The JackB

"When you're in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. A best friend will be in the cell next to you saying, 'Damn, that was fun'." Groucho Marx

Israel. Hamas

My Dog Is An Idiot But He Is Smarter Than You

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April fool!
My Dog Is An Idiot But He Is Smarter Than You–That is not a fair statement because it clearly insults my dog and he doesn’t deserve it.

Ok, neither do some of  you but I can’t say how many people I include because the idiots are spawning like the heads of the Hydra. Every time I cut one off I create two more, got to remember to bring a flame thrower to this party and finish some of you mofos off.

Consider this a PSA that covers general blogging rules and rules for dealing with Jack Steiner.

If you want to retain old readers and bring in new ones it is best not to insult them. Don’t tell them they are dumber than your dog or suggest that you think they could increase their intelligence by sitting on rusty metal or poles or pulling the rusty metal poles they are sitting on our of their derrieres.

People tend not to respond kindly to those sorts of things.

In regard to dealing with old Jack Steiner do not tell him he is a Nazi or that he is genocidal for being a proud Zionist. Don’t suggest that he should agree with your position that asymmetrical warfare is proof that one side is right or wrong because he may choose to engage you and he won’t be nice.

Nor will he spend time talking in the third person instead he will he revert to saying I take the war personally because it impacts my family and friends.

If you tell me that you have a degree in Political Science and or International Relations I’ll say so what and ask you to use facts to support your allegations and when you talk to me about how you think Hamas has been wronged I’ll wonder if you really understand the facts.

Of Tunnels and Terrorists

Hamas had the opportunity to try and help the Palestinians in Gaza but they chose to prepare for war. They built tunnels at the expense of the people and imported weapons and prepared for a time when they could play Whack-A-Mole with Israel.

“While the Gaza Strip remains mired in poverty — the 2011 per capita income was $1,165 — Hamas is thought to have sunk more than $1 million into the excavation and maintenance of every tunnel. “Much to the misfortune of the people of Gaza, Hamas has invested far more resources in ‘underground Gaza’ than in ‘upper Gaza,’” Washington Post

Some of you will ask me why I am fired up and wonder what my deal is.  Let’s pretend I didn’t have family/friends at risk and look at what is happening at many of the protests around the world.

“Several recent pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Paris have boiled over into violence, and earlier this month several hundred protesters sought to storm two synagogues in the French capital during an anti-Israel demonstration in which protesters chanted, “Death to Jews!” and “Hitler was right,” according to Serge Cwajgenbaum, secretary general of the European Jewish Congress, a Brussels-based organization representing European Jewry.” New York Times

There are events taking place outside of France too.

Or maybe we should take a look at Twitter:

You can tell me those are isolated events and that many people on Twitter are calling people out for tweeting that. You can tell me that there are lots who are ashamed by it and I will agree with you.

There are.

But history has taught us that it doesn’t take much for evil to take root. The PM in Turkey refuses to apologize or acknowledge the Armenian genocide yet while he ignores the 1.5 million Armenians his people murdered he accuses Israel of genocide and does nothing while far right newspapers in Turkey incite violence against Turkish Jews.

You don’t see protests against Syria. There are no people storming the Syrian consulate or threatening Muslims for the massacre of Muslims by Muslims.

What Is Your Point Jack?

I am not happy about the war. I mourn the loss of life and wonder about the innocents in Gaza who are trapped because a homicidal terrorist organization has forced them into this position.

Hamas uses human shields and celebrates the loss of Palestinian life. Their leaders have stolen billions of dollars and are not in the line of fire.

They have a charter that calls for the destruction of Israel and if history has taught us anything it is to recognize that we don’t laugh at murder. If you say you are going to murder us, if you say you want to bathe in the blood of our children we are going to take you seriously and that means we are not going to lie down.

You are not allowed to fire rockets indiscriminately. You are not permitted to to chant Death to Jews and then expect us to ignore it. You are not allowed to cry because more of your side died than ours.

There is no excusing these hashtags on Twitter or reason for it and if you support it than you have an issue.

We are not going away. We are not apologizing and we are not going to be quiet and if that makes you uncomfortable that is your issue, not ours.

BTW, if you want to hear some perspective you aren’t reading in the Western Press you might want to check out Hushed, determined Israel in a war ‘for our home’.

I’ll be back with lighter fare later.

The War in Gaza Update #9

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Welcome to another edition of updates on the War in Gaza. We’re starting to see a higher volume of spam and remarks from trolls. Comment moderation is still turned off but if this keeps up we may change that.

Previous editions of the round up can be found below:1* 2 *3* 3.5* 4* 4.5* 5* 5.5* 6*6.5 *7* 7.5* 8* 8.5.

And now onto the roundup.
William Kristol on Why Israel Fights
The Observer offers Why Israel went to war in Gaza.

The Times Online Israel splits Gaza in three as soldiers battle Hamas.
The Guardian regarding Obama’s Silence on Gaza.
JPost reports Golani soldier escapes kidnap attempt.
Also in JPost ‘It’s too soon to discuss exit strategy’.
One more from JPost Egyptian film star: Hamas is to blame.
Ynet shared The Next Stage of Gaza and Sarkozy: Hamas shares responsibility for civilian suffering.
CNN Doctor in Gaza: Patients ‘lying everywhere‘ (A comment about this. Since the terrorists choose to wear civilian gear it becomes difficult to ascertain who is who. Certainly there is no doubt that civilians have lost their lives and that is tragic. However one has to wonder if the death count of civilians is accurate.
From The WSJ Israel’s Tragic Gaza Dilemma.

And now from the blogosphere:

The Muqata and Israelly Cool are liveblogging. So is the IDF Spokesperson.

Rabbi Daniel Gordis has a moving piece called A Caterpillar and An Anthem.
Seraphic Secret has updated Terrorist Rhetoric: Fact vs. Fiction or What I Learned in Hollywood.

Gateway Pundit reports THOUSANDS Protest In Support of Israel In Paris and Iranians Announce $1 Million Reward For Assassination of Egyptian President Mubarak.

My Right Word discovered Islamic Incongruency.

Meryl reports Number of killed and wounded in Israel doubled under cease fire.

Israel Matzav has a post of concern: Video: China supplying Hamas with weapons and cash.

Every now and then I like to try and provide a sample of some of what the opposition is saying about the war. You’ll find their posts scattered throughout.

Preemptive Karma asks What is Israel’s real objective? Sometimes the simple conclusion people come to is simply wrong, especially when it comes to this situation. It is a mistake to try and view this situation purely from a Western perspective.

The post is titled Inhuman but if you ask me it falls short of the mark. Some wars are necessary and just. That doesn’t mean that you celebrate the loss of life or minimize it. Part of the horror of war is the loss of life on all sides. But sometimes in order to get to diplomacy you have to use force.

Beyond that all people may be equal, but all ideologies are not.

Firedoglake continues to spew rhetoric about how not every man in Gaza fights for Hamas and thus the dead and wounded civilian count could be much higher. The converse is that since they don’t wear uniforms it could actually be much lower.

Here is another reason why I find them to be questionable arbiters of moral authority. While they find it easy to complain about Israel I don’t see them coming down on Hamas. You know, the guys that intentionally operate amidst civilians.The people who hide in hospitals and mosques.

So until they start showing some balance, they’re virtually useless.

Apparently Stop The ACLU has similar feelings.

As always there is news about protests. Solomonia shares some in Gaza on Boylston: Massive Pro-Hamas Rally in Boston. Note the flyer promoting the protest that says “End the 60 Year Occupation of Palestine!” Hard to negotiate with people who do not recognize your right to exist.

From Yid with Lid Hamas Using Hospital as Staging/Hiding Area.

Shiloh Musings spreads the word about a demonstration in New York and a personal account of life in Netivot.

Barking Moonbat provides IDF cuts Gaza in half, surrounds cities.

Planck’s Constant says It is Moral to Kill More of your Enemy than They Do.

Letters of Thought laments The Death of Journalistic Standards.

APRPEH asks What Should Be Israel’s Goal in Gaza?

Life in Israel has a post called Distance is only a matter of time (video)

WestbankMama says that Practice Makes Perfect.

It is important not to accept everything at facevalue because sometimes things are not as they seem: Media Fauxtography Now In Full Swing.

Judeopundit shares Some Gaza links, inane and sensible and an important story about the Hamas leader who was recently killed. Read this and let me know if you feel badly “He would tease us and ask if we wanted to die as martyrs with him”

The Right Truth has a round up of posts and links for your review.

The Big Dog reports Iran Calls For Oil Embargo. How shocking. That wacky fellow ahmadinejad and his cronies never fail to amuse me.

This concludes this edition of the round up. Stay tuned for more.