Gracie ran up the stairs after I fed her today. She started, stopped, waited for me, then ran ahead so she could leap on my bed for what in the old days was her bellyrub, and is now a petting time, but no bellyrub (what with those staples in half her belly).

And that deep, throaty purr is starting to come back.

Oh, and she’s really getting pissed about the pills and the ear goop.

I think she’s getting better.

Thanks to those of you who hit my Amazon tipjar in the last few days. That was a nice birthday present.

So was the news that I’ve got an interview for the permanent position that I want at Large Company in Richmond. It will include web and writing, which is, gee, exactly what I’ve been looking for. A new department, with growth potential, at the company I’ve been working since August, where I was supposed to be a permanent employee going in.

Time to sell myself really hard again, ’cause I really want this job. My temp position is winding down. The timing would be perfect.

Say, those “crude, homemade rockets” that “rarely do any damage”?

They killed a woman, and cause the loss of both legs of a 24-year-old man. These people, however, have no names in the AP report.

The rocket fell in the town of Sderot, about 150 yards from the home of Defense Minister Amir Peretz. Police identified the critically injured man as a member of Peretz’s security detail, who was on patrol around the defense minister’s house when the rocket hit.

Leah Malul, a spokeswoman for Barzilai hospital in Ashkelon, said a woman was killed and several other passers-by were slightly wounded by shrapnel.

The names, family, and affiliation of the victims would be known if they were palestinians. Yet another example of the anti-Israel media bias. I’m shocked they actually named the Israeli spokeswoman.

Here is the name of one, and the condition of the other civilian victims of palestinian rocket fire, which was aimed specifically to kill civilians, and for once, succeeded:

One of the rockets hit a busy street in town, killing 57 year old Fatima Slotzker and seriously wounding a 24 year old man, one of Defense Minister Amir Peretz’s bodyguards who was on duty at the time. Peretz resides near the street where the rocket landed. Six others suffered from shock. Magen David Adom ambulance crews evacuated the casualties to the Barzilai hospital in Ashkelon.

The bodyguard lost both his legs from shrapnel and is currently still in surgery. Achlama Peretz, Defense Minister Amir Peretz’s wife, phoned his family to offer any help she could provide.

That “critically injured” takes on a whole new meaning when you find the young man has lost both his legs due to the shrapnel in the rocket.

And here is the AP take on the danger of being shelled on a near-daily basis:

Although the homemade projectiles are primitive and rarely cause casualties, they have killed eight other people since 2001. The near-daily rocket fire has badly unnerved residents of areas that are frequent targets.

Oh, so that’s all right then. Only nine people killed in five years.

Bastards.

Say, that overstated Islamist threat? The New York Times quotes a UN report that says Somali Islamists fought with Hezbullah against Israel last summer.

More than 700 Islamic militants from Somalia traveled to Lebanon in July to fight alongside Hezbollah in its war against Israel, a United Nations report says. The militia in Lebanon returned the favor by providing training and — through its patrons Iran and Syria — weapons to the Islamic alliance struggling for control of Somalia, it adds.

The report, which was disclosed by Reuters on Monday, appears to be the first indication that foreign fighters assisted Hezbollah during the 34-day conflict, when Israel maintained a tight blockade on Lebanon.

The report also says Iran sought to trade arms for uranium from Somalia to further its nuclear ambitions, though it does not say whether Iran succeeded.

[...] It states that in mid-July, Aden Hashi Farah, a leader of the Somali Islamist alliance, personally selected about 720 combat-hardened fighters to travel to Lebanon and fight alongside Hezbollah.

At least 100 Somalis had returned by early September — with five Hezbollah members — while others stayed on in Lebanon for advanced military training, the report says. It is not clear how many may have been killed, though the report says some were wounded and later treated after their return to Somalia.

The fighters were paid a minimum of $2,000 for their service, the report says, and as much as $30,000 was to be given to the families of those killed, with money donated by “a number of supporting countries.”

In addition to training some Somali militants, Hezbollah “arranged for additional support to be given” by Iran and Syria, including weapons, the report found. On July 27, 200 Somali fighters also traveled to Syria to be trained in guerrilla warfare, the report says.

So, who’s supporting this?

The report also accuses Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Libya, Saudi Arabia and Syria of supplying the Somali Islamists with arms, advisers and fighters. It says three nations — Ethiopia, Uganda and Yemen — are aligned with the so-called transitional government based in Baidoa, an inland city.

Libya, our new pals. Saudi Arabia, with whom we have a “special relationship,” and whose rulers get invited to the Bush ranch. Egypt, whom we provide with $2 billion a year in aid. And Syria, with whom Jim Baker says we should “engage.”

Our government needs to open its eyes to these enemy nations. They are not our friends, and they are not our allies, and they are most definitely not neutral.

But it’s Israel that is causing all the problems in the Middle East. Not Islamists. And not religion.

Riiiight.