I have a couple of pictures of Tig3 for you.

This first one will probably get more attention in another month or so, when the new Hulk movie comes out. I couldn’t resist seeing if Tig would play with the Hulk toy that’s been on my camera since, oh, the year the first Hulk movie came out. He did.

Next, Tig’s favorite toy: Me.

I discovered, via pictures of Tig, that his ears are in horrendous shape. Filthy. I thought he wasn’t washing them, but Sarah told me he’s showing classic signs of being allergic to his food. He’s due for a vet’s appointment tomorrow, so I’ll double-check with them and then dump the Science Diet and buy something else. I’m leaning towards Nutro. Sarah says go for something that’s low on the corn and wheat gluten. She says it also explains Tig’s (sigh) flatulence. I have never had a cat that farts. I have to tell you, it’s extremely unpleasant, particularly because after he eats, his favorite thing in the whole world is to snuggle with me. The closer to my face, the better. And then, well, he farts. Sitting in my lap. Or on my shoulder. Or in my arms. Yep. Kitty flatulence. Something that I never really knew existed, until Tig3.0. Here’s hoping Sarah is right, and a change in diet changes the nuisance.

Tig also has strange litterbox habits. He feels the need to announce to the world that he is about to use the litterbox. He runs inside and yowls. He did this from the first day I had him, and I called the vet, worried there was something wrong with him. “Sounds like you have yourself a talker,” the vet’s assistant said, and told me not to mind. She kindly did not laugh at me (at least until she put the phone down). I’m very much looking forward to bringing Tig to the vet’s tomorrow. They had to put up with a sad, sad time with Tig the Second and his renal failure. It’s going to be nice for all of us to have Tig3 in for a checkup and shots. Well, except for him. I expect he’s not going to like the car ride any better than the one when I took him home. (That picture of him biting the carrier cracks me up every time I look at it.)

And last, we have Miss Gracie, looking mighty smug.

That’s because Tig is still confined to my office. I won’t be letting him out until I’m no longer allergic to him. I realized a day or two ago that if he sleeps in my bed, I’m going to wake up in bad shape. And of course, he will want to sleep in my bed. Gracie has all but abandoned the second floor of my townhouse. I wonder what she’s going to do when Tig comes downstairs.

This morning, she deigned to come into my room and leap onto the bed. So I got Tig and stood in the doorway holding him. Gracie stared at Tig. Tig stared at Gracie. No sound was made. Then, suddenly, low, unmistakeable, and getting louder: Gracie growled at Tig. We went into the office and she beat it downstairs.

Her loss. Tig would be a ton of fun for her if she would just get over that stupid territorial imperative. Damned biology. Damned instinct.

Well, there will doubtless be stories to tell when Tig finally is given the run of the house. But until then, Gracie is the reigning princess.

You know, I get most of the spam products. Blahblahblah, enlarge your youknowhat. Blahblahblah, cheap meds. Blahblahblah, credit!

But you know what I don’t get? What’s with the watches? I mean, you can get cheap watches anywhere. You can get expensive watches anywhere. You can get cheap watches pretending to be expensive ones anywhere. Why on earth would spammers think this is a lucrative market? Is it a lucrative market? Because if it is, wow, people are even dumber than I thought.

A British MP who experienced a kassam rocket attack first-hand took away a lesson that makes me wonder if his wife dons leather boots and whips:

An MP who last month came under Kassam rocket fire has said he believes the Israeli government needs such attacks on its citizens in order to justify its “ruthless” retaliation on Palestinian territories.

Tom Levitt, Labour MP for High Peak, was on a fact-finding mission to Israel and the Palestinian territories, organised by Caabu, the Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding, when a rocket landed around 50 metres away from him and three other MPs.

[...] “The experience has given me some idea of how people feel when they come under rocket attack.

“I now know the moment of horror when you hear that sound and the emotion that that brings,” Mr Levitt said. “But there is a great deal of difference between the pathetic and amateur way in which certain individuals lob Kassams over the border into Israel, and the ruthless disregard for human life in how Israel retaliates.

“I got the impression that Israel needs these mortar bombs to fall on it, in order to be able to retaliate.”

Get it? Israel is being bombarded by “pathetic and amateur” terrorists on a near-daily basis, but really, it’s Israel’s fault because Israel wants to then go out and retaliate for rockets murdering its people and terrorizing its border towns.

That’s how warped the thinking has become. The victim wants to be the victim, so it can then go out and murder civilians with impunity. That’s some twisted logic, Mr. Levitt. But wait: He has the answer to ending the rocket attacks.

He said that if Israel spent “a fraction of the money” currently being spent on the border crossing, on humanitarian issues instead, “there would not be the level of conflict that there is now”.

It all comes down to feeding the poor. Uh-huh. Not an army of terrorists who work every day towards Israel’s destruction, and openly say so, time and time again. The Palestinians are poor, therefore they send rockets into Israel. (No mention of how poor people keep managing to afford all these weapons if they’re so poor, but then, don’t confuse the issue with all those pesky facts.)

Disgusting man. I don’t know squat about where he’s from, but really—disgusting man.

The IDF is starting to pressure the Israeli government, or at least, that’s what I’m concluding after reading this:

Senior IDF officers serving in Gaza are frustrated over what they describe as the army’s lack of resolve and limited action against terror emanating from the Strip.

“This week I returned from another standby shift at the combat helicopter base where I do my reserve duty,” lit.-Col. N told Ynet. “Again we did nothing, despite a Qassam and mortar barrage fired by terrorists at the entire sector.”

N says that he feels obligated to warn that the IDF is not doing enough to counter terrorism from Gaza.

“The Gaza Strip is a narrow area, almost entirely closed off, the terrorist forces are relatively small and their weapons – although they are improving every day as a result of our lack of action – still don’t constitute a significant threat to our forces.

And he’s not alone.

Many other officers share N’s views and feel that a lot more could be done if only the political echelon gave the army more leeway. “Our activity carries no deterrence, and the enemy understands he can launch rockets non-stop without suffering a response,” an officer familiar with the area said.

One of the officers pointed to the fact that the IDF’s operations are mainly defensive in nature. “We don’t initiate enough, and this hurts us. Every Qassam that lands in Israel prompts frustration among the soldiers,” he stressed.

Israel’s Independence Day celebrations are almost upon us. Analysts wrote that nothing will happen until after the dignitaries have come and gone. Meantime, kassam rockets are again fired with impunity.

Residents of the western Negev communities awoke, yet again, to the sound of the Color Red alert on Sunday, as 10 Qassam rockets fired from northern Gaza landed throughout the area.

One person was lightly wounded and treated by Magen David Adom paramedics on the scene. Two teenaged girls suffered shock.

There are no news articles from the mainstream media reporting the upswing in rocket barrages. There was almost no mention of yesterday’s attack on the Nahal Oz fuel transfer station. Because if violence occurs in Israel, it is only violence initiated by Israel, which is then described as “retaliating” for rocket or terror attacks. I am unsurprised, as, I’m sure, are all of you.

Why does it seem that when “peace” finally gets closer, events tend to become more chaotic.Even as Secretary Rice goes to the Middle East to attempt to get a “peace deal” between Israel and the Palestinians, there is a lot that is out of her hands. Of course she can try to ignore what’s going on, so that she still gets a piece of paper in the end. Unfortunately for that result, it’s not supposed to be a “piece” deal but a “peace” deal, the latter being a lot more difficult to achieve (though the former is actually more common).

Right now the investigation surrounding Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert politically endangers the Israeli leader currently necessary for the deal.

via memeorandum

The NYT reports Political crisis overshadows Rice’s trip

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held a series of talks on Israeli-Palestinian peace here on Sunday, saying she believed an accord was attainable by year’s end. But the process was overshadowed by an intensifying police investigation of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel.Ms. Rice, who arrived here from a conference in London that focused on international donations to the Palestinian Authority, has held meetings with Mr. Olmert; the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas; and other top officials from both sides. In brief statements so far, all have been tight-lipped.

Abbas reportedly was happy about his meeting with Sec. Rice.

And the other event that’s beyond the scope of what can be achieved in term of peace: Hamas attacked the Nachal Oz fuel terminal again. For all the complaints of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Hamas seems so unconcerned that they’ll cut off their gas to spite their constituents. I guess they figure they can count on the world’s outrage if Israel (reasonably) halts further shipments. (Hamas knows that they can count on the UNRWA.)

Still as Israel Matzav points out, PM Olmert has proved pretty resilient in the past:

For those of you who think this is the end of Olmert’s government, please don’t be overconfident. First, we have thought several times over the last two years that the end was nigh and unfortunately, it was not. Second, even if the Knesset disbands and elections are called, Olmert will remain in power as a caretaker unless he is forced to remove himself due to the criminal indictments (in which case Livni would take over, which might even be worse). During that interim period Olmert and Livni may continue to negotiate our future away. Ehud Barak tried doing that eight years ago at Taba while he was facing a special election. We’re still suffering the consequences.

Martin Peretz writes:

But everybody understood and really understands that Israel would retain a few large settlement blocks and the land between Jerusalem and the 40,000-plus people in Ma’aleh Adumin. A “return to the 1967 borders” is a slogan. It is not a peace map. First of all, those are not borders. They were never recognized as borders by any of the Arabs; they were fragile cease-fire lines. Second of all, history doesn’t stop for the convenience of the Palestinians. They have to deal with history as it was made, mostly because these Palestinians hope against all the odds that Israel would disappear by itself.

All in all, the United States wants peace, but events don’t seem to be accommodating those wishes.

Heck, Fatah and Hamas can’t even agree on television programming, how likely is it that either could agree with Israel on terms for peace?

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

via memeorandum

The Australian reports:

THE cheque from the Saudi Government for $360,000 was enclosed in an envelope.It was a donation, a gift, a part payment to subsidise the construction of a building that would become Sydney’s Muslim heartbeat: Lakemba mosque. More than 35 years after Sydney cleric Khalil Shami received the cheque, he insists it came with no strings attached. But while the cheque had no tangible conditions in the form of written instructions or binding contracts, the cleric received a message from his donors several months after depositing it.

“They said: ‘Please, can you mention the tragedy of the Palestinian people and what’s happened to them in your sermon?”‘ Shami tells Inquirer. “Which is really a very noble cause, a very noble cause, I couldn’t see a negative in their request.”

The message Shami received from Riyadh brings into question the influence petro-dollars can have on their recipients, whether the money is bankrolling a religious centre, a clerical allowance or Queensland’s Griffith University, which was exposed by The Australian last month for seeking a $1.37million Saudi grant, of which $100,000 was received, and offering to keep elements of the deal a secret.

See-Dubya (at Michelle Malkin) observes that this behavior isn’t new or unique to Australia but:

To be clear, this aspect isn’t mentioned in the article, but I once heard Daniel Pipes discuss it in a lecture and I thought it was worth a mention.

Well here’s one of the articles Pipes has written on the topic.

A range of public figures—former ambassadors, university professors, think tank experts – routinely opine in America about the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia while quietly taking Saudi funds. They learnedly discuss Arabian affairs on television, radio, in public lectures, and university classrooms. Having no visible connection to Saudi money, they speak with the authority of disinterested U.S. experts, enjoying more credibility than, say, another billionaire prince from the royal family.Saudi funding for opinion makers has been known but not its exact specifics. I can for the first time expose how the Saudis manage their covert publicity campaign in America thanks to a Saudi-employed public relations firm having incautiously contacted a senior professor at a major research institution. Although the professor did not accept the offer of the speakers, he showed enough interest to document the proposed transaction and then made the details available to me.

An employee at a leading public relations firm in Washington offered the professor Saudi-funded speakers for the lecture program he runs, doing so as part of a program to provide ongoing education to communities around the country about “the importance and value of strong U.S.-Saudi relations. … One of our campaign components is to implement a speaker’s bureau program on behalf of the Kingdom that reaches into target markets across the nation. I think there is a wonderful opportunity,” she gushed, “to develop a very stimulating event with [your speakers' series].”

(There is a follow up here too.)

Fausta adds her thoughts.

The Saudis get the best mouthpieces money can buy. I suspect that a disproportionate number of their interlocutors subscribe to the idea that Israel somehow unfairly skews the debate in America. (Though as far as I know neither Walt nor Mearsheimer receive Saudi funds. If they weren’t so biased against Israel, Saudi influence would be the avenue they would pursue.)

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

Why Gaza has no fuel:

A Kassam rocked fired from the northern Gaza Strip hit a mini-market in central Sderot Sunday afternoon. Fortunately, the rocket did not break through the roof of the building, though five people at the scene suffered shock.

A second rocket slammed into a Sderot home and another hit a cemetery in the western Negev town, damaging a number of gravestones.

Throughout Sunday, seven rockets were fired by Palestinian terrorists into Israel. The remaining four rockets hit open areas in the Sha’ar Hanegev and Sdot Negev regions.

Why Gaza is low on supplies:

Also Sunday, the IDF was forced to close the Karni border crossing and the Nahal Oz fuel terminal, as vehicles came under Palestinian mortar shell fire whilst attempting to transfer food and fuel to Gazans.

Police said that approximately 50 trucks of supplies were forced to turn back as a result of the barrage.

What the AP doesn’t tell you:

However, one Gaza resident, a 33-year-old man who gave his name only as Jamal, refused the offer, saying it was a publicity stunt. He blamed Hamas for the fuel shortages.

“They want to fool the people,” he said, declining to give his last name for fear of reprisals from the terrorist group. “They are trying make the people forget who is behind our suffering.”

Who the UN blames:

The UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees is to suspend its food aid distribution in Gaza on Monday because of a lack of fuel caused by the Israeli blockade, a spokesman said on Sunday.

“We have exhausted our stocks of fuel, and are therefore forced to stop our food distributions to 1.5 million inhabitants in the Gaza Strip from Monday morning,” UNWRA spokesman Chris Gunness said.

And what the wire services won’t say:

But Israel has said Gaza’s fuel tanks are full and attributed to alleged shortage to the striking Palestinian fuel distributors, who refuse to empty the tanks. The Gaza fuel association said it went on strike to protest over Israel’s supply limits.

What time is it, kiddies? That’s right. It’s Israeli Double Standard Time, the time that only occurs on days that end with a “y.”