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8/20/05

The Great Israeli Settler Danger

According to the AP, the big danger in Israel isn't the hundreds of thousands of palestinian terrorists. No, it's The Great Israeli Settler Danger, which may erupt at any moment, probably causing the complete and utter breakdown of the rule of law anywhere the settler shows his face.

Why, it's as if there were no palestinian attacks during the pullout. Thus, this headline, which will doubtlessly appear on dozens of articles in tomorrow's newspapers throughout the world:

No Attacks in Gaza Pullout's First Week

Really? There were no attacks at all during the first week? That's funny, because I have read about several of them.

Further to the headline, this lead paragraph:

JERUSALEM (AP) - So far Israel's withdrawal from Gaza is as significant for what did not happen as for what did.

No major attacks from Palestinian militants. No use of weapons by settlers. No significant disruption of life inside Israel. No mass refusal of soldiers to carry out orders.

But of course, since the writer added the adjective "major" to the description of attacks, thus moving the goalpost, the above attacks don't count. I suppose the AP would define a "major" attack as one that causes multiple injuries and/or deaths. But still, the headline says "No attacks."

Let's review the news from Israel last week, shall we? From the August 18th Jerusalem Post:

2 mortar shells land in Atzmona, no injuries
Two mortars were fired at the Gush Katif settlement of Atzmona early Thursday morning, Israel Radio reported.

No injuries or damage were reported in the barrage on the settlement, one of the remaining Gaza settlements that has not yet been evacuated.

Huh. Imagine that. "No attacks" suddenly became "one attack."

But wait. What's this, also in the Jerusalem Post, also on August 18th, and credited to the AP?

Soldier wounded from Palestinian gunfire
By ASSOCIATED PRESS

Palestinians opened fire Thursday on Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip. One soldier was lightly wounded, the army said.

The shooting took place on the road leading to Gush Katif, as soldiers were evacuating settlers and activists from the Gush.

Now we're at two attacks by palestinians on settlers and soldiers evacuating them. That's two attacks in one day. And the AP noted at least one of them. I guess AP writers don't read their own work, hm?

But let's delve a tiny bit deeper. The withdrawal started on Wednesday. Sunday was the first day of the Jewish week. On Sunday, a palestinian sniper attacked Kfar Darom, causing the near-death of one soldier and the wounding of four others:

Apparently a Palestinian sniper had been firing into Kfar Darom (one of the Gaza settlement s scheduled to be evacuated in the coming days) all night from a multi-story building.

This unprovoked attack set two independent responses in motion: A squad of soldiers was dispatched in an armored personnel carrier towards the site... and a tank was instructed to fire on the sniper's position. Apparently due to poor coordination between these two responses, one of the tank shells hit the armored personnel carrier as it passed near the building.

The four lightly wounded soldiers were treated and released from the hospital... but the officer, now being reported as a 22-year-old lieutenant, was in serious condition with multiple system traumas.

There were mortar attacks on Gadid on Monday. On Wednesday, the IDF thwarted a major suicide bombing on Gush Katif. Oh, and there was the attempted march on Israeli towns that the PA didn't exactly stop (Israeli soldiers fired in the air to make the marchers stop). But the AP doesn't consider any of this relevant. In fact, the writer goes out of his way to paint the palestinians as innocents.

The army credits preparation and training for the relatively smooth pullout. But there are deeper reasons, too: Palestinians do not want to do anything to endanger the return of their land, and Israelis are reluctant to raise a hand against their own army.

Gee, Israelis are "reluctant" to start murdering each other? Really? I'm rather astonished that the AP credits them with not wanting to murder their brothers and sisters. Because that "acid" lie went pretty far, pretty fast, thanks to the liars, er, reporters in the major media outlets. Like AP.

But back to the article. Apparently, there is no palestinian threat; no danger from these mortar and shooting attacks and attempted suicide bombing. The real danger in Israel is from "Jewish extremists."

[..] Protesters threw skin-burning paint thinner on troops at Kfar Darom, a settler with an M-16 rifle threatened to shoot soldiers, and hundreds of anguished youths kicked and locked arms to fight officers hauling them from Gaza's biggest synagogue.

"Hundreds of anguished youths kicked and locked arms:" Wow, that's really dangerous. It's a good thing the IDF trained for months to prepare themselves for this. Did they get the Radio City Rockettes to help them prepare, do you think? Probably. It's their slow season.

But still, this is not enough for the AP. Now the writer must warn the world of the dangers to come.

Still, Jewish extremists are aware the perception of an easy pullout could create momentum for further Israeli withdrawals from the West Bank, and that could prod them to violence in the final days of an evacuation the government now hopes to wrap up by Tuesday.

In recent days, a 19-year-old soldier in northern Israel fatally shot four Israeli Arabs on a bus, and a Jewish settler in the West Bank killed four Palestinian laborers. Authorities fear extremists might try to stage an even more spectacular attack to show withdrawals exact a price.

Funny how the recent mortar, gun, and attempted suicide attacks don't make it into this article, but the attack by yet another deranged settler features prominently in this cautionary tale of The Great Israeli Settler Danger. And even this isn't enough for the AP. Now the writer is going to make up possible attacks in order to scare the readers even more.

Among the nightmare scenarios would be an attack on the holy site in Jerusalem known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. A major assault there would enrage Muslims across the entire Middle East and threaten peace efforts.

And lest you don't get it, one final pound about The Great Israeli Settler Danger:

At the moment, the main danger appears to come from Jewish extremists who believe Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has betrayed a divine promise: that the land being given up belongs to the Jews.

And now, let us turn to the palestinians and see what sort of danger they will bring to the Gaza pullout. Beside, of course, the nonexistent mortar, shooting, and suicide bombing attempt.

Palestinian extremists also have a motive for violence: to create the impression that Israel is withdrawing under fire. But if they were going to stage a major attack during the Gaza pullout they probably would have done so already.

Notice how we have moved the goalposts by using the word "major" in front of "attack." And gee, since they haven't done it by now, they won't bother. Because it's not like they don't regularly attack the IDF wherever and whenever they can. Or that there aren't any settlers left. Oh, wait. They do, and there are. But why won't the pals attack? Or if they do, why will they?

Gaza's 1.3 million Palestinians have suffered greatly during the past five years of Israeli-Palestinian violence, and leaders of militant groups are sensitive to their yearnings to get the Israelis out so they can begin rebuilding their lives.

Also helping mitigate against militant violence is the surprisingly effective cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian security forces.

You see? If the palestinians attack, it will be Israel's fault. And there are still those invisible mortar and shooting attacks. And the 8-kilogram explosive belt found near Gush Katif. But I guess those suffering palestinians can be excused a few more murderous attempts on Israelis.

That's exactly what the world intends to do when the rockets continue to fly from Gaza to Sderot and points beyond. Just watch.

In the meantime, look out for The Great Israeli Settler Danger. Here is my advice to keep you safe: If approached by an Israeli Settler, say hello, offer him something to eat or drink, and whatever you do, don't bring up the subject of the Temple Mount. If you follow these instructions, you should be just fine.

Unless he has a Brooklyn accent. If that happens, all bets are off. (Okay, totally inside joke that I may explain at some point in the future, or in email if you ask nicely.)

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8/19/05

Briefs

Keeping the calm, palestinian style: The IDF thwarted an attempted terror attack by Islamic Jihad.

A major terror attack was thwarted Wednesday evening when security forces found a explosive belt weighing eight kilograms near Gush Katif.

An Islamic Jihad cell hid the explosives, which were supposed to be picked up by suicide bombers and used during the disengagement to carry out a suicide attack in Gush Katif, the army said.

The military’s Gaza division and the Shin Bet located the belt, which was packed with shrapnel, on a roof in the Mouasi area in the Gaza Strip.

The discovery was made following the arrest of ten Palestinians in the area, who are suspected of belonging to the terror cell behind the attempted bombing.

[...] Sources in the IDF said the incident proves that despite coordination with the Palestinians on the disengagement from Gaza, the responsibility for the security of residents of Gush Katif still falls on the army until the end of the pullout.

Gee, ya think? So, Condi, should Israel sell them more nails so they can pack more into their bombs?

No pullout under fire, shyeah, right: Besides the attempted suicide attack, we have the usual rockets and mortars flying.

Yeah, we knew that, too: Ma'ariv (Hebrew only) quotes Sharon on why the IDF is staying for a month longer:

The minute Israel completes its withdrawal from Gaza, the Palestinians will steal everything, Prime Minister Sharon warned the ministerial committee on disengagement Thursday. The prime minister expressed skepticism about the ability of the Palestinian security services to prevent widespread theft and looting. "Thousands of Palestinians will break in," he said. Sharon estimated that the evacuation of settlers would be completed by Monday.

More depressing news dept.: Another Hebrew link gives us this:

At the height of Israel's disengagement, Mahmoud Zahar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, said that from the Palestinian perspective the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza signifies the collapse of the Zionist outlook and is "a sign of the final battle that will decide the conflict."

"It is a defeat for Israel, which did not find an answer to the Kassam rockets or the war of the tunnels or to suicide attacks."

Zahar expressed confidence that the disengagement will lift the morale of the Arab and Islamic world and will affect the battle for Afghanistan and Iraq.

"We are part of the great world plan whose name is the world Islamic movement."

"We do not recognize the State of Israel nor its right to control any of the land of Palestine." "Palestine is holy Islamic land that belongs to Muslims the world over," he emphasized.

Actually, there is no such country as "Palestine," nor was there ever such a country. Not that that matters to homicidal religious fanatics.

Sorry the news isn't less depressing, but hey, it's a sucky news day. But here's one for the road: Someone fired three missiles at U.S. Navy ships docked in Jordan. They missed the ships and killed a Jordanian at a nearby warehouse. Say hello to the palestinian terrorists joining Al Qaeda.

Off to work, where I get to play with HTML, CSS, and Vignette. Ooh, baby, content management systems. It's the stuff I dreamed of as a child.

Okay,no, not really.

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8/18/05

Notes on the Gaza withdrawal

I have found myself unable to read the stories, or watch the news reports, or even think very much about it, because no matter whether or not you agree with the removal of the settlements, if you have a heart, you cannot but be upset to see people uprooted forcibly from their homes.

I cannot watch Jews fight Jews and remain dry-eyed. I can't even read about it and not choke up. And I find that I cannot write very much about it, either. You can follow along on Israpundit instead, or any of the many other Jewish weblogs covering it. I simply can't do it, which is why you got cat pictures for the past few days.

But I haven't succeeded in not been thinking about it. No matter how hard I try, the news is there, unavoidable and heartbreaking. Though I've never set foot in Israel, I know that it's my ancestral homeland. My people were born there. In spite of European, LLL, neo-Nazi, and palestinian lies to the contrary, I carry the same DNA as the people who never left the land. One thing that has never changed in my entire life is my unwavering support for Israel. I got it from my entire family, on both sides, even though we are all quite happy to be Americans and stay where we are.

I realize that this sounds like a keen grasp of the obvious, but so many people simply do. not. get. it: Israel is special to the Jews. Let me repeat: To the Jews.

Years ago, when I was in college, I got into an argument with four of my fellow college journalists over Israel, terrorism, and the palestinians. They were all triple-L liberals, and for that matter, so was I—except on the subject of Israel. I had just walked out (very dramatically; I was rather young) on the end of a lecture by the palestinian observer to the UN, who had been invited to our campus by the political science club. My friends and I sat in the college pub, arguing about Israel over a glass of wine or two. Except I was the only one who was arguing the Israeli side. For at least an hour, we went back and forth, four against one, and I did not budge an inch. Finally, in despair, one of them said that the palestinian speaker was right, and quoted him: "How do you argue with someone who holds the Bible as his title deed?"

Well, I don't really have a problem with that quote. I responded: "You don't. The land is ours." It was at this point that the four of them gave up.

Here is the truth of the matter: I do believe in the vision of Greater Israel. I don't understand how the world can insist that the palestinians deserve a state, but that Jews should not return to what was once their homeland. I attribute that to sheer anti-Semitism. There is no other explanation. But Greater Israel isn't possible. You can't pretend that three million palestinians are simply going to up and go away. That being the case, Israel needs secure, defensible borders. It looks like some parts of Jerusalem will be given up to the palestinians—Sharon would not be building the fence through the city if he didn't also believe he had to give some of it up—but Muslims will never again forbid Jews from praying at the Kotel, and neither Muslims nor Christians will keep Jews from their holiest site.

The palestinians, and the rest of the world, are going to have to face it: Israel is never going back to the 1949 borders. But that doesn't mean I think there will be peace.

Here is what I think is going to happen in the next few months: The terrorist attacks will continue, redoubled, as soon as Mahmoud Abbas feels comfortable enough with doing so. Israeli will not invade Gaza in response; world opinion will prevent her from doing so. The terrorism will move to the West Bank, as the IDF already realizes. Rockets will fly at Israel proper. The world will tell Israel to "show restraint." The UN will condemn any Israeli actions.

Nothing will change. Nothing. The Bush administration has proven that they believe in the Exception Clause when it comes to condemning terrorism against Jews. I'm not buying this op-ed in the Times; Zev Chafets is an optimist, and he is overlooking the Exception Clause. The EU and the UN are still slaves to Arab oil, Arab money, Arab voting blocs, and their own barely-repressed history of anti-Semitism. They still refuse to fully condemn Hamas and Hizbullah, whose leaders have a new rallying cry, and who insist they are winning the battle with Israel.

Did I say nothing will change? That's wrong. Israelis will no longer be murdered in the Gaza Strip. But only because they aren't there.

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8/17/05

Lower your blood pressure with today's moment of Kitty Zen

Gracie says: My tissue paper. Mine!

Gracie on tissue paper

Last night, as I was lying in bed, I heard much rustling of the tissue paper as Gracie rolled around and around in it, and one loud "swoosh," indicating a kitty doing the tissue-paper surf. When I went downstairs later, I found the paper all over, and Tig's box pushed into the blinds.

Somebody was having fun last night.

Meantime, Tig was lying in bed, snoring away. So Gracie gets this one all to herself.

I need to buy more tissue paper. I think I'll try the multi-colored type, like Lair gets. I had no idea Gracie liked tissue paper until she stole some out of a gift bag.

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8/16/05

Briefs in a hurry

Someone must have tipped him off: Suddenly, Mahmoud Abbas is adding the word "East" to Jerusalem, and talking about 1949 Armistice lines. The PA spin machine is in full-on mode, apparently. (It may not be in this Ha'aretz article, but I know I saw the actual quote with "East" in it.)

Weapons Line Central, coming up: Israel and Egypt have reached agreement on the withdrawal from the Philadelphi route. When I have time, I am going to post my predictions of what will happen after the withdrawal is complete.

A soldier's story: Read this column by an IDF officer about the disengagement.

When pigs fly: Dan Gillerman, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, called for an end to UN hostility against Israel. I saw him on C-SPAN yesterday; he was articulate and sensible and full of great ideas. Hell, even Reuters admits why this happens in an almost-balanced article:

The 191-nation General Assembly, dominated by developing nations, usually passes about two dozen resolutions criticizing Israel each year, often virtually identical to previous resolutions.

The resolutions put forward by Arab states typically win the support of the vast majority of U.N. members, opposed only by Israel, the United States and a few Pacific island states.

Of course, the UN is still controlled by the bloc of Arab and Muslim nations that hate Israel, so I'm not expecting anything to change. Without Israel, who would they have to kick around?

Right. Off to another job-related meeting. Cross your fingers for me, I think this time, I'm gonna get the brass ring.

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8/15/05

It must be Cat Week

This week's Carnival of the Cats is at Mind of Mog.

I will not be putting another cat picture up today. Well, unless Tig or Gracie surprise me with something new. Tig already tried to make a dead cicada husk fly, and I'm a little worried that he ate it, because I don't see it on the patio any more. This is probably because last week, a cicada got stuck in my patio and couldn't figure out either how to fly west (the only open part of the patio) or up (over the kitchen and back to the trees), and greatly amused Tig for about an hour. I took pictures, in between ducking behind the wall because I really didn't want that thing flying into me. Huge, ugly, and a bug: What's not to dislike?

Then again, another clicker beetle got in the house, and Gracie found it two nights ago. When last we left our intrepid heroine, the clicker beetle had retreated underneath the TV stand. I should check for it later on. Those things are amazing, and Gracie dearly loves to play with them.

Petting cats lowers your blood pressure. There are going to be a fair amount of cat posts this week around here, I think.

And now, my master calls: Gracie is yowling for me to come upstairs and play.

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The Gaza Withdrawal

What was that about no withdrawal under fire? Let's see. There's gunfire. But I guess that's not fire. There's rocket fire. But I guess that's not fire. Perhaps Arik means actual fire, you know, the kind the burns. And oh, boy, aren't those extra thousands of palestinian police in their shiny new uniforms useful? Wow, they managed not to stop a thing.

Color me unsurprised.

I wouldn't read Ha'aretz for the next few days, if I were you: My more conservative readers may want to stay away from the farthest-left Israeli newspaper, because it's finally started to bug even me. Not that I'm very leftish on Israel; it's just that Ha'aretz's opinions rarely bothered me. However, in the interest of your health and well-being (high blood pressure is a bad thing), I strongly recommend not reading, oh, this. Or this.

Don't say I didn't warn you, and when you write in my comments about this, be civil.

Funny, I didn't see the word "east" anywhere else: Ha'aretz is the only publication that uses the word "East" in front of Jerusalem when quoting Mahmoud Abbas. Can't find it here. Can't find it here. Can't find it here.

Here's the quote I keep finding, though:

Today we are celebrating the liberation of the Gaza Strip and tomorrow, God Willing, we will celebrate the liberation of the West Bank and Jerusalem.

Here's what Ha'aretz says he said:

Abbas welcomes pullout, eyes East Jerusalem and West Bank
By Arnon Regular, Amos Harel and Agencies

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Monday welcomed Israel's evacuation from the Gaza Strip as an "historical moment," but said that Israel must also hand over the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the future.

"If they want peace, they must allow Palestinians to achieve their rights," Abbas told the BBC World Service.

"The Israeli withdrawal that has begun today is an important and historic step that shouldn't only happen in Gaza but also the West Bank and the rest of the land reaching to the 1949 borders," he told the Palestinian government-controlled Wafa News Agency.

Perhaps Ha'aretz has an in that no other news agency has? Because otherwise, I'd have to say they were exhibiting shoddy journalism.

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Monday briefs

They're coming for us all: Al Qaeda is aiming for the U.S. and Britain. Is anyone out there suprised? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

AMERICAN intelligence chiefs have warned that Al-Qaeda terrorists are plotting to drive hijacked fuel tankers into petrol stations in an effort to cause mass casualties in London and US cities in the next few weeks.

The leaked warning, contained in a bulletin issued by the US Department for Homeland Security last week, says the attacks aim to create catastrophic damage at about the time of the fourth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

The warning came as it emerged that the British Department for Transport had for the first time issued guidelines ordering a tightening of security around the UK road tanker fleet.

The US warning has been circulated among law enforcement agencies and fuel transport agencies. Although a preamble states that “no other intelligence exists to corroborate this specific threat”, the intelligence report is highly specific.

It says: “Al-Qaeda leaders plan to employ various types of fuel trucks as vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIED) in an effort to cause mass casualties in the US (and London), prior to September 19. Attacks are planned specifically for New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. It is unclear whether the attacks will occur simultaneously or be spread over a period of time. The stated goal is the collapse of the US economy.”

Al Qaeda simply does not get the Western mind. Americans can tighten their belts when the economy tanks. We'll give up our SUVs. We'll cut down to the necessities if needed. A bunch of gas station explosions isn't going to do much more than piss off the average American and rally us around the war effort again.

Dept. of Duh: Ahmadinejad Fills Cabinet With Hard-Liners. Gee, here I thought he'd pick some of the students advocating reform and democracy. Oh, and by the way: The president has no powers. It's all the Mullahs. The AP should be calling him "the Mullah's Mouthpiece." From now on, I will.

Speaking of Iran: Time Magazine profiles Iran's contribution to the Iraq war effort: The bombing of Americans and Iraqis. Gee, the media are just now figuring this out? Oh, and guess where one of their training camps is? Lebanon. Now what's the name of that group of Iranian-trained Lebanese, sprinkled liberally with Iranian nationals, that's in Lebanon with its own army? Wait, wait, give me a minute, it will come to me: Oh, yeah. Hezbollah.

Dept of Shyeah, right: Pakistan's Leaders Vow to Defeat Terrorism. Not until you clean out the nest of terrorists in the ISI, you're not.

At a ceremony marking the 58th anniversary of independence, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf blamed intolerance for hampering progress toward modernity.

"The only hurdle in Pakistan's development is extremism, narrow-mindedness and the imposing of one's own attitudes on others," Musharraf said in the eastern city of Lahore.

Really? 'Cause, like, you have awfully large rallies in support of the Taliban over there, and, well, the Taliban is a Pakistani creation.

"We are an enlightened and moderate nation. We are against extremism. We have to give a message to the entire world that our society rejects extremism, and we are united against it," Aziz said.

So, where is Osama bin Laden again? Oh, that's right. He's in Pakistan. In the mountains. Where you can't find him. I keep forgetting.

Perhaps Pakistanis are not as enlightened and moderate as Aziz believes.

Guess who's involved in the Sharm attack? Three guesses. C'mon. Not Al Qaeda. Nope. Give up? Our pals, the palestinians.

It added that the police, acting on a tip-off, raided a farm owned by a Palestinian in Al Arish on the Mediterranean coast of the Sinai, where they recovered nearly a ton of explosives.

Can't wait to hear the rest of this story.

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8/14/05

95 in the shade

It's hot. It's too darned hot.

I put my clock out on the patio this afternoon to see exactly how hot it was.

Tig and clock/thermometer

Tig decided it was just right for relaxing on the patio. It's that Maine Coon cat coat. I tell you, if we could synthesize it, we'd make millions. Millions, I tell you! It keeps him cool in the summertime, warm in the wintertime, and water beads up on it.

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Sunday catblogging

There are many subjects crying out for more in-depth investigation, but I find that I really only want to post cat pictures at the moment.

Tig the belly slutNow, a Tigger bellyshot is not a rarity. There are many of them throughout my archives; if you were visiting me, you would see more of Tig's belly than the rest of him. I have often described Tigger as an attention slut. He will roll over and expose his belly for anyone. Gracie, on the other hand, is mostly a one-woman cat. She will let you pet her once she decides that no, you are not a cat-eating monster. Of course, it sometimes take a while for her to decide that. Tunafish can speed the process along. (Actually, Gracie came downstairs the last time Sarah brought the twins, so I think that her tolerance for people is growing. I don't recall that she let them actually touch her, but still, down she came.)

I was talking about cat bellies. Which are no relation whatsoever to pork bellies, and, hello, twenty-first century and they're still trading in pork bellies? Can you say, "Lose the antiquities?" I knew you could.

Cat bellies. Cat bellies. Cat bellies. I'm sorry, this is a most distracted post, because I appear to be losing track of the subject, quite probably because it is yet again in the upper nineties in Richmond, with no real relief in sight (I'm sorry, but upper eighties simply cannot qualify as relief when the humidity levels remain almost exactly the same, and while I'm at it, can we please have autumn early this year? Like, tomorrow?).

Gracie shows off her bellyDid I do that digression thing again?

Cat bellies. Oh. Well, here's the thing. There is a picture somewhere in my archives of Gracie on her back, getting a bellyrub. One picture. That was the sum total of all Gracie belly pictures in the 6500 pictures I've taken in three years with my digital camera. She has an uncanny instinct for looking undignified only until she sees me go for the camera. As soon as she hears the lens come out, boom! she's sitting up and looking distinguished. It's aggravating. Tig is my goofball, obviously, but Gracie looks silly sometimes, too. But she has the better PR sense, and is not often caught looking anything but gorgeous. So it is with great pride that I announce that I have quadrupled my number of Gracie bellyshots, the best of which I present to you for my Sunday catblogging. Sarah can attest to how seriously I take getting goofy Gracie shots; I embarrassed myself while on the phone with her last night, going so far as to whisper that I was getting my camera and actually tiptoeing over to the subject, who, to my astonishment, stayed still long enough to get the shot above.

And now I remember what I was trying to say. Gracie does not allow anyone but me to touch her belly. One-woman cat, dontchaknow. And this isn't actually her asking for a bellyrub. This is her being playful (there is tissue paper in the direction she is staring, I found out that Lair's cats aren't the only ones who like to play in it). After I took the shot, I rubbed her belly and she grabbed my hand. With her claws and teeth. Playing, you see. No, no blood, that's Tig's modus operandi.

And Sunday catblogging is far more relaxing than the subjects I was researching for posts. She's upstairs now, having her afternoon nap, and Tig is sleeping on the patio. I, on the other hand, am avoiding the housecleaning I need to do, because I know that once it's done, the exercise machine (which I finally fixed) awaits. Dammit.

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Last week's blogs are archived. Looking for the Buffy Blogburst Index? Here's Israel vs. the world. Here's the Blogathon. The Superhero Dating Ratings are here. If you're looking for something funny, try the Hulk's solution to the Middle East conflict, or Yasser Arafat Secret Phone Transcripts. Iseema bin Laden's diary is also a good bet if you've never been here before.

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