Mike covers the story, so I don’t have to:

It is, of course, impossible to ascertain how many of the Lebanese casualties were civilian and how many were Hezbollah, given that Hezbollah hid and fought among civilians, its fighters often wore civilians clothes, and many of its wounded fighters were evacuated to Syria.

However, what is clear is that around half of the Lebanese casualties were Hezbollah fighters; in fact, if the lower figures for total Lebanese casualties and the upper figures for Hezbollah fighters are nearer the mark, then the majority of Lebanese casualties were Hezbollah. What clearly isn’t true is the BBC’s mantra that most of the Lebanese casualties were civilians.

The point of this post isn’t to rehash the wider debate on civilian casualties in Lebanon or any other war, which has been well aired. The point is to draw attention to the fact that, more than a year after the war, the BBC continues to publish claims about civilian casualties which it must know to be false, and continues to play down the losses inflicted on Hezbollah.

Read it all.

Please. Don’t complicate the situation with facts, people! Israel is the reason the Bush neocons started the Iraq war. Everyone knows that. Well, except for this guy:

WASHINGTON - Israeli officials warned the George W Bush administration that an invasion of Iraq would be destabilizing to the region and urged the United States instead to target Iran as the primary enemy, according to former Bush administration official Lawrence Wilkerson.

Wilkerson, then a member of the US State Department’s policy planning staff and later chief of staff for secretary of state Colin Powell, recalled in an interview that the Israelis reacted immediately to indications that the Bush administration was thinking of war against Iraq. After the Israeli government picked up the first signs of that intention, said Wilkerson, “The Israelis were telling us Iraq is not the enemy - Iran is the enemy.”

Wilkerson describes the Israeli message to the Bush administration in early 2002 as being, “If you are going to destabilize the balance of power, do it against the main enemy.”

The warning against an invasion of Iraq was “pervasive” in Israeli communications with the US administration, Wilkerson recalled. It was conveyed to the administration by a wide range of Israeli sources, including political figures, intelligence, and private citizens.

Oh, come on. You can’t flout conventional wisdom, and CW says that Israel did it. Sharon wanted it. Sharon was Bush’s puppet-master. Everyone knows that.

Sharon, who was incapacitated by a stroke last year, never revealed publicly what he said to Bush in the February 7 meeting. But Yossi Alpher, a former adviser to prime minister Ehud Barak, wrote in an article in The Forward last January that Sharon advised Bush not to occupy Iraq, according to a knowledgeable source. Alpher wrote that Sharon also assured Bush that Israel would not “push one way or another” regarding his plan to take down Saddam.

Alpher noted that Washington did not want public support by Israel and in fact requested that Israel refrain from openly supporting the invasion in order to avoid an automatic negative reaction from Iraq’s Arab neighbors.

Please. You expect us to believe this crap? Don’t be ridiculous. We know the troof, and the Troof is that Bush Lied, People Died, and Neocons were why.

Get oil changed and find out why the condensation from the AC was dripping on your gas pedal foot the last time you drove to NorVA Company: Check.
Pay rent a day early: Check.
Make sure bills are paid before you leave: Check.
Do laundry: Check.
Fill gas tank: Check.
Put “Out of Office” message on work Outlook: Check.
Okay. Now all I have to do is finish cleaning, pack, leave tons of cat food, stop at the bank, and I’m good to go.

Oh. Blogging will be light today. Traveling. I decided not to bother going yesterday, because everyone I know was going to be working. Then there was the little matter of my bashing my toe on the stair. There’s a bruise all along the toe and a big bruise about an inch square where the toe joins the foot. No way that would have been comfortable to drive with, and of course, it’s my gas pedal foot.

Turns out I had to work, too, as something came up unexpectedly. But I will be visiting my family and friends this weekend, and will be relaxing and enjoying myself. I wonder if I should bring a long-sleeved shirt. New Jersey isn’t as hot as Richmond.

Eh. I can borrow my brother’s shirts. Been able to do that since he became a teenager and shot up to six feet.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has gone into wholehearted ZOG mode. (That’s Zionist Occupation Government, a favorite term of the world’s Jew-haters used on all of the Stormfront-style message boards).

The setting: A Swedish artist drew a cartoon of a dog with Mohammed’s head. Muslims are predictably upset, particularly because the Swedish press refuses to kowtow to Muslim demands to apologize and never insult Mohammed again. The Swedish government isn’t, either.

Tell me if you can see the difference between these ravings, and the ravings of lunatic Jew-haters like David Duke:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday launched a new verbal attack against Israel, accusing Zionists of sowing conflict, publishing offensive cartoons and “lying about being Jewish.”

“Zionists are people without any religion,” Ahmadinejad, who has repeatedly predicted that Israel is doomed to disappear, told a news conference in Tehran.

“They are lying about being Jewish because religion means brotherhood, friendship and respecting other divine religions,” he said.

He also said that “Zionists” were behind a cartoon in a Swedish newspaper depicting the head of the Prophet Mohammed on a dog’s body that sparked an official protest by Tehran to Stockholm.

“They do not want the Swedish government to be a friend of other nations. I strongly believe they are behind it (the cartoon). They thrive on conflict and war.

“They are an organised minority who have infiltrated the world. They are not even a 10,000-strong organisation,” he said.

Yep. He’s definitely gone over the edge into Zionist Conspiracy Land. And here I thought he was just your everyday, average Muslim Jew-hater. And that’s not all of it. He’s practically taking lines right out of the Protocols:

“Anywhere they are found there is war. Anywhere where there is war they are behind it,” Ahmadinejad added.

Echoing his previous predictions about Israel’s future, the president said: “If the world is calm, people, Europeans, Germans even, will uproot them.”

Really, it reads like something that Hitler said in the 1930s. Truly, Ahmadinejad is one of the world’s worst bigots, and yet, people continue to insist that he’s not anti-Semitic, just anti-Zionist—ever after reading drek like this.

This is so far over the edge, the mainstream media won’t touch it. Watch. The Telegraph elided nearly all of the rant, and published only this:

Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has blamed “Zionists” for the images but said he would not hold the Swedish people responsible.

To boil down an entire, hate-filled, paranoid rant like I’ve reproduced above into one line about blaming “Zionists” is the height of not informing your readers. The Telegraph editors should be ashamed. But then, at least they’ve published something. I can’t find word of this story spreading on more than a handful of obscure news sites.

Say, remember that worldwide media blitz about how Israeli archeologists were going to destroy the Al-Aqsa mosque by building a new ramp to the Temple Mount? Remember the incredibly biased stories that insisted on minimizing the Temple Mount’s meaning to Jews and maximizing the Muslim connection? Remember how there were stage-managed riots about the Temple Mount ramp?

Well, the AP has finally noticed that Jews are outraged that the Islamic Waqf, who frankly should not be in control of a toy model of the Temple Mount, is now digging a 500-yard trench in the Temple Mount complex, destroying precious artifacts, and once again trying to “prove” there are no Jewish ties to the Temple Mount complex. And the AP is aiding and abetting, by adding even more bias to their piece. The lede:

Israeli archaeologists on Wednesday criticized the extension of an underground cable at Jerusalem’s holiest site for Muslims and Jews, saying that digging the trench defies professional standards for such a sensitive historic site and could damage Bible-era relics.

Islamic authorities responsible for the Al Aqsa Mosque complex, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, said the digging is necessary infrastructure work at the site to replace 40-year-old electrical cables ahead of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

The site is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is home to Al Aqsa Mosque and the gold-capped Dome of the Rock, Islam’s third-holiest shrine. It is also the holiest site in Judaism: Archaeological finds show that the remains of the temples are beneath the mosque compound, although Muslim clerics dispute that.

Note the emphasis: Islam first, Judaism last, in every paragraph. And now, the AP is adding a disclaimer to factual evidence. Archeologists have found unassailable proof that the Temple Mount is, indeed, the Temple Mount. Muslim clerics deny these facts. So naturally, the AP equates the denial and lies of religious leaders, whose goal is to eliminate all traces of Judaism from the site of the Jewish Temples, with archeological proof that the clerics are lying. Yes, absolutely, in the lede of your article, give equal weight to actual proof and the rantings of Muslims in denial of facts. That is what’s known as “objectivity.” Sure. Uh-huh.

And then, quote the Waqf officials without context, such as the fact that when the Waqf excavated Solomon’s Stables, they dumped tons of precious artifacts into a garbage dump, where Israeli archeologists have found relics and artifacts from the Temple eras.

Yusuf Natsheh, an antiquities official in the Waqf, the Muslim authority responsible for the site, said the criticism by the Israeli group was “politically motivated,” and the area would not be damaged by the tractor.

“We don’t hide anything,” he said, adding that anyone can see what the digging has unearthed. “These are all assumptions with no evidence, and lack scientific considerations.”

That’s a lie. The Waqf does not operate in the open, not when Israel doesn’t require archeological oversight of their actions.

I cannot understand why Israel continues to let these people do this. This is an ongoing attempt to remove all traces of Judaism from the site, so that they can continue with the lie that Jerusalem has no Jewish roots. Every time I read that another Arab spokesliar says that Jews are trying to “Judaize” Jerusalem, my jaw simply drops to the floor.

And last, but not least, we have this bland reference to last winter’s Temple Mount ramp controversy (which building was stopped due to the controversy):

Archaeological digs earlier this year by Israeli authorities next to the holy site sparked protests by Muslims. The Israelis said they were excavating outside the mosque site before improving an entry ramp.

Yes, because that’s exactly what they were doing. Making sure that they didn’t destroy any precious artifacts. Unlike the Waqf, whose sole purpose appears to be to destroy any and all evidence of Jewish artifacts in the Mount.

I can’t stand writing these stories any more. I just can’t. Because I am simply stunned that Israel allows this desecration on a regular basis, and kowtows to Muslims on all issues. Olmert is even talking about giving up control of the Temple Mount, or at least, sharing it with Christians and Muslims.

Stopping now. Reaching dangerous blood pressure zone.

Let’s say you’re the manager of a Wal-Mart, or a Safeway, or a grocery store. Let’s say that you get a phone call saying that you are being watched. The caller says he has a gun. Or a bomb. He demands that you wire $3,000 to an overseas bank account. What do you do?

In some of 15 stores across the nation last week, idiots wired thousands of dollars to the thief or gang of thieves. In fact, one of them almost got a group of store employees to cut off the fingers of the manager who called bullshit on the thief’s demands.

In Buchanan, Mich., on Monday, the caller directed employees of a Harding’s market to lock the front doors, move to the front and told them not to call police, said Berrien County Sheriff Paul Bailey. The man claimed he could see some workers standing up, and ordered them to sit down.

“He’s just ad-libbing,” Bailey said. “He can’t see anything.”

Nonetheless, Bailey said, the employees were so afraid they wired the caller $3,000. The manager even hung up the phone when authorities called, saying a bomb would go off if he talked to them.

Bailey said that in a phone call with police, the man even offered to trade a “hostage” for a police officer to make his threat more believable.

The caller has not gotten every store he’s called to give up money, but the FBI on Wednesday did not provide the total amount taken.

People are unbelievably stupid. The easiest damned test in the world, since the thief/thieves insisted they were watching, would have been, “What color is my hair? Am I wearing glasses? How many women are standing in this group?”

This is why people like John Edward, the fraud who says he talks to the dead, become millionaires. Because people are stupid. They don’t think. We are not taught critical thinking skills in our schools. We are taught to memorize and regurgitate facts. We are taught groupthink. We are taught not to rock the boat. In fact, in most schools, when you do challenge the groupthink or the status quo, you are penalized for it. Thinking outside the box is not a skill that is admired in our society, no matter how many people pretend it is.

One store manager with some modicum of critical thinking skills almost lost his fingers due to the extreme stupidity of his employees.

At one store Tuesday, the caller ordered customers and employees to disrobe. Employee Marilyn Case told The Hutchinson News that store manager Mike Piros argued with the caller, but they relented when he continued to make threats and instructed them to “do it now.”

He then demanded that one of Piros’ fingers be cut off for every hour his demands were not met, and another employee got a butcher knife on his orders, Case said. Jim Peterson, a customer, told the newspaper that people became distraught.

“People came undone and started saying, ‘No, no,’” he said.

Piros was not harmed. Police there initially said they were investigating whether the caller had hacked into the surveillance system, but later backed away from that possibility.

Gee. Imagine that. The police think maybe this is all one giant hoax.

Ya think?

Having caught the last half of an early Gilmore Girls episodes, I am now utterly sure that I will not waste my money on season seven, none of which were written by Amy Sherman-Palladino.

You really can tell the difference.

Back to cleaning house. As soon as my stubbed toe stops throbbing.

Dammit.

This rumor went flying around the Internet months ago, and I gave it short shrift, because it sounded like a load of crap to me. Turns out that’s exactly what it is, and Snoopy’s got the scoop.

The Jew-haters in the world will do anything to defame us. It’s bad enough we have to claim Noam Chomsky and Norm Finkelstein. Don’t throw the rest of the left’s garbage our way, please.

Hearts all over the leftosphere that were breaking, however, over the possibility that Che was a [gasp!] Jew can now rest easy. He was not.

It is not to say that journalists shouldn’t pursue an interesting story where they can. And interviewing Khaled Meshaal, the under-assassinated head of Hamas, is a good story.

This article, however, is almost totally devoid of anything new, aside of that dramatic description of the circumstances surrounding the interview itself. Yeah, I know, there was a video shown on CNN, which was also kinda shallow. But the opening lines of the story just take the cake:

Sitting in a room with the top Hamas leader - a man Israel would prefer dead - is not an easy feeling, knowing that at any second a missile could shatter the building, killing everyone inside, myself included.

It is not that there was any real concern - after all, Israeli jets have not launched missiles at any targets in Damascus for quite a long time. But what wouldn’t one do for a bit of a drama?

So what were the main messages conveyed by Meshaal?

We did not blackmail Israel, and we gave free information to Gilad Shalit’s father and his family that Gilad Shalit is still alive.

Read Jack talking about this crap.

Hamas changed a lot and great efforts have been made to conform with the realistic positions of Palestinians and Arabs.

Yeah, right. It will be an overwhelming message to the citizens of Sderot, remember?

“We have decided to make Sderot a ghost town,” said a spokesman for Hamas who gave his name as Abu Ubeideh. “We are not going to stop launching our rockets until they leave.”

I do not recall Meshaal or any other Hamas VIP rescinding this policy and I do not see the end to this practice. Do you?

“I am 51 years old, and the past 10 years have been a gift from above,” he told CNN.

Not only is it true, it is also not his fault…

Palestinians and the Arab world will cling to his words, but perhaps his most captivated audience will be the state of Israel.

Nope.

As if to stress that renewed peace drive of Hamas, comes this news:

Hamas may carry out a mega-terror attack, the Deputy Shin Bet Chief, known only as Y, told cabinet members Sunday. “There were clear orders from the Hamas headquarters abroad to Hamas here to carry out a mass casualty attack in Israel,” he said.

That sounds more likely…

Cross-posted on SimplyJews.

Ehud Barak thinks that mobile checkpoints will do the job that stationary checkpoints are doing.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak wants to replace permanent checkpoints in the West Bank with mobile ones, to ease restrictions on Palestinian traffic while still safeguarding Israel’s security. However, he believes that such a change cannot be implemented immediately, as the Israel Defense Forces must first train a sufficient number of troops in the new methods, which is likely to take some time.

Barak held his first meeting with senior defense officials on the checkpoint issue last week.

[...] While Barak says he favors improving Palestinians’ lives, his overriding commitment is to Israel’s security. Barak fears that if a suicide bombing were to originate from an area where checkpoints had been removed, this would stymie further progress; he would therefore like to ensure that a workable alternative is in place before removing any checkpoints.

Gee, ya think?

I’m not getting how mobile checkpoints are going to be any more secure. Any way you look at it, they seem less secure. Once again, instead of removing the checkpoints by having the Palestinians cease terror against Israel, Israel is bending to the needs of the terrorists. Unbelievable.

First they send rockets into Israel, cross the border illegally, kill Israeli soldiers, and kidnap two, of whom we’ve received absolutely no proof of life. Now, Hezbollah is going to sue Israel—for the war that they started.

Hezbollah is planning to file a host of lawsuits against Israel over the damages it caused during the Second Lebanon War. Lebanese individuals with dual citizenship will file the suits in the countries where they hold citizenship.

Attorney Ibrahim Awada, who heads Hezbollah’s legal department, revealed the plan last week on a Syrian television program devoted to “Zionist crimes against Lebanon.” He said that each plaintiff will hire a lawyer in the country where he files suit, and Hezbollah will pay the lawyers’ fees.

The Lebanese government began mulling lawsuits against Israel immediately after the war ended last summer, but was stymied by the fact that United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the war, blamed Hezbollah, rather than Israel, for its outbreak. The government therefore set up a legal committee to explore more limited options, such as suits specifically over Israel’s use of cluster bombs and destruction of infrastructure.

Yeah, good luck with that, schmucks. I’m going to take a wild guess and say that Israel isn’t going to bother responding to this one. It’s almost as stupid as the Egyptians threatening to sue Israel for the property the Hebrew slaves took from Egypt. (That one was ended when Jewish lawyers threatened to countersue for 400 years of slavery.)

Of course, if they bring suit in the EU, Britain, or the ICC, well, that’s a different story.

Robert Fisk went Troofer last week. And here, on 26h, he’s fisked. Beautifully. Remember, Bobby: The troof will set you free.

Via Harry’s.

At least cats will wait until you die to eat you.

A MAN who lived in his own “zoo” of lizards and insects was fatally bitten by a pet black widow spider — then eaten by the other creepy-crawlies.

Police broke in to Mark Voegel’s apartment to find spider Bettina along with 200 others, several snakes, a gecko lizard called Helmut and several thousand termites had gorged on his body.

Neighbours alerted police after becoming alarmed by the stink.

Via Hot Air.

The “military wing” of Fatah—which is the same as saying that the U.S. Army is the “military wing” of the government—is claiming the latest rocket attack on Sderot, which injured an Israeli civilian and would have killed had the rocket been launched a little earlier.

A Sderot resident was lightly-to-moderately wounded Tuesday by shrapnel and several other people suffered shock after a Qassam rocket hit a house in town.

The rocket landed directly in a bedroom, when all the residents of the home were hiding the bomb shelter. A man standing near the house was injured from shrapnel in his eye and was treated by emergency services.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, Fatah’s military wing claimed responsibility for the attack.

Meantime, Mahmoud Abbas is demanding final-status negotiations, while not saying a word about the daily terror attacks against Israelis. And I’m not just talking about the rockets from Sderot. Every day, soldiers and citizens are attacked throughout the West Bank. Every. Single. Day.

Which is why I cast a skeptical eye on the sudden support of Palestinian policemen of Israelis who stray into Palestinian territories.

The near-lynching of an IDF officer in Jenin that made headlines Monday night is the latest of a string of similar, but unreported, occurrences, according to the defense establishment and Palestinian officials.

In recent weeks, there were four incidents in which Israelis accidentally drove into Palestinian towns, encountered mobs of civilians and were evacuated by Palestinian police. The Monday night beating and the recent incident of a family who ended up in Jericho on their way to Tiberias received widespread media coverage.

But there were many other instances of Israelis who lost their way and ended up in hostile Palestinian territory, including a number in the past two weeks, Palestinian sources said. Most Israelis were evacuated before the local population was aware of their presence and in many cases, the incidents were barely reported.

In an incident last Tuesday, security guards of construction works in the Seam Zone south of Jerusalem ended up in Bethlehem. They were surrounded by a mob, but Palestinian police once again arrived at the scene in time. Palestinian security officials were able to calm the mob and rescue the security guards.

[...] The day before that, two Israeli buses accidentally entered the Palestinian village of Halhul, next to Hebron. Although the incident itself was mentioned briefly by Israeli media, it was not reported at the time that Palestinian police forces arrested a youth who was planning to set the buses on fire.

According to a senior official present at the incident in Halhul, a mob of Palestinian civilians surrounded the bus and was trying to hurt the passengers, although fortunately a Palestinian police officer happened upon the area and noticed dozens of area residents moving towards the Israeli buses.

Because when I read this story, and this one—I have a different thought in mind than, “Gee, the Palestinians really want peace with Israel, and this proves it because they saved the soldiers/citizens who took a wrong turn into a Palestinian town.”

An IDF officer was rescued Monday afternoon by Palestinian Authority police officers after he mistakenly entered Jenin.

The officer, a major serving in the army’s Central Command, was on his way to the Mevo Dotan settlement in the northern West Bank but accidentally drove into Jenin, located seven miles northeast of the settlement.

Local Palestinian residents who noticed the officer driving into the city hurled rocks at his car, forced him out and began beating him.

A Palestinian policeman spotted the angry mob and called for backup. The security officers struggled to reach the battered officer and several shots were apparently fired before they managed to extract him from the crowd moments before his vehicle was set aflame.

You see, my thought is more along the lines of: If the Palestinians truly want peace, Israelis would not need to be saved from them by the PA police. Those are not the actions of a people who want to live in peace, side-by-side with Israel.

I couldn’t stomach more than a few seconds of it, but it struck me as a CYA apology, and nothing more.

News analysts are having a blast talking about how the judge may feel sorry for Vick because he’s losing millions of dollars due to the case, and that the judge may take that into account during the sentencing. Maybe. But I think this is the most important element to the judge’s decision:

“Tough but fair” is the description most often heard from lawyers who appear before Hudson, who owns a bichon frise dog and declined to be interviewed.

“He’s a good trial judge, but on sentencing he tends to be in the middle or upper range of the sentencing guidelines,” said attorney Murray Janus. “A lot of judges start at the low end. Not Judge Hudson.”

Sarah has been showing dachsund’s for years, and is involved in the dog world and fairly knowledgeable. Whenever she and I discuss the Vick case, she generally comes back to the judge being a dog owner. A bichon frise, she said, would be a bait dog for Vick’s pit bulls. We’re both betting the judge knows that.

My money is on a tough sentence. And it will be well-deserved. We’ll visit this again in December.

Okay, folks. I do not own an HDTV. I intend to own an HDTV next year. In fact, I am adding several thousand dollars to the cost of my condo/townhome for the HD widescreen home theater system that I intend to buy at the same time.

I’m going to purchase Heroes on DVD. If I get the HD version now, will it display normally on a normal TV, or will it look funny?

Israel’s return of 48 Sudanese refugees got worldwide notice—because anything the media can spin negatively on Israel gets the widest airplay. Stories like this will not get a second glance outside the Israeli media.

Seventy-six Sudanese refugees, ages four and up, will be integrated into the Israeli school system during the coming academic year, according to an announcement by Education Minister Yuli Tamir Sunday.

The Sudanese children will be enrolled in Israeli grade schools and high schools despite the fact that their parents are in the country under refugee status, and without permanent housing.

According to the child protection law, any child who has been in Israel for over three months must be integrated into the country’s school system, regardless of their parents’ civil status.

[...] The students will be placed in special classes designed for children who have recently arrived in the country. They will spend 29 hours a week studying Hebrew, mathematics, and sciences; classes will be conducted in the children’s’ mother tongue Arabic.

Let’s take a wild guess on how many Sudanese children will be educated in Egyptian schools this year.

The Israeli Double Standard—it works every which way.

Watch for the Hamas Cheerleding Squad to utterly ignore these reports. By “Hamas Cheerleading Squad” I mean “People like Jimmy Carter,” and when they are asked about Hamas’ torture, will doubtless immediately fall into a spittle-flecked rant about Israel and Guantanamo, punctuated by how we forced Hamas to turn to torture by, uh, not giving them a state.

With both legs badly bruised from a vicious beating, Shaher Abu Oda can only move around with a painful shuffle. In the town of Beit Hanoun, on Palestine’s Gaza strip, however, he is just one of many young men bearing limps, plaster casts, and stitches - the black and blue aftermath of an unprecedented crackdown on dissent by the strip’s new rulers, the Islamist group Hamas.

What was Oda’s awful crime?

Singing.

Its officials snatched Mr Abu Oda off the streets two weeks ago as he was trying to find his younger brother Miqbil, himself badly beaten after club-wielding Hamas policemen broke up a wedding party. The revellers’ crime had been to sing a few songs associated with the Fatah party, the rival Palestinian faction which Hamas ousted from the Gaza Strip two months ago. “They threw me in a room,” said Mr Abu Oda. “From 11.30 to 3.30 in the morning, they came in every 15 minutes and beat me with sticks, fists, kicks, and a black leather crop.”

Fatah songs.

As many as 50 people are thought to have been arrested in Gaza’s Beit Hanoun district around the night of the wedding, and similar sweeps have taken place elsewhere in Gaza since then. The detentions and beatings appear to mark the end of a relative honeymoon period for Hamas, which seized control of Gaza after five days of battle in June.

The early days of the group’s reign saw aggressive crackdowns on drug dealers, theft, and violent clans, as well as the freeing of BBC journalist Alan Johnston from the clutches of a criminal faction aligned to al-Qaeda. Such moves led to calls for Britain and Europe to open formal dialogue with Hamas, despite its commitment to the destruction of the state of Israel.

Yes, and it looks like the bloom is off the rose.

Now though, human rights groups and ordinary Gazans say Hamas is committing exactly the same crimes as its Fatah predecessors, whose corruption and brutality were one of the main reasons why support for Hamas grew. “We are receiving reports of political detentions every day,” said Mahmoud Abu Rahma, of the Gaza City-based Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights. “Hamas is conducting wide sweeps and interrogations to collect information. The interrogations include harsh treatment, and in many cases, torture and beatings.”

Yeah, about those human rights groups… not seeing anything on Human Rights Watch’s site currently. There’s this release urging Fatah and Hamas to treat captives humanely. This was when they were throwing each other off buildings in Gaza and executing captives.

And this one should go into Charles Johnson’s random quote generator:

“Fatah arrested and tortured people too,” said a senior official from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, an independent political faction. “But during Fatah’s rule we could give our opinions, and say anything we wanted about the Fatah leadership. Today people are afraid of saying anything about Hamas.”

Well, the first part is true. The rest is bullshit. Arafat shut down all opposing viewpoints, by intimidation and murder, and his heirs have followed in his footsteps. Or perhaps he means that they could at least express their opinions verbally. No newspaper attacks were allowed.

Newspapers have been banned, critical television talk shows have been pulled from the air, and a new Hamas decree prohibits demonstrations and even outdoor weddings without approval.

Gee. What a long way from what the writers of the Hamas op-eds told us only a few short weeks ago:

The streets of Gaza are now calm for the first time in a very long time. We have begun disarming some of the drug dealers and the armed gangs and we hope to restore a sense of security and safety to the citizens of Gaza. We want to get children back to school, get basic services functioning again, and provide long-term economic gains for our people.

Our stated aim when we won the election was to effect reform, end corruption and bring economic prosperity to our people. Our sole focus is Palestinian rights and good governance. We now hope to create a climate of peace and tranquillity within our community that will pave the way for an end to internal strife….

So how long do you think it will be before the major newspapers publish yet another lie-filled whitewashing op-ed, describing how Hamas is being slandered by Israel and her supporters, as well as by Fatah?

Hard on the heels of a foiled terror plot, Ynet reports that Hamas is gearing up for a major “heavy casualty” attack in Israel.

Hamas may carry out a mega-terror attack, the Deputy Shin Bet Chief, known only as Y, told cabinet members Sunday. “There were clear orders from the Hamas headquarters abroad to Hamas here to carry out a mass casualty attack in Israel,” he said.

According to Y, the Hamas leadership in Gaza is experiencing “deep strategic complications.” The organization is frustrated by its lack of success in gaining legitimacy in the international arena, particularly in Europe.

They’re probing the borders, and gathering information.

IDF forces arrested six Palestinian youths trying to cross the border fence from the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday. The youths were taken in for questioning and IDF sources believe the six were sent to gather information for terror organizations.

The incident occurred just one day after two gunmen carrying an explosive device managed to infiltrate into Israel.

A military source said on Sunday, “Yesterday’s infiltration would not have been possible if information had not been collected in advance. The Palestinians know that the border fence is military territory and that anyone hanging around there is taking a huge risk. It is well-known that terror organizations use boys (to collect information), this is part of the way they operate.”

Yet another example of terrorists using children that the media either overlooks, or refutes by the tactic of posting denials by terrorist spokesliars that the children were involved in terror. The BBC is so biased they’re actually quoting terrorists describing “martyrdom operations” without explaining what that term means—and of course, this is the same BBC that refused to delete anti-Semitic comments on their news sites.

The terrorists are being actively aided and abetted by Egyptian soldiers turning a blind eye to the arming of Hamas.

Arms smuggling has not only continued, it has increased, Y reported. In the few months since Hamas’ took over Gaza in June of this year, 40 tons of weapons have been smuggled into the Strip – approximately one half of the total amount of armaments smuggled into the area since Israel’s July 2005 disengagement.

Since August, the defense establishment recorded five major incidents of arms smuggling through Egypt, during which 13 tons of explosives and 150 RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) carriers were brought in. Simultaneously, there has been an observable decrease in Egypt’s measures to combat the trend.

Not surprisingly, the deputy chief stated that armed attacks against Israeli communities and forces had increased. There were 20 Qassam attacks last week, a high number relative to the average of 70 rockets per month.

The number of shooting attacks from Gaza (gun or mortar fire towards the border fence or into Israel) also increased in the past week – up to 56, in comparison to 43 attacks the week before. The heightened mortar fire, specifically, was a response to the IDF’s operations within Gaza, Y explained.

The wire services ignore the continuous fire into Israel. They tend to only notice things like thwarted Palestinian infiltrations, Palestinians killed by IDF missile fire, and the all-important (to them) civilians caught in the crossfire.

Correction. They do manage to score interviews with the murderer-in-chief. Who then pretends that Hamas doesn’t want the complete destruction of Israel, which is duly echoed by the reporters. And by the way—if Gilad Shalit is alive and well, as Mashaal says, prove it. Supply a video. Because without that, Mashaal is just blowing smoke.

Roaming the CiF (The Guardian’s Comment is Free forum) jungle, I have stumbled on an interesting page - one that shows the frequency of main subjects broached on CiF. It is not clear what period of time is represented, but in any case the statistics are amazing (yes, I know - lies, damn lies and statistics…). Take a look (click to enlarge).

United States seems to lead the list as the most popular subject with 776 articles. Well, you may say, it is only natural that the most powerful nation on Earth would be of the highest interest to The Guardian in its choice of topics. Even if we are talking about a British newspaper.

And you will be dead wrong, as I have been - after the first glance. While Israel looks quite high on the charts, trailing Iraq (the third horse in the race) by 49 points, the charts do not do it full “justice”.

After the second glance, I have decided to mark by green the subjects directly or indirectly related to Israel. Then I have applied some conservative percentages to those bearing a question mark (e.g. 10% of all Iran-related articles will carry some Israel-related tunes, 60% of all terror-related etc…). I have left out on purpose several subjects that are definitely carrying some Israel-related pieces, again - to be on a conservative side.

The result - roughly 1300 points - is rather staggering.

I don’t want to go into further analysis of the statistics, just compare the above number with that of China (137) Britain (130 - it is supposed to be a British newspaper, FFS!), Russia(106).

No matter how the results are turned around, looked upon and dissected, the picture shows a dark and unhealthy obsession. If you take into account that the majority (I would say, more than 90%) of the articles are bashing Israel for this or other, real or imaginary, offense, deservedly or not… well, I don’t have to spell it, do I?

Or do I?

Cross-posted on SimplyJews.

Funny. Christiane Amanpour’s moral equivalence-fest, the so-called “God’s Warriors” shows, were repeated both nights this weekend. And both times, the show that’s on first is “God’s Jewish Warriors.” It’s on at 9 p.m. Since it’s a two-hour show, next up, at bedtime is—the segment on Christians one night, and Muslims the other. But both nights, and indeed, when it was first run, “God’s Jewish Warriors”—a show that slants, cherry-picks, and plays up ridiculously the non-threat that are religious Jews—is on first.

Funny, that. The only show that’s been on consistently when everyone is awake enough to watch isn’t, say, the show on the religion that is actually going around murdering people by the thousands every year. Nope. Let’s concentrate on lying about Jews and Christians—because that’s where the danger really lies. Yeah. The Jerry Falwells of this world (and you know I loathed the man), they’re the ones you have to worry about hijacking planes, or strapping on bombs, or chopping off heads.

No, there’s no anti-Israel bias. Not at all.

Our weekly Carnival of the Jews is up, over at Soccer Dad’s.

Got home after a long day out, and went searching for Gracie, who was in her new hidey-spot: The corner of the spare room, between two bookcases, where it’s very difficult for Tig to bully her. And because I have a long history of show tunes and movie musical tunes in my head, I started singing “In My Own Little Corner” to her as I lured her out for some attention.

Scanning the TV Guide listings tonight, I find that our Richmond PBS will be showing—you guessed it—Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Cinderella,” whence (ooh, fancy word!) came the song I was just singing.

Guess what I’ll be doing from 8 to 10 p.m.?

Aren’t you glad these guys are our news gatekeepers? Because they come up with headlines like this:

Icky Algae Worries New England Fishermen
STOCKBRIDGE, Vt. — It looks like a clump of soiled sheep’s wool, a cottony green or white mass that’s turning up on rocks and river bottoms, snarling waterways.

Already a scourge in New Zealand and parts of the American South and West, the aquatic algae called “rock snot” is creeping into New England, where it is turning up in pristine rivers and alarming fishermen and wildlife biologists.

“It scares me,” said Lawton Weber, a fly fishing guide, who first spotted it on the Connecticut River in northern Vermont in June. “It’s an aesthetic eyesore when it’s in full bloom mode and its impact on the trout population is going to be significant.”

Ooooh. Icky and scary. But “icky”—now there’s a professional journalist’s dream adjective for you.

If you’re six.

Say hello to the dog days of August, and slow news days.

I guess life is back to normal for my cats. Gracie is once again licking herself bare on the bottom part of her belly, where I was (sigh) so pleased to see the fur grow back after her operations. And Tig? Well, he was outside sleeping this afternoon, and though it was 98 degrees in the shade, he must have decided that was not comfortable enough, so he moved into the sun and slept some more. Then moved back into the shade. He’s now outside in the much more comfortable 93-degree heat, where he is only in the shade because there’s little sun left on the patio.

Cats.

I have two with distinctly nutty tendencies.

The AP picked up on the Palestinian “civilians” killed by Israel today (go read this post and you’ll get the snark to the scare quotes), and of course, focused on the 11-year-old boy who was caught in the crossfire.

They also changed the way the boy was killed.

From Ynet:

In the village of Seida northeast of Tulkarm a special joint IDF, Border Police and Shin-Bet force conducting an arrest operation came under fire from Palestinian gunmen as they approached the home of a wanted man and a gunbattle ensued.

Palestinians said one of those killed is an 11-year-old boy.

And now, the AP:

Mahmoud Ibrahim Karnawi, 11, was shot after Israeli troops moved into Saida village in the northern West Bank, witnesses said. They said the troops were trying to arrest his older half brother, a wanted Islamic Jihad militant. A gunfight erupted as they approached the family’s home.

Who started the gunfight? The AP would have you ask that question, while Ynet states that the soldiers came under fire—indicating the gunfight erupted because of the terrorists.

This moment of AP media bias is brought to you by: The AP.

That mainstream media we keep hearing about, the responsible ones with layers of editors and fact-checkers to make sure things don’t go wrong? Well, MSNBC was suckered by a news parody site. Twice. In the latest one, they thought they found a blog by Al Sharpton on the Michael Vick case, and published quotes from it. They were informed it was a parody site. Their non-correction states that they determined the blog was “a hoax.” NewsGroper fired back with an utterly hilarious response. Really. Put down your drinks and click this link, because it is laugh-out-loud funny. (But first read the backstory at Hot Air.)

Here’s how NewsGroper starts the response to MSNBC:

Excuse me, Mr. Alex “Investigative Reporter” Johnson of MSNBC, but before you go calling people a hoax, maybe you should take a long look in the mirror. (If you don’t see your reflection, it means you are a bigot.)

It gets better.

Three more terrorist-slash-”civilians” were killed by the IDF today, as well as a boy who got caught in the crossfire when the IDF tried to arrest a relative of his and were fired on.

Four Palestinians were killed Friday by Israeli forces after gunmen opened fire at troops operating in the West Bank and outside Gaza. Among those killed is an 11-year-old boy, a relative of a wanted Islamic Jihad member who was apparently caught in the crossfire.

In the village of Seida northeast of Tulkarm a special joint IDF, Border Police and Shin-Bet force conducting an arrest operation came under fire from Palestinian gunmen as they approached the home of a wanted man and a gunbattle ensued.

[...] Also Friday evening an IDF force patrolling the security fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip came under fire from two armed Palestinians, just north of the Karni crossing.

The troops then crossed some 330 feet into Gaza and killed the gunmen after a short exchange of fire. No IDF casualties were reported. The soldiers recovered AK-47 assault rifles from the gunmen’s bodies.

Officials within the Gaza battalion said the gunmen had apparently been waiting for an IDF patrol to pass by in order to attack it.

So far, AP has not picked up the story. They appear to be too busy talking about the Fatah/Hamas “protest” clashes.

Hamas security agents clashed with supporters of the rival Fatah movement Friday, firing into the air and beating journalists covering a demonstration against the Islamic militant group’s rule in the Gaza Strip.

It was the second time in recent weeks that Hamas has scuffled with Fatah protesters, a signal of possible cracks in the Islamic group’s two-month-old takeover of Gaza. Harassment of journalists and political opponents has grown increasingly common in the coastal strip.

By the way, the anarchy that’s been subdued, and the freedoms that Ismail Haniyeh and his stooges keep writing about in American op-ed pages? Not so much.

When several Hamas security men roughed up a Reuters TV cameraman and tried to confiscate his camera, protesters surrounded the Hamas men, beat them to the ground and prevented the journalist’s arrest.

The Hamas men also detained a photographer for Agence France-Presse and a cameraman for the Russian TV channel Russ