Apparently, I ordered an urn.

Three weeks ago, I was probably far too grief-stricken to realize exactly what I was doing when I requested Tig’s ashes be returned to me. Because now, I have an urn. An urn full of Tig. You know, when my father’s remains were returned to me, they were just in a box. In a plastic bag inside the box. Because we told them we didn’t want an urn.

I have a certificate, too. I suppose I can use it to make sure I don’t have to pay a double pet fee anymore with my rent, but that’s about the end of its usefulness.

At least this time, I didn’t have to deal with a funeral home representative telling me that he had my father’s “cremains” ready for pickup. Yes, they call them “cremains.” And yes, I really did want to punch the guy in the nose every time I heard that word.

I put the urn outside in Tig’s favorite spot. I wanted to see how it looked.

That wasn’t the first picture. The first picture was of the urn upside down. I couldn’t figure out why it wouldn’t stand up straight. Then I finally realized the flat part was on the top and it should have been on the bottom. I don’t know from urns. Cremation isn’t really a Jewish thing, and I know a lot of my readers are shocked that I cremated my father. Well, it was his wish. We honored all of his wishes before he died. That one, we waited ’til after he died to honor.

Dad’s “cremains” weighed way more than Tig. Although Tig cost nearly a third of what Dad did, and he was nowhere near a third the size of my father. What’s that all about?

So, anyway. There’s Tig. In his urn. Resting. Sort of.

I think I like this picture better:

I’ll bury some of the ashes underneath Tig’s favorite spot. Then I have to figure out what to do with the rest of them. And the urn. Geez. I didn’t realize I ordered an urn. Boy, do I not want that thing around.

Thanks to those of you who have been hitting my tipjars lately.

I can’t help thinking that there’s someone who sent me a donation about a month ago that I forgot to send a thank-you note, but I can’t find the email. Please forgive the lapse.

The IDF moved in force into parts of Gaza, and the anti-Israel PR machine is working overtime.

CNN: Palestinians: Israeli attacks killing dozens

AP: 33 Dead In Escalating Attacks On Gaza

The Guardian: Israeli raids on Gaza kill 32

BBC: New Israeli raids on Gaza kill 32

Reuters: Israel kills 33 Palestinians in Gaza raid

AFP: Israeli forces pound Gaza, killing 33

Say, you know what tends to be missing from those headlines? A little fact like this one:

Meanwhile, the rocket attacks on Ashkelon and the western Negev continued Saturday morning. Palestinians fired three Grad missiles at Ashkelon, one of them directly hitting an apartment building.

Three residents, two of them children, were evacuated in light condition to the Barzilai Medical Center in the city. Several people were treated for shock. More than 30 rockets were fired from Gaza since Friday night.

Palestinians are rocketing a city of 120,000 people, and managing to land some hits. That’s one of the two reasons the IDF forces are in Gaza right now: To stop Hamas and other terrorists from murdering Israelis with rockets.

Nearly all of the press accounts carry uncritically the Hamas line that half the casualties are civilians. Uh-huh. Here we go again. Funny how nobody ever even uses the word “civilian” to describe the deaths and injuries of Israelis hit by terrorist rocket fire. For instance:

Reuters: Israel said it was responding to cross-border rockets which killed an Israeli man in the border town of Sderot on Wednesday and wounded others in the major southern city of Ashkelon.

AFP: The raids were launched in response to the death of one Israeli citizen, a 44-year-old man, in the town of Sderot in a missile strike last week.

CNN: She also said more than 30 homemade rockets were launched into Israel from Gaza overnight, including six that landed around Ashkelon, injuring an Israeli woman and two children.

Another 19 rockets, called Qassam rockets, were launched from Gaza earlier on Friday, including one that slammed into a house in Sderot, slightly wounding a woman, she said.

AP: Palestinian rocket fire earlier in the week also killed an Israeli man. The rocket assaults grew more ominous when a projectile struck closer to Israel’s heartland.

BBC: But several more were launched in recent hours, three hitting the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon and causing light injuries to four people.

On Wednesday a rocket fired by Hamas militants killed an Israeli student in the southern town of Sderot, the first such death in nine months.

On the other hand, there are many, many words about the Palestinian civilian casualties. Like this excerpt from the AP, which comes close to admitting that, gee, Palestinian terrorists lie.

The latest round of bloodletting began before midnight Friday in the northern town of Beit Hanoun, where a 13-month-old girl, Malak Karfaneh, was killed by shrapnel. Hamas blamed Israel, but residents said a militant rocket fell short and landed in the area of the baby’s house.

Imagine that. The Palestinians lie.

For that matter, so does the press. Go ahead and click the links. Then go to Ynet for a palate cleanser of unvarnished facts.

“The activity is taking place in areas which the terror organizations want to guard, including launching pads,” a military source explained. “We are fighting against a large scope of armed gunmen. The soldiers have encountered various countermeasures, such as explosive devises, anti-tank missiles and sniper fire.

“There have been several attempts (by gunmen) to try and harm the troops in order to accomplish a show of force, but the soldiers are ready for it,” added the source. “The IAF is assisting us and the cooperation between the ground forces and the aerial ones is satisfactory.”

What time is it, folks? That’s right. It’s Israeli Double Standard Time. But don’t worry—that only happens on days that end in a “y”.

The State Department is not going to try to stop the courts from awarding Americans recompense for finding the Palestinians guilty of terrorist attacks.

The US administration Friday turned down a request from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to intervene to stop compensation payments in cases won by the families of American victims of Palestinian attacks, US officials said.

“We are declining the statement of interest in this case,” said State Department spokesman Tom Casey.

Under the US legal system, the administration can decide in cases of national strategic importance “to declare an interest” in a court case and call for a suit to be dropped.

The United States said earlier this month it was mulling whether to back a request from Abbas to avoid paying compensation to US victims of attacks in favor of a broader interest in promoting Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

This is huge. Of course, it also means that American taxpayers are still going to be funding Palestinian terrorism. Only now we can get a partial refund when the attacks kill Americans. Gee, that makes me feel so much better.

The good news is that State didn’t succumb to the pressure of terrorists like Mahmoud Abbas, who put on a suit and tie and pretend that they’re not responsible for the murder of Israelis by the people in their organization. He’s Yasser Arafat with a better face and less power, but never forget that he was Arafat’s right hand for some time. Abbas hasn’t forgotten:

PA President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday said that he does not rule out returning to the path of armed “resistance” against Israel and took pride in the fact that he had been the first to fire on Israel and that his organization had trained Hizbullah.

In an interview with the Jordanian daily al-Dustur, Abbas said that he was opposed to an armed struggle against Israel - for the time being.

“At this present juncture, I am opposed to armed struggle because we cannot succeed in it, but maybe in the future things will be different,” he said.

[...] “I had the honor of firing the first shot in 1965 and of being the one who taught resistance to many in the region and around the world; what it’s like; when it is effective and when it isn’t effective; its uses, and what serious, authentic and influential resistance is,” Abbas said.

“It is common knowledge when and how resistance is detrimental and when it is well timed,” he added. “We (Fatah) had the honor of leading the resistance and we taught resistance to everyone, including Hizbullah, who trained in our military camps.”

Add to that his Holocaust-denying doctoral thesis, and you have a cold-blooded Jew-hater leading the Palestinians. So bravo to State for doing the right thing—and boo to State for giving this man either a penny of our tax dollars, and any kind of legitimacy. There is no Palestinian leader “uncompromised by terror”—the caveat that George W. Bush called for years ago.

Damian decided that I need to tell my readers six more things about me. It’s a meme. You’re supposed to tell six unimportant things about yourself or your habits, then tag six more people. Yeah, the tag stops here, unless Soccerdad and Snoopy want to go on with it. And maybe Omri. Oh, and Rahel, Judith, and Lair. What the heck.

1. I will frequently drive long periods of time without listening to the radio or music, and not get bored. I like to think, or work on my novel in my head, or just plain daydream. I guess I’ve never had a difficult time being alone with my thoughts. I know that drives some people absolutely batty, but I’m not one of them.

2. I did not eat broccoli until I was in my thirties. Now it’s one of my favorite vegetables.

3. One of my first jobs was washing dogs in a grooming shop.

4. I used to play Photon (the precursor to Laser Tag) obsessively. I was on a team, played every spare day of the week, spent tons of money on it, and even flew to Dallas with my team to play Photon in the place where it was born.

5. I drove a forklift when I was 13 years old. And crashed it into a wall. Didn’t hurt the forklift or myself, but I left a scar on the wall.

6. Showering is essentially a ritual. I start the same way almost every time, wash in the same order almost every time, and get confused if I skip a step or do something differently. Hair first, feet last. That’s just the way it is.

There you have it. Six things you never wanted to know about me.