COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Sunday, July 20, 2014

"When you enclose and confine a population, blockade their coast line, control their air space, control their movements, control their economy including imports and exports, control their utilities, water, electricity, control what food they get and how much, control how they can use their natural resources, well hell, you control them. You are either an occupier or a prison guard”. - Quirk

GAZA BURNS:


(Reuters) - At least 50 Palestinians were killed on Sunday by Israeli shelling in a Gaza neighborhood, where bodies were strewn in the street and thousands fled for shelter to a hospital packed with wounded, witnesses and health officials said.

THE ISRAELI STATE SPONSORED TERRORIST CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE CIVILIAN POPULATION OF GAZA CONTINUES:





Nearly 340 people have been killed and nearly 2,400 wounded in 11 days of fighting in the Gaza Strip, as tens of thousands have been displaced in the conflict, according to health officials in the Palestinian territory.

Ashraf al-Kidra, a Gazan health official, says 338 Palestinians have been killed and 2,556 wounded. Earlier, another health official said some 70 children were among the dead.






OPINION: Israel-Palestine coverage unbalanced

By Aref Assaf 12:08 a.m. EDT July 12, 2014


News and stories about the killing of innocent civilians rightfully deserves front-page coverage. Yet it seems that American media outlets lazily adhere to the Israeli version of the tragic and deadly events..
The media has given the world “lull” a new meaning. In the lexicon of Palestinian-Israeli conflict, it is now considered a lull period when only Palestinians are killed by Israelis.
What really happened during the period of “relative calm” between the disappeared and killing of three Israelis and the subsequent massive attacks on the entire Palestinian population? In that time, the Israeli military killed more than 10 Palestinians, six of which were under 16. Israel also destroyed or confiscated more than 5,000 acres belonging to Palestinian farmers; Israel destroyed two Palestinian homes and jailed more than 600 Palestinians.
Apparently, death of Palestinians and destruction of their properties and denying them a normal life is considered an acceptable price for normalcy. Volatility, unrest and terrorism capture the media’s display pages only when Israelis are killed.
Coverage of the conflict has always been one-sided and viewed only through the eyes of Israel military censure. Israel’s total grip on the borders and its restriction of reporter movement has created what I would describe a geographic bias that has rendered the battlefield — the West Bank and the Gaza Strip — off limits to foreign reporters. It is ironic that the only full-time reporter in the area is Amira Haas from the Israeli newspaper, Ha’aretz. We would, however, be given a totally different view of the conflict if most of the media dared to report even half the stories Haas covers.
U.S. media’s bias is reflected in at least two manners. One is the amount of pro-Palestine editorials and commentaries by Palestinians or pro-Palestine writers compared to the pro-Israel views. The second, the editorial decisions by which Palestinian deaths and tragedies are reported and or presented compared to Israeli deaths.
On the first front, a recent study by Patrick O’Connor concludes that Palestinians do not have easy access and thus permission to present their own narratives; generally aren’t allowed to speak for themselves or to articulate their historical narrative. Israelis, however, are permitted to speak, to explain the Israeli experience and even to explain about Palestinians. As a result, the Israeli story is known in the U.S. while Palestinians are dehumanized.
On the second point, placement of stories about Palestine compared to Israel indicate a serious lack of fairness and journalistic neutrality. According to If Americans Knew, most major American newspapers tend to relegate stories about Palestine deaths to the inside pages, relying mostly on Israeli sources, while stories about Israeli death are given full attention on the front pages often accompanied by larger photographs. By deciding whose voices are heard, and which stories to cover or ignore, the U.S. directly impacts the public’s understanding of the conflict.
What is most dubious about American coverage is its almost total unquestioning of the Israel’s assessment of events. It is now, for example, considered acceptable “collateral damage” when innocent Palestinian civilians are killed by a two-ton bomb directed at an apartment complex because the Israeli Army suspected a terrorist may be hiding there. When an Israeli is killed, the electronic media interrupts its programming to air gavel-to-gavel story of the life that was lost, the agony of their weeping parents and relatives. When a Palestinian is killed, you only see “things” such as blown-up cars and buildings, as if Palestinians metaphysically exist without families and friends to mourn their loss also.
When Israel confiscates Arab lands and builds an illegal settlement for Jews only, it is described simply as a “neighborhood.” When an expectant Palestinian mother is denied access to medical service and is forced to give birth at a checkpoint, the justification is given as a “necessary” security measure.
Such deliberate and systematic dehumanizing of the Palestinians tragedy is the result of a mainstream media complicity that does not question authority or those who have the power and of a military capacity to affect the lives of millions of Israelis and Palestinians.
It remains a fact that Israel’s continued military occupation of Palestine lands and the brutal subjugation of the Palestinian people are the two undeniable motives for Palestinian resistance both passive and violent. Relegating this reality only perpetuates the volatile atmosphere and brings Israel no peace or security and denies the Palestinians their inalienable legitimate rights to independence, justice and a sovereign state.
The cause of peace, the security of Israel and justice for the Palestinians are mutually inclusive requirements for a peaceful Middle East. They will be advanced when we report the horrors of wars and terrorism by and against both Palestinians and Israelis.


Dr. Aref Assaf is president of the American Arab Forum, a think tank specializing in Arab and Muslim American affairs.

110 comments:

  1. On 28 December 2006, the Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem reported that 660 Palestinians had been killed in that year alone, most in Gaza, including 141 children; and that since 2000, Israeli forces had killed almost 4,000 Palestinians with 20,000 wounded. But scarcely has there been a single mention of all of this in a single report on the latest slaughter in the Gaza war.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So?

      There have been 180 thousand arabs (many palestinains) even more children in syria, not 400 miles away in 36 months.

      Syrian forces have killed 163 people DAY for 3 years. There are 500,000 wounded and 7 MILLIOn as real refugees.

      But scarcely has there been a single mention of all of this in a single report on the latest slaughter in the Syrian war.

      Delete
    2. Crying wolf again Deuce...

      No one cares.

      The world is in flames.

      The Hamas? Did this to themselves, they use their kids as human shields and milk the deaths as propaganda.

      Delete
    3. Anyone who is honest, has a brain and a pair of eyes sees through that lie.

      Delete
    4. No, I do not believe that “no one cares.” I think you and Allen accurately reflect what the vast majority of Jews think. Ash certainly represents what most non-US really think and the balance here fairly represents the informed US non-Jewish point of view. Christian Evangelicals and the brainless wing of the Republican Party excepted of course.

      Delete
    5. Hamas has prevented it's citizens from leaving warned areas.

      The world knows this...

      You choose to ignore it.

      Delete
    6. Thrown in the “ditto” heads. with the Evangelicals.

      Delete
    7. The "world" doesn't care.

      Syria is butchering it's self to the tune of hundreds of THOUSANDS
      Yemen, Sudan, Libya, Tunisia and more? All Burning.

      Insane arabs in Paris and England are rampaging, From BEHEADING British solders to kidnapping French Jews and dismembering them (and video taping it), School shootings, train bombings and more.

      Couple that with Russia blowing up civilian airliners and chomping off parts of the Ukraine.

      rampant unemployment, dollar inflation, food costs rising, fuel costs rising.. No one really gives a shit about the Gaza Strip.

      Even the West Bank is quiet as a mouse.

      Everyone KNOWs that Hamas is getting what it created by shooting rockets for 10 years into Israel.

      From kidnappings to murder Hamas is CLEAR, it will kill every jew in Israel to start.

      The says it over and over again...

      Kill the Jews.

      Well deuce you are backing the wrong horse.

      You aint HELPING the Palestinian people. You are HELPING and enabling the Hamas to rule OVER the palestinian people.

      Delete
    8. SO to be clear? If you support Hamas?

      You support the virtual slavery of the palestinians by an Iranian proxy group

      Congrats.

      Delete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I go to sleep and the Israeli Palestinian conflict seems to have no solution but HALLELUJAH I awake to find Bob has a solution, and it is simple! It goes like this:

      Israel good - I guess because they simply want Israel to be Jewish and they are rich.
      Palestinians bad - see Hamas charter

      Good is better than bad.

      Therefore the Palestinians should do what Israel says (like move to Jordan)

      Problem solved, it's simple.

      We should send Bob to Washington D.C. (I had to add the D.C. part in case he headed to see T)

      Delete
    2. No Ash the "solution" is showing its way in Yemen, sudan, tunsia, Lebanon, Syria & Iraq.

      Let the arabs love one another.

      Delete
    3. Robert Peterson has been wrong before, he used to praise Jewish literature, but that was before segments of the Talmud were posted. Now he is quiet on the subject. That's a shame, really, because there are so many more great quotes, ready to see the light of day.

      Referenced quotes that not only show the close affinity of Judaism and Islam, but help to tear down the edifice of lies that the Zionists have built. It explains why the Zionists can lie so easily to the western world and believe they are in the right, dong so. The ends justifies the means, in their moral code.

      “Someday, the realm of liberty and justice will encompass the planet.
      Freedom is not just the birthright of the few, it is the God-given right of all His children, in every country.
      It won't come by conquest. It will come, because freedom is right and freedom works.
      It will come, because cooperation and good will among free people will carry the day.”

      ― Ronald Reagan,

      Boycott, Disinvest, Sanction - that is the solution - it is the existential threat to injustice, oppression and apartheid.

      Delete
    4. Thanks Jack, your lies and distortions are easy to understand. You do us all a great service in explaining why we think you are simply a jew hating, Judaism bashing, zion-trashing, pro-hamas, pro-iran shill...

      Delete
  3. One by one, day by day the edifice of Israeli lies is being town down.
    The cost if lives is regrettable, but such is the price of freedom.

    The Palestinians never had a military option, but their political position grows stronger with each passing day.
    The existential threat to the apartheid system of Israeli totalitarianism is strengthened with each bomb the Israeli terrorists detonate, each shell they fire, each civilian they kill.

    “To those who abuse:
    The sin is yours, the crime is yours, and the shame is yours.

    To those who protect the perpetrators:
    Blaming the victims only masks the evil within, making you as guilty as those who abuse.

    Stand up for the innocent or go down with the rest.”


    ― Flora Jessop

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. One by one, day by day the edifice of Israeli lies is being town down.
      The cost in lives is regrettable, but such is the price of freedom.

      Delete
    2. One by one, day by day the edifice of "arab" nationalism and it's lies are being town down.
      The cost in lives is regrettable, but such is the price of freedom.

      LOL

      The reality may be not what you want but what is happening. The Islamic world is dying, great spasms of contraction, with tens of thousands of civilians being butchered by brother arabs.

      What is happening in Gaza? Simply put? Suicide by Cop.

      Hamas is killing itself and trying to use the IDF to do it for them...

      But the Israeli aint the butchers you folks bitch and whine about. That's why the death count is SO LOW.

      Not to worry, each passing hour and day, you cry wolf and more and more people say? Who cares.

      Delete
    3. "What is happening in Gaza? Simply put? Suicide by Cop."

      :)

      That's good !

      Delete
  4. Looks like al-Sisi is focused on the wrong side of his country.
    He is spending so much time looking East, while his troops are dying in the West.

    CBC.ca -

    Gunmen armed with rocket-propelled grenades attacked a border guard post Saturday in Egypt's western desert near Libya, killing 21 troops, the military said.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ya gotta wonder about that. Egypt would dearly love to have those Libyan Oil Fields (the ones the Libyan government, such as it is, can't protect.)

      Jes sayin'

      Delete
    2. Egypt USED to own the gaza strip, until the Israelis defeated them and took it after egypt used it as a terror base.

      Then israel set if free, Fatah took it over, Hamas killed fatah and now we have an Iranian colony...

      The only solution for gaza? Egypt needs to reabsorb it, execute the Moslem Brotherhood members. Oh I mean the Hamas members...

      Then the people of gaza will have a chance.

      Delete
  5. Ash, you are an idiot. This stuff has been going on for 1,400 YEARS.

    And you are surprised YOU don't have a 'solution'?

    Fuck it, son, you don't seem to even know what the real problem is yet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But you have much company.

      Neither does Deuce.

      Nor Quirk.

      Delete
    2. Miss T seems to be starting to get it.

      Being female, I would hope so.

      Sharia and women's rights don't mix.

      Delete
    3. Robert Peterson does not address a single issue raised, instead he falls back to his stock and trade.
      Ad hominem and Misogyny

      Delete
    4. Bob and Wio are now post misogynist since Miss T did something or the other. I am much relieved that I no longer have to go on C-duty.

      Delete
    5. Jack Hawking stands with Hamas and Iran, both sworn enemies of the state.

      He is a traitor to the United States. If Teddy Roosevelt were alive and in charge?

      He's arrest and execute "Jack Hawkins" for treason.

      Delete
    6. Further illustrating that "O"rdure does not understand freedom, does not understand liberty.
      Does not reside in the United States of America.
      Does not understand who Teddy Roosevelt was.

      "O"rdure, you are the False Flag amongst us, the validation of what is written, and so it must be.

      Delete
    7. I reside in Ohio as you have said, go and read that FBI report, you said the FBI was investigating me..

      In America...

      I guess you can't keep your lies straight

      Delete
    8. Bob, yes it has been going on a long long time. You would think that a different approach to finding a solution would be in order but, alas, the lunatics are running the asylum and they keep repeating themselves hoping for a different outcome. What was that definition of insanity again...?

      Delete
    9. Yep ash a different approach is happening, Israel is not pulling it's punches.

      about time

      Delete
  6. Hamas: 'We will send children to throw hand grenades at Israeli soldiers'
    To my recollection, the IDF has not faced mass use of children as canon fodder by terrorist organizations. I can recall one or two incidents when Israel patrolled southern Lebanon and Hezbullah sent a boy or two with a grenade strapped to him, but nothing more than that.

    On Friday, a Hamas spokesman announced on Hamas' al-Aqsa television in Gaza, that Hamas had manufactured 250,000 hand grenades that would be given to Palestinian youth to use to fight Israel instead of rocks.



    Dont bitch when they are shot dead.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No bitching, but silent appreciation.
      For young people willing to fight political oppression against long odds.
      Even knowing that the battle is lost, they fight on.

      It has long been appreciated in the Western world, from Thermopylae to the Alamo.
      Unlike the Semitic Israeli who venerate suicide in the face of overwhelming odds. Masada aptly illustrates that cultural trait.

      It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees!
      Emiliano Zapata

      While the Israeli, they chose to die on their knees.
      They are doing it again, today, but in a 21st century context.

      Delete
    2. Child soldiers, like the child mine sweepers the iranian used in the war against the iraqi..

      a war crime, while the Hamas masters live in luxury.

      Delete
  7. There's a genocide of Christians going on in Iraq right now, if anyone cares.

    IS = Hamas - same outlook

    I'd think the two lapsed Catholics here would at least see this relationship.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Muslims treat Christians = The Israeli treat Muslims.

      The Semite tribes of Arabia were inspired by Mithras patriarchal dogma, plagiarized the Egyptian’s l religious manual: the Book of Death, to invent Judaism and Torah, the Old Testament and Talmud as their religious manuals.

      Then came the leadership of the Prophet Muhammad and then there were two Semitic, barbaric, misogynist, man-made, warmongering, pedophile, children raping, slave holding and slave marketing, patriarchal religions.

      Judaism and Islam are, and have always been the agents and promoters of ignorance, hate, violence, rape, murder, plunder, mediocrity and stupidity.


      http://www.venusproject.org/reason/brief-history-of-patriarchal-religions-on-planet-earth.html

      Delete
    2. lies and distortion and the moslem brotherhood lines...

      traitor

      Delete
    3. Truth and accuracy

      I am not an Israeli, "O"rdure.

      Delete
    4. No, you are an American traitor that supports Hamas and Iran.

      Now I take it as a complement to be called an "Israeli" alias I am not one.

      Just an American citizen, as you, that calls you to your face a treasonous traitor.

      Delete
    5. ha, ha, ha

      Focus on Jack Hawkins, while the existential threat to your country grows by the day.

      you are so funny. so entertaining ...

      Delete
    6. "alias" = a false or assumed identity.
      "a spy operating under the alias Barsad"


      A Freudian slip, or just plain lack of English skills by our Israeli agent.

      Delete
    7. Spin man spin...

      You have admitted you use a dozen "aliases" on this blog.

      And you stand with Hamas and Iran, both sworn enemies of the USA.

      You are a traitor.

      Delete
    8. Jack: Focus on Jack Hawkins, while the existential threat to your country grows by the day.

      The threat to my country grow each and every day when fellow citizens, like you, support terrorist organizations.

      I stand, as an American, with Israel.

      You stand, as an American, with Iran and Hamas, both publicly sworn enemies of our nation.

      Delete
    9. ha, ha, ha

      Rant, rave, provide comical relief.

      That is your function at the elephant Bar, "O"rdure...

      Carry On!

      Delete
    10. Lie, distort and push the line of Hamas and Iran, that is your job traitor

      Delete
  8. Driving into the Casino for a free breakfast with my wife.

    Have fun, suckers.

    WiO, allen, Miss T (I hope), excepted.

    Miss T seems to be making some real progress.

    out for now

    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You think you are getting a free breakfast in a casino and who is the sucker?

      Delete
    2. ;)

      My way of saying 'thanks' to the Injuns for the wonderful rock art.

      Was a great breakfast and we both won a bit.

      And it beats listening to the moaning about the poor Gazans who have no business whatsoever lobbing missiles into Israel.

      Fuck the Gazans.

      Delete
  9. Through the Google 'signal'

    Jonathan Langdale
    Shared publicly - 6:45 AM
    #MH17

    Ukraine still owes?

    This occurred one month after the 9-11 attack. It was the result of target practice against drones whereby a missile overshot it's target and locked onto the airliner instead of self-destructing. The passenger plane was 150 miles further away than the target. The missile exploded a ball of shrapnel shells 50 feet above the plane.

    Ukraine initially denied that their missile had brought the plane down. Russia, the manufacturer of the S-200 missile, initially told the press that the missiles didn't have the capability to reach the air corridor 150 miles away.

    Flight 1812 departed Tel Aviv with destination Novosibirsk. It proceeded at an altitude of 36,000 ft over the Black Sea when the Russian ground control center in Sochi suddenly lost contact with the airliner. Soon afterward, the pilot of an Armenian plane crossing the sea nearby reported seeing the Russian plane explode before it crashed into the sea about 1:45 PM Moscow time (9:45 AM GMT).

    Ukraine eventually admitted that the disaster was probably caused by an errant missile fired by its armed forces. Ukraine ended up paying $15 million to surviving family members of 78 victims ($200,000 per victim).

    However, the Kiev Interregional Commercial Court of Appeal, in September 2011, rejected a compensation claim from the Russian airline. An appeal to Kyiv’s Economic Court of Appeals was rejected, in May 2012. The ruling was further upheld, in December 2012, by Ukraine’s Supreme Commercial Court. As of January 2013 the court proceedings continued.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hamas fighters death count rises...

    The IDF accepts Hamas request for a short truce
    DEBKAfile July 20, 2014, 1:34 PM (IDT)
    Israeli commanders agreed to the Hamas request for a two-hour ceasefire from Sunday 1.30 to 3.30 p.m. after first rejecting the request for a three-hour pause relayed by the Red Croiss. Hamas asked for the truce for the removal of its dead and wounded from the Sejjaya district of Gaza City. Palestinian sources have counted 40 Hamas bodies lying in the streets of the city for ongoing battles..

    ReplyDelete
  11. Special Report: Malaysian Flight False Flag Evidence Revealed.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY4W-8qNnD0

    Less than 24 hours after the devastating attack that downed Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17, Neocons and their state-run media would have us believe the case is closed…before an investigation has even been launched. We break down the repetitive false-flag narrative.

    ReplyDelete
  12. They train them young...

    http://news.yahoo.com/video-child-beating-boy-lebanon-goes-viral-085400918.html


    Beirut (AFP) - Lebanon has arrested a man who spurred his two-year-old son to beat up a Syrian child after a video of the shocking blows went viral, state media reported on Sunday.

    The cousin of the boy named Abbas, who taped the video which was posted online overnight Friday, was also arrested, the National News Agency said, quoting a police statement.

    It identified the victim as a nine-year-old boy from Syria named Khaled.

    In the footage posted by Ya Sour website, Abbas swings a club at Khaled, beating him on various parts of his body, slapping him and kicking him, as adults who are heard but not seen urge him on.

    Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi ordered an investigation and late on Saturday police arrested "Abbas's father and his cousin who taped the video after a probe involving online activists," the news agency said.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Germany’s renewable sector (RE) is flexing its muscles, with solar production up 28% and wind up 19% during the first half of 2014. As a result, the renewable sector accounted for 31% of the nation’s electricity. If this trend continues, this may be the third year in a row that Germany sets a record for energy exports. The increase in renewables has also been accompanied by a decrease in fossil fuel usage. Gas-fired power plant production is down 25%, compared to last year, and hard coal production fell 11%. Only lignite power usage rose. So what does solar energy mean to Germany’s utilities?

    In the video Birthing a Solar Age, Jerry Rifkin points out that so much renewable energy was fed into the grid one day last month that the price of electricity fell below zero. He predicted there will be more days like this, and in the future Germany’s utilities will . . . . . .

    31% in the World's 4th Largest Economy - Eat It, Putin

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Of all the goddamned countries in the world,

      Northern, overcast, basically land-locked Germany is knocking down 31% of its electricity from Renewables.

      How?

      Well, for one thing, they're not running around the world, pissing their money away, trying to make the General Dynamics / Exxon shareholders richer than they already are.

      Delete
    2. I wonder instead of building tunnels if the people of gaza could put solar on their buildings?

      Delete
    3. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    4. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    5. Exactly, you don't have a clue, do you.

      As to the solar installations in Gaza.
      The Israeli won't let them import the components.

      Open yourselves to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune with each 'clever' comment.

      Delete
    6. Israel has no control over what gaza imports.

      otherwise there would not have been 30,000 rockets.

      It has been proven that you could import zoo animals, KFC chicken, Mecedes benz and anything you wanted if you wanted to.

      Solar panels?

      Easy peasy..

      Delete
    7. But Jack, I do have one clue, you are a supporter of the sworn enemies of the United States.

      Traitor.

      Delete
    8. I didn't respond to that "solar in gaza" comment, because I couldn't figure out if it was Mean, or just plain Stupid.

      Delete
    9. My God, you're talking about poor people, that are lucky if they still have roofs on their houses.

      Delete
    10. Then "O"rdure says that Israel does not control what is imported into Gaza ...
      This after the Israeli NASI killed a US citizen trying to take humanitarian supplies there.

      The lies never stop with these scum of the earth Israeli NASI.

      He does know that in a prior incarnation "O"riginal posted the litany of items allowed through the Israeli control points.
      Proving once again that "O"rdure is operating under an "alias".

      a spy operating under the alias"O"rdure

      Delete
    11. Rufus, hamas has spent billions on tunnels for war.

      I said, INSTEAD of tunnels how about solar power.

      But gaza aint poor.

      Google "gaza mansions" don't take my word for it.

      google "gaza luxury"

      do it and then tell me about how poor they are.

      Delete
    12. Jack your lies don't even make sense anymore..

      Gaza imported 30,000 rockets, zoo animals, even a KFC call and have it delivered system...


      As for your alluding to "This after the Israeli NASI killed a US citizen trying to take humanitarian supplies there"

      The Turkish Islamic Nazis that tried to break thru a legal shipping blockade, was stopped and was offered the right to off load all supplies, and after inspection, be delivered to the strip.

      Once again, you show you are a shill for Islamic Nazis.

      I stand for America and Israel and not for the sworn enemies of state, as you do.


      Delete
    13. Jack: a spy operating under the alias"O"rdure


      1st is your name, not mine.

      Mine is the same as always.

      2. now you have promoted me to "spy"?

      LOL

      you must have had an argument with yourself (again), which one of your alias's kicked your ass?

      Delete
    14. No, "O"rdure, that was done by Google.
      https://www.google.com/search?q=alias+definition&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=sb

      Self-importance is man's greatest enemy.
      What weakens him is feeling offended by the deeds and misdeeds of his fellow men.
      Self-importance requires that one spend most of one's life offended by something or someone

      .--Don Juan

      Delete
  14. Eighteen IDF soldiers have been killed since the start of the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza in multiple exchanges of fire with Hamas. The majority of the casualties occurred throughout Saturday and Sunday.

    I guess that nonexistent hamas army exists after all...

    Reports say that Hamas has an army of about 100,000



    ReplyDelete
  15. The Israeli military is using flechette shells, which spray out thousands of tiny and potentially lethal metal darts, in its military operation in Gaza.

    Six flechette shells were fired towards the village of Khuzaa, east of Khan Younis, on 17 July, according to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. Nahla Khalil Najjar, 37, suffered injuries to her chest, it said. PCHR provided a picture of flechettes taken by a fieldworker last week.

    The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) did not deny using the shells in the conflict. "As a rule, the IDF only employs weapons that have been determined lawful under international law, and in a manner which fully conforms with the laws of armed conflict," a spokesperson said in response to a request for specific comment on the deployment of flechettes.

    B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights organisation, describes a flechette shell as "an anti-personnel weapon that is generally fired from a tank. The shell explodes in the air and releases thousands of metal darts 37.5mm in length, which disperse in a conical arch 300 metres long and about 90 metres wide".

    The munitions are not prohibited under international humanitarian law, but according to B'Tselem, "other rules of humanitarian law render their use in the Gaza Strip illegal. One of the most fundamental principles is the obligation to distinguish between those who are involved and those who are not involved in the fighting, and to avoid to the extent possible injury to those who are not involved. Deriving from this principle is the prohibition of the use of an imprecise weapon which is likely to result in civilian injuries.”

    GUARDIAN

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe if Israel used more of them, less Israeli soldiers would have been killed.

      America usually would bomb areas to soften them up for days and days, if not weeks before sending in ground troops.

      Israel should continue to soften up the targets 1st.

      I suggest flooding the tunnels with salt water.

      Delete
    2. Flechettes. Is that like when the Pallies load their bombs with ball bearings and nails and rat poison before lighting them off in a crowded pizza place?

      Delete
  16. Some from Friendly fire. That is what happens when you attack someone, they shoot back.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hamas continues to fire rockets at civilians, filled with ball bearing and rat poison.

      Israel will not accept the Hamas's purpose to genocide the Jews.

      War is hell, and Hamas started it. Israel will finish it.

      Delete
    2. No apology...

      The arab world has quietly supported Israel in it's attempt to clear out Hamas's ability to fire rockets.

      In fact Egypt has sentenced to DEATH over 300 Moslem Brotherhood members. Why is this important? Hamas and the Moslem Brotherhood are one and the same.

      Delete
    3. That is what happens when you attack someone, they shoot back.

      That's what Hamas is learning, lately. And this time their psyops ain't getting much traction, except with the Eurabian barons and baronesses and bassists.

      Delete
  17. One of the most fundamental principles is the obligation to distinguish between those who are involved and those who are not involved in the fighting, and to avoid to the extent possible injury to those who are not involved.

    If you're standing on the roof of a missile bunker, you are involved in the fighting.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I wonder instead of building tunnels if the people of gaza could put solar on their buildings?

    ReplyDelete
  19. "Israel is under siege by a terrorist organization that has seen fit to dig tunnels and come through those tunnels with handcuffs and tranquilizer drugs, prepared to try to capture Israeli citizens and take them back to hold them hostage," Kerry told CNN.
    "No country could sit by and not take steps to try to deal with people who are sending thousands of rockets your way."
    "We're working on the idea of a ceasefire," Kerry revealed, adding that President Barack Obama was to speak later Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
    "They've been offered a ceasefire and they've refused to take the ceasefire," Kerry told ABC television, adding that Hamas has "stubbornly" refused efforts to defuse the conflict "even though Egypt and others have called for that ceasefire."
    By its actions Hamas had "invited further actions" by the Israelis to stop the rocket fire from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel, Kerry said.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hamas rockets don't distinguish between Arab and Jew

    Last week, Hamas promised Israeli Arabs that their rockets would not hurt them, and were only targeting the "Hebrews:"

    We say to [Israeli Arabs], living in Haifa, Jaffa, Acre, Lod, Ramla, and the Negev: The rockets fired by the Al-Qassam Brigades will not hit you. We know those parts. We are familiar with the geography and with the history. Not a single Arab Palestinian child will be hit by one of our missiles. Our rockets are aimed at the Hebrews, the murderers, the Israelis, the criminals. Don't be afraid. Go on with your everyday life, and celebrate our victory, just like we will celebrate it here, in Gaza....We say to our people in Haifa: The missiles of Al-Qassam will not hit any Arab home. Rest assured, our missiles accurately target the homes of the Israelis and the Zionists. As Arabs, Muslms and Christians, you must support Gaza in the streets, by demonstrations, with slogans. You must besiege consulates of European countries supporting the occupation.
    Hamas lied to the people it pretends to care about.

    The first Israeli fatality from a Hamas rocket attack was a Bedouin.

    A 32-year-old man was killed Saturday when a rocket fired by Gaza terrorists hit a small Bedouin community near the city of Dimona.

    The man has been identified as Alouj Ouda. His wife, son, daughter, and sister-in-law were wounded in the attack.

    Ouda’s wife suffered shrapnel injuries to several parts of her body, and is in moderate condition. The couple’s four-month-old daughter is in serious condition with a head injury. Their four-year-old son suffered multiple shrapnel injuries as well, but is in light condition.

    The four surviving family members are being treated in Soroka hospital in Be’er Sheva.

    Previously, two young sisters were badly injured when a rocket fired by Gaza terrorists hit a Bedouin community near Be’er Sheva. One of the girls was left fighting for her life after suffering shrapnel injuries to her stomach.

    An elderly man was seriously injured in the same attack.
    The tragedy is undeniable, and the relative lack of attention to this death is unconscionable.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ... don't distinguish between Arab and Jew

      If only that were true of the Government of Israel, these problems would never have occurred.

      Delete
    2. Jack, once again you just show your ignorance.

      Go to Israel, take a vacation, spend your government assistance check!

      Learn something.

      Delete

    3. The Jews in Jerusalem ...The Nazis in Germany…the Japanese in Shanghai…

      Treating people as less than human because of the shape of their faces or the sound of their names.

      Delete
  21. I would considered going to Israel, but I am not gay, not interested in the Sex Trade, and that is who Israel is focusing upon ...

    Tel Aviv devotes about $100,000 — more than a third of its international marketing budget — to drawing gay tourists. Though no exact figures exist, officials estimate that tens of thousands of gay tourists from abroad arrive annually.
    "We are trying to create a model for openness, pluralism, tolerance,"
    Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai told The Associated Press.
    "Live and let live — this is the city of Tel Aviv."
    The city's first openly gay-owned hotel was opened recently and numerous city-backed travel sites direct gay visitors to the hottest clubs, bars and resorts in town.

    "We've long recognized the economic potential of the gay community. The gay tourist is a quality tourist, who spends money and sets trends,"

    said Pini Shani, a Tourism Ministry official who has been involved in the campaign.
    "There's also no doubt that a tourist who's had a positive experience here is of PR value. If he leaves satisfied, he becomes an Israeli ambassador of good will."


    I'll pass on your definition of fun, "O"rdure.



    http://cnsnews.com/news/article/tel-aviv-emerges-top-gay-tourist-destination

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Or should I say ...

      Learning Experience

      I don't need to learn about Jewish sexual perversions, thanks anyway.

      Delete
  22. USA TODAY
    13 Israeli soldiers killed ....
    ---------------------------------------------

    They always make such ventures sound quick, low-risk and ordained to succeed. You can believe that, if you wish ....

    ---------------------------------------------

    “All the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.”

    ― George Orwell

    ReplyDelete
  23. Do You Remember Iraq? Syria? ANYTHING?

    How Can Americans Fall for Pro-War Propaganda So Soon After Learning of the Deceptions In Selling the Iraq and Syria Wars?


    Do you remember that wars are often started by government lies about the enemy and that blowing up things and falsely blaming it on the enemy is the oldest trick in the book?

    ReplyDelete
  24. All of the Chairs of the 9/11 Commission and the Congressional Investigation Into 9/11 Say It’s “Implausible” that the 9/11 Hijackers Acted Without Government Backing

    Congressman Thomas Massie read the 28 classified pages of the Joint Intelligence Committee Inquiry into 9/11 (the joint Senate and House investigation into 9/11) and immediately called for them to be released to the public: By way of background, the former Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, outside adviser to the CIA, and Co-Chair of the congressional investigation into 9/11 – Bob Graham – says:

    I have personally talked to the other cochair of the Congressional Joint Inquiry, a man who was a very distinguished congressman and, later, director of the CIA [Porter Goss], I have talked to the two chairs of the … 9/11 Commission, asking them, what do you think were the prospects of these 19 people being able to plan, practice, and execute the complicated plot that was 9/11 without any external support? All three of them used almost the same word: “Implausible”. That it is implausible that that could have been the case. Yet that has now become the conventional wisdom to the aggressive exclusion of other alternatives.


    Indeed, it is pretty clear that 9/11 was state-sponsored terror … although people argue about whichstate or states were responsible (we personally believe that at least two allied governments were involved).

    Indeed, Graham – along with 9/11 Commissioner and former Senator Bob Kerrey – said in sworn declarations that the Saudi government is linked to the 9/11 attacks. They’re calling for either a “permanent 9/11 commission” or a new 9/11 investigation to get to the bottom of it.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Honduras is closer to Florida and Texas than much of the United States is. The U.S. government facilitated the overthrow of the government of Honduras with a military coup in 2009 and has supported, funded, armed, and trained the military and the police that have turned Honduras into the most violent and dangerous place on earth, beating out Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Libya, and other top contenders in the World Cup of Hell Holes.

    The President of Honduras was yanked out of bed and flown to a U.S. military base and out of the country. The military that replaced him has been trained in torture and assassination at the School of the Americas in Georgia.

    And now President Obama is ordering Honduran toddlers flown home from the United States where they are disturbing good democratic citizens of the land of liberty. Perhaps this is a moment, after all, in which to unite the movement for the rights of immigrants with the movement for peace and the rule of law in foreign relations.

    Imagine the strength of those two movements combined. Words like Hope and Change might actually mean something.

    Until then, forgive me if I’m simply disgusted with the level of evil imposed on the world by those in power and the failure of those abused to unite against it.

    ReplyDelete
  26. You're forgiven.

    I read the apes in Gaza are going to start strapping the suicide belts on the kids.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Don't say I don't feel for the kids.

      I do.

      I think they all ought to be turned over to Child Protective Services on the grounds that their parents are unfit parents.

      Islam is a politico/religio/totalitarian system with an emphasis on male dominance and has a true desire to act on the Divine Command to kill anything in its way.

      It does not allow this.

      So, what can one do, but wish the Israelis well?

      Delete
    2. And some of you idiots moan about the poor damn Gazans.

      You'd buy a weight reduction formula from Quirk, for Christ's sake.

      Delete
  27. Jack Hawkins is a self described self admitted "professional asshole".

    It is, indeed, a unique claim to fame.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He's also a real dumb fuck, and full of hatred.

      Delete
    2. Well, so far, you old piece of racist garbage, you've referred to my Grandmother, and her people, as "Injuns," and the Gazan Arabs as "Apes."

      Wouldn't you like to go for the "Trifecta?" Maybe you can sneak the N' word in for a couple of minutes before Deuce notices.

      Delete
  28. IS, Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas.....all the same.

    Here are your good guys, guys -


    Ed Morrissey Show


    ISIS begins purge of Iraqi Christians
    posted at 11:31 am on July 19, 2014 by Noah Rothman

    Share on Facebook 324
    554 SHARES

    Fighters with the ISIS/ISIL won a major victory over Iraqi security forces this week when they retook Saddam Hussein’s hometown, Tikrit, on June 11 after more than two weeks of fighting. ISIS rebels have since repulsed several attempts by Iraqi troops to retake the city located just 140 kilometers from Baghdad.

    Consolidating their gains, ISIS militants overran Iraqi soldiers protecting a former U.S. military base on Friday, killing and capturing hundreds of Iraq fighters who had been orchestrating efforts to retake Tikrit.

    “Beginning late Thursday, the Islamist forces stormed Camp Speicher, a former U.S. military base named for a pilot who disappeared during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, and overwhelmed the troops there,” a McClatchy dispatch from Iraq read.

    Interviews with Tikrit residents and statements on Twitter accounts associated with the Islamic State described massive government losses. One Twitter post said Islamic State militants had shot down or destroyed on the ground as many as eight helicopters, a number that if confirmed would be a catastrophic loss for the government. Another Twitter posting said Islamic State militants had set the base’s fuel storage tanks on fire and that a suicide bomber had attacked a “gathering” of government soldiers.

    One resident said that as many as 700 government soldiers and 150 fighters he described as Iranians, but who may have been Shiite Muslim militiamen, had participated in the final battle. Sunni Muslims in central Iraq often inaccurately describe Iraqi Shiites as Iranians.

    This major defeat for pro-Western forces in Iraq may not be the most grim news coming out of the country in recent days.

    In the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, where ISIS fighters have been in control for weeks, members of a local Christian community have been told they have until Sunday to either consent to pay a tax in order to remain there, convert to Islam, or be killed.

    Thousands of Christian residents of the city are reportedly fleeing the area ahead of the deadline.

    Witnesses said messages telling Christians to leave the city by Saturday were blared through loudspeakers from the city’s mosques Friday.

    A statement dated from last week and purportedly issued by ISIS that took over the city and large swathes of Iraq during a sweeping offensive last month warned Mosul’s Christians they should convert, pay a special tax, leave or face death.

    “We were shocked by the distribution of a statement by the Islamic State calling on Christians to convert to Islam, or to pay unspecified tribute, or to leave their city and their homes taking only their clothes and no luggage, and that their homes would then belong to the Islamic State,” Sako said.

    On Friday, the U.S. State Department expressed “outrage” over this development:

    Mosul has a rich Christian tradition and is home to the several tombs of figures from the Old Testament, including Jonah. According to a statement released by ISIS and obtained by AFP, for those Christians who do not abandon that tradition his weekend, “there will be nothing for them but the sword.”

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. None of this shit would be happening if it weren't for our wonderful President Obama.

      The winners.....Kurds and Israel.

      Losers.....nearly everyone else.

      Delete
    2. Obama will succeed in throwing both Iraq and Afghanistan away.

      God Bless the Egyptian Army is all I can say, or Egypt would be gone too.

      Delete
    3. You old idiot racist pig, how could you throw something "away," that you've never owned?

      Delete
  29. Dire predictions about jobs being destroyed spread across California in 2012 as voters debated whether to enact the sales and, for those near the top of the income ladder, stiff income tax increases in Proposition 30. Million-dollar-plus earners face a 3 percentage-point increase on each additional dollar.

    “It hurts small business and kills jobs,” warned the Sacramento Taxpayers Association, the National Federation of Independent Business/California, and Joel Fox, president of the Small Business Action Committee.

    So what happened after voters approved the tax increases, which took effect at the start of 2013?

    Last year California added 410,418 jobs, an increase of 2.8 percent over 2012, significantly better than the 1.8 percent national increase in jobs.

    California is home to 12 percent of Americans, but last year it accounted for 17.5 percent of new jobs, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows.

    Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/07/20/6564879/states-job-growth-defies-predictions.html#storylink=cpy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. America has more than 3,100 counties and what demographers call county equivalents. Eleven California counties, including Sacramento, accounted for almost 1 in every 7 new jobs in the U.S. last year.

      The Central Valley is home to nine of the nation’s 335 largest counties. The data show that all nine counties enjoyed better job growth overall than the rest of America. Sacramento County experienced a 2.7 percent increase, 50 percent better than the national average, as 15,425 jobs were added last year.

      Only three California counties lost jobs, a total of 126 fewer positions in sparsely populated Amador, Mariposa and Trinity counties.

      These results may surprise those who have heard that tax increases are job killers. Taxes can

      Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/07/20/6564879/states-job-growth-defies-predictions.html#storylink=cpy

      Job Growth Defies Predictions

      Delete
  30. James "Rockford" Garner checked out today.

    ReplyDelete
  31. The level of disgust with Israel is a lot broader and deeper than the push-polls show. Here is an example:


    In a conversation with an aide that was caught on an open microphone Sunday, Secretary of State John Kerry appeared to express concerns about the tactics being used by Israel in its Gaza invasion.

    “It’s a hell of a pinpoint operation. It’s a hell of a pinpoint operation,” he said, apparently sarcastically, in a phone call while on a television set waiting to record interviews with Sunday talk shows. Fox News Sunday aired the clip.

    “Right. It’s escalating really significantly and it just underscores the need for a cease fire,” the aide said.

    “We’ve got to get over there,” Kerry said, hanging up and handing a cellphone to someone off screen. “I think, John, we ought to go tonight. I think it’s crazy to be sitting around.”


    ReplyDelete
  32. Now Kerry will retreat to the hills when AIPAAC and the Israeli-firsters turn up the heat. It would be great and refreshing to hear someone from the Conga Line to tell them to go fuck themselves.

    ReplyDelete
  33. How strong is that 2.8L Cummins E85-Optimized Engine I posted on yesterday? Damn Strong. At the same time Cummins is building a super-duper 2.8 "Diesel" Engine, as part of the same program with the state of California.

    Remember, the E85 Engine specs are 250 HP and 450 lb. ft of Torque.

    The "Diesel" numbers are as follows:


    The engine has a 2.8-liter displacement (170 cubic inches). Initial power figures on the engine dyno have the mule test engine producing 350 pounds-feet of torque at around 1,800 rpm. A chart in the presentation shows targeted power levels to be approximately 220 horsepower and 380 pounds-feet.

    The engine is a derivative of the four-cylinder ISF architecture that Cummins builds overseas, with 2.8-liter and 3.8-liter displacements, according to a Cummins spokesman. The overseas 3.8-liter is rated at 168 horsepower and 443 pounds-feet of torque.

    And, remember, this is on a fuel that wholesales for less than half the price of wholesale diesel.

    Article

    ReplyDelete