A street in the town I was visiting in NJ last week.

The thing I love most about the sign is that it isn’t straight.

You just can’t make stuff like this up. Nobody would believe you.

And while I’ve got the sign, here’s the song:

You know, when Sarah told me that the twins were “graduating” from pre-school, and that the school was actually going to have a ceremony, I laughed. Loud and long. She laughed too, and it became a running joke for a few days. I only just got around to watching the video at her place, and I laughed again. Sorry, but the juxtaposition of five-year-olds in caps and gowns, marching to “Pomp and Circumstance” was just too much for me. For the parents, too, judging by the laughter coming from the background.

I just love the way that Little Miss Camera Ham (that would be Rebecca) turned around to make sure Mommy got a good long shot of her marching to the stage.

Of course, what this really means is that next year, come September, Sarah and I can go out to lunch without any children at all trailing after us. Which means we can go to any restaurant we like, not worry about whether or not the menu is kid-friendly, and not worry about eating lunch too late and kids who are crabby from hunger.

Wow. Freedom.

But first, there’s the summer, which now means that when we go to lunch, it’s with all four children. Lunch is going to be very interesting again. Funny, though, we haven’t been able to do lunch much lately. We’re thinking of reinstating our weekly Farmer’s Market/lunch trips, though. Of course, it’s going to depend on my workload. But working from home has some distinct advantages. If I take a long lunch break, I can finish the work after dinner and not worry about the drive home.

Anyway, go watch at least the first half-minute of the video if you want to see pre-schoolers in caps and gowns. It’s hilarious.

… with a good news bulletin.

Things are just working out very, very nicely these days. Things are going well, both homeside and jobside. And Gracieside. Okay, Tig’s still a bit of a brat, but hey, we can’t have everything. Besides, he looks so cute, even when bratty.

But things are going well. So it’s time for a “Yay!”

Yay!

Hamas has joined with Al Qaeda to rid themselves of the “secular” Fatah and turn Gaza into an Islamic state. The time for joking about both sides losing is over. This is really, really bad news for Israel, the region, and frankly, the world. Another safe haven for terrorist training is a very bad thing.

Egyptian and Jordanian Intelligence Chiefs: “Al-Qaeda is Leading the Battles in Gaza” - Semadar Peri
According to the heads of Egyptian and Jordanian Intelligence, General Omar Sulayman and General Muhammad Dahbi, al-Qaeda caused the violation of the Mecca Agreement for a Palestinian unity government, the renewal of clashes between Hamas and Fatah, and the conversion of the strip into “Gazastan.” Egyptian intelligence officers presented photographs of the warfare, arguing that “the type of fighting that is being waged now in Gaza is characteristic of the style of al-Qaeda Iraq.” The intelligence chiefs expressed concern that the bloody clashes in Gaza will spill over to neighboring countries: Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. (Yediot Ahronot-Hebrew, 13Jun07)

And it gets worse.

There was one question about al-Qaeda’s presence in the Gaza Strip during 2006 that needed to be answered. Did it involve a foreign presence of al-Qaeda operatives from other Arab countries or was this Palestinian al-Qaeda affiliate just a group of Gazans who ideologically identified with global jihad but had no actual operational links with Osama bin Laden’s organization? For example, some have suggested that al-Qaeda in Gaza is nothing more than members of powerful clans, like that of Mumtaz Dagmoush, who are just using global jihadist rhetoric to distinguish themselves from any central authority whether it is led by Hamas or Fatah. But was the growth of al-Qaeda in Gaza totally a local affair? Significantly, al-Hayat answered this question when it reported on April 4, 2006, “a definite presence” of al-Qaeda operatives in Gaza who had infiltrated from Egypt, Sudan, and Yemen.

Moreover, a little over a month later Egypt’s Interior Ministry disclosed that two terrorist operatives involved in the April 2006 attack on the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Dahab had undergone training in the use of weapons and explosives in Gaza. They confessed to belonging to an organization called al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, which was also an earlier name for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s organization before it became al-Qaeda Iraq.4 Thus al-Qaeda related groups in Gaza appeared to have become involved in military operations and were not only propagating their religious worldview. The rise of this kind of militant jihadism in Gaza comes against the backdrop of repeated calls by Ayman al-Zawahiri, the deputy head of al-Qaeda, to export military operations from the war in Iraq to neighboring countries.

And it looks like Al Qaeda will remain unfettered in Gaza/Hamastan.

Anyone in Israel side still contemplating the question of a Palestinian partner might also need to do some rethinking. In Gaza, at least, it seems there is nobody left for Israel to talk to. The Rafah crossing yesterday had a long line of Palestinians seeking to leave Gaza. Haaretz received letters from Palestinians asking Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to save them from Hamas.

That, at the moment, looks like the last thing Olmert plans to do. Officials in the government and defense establishment are following developments with grave concern. But Israel, so long as it can afford to, will steer clear of military involvement in Gaza. The directives given to the army’s Southern Command talk about a high state of alert and readiness, but also restraint. The Israel Defense Forces will not enter the internal Palestinian conflict unless it is forcibly dragged into it. Qassam rocket fire will not elicit a wide-scale ground incursion, particularly when the chief of staff is still extremely preoccupied with preparing for a possible flare-up in the Syrian arena.

It looks like there are going to be two Palestinian states. One in the West Bank, and another in Gaza. But the one in Gaza—well, that one’s going to be as bad as Afghanistan was for the people, although hopefully not as good for terrorist training.

I’m wondering now if Egypt is going to get involved. They’re at huge risk from Al Qaeda, and have their own problems with the Muslim Brotherhood.

Another front in the war on terror has just opened.

In all things victim, the Palestinians like to pretend that they’re “the new Jews.” When it comes to Israeli actions, why, the Palestinians are the Jews, the Israelis are the Nazis, or so goes the conventional wisdom in the anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian crowd.

Except when it comes to being fired on by their Arab brothers. “Hey! We’re not Jews!” they say.

In the past 48 hours 19 Palestinians have been killed, tossed from rooftops, executed at point-blank range, and shot in hospital wards. That number seems certain to rise. More than 80 Palestinians have now been killed since mid May.

Among yesterday’s dead was a 14-year-old boy and three women, all killed in a Hamas attack on a Fatah security officer’s home.

“They’re firing at us, firing RPGs, firing mortars. We’re not Jews,” the brother of Jamal Abu Jediyan, a Fatah commander, pleaded during a live telephone conversation with a Palestinian radio station.

Minutes later both men were dragged into the streets and riddled with bullets.

The fighting has spread to the West Bank where Fatah militants from the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades kidnapped a deputy minister from Hamas and seized control of a Hamas-run TV station.

Terje Roed-Larsen, the UN envoy to the Middle East, said: “The picture which emerges is very dark, and apparently getting darker. There are reasons for real concerns in the international community.”

Funny how Terje Roed the Toad hasn’t got a thing to say about all the killing going on here, and yet, was one of the main architects of the “Jenin massacre” lie. Although I suppose we should be grateful that he’s managed to notice the tons of arms being smuggled into Lebanon.

I guess it’s not a “massacre” if the Palestinians are killing each other. What time is it, kiddies? That’s right. Israeli Double Standard Time.