There’s been some major lightning and rain here for the past hour and a half. My power has flickered a bunch of times, but it always came back. Now it smells like vanilla here, because I lit a candle just in case. That’s me, proactive, not reactive. (Don’t tell anyone that’s because the last time I lost power, I stubbed two toes trying to find the lighter in the dark.)

The rainfall reached four inches per hour at some points. The thunder rattled the walls. And Tig’s yowl rattled me, and yet, he remained indoors. He has a habit of seeking refuge beneath the iron grill table on my patio. Ah, no. Fried kitty is not on the menu today, or any day.

Update 11:55 p.m.: Okay. Tired now. Rain can stop. Thunder and lightning, too. Really. I get the point.

Update Friday 8:40 a.m.: There are seven five inches of water in the bucket on my patio. Now that’s a lot of rain.

It was time to update the commenting policy to include a disclaimer. I do approve many comments that I don’t agree with, though usually none that break the No Israel-Bashing rule. And while I don’t approve of comments like this one, it’s not breaking any rules. But it occurred to me that perhaps a disclaimer is in order. Now I have one:

Disclaimer: Although these comments are moderated, posting a comment does not constitute an endorsement of the commenter’s views.

Finally figured out a good one.

Keep an eye out for Tig on I Can Has Cheezburger, and go vote for him if he shows up.

Hamas calls for Israel’s destruction again. Trust me when I tell you that this will not get major play in the same media that tells us that British MPs, members of the EU, and various other idiots think Israel should deal with Hamas.

“Palestinians will fight Israel for generation upon generation until victory,” Haniyeh told a rally in Gaza on Thursday. “If Israel is not defeated in this generation, it will be in the next generation.”

They can write all the lying op-eds they want, Hamas will never be anything other than an organization of terrorists and murderers. The world’s Christians should be taking note: Hamas is forcing Christians to convert, destroying their places of worship, and otherwise terrorizing the remaining non-Islamic popluation of Gaza. Hamastan lives.

But by all means, encourage these actions by saying Israel should deal with Hamas, the organization that nakedly calls for Israel’s destruction, and still manages to get people to say they really don’t mean it.

So, when Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi says:

“Hamas exists. It’s a complex structure that we should help to evolve - but this should be done with transparency. One must push for dialogue so that it happens, and not shut anyone out.”

and Hamas responds by calling for Israeli’s destruction three days later, what message, exactly, do you think that Hamas is getting from the world?

That’s right. The message is that Jewish blood is still cheap to the rest of the world. Well, it’s not cheap to us. Screw you, Prodi, and screw you, British MPs, for pretending that Hamas wants anything less than the destruction of Israel and the death or expulsion of every single Jew in the Holy Land. And screw you, mainstream media, for not showing the world what bloodthirsty murderers Hamas really are.

The Israeli government is looking to cut corners. Here’s a really bad piece of logic:

The public transportation security unit, established during the second Intifada in order to prevent suicide terror attacks against Israeli buses, will be shut down due to the sharp decline in such attacks in recent years, Maariv reported on Thursday.

According to the report, a number of days ago commanding officers in the unit were given notice and were apprised of the decision to put an end to their activities as of September 1.

See how the logic goes? Suicide attacks are down, so you can cut back on costs by eliminating the guards, who prevent suicide attacks. Not only is this really bad logic, but it gets worse. Why? Because Olmert is talking final status issues with Abbas, and discussing removing checkpoints in the West Bank. Let us review: What happens every time checkpoints are eased? That’s right. Terrorist attacks, generally featuring terrorists wearing explosive belts, follow. And what is one of the favorite targets of terrorists wearing explosive belts? Buses.

So what brilliant bureaucrat thought this one up? Because I see a recipe for murdered bus riders, and so, trust me, do the terrorists. Who are not putting down their arms and who are not stopping in their goals to murder Israelis.

If you’ve been following the Tay Zonday YouTube phenom, you’ll love this: Chad Vader covers Chocolate Rain.

You know, it took me a while to figure out why the audience at Jimmy Kimmel Live were so dumbstruck by Tay. It isn’t the voice. It’s the song. The song is a hook. There’s no verse, no chorus. Just a hook, over and over again.

Be warned: It’s a viral hook, and will drive you crazy. I recommend listening to something great right afterward. This works.

It seems that the Hamas op-eds in the New York Tmes, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times were all, shall we say, a bit misleading? Rather than working for peace, Hamas keeps getting caught with its weapons up. And tunnels down.

Ahmed Yousef wrote:

“Palestinians want, on their terms, the same thing Western societies want: self-determination, modernity, access to markets and their own economic power, and freedom for civil society to evolve.”

[...] 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

Yes, and tunnels into Israel from which they can murder and kidnap Israelis:

The IDF on Tuesday uncovered an underground tunnel leading from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, the army said Wednesday. The tunnel shaft was connected to a Gaza hothouse used to grow tomatoes and situated 700 meters from the border fence.

The tunnel was detonated in a controlled manner by the IDF on Wednesday evening.

Army officials believe that a terror attack had been foiled by uncovering the tunnel. According to estimates, Palestinians planned to use the tunnel in order to smuggle explosives and bomb them under an Israeli military or civilian target.

The IDF was also looking into the possibility that the tunnel was slated to be used to smuggle terrorists into Israel.

And of course, Hamas will deny that they had anything to do with the tunnel. As for the greenhouse where the tunnel originates? That would be one of the greenhouses formerly run by Israelis, bought and paid for by stupid Americans and Europeans who thought that the Palestinians were truly interested in anything but the destruction of Israel.

Unfortunately, the tunnel destroyed yesterday was only one of dozens.

So first I find a story in the Daily Mail that says the unemployment rate in Great Britain is actually six times higher than official government figures.

Nearly ten million people in Britain are out of work - more than six times the official unemployment rate - it was revealed last night.

The ‘hidden army’ of jobless accounts for a quarter of the working-age population.

Critics said the staggering numbers represented a ‘huge pool of wasted talent’ and fuelled concerns about the drain on the economy.

Ya think? 25% of the working population is a “huge pool of wasted talent”? And yet, how is it that 1 out of every four working-age Brit is able not to, well, work for a living?

They are not listed as unemployed but do not go to work because they are sick, looking after family or simply refuse to find a job.

While they are not claiming unemployment benefits, many rely on other handouts such as incapacity benefit.

The ‘economically inactive’ currently form 21.2 per cent of the working-age population - 124,000 more than a year ago and the second highest figure on record.

The highest figure was in May 1997 - the month that the Conservatives lost the General Election after a severe economic downturn - when 21.6 per cent were inactive.

Some 1.89million of the current total are students, 2.35million are carers for elderly relatives or stay-athome mothers, and 2.04million are on long-term sickness.

A further 198,000 are on temporary sickness leave, 619,000 have retired early and 35,000 are classed as ‘discouraged workers’, meaning they are not interested in finding work.

So that tax rate in the U.K. is supporting 25% of the working age population, as well as the uniform health care system, the BBC, and those Big Brother cameras all over the nation. Now let’s take a look at another interesting story out of Great Britain:

But men in their late-30s and early-40s are the least content of all of us, it seems.

Whether they are mourning the passing of their prime or struggling to cope with the demands of a job and young family, those aged 35-44 invariably hit a mid-life crisis when their happiness level plunges lower than at any other age, according to a study for the Government.

Let’s see… age 35-44… now what would that make them? That’s right. Working age men. Who can’t find work.

Most men rated their carefree teenage years between the age of 16-24 as one if their happiest periods, with an average score of 7.55 out of ten.

But halfway through their careers, satisfaction levels dipped to a low of 6.8, only rising again to nearly 7.8 once they had crested retirement age.

Granted, I’m making a huge cognitive leap here. But compared to what some bloggers do, hell, I’m practically writing a fact-based thesis on why unemployed men in Britain are unhappy.

And with that caveat, I find it interesting that British men get unhappier in their middle years, which would be about the time a man feels most useless if he hasn’t got a job. Meantime, women of that age are still caring for their children and starting to re-enter the workforce. As for unemployed kids, well, twentysomethings don’t care. It gives them more time to party.

Another factor of that depression statistic is that the older you get, the tougher it is to recover from tough times, physically and mentally. And if you lose a large chunk of your working life, it affects you financially for a long time, and takes a long time to recover.

So maybe the real reason British men are so unhappy is simply that they can’t find a decent job. But sure, U.K. You keep on importing more immigrants. No doubt they’re doing the jobs that Britons won’t do. Meantime, Brits are talking about emigrating (and doing it) in record numbers.

Time was when Brits would work on fixing their nation, not fleeing it.

Times change.