather, let us speak the truth about Hamas, as contained within their own stated purpose for existence and in their own observed actions, and let us stand firmly beside Israel as it defends its nation from terrorism.
Mr. Headrick is a research assistant for Ken Blackwell, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Council.
More On Bob’s guy, Connor Headrick
DeleteAUTHOR ARCHIVES: CONNOR HEADRICK
Finding a Firm Foundation
by Connor Headrick
June 9, 2014
Navigating the complex waters of public policy with a skeptical audience can be challenging for even the most thoughtful of Christians. Taking a stand on a pressing moral issue, such as abortion or homosexuality, and backing it up with Scripture often brings accusations of bigotry or intolerance.
Because the conversation may turn away from political issues to theological issues once the Bible or God is brought into the equation, it can be easy to simply try to circumvent the debate over Christianity by sticking to secular, empirical arguments, rather than moral Christian arguments.
By doing this, we rightly acknowledge that there is immense value in meeting an individual on common ground and reasoning together, from the state of reality around us, to discover truth. However, as we reason, we must constantly remember that empirical data is worthless if not supported by a framework of moral convictions.
Speed limits are baseless without the underlying moral principle that human life should be protected. Human trafficking and other forms of exploitation are insignificant unless we begin with the understanding that all humans possess a God-given right to liberty. Even murder is morally acceptable without the moral foundation that human life is precious and valuable. Every law is based upon someone’s standard of morality.
When we as Christians refuse to turn to God and revealed truth as the source of right and wrong, in ethics as well as in codified law, we obliterate the moral foundation on which our conservative arguments stand. Without that foundation, why does it matter if children grow up in unstable families? Who is to say whether one civil right is more important than another?
Of all the men and women in the Bible who operated in a political context, Daniel stands as one of the most powerful examples of a man who was unashamed to stand on God’s truth. In Daniel 2, King Nebuchadnezzar ordered the wise men of Babylon to be slaughtered because they were unable to reveal and interpret the dream which had troubled his spirit. Daniel, whose life was endangered by this decree, did not protest on the grounds of the practical consequences the king would suffer from losing all of his wise men. Instead, he went and made an appointment to speak with the king and interpret his dream.
An incredible aspect of this passage is this: when Daniel made the appointment with the king to interpret the dream, Daniel has no idea what the dream meant. Daniel 2:17-18 says, “Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.”
Sweet Jesus.
DeleteAn incredible aspect of this passage is this: when Daniel made the appointment with the king to interpret the dream, Daniel has no idea what the dream meant. Daniel 2:17-18 says, “Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.”
DeleteDon’t you just hate when that happens?
Geez Bob, your buddy Allen was just saying the other day about his true feelings about your Christian buds that dare to quote scripture from the magic scrolls,
DeleteOn a more serious note, the Amen Corner in the UK government is getting a little more sparse
The Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has said the situation in Gaza is “simply intolerable and must be addressed”.
His comments come after a row between Ed Miliband and No 10 after the Labour leader said prime minister David Cameron was “wrong” not to oppose Israel’s attacks.
No 10 said it was shocked he would “misrepresent that position and play politics with such a serious issue”.
Hammond told the Sunday Telegraph the crisis in Gaza could become “an endless loop of violence”.
“It’s a broad swathe of British public opinion that feels deeply, deeply disturbed by what it is seeing on its television screens coming out of Gaza,” he said.
“The British public has a strong sense that the situation of the civilian population in Gaza is simply intolerable and must be addressed - and we agree with them.”
He said there “must be a humanitarian ceasefire that is without conditions”, adding: “We have got to get the killing to stop.”
BRITISH SOLDIER HACKED TO DEATH IN STREET IN LONDON TERRORIST ATTACK
DeleteA young British soldier is dead after reportedly being "hacked and chopped" to death by two black men Wednesday afternoon on a London street. Sky News reports the incident is being treated by government officials as a terrorist attack.
The victim was reportedly wearing a “Help for Heroes” t-shirt. The fatal attack took place in southeast London’s Woolrich area, only yards from the Royal Artillery Barracks. Following the brutal act, police arrived and ultimately shot and wounded the two suspects, described by eyewitnesses as two black men in their mid-20s.
Yep England already has it's "hamas" inside England...
Let's see how that works out....
MAY 22, 2013
DeleteNo mention in any of the stories of the two black men being associated with Hamas.
the two "black" men were converts to radical islam.
Deletesame as hamas, same as isis, same as hezbollah, same as al queda.
you are one dumb drunk dude.
so tell us, what outfit did you serve with in Nam? Still can't remember?
An Israeli air strike has killed at least 10 people and wounded about 30 others in a UN-run school in the southern Gaza Strip, witnesses and medics said, as dozens died in renewed Israeli shelling of the enclave.
ReplyDeleteThe Israeli military said it was looking into reports of the attack, the second to hit a UN school in less than a week.
A missile launched by an aircraft struck the entrance to the school in Rafah, the witnesses and medics said.
They said there was an explosion at about 10.30am just outside the gates of the Rafah Preparatory A Boys school, where a group of children and adults were buying sweets and biscuits from hawkers.
Sounds like the UN - run schools is nothing but a place where Hamas launches rockets from..
DeleteHiding behind diapers and panties again, those Palestinians are SO brave.
Jews, and Jesuits, and Jihadis, and bible-thumping morons - Fuckit, we're doomed.
ReplyDelete:)
Deleteheh
The 3 J's and the BTMs
Rufus, you succeeded in making me laugh out loud @!
More details on the funeral of Israeli Soldier which will take place at 5.30pm local time, from the Jewish Press.
ReplyDeleteThe funeral for fallen IDF officer, Lt. Hadar Goldin will be in the Kfar Sava Military cemetery at 5:30pm, Sunday.
The family has requested that the Nation of Israel come to the funeral to honor Hadar.
May his memory be a blessing and may his death be avenged by G-d and the IDF.
You would think that with god, excuse me G-d, being on the side of the IDF, they would be better shots.
ReplyDeleteYou would think that "Allah", who is on Hamas's and the Palestinian's side, would have protected them better...
DeleteAfter all 8,600 ATTEMPTS at mass murder of the evil Joos and what 1 direct death?
Now that tells me that the god of the Moslems must be just sitting in a corner masturbating to kiddie porn, as usual.
1 death and the Israelis are using that as the excuse for their slaughter of hundreds soon to be thousands? That is really quite sad. That is evidence of a broken moral compass.
DeleteAsh, if your words were true...
DeleteIt's a war. I guess a draft dodger like you would not know about war would you?
As for the 1 death?
The Hamas/Palestinians have valued a Jew life to equal 1000 arabs.
So since you are part of that equation, why the bitch?
Ash, The palestinians attempted 84 times to commit mass murder yesterday.
DeleteEven according to the PA spokesperson each of those attempts were in fact war crimes.
Israel bombs those that bomb her...
Sounds fair..
Sorry if the hamas uses panties and diapers to hide behind.
Too bad the 120 Palestinian civilians killed by G-d’s buddies can’t make it.
ReplyDeleteJust how do you know the number of 'civilians" out of the 120?
DeleteAre you a Dione Warwick type Psychic?
Let’s try something different. Pretend your Hamas and I am Isreal. Let’s split the difference and call it 60.
DeleteIt's Israel.
DeleteFine.. 60 civilians.
but at the same time, 1260 civilians and an additional 1800 solders were killed not 500 miles away and not a peep from you.
Why are deaths at the hands of the jews considered a tragedy or a crime but you ignore those right next door?
The Syrian regime forces killed no less than 133586 people; including 109347 civilian
(88% of the total) among them 15149 children and 13695 women. In addition, 4892
person were killed under torture.
I will be delighted to move onto another story.
DeleteI would return to using spell check if it wasn’t so persistent in selecting words before I type them.
DeleteThe US does not subsidize the Assad regime, "O"rdure.
DeleteWhat part of the Zionist NASI being proxies for the US do you not understand?
sorry rat, 1% of the Israeli GDP hardly is a "subsidy"
DeleteMaybe America INVESTS in Israel and gets a return, one that you cannot see, after all, you still can't grasp that I am in Ohio, like you used to taunt me about when you threatened to come to ohio to shoot me...
.
DeleteThere are a lot of things we can't see in this war.
Benefits to the US.
All those weapons hidden under all those schools and hospitals and markets.
Why during a cease fire Israel was destroying tunnels going into Egypt.
Where that guy, obviously a terrorist, who owned that motorcycle went after Israel blew up the market. Occum's razor tells us he probably went on to another market or school. (I was going to say or hospital; however, there is not many of them left.)
.
Where that guy, obviously a terrorist, who owned that motorcycle went after Israel blew up the market. Occum's razor tells us he probably went on to another market or school. (I was going to say or hospital; however, there is not many of them left.)
Deletetry to say it again without the propaganda.
.
DeleteWhy would I do that? The sarcasm was intentional and Israel's position (as stated by you above) is indefensible.
.
It's a "Pageant."
ReplyDeleteWag The Dog
"Over, and Over, Again."
DeleteYou know, it seems like any "God" worth his salt would say,
Delete"The Levant?" Give me a break; it's a fucking Desert. Have you thought about Boca Raton?"
Spoken by someone who has never traveled there....
Delete"O"rdure, you write that a if you had visited the US.
DeleteBy your own words it is easy to see you never have.
What do you know of Boca Raton?
It's just right across the river from OHIIO, ain't it?
Delete:) :)
Rufus, it's OHIO
Deleteand I have never been to Boca.
"O"rdure ha never been to Ohio.
DeleteClose as he ever got to Ohio was Google Maps
Anon, if that is the case?
DeleteI have fooled you so bad..
Just speaks to what a fraud you are...
Say hi to the Colonial for me..
Of course it is a subsidy.
DeleteJust like the hundreds of millions the Congress approved for more bullets for the "Iron Dome".
Do not see the Zionists buying their own ammo
You can't see much...
DeleteSay hi to the Colonel for me...
Indiatimes.com
ReplyDeleteIslamic State grabs Iraqi dam, oilfield after defeating Kurds
Reuters -
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Islamic State fighters seized control of Iraq's biggest dam, an oilfield and three more towns on Sunday after inflicting their first major defeat on Kurdish forces since sweeping through the region in June.
The Kurds are losing, good thing they are so "independent".
DeleteHate for the Kurds losing to their Sunni cousins to be another demerit for Mr Maliki and the Shiites..
The Israeli Air Force, not going to be looking for "Basing Rights" in Kurdistan, not any time soon.
DeleteCould be more likey that the Kurds will be looking for beach front property, in the Levant.
still don't know what the word means?
DeleteLOL
A hint of some common sense?
ReplyDeleteUnless something dramatic happens, most of the Israel Defense Forces troops will be leaving the Gaza Strip in coming days. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet ministers are hoping that, after almost three weeks of being battered in Gaza, Hamas will be sufficiently deterred to stop launching missiles at Israel.
But the cabinet decision to embark on a unilateral cease-fire is only the first and relatively easy part of ending the war in Gaza.
The second, more difficult, part is the diplomatic process. Instead of exhausting negotiations mediated by the Egyptians that will grant Hamas a series of achievements, Israel will try to create another solution. A solution that will take advantage of the common interests that have developed between Israel and the countries in the region, which will strengthen the more moderate forces and perhaps provide an opening for progress in the peace process.
The cabinet member encouraging this move is Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who is averse to any arrangement with Hamas. Already during Operation Cast Lead in 2009, she successfully opposed Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who favored such a move. This time, only after the Hamas violation of the cease-fire on Friday was she able to convince Netanyahu to seek a different diplomatic solution for the crisis in Gaza.
The guiding principles must include establishing the idea of demilitarizing the Gaza Strip of rockets and heavy weapons; a continuation of the struggle against arms smuggling; a mechanism for monitoring the entry into Gaza of building materials, money and materials from which war material can be produced; restoring a Palestinian Authority presence in Gaza – first of all at the Rafah crossing or the crossings into Israel; and a significant process of rehabilitation and development in Gaza.
Livni believes that, along with the unilateral conclusion of military activity, the diplomatic activity should be multilateral. The United States, Egypt, the PA, the United Nations and the major European countries must be sitting around the pot when the process is cooked up. But not Hamas. After all the participants agree on the principles of the process, the plan can be turned into a binding UN Security Council decision. That would be a diplomatic achievement that would serve the interests of Egypt and the PA.
They haven't accomplished a damned thing, except kill, and further impoverish, some more poor people, and set up the next round.
DeleteThis deal will be "over" when the Israelis have killed every last Palestinian, or have packed up, and gone home.
They don't want to go home. They want the beach front property, free of Palestinians, for themselves. How to get from here to there is a bit of a conundrum for them though.
DeleteThe ,Zionists, they do not have the courage of their convictions
DeleteThey are tied to the dollar
They 'sold out'
DeleteFor a few pieces of silver.
Deuce ☂Sun Aug 03, 10:22:00 AM EDT
ReplyDeleteI will be delighted to move onto another story.
God YES.
Weeks of this non sense is enough.
I suggest the recent sightings of Bigfoot all around North Idaho, including around Moscow, Idaho.
These aren't just college students in gorilla suits, folks !
.
DeleteNo likely Obumble shuffling his way over to the casino.
.
AshSun Aug 03, 10:48:00 AM EDT
ReplyDeleteThey don't want to go home. They want the beach front property, free of Palestinians, for themselves. How to get from here to there is a bit of a conundrum for them though.
Ash, you have out done yourself.
That is the dumbest thing you have said yet.
Worthy of rat.
Wow, you go, boy !
Ash, the Hamas Charter tells another story.
DeleteIt is Hamas that wants beach front property, free of Jews, in Israel, for themselves.
If you are typical of our, or Canada's, 'education' system, North America is doomed.
GODDAMN you are a slow learner.
Why do you find reading the Hamas Charter so dearned difficult?
Concentrate, man !
Yeah, Ash, why can't you be serious like Bob?
Delete"I suggest the recent sightings of Bigfoot all around North Idaho, including around Moscow, Idaho.
These aren't just college students in gorilla suits, folks !"
Your typical Idaho, Zionism supporter, I suppose.
DeleteJeeminy fucking crickets.
And, why wouldn't the Palestinians want that "beachfront property," since it's Theirs, and has been for thousands of years?
DeleteBob us an idiot who thinks that removing all Palestinian children from their families to be wards of some other State would be, and I quote, "benevolent".
DeleteBoobie, look at a map, what do you think "Israel from the river to the sea" means?
It would be benevolent, Ash.
DeleteI wish it could happen.
They would no longer have their young psyches screwed up so they do not possess the ability to think.
They would have a chance at real life.
I am beginning to think you should been under the care of Child Protective Services in your youth, yourself.
"Boobie, look at a map, what do you think "Israel from the river to the sea" means?"
Ashlikins Half Brain, look at a map yourself.
"from the river to the sea" is generally meant from the Nile to the Euphrates.
Is Israel in the Egyptian Sinai? No, they gave it back after getting it in a defensive war in exchange for a Peace Treaty which both sides have adhered to for years.
Here is another interpretation:
>>>Senior Fatah Central Committee member Jibril Rajoub, who is also president of the Palestinian Football Association and Olympic Committee, said Monday, "All of Israel is in occupied Palestinian territory -- from the river to the sea." Rajoub made the comment in Arabic during an interview with Israel's Channel 5 sports channel.<<<
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=9911
Ashlikins, your mind is mush, from lobe to lobe.
Boobie, give your head a shake - neither the Nile nor the Euphrates is a Sea.
Deleteboobies would be ashamed to be associated with you.
Rufus IISun Aug 03, 11:26:00 AM EDT
DeleteAnd, why wouldn't the Palestinians want that "beachfront property," since it's Theirs, and has been for thousands of years?
there were no arab palestinians pre 1948.
try again
.
DeleteUsing your logic, WiO, there were no Israelis prior to 1948.
.
using my logic?
Deletejews have as MUCH right to self determination as the arabs do, no matter what fake name the arabs create for themselves…
most of the modern arab NATIONS did not exist 100 years ago and have almost no history to support a national identity.
Now israel and the jews? you have no case, jews as a national identity have been in existence for almost 3400 years, to debate it? shows the level of denial you are willing to go to to deny the jewish people's rights in their historic lands.
August 3, 2014
ReplyDeleteFree Gaza from Hamas
By Ted Belman
Will Hamas agree to be demilitarized?
The short answer is "No." From the point of view of Hamas, effective demilitarization will be the death of them. For them, chances of staying alive are better if they keep fighting. They may reason that as the war gets bloodier, they might get a better cease-fire.
On the other hand they might accept quiet for quiet and avoid demilitarization. But that won’t get the borders open for them.
There is another issue that should be put on the table. As it is, Gaza is a prison for the Arabs living there, or at least a pressure cooker. They number 1.3 million, 40% of whom are children. A solution must be found to facilitate their emigration. This is a problem that won't go away. It will only get worse.
This problem is part of a bigger problem, namely the plight of the "Palestinian refugees" living in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. Syria, which was home to just under 500,000 of them, has destroyed their refugee camps and displaced them again.
To date the Arab League has insisted that they be not naturalized of permitted to emigrate. It wants to use them as a pawn or thorn in Israel's side to ensure their "right of return" to Israel and thereby, Israel's destruction. They number in total now around 5 million, although less than 35,000 actual refugees remain alive. The others are not refugees but descendants of refugees and their numbers are growing exponentially. Israel will not accept them in Israel and has called for their acceptance only in Palestine should it be created. But guess what, the Palestinian Authority won't accept them either. And now there is a growing chorus of voices in Israel who are against their return to Judea and Samaria (West Bank) too, whether or not Palestine is created, because it would be too destabilizing.
It is increasingly unlikely that an independent Palestine will come into existence. There will be no place for them to return to. Leaving them to rot in refugee camps or elsewhere in these countries without full rights or passports is a denial of their human rights. And yet no Human Rights organization has championed their cause. And that goes for the UN itself and all the countries of the world. This must change.
UNWRA was created in 1950, not to resettle these refugees but to “reintegrate” them in the area or to “repatriate” them to Israel. Over the years the idea of “reintegration” was dropped due to Arab resistance, leaving only “repatriation” -- otherwise known as return -- as the goal. In that it is a unique organization. In contrast, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) exists to resettle refugees in other countries, which it has done for 50 million of them and counting.
To achieve its stated purpose, UNWRA inculcates a Palestinian identity in its charges and keeps the idea of return steadfast in their minds. This only perpetuates the conflict.
The US must spearhead a movement to get the world to absorb these stateless people. UNCHR must be given responsibility for these “refugees” and UNWRA must be disbanded.
Perhaps the US could start with the “refugees” in Gaza. Since billions are to be spent in rebuilding Gaza, why not spend this money to resettle them elsewhere. Surveys have found that 80% of them would like to leave. Allow Israel to reoccupy Gaza and rebuild it at its own expense. Of course Israel’s sovereignty over Gaza would be recognized as part of the deal. Gaza would cease to exist.
This would eradicate Hamas. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates would gladly contribute billions.
......................
Now there's an innovative idea.
The Gazans could settle in Philly, and Phoenix and among the Cherokee on Cherokee lands.
This will give some folks here a chance to step up to the bat. Even adopt a Gazan niece, perhaps.
Ash can take a few into his home in Canada. And command some real respect.
Odds of any of this happening: zero
Delete
ReplyDeleteAugust 3, 2014
They Condemn Israel because They Can
By William Sullivan
Israel is routinely beset by attacks, physical and rhetorical, at the hands of its hostile neighbors and the Western media and elite. Our mistake is to assume that we can counter those attacks with logic, reason, and evidence. We assume that we are presenting our arguments to people who want to objectively examine the arguments on each side of the conflict, and then come to a rational conclusion to discern right and wrong.
Nothing could be farther from the truth.............
http://www.americanthinker.com/2014/08/they_condemn_israel_because_they_can.html
I think the Zionist solution is to "Free Gaza from the Gazans."
ReplyDeleteThe 'Zionist' solution is to stop rocket attacks on Israel.
DeleteRufus IISun Aug 03, 11:26:00 AM EDT
DeleteAnd, why wouldn't the Palestinians want that "beachfront property," since it's Theirs, and has been for thousands of years?
Nonsense.
Go back and read about the founding of Israel.
When you say "Israel" you are speaking of "Occupied Palestine", correct?
DeleteThose lands that the Zionist movement declared theirs, in 1948.
And subsequently expanded upon by the use of military force.
and you live in "occupied america?"
Delete.
DeleteObviously, gentlemen, you are reading the wrong histories. You need to begin reading such august tomes as The American Thinker and WiO and Allen's Alternative History of the Universe.
(sarcasm font off)
.
Keep it coming. The Hamas hook and sinker that you have swallowed should be coming out your anus any time now. Stupid is as stupid does.
ReplyDeleteThey haven't even swallowed an elegant Royal Coachman.
DeleteThey have swallowed a rusty hook loaded with greasy worms.
I'm sick of hearing about "the founding" of Israel.
DeleteAll it is is Conquest, and Expropriation of land, and property from the indigenous Owners of same.
European colonialism in the 20th century, the last Colony.
DeleteBequeathed upon the Arabs as the British were leaving the area.
The Ashkenazi of Europe moving there, in moderate numbers.
Economic refugees from Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.
america...
Deletecanada...
Can't bring yourself to "capitalize" it, can you?
DeleteI notice you never fail to capitalize the name of Your country.
america?
Deletemy country?
fuck you fraudster.
"O"rdure, it just beguiles him, to have been outed.
DeleteNotice that he never did post that thread on either of the two blogs he claims are his.
Never did say he was ready for inspection.
Because he and his NASI Zionist cause cannot stand inspection.
Going a little further with Ashlikins - the term you asked about was used by some of the major Israelite prophets back in the day. I think they were dreaming of a world in which they would no longer be subject to invasions by the monster states surrounding them.
ReplyDeleteThey were always getting it from some monster state or other. Egypt, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, finally, later, Rome.
You'd wish for an end to it too. Ashlikins.
If you were a prophet.
Heh, fat chance of that.......
Look at you back pedaling. You are truly a fool. That doesn't even deserve a 'nice try'.
DeleteRufus IISun Aug 03, 12:05:00 PM EDT
ReplyDeleteI'm sick of hearing about "the founding" of Israel.
All it is is Conquest, and Expropriation of land, and property from the indigenous Owners of same.
I can understand, Rufus.
Reading is hard for you, except concerning green energy.
It's so much easier to absorb images from the tellie.
By the way, when are the Cherokee going to give back the land they stole from the earlier tribes in your area?
DeleteNot until the White Man gives it back to them, I suppose.
DeleteIn addition to land theft, the Cherokee were slavers back in the day.
ReplyDeleteHave they ever offered to pay reparations to those blacks they tormented?
I don't know, but I highly doubt it.
And they have Casino money to pay with too.
I mention these things, as I have done before, just to knock Rufus off his hypocritical high horse.
But, I quit now.
Cheers!
You're a fool. I'm not a Cherokee. I'm, also, not "Danish." Nor, Dutch; or English.
ReplyDeleteI'm a human polyglot; just as we all are. My allegiance, politically, is to The United States of America.
Seth Shostak Become a fan
ReplyDeleteSenior Astronomer, SETI Institute
Why the Aliens Want Earth
Posted: 07/31/2014 12:52 pm EDT Updated: 07/31/2014 1:59 pm EDT
Expedia's galaxy-wide website must be offering Earth at a major discount. In one movie after another, aliens decide to pass up competing Milky Way attractions -- including neutron stars, antimatter clouds, hot Jupiters, and a 4 billion-trillion-trillion-ton central black hole -- in favor of our planet. The small speck of rock we inhabit is more popular with tourists than Disneyland.
Even an abbreviated laundry list of invasion films will give you the idea: Independence Day, War of the Worlds, Superman II, Mars Attacks, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Killer Clowns from Outer Space ... They all share a common premise, namely that Earth is the bee's knees, cosmically speaking.
But really, you've got to wonder what would motivate creatures from other worlds to suffer a journey of hundreds of trillions of miles to visit our planet? It's a trip so relentlessly devoid of scenery, their spacecraft wouldn't need windows. Why bother?
I've been asked this question at least a half-dozen times by Hollywood writers, and the best answer I can muster is "I don't know."
My impoverished reply is clearly disappointing, and the usual response by the filmmakers is to resort to two hackneyed incentives to rope in the aliens, namely (1) a quest for natural resources, and (2) breeding experiments.
Frankly, and not to rain on anyone's parade, neither makes sense.
Consider the idea that the extraterrestrials want materials for their industrial needs. It's nice to imagine that Earth is valuable as a mining claim, but what do we have that they don't?
A frequent suggestion is water. But that's silly: The universe is awash in water, thanks to the abundance of its two atomic ingredients, hydrogen and oxygen. Like Kimye and Kanye, these two elements are everywhere. Heck, there's more water on some of the moons of Jupiter than on Earth, and no one's going to get ruffled if you opt to remove it. But really, you can save the tanker costs by finding water in your own solar system. There's bound to be plenty.
DeleteDigging up other minerals and metals is similarly unnecessary and inconvenient. The entire cosmos is made of the same elements (and more or less in the same proportions) as is our local neighborhood. You don't need to import this stuff from light-years away.
Maybe they just need farmland? Like Captain Bligh, perhaps aliens are hoping to find a place to grow breadfruit, or whatever the galactic equivalent might be. Again, this is the kind of incentive that might work if you don't first need to traverse interstellar space. If you do, consider building orbiting greenhouses at home. They'll be cheaper, and the produce will be fresher. And honestly, if Earth's countryside is that attractive, why didn't someone plant a flag (or Klingon breadfruit) millions or billions of years ago? It seems that terrestrial real estate is a dog on the market.
Breeding experiments are even less plausible, even if many movie-goers feel like participating. Anyone who's made it through tenth-grade biology will recognize that breeding with other species here on Earth -- all of whom are card-carrying members of the DNA club, and therefore closely related to you -- is not only difficult, it's guaranteed to be fruitless. And possibly illegal.
Trendy scenarists will often invoke the social concern du jour, and suggest that the extraterrestrials are here to save us from ourselves. Aside from the obvious fact that they don't know of such contemporary problems as climate change or nuclear proliferation (our newscasts haven't reached them yet), why would they be interested? I bet the dinosaurs would have wished for a bit of alien help in giving an asteroid a nudge 66 million years ago, but it seems the extraterrestrials couldn't be bothered. Are we that much more deserving?
No, the bottom line is that the only truly special things about Earth are likely to be our biota and our culture. They could learn a lot about either one by merely analyzing the spectral signature of our atmosphere or tuning in to our TV broadcasts, and they would save a king's ransom on fuel by avoiding actual travel.
Despite the dramas played out at the local cineplex, real aliens won't be itching to visit. What we've got, they've already seen, and the doorbell won't ring. We're not on their bucket list.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/seth-shostak/why-the-aliens-want-earth_b_5638350.html?utm_hp_ref=science
I think they've seen Detroit, and want no part of it.
Do We Have The Big Bang Theory All Wrong?
Deletehttp://www.realclearscience.com/2014/08/02/do_we_have_the_big_bang_theory_all_wrong_260305.html?utm_medium=widget&utm_campaign=rss
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Can Quart Develop A Quantum Intuition?
http://www.realclearscience.com/2014/08/02/can_we_develop_a_quantum_intuition_260310.html?utm_medium=widget&utm_campaign=rss
Quart's Quantum Intuition Classes
DeleteBy the semester, or year.
Low rates for student groups of 10 or more....
Quart
Detroit, Michigan
10100000000000000000000
What if the Big Bang theory has got it all wrong?
DeleteWhat then?
In a noble philosophical outlook like that of Hinduism, it wouldn't even move the needle.
"So what?"
Hindu sage shrugs and walks away......
Ah, Italy -
ReplyDeleteItalians enraged at rise of Sicily's new FACEBOOK mafia...
New generation of mob bosses flaunting wealth... ...drudge
I'm obviously bored, and, preemptively, boring.
But it's nearing 100 degrees out there already, too hot to do anything.
Satan Supports Hamas
ReplyDeleteBy Jack Kelly - August 3, 2014
>>>>The elaborate tunnel system was dug in part by child labor, according to a 2012 paper in the Journal of Palestine Studies. Each of the 31 tunnels discovered so far cost about $1 million to build. “At least 160 children have been killed in the tunnels,” the author of the journal article says he was told by Hamas officials. “Much as in Victorian coal mines, they are prized for their nimble bodies.”
Per capita national income in Gaza is a meager $2,900, 172nd in the world — but many ordinary people have to live on less than $3 a day. Hamas leaders Mousa Abu Marzook and Khaled Mashaal are reportedly billionaires, their top lieutenants millionaires.
Gazans live in abject poverty chiefly because most of the money Hamas leaders don’t stuff into their pockets is spent to attack Israel. Destroying the Jewish state and murdering all the Jews in it is just an intermediate goal, according to Mosab Hassan Yousef, son of the Hamas founder and a convert to Christianity who rejects Hamas objectives.
The ultimate goal is building a worldwide Islamic state upon the “rubble of every other civilization,” Mr. Yousef told CNN July 24.
Hamas (the Arabic acronym for “Islamic Resistance Movement”) was founded in 1987 with initial funding from Saddam Hussein, according to Discover the Networks, a website that tracks the political left. Hamas is an affiliate of the Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan Muslimin) founded in 1928, which received initial support from Adolf Hitler.<<<<
Read more: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/08/03/satan_supports_hamas_123546.html#ixzz39MCOXM7G
Follow us: @RCP_Articles on Twitter
Calling Child Protective Services -
Delete“Much as in Victorian coal mines, they are prized for their nimble bodies.”
The Palestinian Mickey Mouse says:
Delete"Kill the Jews."