News – Israeli Civil War? Lets Hope Not

Israel/Palestine

Of all the things we’ve considered about the conflict between Israel and Palestine, is one of them that Israel might break out into civil war? Of course, it’s highly unlikely, but that it could happen hadn’t crossed my mind before. Of course, once the obvious is put before you, you feel a bit foolish for not having considered it before. Considering the deep division over this Gaza pullout plan, it’s possible.. though the question is, would those forces unhappy with the plan actually take such a step?

This week an army investigation has cleared the Israeli unit commander who riddled a downed Palestinian girl’s body with bullets, even though his own soldiers have accused him of giving the order to shoot knowing the target was a young girl. I smell bullshit. First the Israeli military says that they suspected she had a bomb. Then that she was trying to lure Israeli solders out to be shot. The story notes that the first time she was shot, she was hit in the leg and tried to escape. Why didn’t they allow her to leave, wounded, rather than shooting again to take her down if she was merely a decoy? Never mind the gristly act of the commander shooting her body even more. Incidents like this are why I have a descending view of Israel’s government and military.

Iraq

Gunmen opened fire on a bus of Iraqis headed for work at Baghdad airport. Four were killed, eleven wounded.

Staff Sergeant Ivan “Chip” Frederick, who plead guilty to prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, has said at trial that he hooked up wires around a hooded detainee in a mock electrocution at the behest of military and civilian intelligence officials. This brings back the question of who else was responsible for inducing these acts and counters the ‘a few bad apples’ explanation of why this occurred.

The danger in Iraq has led to most reporters ‘reporting by remote control’. Relying on trusted Iraqi staffers to get the firsthand accounts that they, themselves, would be hard pressed to get and retain their living status with any degree of certainty. Another obstacle in our being provided truth from the front.

Afghanistan

A roadside bomb wounds three US solders and a translator, destroying the two Humvees they were traveling in.

US

Nothing seems to worry Greenspan. But his positive outlook despite numerous bumps to the economy are starting to fall on deaf ears. Of course, if you constantly downplay every issue that comes up, some might start to wonder if their being given the bullshit to placate them.

Yard signs are a hot target for sticking it to the other guy. As if it matters if a few yard signs are taken down? Hardly. Personally those signs piss me off. Wasted paper that, when the election is over, are left to rot and clutter up the background. People should be legally obligated to remove any signs they put up(bar code them and have people register for them, then you can fine them for every sign found on the side of the road a week after the election). One thing I have noted, though. I’ve only seen Kerry signs in my neighborhood. Perhaps.. one in six or seven homes has one. Are Bush supporters in short supply where I live or do they just not like to advertise? Or perhaps their signs were attacked? The more I wonder about it, the less I care.

Greece’s socialist opposition is accusing the conservative government of rushing to open a consulate in the swing state of Florida in order to help Bush in the coming election. I dunno about that. Would such an attempt actually bear any fruit, even if it was aimed that way?

Teresa Heinz Kerry stepped in a big load of it by questioning if Laura Bush had ever had a real job. Then she stepped even deeper by apologizing when it was recalled she did, as a teacher. Why did she step deeper? Because the apology didn’t include Laura’s time as a mother. Which, as we all know, is job enough. She needs some lessons in political tact to be sure.

A sports team wins the big game and the fans take it too far. The police should anticipate these things, it’s like clockwork.

Burger King has decided it won’t show it’s ads during the airing of Sinclair Broadcasting Group’s anti-Kerry program. Advertisers aren’t the sort to bask in controversy, you see. And the shift from showing the full anti-Kerry documentary to this new format that will include clips from it isn’t that far a departure from what sparks the controversy. If SBC wants to evade controversy, they should make the show a well rounded assault on both candidates. That I would watch.. if it were on my TV, of course.

Back to SBC’s little program, they describe it as exploring “the use of documentaries and other media to influence voting. …. The program will also examine the role of the media in filtering the information contained in these documentaries, allegations of media bias by media organizations that ignore or filter legitimate news and the attempts by candidates and other organizations to influence media coverage.” I’m practically choking on the acrid stench of the irony.

Included in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s report on Waterford III Nuclear Power Station were diagrams showing all the toxic chemicals and pipelines nearby. Information of low use to the public, but potentially invaluable to terrorists. It was removed after being brought to their attention. Sounds like we could do with a general work over to determine what could either do with being tucked away or merely simplified to remove more sensitive pieces of information.

IF you want a new dig against congress, the open availability of flu shots to all lawmakers in congress is the latest. And the bullshit line of, congressmen being at greater risk for all their handshaking only makes it worse. Oh, but wait.. the danger isn’t to the congressmen themselves, but to the elderly folk they come into contact with.. yeah, that’s right. Here’s a novel idea.. why not give those flu shots the hale, healthy ‘younger’ congressmen have access to over to the folk the congressmen see. Problem solved!

The hip new election day horror stories have to do with the Supreme Court and the havoc one guy or the other will wreak with it ifhe’s elected president. Ignoring, of course, that the prez might not have four seats to fill and that any such appointments would be hard fought battles, not a cakewalk for stacking the judicial deck.

General

A refined map of the human genome reveals that humans aren’t as complex as once thought. It was once thought we had over 100,000 genes, but as it seems we have less than 25,000.

Researches suggest that there could be a link between the living arrangements of the parents at the time of conception and a baby’s sex. In so much that parents who were married or living together at the time of conception are more likely to have a boy than those not. The history and implications of the finding are actually interesting and not entirely dismissible.

Today’s Papers has a muse of Condi Rice is breaking the tradition of National Security Advisors keeping distant from the campaign trail, a third and final part of examining post war screw-ups in Iraq that muses the disbanding of the Iraq’s Army, the UN bashed for not having election officials in Iraq even though no international force has been mustered to see that they aren’t killed and more in the one page news.

Amusements

Lawyer busted near courthouse after doing a whippet, passing out and letting his car roll into another. In other news someone probably has a pretty good case for incompetent council

Republican stealing signs knocks self out

Doofus trying to shoot mouse wounds girlfriend instead

Man burns his car to spite parking attendant

Students who were quoted by the press about drinking on campus get letters from the school asking them to politely shut the hell up

Ten-year-olds cast their mock presidential votes with more respect and civility than the adults

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop this contruction worker bailing before the flaws are noticed

Fark Photoshop Challenge: To celebrate the birth of his son, photoshop TotalFarker BiggDunc’s kid (in a nice way, please)

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop this mini-motorcycle starting grid